Sahiwal is a district in the Punjab province of

Pakistan. As of 1998, it had a population of 1,843,194 people, 16.27% of which were located in urban areas.Since 2008, Sahiwal District along with Okara District and Pakpattan District has comprised the Sahiwal Division. The city of Sahiwal is the capital of both the district and the division.

Location

Scenic Jungle in Division Sahiwal

Sahiwal Division is located in the south-east of Punjab, from Multan Division it lies between 30-40 north latitude and 73-06 longitude. It is 500 ft (150 m) above sea level. It forms a parallelogram lying NE-SW along the River Ravi. It is 100 km

from east to west and 45 km from the north-western boundary of the Division of Sahiwal, Division Faisalabad, District Toba Tek Singh. The dry River Khushak Bias separates it from the DistrictPakpattan. Okara District is east of the division. District Khanewal and District Vehari form boundaries with the division, and on the southern side is District Pakpattan, where there is a shrine of the Sufi Hazrat Baba Fareed Shaker Gunj.

Sahiwal Dairy Cattle Breed

The Sahiwal cattle breed is the best dairy breed of zebu or humped cattle (Bos Indicus), followed by the very similar Red

Sindhi and Butana breeds. It originated in the dry Punjab region which lies along the Indo-Pakistani border, and was once kept in large herds by professional herdsmen called "Jaanglees". With the introduction of

irrigation to the region their numbers dripped, and farmers used them as draft and dairy animals. The Division Sahiwal has one of the best dairy breeds in India and Pakistan. It is thick-resistant, heat-tolerant and resistant to parasites, both internal

and external. Cows average 2270 kilograms of milk while suckling a calf and much higher milk yields have been recorded. Due to their heat tolerance and high milk production they have been exported to other Asian countries, Africa, Caribbean and around the world. As oxen, they are docile but slow, making them more useful for slow work. Their colour can range from reddish brown to red, with varying amounts of white on the neck, and the underline. In males, the colour darkens towards the extremities, such as the head, legs and tails. Sahiwal breed arrived in Australia via New Guinea in the early 1950s. In Australia, the Sahiwal breed was

initially selected as a dual-purpose breed. It played a valuable role in the development of the two Australian tropical dairy breeds, the Australian milking zebu and the Australian Fresian Sahiwal. Sahiwal breeds are now used in Australia for beef production, as crossing high-grade Sahiwal sires with Bos taurus animals produced a carcass of lean quality with

desirable fat cover.

The Sahiwal breed is the heaviest milker of all zebu breeds and displays a well-developed udder. It sires small, fast-growing calves and is noted for its hardiness under unfavourable climatic conditions.

Notable residents

Abdus Salam , Pakistan's only Nobel Prize winner was born in Santokdas,

Division Sahiwal, according to his elder sister and his obituary, although he grew up in Jhang. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his achievements in the field of Theoretical Physics in 1979. He is buried in Rabwah, in the Jhang district.

Majeed Amjad , one of the founding forefathers of modern Urdu literature, was born in Sahiwal and received his education from Government College Lahore. He was inspired by the greenery of Sahiwal and

wrote about the trees and greenery of Sahiwal. There is a park named for him.

Munir Niazi , A leading Urdu language poet of national and international stature.

HARAPPA

Remains of 5,000 years old site

Rediscovering History

Harappa has the honor of being the first site where the

remains of one of the most celebrated civilizations of the

ancient world were discovered. Here we had the first urban

settlements, which ultimately blossomed into what is known as

Indus Valley Civilization, a contemporary of the ancient

Babylon and Egypt. This civilization is also known as Harappan

civilization due to its first discovered site of Harappa. The

Harappa region consists of the Indus planes of Sind and

Punjab. The major centers of this civilization were

Mohenjodaro on the river Indus in Larkana district of the

Sind province, and Harappa on the fiver Ravi in Sahiwal

district of the Punjab province. Harappa and Mohenjodaro are

identified as the twin capitals of Indus Valley Civilization on

the basis of similarity in architecture, and objects recovered by

excavation. 

 ACCESSIBILITY

The remains of Harappa city are located about 200 Km

from Lahore, and 27 Km south west of Sahiwal. The site of

Harappa is approachable by metal led road which connects the

museum with the main highway from Lahore to Multan at the

point of Harappa railway station that is 7 Km from the

museum.

 DISCOVERY OF THE SITE

The ancient site of Harappa was first visited and

described by Burnes and Masson, the two famous travelers. In

1856, a British road-engineer, named William Bounton,

unknowingly dug down these precious remains in search of

brick-ballast for a railway line which he was laying from

Multan to Lahore. During the process of that spoliation several

antiquities were found which were either destroyed or taken

away by the labourers. Among these a steatite seal and a few

chert blades were examined by Sir Alexander Cunningham.

