Kasur
قصور
Qasūr
City
Kasur Museum on the Lahore–Kasur Road
Kasur Museum on the Lahore–Kasur Road
Municipal Committee Kasur
Municipal Committee Emblem
Kasur is located in Punjab, Pakistan
Kasur
Kasur
Kasur is located in Pakistan
Kasur
Kasur
Coordinates: 31°7′0″N 74°27′0″E / 31.11667°N 74.45000°E / 31.11667; 74.45000
Country Pakistan
ProvincePunjab, Pakistan Punjab
DivisionLahore
DistrictKasur
Founded byKheshgi Pashtun tribe
Government
 • Chairman District CouncilNone (Vacant)[1]
 • DCArshad Bhatti[2]
Elevation
218 m (715 ft)
Population
 (2020)[3]
 • City382,000
 • Rank24th, Pakistan
DemonymKasuri
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Calling code049
Websitekasur.punjab.gov.pk

Kasur (Punjabi, Urdu: قصور; pronounced [kəsuːɾ] ⓘ; also romanized as Qasūr; from pluralized Arabic word Qasr meaning "palaces" or "forts"[4]) is a city to the south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The city serves as the headquarters of Kasur District. Kasur is the 16th largest city in Punjab and 24th largest in Pakistan, by population.[5] It is also known for being the burial place of the 17th-century Sufi-poet Bulleh Shah. It is farther west of the border with neighboring India, and bordered to Lahore, Sheikhupura and Okara Districts of Punjab.[6][7][8] The city is an aggregation of 26 fortified hamlets overlooking the alluvial valleys of the Beas and Sutlej rivers.[9]

Etymology

Kasur derives its name from the Arabic and Persian word qasur (قصور),[10][11] meaning "palaces," or "forts." According to a legend, Kasur was founded by, and named for, Prince Kusha of the Ramayana,[12] son of the Hindu deities Rama and Sita. According to that account, the city was named Kashawar along with its neighbouring city, Lahore which was named Lahawar. Historical records reject an ancient founding of the city and dates it back to 1525, when it was found as a fortified settlement.[13][14][15]

History

The hilltop shrine of Shah Kamal Chisti is a popular shrine in Kasur.

Early

The Kasur region was an agricultural region with forests during the Indus Valley civilization. The Kasur region was ruled variously by the Maurya Empire, Indo-Greek kingdom, Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, White Huns, Kushano-Hephthalites and Kabul Shahi kingdoms. The region is also said to have been visited by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang in 633 AD. Alexander Cunningham writes about his visit describing the place filled with tombs, mosques, and thickly covered with ruins. The city which is most commonly associated with Kasur was described as being situated somewhere on the right bank of the Beas (Sutlej) opposite to the city of Lahore.[16]

Arrival of Islam

Ghaznavids

In 1005 CE, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, took over the region under the Ghaznavid dynasty. This led to the introduction of Islam in the Northern Punjab area, after being conquered. Sufi missionaries were sent to the region in order to preach Islam which made the Punjab region predominantly Muslim.[17] The city was later under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals.

Kheshgi Dynasty

Kasur was established as a city by the Kheshgi tribe of Pashtuns from Kabul who had migrated to the region in 1525 from Afghanistan[18][19] during the reign of Babur and built several small forts in the area, establishing the Kheshgi chieftaincy.[20][21][22] The city was built as an aggregation of about twelve fortified hamlets, known as kots (کوٹ) forming a considerable town. The 12 mahallahs (abodes) were built by the order of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, and named after the heads of various Pashtun families. Some of these forts have been severely damaged over time.[23][24]

Under Mughal rule, the city flourished and was notable for commerce and trade. It became the home of the legendary Sufi saint and celebrated poet, Bulleh Shah, who is buried in a large shrine in the city. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Kasur region fell into a power vacuum. Kasur was captured by Ahmad Shah Durrani of the Durrani Empire.

Sikh

The Sikhs sacked the city in 1747 under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia,[25] and again in 1763 after Durrani shifted to Afghanistan.[26] The Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh, captured the city in 1807 in the Battle of Kasur.[27] During the First Anglo-Sikh War, the city was occupied by Company forces on February 10, 1846.[28]

British

During the British Raj, the irrigation canals were built that irrigated large areas of the Kasur District. Communal disturbances between Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims erupted in 1908 over the issue of meat sales.[29] Riots erupted following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on 13 April 1919, leading to the destruction of civic infrastructure, including the city's railway station.[30] Martial law was imposed on 16 April 1919 in response to the riots.[31]

Modern

Refugees at Balloki, Kasur during the Partition of British India in 1947

After the formation of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India, while Muslim refugees migrated from India and settled in Kasur. Kasur emerged as a major centre of leather tanning after independence, and is home to 1/3rd of Pakistan's tanning industry.[32]

Kasur is one of the biggest market and trading hub in the country of hides collection and leather tanning and processing. In recent times, hide traders in Kasur were engaged in smuggling donkey hides, a medicinal demand, to China via Karachi Port.[33]

In January 2018, two protestors were killed in rioting over the rape and murder of Zainab Ansari, a seven-year-old girl. There had been 12 similar murders in the past two years, five of which have been linked to one suspect, leading to widespread anger at police failures.[34][35]

In November 2020, Russia sponsored a 1,122-km high pressure RLNG pipeline from Port Qasim, Karachi to Kasur.[36] In May 2021, Islamabad and Moscow agreed to change the name of the North-South Gas Pipeline Project to "Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline".[37]

Geography

Kasur is bordered to the north by Lahore, by India to the south and east, it also has borders with Okara and Nankana Sahab district. The city is adjacent to the border of Ganda Singh Wala, a border with its own flag-lowering ceremony.

