About
Jalandhar:
Jalandhar pronunciation is an ancient city in
Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It was the
capital of Trigarttas (people living in the "land between
three rivers": Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) in the times of
Mahabharata war. It has an urban population of almost a million,
and another million live in the rural areas outside the city.
The city is located almost 375 kms from Delhi, and about 90
kms from Amritsar. Jalandhar is named after Jaldhar, a demon
king who lived in water as his name suggests (Jal=water, dhar=in).
It was the capital of Punjab until 1953, when it was replaced
by Chandigarh. Others say Jalandhar is derived from the fact
that it is located between two rivers JAL (water) & ANDHAR
(in). During British occupation it was called Jullundur.
History:
In ancient time, the district or Kingdom of Jalandhar comprised
the whole of the Upper Doabas from the Ravi to the Satluj.
According to the Padama Purana, as quoted by General Conningham
the country takes its name from the great Daitya King Danava
Jalandhara the son of the Ganga by Ocean. The earliest historical
mention of Jalandhar occur in the region of Kanishka, the
Kushan King of northern India in whose time a council of
Buddhists theologians was held near Jalandhar about 100
AD to collect and arrange the sacred writings of Buddhism
and to bring about reconciliation between its various sects.
This makes Jalandhar along with Multan the oldest surviving
city of the Punjab region. In the 7th Century, when the
famous Chinese traveller and pilgrim Hiuen Tsang visited
India during the reign of Harsha Vardhana, the Kingdom of
Jalandhar or Trigartta under Raja Utito. It was said to
have extended 167 miles (269 km) from east to west and 133
miles (214 km) from north to south, thus including the hill
states of Chamba, Mandi and Suket (Himachal Pardesh) and
Satadru or Sirhind in the plains. Raja Utito was a tributary
of Harsh Vardhana. The Rajput Rajas appear to have continued
to rule over the country right upto the 12th century, interrupted
some time or the other, but their capital was Jalandhar
and Kangra formed and important stronghold. According to
Chinese pilgrim Fahien, who traveled India in the seventh
century AD, there were so many Vihars of Buddhism in India.
In the Jalandhar District, there were as many as 50 Vihars
of Buddhism. The Buddhism religion was adopted by a large
number of people. From the later half of the tenth century
up to AD 1019, the district was included in the Shahi Kingdom
of the Punjab and Jalandhar was an important city in the
region.
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