Sialkot

Sialkot (Punjabi, Urdu: سيالكوٹ‎) is a city in, and the administrative headquarters for, Sialkot District, located in the northeast of the Punjab, Pakistan. Sialkot is Pakistan's twelfth most populous city. The city area of Sialkot is 19 square kilometres (7.3 sq mi).

History of Sialkot

Medieval Sialkot

Sialkot became a part of the Muslim Sultanate of Delhi when the Afghan noble Sultan Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Ghauri conquered Punjab in 1185. He was unable to conquer Lahore but left a garrison in Sialkot. Later Sultan Khusro Malik tried to capture the city but failed to do so. Sialkot then became a part of the Muslim Mughal Empire. The Mughal commander Usman Ghani Raza, advanced towards Delhi by way of Sialkot which capitulated to his armies.

Zaheer-ud-Din Muhammad Babur records:

At the end of the Mughal dynasty the suburbs and the outlying districts and areas of Sialkot were left to themselves. Sialkot itself was appropriated by powerful families of Pashtuns from Multan, Afghanistan and Swat, the Kakayzai and Sherwani, and another family from Quetta. In 1748 the four districts of Sialkot, Sambrial, Pasrur and Daska were given to the Afghan Pashtun ruler Ahmed Shah Durrani and the area was amalgamated into the Afghan empire. After 1751 Ahmed Shah Durrani left his son Taimur to rule Lahore and the surrounding districts. During that time Raja Ranjit Deo of Jammu expanded his dominion over the peripheral areas but not the city of Sialkot. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Sikh invaded and occupied Sialkot for about 40 years, though it was held by a Pashtun clan for some time during the decline of the Durrani regime.