Jump to content

Kunjah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Adeelbutt88 (talk | contribs) at 08:11, 3 August 2010 (→External links). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Kunjah
Village
Country Pakistan
ProvincePunjab
Government
 • NazimRana Maqsood Ahmad
Elevation
217 m (712 ft)
Population
 (1998)
 • Total30,000
 • Estimate 
(2008)
40,000
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Calling code053
Number of towns1
Number of Union Councils1

Kunjah (Urdu/Punjabi: کنجاہ ) is a village in Pakistan located in Gujrat District in the Punjab Province, the inhabitants are called Kunjahi.

History

Various accounts date the founding of Kunjah [1] anywhere from the 4th century BCE during the time of Alexander the Great to the 8th cent

Heading text

Heading text

ury CE. Kunjah is named after a raja named Kunjpal who is also often credited to be the founder of the town. Islam was brought to the region by the Umayyad Caliphate early in the 8th century and soon replaced Hinduism as the dominant religion. Kunjah grew in prominence in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Starting during the Muslim period, Kunjah was considered a strategically important town. Ibrahim Bin Masood used Kunjah as his main base for his attack of Hindustan. In the Mughal period , King Aurangzeb Alamgir also visited Kunjah [2][3], and during his stay in Kunjah he built a mosque that is now named after him.

Kunjah prospered during the time of the Sikh Empire. In that period the town was home to a number of gardens, two royal palaces and a royal bathing pool connected by underground tunnels, and a baradari that still stands today.there are many kinds of families exp wraich gondal dhilo & cheema are the popular families in kunjah. Many people are attach with agriculture and some are in army and the other diportments of Pakistan govt.

Demographics

Kunjah Street Map in 2007.

According to 1998 Population and Housing Census, population was estimated to be 30,000 [4] but now it is estimated to be 35,000, with about 4500 households. The main religion is Sunni Islam, with a small Shi'a minority and a few Christians. There are about 50 mosques.Many residents live abroad, mainly in Greece.

Politics and Government

Kunjah lies in the NA 105 Gujrat-II halqa of Punjab for the national assembly elections[5]. Aside from the local government and a regional police station[6],a police post in the centre of the city[7] the national government is represented by a military signals station and a WAPDA subdivision.

Education

The government operates seven schools: two primary schools for boys, two high schools for girls and one for boys[8], a boys higher secondary school and a girls inter-college[9]. There are about 25 private schools also Government Zamindar College(Gujrat) and University of Gujrat located in Gujrat (Hafiz Hayat) is the main centre of higher education.There are also English medium schools as well e.g. Master Meraj-u-Din (Ghouri) Memorial School, Progressive Public School, The Educators

Economy

Most economic activity revolves around agriculture. The primary crops are wheat, rice, tobacco and vegetables. Farms are supplied with irrigation from the Upper Jehlum Canal, and tobacco production is supported by two tobacco factories and a research substation[10]. The main bazaar is a regional trade centre consisting of 500 shops.

Culture

People of Kunjah believed that The famous Sohni among the Sohni Mahiwal folklore came from Kunjah but the intellectual Dr. Qureshi Ahmad Hussain Qiladari had other ideas and he contradicted from this myth.[11] For now Kunjah has a modest type of culture i.e. it is semi-urban type. Both men and women wear shalwar qameez.

Fairs & Festivals

An annual fair is held in Kunjah on 4 August. It is held at the shrine of a cleric Shah Shujah Bukhari so it is also known to be an urs. Other festivals are also held but they are losing their touch now a days due to the busy lives of the modern days and children getting more interested in the TV films and Computer Games rather than the oldies.

Sports

Cricket like all the other parts of the country is the game of choice for majority. Along with cricket, indoor games like snooker and billiard are also played. Some other games like chess, badminton and football are also played seasonally.Volleyball is being played in adjacent Villages. Specially a Village named Dhuroorkey, team of Volleyball is very famous in that region.

