About Sangrur

About Sangrur

The town of Sangrur is said to have been founded by one Sanghu, a jat, about 400 years ago and named after him. Formerly, a small village of mud houses, it was chosen as his capital in 1827 by Raja Sangat Singh, as it was close to Patiala and Nabha, the headquaters of the other two Phulkian States . Sangrur is a city in the Indian state of Punjab, India. It is the headquarters of the Sangrur district. The Sangrur District as of today comprises parts of a few erstwhile distinct administrative units, the Philkian States if Jind, Nabha and Patiala: the Mohammadan State of Malerkotla; and some parts of then district of Ludhiana. It is interesting to note that Sangrur itself was earlier a part of Nabha State.It is located at the intersection of the roads connecting Delhi with Ludhiana and Patiala with Bathinda, at a distance of 80 km from Ludhiana and 48 km from Patiala. The Ludhiana-Jakhal railway line passes through it. The Sangrur district was earlier predominantly rural area in the southern part of Punjab. Now its running with high glance educational and international business spot. Only 2% people below to povertiy line.

The district can hardly boast of any place of tourist interest, although there are a few places of some historical or religious import ance. The people by and large are Godfearing and have maintained guru-dwaras and mandirs of historical importance. The place has many historical sites and also a few temples and gurudwaras. The main attraction in the place is the Bansar Garden and this is located in the city itself. The Bansar Garden also has a marble structure, which is called the Baradari. The city of Sangrur also has a museum and this is also a popular tourist attraction in the place. The Igdah Malerkotla is a place that is located outside the town and it is a pristine building that has been built with a combination of many different styles of architecture.

History of Sangrur

The earliest settlement at the site of Sangrur is believed to have begun around 2,300 B.C. Attracted by the fertile soil and availability of water, people from Sindh and Balochistan started moving and following the path of the Satluj or the Ghagger settled at Rohira. They started living in thatched huts on the virgin soil, before long they started building houses of sun-dried bricks. By about 2,000 B.C, a new set of people is believed to have settled at the site. Their pottery was more Surdy and their equipment superior. The houses were well laid out and were fairly spacious. Sangrur is said to have been founded by one Sanghu, a Jatt, about four hundred years back. At one point in history, Sangrur was a part of Nabha state but during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh it was forcefully taken from Nabha state and gifted to Jind State. The Maharaja of Jind made Sangrur winter capital of Jind state while its summer capital was Khunga Kothi, a place near Jind.

After the fall of Sirhind in A.D. 1763 when the Sikhs defeated Zain Khan, the Governor of Sirhind, a protege of Ahmed Shah Abdali, and the province of Sirhind was partitioned among the Phulkian Sardars, the town of Sangrur became a part of Nabha State. However, on the occasion of marriage of Sardar Mahan Singh Shukar-chakya, the father of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, with Raj Kaur, the daughter of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind, a quarrel arose between the two Phulkian states of Jind and Nabha when some high officials of Nabha insulted some members of the marriage party passing through Nabha territory. Subsequently, Raja Gajpat of Jind from Raja Hamir Singh of Nabha snatched the town of Sangrur. The town was later on developed into a beautiful city. Raja Raghbir Singh constructed a bazar on the lines of Jaipur town (Rajasthan) with pucca shops, gardens, tanks, temples and other public and religious buildings; a metalled road was also constructed around the city. He also constructed gurudwaras and mandirs on all the gates.

Prior to the partition of the country, Sangrur as headquarter of the Princely State of Jind. It was made a district only on 20 August 1948 when PEPSU (Patiala and East Punjab State Union) was created. It then comprised Sangrur, sanam, Narwana and jind tahsils. The district went under a territorial change when Barnala District was merged in it on 1 September 1953. It then had five tehsils viz. Sangrur, Malerkotla, Barnala, Jind and Narwana. The PEPSU was merged with the Punjab State on 1 November 1956.

On reorganization of the State of Punjab on 1 November 1966, the district underwent a further territorial change. Jind and Narwana tahsils were allocated to the newly created Haryana State. Tahsil Sunam, which was degraded to a sub-tahsil at the time of merger of Barnala District, was again made a tahsil in 1970. Since then, it comprises four tahsils, viz. Barnala, Malerkotla, Sangrur and Sunam. It is bounded by Ludhiana and Firozpur districts in the north, by Bhatinda district in the west, by Patiala district in the east and by Jind district (State Haryana) in the south.