History
Gurdaspur was founded by Guriya Ji in the beginning of 17th century. On his name, this city was named as Gurdaspur. He bought land for Gurdaspur from Jats of Sangi Gotra. Guriya Ji, a Sanwal Brahmin of Kaushal Gotra, belonged to a village Paniar situated 5 miles north of Gurdaspur.
Little is known about the ancient history
of the district except a few antiquities like the rock temples at Mukheshwar Gurdaspur along with its neighbouring districts was the same of the explicits of Alexander, who came up to River Beas in his grand design of world conquest. He fought a grim battle with the Kathaians at Sangala which is located near Fatehgarh in Gurdaspur.
From the latter half of the 10th century up to 1919 A.D this district was ruled by the Shahi dynasty under Jayapal and Anandpal. Kalanaur in this district was the most important town during the period of Delhi Emperor from 14th to 16th century it was twice attacked by Jasrath Khokhar in 1422 and then in 1428.
In the decline and fall of the Mughal supermacy and the rise of the Sikh power this district saw, its most stiring scenes.
During partition of India in 1947 the future of Gurdaspur could not be decided for many days. As majority of population of this district was Muslim. REDCLIFF Awards of Boundary transferred only Shakargarh Tehsil Of Gurdaspur district to Pakistan, and the rest of the district was transferred to India. It is historically important in connection with the rise of the Sikh Confederacy. In the latter part of the 18th Century, the whole of the Punjab was distributed among the Sikh chiefs who triumphed over the Imperial Mughal governors. In the course of a few years, however, Maharaja Ranjit Singh acquired all the territory which those chiefs had held. Pathankot and the neighboring villages in the plain, together with the whole of the hill portion of the district, formed part of the area ceded by the Sikhs to the British after the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1845. In 1862, after receiving one or two additions, the district was brought into its present shape. In 1901 the population was 940,334, showing a slight decrease, compared with an increase of 15% in the previous decade.
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Banks in Gurdaspur
Most of the banks in Gurdaspur provide Automated teller machine facility for the
convenience of the customers. Through the ATM facility the customers can withdraw
money 24 hours. Some of the banks also offer credit card and debit card facility.
The Banks also provide loan to the agriculturists and landless agricultural laborers
who need money. Internet banking is another facility catered by the banks, which
has made the whole process of banking very convenient. Some of the banks have introduced
core banking which has resulted in the operation of banking process easier all over
India.
Major Industries
Dhariwal is a small town in border district of Gurdaspur, Punjab. Situated on National Highway No.15, 50 km from Amritsar to Pathankot. The town was once renowned for its Woolens as New Egerton Woolen Mills of British India Company was in operation since 1920. The trade name of woolens was Lal Imli- Dhariwal with a trademark of "SHEEP". IT also means Lion & Lioness
Ranjit Sagar Dam : 600 MW with Punjab share of 452 MW Ranjit Sagar Dam is one of the latest multipurpose river valley projects under construction on river Ravi about 24 Kms. upstream of Madhopur Head Works. This project mainly comprises of 160 m high dam ,600 MW Power Plant with four units of 150 MW capacity each.
Shahpur Kandi Project(168 MW): This project was inaugurated by Sh PV Narsimha Rao Prime Minister of India and will be constructed on River Ravi about 11 Km downstream of RSD and 8km upstream of Madhopur Head Works for harnessing and regularising the release of water from RSD for generation of Power. There will be 61 m high dam and 2 power houses with installed capacity of 168 MW
Phone and Communication
Gurdaspur is connected to world through very good Landline and Wireless communication network.
There are various land line and Wireless Phone service providers like BSNL,Airtel,Spice,Hutch,Reliance and Vodaphone .Most of the mobile (cell phone) services have good range in all the areas.
Weather Conditions
There are mainly two seasons i.e. summer and winter. The summer season falls between the months of April to July and the winter November to March. In summer season the temperature touches 440C or even sometimes crosses it. June is the hottest month and January is the coldest one. Mostly the rain falls in the month of July. The winter rains are experienced during January and February. The dust storm occurs in the month of May and June.
