JHANG

Jhang District (Punjabi, Urdu: ضلع جھنگ) is a district of the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city of Jhang is the district's capital. According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the district's population was 2.8 million, of which 23 percent lived in urban areas. By 2008, according to estimates, the population had risen to 3.5 million. The native language is Punjabi, though Urdu is also spoken in educational institutions.

Jhang is one of the oldest districts on the subcontinent, having been established around 2,000 BC, when it was known as Jhagi Sial. Jhang is bordered by Sargodha District to the north, Gujranwala District to the northeast, Faisalabad District and Toba Tek Singh District to the east, Khanewal and Muzaffargarh District to the south, Leiah District and Bhakkar District to the west, and Khushab District to the northwest. The district comprises on four administrative units (tehsils) Jhang, Athara Hazari, Shorkot, and Ahmad Pur Sial.


Jhang District covers 8,809 km². Almost all the area is cultivatable land except in the north near Rabwah and Chenab Nagar where the land turns rocky as it approaches the Kirana hills. The western portion of the district holds the Thal Desert, which starts in Mari Shah Sakhira and extends to banks of the Jhelum River far to the west in the districts of Khushab and Bhakkar. There is also an area known as the Sandal Bar arising from Pabbarwala near the Gujranwala boundary. "Bar", in the local language, means a forested area where there are no resources for cultivation, like water. This area used to be forested and was unable to be cultivated before British colonial rule, when a canal system was installed near the town of Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), which is now the textile industry hub of Pakistan. Between the rivers Jhelum and Chenab is also a small area of Kirana bar, ending at Ghoriwala village. The area alongside the banks of rivers Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum is called Hitthar (area in which flood water reaches), while the upland area between the bars and Hitthar is called Utar.

The Sikhs who lived in Jhang District of Punjab, were mainly Khatri or Arora. Sikhism, was not preached that much in Jhang, owing to the hatred of the Muslim Chieftains of Jhang, Chiniot, Multan.