Holidays Travel Guide

History

Firozpur District was part of the Mamdot estate. The capital city, Firozpur, is believed to have been founded by Firuz Shah Tughluq from which the district obtains its name. In 1838, as part of the first Anglo-Afghan war, troops of the British East India Company marched from Ferozepur to Kabul. Seven years later during the Anglo-Sikh War the area was the scene of conflict between the Khalsa army and the British. It has always remained an important place throughout its existence. It has always remained as a border area, earlier between Sikhs and Britishers and now between India and Pakistan[1].

At the time of Partition of India, Firozpur had a Muslim Nawab and had been ruled by the same Mamdot family for centuries, along with the majority which voted to join Pakistan. In a very controversial move, however, British Viceroy Mountbatten the Firozpur district, and the estate of the Nawab of Mamdot to India, forcing hundreds of thousands of Muslims to flee in the chaos of Partition from Firozpur to Pakistan. This was a very controversial move, and many Pakistanis believe this was an attempt by the British to undermine the survival of Pakistan as an independent state. This move would leave the newly established nation without one single military complex. Most importantly, while the bulk of the fertile land remained in Pakistan, the canal head works and water sources are found in the district. This has caused much tensions between the two countries as India has, time and time again, violated the Indus Water Treaty and hindered water flow to Pakistan, creating hurdles for Pakistan's agriculture based economy. Also,the forceful integration of the region into India allowed Indian soldiers to enter Kashmir. This caused the 1947 Indo-Pakistan war and the War of 1965. Today, Firozpur has a Sikh and Hindu majority with a virtually non-existent Muslim population. Most Muslims left for West Punjab, in the wake of Partition of India while and most of the remainder converted to Sikhism in order to escape massacre at the hands of the Sikhs.