Kahnuwan. – Nineteen
kilometers from Gurdaspur, the tahsil and district headquarters, kahnuwan is
also linked by road with Sri-gobindpur and Batala. Its population was 4,729 in 1971 as against 3,320 in 1961.
There are a primary school, a high school, a higher secondary school, a civil dispensary, a veterinary hospital, a police station, and a post and telegraph office.
Kahnuwan, which gives its name to the well-known marsh, possesses several ancient buildings, the chief among which are the shrine of Shah Burhan, a Muhammadan saint, who flourished in the reign of Jahangir ; the gupha or sub-terranean shrine of the Bairagi Bhagwanji ; a math of sanyasis ; and a jogi Mandir.
A curious tradition attaches to a large baoli or well just below the high bank which, though in a good condition, is not used. The story runs that one of the leading Rajputs had two wives who annoyed him by their perpetual squabblings, and so, to settle the question, he constructed this baoli and buried his wives under the pillars at the bottom of the steps leading to the water, grimly remarking that at any rate they would have to lie side by side in peace for the future.
Kalanaur. – Twenty-six kilometres from Gurdaspur, the tahsil and district headquarters, Kalanaur is also connected by road with Dera Baba Nanak and Batala. Its population was 6,738 in 1971 as against 5,757 in 1961.
There are two primary schools, two high schools (one for boys and other for girls), a civil dispensary, a veterinary hospital, a police station, a post and telegraph office, and a P. W. D. (B & R) Rest House.
Now reduced to the status of a village, kalanaur was a small important town in old times. There was an old proverb which said ‘that he who has not seen Lahore, at least let him see Kalanaur.’ This historical place is supposed to be one of the abodes of Lord Shiva, whose gigantic lingam is established here in a temple. The temple was constructed by Maharaja Kharak Singh, son and successor of Maharaha Jranjit Singh. There is also a smadh of Baba Manj Nath within the boundary of the temple. In the pre-historic days, the village was known as Kaleshwar. It is said to have been originally founded by Hindu Rajas and the numerous ruins in its vicinity sufficiently attest its antiquity. According to another legend, the village takes its name from two Muslim brothers, Kalla and Nura, who defended and four walls of this village.
During the reign of Akbar, Kalanaur attained its greatest splendour. At a distance of about 2 km from the locality, there is a masonary platform known as Takhat (throne) upon which Akbar was first crowned in 1556 A. D. Close to the same spot is a tomb of Jamil Beg, which is in ruins. There is a mosque of Pir Baddhan Shah still in preservation.
3. Goswamy, B.N. and Grewal, J.S., The Mughals and the Jogis of
Jakhbar (Simla, 1967), pp. 1-15, 42
The old village was laid waste by Banda Bahadur in whose memory a gurdwara is built there. The present habitation has been raised on the ruins of the old village.
Lehl. – The village is situated in the Gurdaspur Tahsil at a distance of about 1 km from Dhariwal. There is a primary school. Its population was 1,867 in 1971 as against 1,519 in 1961.
It is an important branch of the Talibpur Pindori gaddi and barren women resort to it for the purpose of being blessed with issue, which the mahant is said to bring about by the use of jantras.
A mela is held there on the Baisakhi day.
Masanian. – The village is 6 km from Batala, the tahsil headquarters, on the Batala-Srigobindpur road, to which it is linked by 1.5 km long approach road. Its population was 1,895 in 1971 as against 1,736 in 1961.
There is a middle school.
Seat of a Sayyat Pir, Masanian has a fine mosque with lofty minarets. Along with it is the tomb of Shah Badar Diwan.
Narot Jaimalsingh. – Headquarters of a sub-tahsil of the same name in the Pathankot Tahsil, Narot Jaimalsing is 21 km from Pathankot and also 21 km from Dinanagar. Its population was 3,772 in 1971 as against 1,809 in 1961.
There is a primary school, a high school, a primary health centre, a veterinary dispensary, a police station, a post and telegraph office, and a P.W.D. (B & R) Rest House.
It is surrounded by water on all the four sided and, when approaching from Dinanagar, one has to cross the main current of the Ravi and its tributaries Bhatia and Masto. During rainy season, the approach to the locality becomes very difficult. Lying in the trans-Ravi tract half way between the Ravi and the hills, Narot Jaimalsingh continued to be up to the partition of the country in 1947 the principal mart in the fertile submontance belt known as Chak Andhar.
