Bhera Explained

Bhera (pa|{{nq|بھیرا; ur|{{nq|بھیرہ) is a city and a tehsil of Sargodha District, Punjab province of Pakistan.^[1] The city is known for wood-carved items, textiles (such as quilts and khussas), and certain desserts (such as pheonian and pateesa).^[2]

The city is made up of the walled Old Town and the surrounding newer development. The Old Town is surrounded by tall walls with eight gates, and is divided up into mohallas, or neighborhoods; historically, different castes lived in different mohallas. The Jhelum River flows to the north of Bhera.

The novel Mayyadas Ki Mari (Mayyadas's Castle), written by Indian playwright Bhisham Singh Sahni, takes place in Bhera.

History

According to Ancient Geography of India by Alexander Cunningham, Bhera was once known as Jobnathnagar.^[3]

The Imperial Gazetteer of India records the history of Bhera:

In the recent past centuries, Bhera was an important trading outpost on the road to Kabul, and boasted of a taksal (mint) during the rule of Ranjit Singh. The city was known for its knife and cutlery craftsmen, who made fighting daggers (Pesh-kabz) as well as hunting knives and table cutlery, often fitted with handles of serpentine (false jade) or horn.^[4] Sir Robert Baden-Powell described the process by which craftsmen manufactured gem-quality serpentine aka false jade from ores obtained from Afghanistan: "The sang-i-yesham (ore) is cut by means of an iron saw, and water mixed with red sand and pounded (with) kurand (corundum). It is polished by application to the san (polishing wheel), wetted with water only, then by being kept wet with water, and rubbed with a piece of wati (smooth pottery fragment), and lastly by rubbing very finely pounded burnt sang-i-yesham on it. This last process must be done very thoroughly."^[4]

Attacks on Bhera through history

Bhera has also been attacked by a series of invaders, including:

• Alexander the Great
• Mahmud of Ghazni sacked the city^[5] in 1004 CE
• Genghis Khan^[5]
• Babar held it for ransom in 1519^[5]
• Mirza Muhammad Hakim sacked the city in 1566 C.E.
• Ahmad Shah Durrani attacked in 1757^[5]

Bhera in Ferishta's Chronicle

Farishta records^[6] that after attacking Ajoodhun, now Pakpattan:

Notable people

• Karam Shah al-Azhari, ex-Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan; Islamic scholar^[7]
• Amarnath Vidyalankar, Indian politician and social worker
• Balraj Sahni, Bollywood actor and writer
• Birbal Sahni, paleobotanist
• Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, scientist
• Ehsan-ul-Haq Piracha, Finance Minister of Pakistan, (1988–1990)
• J.C. Anand, film producer and distributor, founded Eveready Pictures of Pakistan
• Hakeem Noor-ud-Din, first caliph of Ahmadiyya; physician; scholar of Arabic and Hebrew
• Maulvi Sher Ali, Ahmadi missionary, known for his English translations of the Quran
• Bashir A. Tahir, international banker
• Neelo, Pakistani film actress
• Sikandar Sultan Raja, Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan in 2023
• Inam ul Haq Piracha, Ex District Nazim and MNA National Assembly of Pakistan^[8]
• Pir Muhammad Amin Ul Hasnat Shah, politician, Minister of State for Religious Affairs (2017 - 2018)^[9]
• Hakeem Mahar. Yaseen, Hakeem Teacher

Historical places in the vicinity

• Tilla Jogian
• Salt Range
• Midh pargana miani

External links

• Bhera – The Town that Time forgot (4 Parts total) (Historical Town of Punjab)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Tehsils and Unions in the District of Sargodha (see Bhera listed under Bhalwal Tehsil) . dead. National Reconstruction Bureau, Government of Pakistan website. 9 February 2012. 5 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20120209043409/http://www.nrb.gov.pk/lg_election/union.asp?district=32&dn=Sargodha.
2. News: Khan. Omar Mukhtar. 9 July 2019. Bhera: Town on the river. dead. 5 June 2023. Dawn (newspaper). https://web.archive.org/web/20190708152232/https://www.dawn.com/news/1492841 . 8 July 2019.
3. Ancient Geography of India, page 130 – Alexander Cunningham
4. Watt, Sir George, The Commercial Products of India, London: John Murray Publishers (1908), p. 561
5. https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V22_219.gif History of Bhera on Imperial Gazetteer of India v2 page 213
6. Farishta Vo1 Page 80 Translation by John Briggs
7. https://www.dawn.com/news/54307 Some new faces in Sargodha
8. News: Pirachas again go for NA-64: A test of voters' memory . 16 November 2005. Dawn (newspaper). 5 June 2023.
9. News: Ulema and Mushaikh Council formed to promote inter faith harmony: Minister of Religious affairs . Pakistan Today (newspaper). 25 November 2016. dead. 22 February 2017. 5 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20170222194901/http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/11/25/ulema-and-mushaikh-council-formed-to-promote-inter-faith-harmony-minister-of-religious-affairs/.