About Nawanshahr

About Nawanshahr

Nawanshahr is a city that became a district which was carved out of Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar districts of Punjab in November 7, 1995 on the auspicious occasion of birthday of Sh. Guru Nanak Dev Ji as the sixteenth district of Punjab State. Now it is a municipal council in Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar district in the Indian state of Punjab. It is the headquarters of Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar District. Nawanshahr district is situated in 31.8o N and 76.7o E part of Punjab on the right bank of mighty river Sutlej. The Distance of State capital Chandigarh is of 92 Kms. Four districts surround Nawanshahr District.

Nawanshahr is a very fast-expanding city. It has one government hospital, many private hospital with new technology, and very good doctors from all professions. People of this district are economically sound. Large numbers of families from the district have settled in countries like Canada, UK, and USA etc. Consequently huge remittance is being received by their kith and kin back in India which contribute to the economic development and prosperity of the district.All the towns and the villages are well connected by roads. Nawanshahr has also rail track connecting it with Jalandhar, Rahon and Jaijon. District enjoys the rare honour of being the native village of Shahid Bhagat Singh whose ancestral village Khatkar Kalan falls in it.

History of Nawanshahr

The Ghorewaha Rajputs were propertiers or part propertiers of Rahon, Bhaddi, Jadla et al. Langroya is very famous village just five kilometers from Nawan Shahr. Their rule started in 1070 with Raja Hawaha Singh and held huge territories in Nawanshahr, Jallandhar, Ludhiana and Hoshirapur and continued as Raja of Machiwara till a long time.Nawanshahr is said to have been built during the reign of Alauddin Khilji (1295-1316) by his Afghan military chief Nausher Khan. Previously it was called “Nausar” but, with the passage of time, the town came to be known as “Nawanshahr”. Nausher Khan had constructed five forts known as havelis, whose remains still exist.

On September 27, 2008 in Khatkar Kalan 7 kilometres from Nawanshar, to honor freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, the Punjab government announced that a district in the state will be named after him. The announcement was made by Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal at a function in the ancestral village of the martyr to mark his 101st birth anniversary. Nawanshahr district would be renamed as Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar.