Kabirwala

Location

Kabirwala is in Punjab Province, Pakistan. Its geographical coordinates are 30°20'10" North, 70°43'30" East. It is one of four tehsils in Khanewal District. Kabirwala lies 10 km north of the district capital Khanewal on the Multan-Jhang road. Kabirwala is a city north 40 km from Multan City.

History

The city is named Kabirwala after [Hazrat] Baba Pir Kabir[3], who lived in the area. Kabirwala was part of Multan until restructuring made the largest sub division of Khanewal district.Sarai Sidhu, a historic city, used to be the tehsil headquarters of the whole district Khanewal, before 1937. During British rule, Kabirwala was the northernmost tehsil of Multan District, Punjab - the boundaries were larger than today lying between 30°5' and 30°45'N. and 71°35' and 72°36' E., with an area of 1,603 square miles (4,150 km²). The population in 1901 was 130,507 compared with 113,412 in 1891. It then contained the town of Talamba (population in 1901 - 2526) and 320 villages, including Kabirwala, the headquarters. The land revenue and cesses in 1913-4 amounted to 520,000. The Ravi runs through the northern portion of the tehsil to its junction with the Chenab in the north-west corner. The north and west portions were irrigated by the Sidhnai Canal, while the south consisted of uncultivated Bar jungle.

The history of Kabirwala can be traced back to the Gandhara civilization. Kabirwala was part of Multan province and fell under the rule of Sindhi ruler Raja Dahir in 711 AD. When Mohammad Bin Qasim, the Muslim General, attacked Sindh in 711 AD to take over Indus and punish Raja Dahir for holding hostage Muslim travelers and their belongings. Raja Dahir, the prince of the country, assembled his army but Qasim carried by storm a celebrated temple held in great sanctity by the Brahmins, where a large booty feel into the hands of Qasim. The Hindus were panic-stricken and fled, their prince having perished in the field of battle. Qasim then marched to Multan, which was carried by assault, and a few more victories completed the conquest of Sindh, and Multan, including Kabirwala. Qasim ruled for many years. His successors ruled the country for about forty years, but the Rajput tribes of Sumera, having expelled them, became masters of the land. Since 1005, Kabirwala was an agricultural market, and became populated by the Muslim tribes of (*Bati*) Kamboh, Isra, Syed, Vains, Warich, Joiya Rajpoot, Mirza Dhudhi, Sahu, Malik,Mirali, Bhutta, Sial, Bhatti Sukhera,Langra, Juta, Thaheem. Jats and Arain tribes. Some Hindu families, particularly Arun, also lived in the town. There are references of its being a sizable town during Ghazni dynasty as the armies traveling from Rawalpindi and Chakwal to Multan used to rest at this point. Kabirawala, as part of Multan, was taken back by Hindus after the death of Mahmood Ghaznavi, but then in 1050, Sultan Abul Husein regained control of Kabirwala again, when he conquered Multan. Kabirwala fell into the hands of Ghori dynasty who overpowered Ghaznvid's in 1176.

The Central Asian Amir, Timur, in 1396, dispatched an army under his grandson to Punjab. They crossed the Indus on 12 September 1398, and advanced to Lahore. Temur's army proceeded along the bank of Sindh to the junction of the Chinab with the Ravi. The army crossed by a bridge of boats and encamped at the town of Talamba, some 15 kilometers east of Kabirwala, which the soldiery plundered, with the inhabitants mercilessly massacred. He then crossed the Bias and marched to Bhitner, where he slew many thousands. He ravaged the provinces of Lahore and Multan, carrying fire and sword wherever they went.

In 1436, a serious insurrection broke out in Multan by Afghan Lodhis, who took over Multan and nearby areas. In 1451, the king Behlol Lodhi made a tour through the Punjab, visited Multan, where he re-organized an army. Lodhi's remained in power until Babar, the Moghal prince, a great-grandson of Temur, invaded and took over Punjab. Multan and Kabirwala were taken by Afghan rulers when Moghal rule became weak in India. In the early 19th century, Kabirwala was ruled by the Nawab of Multan, Nawab Muzaffar Khan.

In Early in 1817, Ranjit singh sent a body of troops to Multan under the command of Diwan Bhiwani Das to receive from Nawab Muzaffar Khan the tribute he owed to the Sikh Darbar. Bhiwani das laid siege to the city, but showed little vigour to pressing it. He made a secret pact with the Nawab which led Ranjit Singh to recall him and deprive him of his office. Ranjit Singh planned the afresh expedition and sent a strong force under his son Kharak Singh's charge. He arranged for supplies to be sent by boats down the river Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum. The system of passing letters was organised in such a manner that the Maharaja received the news from Multan by relays of messengers several times a day.

Multan finally fell to Ranjth Singh in 1818, when his army killed Nawab Muzaffar Khan and many of his sons. Two surviving sons were giving jagirs by Ranjit singh. Their descendants are still in possession of those lands in and around Multan.

During the period of British rule it existed as a sub-division of the Multan district and had an annual revenue of over half a million Rupees. CHOPERHATTA and MARI SAHU has a great importance in this Tehsil because this is a palace of CHOHAN RAJPUT SAHU'S .

