sialkot

{{Main|History of Sialkot}}

{{Main|Sagala}}

Sialkot was the likely capital of the Madra Kingdom Sagala, Sakala ({{langx|sa|साकला}}), or Sangala ({{langx|grc|Σάγγαλα}}) mentioned in the Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic of ancient India, as occupying a similar area as Greek accounts of Sagala.{{Cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Horace Hayman |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_w3kWAAAAYAAJ |title=Ariana Antiqua: A Descriptive Account of the Antiquities and Coins of Afghanistan |last2=Masson |first2=Charles |date=1841 |publisher=East India Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_w3kWAAAAYAAJ/page/n228 197] |language=en |quote=sangala rebuilt.}}{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Rakesh |title=Ancient India and World |date=2000 |publisher=Classical Publishing Company |page=68 |language=English}}{{cite book |last1=Rapson |first1=Edward James |title=Ancient India: From the Earliest Times to the First Century A. D. |date=1960 |publisher=Susil Gupta |page=88 |language=English |quote=Sakala, the modern Sialkot in the Lahore Division of the Punjab, was the capital of the Madras who are known in the later Vedic period (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad).}}{{cite book |last1=McEvilley |first1=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbjelOMYyN8C&q=sagala+sialkot&pg=PT568 |title=The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies |date=2012 |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |isbn=9781581159332 |accessdate=2 June 2017}}{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Getzel M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3aabFPHxRPUC&q=sagala+location&pg=PA324 |title=The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India |date=2013-06-02 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520953567 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Hyun Jin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-w0DwAAQBAJ&q=sagala+sialkot+-kenya&pg=PA260 |title=Eurasian Empires in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Contact and Exchange between the Graeco-Roman World, Inner Asia and China |last2=Vervaet |first2=Frederik Juliaan |last3=Adali |first3=Selim Ferruh |date=2017-10-05 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107190412 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Congress |first=Indian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JzdWAAAAYAAJ&q=sagala+sialkot+-kenya |title=Proceedings, Indian History Congress |date=2007 |language=en}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXtVDgAAQBAJ&q=sialkot+garrison&pg=PT102|title=Janamsakhis: Ageless Stories, Timeless Values|last1=Dhillon|first1=Harish|date=2015|publisher=Hay House, Inc|isbn=9789384544843|access-date=3 June 2017}} The city may have been inhabited by the Saka, or Scythians, from Central Asia who had migrated into the Subcontinent.{{Cite book |last=Society |first=Panjab University Arabic and Persian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_lWAAAAMAAJ&q=saka |title=Journal |date=1964 |language=en}} The region was noted in the Mahabharata for the "loose and Bacchanalian" women who lived in the woods there.{{Cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Horace Hayman |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_w3kWAAAAYAAJ |title=Ariana Antiqua: A Descriptive Account of the Antiquities and Coins of Afghanistan |last2=Masson |first2=Charles |date=1841 |publisher=East India Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_w3kWAAAAYAAJ/page/n227 196] |quote=sangala rebuilt.}} The city was said to have been located in the Sakaladvipa region between the Chenab and Ravi rivers, now known as the Rechna Doab.

The Anabasis of Alexander, written by the Roman-Greek historian Arrian, recorded that Alexander the Great captured ancient Sialkot, recorded as Sagala, from the Cathaeans, who had entrenched themselves there.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlcIAAAAQAAJ&q=sangala|title=The Anabasis of Alexander, Or the History of the Wars and Conquests of Alexander the Great|last=Arrian|date=1884|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kngnd0GlUc4C&q=sangala+sialkot&pg=PA157|title=Alexander the Great: Lessons from History's Undefeated General|last=Yenne|first=Bill|date=13 April 2010|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=9780230106406}} The city had been home to 80,000 residents on the eve of Alexander's invasion, but was razed as a warning against any other nearby cities that might resist his invasion.

File:MenandrosCoin.jpg, founder of the Indo-Greek kingdom, with his capital in Sagala.]]

The ancient city was rebuilt, and made capital by the Indo-Greek king Menander I of the Euthydemid dynasty, in the 2nd century BCE.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HeJS3nE9cAC&q=euthymedia+ptolemy&pg=PA89|title=The Greeks in Bactria and India|last=Tarn|first=William Woodthorpe|date=24 June 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108009416}} The rebuilt city was shifted slightly from the older city, as rebuilding on exactly the same spot was considered inauspicious.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w3kWAAAAYAAJ&q=sangala+rebuilt&pg=PA197|title=Ariana Antiqua: A Descriptive Account of the Antiquities and Coins of Afghanistan|last1=Wilson|first1=Horace Hayman|last2=Masson|first2=Charles|date=1841|publisher=East India Company}}

Under Menander's rule, the city greatly prospered as a major trading centre renowned for its silk.{{cite book |last1=McEvilley |first1=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbjelOMYyN8C&q=sagala+sialkot&pg=PT568 |title=The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies |date=2012 |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |isbn=9781581159332 |access-date=2 June 2017}} Menander embraced Buddhism in Sagala, after an extensive debating with the Buddhist monk Nagasena, as recorded in the Buddhist text Milinda Panha.{{Cite book |last=Pesala (Bhikkhu.) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CV77jyBU1WgC&pg=PR19 |title=The Debate of King Milinda: An Abridgement of the Milinda Pañha |date=1991 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0893-5 |pages=19 |language=en}} the text offers an early description of the city's cityscape and status as a prosperous trade centre with numerous green spaces.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g31EAQAAMAAJ&q=he+Questions+of+King+Milinda,+translated+by+T.+W.+Rhys+Davids,+1890|title=The Questions of King Milinda|last=Davids|first=Thomas William Rhys|date=1894|publisher=Clarendon Press}} Following his conversion, Sialkot developed as a major centre for Buddhist thought.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbjelOMYyN8C&q=sagala+sialkot&pg=PT568|title=The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies|last=McEvilley|first=Thomas|date=7 February 2012|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.|isbn=9781581159332}}

Ancient Sialkot was recorded by Ptolemy in his 1st century CE work, Geography,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nB-2AAAAIAAJ&q=euthydemus+sialkot+ptolemy|title=Journal of Indian History|date=1960}} in which he refers to the city as Euthymedia (Εύθυμέδεια).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3aabFPHxRPUC&q=euthydemia+beyer&pg=PA324|title=The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India|last=Cohen|first=Getzel M.|date=2 June 2013|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520953567}}

