Pakpattan District

Pakpattan District (Punjabi and ), is a district of Punjab province in Pakistan, Pakpattan city is the district capital.

Administrative division
The district is divided into two tehsils, which contain a total of 63 Union Councils:

Pakpattan is the city of the great Sufi Saint Baba Nasreen of Chisti. The original name of Pakpattan was "Ajodhan". It was renamed Pakpattan after it was used for the first time by Baba Fariduddin Ganj Shakar. The word Pakpattan consists of two words "pak" and "pattan" meaning "clean dockland" (Pattan means a dockland or place where ships or boats stop). The city was given this name by Saint Baba Farid. It is said, once Saint Farid having ablution on the bank of the River Sutlej, one local man told the Saint that this water is unclean and this place is dirty then Saint Farid replied to him "no it's clean water and a clean place' in the local language "Pak Pattan'. However, Mughal emperor Akbar first declared its name 'Pakpattan'.

Location
The capital Pakpattan is located about 169 km from Lahore and 205 km from Multan. The district is bounded to the northwest by Sahiwal District, to the north by Okara District, to the southeast by the Sutlej River and Bahawalnagar District, and to the southwest by Vehari District.

History
Pakpattan District was an agricultural region with forests during the Indus Valley Civilization. The Vedic period is characterized by Indo-Aryan culture that invaded from Central Asia and settled in the Punjab region. The Kambojas, Daradas, Kaikayas, Madras, Pauravas, Yaudheyas, Malavas and Kurus invaded, settled and ruled ancient Punjab region. After overrunning the Achaemenid Empire in 331 BCE, Alexander marched into present-day Punjab region with an army of approximately 50,000. Pakpattan was ruled by Maurya Empire, Indo-Greek kingdom, Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, White Huns, Kushano-Hephthalites and the Turk and Hindu Shahi kingdoms.

In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin. In 1005 AD, he conquered the Shahis in Kabul in 1005, and followed it with the conquests of the Punjab region.The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region. The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region.

The main reason of the fame of this city is due to Sufi Baba Farid. Basically he is the man who renamed Ajodhan as Pakpattan. Before his arrival at Pakpattan, there were at least 30,000 Hindus and Sikhs in Pakpattan. He came to Pakpattan on the orders of his Murshad (teacher) Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki for preaching of Islam.

After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Sikh conquered Pakpattan District. During the period of British rule, Pakpattan district increased in population and importance.

The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India while the Muslim refugees from India settled in the Pakpattan District.

On 6 July 1910, First Rail Link was established to Pakpattan. 345.7 km (213.4 mi) long Lodhran - Kasur section was opened. This section was later dismantled during World War I, reconstructed and opened again between 1923 and 1924. On 15 April 2002, a new Karachi to Lahore express railway via Pakpattan was introduced. The name of the train is Fareed Express.

Demographics
At the time of the 2017 census, Pakpattan district had 304,277 households and a population of 1,824,228. Pakpattan had a sex ratio of 965 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 52.70% - 62.44% for males and 42.69% for females. 288,992 (15.84%) lived in urban areas. 515,533 (28.26%) were under 10 years of age. In 2023, the district had 344,744 households and a population of 2,136,170.

At the time of the 2017 census, 96.94% of the population spoke Punjabi and 2.53% Urdu as their first language.

According to the 1998 census, the predominant first language is Punjabi, spoken by 95.9% of the population, followed by Urdu with 3.7%. Haryanvi, also called Rangari, is spoken among Ranghar, Rajput, while the Meo have their own language which is called Mewati

Agriculture
The Pakpattan District is known for the fertility of its soil and most of the population of Pakpattan district makes a living on agriculture. The main crops are wheat, rice, cotton, maize (corn), sugar cane, etc. The primary fruits and vegetables that are harvested are mango, guava, carrots, potatoes, oranges and okra.

Malka Hans
Malka Hans is the ancient famous town near Pakpattan in Pakpattan District located between Pakpattan and Sahiwal on Sahiwal Road. Malka Hans is located at 30.424°N, 73.276°W at an altitude of 150 m.

It is famous for being the place of origin for the book of poems on Heer Ranjha folk love story, written by poet Waris Shah.