Religion & Culture

The Kabirwala area is a land of diverse religions and culture. Along with the tombs of Muslim Sufi saints, there are also Hindu places of worship. The Kabirwala city being the seat of Hazrat baba pir Kabir, the historic tomb of Hazrat Khalid Walid, in Mauza Khati Chore along Multan - Sarai Sidhu Road, 24 km to the west of Kabirwala city is located. The tomb of the saint Abdul Hakim is also located in this area in a sub tehsil city of Abdul Hakim. A more recent Khanqah (Chishtia Iqbalia) of Shykh ul Mashaikh Hazrat Molana Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar Chishti Khalifa majaz Hazrat Sufi Muhammad Iqbal Cheshti is also located in the city along with many shrines of less well-known saints.

Hazrat Molana Shykh Abdul Ghaffar Sahib is Sunni Hanafi Islamic scholar of Deobandi school of Islamic thought. He gave bay'ah (oath of allegiance to a Sufi shaykh) at the hand of Qutub ul Aqtaab, Shykh ul Hadees Molana Muhammad Zakariyya(Reh.A). After death of Shykh Zakariyya, he continued his journey in Tasawwuf under guidance of Qutub ul Aarifeen Sufi Muhammad Iqbal, khalifa of Hazrat Shykh Muhammad Zakariya Kandhlawi. He was granted khalafat (Ijazat) from Sufi Muhamamd Iqbal Madni (Reh.A) and other renowned Mashaikh. Some of them are Molana Syed Asleh al Hussaini (Khalifa Hazrat Husain Ahmed Madani), Haji Abdul Jalil (Islamabad), Molana Abdul Hayy Naqshbandi (Mansehra), Qari Abdul Rauf Tarnawi (Khalifa Hazrat Hussain Ahmmad Madni), Hakeem ul Asar Molana Abdul Majeed Ludhianwi, Shykh ul Hadees Molana Mufti Farid (Akora Khattak), Syed Abdul Salaam Hamdani (Khalifa Hafiz ul Hadees Abdullah Darkhawasti), Molana Muhammad Hassan Abbasi (Khalifa Hazrat Ahmmad Ali Lahori) and others.

Kabirwala city is also the seat of the third biggest madrassa (Islamic school) of Deobandi origin, called Darr-ul-aloom Eid Gah Kabirwala. This was established in the 1950s and since its establishment has produced thousands of Islamic scholars, graduates, Muftis and Imams. Religious schools of the Barelvi and Shiiat sects also operate in the city.

Besides being a center for Islamic education, Kabirwala is also has two Hindu Shamshan Ghaats (places of burning the Hindu dead), Ram Chotra and Lachman Chotra, along the bank of Ravi river. There is a Mandir (Hindu temple) in Sarai Sidhu, a sub-town of Kabirwala. Likewise, the Sikh Gurudwara called Pehli Patshahi is located in the Makhdoompur sub-town, 12 km from Kabirwala.

Production, processing and trade

Kabirwala is a fertile land when it comes to natural resources, which are irrigated by the extensive canal system emanating from the river Ravi and partly by the Chenab River. The irrigated area is part of Rechna Doaab (area between two rivers). Major crops include cotton, wheat, sugarcane, rice, Maize, oil seeds, fodder, vegetables. The Irrigated Area of Kabirwala is also known for its mango and citrus orchards. There is no single square mile of Kabirwala that is without one of these orchards.

Almost all of the banks operating at the national scale are present in Kabirwala. The city and outlying areas have numerous flour mills, textile mills, fruit farms, poultry farms, cotton ginneries, oil extraction mills and paper mills. There are many brick kilns in Kabirwala, which use mineral coal for baking bricks.

Due to the richness of the natural resources, there have been a number of industrial developments. A large cotton seed oil processing factory, Grace Oil Industries, has been operating since the 1960s near to the village of Allahbad. This was nationalised in the 1970s under Zia's military dictatorship and then privatized again in the 1980s under the name of EFFEF Industries. The first ever cooperative textile factory in the history of Pakistan, Colony Textile Mills, has existed on the edge of Kabirwala area since colonial times. It was located at the Khanewal Road just before entering Khanewal.

Nestle has chosen Kabirwala as the site for its largest Asian milk processing plant, on the same road, having purchased the Kabirwala Dairy Limited in the 1990s. Reportedly, the plant has a processing capacity of two million liters of milk a day, which is set to rise to three million in the near future. Nestle, through the network of its milk collection centers spread all over the Punjab province, collects milk from 140,000 farmers. The annual value of the purchased milk from farmers stands at more than CHF120m (50.9 m [pounds sterling] per year.

Since the discovery of low quality natural gas in the Kukkar Hatta area, which lies near to Kabirawla, there have been attempts to use this resource for fertilizer and energy production. The Fauji industries established Kabirwala Power Plant in the late 1990s near Choperhatta.

These markets are connected by the old Ghalla Mandi (Grain Market) now converted into a food and oil market.

Communication and transport

Kabirwala is located at the crossroads of several important routes. It links south with north of Pakistan. All the transport from the Sindh province, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffar Garh, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Multan and Khanewal districts traveling to the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, has to pass through Kabirwala to connect to Jhang and Sargodha. There are two bus stands, the old one is located at the western edge of the city along the Multan Road, and the new one is located on the southern edge of the city along the Khanewal Road. Apart from the offices of bus companies, these bus stands also house offices of trucking and cargo companies.

The telephone direct dialing code for Kabirwala is (0) 652. There is a telephone exchange in Kabirwala and all of the Pakistan based Mobile Companies are working in Kabirwala.

Famous people

Faisal Ishtiaq Khan ,radio presentor and public figure living now in the UK, grew up in kabirwala.