Around 460 CE, the Alchon Huns invaded the region from Central Asia,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mi45DwAAQBAJ&q=taxila+huns+sialkot&pg=PA260|title=Eurasian Empires in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Contact and Exchange between the Graeco-Roman World, Inner Asia and China|last1=Kim|first1=Hyun Jin|last2=Vervaet|first2=Frederik Juliaan|last3=Adalı|first3=Selim Ferruh|date=30 September 2017|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108121316}} forcing the ruling family of nearby Taxila to seek refuge in Sialkot.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KqWGlV6uRDkC&q=sialkot+huns&pg=PA47|title=History of the Punjabees|last=Nanda|first=J. N.|date=2010|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=9788180696510}} Sialkot itself was soon captured, and the city was made a significant centre of the Alchon Huns around 515,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYelDQAAQBAJ&q=sialkot+toramana&pg=PT177|title=A History of India|last1=Kulke|first1=Hermann|last2=Rothermund|first2=Dietmar|date=27 May 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317242123}} during the reign of Toramana.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHBEAQAAIAAJ&q=hindu+shahi+sagala|title=Gandhara, the Buddhist heritage of Pakistan: Legends, monasteries, and paradise|last1=Drachenfels|first1=Dorothee von|last2=Luczanits|first2=Christian|last3=Deutschland|first3=Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik|date=2008|publisher=Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland; Mainz : Verlag Philipp von Zabern|isbn=9783805339575}} During the reign of his son, Mihirakula, the empire reached its zenith.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FcKtIPVQ6REC&q=mihirakula+sialkot&pg=PA142|title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750|last=Dani|first=Ahmad Hasan|date=1999|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=9788120815407}} The Alchon Huns were defeated in 528 by a coalition of princes led by Prince Yashodharman

The city was visited by the Chinese traveller Xuanzang in 633,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSYKO5zLgZkC&q=sialkot+xuanzang&pg=PT76|title=The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang|last=Wriggins|first=Sally|date=6 August 2008|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=9780786725441}} who recorded the city's name the She-kie-lo.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6p2XCgAAQBAJ&q=sialkot+xuanzang&pg=PA113|title=The World of the Skandapurāṇa|last=Bakker|first=Hans|date=16 July 2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004277144}} Xuanzang reported that the city had been rebuilt approximately 15 li, or 2.5 miles, away from the city ruined by Alexander the Great.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4AXM4MbyL0C&q=sangala+hill+alexander&pg=PA192|title=Four Reports Made During the Years 1862-63-64-65 by Alexander Cunningha M: 2|date=1871|publisher=Government central Press}} During this time, Sialkot served as the political nucleus of the North Punjab region.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIAyDwAAQBAJ&q=Sialkot&pg=PT170|title=The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The Geographical Frames of the Ancient Indian Dynasties|last=Chakrabarty|first=Dilip K.|date=18 October 2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199088324}} The city was then invaded in 643 by princes from Jammu, who held the city until the Muslim invasions during the medieval era.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JQbAQAAIAAJ&q=mughal+sialkot&pg=PA442|title=The Imperial Gazetteer of India|last=Hunter|first=Sir William Wilson|date=1887|publisher=Trübner & Company|isbn=978-81-7019-117-9 }}

Around the year 1000, Sialkot began to decline in importance as the nearby city of Lahore rose to prominence.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgbsAAAAMAAJ&q=%22hindu+Shahi%22+sialkot|title=Man & Development|date=2007|publisher=Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development}} Following to fall of Lahore to the Ghaznavid Empire in the early 11th century, the capital of the Hindu Shahi empire was shifted from Lahore to Sialkot.{{cite book|last1=Bosworth|first1=C. Edmund|title=Historic Cities of the Islamic World|date=2007|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9047423836|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgawCQAAQBAJ&q=Lahore&pg=PA305|access-date=26 December 2017}} Ghaznavid expansion in northern Punjab encouraged local Khokhar tribes to stop paying tribute to the Rajas of Jammu.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75FlxDhZWpwC&q=ghuri+fort+sialkot&pg=PA238|title=Al-Hind the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest : 11Th-13th Centuries|last=Wink|first=André|date=1997|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9004102361}}

Sialkot became a part of the medieval Sultanate of Delhi after Muhammad Ghauri conquered Punjab in 1185. Ghauri was unable to conquer the larger city of Lahore, but deemed Sialkot important enough to warrant a garrison.{{cite book|last1=Mehta|first1=Jaswant Lal|title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India, Volume 1|date=1980|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|isbn=9788120706170|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUk5k5AN54sC&q=Khusrau+Malik+sialkot&pg=PA76|access-date=3 June 2017}} He also extensively repaired the Sialkot Fort around the time of his conquest of Punjab, and left the region in charge of Hussain Churmali while he returned to Ghazni.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTyRYXtxMSEC&q=+sialkot&pg=PA100|title=The history of Hindustan. Vol. 1|last=Firishtah|first=Muḥammad Qāsim Hindū Shāh Astarābādī|date=2003|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120819948}} Sialkot was then quickly laid siege to by Khokhar tribesmen,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzZFUcDpDzsC&q=medieval+sialkot&pg=PA90|title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval India|last=Khan|first=Iqtidar Alam|date=25 April 2008|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810855038}} and Khusrau Malik, the last Ghaznavid sultan, though he was defeated during Ghauri's return to Punjab in 1186.

In the 1200s, Sialkot was the only area of western Punjab that was ruled by the Mamluk Sultanate in Delhi.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi3cAAAAMAAJ&q=sialkot+mongols|title=A military history of medieval India|last=Sandhu|first=Gurcharn Singh|date=January 2003|publisher=Vision Books|isbn=9788170945253}} The area had been captured by the Ghauri prince Yildiz, but was recaptured by Sultan Iltutmish in 1217. Around 1223, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the last king of the Khwarazmian dynasty of Central Asia that had fled invasion of Genghis Khan there, briefly captured Sialkot and Lahore,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18EKAQAAIAAJ&q=sialkot|title=History of medieval India (1000–1740 A.D.)|last=Sharma|first=L. P.|date=1987|publisher=Konark Publishers|isbn=9788122000429}} before being driven out by Iltutmish's forces towards Uch Sharif.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgawCQAAQBAJ&q=Lahore&pg=PA305|title=Historic Cities of the Islamic World|last=Bosworth|first=C. Edmund|date=26 December 2007|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789047423836}} During the 13th century, Imam Ali-ul-Haq, Sialkot's most revered Sufi warrior-saint,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_wbAAAAMAAJ&q=Imam+Ali-ul-Haq+premier+saint|title=Hand Book of Important Places in West Pakistan|last=Hasan|first=Masudul|date=1965|publisher=Pakistan Social Service Foundation}} arrived from Arabia, and began his missionary work in the region that successfully converted large numbers of Hindus to Islam, thereby transforming Sialkot into a largely Muslim city.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSRuAAAAMAAJ&q=Imam+Ali+sialkot+convert|title=Pakistan Pictorial|date=1986|publisher=Pakistan Publications}} The saint later died in battle, and is revered as a martyr.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlQIAAAAQAAJ&q=sialkot+jehangir&pg=PA129|title=The Arāīs̲h-i-maḥfil: Or, The Ornament of the Assembly|last=Afsos|first=Sher ʻAlī Jaʻfarī|date=1882|publisher=J. W. Thomas, Baptist Mission Press}}

