Qila Didar Singh

Qila Didar Singh is a historic town of Gujranwala District, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Its population was estimated to be 66,491 in 2017. Qila Didar Singh lies on the Gujranwala-Hafizabad Road, 17 km west of Gujranwala. The town's rice market is one of the largest in Punjab. In 2007, Qila Didar Singh was administratively upgraded to City Town, one of four in Gujranwala District.

History

This town was established in the 1790s by the Sikh Mann Sardars of Mughalchak. An alternative view is that it was established in the mid-1700s by a Sandhu Jatt Sikh. When Didar Singh was married, his father gave him the lands surrounding the part of Qila Didar Singh that is currently known as "Old/Interior part of Qila". The name Qila implies a fort; this name originated in the fact that Didar Singh's family had a very large and tall mansion, which was surrounded by smaller houses. Because there was a wall surrounding the whole town with several gates, the town had the appearance of a fort.
During the Indian rebellion of 1857, British troops chasing the rebels arrived at the Qila and surrounded it, believing it to be a fort. Representatives of the townspeople however managed to convince the troops that the town was not in fact a fortification.
In 1947, the year of Pakistan's creation, Qila Didar Singh was a very small town with mainly Sikh and Hindu population. Most of the Sikhs and Hindus living in the town moved to the Indian part of the Punjab and many Muslim immigrants from East Punjab and Haryana moved to the area.
There are two canals in Qila Didar Singh knows as Barri Nehar and Chhoti Nehar