Jauharabad
Jauharabad
جوہرآباد | |
|---|---|
City | |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Province | Punjab |
| District | Khushab |
| Population | |
| • Total | 70,000(approximately) |
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
| Calling code | 0454 |
| Number of Union Councils | 6 [2] |
| Punjab Government Website | |
Jauharabad (Urdu: جوہرآباد) is a planned city and district headquarters of Khushab District in the Punjab province of Pakistan.
Jauharabad is named after Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar, a prominent figure from the Pakistan independence movement. The etymology of the Urdu word Jauharabad also means "atomic city" in English, although this is purely coincidental as the town was planned and constructed 33 years prior to the construction of the nearby Khushab Nuclear Complex, which lies 30 km south of Jauharabad.
History
Jauharabad was developed in 1953 under a master plan. Because of its planned design, open spaces and wide avenues, the district headquarters of Khushab District was shifted to Jauharabad from Khushab city.It was also planned to be made capital city of Pakistan before Islamabad. Jauharabad is one of the few planned urban settlements in Pakistan (others being Faisalabad, Islamabad and Gwadar), which have been developed from scratch under an urban master plan.
The famous Islamic thinker and scholar and Jewish convert to Islam, Muhammad Asad (formerly Leopold Weiss), author of The Road to Mecca, The Message of the Qur'an and Principles of State and Government in Islam, stayed at Jauharabad in the 1950s, residing at the bungalow of the town's prominent resident, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan who, on the advice of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, had established the Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes first in Pathankot, India and, after Pakistan's independence, in Jauharabad.[3]
Geography
Jauharabad lies at the confluence of the Thal Desert and the Potohar in flat agricultural territory immediately south of the Salt Range, marking the end of the Pothohar Plateau and the start of the Punjab plains. The Jhelum River passes 7 km southeast of Jauharabad and on the west of Jauharabad lies the Thal Desert. On the east of Jahaurabad is the Khushab Reserve Forest, spread over approximately 4 km2.
Education
There are many private and public sector schools in Jauharabad, including Jauhar Memorial Govt. High School, District Public School and Inter College (DPS&IC), Falcon House Junior Cambridge School, Fauji Foundation School and College, Government Technical High school, Superior College Jauharabad, Dar-e-Arqam School, Rashid Minhas Public High School, Punjab College,Unique Model School Naseem Colony and University of Education Lahore. There is a degree college for boys and girls.
Language
As per the 1998 census of Pakistan, 96% of the inhabitants of the Khushab district speak Punjabi language, and 4% speak another language.
There are a great variety of Punjabi dialects here:
- Shah puri (the main dialect of the district)
- Pothohari (northern hilly side)
- Thalochi (southern areas)
- Majhi or standard (in cities)
- Jandali (western areas near Mianwali)
Other languages include:
- Urdu is the mother tongue of a few people. Being the national language of Pakistan, it is spoken and understood by a sizeable population.
- English is understood and spoken by the educated elite.
References
- ^ http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_major_cities/pop_major_cities.html Archived 2009-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ www.nrb.gov.pk - /zila_membership/. Retrieved 5 April 2006.
- ^ Azam, K.M., Hayat-e-Sadeed: Bani-e-Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan (A Righteous Life: Founder of Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan), Lahore: Nashriyat, 2010 (583 pp., Urdu) [ISBN 978-969-8983-58-1]