Sialkot became capital of Punjabi warlord and ruler Jasrat Khokhar's kingdom in the early 15th century.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4C9EDwAAQBAJ&q=sialkot&pg=PT76|title=Early Nineteenth-Century Panjab|last1=Grewal|first1=J. S.|last2=Banga|first2=Indu|date=22 December 2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781317336945}} Jasrat Khokhar conquered most of Punjab from the Delhi sultanate in a series of campaigns between 1421 and 1442. He also conquered Jammu after defeating its ruler Bhim Dev in 1423. This was the golden period of Sialkot. Later, Sultan Bahlul Lodi captured the city after Jasrat Khokhar's death and granted custodianship of the city to Jammu's Raja Biram Dev, after he helped Bahlol in defeating the Khokhars. Sialkot was sacked by Malik Tazi Bhat of Kashmir, who attacked Sialkot after the governor of Punjab, Tatar Khan, had left the city undefended during one of his military campaigns.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=thSltS4Xg4MC&q=medieval+sialkot&pg=PA211|title=Medieval Kashmir|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distri}}

Sialkot was captured by armies of the Babur in 1520,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&q=sialkot+1524&pg=PA226|title=A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century|last1=Ahmed|first1=Farooqui Salma|date=2011|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131732021|access-date=3 June 2017}} when the Mughal commander Usman Ghani Raza advanced towards Delhi during the initial conquest of Babur. Babur recorded a battle with Gujjar raiders, who had attacked Sialkot, and allegedly mistreated its inhabitants.{{blockquote|29th December: We dismounted at Sialkot. If one enters Hindustan the Jats and Gujjars always pour down in countless hordes from hill and plain for loot of bullocks and buffalo. These ill-omened peoples are senseless oppressors. Previously, their deeds did not concern us because the territory was an enemy's. But they did the same senseless deeds after we had captured it. When we reached Sialkot, they swooped on the poor and needy folk who were coming out of the town to our camp and stripped them bare. I had the witless brigands apprehended, and ordered a few of them to be cut to pieces.Babur Nama page 250 published by Penguin}} In 1525–1526, Alam Khan, uncle of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, invaded from Afghanistan, and was able to capture Sialkot with the aid of Mongol forces.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip5CAAAAcAAJ&q=Alem+Khan&pg=PA77|title=History of the Afghans|last=al-Harawī|first=Niʻmatallāh|date=1829|publisher=Oriental Translation-Fund}}

Abdul Hakim Sialkoti was a 16th-17th century Mughal-era Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian and Islamic philosopher from Sialkot. He became the most influential Islamic scholar in the Mughal imperial court, and taught in the imperial madrassa.{{Cite book |last1=Nasr |first1=Seyyed Hossein |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPWLvDmhaIsC&pg=PT1064 |title=History of Islamic Philosophy |last2=Leaman |first2=Oliver |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-78043-1 |pages=1064–1065 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Schimmel |first=Annemarie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfVgEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 |title=Islam in the Indian Subcontinent |date=2022 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-49299-8 |pages=94–96 |language=en}}{{cite book |last=Nisa |first=Nahim-Un |url=https://archive.org/details/moulanaabdulhakeemsialkotid1067a.d.lifeandworksbynahimunnisa/mode/1up |title=Moulana Abdul Hakeem Sialkoti (d 1067 A. D.): Life And Works |date=1997 |publisher=Aligarh Muslim University |location=Agra |language=ur}} After Abdul Hakim Sialkoti's death in 1656, his son Maulvī Abdullah became chief scholar of Sialkot, and his madrassa became a centre of learning.{{Cite book |last1=Casalini |first1=Cristiano |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h98eEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |title=Education beyond Europe: Models and Traditions before Modernities |last2=Choi |first2=Edward |last3=Woldegiyorgis |first3=Ayenachew A. |date=2021 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-44147-7 |pages=137 |language=en}}

During the early Mughal era, Sialkot was made part of the subah, or "province", of Lahore. According to Sikh tradition, Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, visited the city,Dhillon, Iqbal S. (1998). Folk Dances of Panjab. Delhi: National Book Shop. sometime in the early 16th century. He is said to have met Hamza Ghaus, a prominent Sufi mystic based in Sialkot, at a site now commemorated by the city's Gurdwara Beri Sahib.

During the Akbar era, Sialkot's pargana territory was placed in the jagir custodianship of Raja Man Singh, who would repair the city's fort, and sought to increase its population and develop its economy.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4y9zAAAAMAAJ&q=sialkot+akbar|title=Punjab, the land of beauty, love, and mysticism|last=Quddus|first=Syed Abdul|date=1992|publisher=Royal Book Co.|isbn=9789694071305}} In 1580 Yousuf Shah Chak of Kashmir sought refuge in the city during his exile from the Valley of Kashmir.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2U9uAAAAMAAJ&q=sialkot+jehangir|title=The Kachhwahas under Akbar and Jahangir|last=Khan|first=Refaqat Ali|date=1976|publisher=Kitab Pub. House}} Paper-makers from Kashmir migrated to the city during the Akbar period,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfAJAQAAIAAJ&q=sialkot+paper+kashmir|title=Iqbal Manzil, Sialkot: An Introduction|last=Khan|first=Ahmad Nabi|date=1977|publisher=Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Pakistan}} and Sialkot later became renowned as the source of the prized Mughal Hariri paper – known for its brilliant whiteness and strength. The city's metalworkers also provided the Mughal crown with much of its weaponry.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63oMAQAAMAAJ&q=sialkot|title=Aurangzeb|last=Elphinstone|first=Mountstuart|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195475753}}

During the reign of Jahangir, the post was given to Safdar Khan, who rebuilt the city's fort, and oversaw a further increase in Sialkot's prosperity. Numerous fine houses and gardens were built in the city during the Jehangir period.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfAJAQAAIAAJ&q=Rang+Mahal|title=Iqbal Manzil, Sialkot: An Introduction|last=Khan|first=Ahmad Nabi|date=1977|publisher=Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Pakistan}} During the Shah Jahan period, the city was placed under the rule of Ali Mardan Khan.

