Sargodha

[ser-goh-duh]

Sargodha, city (1998 pop. 455,360), Punjab province, Pakistan, on the lower Jhelum Canal. It is a center for trade in cotton and other agricultural commodities. Sargodha has manufactures in hosiery, textiles, chemicals, and soap.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Sargodha

Sargodha (Urdu:),is a city located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is located in northeast Pakistan, to the north-west of Lahore by the lower Jhelum Canal. It is 10th largest city of Pakistan. It is an agricultural trade centre with varied industries. Sargodha is one of three "planned cities" in Pakistan (the other two are Faisalabad and Islamabad).

Sarghoda Air Base hosts the Headquarters of the Central Air Command, one of three combatant air commands on the Pakistani Air Force. Aircraft currently based at this facility include two squadrons of General Dynamics F-16A fighters. The base is also the site of the Pakistan Air Force Combat Commander School. This fighter tactics and weapons school is the Pakistani equivalent of the American "Topgun" school at US Naval Air Station Miramar in California.

History

Origin of name

There are several theories as to the origins of the name. It may be derived from the Sanskrit Svargadhāma, meaning Heavenly Abode although this would have resulted in Punjabi Sargdham. Sargodha may be derived from a legend about a pond where an old Hindu Sadhu Godha used to live, as the Punjabi word for pond is Sar: Sargodha might translate to "the pool of Godha". However, Punjabi would reverse the order of the component words (for example, Amritsar means "the pool of nectar." The etymology must lie in Sar + Godha, with Sar being the adjective and Godha the noun.

Just over a century ago, there was a well owned by a Hindu, Godha, which was known as Gol Khūh, Punjabi for Round Well, and travelers used it as a resting place. The well eventually went out of use; now, there is a market where Gol Khūh was and a grand mosque above the market and it is known as "Gol Chowk", which is the centre of downtown Sargodha today.

Sargodha was a small town at the beginning of the British Raj but, due to its geographical location, the British Royal Air Force built an airport there. It took on greater importance after the Partition of India for the Pakistan Air Force.

Shahpur, which is now a tehsil of Sargodha District, was the district at that time. Most parts of the tehsil Sillanwali and Kirana Pahari region were part of Jhang district and were included later during the British Raj in the Sargodha district.

1965 Pakistan India War

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 started on September 6, 1965 and Sargodha was on its front line. The Citizens of Sargodha supported the Pakistan Army against the advancing and numerically larger Indian Army.

In 1966, recognising this bravery, the Government of Pakistan awarded the citizens of Lahore, Sialkot, and Sargodha the award of Hilal-E-Istaqlal.

PAF Base

PAF Base Sargodha is now known as PAF Base Mushaf, named after the late Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir (March 5, 1947 – February 20, 2003), the former Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force from November 20, 2000 until his death when his PAF Fokker F-27 crashed near Kohat, North-West Frontier Province. He had been posted in Sargodha as the Base Commander.

Demographics and Location

Sargodha is the 10th largest city of Pakistan. It is located 172 kilometres northwest of Lahore, in Sargodha District. It lies about 30 miles from the M2 Motorway which connects Lahore and Islamabad. it is connected to motorway M2 by several interchanges at different locations.

It is an agricultural city with citrus, wheat, rice, and sugar cane being its main crops.

Administration

Until divisions were abolished in the year 2000, Sargodha was also divisional headquarters of Sargodha Division, currently Sargodha is the district and tehsil capital - the city of Sargodha is administratively subdivided into 22 Union Councils.

Languages

Punjabi is the main language of the people. The dialect of Punjabi spoken in Sargodha is the Shahpuri dialect. Urdu and Siraiki are also widely spoken.

Education

Sargodha is famous for quality education, PAF public school, ABICS, and lot of other colleges for basic education are at their class. A public sector university was established in 2002. University of Sargodha has a very good repute in a very short time for higher education authorities. A lot of other private and public sector institutions are serving the job very well.

Media

Indus News TV Channel
Sargodha (Bureau Office)
Upper Story NADARA Office, Khayyam Chowk Sargodha.
Bureau Chief:
Muhammad Shafiq Khan
Audio-Visual Editor:
Ghulam Muhammad Malik

Dhoom News TV Channel
Sargodha (Bureau Office)
Upper Story NADARA Office, Khayyam Chowk Sargodha.
Bureau Chief: Raja Asif Mahmood
Audio-Visual Editor:
Ghulam Muhammad Malik

Royal News TV Channel
Sargodha (Bureau Office)
Upper Story NADARA Office, Khayyam Chowk Sargodha.
Bureau Chief: Amjad Ali
Audio-Visual Editor:
Ghulam Muhammad Malik

Radio Pakistan Sargodha (FM Band),Club Road Sargodha.
FM Sunrise (96 MHz) Most popular, also plays Indian and western music, Aziz Bhatti Town Sargodha
Pakistan Television Islamabad centre terrestrial transmissions at VHF and UHF band routed from Sakesar rebroadcast centre.

Citrus fruit

Sargodha is a large producer of citrus fruit, Kinnu (a type of orange), Malta, musammi, and grapefruit, as the climate is suitable for these fruits. Much of the fruit is sold domestically.