Bhera

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Bhera is a town in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located on the Jhelum river in Sargodha District, at latitude 32.48 N, longitude 72.92 E. Pop. (1901) 18,680. It is the terminus of a branch of the North-Western railway. It is an important centre of trade, with manufactures of cotton goods, metal-work, carving, etc. Bhera was founded about 1540 on its present site, but it took the place of a city on the opposite bank of the river, of far greater antiquity, which was destroyed at this period. BHERA is located on the mid of Lahore-Islamabad motorway (M2) at the left bank of river Jehlum near Southern Salt Range in District Sargodha. Before independence 1947, it was located in district Shahpur. Bhera is surrounded by green fields and its importance increased due to Motorway passes near Bhera.

The most important Mohallas or localities of old Bhera are the Pirachagan Mohalla, the Sethian wala Mohalla, the Sahnian wala Mohalla.

1 History of Bhera
2 Khawaja Shaikh of Bhera in the census of 1883
3 Justice Pir Muhammad Karam Shah Al-Azhari
4 Some Eminent Personalities
5 Bugvia Library Bhera
6 Location
7 Historical places in the vicinity
8 Ancient Hindu Temples
9 Two good Bhirochis
10 Old Mosques Of Khilji and Tughlaq Periods
11 Old Sikh Temple
12 External links
13 Geographical links
14 Towns and cities around Bhera

[edit] History of Bhera

"Bhera" is a Sanskrit word which means: "a place where there is no fear".

Bhera is stated to be the historical town to which the King Porus or Purushotthama belonged. The Oral history of the Kukhran a khatri tribe claim Porus as one of their ancestors, in fact in the khukrein tradition Porus is supposed to have been a Sabharwal Khukrain. The palace of Sopeithes which the Greek historian Arrian mentions as the place on the Hydaspes is supposed to be at Bhera. The Greeks refer to the Jhelum river as the Hydaspes River where Alexander fought Porus in Battle of the Hydaspes River in 326BC .It was at this battle that Alexander's famous horse Bucephalus was killed .

The Kukhran Khatris (or "Kukhrain Khatris") are a group of eleven specific clans of Punjabi Khatris who originally hailed from the town of Bhera in Punjab. The names of the Ten clans are: Anand, Bhasin, Chadha, Chandok, Gandhoke, Ghai, Kohli, Sabharwal, Sahni/Sawhney, Sethi and Suri.

Till the time of the partition of India in 1947 Bhera had a mixed population consisting of Hindu/Sikh and Muslim communities

The last chief or Raja of Bhera was Diwan Bahadur Jawahir Mal . ( Ref Page 197 " The Punjab Chiefs " by authors W.L.Conran and H.D Craik and published by Sang-E-Meel publications of Lahore Pakistan . The Diwan Family originally came from Peshawar,and tradition ascribes the abolition the jazia in Peshawar to his influence .

The demographic composition of Bhera was significantly altered however at the time of partition as almost the entire Hindu and Sikh Bhirochis migrated to India , some chose to stay back and converted to Islam .

The refugees who came to India settled in Delhi , Punjab and other cities of Northern India . N.Delhi continues to have a colony called Bhera town where a section of these refugees were resettled .

Bhera was also home to the Mohyal community who also claim Porus as an ancestor like the Khukrain

It is also home to the Punjabi Muslim communities of Piracha and Elahis and the Hayats. People from Bhera were known as Bherochis and therefore perhaps the name Pirachas may be a variation of the word Bherochis

Bhera is a historical city. Mahmud of Ghazni In his attack on Waihind (Peshawar) in 1001-3, is reported to have captured the Hindu Shahiya King Jayapal and fifteen of his principal chiefs and relations some of whom like Sukhpal, were made Musalmans. At Bhera a great many inhabitants , except those who embraced Islam, were put to the sword .

It is located on the Lahore-Islamabad motorway, and connects with Bhera interchange. Sub-tehsil Bhera is the historical city of District Sargodha near (district Khushab). Its population is 100,000 is mainly dominated by Punjabis. Old Bhera is like old Lahore or old Peshawer. Its markets and streets are narrow. There is a circular road around the city. Old Bhera was situated on the right bank of the River Jehlum, on the opposite side new Bhera is located. There are heaps of ruins of old Bhera and remains of its markets and streets can still be seen on the other bank of the River Jehlum.

