|
From being a small village
called Meer Hota in 1481 to later Lodiana and now Ludhiana, the city has
never been caught napping. Under theYodhas from the first to the fourth
century, it later came under the rule of Samudragupta. But the Original
Ludhianavis settled here much later in the ninth century. These were the
Rajputs from south and then the Turks and the Afghans who took the Bet area
of Sutlej on lease from Mohammad Gami. Later, the Sidhus, Gills, Sandhus and
the Grewals came from the jungles of Jagraon and camped here.
Sikandar Lodhi sent Yusaf and
Nihang to stop the approaching Baloachs. They crossed Sutlej and after
defeating Khokhars of Doaba, established Sultanpur Lodhi. Nihang stayed back
at village Meer Hota as Naib. He was the one who changed the name of the
village to Lodiana. Later, his grandson, Jalal Khan, built the Lodhi Fort
there. His two sons Aloo Khan and Khijar Khan divided among themselves the
area around the fort but were dethroned by Babur who even demolished
Nihang's tomb. That didn't end the travails of this town. During Akbar's
reign, it was a tehsil along with Tihara.
Hathur, Bhundri, Machiwara,
Payal and Doraha. Not many of us know that Guru Gobind Singhji traveled
through Jharsahib, Machiwara, Kanech, Alamgir, Lama Jatpura and Lakha and
finally at village Dina and wrote the famous Zafarnama in 1806. Maharaja
Ranjit Singh also came to Ludhiana twice. On the pretext of solving the
Patiala crisis, he won the area around Sahenewal and gifted 54 villages to
Raja Bhag Singh of Jind. Diwan Mohkam Singh was made the ruler. The Brits
too, traipsed along with Capt. Akhtar loni (1809-1815), an English political
agent, followed by Capt. Maney and Sir Matton (1833-1838). After the death
of Raja Sangat Singh, the Britishers captured 80 villages and Ludhiana came
under Assistant Political Agent. During the First English-Sikh War, there
were only 4,000 white soldiers. Ranjodh Singh Ladwa burnt this cantonment
and looted the English at Baddowal. At Aliwal's War, however, Henry Smith
defeated Ranjodh Singh.
The 1857 sepoy mutiny didn't
amount to much as Deputy Commissioner Ricket successfully thwarted it with
the help of Nawab of Malerkotla, Nabha patti. The Bet Muslims, however,
revolted while urban Hindus and Sikhs remained pro government. In fact,
fellow Ludhianvi Rai Kishan Chand Dhandari was the official advocate of the
English at Lahore! Bassian Kothi was the biggest armour at that time and
many secret agents lived in that area. Maharaja Dilip Singh was also kept
for one night at Bassian Kothi. Kaonkey Kalan is another of the historical
places in Ludhiana where antique coins were found along with bricks of
12inchX10inch size. It was also the main control area during the English
Sikh War, while Chaoni Mohalla was an armament dump. English dug canals for
irrigation and they helped their loyals to settle in bars that were vacated
after the Partition. Maulana Shah Abdul Kadar led the Punjab mutiny. He was
persuaded by blind Jaman Shah to settle here. It's here that he constructed
a house and a masjid at Mouchpura now known as Masjid-do-Manjila. Jaman Shah
would come here daily, bare-footed five times a day, to offer prayers. The
Shah signed an agreement here in 1839 and the English crowned him king of
Kabul. February 1921 saw Mahatma Gandhi at Daresi Ground in the city. At the
end of the year, 3,000 freedom fighters from Ludhiana were arrested and
sentenced to prison. Another 475 joined the Quit India Movement.
Politically, Ludhiana has contributed five chief ministers, namely Bhim Sen
Snahan, Justice Gurnam Singh, Gian Singh Rarewala, Lachaman Singh Gill and
Beant Singh. The Goa War took 87 of its young soldiers.
Now, after partition of
Punjab, its population has grown very fast and the small Cottage Industry
also developed. The formation of new Punjab in 1966 made Ludhiana the
central city of Punjab and so it became an attraction for everyone. Ludhiana
is the central district of Punjab. It has its boundaries common with seven
districts of Punjab. In the North, it has district Jalandhar and Nawan
Shahar with river Sutlej forming the seperating line, in the North-East the
district Ropar and Fatehgarh Sahib in the South-East. Ferozpur and Moga are
in the West of Ludhiana.
In the South Sangrur District.