Pathankot. – The town occupies an important place at the foot-hills of glamorous hill stations of the Kangra and Kashmir valleys. It is the main transit junction for Kulu, Kangra, Dharamsala, Dalhousie and Jammu and Kashmir. Headquarters of the tahsil/sub-division of the same name, Pathankot is connected by road with Amritsar, Jullundur, Kangra, Chamba and Srinagar. It is also connected by rail with Amritsar, Jullundur, Jammu and Jogindernagar. Its population was 78,192 in 1971 as against 54,810 in 1961.
Pathankot is a class I municipality. There are 7 primary schools, 2 middle schools, 5 high schools and 5 higher secondary schools, 2 colleges (one for boys and the other for girls), a civil hospital, an Ayurvedic dispensary, a veterinary hospital, a post office, a telegraph office, a post and telegraph office, a telephone exchange, a P. W. D. (B & R) Rest House, a Tourist Bungalow, and a Forest Rest House.
Pathankot is an old town though nothing definite can be said about its early history. According to Sir Alexander Cunningham, the site of the old fort4 of Pathankot, which no longer exists, is one of the most ancient sites in the Punjab, as its position is especially favourable as a mart for the interchange of produce between the hills and plains. Situated in the middle of the narrow neck of land, only about 25 km in width, which divides the valley of the rivers Beas and Ravi, at the point where they leave the hills, Pathankot naturally became the great emporium between the two rich valleys of Kangra and Chamba in the hills, and the great cities of Lahore (Pakistan) and Jullundur in the plains. The coins of the early Hindus period and the Muhammadan period have been there5.
In spite of being headquarters of a tahsil, Pathankot was an ordinary place up to the partition of the country in 1947. But, since then, it has grown tremendously, being the gateway for the Jammu and Kashmir State. It has come up magnificently as an entrepot town. It is famous for three T’s –timber, transport and tourists. It has a Punjab Government Tourist Information Centre. The Jammu and Kashmir have their trade agents here.
Qadian. – The town is linked both by rail and road with Batala, the tahsil headquarters, from which place it is 20 km by rail and 18 km by road. It is a terminus station on the Batala-Qadian railway branch line. By road, Qadian linked with Batala in the west, Dhariwal in the north and Srigobindpur in the south-east. Its population was 13,607 in1971 as against11,502 in 1961.
Qadian is a class II municipality. There are 3 primary schools for boys and 2 for girls, 2 high schools for girls, 2 higher secondary schools for boys, a degree college, an industrial training institute, a civil dispensary, a private Unani dispensary, a veterinary hospital, a police post, a post and telegraph office and a Civil Rest House.
The town was founded during the Mughal period. Formerly, it was known as Qazian as it was ruled by a Qazi. But, with the passage of time, it came to be called Qadian. Before the partition of the country in 1947, it was the headquarters of the _______________________________________________________________
4. The walls of the old fort
of Pathankot were still standing at the time of the British occupation in 1849
; but they were soon after pulled down to furnish bricks for the works of the
Bari Doab Canai and for the canal officers’ houses at Madhopur . these were of
a very large size , which is a sure of Hindu origin as well as of great age.
5. Alexander Cunningham, Archaeological
Survey of India Report for the year 1872-73, Vol. V.pp. 153-55
Ahmedia community which has since shifted to Rabwah in Pakistan. It, however, continues to be the headquarters of the Ahmedia community in India. The town is a big market for wheat and paddy. There are two rice-shellers. The place is well-known for pottery work. The Bagh-i-Jannat and the high minaret of the mosque are the noteworthy places in Qadian.
Shahpur.- Situated at the bank of River Ravi, Shahpur is linked by road with Pathankot and Madhopur. It is 13 km from Pathankot and 6 km from Madhopur. This is an old habitations are still traceable in the nearby jungles. Its population was 2,038 in 1961.
There are a primary school, a high school (co-education), a civil hospital, a veterinary, dispensary, a police post, a post office and a tourist bungalow.
Previously a town, Shahpur is now reduced to the status of a village. It is an old historical place and dates back to the Mahabharata period. Originally known as Shardapur, it was renamed as Shahpur to please the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (1627-1658) on is visit to this place. During the Mughal regime, a canal was dug out from a nearby village to water the Shalamar Gardens at Lahore (Pakistan).
There are remains of old fort which was constructed by a Rajput chief, Jaspal Singh Pathania, who made it his capital to have control over the Kangra and the Nupur regions. It was the refuge of Ram Singh Pathania who rebelled against the British during 1848. He was caught while offering prayeri to the goddess Duga at a nearby place Dalla Dhar early in 1849. The fort now house the tourist bungalow which is picturesquely situated on the lofty bank which commands the Ravi. From this bungalow, very fine views of the hillsae obtained.
