Khanewal

Khanewal (Urdu: خانیوال‎), (Punjabi: خانیوال) is a city and the capital of Khanewal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the host city to the second largest railway station in Pakistan. Khanewal is located at 30°18'0N 71°55'0E with an altitude of 128 metres.

Khanewal is named after the earliest settlers here who belonged to the caste ‘Daha Rajput’ (A Rajput Caste) and used ‘Khan’ in their names. That is how the city came to be known as ‘khan-e-wal’.

History

From the beginning of the 7th century Rajput kingdoms dominated Eastern portions of Pakistan and northern India. In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin, In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in Kabul in 1005, and followed it by the conquests of some western Punjab region. Eastern Regions of Punjab from Multan to the Rawalpindi in the north remained under Rajput rule until 1193. The Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire later ruled the region. The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region.