Sohawa Tehsil
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| Sohawa | |
| General Information | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province | Punjab |
| District | Jhelum |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+5) |
| No. of Towns | 1 |
| Government | |
| No. of Union Councils | 10 |
Sohawa is one of the tehsils (administrative sub-divisions) of Jhelum District, situated in the Punjab province of Pakistan.[1] It is located in north-western part of the district. One sign of Sohawa is the toll plaza by the name of 'Tarakki' on the Grand Trunk Road. The main bazaar of Sohawa attracts people from nearby villages.
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[edit] History
The etymology of the name Sohawa has not been proven, but according to folk etymology the original name was Soo Awa which means "100 fences of potters". Sohawa was originally a small village near to Khoraka, after several years of human settlement in these two villages, the original village of Soahwa and Khoraka merged with each other and the present town of Sohawa was formed. The original village is part of the main town and called "Ward #1" or Purana Sohawa (literally "old Sohawa")
[edit] Places to visit
[edit] Dewan-e-Hazoori
The most important site of the village is the Ziaret (shrine) of an Islamic scholar, Al Haaj Al Hafidh Sayyid Muahammed Abd'illah Dewan-e-Hazoori Al Mashur Al Ma'ruf. Sayyid Muhammed Abd'illah who was originally from the Al Azamiyya district of Baghdad, Iraq, had travelled to this part of the world to spread Islam. Every year the family of the great scholar organise a conference where scholars from around the world attend to educate and enlighten the public about the religion of Islam. In the past great contemporary scholars such as the former minister of state for Kuwait, Yusaf Al Sayyid Hashem Al Rif'ai, and Sayyid Nasir-ud-Deen Nasir Al Gilani have attended the annual event. The family of Sayyid Muhammed Abd'illah are actively involved in the spread of authentic Islamic knowledge and provide guidance to the thousands of followers they have.
The Dewan-E-Hazoori foundation is an Islamic charitable organization set up after the murder of Sayyid Ajmal Shah by criminals. It is a voice of moderation, striving to rid the Muslim community of terrorism and violence.
[edit] Tomb of Great Warrior
Another site to be visit is tomb of great Muslim warrior and ruler of Hindustan Sultan Shihabuddin Mohammad Ghori. Travelling to Dewan-e-Hazoori, the road can lead to Dhamek, where this tomb is situated.
Sultan was the ruler of Ghaur and he was chiefly interested in Indian territories. For that purpose, Muhammad Ghauri fought two famous historical battles at Tarain in 1191 and 1192, with Prithvi Raj Chouhan, and in the Second Battle, Mohammad Ghauri defeated Prithvi Raj Chouhan and laid the foundation of Muslim rule in the subcontinent.
In 1206, Ghori had to travel to Lahore to crush a revolt. On his way back to Ghazni, his caravan halted at Dhamiak near Jehlum. He was killed while offering his evening prayers. Many think that the murderer was an Ismaili. However, some historians believe that the murderer belonged to the warrior Gakhars tribe that resided in the area. He was buried where he fell, and his tomb has recently been renovated by the personal interest of Dr. Abdul
in apropriate
[edit] Hotels and resturants
The most notable restaurant of Sohawa is called "Badri Hotel" which is placed in center of town and from many years enjoying status of cultural hub of the tehsil. Especially during seasonal cultural fair and social events, Badri restaurant becomes landing and departure points for inhabitants of the tehsil. Other famous hotels in Sohawa are "Chaudhary Hotel", which is organised by Haji Sadique, and "Logar Hotel", which is managed by Afghan immigrants.
[edit] Development organizations
The Civil Society Human and Institutional Development Program[2] (CHIP) is working in tehsil Sohawa since 2004, with its field office in the area CHIP has successfully mobilized community people to get organize into Community-Based Organizations, Community Citizen Boards and Women Organizations. Further, CHIP has duly built the capacity of these local entities to take new initiatives. These community-level organizations, in collaborative partnerships with CHIP, are working on several development projects. The main focus of these projects is to eliminate illiteracy from villages of Sohawa especially those where government education structure does not exist, make clean drinking water available, provide technical support to the local farmers, raise skill development opportunities for women and sensitize communities to include women in decision making. The local community-level organizations developed by CHIP are making successful efforts in implementing development projects by deriving funds from local government bodies.
CHIP has announced Sohawa as its main development area and the organization is assessing further development interventions in villages of Sohawa, presently the main focus of organization is to introduce an 'Inclusive Development Model' which suggest active involvement of people with disabilities in the development process.
[edit] Demographics
The village of Bishindaur (new name Dewan-e-Hazoori) near Sohawa was named after Bishan Singh a Sikh who ruled the area. Raja Bishan Singh was the grandson of Raja Ram Singh I and was ruler of Amber, and head of the Kachwaha Rajput clan, from 1688 to 1699. The village of Dewan e Hazoori and other villages in the surrounding areas have descendants from this Rajput clan (Sikhs). The village of Dewan e Hazoori has an annual religious event for the birth of the Wali Haji Hafiz Syed Muahammed Abdullah RA, commonly known as Dewan E Hazoori. There is a darbaar and mosque at the heart of the village, where people flock to every Thursday to visit and pay their respects.
The village of Dewan-e-Hazoori had a mixture of Muslim, Hindu and Sikh inhabitants before the partition in 1948. After the birth of Pakistan, all the Sikhs and Hindus fled to India, leaving the village home to the remaining Muslims. There are no Sikhs or Hindus living in the village at present, only descendants of them. At present, the village has around 3000 inhabitants and is surrounded by a number of smaller colonies called "dhoks", such as Rala(n) and Dhamyak.
[edit] Notable people
- Raja Mohamad Khaled Khan (Late): Former provisional Minister, elected member of Punjab Assembly, who played an important role to promote Sohawa as a Tehsil headquarter in 1985. He was elected member of Punjab Assembly in 1985, 1990, 1997 and served as provisional minister of overseas Pakistanis. With dozens of progressive works carried out throughout Sohwa Tehsil, he established networks of schools, colleges, roads, electricity, and dispensaries in the town.
- Dr. Munir Ahmed (Late): Dr. Munir Ahmed, who belonged to ward 1, was a very well-known personality of the area who died first of the moheram.
- Captain Shabeer Shah Shaeed - Killed in war with India in 1948 in Kashmir. He received several military medals for courage and loyalty.
[edit] Major Clans
- Jatt
- Rajput (Bangial,Kiyani,Chohan,Akra)
- Mughal / Mirza
- Minhas
- But
- Sayed (Bukhari, Kazmi, Naqvi)
- Sheikh
- Kassab
- Gill (Religiously Christian )
- Gujar
- Miaan
- Afghan immigrants