The last Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, appointed Ganga Dhar as faujdar of the city until 1654.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7L0bAAAAIAAJ&q=sialkot+aurangzeb|title=Region and empire: Panjab in the seventeenth century|last=Singh|first=Chetan|date=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195627596}} Rahmat Khan was then placed in charge of the city, and would build a mosque in the city.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfAJAQAAIAAJ&q=sialkot+aurangzeb|title=Iqbal Manzil, Sialkot: An Introduction|last=Khan|first=Ahmad Nabi|date=1977|publisher=Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Pakistan}} Under Aurangzeb's reign, Sialkot became known as a great centre of Islamic thought and scholarship,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGYOAQAAMAAJ&q=sialkot+aurangzeb|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Education: A-K|last1=Rajput|first1=J. S.|last2=(India)|first2=National Council of Educational Research and Training|date=2004|publisher=NCERT|isbn=9788174503039}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cmDVAAAAMAAJ&q=sialkot+greece|title=The Pakistan Review|date=1968|publisher=Ferozsons Limited}} and attracted scholars because of the widespread availability of paper in the city.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AK42AAAAIAAJ&q=sialkot+paper|title=Education and learning under the great Mughals, 1526–1707 A.D.|last=Sahay|first=Binode Kumar|date=1968|publisher=New Literature Pub. Co.}}

Following the decline of the Mughal empire after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, Sialkot and its outlying districts were left undefended and forced to defend itself. In 1739, the city was captured by Nader Shah of Persia during his invasion of the Mughal Empire.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RzBAAQAAMAAJ&q=sialkot&pg=PA92|title=History of the Panjáb from the Remotest Antiquity to the Present Time|last=bahādur.)|first=Muḥammad Laṭīf (Saiyid, khān|date=1891|publisher=Calcutta Central Press Company, limited}} The city was placed under the governorship of Zakariya Khan, the Mughal Viceroy of Lahore, who in return for the city promised to pay tribute to the Persian crown. After that Nader Shah went to India where in Karnal, Rao Bal Kishan fought against him with their 5000 soldiers who hails from Ahirwal on 24, Feb 1739 . Seen this Nader Shah shocked but impressed by Rao Bal Kishan fighting skills. Lastly when Nadirshah reached Delhi he told Muhammad Shah about Rao Bal Kishan{{Cite book |last=Fox |first=Richard Gabriel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAXULggU0QMC&q=rao+balkishan |title=Realm and Region in Traditional India |date=1977 |publisher=Duke University, Program in Comparative Studies on Southern Asia |isbn=978-0-916994-12-9 |language=en}} Bravery, on which Muhammad Shah ordered to make a "Chhatri" to honour Rao Bal Kishan at Karnal which still can be found.[https://books.google.com/books?id=p69GMA226bgC&dq=rao+balkishan+singh&pg=PA50]

In the wake of the Persian invasion, Sialkot fell under the control of Pashtun powerful families from Multan and Afghanistan – the Kakayzais and Sherwanis.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCMKAQAAIAAJ&q=sialkot+%22shah+jahan%22&pg=PA328|title=Imperial Gazetteer of India ...|last1=Cotton|first1=James Sutherland|last2=Burn|first2=Sir Richard|last3=Meyer|first3=Sir William Stevenson|date=1908|publisher=Clarendon Press}} Sialkot was crept upon by Ranjit Deo of Jammu, who pledged nominal allegiance to the Mughal crown in Delhi. Ranjit Deo did not conquer Sialkot city from the Pashtun families which held the city, but switched allegiance to the Pashtun ruler Ahmed Shah Durrani in 1748, effectively ending Mughal influence in Sialkot. The city and three nearby districts were amalgamated into the Durrani Empire.

Sikh chieftains of the Bhangi Misl state encroached upon Sialkot, and had gained full control of the Sialkot region by 1786, Sialkot was portioned into 4 quarters, under the control of Sardar Jiwan Singh, Natha Singh, Sahib Singh, and Mohar Singh, who invited the city's dispersed residents back to the city.

The Bhangi rulers engaged in feuds with the neighbouring Sukerchakia Misl state by 1791, and would eventually lose control of the city. The Sikh Empire of Ranjit Singh captured Sialkot from Sardar Jiwan Singh in 1808. Sikh forces then occupied Sialkot until the arrival of the British in 1849.{{Citation|last=Zutshi|first=Chitralekha|title=Language of belonging: Islam, regional identity, and the making of Kashmir|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press/Permanent Black. Pp. 359|isbn=978-0-19-521939-5}}

File:Iqbal.jpg, the philosopher-poet credited inspiring the Pakistan Movement, was born in Sialkot in 1877.]]

Sialkot, along with Punjab as a whole, was captured by the British following their victory over the Sikhs at the Battle of Gujrat in February 1849. During the British era, an official is known as The Resident who would, in theory, advise the Maharaja of Kashmir would reside in Sialkot during the wintertime.{{cite book|last1=Ingall|first1=Francis|title=The Last of the Bengal Lancers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gW5-AwAAQBAJ&q=sialkot&pg=PA71|date=1989|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=9781473815872|access-date=11 October 2017}}

During the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the two Bengal regiments based in Sialkot rebelled against the East India Company,{{cite book|first=Kim A.|last=Wagner|page=105|title=The Skull of Alum Beg. The Life and Death of a Rebel of 1857|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-087023-2}} while their native servants also took up arms against the British.{{cite book|last1=Kaye|first1=John|title=Kaye's and Malleson's History of the Indian Mutiny of 1857-8|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108023245|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TogAVyystu0C&q=sialkot&pg=PA472|access-date=11 October 2017}}

In 1877, the Sialkot native poet Allama Iqbal, who is credited for inspiring the Pakistan Movement, was born into a Kashmiri family that had converted to Islam from Hinduism in the early 1400s.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=svYphqj8h7UC&q=iqbal+sialkot+kashmiri+hindu&pg=PA1|title=Iqbal: Makers of Islamic Civilization|last=Mir|first=Mustansir|date=2006|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9781845110949}} He is considered to be one of the leading Islamic thought{{Cite journal |last=Azad |first=Hasan |date=2014 |title=Reconstructing the Muslim Self: Muhammad Iqbal, Khudi, and the Modern Self |journal=Islamophobia Studies Journal |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=14–28 |doi=10.13169/islastudj.2.2.0014 |jstor=10.13169/islastudj.2.2.0014 |doi-access=free}} leaders and Islamic revivalists{{citation |last1=Iqbal |first1=Sir Muhammad |title=Shikwa and Jawab-i-shikwa |year=1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SeiAAAAAIAAJ |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en, ur |isbn=978-0-19-561324-7 |quote="Iqbal it is true, is essentially a poet of Islam" (from the foreword by Rafiq Zakaria, p. 9) |last2=Zakaria |first2=Rafiq |author-link1= |author-link2=Rafiq Zakaria |translator-last=Singh |translator-first=Khushwant}}{{citation |last=Robinson |first=Francis |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World |pages=283– |year=1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fz5kgjMDnOIC&pg=PA283 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-66993-1 |quote=In India, the ghazal and mathnawi forms were adapted in Urdu to express new social and ideological concerns, beginning in the work of the poet Altaf Husayn Hali (1837–1914) and continuing in the poetry of Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938). In the poetry of Iqbal, which he wrote in Persian, to speak to a wider Muslim audience, as well as Urdu, a memory of the past achievements of Islam is combined with a plea for reform. He is considered the greatest Urdu poet of the twentieth century.}} of the 20th century, and is also widely regarded as having animated the pulse for the Pakistan Movement.{{Cite book |last1=Bentlage |first1=Björn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtY6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA267 |title=Religious Dynamics under the Impact of Imperialism and Colonialism: A Sourcebook |last2=Eggert |first2=Marion |last3=Krämer |first3=Hans-Martin |last4=Reichmuth |first4=Stefan |date=2016-10-11 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-32900-3 |pages=267 |language=en}}{{citation |last=Lelyveld |first=David |title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World: A-L |page=356 |year=2004 |editor-last=Martin |editor-first=Richard C. |chapter=Muhammad Iqbal |chapter-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/iqbal-muhammad-c-1877-1938 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-02-865604-5 |quote=Muhammad Iqbal, South Asian poet and ideological innovator, wrote poetry in Urdu and Persian and discursive prose, primarily in English, of particular significance in the formulation of a national ethos for Pakistan.}}{{citation |last=Sevea |first=Iqbal Singh |title=The Political Philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal: Islam and Nationalism in Late Colonial India |pages=14– |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VrItm_F6wncC&pg=PA14 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00886-1 |quote=In 1930, he presided over the meeting of the All-India Muslim League in Allahabad. It was here that he delivered his famous address in which he outlined his vision of a cultural and political framework that would ensure the fullest development of the Muslims of India.}}{{cite book |last=Sheikh |first=Naveed Shahzad |title=The New Politics of Islam: Pan-Islamic Foreign Policy in a World of States |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-44453-8 |page=83}} The leading religiopolitical slogan for the Pakistan Movement, Pakistan ka matlab kya, La Illaha Il-Allah was coined in 1943 by another Sialkot native poet, Asghar Sodai.{{cite book |last=Ḥasan |first=Khālid |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SgxlAAAAMAAJ&q=Pakistan+ka+matlab+kya |title=Remembrances |publisher=Vanguard |year=2001 |isbn=9789694023526 |accessdate=29 October 2018}}{{Cite web |date=2007-08-14 |title=An unsung national hero |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/261147/an-unsung-national-hero |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Asghar Sodayee, The Creator Of Famous Pakistan Movement Slogan |url=https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/asghar-sodayee-the-creator-of-famous-pakista-1511652.html |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=UrduPoint |language=en}}

