Firozpur district, also known as Ferozepur district, is one of the twenty-three districts in the state of Punjab, India. Firozpur district comprises an area of . The district is part of the Firozpur division.
Firozpur (Ferozepur) is the capital city of the district. It is situated inside ten gates—Amritsari Gate, Wansi Gate, Makhu Gate, Zira Gate, Bagdadi Gate, Mori Gate, Delhi Gate, Magjani Gate, Multani Gate, and Kasuri Gate.
History
Sikh Period In the 18th century, religious persecution led the Sikhs to form strong warrior groups called Misls, united in resisting Mughal rule. In 1760, they defeated the Mughal Governor of Lahore. In 1763, Hari Singh of the Bhangi Misl sacked Kasur, and his commander Gujjar Singh crossed the Sutlej to capture Ferozepur, handing it over to his nephew Gurbakhsh Singh. Though the Dogars resisted, Gurbakhsh Singh subdued them and expanded his territory on both sides of the Sutlej. Around 1792, he gave Ferozepur to his second son, Dhanna Singh, who proved to be a weak ruler. Facing rebellion, Nihal Singh Atariwala, a favourite Sardar of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, crossed the Sutlej and surrounded his lands. At this time, the British East India Company began offering protection to Trans-Sutlej chiefs. Dhanna Singh accepted British protection, preventing Ranjit Singh from expanding eastward.
Dhanna Singh died in 1818–19, and his widow Lachhman Kaur succeeded him. She died in 1835 without an heir, after which the British took control of Ferozepur Jagir.Page No. 6- Feropzur District Census Handbook 1961, Punjab (India) Access here
First Sikh War The First Anglo-Sikh War was mainly fought in Ferozepur district. The Sikh leadership was divided and could not properly lead the Khalsa Army of Ranjit Singh. The Sikhs crossed the Sutlej River to fight the British but were often let down by their commanders.
The first battle was at Mudki, where victory was close, but Sikh commander Lal Singh abandoned his troops. At Ferozeshah, another Sikh leader, Teja Singh, fled when victory was near, saving the British from defeat. Later, Sikh commander Ranjhor Singh won at Baddowal but lost at Aliwal. At the decisive battle of Sobraon, Gulab Singh betrayed the Sikhs by giving the British their battle plans three day before the battle. During the fight, Teja Singh again fled, causing a Sikh defeat.Page No. 6- Feropzur District Census Handbook 1961, Punjab (India) Access here
British Period
The Treaty of Lahore was signed in 1846, and as a result, the British took control of all the land east of the Sutlej River. This land was divided among the districts of Ferozepur, Badhni, and Ludhiana. Ferozepur district received the areas of Zira, Mudki, Khai, and parts of Kot Kapura, Guru Har Sahai, Jhumba, Kot Bhai, Bhucho, and Meharaj. In 1847, the Badhni district was dissolved, and its areas—Mallanwala, Makhu, Dharmkot, Kot Isa Khan, Badhni, Chuhar Chak, Mari, and Sada Singh Wala—were added to Ferozepur district. Sultankhanwala was also taken from Faridkot State in exchange. In 1852, parts of Muktsar and Kot Kapura were added to Ferozepur. In 1855, the area of Chirk was returned to Kalsia State.Page No. 6, 7- Feropzur District Census Handbook 1961, Punjab (India) Access here In 1856, the Nawab of Mamdot was removed because of his and his son's wrongdoings, and his lands were added to Ferozepur district. In 1884, Sirsa district was divided, and the western part, including Fazilka tehsil and about 40 villages of Dabwali tehsil, became part of Ferozepur district.
The Guru of Guru Har Sahai and the Bhai of Jhumba and Bhai of Arnauli, in the Kot Bhai area, were given the title of jagirdars when Punjab was annexed by the British in 1846. They continued to collect their share of revenue in the form of crops until the 1872 land settlement.Page no. 272 – Ferozpur District Gazett 1983page no. 226 & 239- DISTRICT GAZETTEER, FEROZEPUR DISTRICT, 1915 Access here
Mahraj Ilaka was a group of 38 villages that formed a British-administered exclave of Ferzopur district, entirely surrounded by Phulkia & Faridkot states during the British era.page no. 2- DISTRICT GAZETTEER, FEROZEPUR DISTRICT, 1915 Access here The Charik Ilaka, a group of 7 villages, was an enclave within the district and an exclave of Kalsia State.page no. 34, 40, 41- DISTRICT GAZETTEER, FEROZEPUR DISTRICT, 1915 Access here
Modern Period Following the Partition of Punjab Province, Ferozepur district became part of India. Amid the communal violence and mass migrations, a total of 349,767 sikh, hindu refugees from areas that became part of Pakistan settled in Ferozepur district, by 1951 Census. Much of this refugee population hailed from Bahawalpur State and the districts of Montgomery, Sheikhupura, Lyallpur, and Lahore, crossing the border into Ferozepur.