There are some interesting rock-temples are Mukeshwar on the Ravi, some 8 km above Shahpur: they are said to be very ancient and to date to the time of Pandavas. The smoke-blackened pillars and the carvings here must, however, be very old. Stories are told Arjun’s and Darupadi’svisit to the place : a long cleft in the rock a little way up the rver is known as ‘Arjun’s Chula” and is to be seen from the road where it winds round the side of the Dalla Dhar, a thousand feet above.
Srigobindpur.- Situated at the foot of the hills, at a distance of 32 km from Batala, the tahsil headquarters and 40 km from Gurdaspur, he district headquarters, the town of Srigobindpur lies on the right bank of the River Beas. It is connected by road also with Amritsar. During the winter months, a ferry bridge on the Beas connects it with Tanda (Hoshiarpur District). Its population was 2,430 in 1971.
It is a class III municipality. There are 2 primary schools, 2 high schools (one for boys and the other for girls), a municipal library, a civil dispensary, a veterinafy hospital, a police station and a sub-post office.
The town was founded by Guru Arjun Dev who named it after his son and successor Hargobind. There is a historic temple known as Shahidi Gurdwara Damdama Sahib which was built in commemoration of thousands of Sikh martyrs who fell in a battle here.
Sujanpur. – About 6 km from Pathankot, Sujanpur is connected both by rail and road. It falls on the Pathankot-Jammu highway and the Delhi-Jammu railway main line. The Upper Bari Doab Canal passes through the town. The town takes its name from one Sujan Singh who founded it. Its population was 12,783 in 1971 as against 10,458 in 1961.
It is a class III municipality. There are 3 high schools (two for boys and one for girls), a municipal library, a civil dispensary, a veterinary dispensary, a police post, and a post and telegraph office. The Khandi Gramudyog Sangh Woollen Centre, and a Centre of Khadi and Village Board Industries are also located here.
Before the partition of the country in 1947, there was a colony of Kashmiri Muslims who produced woollen garments such as woollen carpets, pashmina chadars, woollen blankets, pattis and earthen pots. This industry disappeared from the local market as all the Kashmiris migrated with the outgoing Muslims. At present, it is more of a suburb of Pathankot than an independent town, mostly inhabited by persons working at Pathankot.
Talibpur Pindori. – Popularly known as Pindori Mahantan, the villages is about 10 km from Gurdaspur, the tahsil and district headquarters. The villages has an undistinguished name, Pindori, which it shares with several other villages in the Gurdaspur District and which occurs in the revenue records as only a minor adjunct of the name of the village Talibpur Pindori (as it is included in mauza Talibpur. It was founded by a Muslim fakir, Talib Shah Bains, who was married in the vicinity, and made it his permanent residence. The population of the village was 2,556 in 1971 as against 2,069 in 1961.
There are a higher secondary school, an Ayurvedic dispensary, a veterinary dispensary and a post and telegraph office. The establishment of Pindori, known as ‘Darbar Pindori Dham’ runs in its premises the Shri Bhagwan Narain Sanskrit College which is affiliated to the Punjab University, Chandigarh, for the examinations of Pragya, Visharad and Shastri. It has also set up a library which has a collection of a large numebr of books on Sanskrit, literature, astrology, religion, etc.
The large Vaishnava establishment at Pindori6 has been, for more than three hundred years, a hermitage of influence and significance. Its eminence is connected not only in the Gurdaspur District which has more than its share of religious houses, it is recognized wherever in India religious orders and establishments are known. The gaddi of Pindori finds prominent in Vaishnava records ; it contitutes in fact one of the fifty-two Pindori is thus referred to as the dvara of Bhagwan Narain, named after Bhagwanji, the founder of the Pindori establishment, and his favourite and inseparable disciple, Narainji.
