Gujranwala, Pakistan

Welcome to Gujranwala, the City of Wrestlers and the capital of Gujranwala Division in Pakistan. This bustling city is the fifth most populous city proper in Pakistan, after Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi. Founded in the 18th century, Gujranwala is a relatively modern town compared to the many nearby millennia-old cities of northern Punjab. The city served as the capital of the Sukerchakia Misl state between 1763 and 1799, and is the birthplace of the founder of the Sikh Empire, Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Gujranwala is now Pakistan’s third-largest industrial center after Karachi and Faisalabad, and contributes 5% to 9% of Pakistan’s national GDP. The city is part of a network of large urban centers in northeast Punjab province that forms one of Pakistan’s mostly highly industrialized regions. Along with the nearby cities of Sialkot and Gujrat, Gujranwala forms part of the so-called Golden Triangle of industrial cities with export-oriented economies.

Gujranwala’s name means Abode of the Gujjars in Punjabi, and was named after the Gujjar tribe that live in northern Punjab. One local narrative suggests that the town was named after a Gujjar, Choudhry Gujjar, owner of the town’s Persian wheel that supplied water to the town. Evidence suggests, however, that the city derives its name from Serai Gujran (meaning inn of Gujjars), a village once located near what is now Gujranwala’s Khiyali Gate.

Gujranwala was founded by Gurjars in the eighteenth century, however, the exact origins of Gujranwala are unclear. Unlike the ancient nearby cities of Sialkot and Lahore, Gujranwala is a relatively modern city. It may have been established as a village in the middle of the 16th century. Locals traditionally believe that Gujranwala’s original name was Khanpur Sansi, though recent scholarship suggests that the village was possibly Serai Gujran instead – a village once located near what is now Gujranwala’s Khiyali Gate that was mentioned by several sources during the 18th-century invasion of Ahmad Shah Abdali.

In 1707, with the death of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Mughal power began to rapidly weaken especially following Nader Shah’s invasion in 1739 and then completely dissipated from the Punjab region due to the invasions of Ahmad Shah Abdali who raided Punjab many times between 1747 and 1772 causing much devastation and chaos. Abdali’s control over the region began to weaken in the latter part of the 18th century with the rise of the Sikh Misls (independent chieftainships usually consisting of the chiefs’ kinsmen) who overran Punjab. Charat Singh, ruler of the Sukerchakia Misl, established himself in a fort which he had built in the area of Gujranwala between 1756 and 1758. Nuruddin, a