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SIALKOT, or SEALKOTE

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 2 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIALKOT, or SEALKOTE , a See also:town and See also:district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Lahore See also:division of the See also:Punjab. The town, which has a station on the See also:North-Western railway, is 72 M. N.E. of Lahore. Pop. (1901) 57,956. It is a military See also:cantonment, being the headquarters of a See also:brigade in the 2nd division of the See also:northern See also:army. There are remains of a fort dating from about the loth See also:century; but the See also:mound on which they stand is traditionally supposed to See also:mark the site of a much earlier stronghold, and some authorities identify it with the See also:ancient Sakala or Sagal. Other ancient buildings are the See also:shrine of Baba Nanak, the first See also:Sikh Guru, that of the See also:Mahommedan See also:Imam See also:Ali-ul-hakk and See also:Raja Tej Singh's See also:temple. The town has an extensive See also:trade, and manufactures of sporting implements, boots, See also:paper, See also:cotton, See also:cloth and See also:shawl-edging. There are Scottish and See also:American See also:missions, a Scottish See also:mission training institution and an arts See also:college. The DISTRICT of SIALKOT has an See also:area of 1991 sq. m. It is an oblong See also:tract of See also:country occupying the submontane portion of the Rechna (See also:Ravi-See also:Chenab) See also:Doab, fringed on either See also:side by a See also:line of fresh alluvial See also:soil, above which rise the high See also:banks that See also:form the limits of the See also:river-beds.

The Degh, which rises in the See also:

Jammu hills, traverses the district parallel to the Ravi, and is likewise fringed by See also:low alluvial soil. The north-eastern boundary is 20 M. distant from the See also:outer line of the Himalayas; but about midway between the Ravi and the Chenab is a high dorsal tract, extending from beyond the border and stretching far into the district. Sialkot is above the See also:average of the Punjab in fertility. The upper portion is very productive; but the See also:southern portion, farther removed from the See also:influence of the rains, shows a marked decrease of fertility. The district is also watered by numerous small torrents; and several swamps or jhils, scattered over the See also:face of the country, are of considerable value as reservoirs of surplus See also:water for purposes of See also:irrigation. Sialkot is reputed to be healthy; it is See also:free from excessive See also:heat, judged by the See also:common See also:standard of the Punjab; and its average See also:annual rainfall varies from 35 in. near the hills to 22 in. in the parts farthest from them. The See also:population in 1901 was 1,083,909, showing a decrease of 3 % as against an increase of 11% in the previous See also:decade. This is explained by the fact that Sialkot contributed over See also:loo,000 persons to the Chenab See also:colony (q.v.). The See also:principal crops are See also:wheat, See also:barley, See also:maize, millets and See also:sugar-See also:cane. The district is crossed by a See also:branch of the North-Western railway from See also:Wazirabad to Jammu. The See also:early See also:history of Sialkot is closely interwoven with that of the See also:rest of the Punjab. It was annexed by the British after the second Sikh See also:war in 1849; since then its area has been consider-ably reduced, assuming its See also:present proportions in 1867.

During the See also:

Mutiny of 1857 the native troops plundered the See also:treasury and destroyed all the records, when most of the See also:European residents took See also:refuge in the fort.

End of Article: SIALKOT, or SEALKOTE

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