In August 1947, nine years after Iqbal's death, the partition of India gave way to the establishment of Pakistan, a newly independent Islamic state in which Iqbal is honoured as the national poet. He is also known in Pakistani society as {{Transliteration|ur|Hakim ul-Ummat}} ({{Literal translation|The Wise Man of the Ummah}}) and as {{Transliteration|ur|Mufakkir-e-Pakistan}} ({{Literal translation|The Thinker of Pakistan}}).{{Cite web |title=Allama Muhammad Iqbal |url=http://www.allamaiqbal.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221223540/http://www.allamaiqbal.com/ |archive-date=21 February 2014 |access-date=10 March 2004 |website=www.allamaiqbal.com}} The anniversary of his birth (Yom-e Weladat-e Muḥammad Iqbal), 9 November, is observed as a public holiday in Pakistan.Justice Dr. Nasim Hasan Shah, "Role of Iqbal in the creation of Pakistan" in The All-Pakistan Legal Decisions, Volume 35, Part 1, 1983, p. 208{{Cite web |date=2024-02-05 |title=Public holidays in Pakistan - Local Pakistan |url=https://www.local.com.pk/working/public-holidays/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=www.local.com.pk |language=en}}File:Iqbal Manzil.jpg

Sialkot's modern prosperity began during the colonial era.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNUaBgAAQBAJ&q=1930s+in+Faisalabad&pg=PT119 | title=Infrastructure Redux: Crisis, Progress in Industrial Pakistan & Beyond | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | author=Nausheen Anwar | year=2014 | page=119 | location=Pakistan | isbn=978-1-137-44818-7}} The city had been known for its paper making and ironworks prior to the colonial era, and became a centre of metalwork in the 1890s. Surgical instruments were being manufactured in Sialkot for use throughout British India by the 1920s. The city also became a centre for sports goods manufacturing for British troops stationed along with the North West Frontier due to the availability of nearby timber reserves.

The British-Raj fought in The Second Boer War. A concentration camp in Sialkot held the detained Boer Prisoners-of-War.{{Cite web |date=1833 |title=Nicolaas Marthinus Janse van Rensburg |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Nicolaas-Marthinus-Janse-van-Rensburg/6000000025860330867 |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=geni_family_tree |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=1870-11-09 |title=Cornelis Petrus van Zyl |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Cornelis-Petrus-van-Zyl/6000000147006199403 |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=geni_family_tree |language=en-US}}

As a result of the city's prosperity, large numbers of migrants from Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir came to the city in search of employment. At the end of World War II, the city was considered the second most industrialised in British Punjab, after Amritsar. Much of the city's infrastructure was paid for by local taxes, and the city was one of the few in British India to have its own electric utility company.

The couplet and religiopolitical slogan Pakistan ka matlab kya, La Illaha Il-Allah ({{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|پاکستان کا مطلب کیا لاالہ الا اللہ}}}} — ; lit. What does Pakistan mean?... There is no God but Allah) was a couplet and political slogan coined in 1943 by Sialkot born and raised poet Asghar Sodai.{{cite book |last=Ayres |first=Alyssa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FddJQi1dQ30C&pg=PA194 |title=Speaking Like a State: Language and Nationalism in Pakistan |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-521-51931-1 |page=194}}{{Cite web |date=2007-08-14 |title=An unsung national hero |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/261147/an-unsung-national-hero |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Asghar Sodayee, The Creator Of Famous Pakistan Movement Slogan |url=https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/asghar-sodayee-the-creator-of-famous-pakista-1511652.html |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=UrduPoint |language=en}} The slogan became a battle cry and greeting for the Muslim League, which was struggling for an independent country for the Muslims of South Asia, when World War II ended and the independence movement geared up.{{cite book |last=Ḥasan |first=Khālid |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SgxlAAAAMAAJ&q=Pakistan+ka+matlab+kya |title=Remembrances |publisher=Vanguard |year=2001 |isbn=9789694023526 |accessdate=29 October 2018}} This slogan shows the religious identity of Pakistan too.{{cite book |last=Ayres |first=Alyssa |title=Religion and Conflict in South and Southeast Asia: Disrupting Violence |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-134-15306-0 |editor1=Linell E. Cady |page=111 |chapter=Religious Violence beyond Borders |editor2=Sheldon W. Simon |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ccJ8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111}}

The first communal riots between Hindus/Sikhs and Muslims took place on 24 June 1946,{{cite book|last1=Nahal|first1=Chaman|title=Azadi|date=2001|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=9780141007502}} a day after the resolution calling for the establishment of Pakistan as a separate state. Sialkot remained peaceful for several months while communal riots had erupted in Lahore, Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Rawalpindi. The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and the Pakistan Movement.

While Muslim refugees had poured into the city escaping riots elsewhere, Sialkot's Hindu and Sikh communities began fleeing in the opposite direction towards India. They initially congregated in fields outside the city, where some of Sialkot's Muslims would bid farewell to departing friends. Hindu and Sikh refugees were unable to exit Pakistan towards Jammu on account of conflict in Kashmir, and were instead required to transit via Lahore.

