Batala Knowledge Guide

History

The city was founded in 1465 CE by Raja Ram Deo, a Bhati Rajput. Later, during the Mughal rule, Akbar gave it in jagir to his foster brother, Shamsher Khan. Batala was a very famous city of the Punjab region, just like Lahore, Jalandhar and other major cities in the 16th century, and it is 109 years older than Amritsar. The whole city was lying within a fort. It had 12 gates as entrances and exit. These gates are still known by their old names, e.g. Sheran Wala Gate, Khajuri Gate, Bhandari Gate, Ohri Gate, Thathiari Gate, Hathi Gate, Pahari Gate, etc. Some of them still survive although their condition is in need of attention. Other historic places in Batala are gurdwaras where Guru Nanak stayed during his lifetime. There are also numerous other gurdwaras of significant importance to Sikhs and therefore attract thousands of Sikhs from around the globe. In British India, Batala was the headquarters of a tehsil in the Gurdaspur district of the Punjab province. The allocation of the Gurdaspur district during the Partition of India was highly contested because it was in central Punjab and had roughly equal proportion of Muslim and non-Muslim populations. Viceroy Lord Wavell allocated three eastern tehsils of the district (Gurdaspur, Batala and Pathankot) to India, and one western teshil (Shakargarh) to Pakistan. However, it continued to be contested. The whole district was shown as part of Pakistan in the 'notional partition line' in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and the issue was referred to the Punjab Boundary Commission. The final partition line ('Radcliffe Line') eventually confirmed Wavell's division of the district, with the result that Batala became part of India. For three days, 14–17 August 1947, Batala was regarded as part of Pakistan, then added to Indian territory.After the partition line was announced, many Muslims left Batala and went to Pakistan and many Hindus and Sikhs were settled here. Then Hindus and Sikhs settled there and Batala now has a Hindu majority which holds more than 56% of city's total population.