Ecoregion

Kasur is situated in a subtropical thorn woodland biome (Northwestern thorn scrub forests) and in the Deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion according to the World Wide Fund for Nature's map of ecological regions in the world.

Climate

Kasur has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh). Kasur has extremes of climate; the summer season begins from April and continues till September. June is the hottest month. The mean maximum and minimum temperature for this month are about 45 °C (113.0 °F) and 27 °C (80.6 °F) respectively. The winter seasons lasts from November to February. January is the coldest month. The mean maximum and minimum temperatures for the coldest month are 22 °C (71.6 °F) and 0 °C (32.0 °F) respectively. With rainfall towards the end of June, monsoon conditions appear and during the following two and a half months the rainy season alternates with sultry weather. The winter rain falls during January, February and March, ranging from 23 millimetres (0.91 in) to 31 millimetres (1.2 in). Water logging and salinity have affected a large area of the district, making the underground water brackish.[38]

Climate data for Kasur, Pakistan
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 27.0
(80.6)		 31.0
(87.8)		 37.0
(98.6)		 43.0
(109.4)		 47.0
(116.6)		 48.0
(118.4)		 42.0
(107.6)		 39.0
(102.2)		 39.0
(102.2)		 37.0
(98.6)		 38.0
(100.4)		 29.0
(84.2)		 48.0
(118.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 21.0
(69.8)		 22.0
(71.6)		 28.0
(82.4)		 35.0
(95.0)		 39.0
(102.2)		 39.0
(102.2)		 36.0
(96.8)		 35.0
(95.0)		 35.0
(95.0)		 32.0
(89.6)		 27.0
(80.6)		 22.0
(71.6)		 30.9
(87.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 14
(57)		 19
(66)		 19
(66)		 24
(75)		 27
(81)		 24
(75)		 21
(70)		 25
(77)		 30
(86)		 27
(81)		 20
(68)		 18
(64)		 22
(72)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 6.0
(42.8)		 10.0
(50.0)		 14.0
(57.2)		 20.0
(68.0)		 24.0
(75.2)		 27.0
(80.6)		 27.0
(80.6)		 26.6
(79.9)		 24.0
(75.2)		 18.3
(64.9)		 12.0
(53.6)		 6.6
(43.9)		 18.0
(64.3)
Record low °C (°F) −2.0
(28.4)		 2.0
(35.6)		 6.0
(42.8)		 9.0
(48.2)		 13.0
(55.4)		 13.0
(55.4)		 13.0
(55.4)		 13.0
(55.4)		 10.0
(50.0)		 6.0
(42.8)		 3.0
(37.4)		 −1.0
(30.2)		 −2.0
(28.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 0
(0)		 3
(0.1)		 0
(0)		 3
(0.1)		 0
(0)		 5
(0.2)		 5
(0.2)		 6
(0.2)		 1
(0.0)		 1
(0.0)		 6
(0.2)		 0
(0)		 30
(1)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 279 252 341 360 403 390 341 310 330 341 300 310 3,957
Source 1: MyWeather2 [39]
Source 2: Weather Spark [40]

Demography


The population of Kasur is 382,000 as of 2020. The principal tribes residing here include the Rajput, Jats, Arains, Dogars, Ansari, Sheikh, Pashtuns etc. Among them there are also a concentration of Kashmiris who had migrated earlier, during partition. There are also Moeens or artisans; they include Christians, blacksmiths (Lohar), carpenters (Tarkhan), ceramicists (Kumhar), barbers, weavers etc.[41]

