Narowal District
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Narowal District
ضِلع نارووال | |
|---|---|
 Location of Narowal in Punjab. | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province | Punjab |
| Headquarters | Narowal |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2,337 km2 (902 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 1,265,097 |
| • Density | 538/km2 (1,390/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
| Number of Tehsils | 3 |
Narowal District (Urdu: ضِلع نارووال), is a district in the province of Punjab of Pakistan. Narowal city is the capital of the district. During the British rule, Narowal was the town of Raya Khas tehsil of Sialkot District. Narowal District formed in 1991, when the two tehsils of Narowal and Shakargarh were split off from Sialkot District.[2]
This is the historic place where the Guru Nanak Ji departured from this world on 23rd Assu, Samvat 1596 (22nd September 1529 AD). It's called Dera Baba Nanak, Kartarpur and also Dera Sahib railway station on the way of Narowal to Shakargarh railway route.
History
District Narowal came into existence on 1 July 1991. There is no documentary history available regarding the name of Narowal. According to legends, town Narowal was founded by Nar Singh. About 500 years ago in the era of Sikandar Lodhi in the year 1488, Hindus belonging to the Aror tribe of Multan District embraced Islam in the hands of Habibullah Shah, a saint of the area. Nar Singh of the said tribe met Shah Shamash Tabraiz as per direction of the said saint. Nar Singh being desirous to build a new city requested Shah Shamash Tabraiz to pray for the completion of his desire and noble task. Shah Shamash Tabraiz sent his own son along with said Nar Singh towards Narowal. The tribe of said Nar Singh stationed permanently in the vicinity of Narowal. Later on the city was gradually known as Narowal. During British Rule Narowal was a town of the Raya Tehsil of Sialkot District, after independence from Britain in 1947 Narowal became tehsil headquarters - in 1991 the district of Sialkot was bifurcated, Narowal then became the capital of the newly formed Narowal District.
Administration
The district is administratively divided into the following three tehsils (subdivisions), which contain a total of 74 Union Councils:[3]
| Tehsil | No. of Unions |
|---|---|
| Narowal | 28 |
| Shakargarh | 28 |
| Zafarwal | 18 |
| Total | 74 |
Geography
The district is bounded on the northwest by Sialkot District, on the north by Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, on the southeast by the Gurdaspur District(India) pathankot District (Republic of India), on the south by Amritsar district (Republic of India) and on the southwest by Sheikhupura District in Pakistan.
The total area of the district is approximately 2,337 square kilometres. Prior to the creation of Zafarwal Tehsil in July 2009,[4] Narowal Tehsil occupied 1,065 square kilometres while the remaining area (1,272 square kilometres) fell in Shakargarh Tehsil. According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, Narowal District's population was 1,256,097, of which only 12.11% were urbans.[5]
Demography
According to the 1998 census, the district has a population of 1,265,000, 12% of which is urban.[1]: 19 The predominant language is Punjabi, which was the first language[6] of 98% of the population, while Urdu accounted for 1.2%.[1]: 24
People from the Narowal District
- Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani revolutionary poet.[7]
- Ahsan Iqbal, politician
- Chaudhry Naseer Ahmad Malhi, One of the founding fathers of Pakistan and the first education minister of Pakistan
- Dev Anand, Bollywood actor, director & producer
- Abrar Ul Haq, musician and politician
- Afzal Ahsan Randhawa, writer
- Saqib Idrees Taj, politician
- Chaudhry Abdul Rahim, politician
- Daniyal Aziz, politician
- Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar Khan, longest serving Parliamentarian in the history of Pakistan.
- Z. A. Suleri, political journalist
- Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed, justice
- Adnan Ilyas, cricketer
- Des Raj, cricket umpire
References
- ^ a b c 1998 District Census report of Narowal. Census publication. Vol. 58. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 1999.
- ^ "Narowal - Punjab Portal". Retrieved 15 December 2016.
- ^ "Tehsils & Unions in the District of Narowal". National Reconstruction Bureau, Government of Pakistan.
- ^ "Zafarwal to become tehsil on July 1". Dawn. 2 February 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ Urban Resource Centre - Population table
- ^ "Mother tongue": defined as the language of communication between parents and children and recorded of each individual.
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/news/605627/his-family