The site remained un-attended for the next seventy years when

again in January 1921, regular excavations were started by the

Archaeological Survey of India and the true significance of the

ruins was recognized. It was established that the city existed

some five thousand years ago as a twin capital of the Indus

Valley Civilization. Archaeologists have revealed that the only

older site than these sites is Mehr Garh (around 7,000 BC)

situated in the Baluchistan province. Between the years 1923

and 1925, and again from 1926 to 1934, major excavations

were carried out at various parts of the site. These excavations

revealed some highly interesting evidence that the city falls

into two parts; lower and upper Harappa. Further

investigations to determine the true chronological sequence

were undertaken by Sir Motimer Wheeler in 1946 who

uncovered, among other things, the portions of a massive mud

brick fortification having rectangular bastions at frequent

intervals. Besides the fortification wall which surrounded the

citadel, there was a lower city having important public and

private buildings and two cemeteries on the south.

 

NOMENCLATURE

About the name of “Harappa” following popular theories

are presented by the scholars:

a.            One group of scholars believed that the word

Harappa is derived from the Punjabi word ‘HAR’

MEANING ‘flood’ because the site of Harappa is located

in the area which received much flood water from river

Ravi in the rainy season.

b.            It is also said that ancient name of the place was

‘HARI UPA’ (golden altar) and became Harappa by

excessive use of this word.

c.            Punjabi word ‘HARAP’ means ‘swallow’. Because

the city is buried, so people began to call it “Harappa”

(destroyed city).

CHRONOLOGY OF HARAPPA

 Early Harappan Phase (500 BC – 2600 BC)

This period is said to be the formative phase of Indus

Civilization which shows the use of mud brick wall and mud

floor. The pottery of this period is mostly hand-made and

includes thick textured globular vessels with exterior surface

coated with the mixture of clay and pottery bits.

      

Mature Harappan Phase (2600 BC – 1900 BC)

This is the most important period of Harappan Civilization.

The significant innovation of this period is the extensive use

of burnt brick employed in the architecture of public as well

as residential buildings.

     

Late Harappan Phase ( 1900 BC – 1300 BC)

During this final period, certain changes are seen in the

material culture which resulted form re-adjustments in the

socio-economic and political organization of Harappan

society. It is characterized by the pottery excavated from

Cemetery-H and Mound-E where evidences of this phase

have been identified.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION

1.     The Harappan civilization reflects a highly developed

civic life with rigid regularity of standardized block after

block of burnt brick houses with broad main streets; the

drains are well-planned and kept clean and so on. The

housing, the layout of public and private places is an

evidence of culture and civilization which was in no way

inferior to the present one.

2.     The Harappan Civilization is extended over a much

longer area than Mesopotamia and Egypt and may be older

in age. It could be a fore-runner of theirs as well.

3.     The most characteristic of all the Harappan objects are

the seals. The harappan seals are mostly made of steatite

(a soft stone, easy to carve), terracotta and stone. The

typical Harappan seal is square in shape and depicts

engraved figures of animals (Tiger, Elephant, Bull and

Reno) along with lines of Indus script at the top.

4.     the most significant feature of the Indus valley

civilization is the Indus Script, mostly found engraved on

the seals and terracotta material. The Indus script is one of

the oldest scripts. So far 396 signs of the Indus script have

been identified. The scholars have made many attempts

and research is still going on for its decipherment.

A TOUR O F THE SITE

According to recent estimates Harappa ruins cover an area

of around 150 hectares and  are about 3 km in

circumference. An aura of mystery and hidden secrets hangs

over the ruins and adds to their attraction and romance. The

great mass of ruins is on the western side, where the mound

rises to 60 feet in height in the centre. At this point there are

several massive walls built of large bricks, which are, no

doubt, the remains of some extensive buildings. The other

portions of the mound vary from 30 to 50 feet in  height, the

mass being formed almost of broken bricks.

      The town appears to have been planned on a major north-

south axis. The main features of the plan are the citadel

(mound AB) on the west, the mound of the “lower City”

(Mound E) towards the east and southeast. Between the

citadel and the river bed, (Mound F) has been found to

contain a remarkable and significant piece of town planning.

 A tour of the site takes about an hour and half. There is a

single room Archaeological Museum at the site entrance

containing some of the most interesting artifacts found at the

site. These include stone tools, seals, jewelry, stone weights,

shell spoons, copper and pottery utensils, some collection of

games like a game of chess, pottery rattles and whistles, toy

carts etc.

sajid khan

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