The land of five waters gave the world its first cities, its saints and its songs. Broken by every empire that crossed it, it is still ours to remember, and to make whole again.

Read the manifesto →
PUNJAB WIKIਪੰਜਾਬپنجابThe Land
EN
Englishਪੰਜਾਬੀپنجابی

Land & Ages

The LandRivers, doabs, Harappa and the first cities, seasons, numbersAgesEight ages of the Punjab, from the Soan to todayTimelineEvery dated event on one lineAtlasEvery place on one map, age by agePlacesCities, ancient sites, temples, mosques and gurdwaras, battlefieldsLanguage & scriptsPunjabi, its dialects, Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi

People & Faiths

PeopleSaints and teachers, poets and singers, rulers, rebels, the people of both PunjabsPeople of the landJats, Rajputs, Arains, Khatris, Dalit communities and more, across every faithFaithsHindu traditions, Islam and the Sufis, Sikhi, and the Punjab's other faiths

Kingdoms & Struggles

Kingdoms & WarsWho ruled the Punjab, the Kingdom of Lahore, and the battles fought over itWho ruled the PunjabEvery ruling power, 518 BCE to todayWars & BattlesFrom the Hydaspes to BasantarStruggles & Partitions1849, 1919, 1947, 1966, 1984, 2020

Culture & Museum

CulturePoets, qisse, songs, music, dance, festivals, foodMuseumSculpture, coins, manuscripts, painting, arms, buildings, and where to see themChronicles & ProphecyThe poetry of the old chroniclesAboutWhat this atlas is, its sources, and every word explainedHelp maintain this siteCorrections, pictures, sources and new entries
Punjab WikiPlacesCities & forts
Bahawalpur
Unknown · Wikimedia
City or fort

Bahawalpur

ਬਹਾਵਲਪੁਰبہاولپور

Capital of the Abbasi nawabs, whose state south of the Sutlej stayed outside the Sikh Empire.

Bahawalpur, south of the Sutlej, was the capital of the Abbasi nawabs, who founded their state in the eighteenth century and kept it outside the Sikh Empire through alliance with the British.

The nawabs built the Noor Mahal and the Derawar fort in the Cholistan desert. Khwaja Ghulam Farid was the nawab's spiritual teacher.

The state joined Pakistan in 1947 and merged into Punjab in 1955.

Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan

People

Khwaja Ghulam Farid
Khwaja Ghulam Farid1845 – 1901

Sufi poet of Kot Mithan and the Cholistan desert, whose kafis in Saraiki are sung across the western Punjab.

Zia-ul-Haq
Zia-ul-Haq1924 – 1988

Army chief born in Jalandhar who seized power in Pakistan in 1977, hanged Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and ruled for eleven years.

Artifacts

Noor Mahal, Bahawalpur
Noor Mahal, Bahawalpur1872 – 1875

An Italianate palace with a neoclassical front and Islamic domes, built for Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan IV of Bahawalpur.

Derawar Fort
Derawar FortRebuilt 1733

A square fort with forty great bastions rising out of the sand of the Cholistan desert, visible for miles.

In the world's museums

41 objects →
Rohi's Dress and Decore Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkharRohi's Dress and Decore Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkharWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗A view of Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarA view of Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Bahawalpur museum galleryfullBahawalpur museum galleryfullWikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA ↗Rohi's Women Dress Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarRohi's Women Dress Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗CHARKHA Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarCHARKHA Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Earth baked Utensils Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarEarth baked Utensils Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Handicrafts made with Date Leaves Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarHandicrafts made with Date Leaves Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Inscribed Wooden Handicraft JANDRI WORK = JOINERY WORK Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed…Inscribed Wooden Handicraft JANDRI WORK = JOINERY WORK Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed…Wikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Lassi Alee Mandharii Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarLassi Alee Mandharii Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Model of UCH Monuments Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarModel of UCH Monuments Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Nawab Muhammad Bahawal Khan Abbasi III, the ruler of Bahawalpur 1825-1852Nawab Muhammad Bahawal Khan Abbasi III, the ruler of Bahawalpur 1825-1852Wikimedia Commons ↗Narrate the story yourself Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarNarrate the story yourself Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Rohi's Ornaments Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarRohi's Ornaments Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Official Coronation Portrait of Sadiq IV of BahawalpurOfficial Coronation Portrait of Sadiq IV of BahawalpurWikimedia Commons · Bahawalpur Royal Family ↗The Wooden Boxes of Ornaments Bahawalpur Museum Photo Saeed AkhtarThe Wooden Boxes of Ornaments Bahawalpur Museum Photo Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Utensils of Brass in Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarUtensils of Brass in Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Utensils of Brass Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarUtensils of Brass Bahawalpur Museum Photo By Saeed AkhtarWikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗Saraiki Waseb's Blue Pottry Work on Mosaic and Tiles in Bahawalpur Museum Photo By…Saraiki Waseb's Blue Pottry Work on Mosaic and Tiles in Bahawalpur Museum Photo By…Wikimedia Commons · Saeed Akhtar Sial · CC BY-SA ↗

See its connections →

Spot a mistake, a wrong picture or something missing? Help maintain this page →