Geography

Ghakhar CityNew name with old nameGhakhar Mandi is a city in Gujranwala district, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, located between the major cities of Gujranwala

Gujranwala

Gujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...

 in the southeast and Wazirabad

Wazirabad

AYAZ KHANWazirabad is an industrial city located in Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan. Wazirabad is situated on the banks of the Chenab River nearly 100 kilometres north of Lahore on the Grand Trunk Road. It is 45 kilometres from Sialkot, 30 kilometres from the district capital - Gujranwala...

 in the northwest. The surrounding villages are Kot Waris

Kot Waris

Kot Waris is a small village about 8 Kilometers from Ghakhar Mandi, Pakistan.There is a secondary school for both girls and boys....

, Rahwali, Adil Gharh, Nat Kalaan, Kotli Mango Singh, Kotli Sahian, Bado-Ki, Nora Kot, Per Kot, Banka chemma, Dab cheema, Faty Ghar and Ibbenwali Kakan and Chandigharh.Kot Inayat Khan. Punjabi

Punjabi language

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...

 is the local language, however English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

 are also common in businesses and governmental offices.
It specializes in durrees.

There are two high schools for boys; Government High School No. 1 (known as Normal High School)
and Government High School No.2 (previously named D.C. High School).

There is one high school "Government High School for Girls" which has got higher secondary school status now and conducting Intermediate classes as well. Besides these schools there are many privately owned schools in and around Ghakhar City(Mindi).

One campus of University of Education is established in the building of formerly known as College of Elementary Teachers is at GT road. In the University campus Bachelor & Master Degrees are being conducted.

An engineering university which is a sub campus of UET Lahore named "Rachna University of engineering and technology" is located at Jaura nearby Ghakhar City(Mandi).

Ghakhar City(Mandi) is one of the bigger rice markets in Punjab.

Ghakhar also has a historic train station in the middle of the city. The historic [Grand Trunk Road] (G.T. Road) which was built by Sher Shah Suri

Sher Shah Suri

Sher Shah Suri , birth name Farid Khan, also known as Sher Khan , was the founder of the short-lived Sur Empire in northern India, with its capital at Delhi, before its demise in the hands of the resurgent Mughal Empire...

 passes through the city.

Economy

The rural areas around Ghakhar produce a variety of agricultural goods including wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

. Ghakhar City(Mandi) has also have carpet/ Duree industry. Ghakhar City(Mandi) has also one of the biggest grid stations in Pakistan, which is supplying electricity to the local area as well as to some major cities of the Punjab.

Ghakhar City(Mandi) is becoming an industrial city, with industries such as ceramics, marble, maize, and furniture.

There is a library "Saddiqui Memorial Library" in the Town Committee. This library is established after the name of Ahmed Hassan Siddiqui who was a well reputed educationist of this area. He contributed a lot in raising educational standard as well as the sports level of high schools there. He remained headmaster of DC High School Ghakhar for a number of years.

Ghakhar is very much relegious city/

Education

Gakkhar is now getting well education.There are two Hihgschcools for boys and a higher secondry education schcool for girls.There is also a University college for Bsc. B.ed and M.ed classes.
There is a library "Saddiqui Memorial Library" in the Town Committee. This library is established after the name of Ahmed Hassan Siddiqui who was a well reputed educationist of this area.

History

The word "Ghakhar" is derived from a tribe called Gakhars

Gakhars

The Gakhars are an ancient warrior clan who have predominantly resided in what is present day northern Punjab and South-Western Kashmir, Pakistan. In particular in the cities of Rawalpindi, Jhelum and regions of Gilgit, Baltistan, Chitral, Khanpur and Mirpur, Pakistan...

, who is said to be the founding fathers of Ghakhar City. This tribe lived at the north bank of Jehlum River. This region is known as the Pothohar Plateau

Pothohar Plateau

The Pothohar Plateau is a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan and the western parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The area was the home of the Soanian Culture, which is evidenced by the discovery of fossils, tools, coins, and remains of ancient archaeological sites...

. This tribe was known for its warriors. The Gakhars opposed the foreign rule on Hindustan

Hindustan

Hindustan or Indostan, literal translation "Land of River Sindhu ", is one of the popular names of South Asia. It can also mean "the land of the Hindus"...

, especially Pothohar region.

The Gakhars were fierce warriors and fought against many rulers in the past including Sher Shah Suri. He built the Rohtas Fort

Rohtas Fort

Rohtas Fort is a garrison fort built by the great Afghan king Sher Shah Suri. This fort is about 4 km in circumference and the first example of the successful amalgamation of Pashtun and Hindu architecture in the Indian Subcontinent.-Name of fort:...

 near the Jhelum River

Jhelum River

Jehlum River or Jhelum River , ) is a river that flows in India and Pakistan. It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab, and passes through Jhelum District...

 to stop the opposition of Gakhars against his rule. After his death, the Mughal emperor Humayun

Humayun

Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor who ruled present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India from 1530–1540 and again from 1555–1556. Like his father, Babur, he lost his kingdom early, but with Persian aid, he eventually regained an even larger one...

 reorganised his army and made an agreement with Gakhars. The agreement was that if Humayun is victorious and occupies Delhi, he would grant them the region ten miles south of Chenab River

Chenab River

The Chenab River چنRiver' آب) is a major river of Jammu and Kashmir and the Punjab in Pakistan. It forms in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir into the plains of the Punjab, Pakistan...

.

Therefore, after his success, Gakhars established their state called Ghakhar. Borders of this state were recognized by building a post which can still be seen near Ghakhar Grid Station.

Ghakhar was attacked and destroyed by many conquerors and was rebuilt. Due to its importance to the stability of the rulers, many rulers including Ranjit Singh

Ranjit Singh

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.-Early life:...

attacked Ghakhar three times. For that same reason not many preferred to live in such a dangerous area in the past. Over the years Ghakhar has grown and now its area is about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi). Ghakhar Mandi is in tehsil Wazirabad and district Gujranwala.

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