After independence in 1947 the Hindu and Sikh minorities migrated to India, while Muslim refugees from India settled in Sialkot. The city had suffered significant losses as a result of communal rioting that erupted because of Partition. 80% of Sialkot's industry had been destroyed or abandoned, and the working capital fell by an estimated 90%. The city was further stressed by the arrival of 200,000 migrants, mostly from Jammu, who had arrived in the city.

Following the demise of industry in the city, the government of West Pakistan prioritised the re-establishment of Punjab's decimated industrial base. The province lead infrastructure projects in the area, and allotted abandoned properties to newly arrived refugees. Local entrepreneurs also rose to fill the vacuum created by the departure of Hindu and Sikh businessmen. By the 1960s, the provincial government laid extensive new roadways in the district, and connected it to trunk roads to link the region to the seaport in Karachi.

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, when Pakistani troops arrived in Kashmir, the Indian Army counterattacked in the Sialkot Sector. The Pakistan Army successfully defended the city and the people of Sialkot came out in full force to support the troops.K Conboy, "Elite Forces of India and Pakistan" {{ISBN|1-85532-209-9}}, page 9 In 1966, Government of Pakistan awarded a special flag of Hilal-e-Istaqlal to Sialkot, along with Lahore and Sargodha in Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]for showing severe resistance in front of enemy as these cities were target of enemy's advances.{{cite web|title=Commemorating Sept 1965: Nation celebrates Defence Day with fervour|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/601035/commemorating-sept-1965-nation-celebrates-defence-day-with-fervour|work=The Express Tribune|date=7 September 2013}} Every year on Defence Day, this flag is hoisted in these cities as a symbol of recognition of the will, courage and perseverance of the dwellers of these cities.{{cite web|title=Defence Day celebrated with renewed pledges|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/56110/defence-day-celebrated-with-renewed-pledges|work=Dawn|date=7 September 2002}} The armoured battles in the Sialkot sector like the Battle of Chawinda were the most intense since the Second World War.[https://web.archive.org/web/20060503042035/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Books/Synopsis.html The India-Pakistan Air War of 1965], Synopsis. Retrieved 26 May 2008 at the Internet Archive

Sialkot features a humid subtropical climate (Cwa) under the Köppen climate classification, with four seasons. The post-monsoon season from mid-September to mid-November remains hot during the daytime, but nights are cooler with low humidity. In the winter from mid-November to March, days are mild to warm, with occasionally heavy rainfalls occurring. Temperatures in winter may drop to {{convert|0|C|F|disp=or}}, but maxima are very rarely less than {{convert|15|C|F|disp=or}}.

{{Weather box

| location = Sialkot (1991-2020)

| single line = Y

| metric first = Y

| Jan record high C = 26.1

| Feb record high C = 30.0

| Mar record high C = 36.5

| Apr record high C = 43.3

| May record high C = 47.3

| Jun record high C = 48.9

| Jul record high C = 44.4

| Aug record high C = 41.1

| Sep record high C = 39.0

| Oct record high C = 37.2

| Nov record high C = 33.3

| Dec record high C = 27.2

| Jan high C = 17.4

| Feb high C = 21.2

| Mar high C = 26.2

| Apr high C = 32.9

| May high C = 38.2

| Jun high C = 38.8

| Jul high C = 34.7

| Aug high C = 33.4

| Sep high C = 33.1

| Oct high C = 31.1

| Nov high C = 25.9

| Dec high C = 20.2

| year high C =

| Jan mean C = 11.4

| Feb mean C = 14.8

| Mar mean C = 19.4

| Apr mean C = 25.5

| May mean C = 30.5

| Jun mean C = 32.1

| Jul mean C = 30.2

| Aug mean C = 29.4

| Sep mean C = 28.3

| Oct mean C = 24.3

| Nov mean C = 18.4

| Dec mean C = 13.2

| year mean C =

| Jan low C = 5.4

| Feb low C = 8.3

| Mar low C = 13.0

| Apr low C = 18.1

| May low C = 22.8

| Jun low C = 25.4

| Jul low C = 25.6

| Aug low C = 25.4

| Sep low C = 23.6

| Oct low C = 17.5

| Nov low C = 10.9

| Dec low C = 6.0

| year low C =

| Jan record low C = −3.0

| Feb record low C = -1.0

| Mar record low C = 3.0

| Apr record low C = 9.0

| May record low C = 13.4

| Jun record low C = 17.6

| Jul record low C = 19.4

| Aug record low C = 18.7

| Sep record low C = 13.3

| Oct record low C = 8.5

| Nov record low C = 3.0

| Dec record low C = −0.6

|year record low C = -3.0

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 41.3

| Feb precipitation mm = 50.4

| Mar precipitation mm = 52.4

| Apr precipitation mm = 36.9

| May precipitation mm = 18.9

| Jun precipitation mm = 67.8

| Jul precipitation mm = 293.2

| Aug precipitation mm = 299.5

| Sep precipitation mm = 102.7

| Oct precipitation mm = 22.4

| Nov precipitation mm = 9.6

| Dec precipitation mm = 13.6

| year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 3.6

|Feb precipitation days = 4.6

|Mar precipitation days = 5.1

|Apr precipitation days = 4.3

|May precipitation days = 3.6

|Jun precipitation days = 6.5

|Jul precipitation days = 13.3

|Aug precipitation days = 12.4

|Sep precipitation days = 6.4

|Oct precipitation days = 2.0

|Nov precipitation days = 1.2

|Dec precipitation days = 1.7

| source 1 = NOAA (extremes 1971–1990),{{cite web

|url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-II/PK/41600.TXT

|title = Sialkot Climate Normals 1971–1990

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = 16 January 2013}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/Pakistan/CSV/Sialkot_41600.csv |title=Sialkot Climate Normals 1991–2020 |work=World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020) |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=17 September 2023}}

|source 2 = Meteomanz (extremes since 2000){{Cite web |title=Sialkot - Weather data by months |url=http://www.meteomanz.com/sy3?l=1&cou=2200&ind=41600&m1=05&y1=2000&m2=05&y2=2025 |access-date=12 May 2025 |website=meteomanz}}

|date = May 2025

}}

Sialkot's core is composed of the densely populated old city, while north of the city lies the vast colonial era Sialkot Cantonment – characterised by wide streets and large lawns. The city's industries have evolved in a "ribbon-like" pattern along the cities main arteries, and are almost entirely dedicated to export. The city's sporting good firms are not concentrated in any part of the city, but are instead spread throughout Sialkot. Despite the city's overall prosperity, the local government has failed to meet Sialkot's basic infrastructure needs.