Old Bhera was destroyed in 1545 because of the disputes among the pathan forces, and was rebuilt at the present location, that is the left bank of the River Jhelum. Sher Shah Suri was the founder of the new city. When he visited the old city, he was distressed upon seeing the destroyed areas. He camped at the left bank of river Jehlum, near Qaimnath's hut, and constructed the first building there. He also constructed the Shahi Jamia Mosque in the new city, which rivals the Shahi Jamia Mosques of Delhi, Agra and Lahore in beauty. Sher Shah Suri made a road, along which he built an "Idgah" and water tanks for the passengers. 1300 years ago, many Muslim saints passed by Bhera which became famous in the whole of Asia. Businessmen and scholars arrived first and then many Afghan and Central Asians such as Gaznavi, Ghori, Aibak, Babar and Ahmed Shah Abdali attacked or passed by the city to attack the great Rajas and Marathas.

Along with other things, peacocks were also presented to Hazrat Suleman. The people of this area were well educated. The people of other cities and countries had been learning Tib, etc. from here. When Alexander the great after conquering countries,like Iran and Hindu kush, he reached in Punjab and came to the River Biyas and then turned back from there. BHERA earned a great status during the Mughal rule. Mughal emperor Zaheer-ud-din Babur mentioned about this town in his famous book, 'Tuzke Babri'. The town had to face destruction when Sher Shah Suri (1540-1545) defeated Humayun and the pathan forces took their revenge on the then pro-mughal town of Bhera.

In the recent past centuries, Bhera was an important trading outpost on the road to Kabul, and boasted of a taksal (mint) during the rule of Ranjit Singh. It declined in importance due to the gradual shifting of the course of the Jhelum river, due to which the town lost the advantage of being located on a river bank

Captain Devas came to Bhera and with the help of the local architect Dhanchand Kohli rebuilt eight Gates of the city facing different directions. These were named Multani Gate, Lahori Gate, Kashmiri Gate, Kabuli Gate, Peeranwala Gate, Chinioti Gate, Loharanwala Gate and Hajji Gulab Gate. Only four gates have survived to date, Peeranwala Gate, Hajji Gulab Gate, Loharanwala Gate and Kabuli Gate which too are in a state of disrepair now. During the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar, BHERA regained its former glory and was one of the 40 cities of Mughal India having a royal mint for minting gold and silver coins.

Ghaznavi, Ghauri and Ahmad Shah Abdali also passed through Bhera while attacking the subcontinent. After the Sikh Raj (1790 to 1849), the British occupied Bhera till independence in 1947. The town of BHERA used to have a boundary wall and eight gates.Unfortunately, there is no official or public awareness about this great city of the past.

Bhera was a large business center of South Asia. Bhera was also called Wheat center and market of Mehndi. Camel was used as a means of tranportation before the train and bus. There were many inns where businessmen and travelers stayed. Bhera was a great center of industries. Knives and swords were made craftfully. Wood work from here was famous all over the Indian sub continent. One of the carved door from Bhera city exists even today in the Museum of Lahore. In the city there are many beautiful buildings in Mohala Khawajgan, Ansari and Sheesh Mehol. Aurangzeb Alamgeer constructed a mosque near Chinioti Gate Markzi Mosque Mohala Sheikhanwal's Mosque and Chinese tomb near Kabuli gate. At first, Bhera was situated on a circular road, but as the population increased, the people built different colonies out of the circular road. These are Lall wali Lokri, Islam pur, Zain Pur, Hajka, Ali pur, Naseer abad, Fazil Imaam, Sadiqabad, Fateh Gadh, Boodhiwala, Dhollenwala and Meharabad.Sher Shah Suri mosque is a little version of badshahi mosque.

Bhera's Link Roads are Bhera to Bhalwal and Sargodha , Bhera to Malkwal, Shah Pur and Khushab, Bhera to Salam, Bhera to Duhari, and to the main Lahore-Islamabad Motorway.

[edit] Khawaja Shaikh of Bhera in the census of 1883

The first census of the Punjab was conducted by Ibbetson and MacLagan in 1883 and 1892. According to their reports, the Khawajas of Bhera in Shahpur, Sargodha District were converted from Khatris.The sections of Khawajas from Bhera were reported as follows: Vohra, Sahgal, Kapur, Sethi, Duggal, Rawar (or Ror), Gorwala, Magun, Mehndru, Motali. These are all Khatri sections.

While those from Jhang were said to be converted from Arora.

At Chiniot in Jhang District, the Khawajas are mainly Khatris, though some are Arora. They reported the following sections (gotras) of Khatris from Chiniot:

Adal, Behrara, Churra, Maggun (or Maghoon), Sahgal, Wadhaun (or Vadhavan), Wihara, Talwar, Puri, Topra.

