Nankana Sahib

Nankana Sahib ننكانہ صاحِب ਨਨਕਾਣਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ ننکانہ صاحب
City
Nankana Sahib
Coordinates:
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
District	Nankana Sahib
Elevation	187 m (614 ft)
District Council	3 seats
Number of Tehsils	3

Nankana Sahib (Urdu: ننكانہ صاحِب‎), (Punjabi: Shahmukhi: ننکانہ صاحب Gurumukhi: ਨਨਕਾਣਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ), is a city and capital of Nankana Sahib District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is named after the first guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak who was born in the city and first began preaching here. Today, Nankana Sahib is a city of high historic and religious value for Sikhs and is a popular pilgrimage site for Sikhs from all over the world. It is located about 80 kilometers south west of Lahore and about 75 kilometres east of Faisalabad,

History

Previously the township was known as Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi and was renamed after the birth of Guru Nanak. The Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, originally constructed in around 1600 CE was renovated in the years 1819–20 CE by Gian-Punjab Maharaja Jassa Singh Ramgarhia The Sikh Conference of Panjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Peshawar, Kangra and Hazara.

During the Akali movement, on 20 February 1921, Narain Das, the Udasi mahant (clergy) of the gurdwara at Nankana Sahib, ordered his men to fire on Akali protesters, leading to the Nankana massacre. The firing was widely condemned, and an agitation was launched until the control of this historic Janam Asthan Gurdwara was restored to the Sikhs. Again in the 1930s and 40's the Sikhs added more buildings and more architectural design.

The area around Nankana Sahib was formerly a tehsil of Sheikhupura District. In May 2005, the provincial government decided to raise the status of Nankana Sahib to that of a district as a way of promoting development in the area.

The development of Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak in Pakistan is one of the numerous projects by Punjab Government. The work of development of Nankana Sahib Resort to host and entertain local and international visitors is almost complete. According to reports, there are plans to construct a 100 Acre University as well as hospitals and health care facilities by the descendents of Rai Bular.

In 2007, the Pakistan government announced a plan to set up a university on Sikh religion and culture at Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak. "The international Guru Nanak University planned at Nankana Sahib would have the best architecture, curricula and research centre on Sikh religion and culture", Chairman of Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Gen (Retd) Zulfikar Ali Khan, said.

Language and Demography

Further information: Punjabi dialects

Dialects of Punjabi

As per the 1998 census of Pakistan, Punjabi language is spoken by 98%. Shahmukhi script is mostly used, but Nankana Sahib is one of the few places in the Pakistani Punjab where Gurmukhi script is also understood by some.Punjabi dialects spoken in the district are

• Majhi or Standard (Majority)
• Malwi dialect (Migrated people from Indian Punjab speak this dialect)

Other Languages include:

• Urdu being national language is spoken and understood.
• English is also understood and spoken by the sizable educated people.

City has a population of approximately 70,000. It is also the capital of Nankana Sahib District and Tehsil.