Religion

The population in Kasur is predominantly Muslim with some small Christian and Hindu minorities. In a census conducted by the Office of the Census Commissioner in 1951, the result was that 96% of the population of Kasur was Muslim with 0.004 being Hindu minorities and 0.034 being Christian minorities.[42]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ "Administrators appointed: Dissolution of local govts notified". Dawn (newspaper). 1 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  2. ↑ "Punjab CM appoints juniors as DCs in 22 districts". Pakistan Observer (newspaper). 6 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "Kasur, Pakistan Metro Area Population 1950-2020". www.macrotrends.net.
  4. ↑ "Kasur | Punjab Portal". punjab.gov.pk. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  5. ↑ "Pakistan: Provinces and Major Cities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de.
  6. ↑ Chopra, Gulshan Lall (1940). Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Government Printing.
  7. ↑ Garg, Sanjay (30 August 2018). Studies in Indo-Muslim History by S.H. Hodivala Volume II: A Critical Commentary on Elliot and Dowson's History of India as Told by Its Own Historians (Vols. V-VIII) & Yule and Burnell's Hobson-Jobson. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-75777-8. ... Kheshgi, which was the name of the Afghān tribe to which Naz̤r Bahādur Khān belonged (M.U. III. 777, l. 14). The Kheshgis were famous for their piety and integrity and were settled round about Lāhor and Kāsūr
  8. ↑ Low, D. A. (18 June 1991). Political Inheritance of Pakistan. Springer. ISBN 978-1-349-11556-3. The third family, the Kheshgi Afghans of Kasur, had held distinguished posts under the Mughals since ...
  9. ↑ "Kasur | Pakistan". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  10. ↑ Singh, Maya; Clark, Henry Martyn (1895). The Panjábí Dictionary. Munshi Gulab Singh & sons. Kasur.
  11. ↑ Chopra, Gulshan Lall (1940). Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Government Printing.
  12. ↑ Nadiem, Ihsan N (2005). Punjab: land, history, people. Al-Faisal Nashran. p. 111. ISBN 9789695034347. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  13. ↑ Nadiem, Ihsan H. (2005). Punjab: land, history, people. al-Faisal Nashran. ISBN 9789695032831.
  14. ↑ Chopra, Gulshan Lall (1940). Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Government Printing.
  15. ↑ "History of Lahore and Kasur تاریخ لاہور، قصور". Salaam One سلام. 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  16. ↑ Cunningham, Sir Alexander (1871). The Ancient Geography of India: I. The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang. Trübner and Company.
  17. ↑ "History | DPO Kasur". dpokasur.punjabpolice.gov.pk. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  18. ↑ Chopra, Gulshan Lall (1940). Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Government Printing.
  19. ↑ Garg, Sanjay (30 August 2018). Studies in Indo-Muslim History by S.H. Hodivala Volume II: A Critical Commentary on Elliot and Dowson's History of India as Told by Its Own Historians (Vols. V-VIII) & Yule and Burnell's Hobson-Jobson. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-75777-8. ... Kheshgi, which was the name of the Afghān tribe to which Naz̤r Bahādur Khān belonged (M.U. III. 777, l. 14). The Kheshgis were famous for their piety and integrity and were settled round about Lāhor and Kāsūr
  20. ↑ Sikand, Yoginder (19 July 2011). Beyond The Border. ISBN 9789352141326.
  21. ↑ Nadiem, Ihsan H. (2005). Punjab: land, history, people. al-Faisal Nashran. ISBN 9789695032831.
  22. ↑ Low, D. A. (18 June 1991). Political Inheritance of Pakistan. Springer. ISBN 978-1-349-11556-3. The third family, the Kheshgi Afghans of Kasur, had held distinguished posts under the Mughals since ...
  23. ↑ "Kasur City Profile | PDF | Water Resources | Sewage". Scribd. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  24. ↑ "Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan". Travel My Pakistan. 2014-07-22. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  25. ↑ Singha, Dr H. S. (2005). Sikh Studies. Hemkunt Press. ISBN 9788170102588.
  26. ↑ Lansford, Tom (2017-02-16). Afghanistan at War: From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598847604.
  27. ↑ Lansford, Tom (2017-02-16). Afghanistan at War: From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598847604.
  28. ↑ Singh, Amarpal (2010-08-15). The First Anglo-Sikh War. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-2038-1.
  29. ↑ Khawaja, Sarfraz (1985). Sikhs of the Punjab, 1900-1925: a study of confrontation & political mobilization. Modern Book Depot.
  30. ↑ Chopra, Gulshan Lall (1940). Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Government Printing.
  31. ↑ Punjab Through the Ages. Sarup & Sons. 2007. p. 133. ISBN 9788176257381. kasur.
  32. ↑ Heiden, Pete (2011-09-01). Pakistan. ABDO Publishing Company. ISBN 9781617878275.
  33. ↑ Ansari, Afzal (2016-11-14). "Some Kasur traders run racket: Donkey hide still 'a rage'". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  34. ↑ "Zainab murder: Riots in Pakistan's Kasur after child rape and killing". BBC News. 10 January 2018.
  35. ↑ "Pakistani anchor goes on air with daughter to protest minor's brutal rape and murder". The Times of India. 11 January 2018.
  36. ↑ Mustafa, Khalid (19 November 2020). "Karachi-Kasur gas pipeline project: Pakistan, Russia sign amended gas pipeline accord". The News International.
  37. ↑ "North-South Gas Pipeline Project to be called 'Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline'". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  38. ↑ "Climate | Punjab Portal".
  39. ↑ "Kasur Climate History". Weather2. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  40. ↑ "Climate and Average Weather Year Round in Kasūr". WeatherSpark. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  41. ↑ "Our History | Kasur". kasur.punjab.gov.pk. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  42. ↑ CENSUS OF RAKISTAN, 1951 (PDF).


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