Transport

Only road transport is available. There is no railway station. The transport is available only in form of wagons and buses. Along with these the cars are available as taxis. The transport is available for Gujrat City and to other small towns surrounding Kunjah.

Notable people from Kunjah

  • Master Mian Mehraj-ud-Din Ghouri was a famous mathematician of his time and taught mathematics at various institutions including Zamindar Degree College, Gujrat[12] where, among many other distinguished people, Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry (the 5th President of Pakistan) remained his student[13]. He was also famous for his knowledge of Islam and used to deliver lectures at the Fazal Ilahi mosque (now Ghousia Masjid) founded by his father Mian Fazal Ilahi Ghouri in Mohallah Eid Gah, Kunjah.
   Maj. Gen. Raheel Sharif brother of Maj. Shabbir Sharif (Shaheed).
  • Dr. Abdul Rahman Asif is a scientist (Toxicoproteomics & Stress Response Proteomics) at the Department of Clinical Chemistry, Goettingen Proteomics Forum, Georg-August-University, Germany [20].

A town of the Poets Kunjah have produced a number of (Shair's or) poets. The major and most of famous among them are:

  • Ghaneemat Kunjahi. Muhammad Akram Ghaneemat Kunjahi better known as Ghaneemat Kunjahi writer of Nairang e Ishq [21]; One of the greatest Persian poet history has ever produced. He wrote the famous Persian masnavi in 1685 [22] He was born and buried in Kunjah[23]
  • Shareef Kunjahi, (1915–2007) was one of the leading writers and poets of Punjabi language. He was among the first faculty members of the Department of Punjabi Language at University of Punjab[24] in 1970s and contributed to Punjabi literature as a poet, prose writer, teacher, research scholar, linguist, lexicographer and translator.


  • Prof. Anwar Masood The famous writer and poet has academic relationship with Kunjah. He was a teacher in the Government Islamia High School Kunjah.
  • Sushila Nayyar, also spelled 'Nayar' (1914–2000), was the younger sister of Pyarelal Nayyar, personal secretary to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and the Gandhis' personal physician. She was born in Kunjah in 1914.

Media

Transmission of Radio Awaz FM 105[25] and Cable Service Is Available. Print Media Weekly news paper KUNJAH TIMES

See also

References

  1. ^ Page no.2-5 on Book. Kiran Kiran Ghaneemat.
  2. ^ Introduction of Kunjah on the Starting Pages of Kiran Kiran Ghaneemat.
  3. ^ He built a mosque here in Kunjah during his stay which is known as the Alamgiri Mosque after his name
  4. ^ Population|http://web.archive.org/web/20071222134939/http://population.wn.com/country/Pakistan/Punjab/Kunjah
  5. ^ [www.hrcpelectoralwatch.org/punjab.cfm NA 105]
  6. ^ Kunjah Police Station Established In 1919
  7. ^ Police Posts in Gujrat
  8. ^ Schools and colleges list at pak fellow.com
  9. ^ HEMIS Colleges in district Gujrat
  10. ^ Pakistan Tobacco Board Research
  11. ^ Sohni Mahiwal, a romantic legend of Gujrat
  12. ^ Mera Kunjah
  13. ^ Vikipedia
  14. ^ History of the Punjab Regiment (1759 - 1981)", by Brig. Syed H.A. Rizvi
  15. ^ Sharif Story
  16. ^ Commonwealth Law Bulletin
  17. ^ University of Turku, Finland
  18. ^ University of the Punjab
  19. ^ Punjab University Gujranwala Campus
  20. ^ [1]
  21. ^ Ghaneemat
  22. ^ Heritage of Sufism
  23. ^ Ghaneemat Rest In Kunjah
  24. ^ Safir Rammah (2007), Sharif Kunjahi – Serving his language
  25. ^ Awaz Group of Radios - Broadcasting all around
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kunjah&oldid=376902596"