{{Historical populations|1951|156,378|1961|167,294|1972|203,650|1981|302,009|1998|421,502|2017|655,852|2023|911,817|align=left|percentages=pagr|footnote=Sources:{{cite web |title=Population by administrative units 1951-1998 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/1998/administrative_units.pdf |publisher = Pakistan Bureau of Statistics}}}}

{{bar box|width=300px|barwidth=200px|cellpadding="0"|title=Religion in Sialkot {{cite web|title=District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2023)|url= https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/punjab/dcr/table_9.pdf |website=www.pbscensus.gov.pk|publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics}}|titlebar=#Fcd116|left1=Religion|right1=Percent|float=right|bars={{bar percent|

Islam|green|96}}

{{bar percent|Christianity|blue|3.77}}

{{bar percent|Others|grey|0.23}}}}Sialkot is a religiously homogenous city with 96 percent of its population being Muslim and following Islam. The principal minority is Christians who make up 3.77 percent of the population.{{cite web |title=District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2023) |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/punjab/dcr/table_9.pdf |website=www.pbscensus.gov.pk |publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics}} During the 13th century, Imam Ali-ul-Haq, Sialkot's most revered Sufi warrior-saint,{{Cite book |last=Hasan |first=Masudul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_wbAAAAMAAJ&q=Imam+Ali-ul-Haq+premier+saint |title=Hand Book of Important Places in West Pakistan |date=1965 |publisher=Pakistan Social Service Foundation}} arrived from Arabia, and began his Dawah in the region that successfully converted large numbers of the native population to Islam, thereby transforming Sialkot into a largely Muslim city.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSRuAAAAMAAJ&q=Imam+Ali+sialkot+convert |title=Pakistan Pictorial |date=1986 |publisher=Pakistan Publications}} The saint later died in battle, and is revered as a Shahid by the locals.{{Cite book |last=Afsos |first=Sher ʻAlī Jaʻfarī |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlQIAAAAQAAJ&q=sialkot+jehangir&pg=PA129 |title=The Arāīs̲h-i-maḥfil: Or, The Ornament of the Assembly |date=1882 |publisher=J. W. Thomas, Baptist Mission Press}}

File:Shrine Of Allo Mahar sharif.jpg ]]

Sialkot is a wealthy city relative to the rest of Pakistan, with a GDP (nominal) of $13 Billions and a per capita income in 2021 estimated at $18500.{{cite book|last1=Anwar|first1=Nausheen|title=Infrastructure Redux: Crisis, Progress in Industrial Pakistan & Beyond|date=2014|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781137448170|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNUaBgAAQBAJ&q=sialkot&pg=PT84|access-date=11 October 2017}} The city was considered to be one of British India's most industrialised cities, though its economy would later be largely decimated by violence and capital flight following the Partition. The city's economy rebounded, and Sialkot now forms part of the relatively industriazised region of northern Punjab that is sometimes referred to as the Golden Triangle.

Sialkot has been noted by Britain's The Economist magazine as a "world-class manufacturing hub" with strong export industries. As of 2017, Sialkot exported US$2.5 billion worth of goods which is equal to 10% of Pakistan's total exports (US$25 billion). 250,000 residents are employed in Sialkot's industries, with most enterprises in the city being small and funded by family savings. Sialkot's Chamber of Commerce had over 6,500 members in 2010, with most active in the leather, sporting goods, and surgical instruments industry. The Sialkot Dry Port offers local producers quick access to Pakistani Customs, as well as to logistics and transportation. File:Bab_ay_Sialkot.jpg

Despite being cut off from its historic economic heartland in Kashmir, Sialkot has managed to position itself into one of Pakistan's most prosperous cities, exporting up to 10% of all Pakistani exports. Its sporting goods firms have been particularly successful, and have produced items for global brands such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and Puma. Balls for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup were made by Forward Sports, a Sialkot-based company. The city has been labeled as the Football manufacturing capital of the World,{{Cite web |date=25 November 2022 |title=World's Football Manufacturing Capital in Pakistan Gets a Green Makeover |url=https://www.adb.org/news/videos/world-s-football-manufacturing-capital-pakistan-gets-green-makeover#:~:text=If%2520you%2520have%2520ever%2520played,World%2520Cup%2520in%2520Doha%252C%2520Qatar.&ved=2ahUKEwja1NLpi9T7AhVxwjgGHQKMARYQFnoECAsQBQ&usg=AOvVaw1cGWtOMkcj9wAvA_Rfhy4r |access-date=2022-11-29}} as it produces over 70% of all footballs manufactured in the world.{{Cite web |title=Asian Development Bank |url=https://www.adb.org/news/videos/world-s-football-manufacturing-capital-pakistan-gets-green-makeover&ved=2ahUKEwjosMrditT7AhXv6zgGHfPRD7YQFnoECAsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1cGWtOMkcj9wAvA_Rfhy4r |access-date=2022-11-29}}

Sialkot's business community has joined with the local government to maintain the city's infrastructure, as the local government has limited capacity to fund such maintenance. The business community was instrumental in the establishment of Sialkot's Dry Port in 1985,{{cite book|last1=Dinh|first1=Hinh|title=Tales from the Development Frontier: How China and Other Countries Harness Light Manufacturing to Create Jobs and Prosperity|date=2011|publisher=World Bank|isbn=9780821399897}} and further helped re-pave the city's roads. Sialkot's business community also largely funded the Sialkot International Airport—opened in 2011 as Pakistan's first privately owned public airport.

Sialkot is also the only city in Pakistan to have its very own commercial airline, Airsial. This airline is managed by the business community of Sialkot based at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industries and offers direct flights from Sialkot to Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.{{Cite web |last=Rizvi |first=Muzaffar |date=2022-08-22 |title=AirSial gets nod to start international flights |url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/airsial-gets-nod-to-start-international-flights |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=Khaleej Times |language=en}}

Sialkot is the world's largest producer of hand-sewn footballs, with local factories manufacturing 40–60 million footballs a year, amounting to roughly 60% of world production.{{cite book|last1=Eriksen|first1=Thomas Hylland|title=Globalization: The Key Concepts|date=2007|publisher=Berg|isbn=9781847886101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trYXD-uXHsMC&q=sialkot+economy&pg=PT71|access-date=11 October 2017}} Since the 2014 FIFA World Cup, footballs for the official matches are being made by Forward Sports, a company based in Sialkot.{{Cite web |date=9 June 2014 |title=Brazilian ambassador unveils Pak made FIFA soccer ball |url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-150235-Brazilian-ambassador-unveils-Pak-made-FIFA-soccer-ball |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140612083157/http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-150235-Brazilian-ambassador-unveils-Pak-made-FIFA-soccer-ball |archive-date=12 June 2014 |website=The News International}} Clustering of sports goods industrial units has allowed for firms in Sialkot to become highly specialised, and to benefit from joint action and external economies.{{cite book|editor1-last=Jovanović|editor1-first=Miroslav N.|title=Economic integration and spatial location of firms and industries: transnational corporations and search for evidence|date=2007|publisher=Edward Elgar|isbn=9781845425838|page=468|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1fMJAQAAMAAJ&q=sialkot+economy|access-date=11 October 2017}} There is a well-applied child labour ban, the Atlanta Agreement, in the industry since a 1997 outcry,{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,683873,00.html|title=The Football Stitchers of Sialkot|author=Hasnain Kazim|date=16 March 2010|newspaper=Spiegel International|access-date=7 November 2011}} and the local industry now funds the Independent Monitoring Association for Child Labour to regulate factories.

