Nankana Sahib is a city in the central part of Punjab, Pakistan, serving as the headquarters of its eponymous district. It is named after Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, who was born and based here; with his birthplace gurdwara being a nationally 'Protected Heritage Monument' making Nankana Sahib among the holiest sites for Sikhs. It is located about 91 km (57 mi) west of Lahore and about 75 km (47 mi) east of Faisalabad. The city had a population of 130,041 in 2023.
Until 2005, it was a part of the Sheikhupura District.
History
Originally, the locality was founded by a Hindu ruler named Raja Vairat and was originally named Raipur but it was destroyed during the Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent. A town on the site of the first settlement was founded during the Delhi Sultanate rule by Rai Bhoi, a Rajput of Bhati stock whose Hindu ancestor had converted to Islam under the influence of Sufism, and thus was known as Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi. His great-grand son Rai Bular Bhatti, renamed it as 'Nankana Sahib' after the birth of Guru Nanak. Talwandi Rai Bhoe had been a deserted and abandoned habitation until Diwan Kaura Mal sponsored the construction of holy-tanks (sarovars) and memorial gurdwaras there in 1750, which had generous land holdings given to them by Kaura Mal, which formed the estate of Nankana Sahib until partition of Punjab in 1947. The Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, originally constructed by the Sikhs during the Mughal-era in around 1600 CE was renovated in 1819–20 CE by the Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
During the Akali movement, on 20 February 1921, Narain Das, the Udasi mahant (clergy) of the gurdwara at Nankana Sahib, ordered his men to fire on Akali protesters, leading to the Nankana massacre. The firing was widely condemned, and an agitation was launched until the control of this historic Janam Asthan Gurdwara was restored to the Sikhs. Again in the 1930s and 1940s the Sikhs added more buildings and more architectural design.
Geography
Nankana Sahib and it surroundings were formerly a tehsil of Sheikhupura District. In May 2005, the provincial government raised the status of Nankana Sahib to a district for promoting development in the area. The present District has three tehsils: Nankana Sahib, Shah Kot, and Sangla Hill. Before December 2008, District Nankana Sahib also included Safdarabad Tehsil.