Pindori is built on a Picturesque site not far from the course of the River Beas. It has one of the most imposing of constructions that house a religious establishment in these parts. Looking somewhat like a fortress from the outside, with a massive enclosing wall and a townering gate, the establishment is spread over an extensive area and consists of a series of buildings that have each their allotted role in this complex of buildings. The gateway with its own halves made out of enormous single planks of wood strentgth by metallic bosses and strips is topped by beautiful chhatris. At some distance from the main gateway, which leads to a vast compound, is the second gateway from which three different compounds are approached. To the left is the compound inside which stand the smadhs of the former mahants of Pindori close to that curious and noble monument, designed like a tomb, which tradition refers to as the structure raised over the remains of Bhagwanjio by the Emperor Jahangir as an act of homage. The large compound in front of the second gateway has along its sides a very large number of rooms for housing piligrims, and also a Sanskrit pathshala run by the establishment on charitable lines. The principal part of the complex of buildings, that is generally in use, is to the north of this compound and is built at different levels. At the ground-level is the building known as the gaddi ghar where, on ceremonial occasions, the occupant of the gaddi appears before his devotes from a verandah in a corner of which lies a silver throne devoutly presented by Rani Jindan (widow of Maharaja Ranjit Singh), and the walls of which bear traces of nineteenth century frescoes. From this a short flight of stairs leads to set of rooms where the present mahant resides and usually gives dardhan to privileged visitors; another flight leads to the compound from the centre of which rises the impressive Raghunath Temple, appropriately placed at the heart of a Vaishnava establishment tha toffers specila devotion to Rama from among the incarnations of Vishnu. At a slightly lower level than the temple, and approached from the paved compound is the hallowed cave or subterranean place of worship to which extermely narrow and steep stairs lead and inside the cavernous gloom of which the founder of the gaddi, Bhagwanji, is said by tradition to have sat in meditation. This does not describe the whole of the establishment, because there is an extensive orchard attached to the complex of buildings ; there is also the monument called the smadh of Baba Mahesh Das, a disciple of Bhagwanji, close to the principal group of buildings. There is a spring of limpid water in the little wood where both Bhagwanji and Narainji are said to have worshipped ; and at a short distance from the main gateway is a large tank of water at the head of which stands a charming baradari-like pavilion.
_______________________________________________________________
6. Goswamy, B.N. and Grewal,
J.S., The Mughal and Sikh Rulers and the Vaishnavas of Pindori, pp.
1-21, 64
The life of Bhagwanji, described by tradition and documentry avidence to be the founder of the Pindori gaddi is surrounded with legend which ascribes to him an unusual long span of life and speaks of the many miracles performed by him from his very childhood. His birth place is given as Kahunwan, a about 13 KM, south of Pindori and situated once on the bank of the Beas and now on a slight eminence overlooking what was not long ago an extensive swamp. The name of Bhagwanji’s father is said to have been Tota Ram, a brahmin of the Kahnuwan town, and the name of his mother, Maina. There is still at Kahunwan in a corner of a town, a Jogi establishment complete with its gaddi,the constantly burning dhuni and the burial ground, and inside this under a tree are to tiny tumuly which are pointed out to the visitors as having been raised over the remains of the two parents of Bhagwanji. Bhagwanji spent his early years meditating inside another shubterranean cave still to be seen at Kahnuwan. The site of th epresent establishment of Pindori is said to have been occupied by the Nathpanthi Jogis who were ousted from there by Bhagwanji after a contest of wills and miraculous powers. It was after the jogis vacated this neighbourhood that Bhagwanji founded the present establishment there. The jogis are said to have gone away to Dharmal, a short distance from Dinanagar, where their establishment still exists.
The association of the Pindori gaddi with the Nathpanthis is commemorated in a significant practice that is still followed. On the ceremonial occasion of the installation of a new mahant at Pindori, two objects, a seli or black woollen thread, and a topi or cap, are received from the Jogi establishment of Jakhbar (in) Pathankot Tahsil) and placed upon the person of other mahant. The ritual is of such importance that without it the ceremony is deemd to be incomplete. This topi is an unusual conical kind headgear not at all common to Vaishnava establishments and can be seen in all the paintings of the mahants of Pindori thast have survived. A topi which could be taken to be the symbol of the precedence of the Jogi establishment, together, with a chola or overgarment, is still draped over the smadhs of the various mahants of Pindori.
Bhagwanji himself seems to have been converted to Vaishnavism in his young years. This conversion, or his being claimed for the Vaishnava sect as it were, is said to have been due to a damous Vaishnava ascetic, Shri Krishanadas Payahari, a disciple of Anantanand who was himslef a well known disciple of the celebrated Vaishnava saint, Ramanand. Shiri Krishanadas Payahari induced Dhagwanji to make the district of Gurdaspur as the base of his activity. This carrying of the message of Vaishnavism to these parts, especially the hill areas, seems thus to have been the historic role played by the Oindori gaddi as a Vaishnava centre. That this was a shrewd choice both of man and places is proven by the fact that, with years, Pindori became one of the most nflunetial establishments of Vaishnavism in these parts, winning for itself the allegiance of numerous hill chiefs either directly of through off shoots which it implanted in these very hill areas.