The following Arora sections were reported from Chiniot:

Tarneja, Goruwala, Khurana, Dhingra, Chawala.

The Khawajas of Layyah, Punjab have following Khatri sections:

Kapur, Puri, Tandan and Gambhir.[2]

Khatris after accepting Islam adopted Khawaja Shaikh (Arabic: خواجہ شيخ ) as title and it is generally assumed to belong to Muslim trading families. Although large number of them were employed in government services.

When Khatri from the western districts of the Punjab; Sargodha, Jhang, Jehlum, Chakwal, Faisalabad; accepted Islam called themselves Khawaja and adopted Shaikh as title. They are also called Khawaja Shaikh. Some of them adopted Mian as title. In recent years traders from a small town of Chiniot of district Jhang became prominent due to their contribution in the industries of Pakistan. These traders are known as Chiniotis or Chinioti Shaikhs.

Famous trading family Sahgals, Sahgal Khatris of Chakwal, are known as Punjabi Shaikh instead of Khawaja Shaikh. They use Mian as title.

Conversion to Islam The Khawaja originally from the western districts of the Punjab. They converted from Hinduism to Islam and belong to the Khatri and Arora classes. Khawaja is a term derived from the (Arabic and (Persian meaning "a wealthy, respectable person".

Although conversions to Islam in the Punjab started in the 11th century, it is uncertain when the Khatri and Arora traders embraced Islam. The earliest reference to Khawajas in the Punjab literature is in the Heer Ranjha of Waris Shah (1735-1790):

The beauty of her [Heer's] red lips slays rich Khawajas and Khatris in bazaar, like Qizilbash [Afghan soldiers] troopers riding out of the royal camp into bazaar with a sword. These verses of Heer Ranjha, written by Waris Shah in 1766, describe the conditions of the post-Mughal Punjab. Khatris and Khawajas occupied an important place in the economy of the Punjabi towns. This was probably the earliest reference to the emerging role of Hindu and Muslim Khatris as rich traders, instead of performing their Vedic functions as fighters and governors. Some of the Khatris and Aroras converted as late as 1947 [1]

[edit] Justice Pir Muhammad Karam Shah Al-Azhari

Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat, Shaykh Muhammad Karam Shah, Al-Azhari (R.A.) was born on 1st July 1918, (Monday 21st Ramadan al-Mubarak, 1336 Hijri), in Bhera Sharif, Pakistan. The Honourable Shaykh obtained initial education through his beloved father, Shaykh Muhammad Shah (R.A.). After his education at school, the Honourable Shaykh enrolled at the Madrassah Naeemia, Muradabad, India till 1942. Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat then went on to enrol at one of Pakistan’s famous universities, Punjab University, where he obtained his Master Degree in 1945. The Honourable Shaykh then went on to travel to Cairo, Egypt, the world's famous Al-Azhar University, during the periods of 1951-1954 in, which he obtained the highest degree in Islamic Jurisprudence. When Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat returned to Pakistan, he became the Spiritual Disciple of Shaykh-ul-Islam wa’l-Muslimeen, Khawaja Muhammad Qamar-al-Din Sialvi, (1906-1981). Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat, Shaykh Muhammad Karam Shah Al-Azhari was a Saint in the Chishti Nizami Sufi Order.

After completion of his studies, Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat, Shaykh Muhammad Karam Shah, Al-Azhari (R.A.), founded the world's famous, Dar-ul-‘Uloom Al-Muhammadiya Al-Ghawthiyya, (DMG University Bhera, Pakistan). This was one of the first educational institutes of its kind to use syllabus of both Islamic Knowledge and B.A. in English, for both boys and girls.

Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat has translated the Holy Quran in the Urdu Language, by the name of Jamal-ul-Quran and provided the detailed exegesis of the Holy Quran in five volumes, by the name Zia-ul-Quran. The Honourable Shaykh also wrote the detailed masterpiece, Seerah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Aalehi Wasallam, in seven volumes, by the name Zia-un-Nabi. One of the first books of the Honourable Shaykh was the Sunnah Khair-ul-Anaam. Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat, also was the founder of the world famous Islamic Magazine Zia-e-Harem, which has subscribers all over the world.

Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat, Shaykh Muhammad Karam Shah Al-Azhari (R.A.), served in the Federal Shariah Court as the Chief Justice. The Honourable Shaykh, also held the position of a Judge on the bench of the, Supreme Court of Pakistan, on the request of the Government of Pakistan till the day of his passing away. Along with many, many achievements and awards, Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat Shaykh Muhammad Karam Shah Al-Azhari (R.A.), on 6th March 1993, was presented with the Naut-ul-Imtiaz by the President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak.

Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat (R.A.) passed away on the day of Eid-ul-Adha in the year of 1998, (Inna lillahi was inna ilayhi rajioon). On Wednesday 7th April 2004, on the death anniversary of Huzoor Zia-ul-Ummat (R.A), Pakistan Post Office issued a commemorative postage stamp of two rupees. The Honourable Shaykh was known as, The Luminary Light of the Islamic Nation.

[edit] Some Eminent Personalities

Bhera has seen some very eminent personalities. Other than the Pirachas and Pir Karam Shah, already mentioned previously, some worth mentioning are as follows. Dr Sheikh Fazl ud Din was one such figure. He was the first muslim surgeon of the area. He was born in 1858 and was the personal physician of Rajas, nawabs and sardars of Punjab, Balochistan, NWFP and Kashmir. Dr M O Dwyer - Civil Surgeon of Gujrat in his Annual Report of 1887 writes " Assistant Surgeon Sheikh Fazl ud Din, for doing a great many surgical operations especially 204 cataract, 69 lithomities and 101 litholopaxies, which last has greatly increased the popularity of Gujrat Dispensary. I trust his work and zeal will be highly appreciated and rewarded with the merits it deserves." Amongst his descendents were Fazle Hamid and Fazle Akbar,two brothers who ceated a record in the Bhera school by getting highest marks in matriculation examination ever in successive years.They both joined the Pakistan Army and rose to the rank of Colonel. Their younger brother Fazle Majid has the distinction of being the first person to get a Doctorate degree, which he got from University of Brisbane, Australia in Genetics. All the sons of Fazle Hamid joined the Pakistan Army. One of them, Shahid Hamid rose to the rank of Lieutenant General, the only one to have reached the General's rank from the area.

[edit] Bugvia Library Bhera

Bugvia Library is located in the grand Sher Shah Suri Mosque. It was established by the scholars of Bugvia family. There is a huge collection of books on different subjects of Islam. Mostly are in Arabic, Persian, Urdu. A large number of hand written manuscripts are also available. This library remained a useful source of reference for students, scholars and researchers for last about 200 years.

[edit] Location

Bhera is located on the left bank of river Jehlum. River is located about one kilometer from the town. Bank of river Jehlum is also nice place for picnic and enjoyments. During Mughal period, carvans from Central Asia, Kabul, Qandahar and Peshawar used to cross the river to go to Lahore, Delhi and other parts of India. Carvans from Kashmir used to reach Bhera along with the river.

[edit] Historical places in the vicinity

Tilla Jogian

Taxila Salt Range

Salt Range Temples, Pakistan

[edit] Ancient Hindu Temples

Although the Bhera lost its Hindu population in the great exodus of 1947 several Hindu temples are still standing in Bhera . A temple near the Train Station , one temple near the Lahori Gate, and the third one near the Jhelum river .

[edit] Two good Bhirochis

At the time of partition of India two Muslim Bhirochis played a significant and commendable role in saving the lives of the Hindus of Bhera. The names of these two people are Sheikh Fasal Ilahi Piracha and Alam Khan.

Apart from seperate mohallas there were also some mixed mohallas of Hindus and Sikhs. Alam Khan lived in the chachi mohallah .

[edit] Old Mosques Of Khilji and Tughlaq Periods

There are a few other historical mosques belonging to the Tughlaq, Khiljian and other eras. These Old mosques of emperor Khilji an Afghan Dynasty and Tughlaq a clan of Turkish origin can be visited during the visit of the walled town. Due to unskilled local masons and lack of awareness, these mosques have lost their original shape. Shrine Of Muslim Saint "Hazrat Miran Shah Sahib"

Hazrat Meeran sahib was a great saint of the area who worked for the transmission of Islam in the area. His shrine is located in the western part of the town near river Jehlum. Peoples from different parts of the area visit his shrine in the month of March to give him hamage.

Another old mosque located in the centre of the town is known as the " Tallian Wali Masjid ". It is reputed to have been built by a Hindu converted to Islam, by the name of Sita Talla.

[edit] Old Sikh Temple

A beautiful incompleted Sikh temple is also located in the central part of the town. which is now Markazi Immam Bargha of bhera Its minaret is visible from long distances.