Faridkot State, accepted dominion of the Indian Union and became a tehsil of Bathinda district. Bathinda district itself became part of the PEPSU in 1948, which was later merged into the state of Punjab in 1956. While the Charik area—an exclave of Kalsia State and an enclave of Ferozpur's Moga tehsil—also became part of Bathinda district, it was transferred to Moga tehsil of Ferozepur district in 1950 by Absorption of Enclaves Order.Page No. 1- Feropzur District Census Handbook 1951, Punjab (India) Access here Additionally, the Maharaj-Nathana ilaqa, a group of 38 villages that formed an exclave of Ferozepur District and was transferred to Bathinda district in 1959.Page No. 10,11 – General Population Tables, Part II-A , Vol-XIII, Punjab – Census 1961Page No. 160- Feropzur District Census Handbook 1961, Punjab (India) Access here
In 1960, two villages—Mohd. Yar Chishti and Chak Mohd. Usman—of Fazilka tehsil in Ferozepur district were completely transferred to Pakistan, along with parts of 12 other villages that had no population.Page No. 7 & 160- Feropzur District Census Handbook 1961, Punjab (India) Access here Later, in 1970, Jhumba along with seven villages was transferred to Bathinda district.Page no. 14 – CENSUS OF INDIA-1971 SERIES-17 PUNJAB PART II-A GENERAL POPULATION TABLES
In 1972, a new Faridkot district was created by combining Faridkot tehsil (from Bathinda district) and the Moga and Muktsar tehsils (from Ferozepur district).Brief Industrial Profile Of District FARIDKOT -https://dcmsme.gov.in/dips/Faridkot.pdf Later, in 1995, Moga & Mukatsar of Faridkot district was carved out to form the new Moga district. In 1999, Moga district expanded by gaining the Dharamkot block from Zira tehsil of Ferozepur district.Punjab Forest Moga District Hisotry This included 45 villages from Zira tehsil and 47 villages from Makhu sub-tehsil, along with the entire Dharamkot sub-tehsil of Zira tehsil of Ferozepur district.Page no. 2 – Moga District Gazzetters 2010
Later, in 2011, Ferozepur district had six tehsils: Fazilka, Abohar, Jalalabad, Ferozepur, Zira. From these, Abohar and Fazilka tehsils, along with a part of Jalalabad tehsil, were separated to form the new Fazilka district. The remaining portion of Jalalabad tehsil was reorganized to create the new Guru Har Sahai tehsil within Ferozepur district.
Administration The district is administratively into the following tehsils & blockFerozpur.nic.inPopulation – Firozpur Online
Firozpur – Firozpur, Ghall Khurd (block) Zira – Makhu, Zira (block) Guru Har Sahai – Guru Har Sahai, Mamdot (block)
Subdistricts of Firozpur district According to the Indian government's integrated online directory, Firozpur district is divided into the following subdistricts (tehsils/subdivisions) and blocks:
Subdistricts Firozpur Guruharsahai Zira Blocks: Firozpur Ghall Khurd Guru Har Sahai Makhu Mamdot Zira
Demographics According to the 2011 Census the undivided Firozpur district had a population of 2,029,074. This gives it a ranking of 230th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 16.08%. Firozpur has a sex ratio of 893 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 69.8%. (This data is before the creation of Fazilka district.)
After bifurcation of Fazilika district, the residual district has a population of 1,001,931. Scheduled Castes made up 42.85% of the population.
Gender The table below shows the sex ratio of Firozpur district through decades.
+Sex ratio of Firozpur district Census Year 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 Sex Ratio 826 778 802 814 810 835 840 876 884 895 885 893
The table below shows the child sex ratio of children below the age of 6 years in the rural and urban areas of Firozpur district.
+Child sex ratio of children below the age of 6 years in Firozpur districtYearUrbanRural20118388452001813825 Religion
+ Religion in with Firozpur District (with Fazlika District)Religiousgroup2011 Sikhism 1,090,815 Hinduism 906,408 Christianity 19,358 Islam 6,844 Jainism 1,143 Buddhism 454 Others 4,052 Total Population2,029,074
+ Religious groups in Firozpur District (British Punjab province era)Religiousgroup1881189119011911192119311941 Islam 310,552 404,977 447,615 418,553 482,540 515,430 641,448 Sikhism 168,816 226,361 228,355 262,511 302,761 388,108 479,486 Hinduism 168,645 252,200 279,099 273,832 306,350 244,688 287,733 Christianity 1,686 1,738 1,908 3,342 5,365 7,070 12,607 Jainism 811 1,381 1,090 1,401 1,211 1,411 1,674 Zoroastrianism 9 17 4 18 15 24 28 Buddhism 0 0 0 0 6 1 1 Judaism 0 0 0 0 0 13 Others 0 2 1 0 0 0 86 Total population 650,519 886,676 958,072 959,657 1,098,248 1,156,732 1,423,076 Religion in the Tehsils of Firozpur District (1941)TehsilHinduism Islam Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Firozpur Tehsil 53,520 160,371 70,782 3,847 745 1,021 290,286 Zira Tehsil 18,863 137,586 50,209 3,801 349 11 210,819 Moga Tehsil 30,531 66,855 181,454 823 32 68 279,763 Muktsar Tehsil 46,169 115,350 106,270 948 313 529 269,579 Fazilka Tehsil 138,650 161,286 70,771 1,612 235 75 372,629 + Religion in the Tehsils of Firozpur District (1921)TehsilHinduism Islam Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Firozpur Tehsil 56,486 115,506 46,535 2,655 534 21 221,737 Zira Tehsil 27,037 105,123 33,296 628 289 0 166,373 Moga Tehsil 41,074 50,188 117,503 767 26 0 209,558 Muktsar Tehsil 54,266 88,029 66,408 603 339 0 209,645 Fazilka Tehsil 127,487 123,694 39,019 712 23 0 290,935 Language
At the time of the 2011 census, 93.01% of the population spoke Punjabi and 5.67% Rajasthani as their first language.
Health The table below shows the number of road accidents and people affected in Firozpur district by year.
+Road accidents and people affected in Firozpur district by yearYearAccidentsKilledInjuredVehicles Involved202215513455155 202117915268124202015011964123201916313636126
Politics No. Constituency Name of MLA PartyBench75ZiraNaresh Kataria Government76Firozpur CityRanveer Singh Bhullar Government77Firozpur Rural (SC)Rajnish Dahiya Government78Guru Har SahaiFauja Singh Srari Government Land and genealogical records