Ludhiana(East), Ludhiana(West), Jagraon, Khannna, Samrala, Payal and Raikot
are the seven Tehsils (Sub-Divisions) of this District. The city of Ludhiana
with the population of more than 35 Lacs, is the District Headquarters of
Ludhiana. More than 50,000 people from around Ludhiana come everyday for
different purposes. It is situated on Delhi-Amritsar Grand Trunk Road
(National Highway No. 1). It is at a distance of 320 K.M. from Delhi and 136
K.M. from Amritsar. From the State Capital of Punjab i.e. Chandigarh, it is
around 100 K.M.. There is a daily Air Service from Ludhiana to Delhi direct
Railway Service to any part of the country. Besides its historical and
Geographical attraction, it is the Manchester of India. There have been
great achievements by the people of Ludhiana in Agriculture, Education, and
Industry. Wheat and Rice are the main crops cultivated in this area. Punjab
Agricultural University (Estd. here in 1962) is the Torch Bearer of the
World Agriculture. In Wheat, Ludhiana is known to have a record per hectare
yield in the world. Ludhiana also manufacture world class agricultural
implements.
In Education side, Ludhiana
have two Medical colleges - Christian Medical College and Dayanand Medical
College. the city have an engineering college named Guru Nanak Dev
Engineering College. There are more than twenty colleges affiliated to
Punjab University, Chandigarh. Literacy rate is very high in Ludhiana and is
comparable to any well-literate corner of the country. In Industry, Ludhiana
have more remarkable achievements. Ludhiana produces the largest number of
bicycles in the world with Hero, Avon and Neelam the most popular brands. In
Hosiery, city is exporter to Russia, Europe, and every other corner of the
world. Whether it is America or Arabian countries it is hard to find a place
where Ludhiana made Sewing Machines are not sold. Ludhiana also produces
good quality of cloth and export quality Woolens. Plastic, Rubber and
Chemical, electrical and Electronics industry is also growing rapidly here.
Ludhiana the Industrial
capital of Punjab and for that matter of North India, also known as
Manchester of India is located at a distance of little over 300 KM from New
Delhi the capital city of India and about 100 KM from Chandigarh the capital
of Punjab. A complete modern town it has all the infrastructural facilities
which a Urban/Industrial city should have. It has direct rail services to
all parts of India and is also connected to New Delhi by air which also has
a International Airport. The other International Airport close to Ludhiana
is at Amritsar at a distance of about 135 K.M.
Industrialisation to Punjab is
neither recent nor new. In fact the city of Ludhiana had first taste of
industrialisation almost 150 years ago when number of Kashmiri artisans
shifted to Ludhiana to manufacture woollen products. It is a pleasant fact
that even at that time woollen products, like PASHMINA SHAWLS etc.
manufactured in Ludhiana were exported to European Countries. The industrial
units made their appearance in Ludhiana at the very start of 20th century
when hosiery machines for knitting socks were installed and after that there
has not been any looking back and right through the 20th century and even as
on date the city of Ludhiana is the leader in Hosiery and it would be
difficult to locate a country where Hosiery products of Ludhiana are not
exported. The next industry to make its footing in Ludhiana was the Foundry
industry which started in 1920s.
1950s & 1960s saw the
emergence of Ludhiana as a major industrial force and town on Indian
industrial scene. It was during this period that many new and young
enterprenures emerged and set up units in such diverse fields as Cycle
Parts, Machinery, Machine Tools, Sewing Machines, Automobile Parts, Diesel
Engines & Generators, Tyres & Tubes, Steel, etc. etc. Today all these
products manufactured in Ludhiana are being sold not only in India only but
also being exported to various continents of the world that too in major
volumes. It was during this period that various Industrial Areas and Estates
were set up but the pace of industrialisation has been so fast in Ludhiana
that the Govt. of Punjab set up Focal Point which is today single largest
industrial area in Northern India. However Ludhiana continues to grow and
new and new industrial areas are being developed to cater to the demand of
industry and more and more industrial units are being set up to cater the
demand of buyers of its product from all corners of Globe.
Ludhiana presently has a total
of over 40000 registered units in Large, Medium & Small Sector. However if
tiny and other unregistered units are also included the figure is likely to
go up substantially.
With a total population of
about 20 Lacs and industrial working force of about 4 Lacs it has all the
facilities a business traveller would like to have.
District Ludhiana is one of
the most centrally located districts of Punjab State. On the Northern side,
river Sutlej separates it from district Ropar and Fategarh Sahib and in the
west, areas of Faridkot touch its boundaries. Districts Sangrur and Patiala
form the Southern boundaries of Ludhiana District. The district is almost a
rectangular in form having a length along the Sutlej nearly 96 Kms. while
its breath from North to South is 39 Kms. According to survey of India, East
Longitudinal location of district Ludhiana ranges between 75-18' degrees and
Minutes to 76-20' degrees and Minutes.North latitudinal location of the area
falling in the district varies between 30'-34' to 76'-20' degrees and
minutes respectively.The height of the areas falling in the jurisdiction of
district Ludhiana from Sea level ranges between 230 metres to 273 metres. |
