Kotkapura

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?Kotkapura Punjab • India
Coordinates: (find coordinates)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
District(s)	Faridkot
Population	80,741 (2001)
Codes • Pincode • Telephone	• 151204 • +01635

Kotkapura is a historic city some 50 km from Bathinda, in the state of Punjab, India. It is the largest city in the Faridkot District and used to have one of the largest cotton markets in India, though now the cotton traders have diversified into various other businesses. It takes around 5 hours by bus from Chandigarh and 2.5 hours from Ludhiana to reach the city. Kotkapura takes its name from its founder, Nawab Kapura Singh, and the word "kot", meaning a small fort – literally the "fort of Kapura".

1 Demographics
2 History
3 Kotkapura today
4 References

[edit] Demographics

As of the 2001 Indian census,^[1] Kotkapura has a population of 80,741. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Kotkapura has an average literacy rate of 61%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 65%, and female literacy is 57%. In Kotkapura, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. Alternatively, Kotkapura has a population of 128,000, not including significant floating population due to seasonal work demands in the cotton market and fields.

[edit] History

Bhallan, founder of the Faridkot principality, was an ardent follower Guru Har Gobind, the 6th Sikh guru. He helped Guru Har Gobind in the Battle of Mehraj, but died issueless in 1643. He was succeeded by his nephew, Kapura, who founded the town of Kotkapura in 1661. Nawab Kapura was the chaudhry of eighty-four villages. Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th guru of the Sikhs, en route from Machhiwara, after staying at Dina and after short stopovers at various other places, reached Kotkapura and asked Nawab Kapura Brar for his fort to fight the pursuing Mughal army. Kapura was a Sikh, but did not want to earn the ire of the Mughals by helping Guru Gobind Singh openly in his war with them; otherwise, the famous last battle of Muktsar (Khidrane Di Dhaab; now a historic town) between Guru Gobind Singh and the Mughal army would have been fought at Kotkapura. However, Nawab refused the fort to the guru.

After refusal from Kapura Brar, Guru Gobind Singh-ji reached the village of Dhilwan Kalan (at that time called Dhilwan Sodhian), where his relatives received him with great cordiality. At Dhilwan Kalan, one of the Prithi Chand's descendants, Kaul Sodhi, presented Guru Gobind Singh with new clothes. The guru took off his blue robe which he had been wearing since he left Machiwara, and tearing it piece by piece burned it in fire. The historic words that Guru Gobind Singh-ji are said to have uttered on this occasion are memorable: "I have torn the blue clothes which I wore, and with that the rule of the Turks and Pathans is at an end". Some historians think that the guru said "Turks, Pathans and Kapuras". It is believed that Guru Gobind Singh-ji stayed a couple of days at Dhilwan Kalan in the house of Sodhi Kaul on his request. On Kaul's request, Guruji also discarded his blue dress and changed to white dress. Descendants of Kaul Sodhi’s family claim that the guru gave a "topi" believed to be of the first guru, Nanak Dev-ji, and a "chola" (cloak), socks and turban, two daggers believed to belonging to Guru Gobind Singh-ji, which is still in their custody.

Guru Gobind Singh's clothes can still be seen at Dhilwan Kalan. Nowadays, the village is approximately 2566 hectares in area, with a population of around 7000. In memory of Guru Gobind Singh-ji's visit to Dhilwan Kalan, "Gurdwara Godavari Sahib" is situated about 200 m east of the village. Guru Gobind Singh-ji bathed in the sarover and changed cloths provided by the residents of the village. He named the village sarover "Godavari Sar". Guru Gobind Singh-ji announced that dipping in this sarover, now the "Holy Sarover of Gurdwara", will bear the same pilgrimage as taking a holy dip in the Godavari River, a sacred river in central India near Nanded. The Godavari River has been held as a special place of pilgrimage for many thousands of years in central India. A dip in the holy Godavari River is considered sacred in central India, similar to taking a holy dip in the Ganga River in northern India by Hindus.

Chaudhry Kapura, being repentant of his disgraceful act of not helping Guru Gobind Singh, later came to see the guru and asked for his forgiveness. The guru moved from Kotkapura to Dhilwan Kalan, and then to Talwandi Sabo via Guru ki Dhab. Later, in the battle of Muktsar in 1705, Nawab Kapura helped Guru Gobind Singh-ji in an underhand manner. In 1708, Kapura was slain by Isa Khan Manj. Kapura had three sons: Sukhia, Sema and Mukhia. Mukhia killed Isa Khan and took control of the entire area. Sema was also killed in this battle in 1710. Kapura’s eldest son, Sukhia, again came into power in 1720. A dispute between the sons of Sukhia, grandsons of Kapura, led to the division of the state in 1763. The older brother, Sardar Jodh Singh Brar, retained control of Kotkapura, while his younger brother, Sardar Hamir Singh Brar, was given Faridkot, which later became known as Faridkot Ryast during the British Raj. Nawab Kapura’s state was captured in 1803 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In 1808, Ranjit Singh captured the principality of Faridkot up to Muktsar. But Ranjit Singh vacated this area on the behest of the British. During the Anglo-Sikh Wars in 1845, Pahara Singh Brar, from Kapura’s ancestral background, aided the British by providing secret intelligence to the British army. Pahar Singh Brar was rewarded with more territory of Faridkot Ryast being placed under his control after the British capture of the Sikh kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Raja Harinder Singh Brar was the last king of Faridkot Ryast before the independence of India in 1947. Raja Harinder Singh Brar had four issues, a son and three daughters; his son died issueless as did his youngest daughter years later. His eldest daughter Rajkumari Bibiji Amrit Kaur Sahiba and second eldest Rajkumari Bibiji Deepinder Kaur Sahiba live with issues. There is currently a legal dispute over the Raja's assets.

[edit] Kotkapura today

Recently, Kotkapura, like many other small towns in India, is going through "modernization" as never before. The cotton market of kotkapura is one of the most populous markets in Punjab. Kotkapura is also renowned for a famous sweet, "Dhodha". Kotkapura is also famous for its ever-closed railway crossing gate on the Kotkapura–Muktsar road.