Sialkot is also the world's largest centre of surgical instrument manufacturing.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fairmedtrade.org.uk|title=BMA – Fair Medical Trade|website=www.fairmedtrade.org.uk|access-date=3 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308134934/http://www.fairmedtrade.org.uk/|archive-date=8 March 2012|url-status=dead}} Sialkot was first noted to be a centre of metalwork in the 1890s, and the city's association with surgical instruments came from the need to repair, and subsequently manufacture, surgical instruments for the nearby Mission hospital. By the 1920s, surgical instruments were being manufactured for use throughout British India, with demand boosted by further by World War II.

The city's surgical instrument manufacturing industry benefits from a clustering effect, in which larger manufacturers remain in close contact with smaller and specialised industries that can efficiently perform contracted work.{{cite web|url=http://emergingpakistan.gov.pk/sectors/surgical-goods/ |title=Surgical Goods |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628033619/http://emergingpakistan.gov.pk/sectors/surgical-goods/ |date=19 December 2017|archive-date=28 June 2020|website=Emerging Pakistan, Government of Pakistan website|access-date=30 January 2022|url-status=dead}} The industry is made up of a few hundred small and medium size enterprises, supported by thousands of subcontractors, suppliers, and those providing other ancillary services. The bulk of exports are destined for the United States and European Union.

Sialkot first became a centre for sporting goods manufacturing during the colonial era. Enterprises were initially inaugurated for the recreation of British troops stationed along the North West Frontier. Nearby timber reserves served to initially allure the industry to Sialkot. The city's Muslim craftsmen generally manufactured the goods, while Sikh and Hindu merchants of the Sindhi Bania, Arora, and Punjabi Khatri castes acted like middle men to bring goods to market. Sialkot now produces a wide array of sporting goods, including footballs and hockey sticks, cricket gear, gloves that are used in international games comprising the Olympics and World Cups.{{Cite web |date=10 October 2020 |title=Sialkot vital economic, industrial hub of country |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/727148-sialkot-vital-economic-industrial-hub-of-country |access-date=29 October 2020 |website=www.thenews.com.pk}}

Sialkot is also noted for its leather goods. Leather for footballs is sourced from nearby farms, while Sialkot's leather workers craft some of Germany's most prized leather lederhosen trousers.

Sialkot also has a large share in the agricultural sector. It predominantly produces Basmati rice varieties, wheat and sugarcane. Its area is {{cvt|3,015|km2}}, at least {{cvt|642,624|acre}} are under cultivation. Potato and sunflower were evident among the minor crops of the district.{{Cite web|title= Sialkot — a city with many feathers in its cap|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1625404|website=Dawn|date=24 May 2021|access-date=10 June 2021}}

Sialkot has a productive relationship between the civic administration and the city's entrepreneurs,{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21709344-how-small-pakistani-city-became-world-class-manufacturing-hub-if-you-want-it-done-right|title=If you want it done right|newspaper=The Economist|date=27 October 2016|access-date=1 February 2018}} that dates to the colonial era. Sialkot's infrastructure was paid for by local taxes on industry, and the city was one of the few in British Raj to have its own electric utility company.

Modern Sialkot's business community has assumed responsibility for developing infrastructure when the civic administration is unable to deliver requested services. The city's Chamber of Commerce established the Sialkot Dry Port, the country's first dry-port in 1985 to reduce transit times by offering faster customs services. Members of the Chamber of Commerce allowed paid fees to help resurface the city's streets. The Sialkot International Airport was established by the local businesses community, is the only private airport in Pakistan.{{cite news|title=How a small Pakistani city became a world-class manufacturing hub|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21709344-how-small-pakistani-city-became-world-class-manufacturing-hub-if-you-want-it-done-right|access-date=29 October 2016|newspaper=The Economist|date=29 October 2016}}

File:Sialkot_Boulevard.jpg

A dual-carriageway connects Sialkot to the nearby city of Wazirabad, with onward connections throughout Pakistan via the N-5 National Highway, while another dual carriageway connects Sialkot to Daska, and onwards to Gujranwala and Lahore. Sialkot and Lahore are also connected through the motorway M11.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}}

The Sialkot Junction railway station is the city's main railway station and is serviced by the Wazirabad–Narowal Branch Line of the Pakistan Railways. The Allama Iqbal Express travels daily from Sialkot to Karachi via Lahore, and then back to Sialkot.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}}

File:Sialkot_Airport.jpg

The Sialkot International Airport is located about 20 km from the center of the city near Sambrial. It was established in 2007 by spending 4 billion rupees by Sialkot business community. It is Pakistan's only privately owned public airport, and offers flights throughout Pakistan, with also direct flights to Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, France, the UK and Spain.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}}

{{main|List of people from Sialkot}}

In 1966, the Government of Pakistan awarded a special flag, the Hilal-i-istaqlal to Sialkot (also to Sargodha and Lahore) for showing severe resistance to the enemy during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 as these cities were targets of the Indian aggression.{{Cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/601035/commemorating-sept-1965-nation-celebrates-defence-day-with-fervour?amp=1|title=Commemorating Sept 1965: Nation celebrates Defence Day with fervour|date=6 September 2013|website=Express Tribune}} Every year on Defence Day (6 September), this flag is hoisted in these cities in recognition of the will, courage and perseverance of their people.{{Cite web|url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/56110/defence-day-celebrated-with-renewed-pledges|title=Defence Day celebrated with renewed pledges|date=7 September 2002|website=DAWN.COM}}

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Pakistan}}

Sialkot is twinned with:

• {{flagicon|USA}} Bolingbrook, Illinois, United States{{cite web |title=About|url=https://www.bolingbrook.com/sistercities|website=bolingbrook.com|publisher=Village of Bolingbrook|access-date=2022-10-31}}

• Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• List of educational institutions in Sialkot
• List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by area
• Sialkot Stallions
• Shivala Teja Singh temple

{{Portal bar|Geography|Asia|Pakistan|Punjab}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Sister project links|Sialkot}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100721202304/http://www.sialkot.gov.pk/ Sialkot District Government website]
• [https://scci.com.pk/ Sialkot Chamber of Commerce & Industry]

{{Sialkot District}}

{{PakistanCities}}

{{Pakistan topics}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Indo-Pakistani war of 1965

Category:Cities and towns in Sialkot District

Category:Cities in Punjab (Pakistan)

Category:Populated places in Punjab, Pakistan