The date of Bhagwanjio is matter which cannot be treated of with condfidence, but he is made out by the tradition insistently preserved at Pindori to be a contemporarty of the Emperor Jahangir, at least in his late years. In the legend that connects him with Jahangir, howeever, Bhagwanji does not figure alone but has by sis side is foremost disciple, Narainji. The connection between Bhagwanji and this disciple of his is so firm that almost always they are mentioned together in the same breath. The Pindori gaddi is reffered to in common parlance, as it is in most of the documents, as the gaddi of Bhagwan-Narain.
The most important of legends that is cited in proof of the miraculous powers possessed by Narainji is that in which he is administered seven cups of poison by the Emporer Jahangir at Lahore as a test of the ascetic’s powers. The story given in the Gurdaspur District Gazetteer, 1914 (page 16), is as follows :-
As might have been expected from his love of sport, Emperor Jahangir (1605-1627) apparently frequently visited Kahnuwan, and it was during one of his visits to that place that he first heard of the existence of the celebrated Bairagi fakir, Bhagwanji, and sought to make his acquaintance. The Bairagi avoided the king by miraculously burrowing through the ground to Pindori, some 16 km off to the north, and, on the king following him up, he effected in a similar way his escape to Dhamtal across the Chakki in the Knagra District (Himachal Pradesh). In proof of the story, caves or rather holes in the ground, are shown at Kahnuwan and Pindori. On a subsequent visit, Jahangir found Narainji, the disciple of Bahagwanji, at Pindori, but could get no answer from him since the fakir was then undergoiong a penance in consequence of which he was not allowed to speak. He, therefore, took him to Lahore, where seven cups of poison were, it is said, administered to Narainji, a mere taste of which was sufficient to kill an elephant on the spot, but which caused him no hurt whatever. On Bhagwanji’s arrival, he explained matters to the Emperor, who was so amazed at the occurrence that he had a temple constructed at Pindori in the shape of a Manammadan domed tomb, which still exists, and endowed the shrine with a grant of jagir of Rs 20,000. The deed is, it is said, still preserved at the daughter shrine of Dhamtal.
The story forms a central point in the tradition preserved at Pindori and several paintings show this incident in which Narainji, as it is narrated, came out triumphantly with the blessings of his preceptor.7
The direct line of succession to the Pindori gaddi is as follows : Bhagwanji (contemporary of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, A. D. 1605-1627, he died about 1622), Narainji (..-1659), Mahant Anandghan (1659-1676), Mahant Hari Ram (1676-1718), Mahant Sukh Nidhan (1718-1727), Mahant Ram Das (1727-1761), Mahant Ram Krishan Das (1761-1778), Mahant Keshav Bas (1778-1807), Mahant Narotam Das (1807-1843), Mahant Ganga Das (1843-1861), Mahant Radhika Das (1861-1887), Mahant Brahm Das (1887-1908) and Mahant Ram Das (the present occupant who succeeded to the gaddi in 1908).
_______________________________________________________________
7. This legend has been the subject of a recent dtudy which draws
attention to a passage in the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (Memoirs of Jahangir) in which
the Emperor himselfrefers to a test to which he subjected a Hindus ascetic who
was under a vow of silence, interpreted by the adherents of the Emperor as one
of arrogance. The account of incident
in the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri varies in Memoirs of detail from that given in the
tradition. The incident in the Nurpur and not at Lahore, and in the XVI year of
his reign (1621-22) and no earlier.
(Goswami, B.N., and Grewal, J.S., The Mughal and Sikh Rulers and Vaishnavas of Pindori, p.
9).
The establishment of Pindori, known as ‘Darbar Pindori Dham’. Has about 50-60 branches scattered all over India. It has received recognition and grants of land and some other privileges from the Mughal governors and Sikh rulers of the Punjab. Besides the Shri Bhagwan Narain Sanskrit College at Pindori, the Pindori Dham also runs a number of other educational institutions at different places. People from far and wide come to pay their homage at this shrine on the occasions of Janam Ashtami and Baisakhi.
The old structure built by the Emperor Jahangir is, however, overshadowed by the magnificent new temple overlooking the marsh. There are 13 smadhs representing 13 gaddis or succession of gurus, of which the best known were Bhagwanji, his two chelas (disciples), Narainji and Baba Mahesh Dasji, and Babe Hari Ramji, who migrated to Dhamtal and founded a gaddi there. Close to the smadh of Baba Mahesh Dasji is a smaller one of his dog who is said to have survived a dose of about 1 ¼ maunds of opium administered to it by the Guru as an exhibition of his spiritual powers. The copper plate, on which are inscribed the terms of the grant of pasture by the Emperor Jahangir, is still preserved at the shrine.