sahiwal

{{Main|Sahiwal District}}

Following the Umayyad Arab conquest of the Punjab cities of Uch and Multan, led by Muhammad bin Qasim, Arabs of the Emirate of Multan ruled the region of Sahiwal for a few centuries. Then Sahiwal remained part of the Multan province of the Delhi Sultanate. Sahiwal also remained associated with the historic city of Depalpur.{{Cite book |last1=Firishtah |first1=Muḥammad Qāsim Hindū Shāh Astarābādī |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_G1AAAAIAAJ&q=history+of+hindustan+by+firishta |title=The History of Hindostan: Translated from the Persian ... |last2=Dow |first2=Alexander |date=1812 |publisher=J. Walker |language=en}}

The modern-day city of Sahiwal was founded in 1865 when a train station was built at the site of a small village on the Karachi-Lahore railway line. The site was named Montgomery for Sir Robert Montgomery, then lieutenant governor of the Punjab and it replaced Gogera as the capital of the recently created Montgomery district.{{cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V17_416.gif |title=Montgomery District, Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 17, p. 410., 1860–1922 |publisher=Dsal.uchicago.edu |access-date=2013-02-18}} Two years later in 1867, it was constituted a municipality.{{cite web |title=Sahiwal |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sahiwal |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=17 January 2021}}

In 1914 construction began of the Lower Bari Doab Canal which now irrigates both the city and the wider region.

During the Partition of India in 1947 the city, being part of Montgomery district, was allocated to Pakistan by the Punjab Boundary Commission. This was on the basis of being a Muslim-majority area, despite claims from the Indian National Congress and Sikh groups on the basis of greater property ownership and revenues paid to the state.{{cite book |last1=Ranjan |first1=Amit |title=Partition of India Postcolonial Legacies |date=20 November 2018 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780429750526}}

The climate of Sahiwal district is hot semi arid, reaching 47 °C in summer, and down to 5 °C in winter. The soil of the district is very fertile. The average rainfall is about 685 mm, peaking during the summer monsoon season. {{cite web|url=http://www.gpgcs.edu.pk/sahiwal.html |title=Govt. Post Graduate College Sahiwal |publisher=Gpgcs.edu.pk |access-date=2017-11-08}}

{{Historical Populations|1941|...|1951|50185|1961|75180|1972|106648|1981|150954|1998|208,778|2017|389,605|2023|538,344|align=center|footnote=Sources:{{cite web |title=Population by administrative units 1951-1998 |url=https://repository.lahoreschool.edu.pk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/13673/Administrative%20Units.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1 |publisher = Pakistan Bureau of Statistics}}|percentages=pagr}}

According to the 2023 census, Sahiwal city had a population of 574,240.{{Cite web |title=URBAN LOCALITIES BY POPULATION SIZE AND THEIR POPULATION BY SEX, ANNUAL GROWTH RATE AND HOUSEHOLD SIZE : CENSUS-2023, PUNJAB |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/table_2_punjab_districts.pdf}}

File:New Campus Sahiwal Medical College, Sahiwal.jpeg]]

Notable educational institutes of the city include:

• University of Sahiwal{{cite web |url=https://uosahiwal.edu.pk |title = University of Sahiwal}}
• COMSATS University, Sahiwal Campus
• Barani Institute of Sciences{{cite web |url=http://baraniinstitute.edu.pk |title = Barani Institute of Sciences}}
• Sahiwal Medical College
• Quaid-e-Azam College of Engineering and Technology, Sahiwal
• Punjab College of Science
• The Superior College
• Army Public Schools & Colleges System (APSCS)
• Beaconhouse School System
• The City School
• Divisional Public School and College
• The Educators
• Government Postgraduate College Sahiwal

Sahiwal is twinned with the town of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. Approximately eight per cent of Rochdale's population is of Asian origin, most of whom have links with Pakistan. The twinning arrangement was agreed between Rochdale and Sahiwal in 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.pap.gov.pk/index.php/members/profile/en/9/231 |title=Punjab Assembly |publisher=Pap.gov.pk |access-date=2010-03-24}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/tourism_and_travel/town_twinning.aspx |title=Town twinning |publisher=rochdale.gov.uk |access-date=8 August 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071029173635/http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/libraries/town_twinning.aspx |archive-date = 29 October 2007}}

• Mushtaq Ahmed, former test cricketer
• Majeed Amjad, Urdu poet
• Tariq Aziz, television anchor
• H.K.L Bhagat, politician and former Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of India
• Dildar Pervaiz Bhatti, (TV artist, compere, comedian, anchor)
• Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, Indian Army Officer
• Attash Durrani, Urdu writer and scholar
• Manzoor Elahi, former test cricketer
• Mehdi Hasan, journalist and historian
• Rana Mohammad Hanif Khan, politician and former Finance Minister of Pakistan
• Nazir Naji journalist and Urdu columnist for various media groups.
• Emmanuel Neno, Christian author and translator
• Kunwar Mohinder Singh Bedi Sahar, Urdu poet
• Nouraiz Shakoor, politician and former federal minister
• Saieen Zahoor, Sufi musician
• Imran Ali, a cricketer

{{Portal|Pakistan|Punjab}}

• Sahiwal killings
• Zafar Ali Stadium
• University of Sahiwal

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.sahiwal.org/ }}
• [http://nimls.edu.pk/ NIMLS COLLEGE Sahiwal]
• [https://archive.org/details/MontgomerytoSahiwal Montgomery to Sahiwal] by S. A. Naeem (in Urdu), digitised at Internet Archive

{{Neighbourhoods of Sahiwal}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places in Sahiwal District

Category:Sahiwal District

Category:Populated places in Punjab, Pakistan