Wazirabad

Wazirabad is a famous city of 300,000 people (2017) in Pakistan. It is about 30 km from Gujranwala City. It is famous for its knives.

Understand

Built in 1878, Alexandra Railway Bridge

Wazirabad is rich in its culture and famous for its cutlery products.

The Chenab river is spanned opposite Wazirabad by the Alexandra railway bridge, one of the finest engineering works of the kind in India, which was opened by in 1876 by the Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VII, the King-Emperor.

History

The city was founded in 1645 AD by Wazir Hakim illmmudiddin, an amir of Shah Jahan. The town was taken over by Charat Singh around 1760. Maharja Ranjit Singh occupied the town in 1809 and Avitabile was appointed as the Nazim of the city. He built an entirely new town, with a straight broad bazar running through it, and side streets at right angles.

Get in

By road

Wazirabad is on the N-5 National Highway which connects it to the nearby city District of Gujrat in the north and District Capital Gujranwala and the Provincial Capital Lahore in the south. Multiple Dual Carriageway also connect the city to Gujrat, Sialkot, Daska and Gujranwala.

The E3 Expressway or Kot Sarwar–Hafizabad–Wazirabad Expressway is a controlled-access expressway which links the N-5 National Highway at Wazirabad with the M-2/M-4 junction near Kot Sarwar, in Punjab, Pakistan. E3 also connects the city with the Tehsil's Union councils in the nearby areas.

By train

Wazirabad Junction railway station is on the Karachi - Peshawer Railway Line, Khanewal - Wazirabad Branch Line and the Wazirabad- Narowal Branch Line.

See

Inside the Old City, the first residential complex was built called Musamman Burj. It was constructed by Ilm ul Din, a confidant of Jehangir and was completed in 1636 CE during Shahjehan's Rule. Opposite the Musamman Burj, there is the Main bazar (market) which is about 2 km long and ends in the south of the city at Lahori Gate.

Another house called Kothi Sheik Niaz Ahmed was constructed outside the old city about 2 km from the burj on the road leading to Nizamabad but the city outgrew its boundaries. Kothi and Mussamman Burj are now in the centre of Wazirabad thanks to the urban sprawl and rapid industrialization of the city.

Alexandra Railway Bridge was completed in 1878, and opened by the Prince of Wales. The bridge was constructed to carry the Punjab Northern State Railway over the River Chenab.

Dak Chowki (mail station)

The Dak Chowki (mail station) was built by Sher Shah Suri in 1542 CE. It has been declared a protected monument and is planned to be restored.

The Gurdwara Gurukotha was built by the orders of Ranjit Singh in memory of Guru Har Gobind, the sixth of the Sikh gurus (1595-1640). He stayed in Wazirabad during his long travels preaching through Punjab and Kashmir. The spherical, segmented dome of Gurukotha Gurdwara rises in splendour above the skyline of the city and is balanced off by four domes at the corner.