DIPALPUR CITY: SHER GARH

Shergarh ( شيرگڑھ‎)

Shergarh ( شيرگڑھ‎), is an historic town, union council and major administrative subdivision of Depalpur Tehsil, Okara District, Punjab, Pakistan.

Sher Garh (literally "Lion's Den") is one of the most historic towns of the district, along with Haveli Lakha, Hujra Shah Muqeem, Basir Pur, Depalpur & Satghara among others. The 16th century governor of Multan, Fateh Jang Khan, named the town after the Afghan ruler of India, Sher Shah Suri, who built a mud fort and had an encampment around the town. This is recorded in Abbas Khan Sarauni's book, "Tarikh-e Sher Shah Suri" (History of Sher Shah Suri). Ancient coins & artefacts have been found, proving that the town must have been inhabited in the time of the Kushan Dynasty.
The town is well known all around the Punjab, for a famous late-sixteenth century Qadiriyyah Sufi saint, Daud Bandagi Kirmani, who lived and died in the town. He was born in Sitpur, village of modern day Muzaffargarh District.His family had migrated from Kerman Province in Persia, and claimed descent from Prophet Mohammad.After receiving his formal religious and spiritual education from the pirs of Uch, he established himself in Shergarh, where he lived from then on until his death. He converted many tribes in the present-day districts of Faisalabad, Sialkot Sheikhupura. Hafizabad, Sahiwal & Gujranwala, and although he lived in Shergarh, he did not carry out much of his work in that area because most of the native tribes, such as the Wattu and Joiya had already previously been converted by Baba Farid of Pakpattan. The tribes converted by Daud Bandagi Kirmani include mainly Rajput & Jat clans of the above-mentioned areas. Some of these are Virks, Bajwas, Cheemas, Chatthas & Sahis.He is claimed to have converted 35,000 people to Islam, and 365 people to sainthood in all.Some of his prominent murids include Bala Pir,`Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni, Wahab Chishti & Kamal Chishti. The saint died in 1575, after which his nephew and son-in law, Shah Abul Mu'aali, had a beautiful, large mausoleum erected for his grave. This mausoleum is visited by many "murids" in the month of March, when his urs is held. Apart from his murids, the mausoleum attracts the attention of many curious travellers, artists & calligraphers all year round, as this mausoleum is one of the rare monuments in the country which has calligraphy and tile work in the "Naqashi style". The shrine used to be in the care of the local "Gaddi Nashin" (eldest direct descendant), but after the land reforms of Ayub Khan, it was turned to the Auqaf Deptt., Okara.

Language

Most of the people of Shergarh speak Punjabi.

Agriculture and surroundings

The town itself is located on the old river bed of the Beas, which extends south from Kasur, all the way to Chunian, and then Shergarh, in Okara District, before moving towards Gaimbar near Okara City. The mounds of the riverbed also act as a natural border between Renala Khurd Tehsil & Depalpur Tehsil. The subsoil water of the town itself is brackish, as well as the area in the west of the river bed. Towards the east green fields of potato, rice, maize & wheat, bordered on all sides by kikar and simbal are visible up to the horizon, as the area, below the riverbed, has subsoil water which is sweet, and rich in nutrients, unlike the brackish subsoil water on and west of the riverbed. when you go on chunian road,hussain garh the famous and historical village is there.this village has seven small village namely Hussain Garh, Tilawala, Landianwala, Kot Nawab Shah, Zameer Abad, Kot Khadim Hussain, ghurianwala.

Education and infrastructure

Shergarh has a majority of people who cannot afford education, so in 1992, S.M Mohsin set up an NGO called "AKRA" (Anjuman-e Khuddam-e Rasulallah), At that time the NGO responsibility was to spread the education throughout the village.. which provides high quality primary education for the native children of the town, for only Rs.350/= per month, a price which is affordable for the guardians of the children. The organisation lays more stress on educating females. The main school is in Shergarh, called "Daud Bandagi High School".It also has many branches in the surrounding villages, whose mediums are usually mosques, but the main school is in Shergarh. The town consists of a NBP bank, a Jamia Mosque and a Government school. It has a small, non-functional dispensary, and the town is in dire need of a hospital. The district Nazim, Syed Sajjad Haider Kirmani, who is a native of the town, also got a sports stadium built just outside it, however since he has died, the project remains incomplete and is being used for anything but sports. The Jamia Mosque was a historical building built by Sher Shah Suri, but it was in bad condition and beautifully rebuilt by the Auqaf Department., Okara
Now in 2015 Shergard has more than 15 Schools and have a high literacy rate.
Shergarh is connected by road to six towns, namely Chunian, Wan Radha Ram, Depalpur, Renala Khurd, Akhtarabad & Hujra Shah Muqeem. The road leading to Renala Khurd is the best maintained road leading into Shergarh, it was built when Syed Sajjad Haider Kirmani was nazim of the district.The road leading to the town of Hujra Shah Muqeem, is 7.5 miles long and is also in good condition, but quite narrow. In historic times, the pirs of Shergarh & Hujra, did not get along very well, so when they'd refer to each other's towns, they'd use the derogatory name of the time, panjkoa (7 miles away), instead of using the proper names. The other roads are very dangerous as most of them have deep depressions making it very difficult to drive. The road leading to the town of Akhtarabad is famous for robberies and killings that occur mostly after sun-set.

Main tribes

KIRMANI SYED
JATT. ARAIN / BALOCH/ BHATTI /BHUTTA/ CHOHAN/ RAJPOOT/ DAULA/ JOYIA /JURRERA/ KASAI/ KUMHAR/ LOHAR
MACHHI /MIRASI/ MOCHI /SHAIKH/PATHAN /QAZI /RANGHAR/WATTOO /SIAL

Daud Bandagi Kirmani

Shajar-e-Nasab

Hazrat Daud Bandagi was the 28th descendant of Musa Al-Mubarqa the son of Imam Muhammad al-Taqi ibne Imam Ali al-Rida.

Education

After receiving formal religious instruction in Dipalpur and Lahore at the hands of eminent scholars of the time, Shaikh Daud decided to get all worldly and material pursuits.

Spiritual Education

Shaikh Daud, in the quest of spiritual enlightenment, spent a lot of time in great worship. Shaikh Daud belonged to Awaisi tariqat, that is, without any direct teacher or murshid, he later joined the Qadiri silsila at the hands of Shaikh Hamid Gillani at Satghara.

Village of Shergarh

After formally becoming a member of the influential Qadiri Silsilah, Daud Bandagi Kirmani established his khankah in the remote village of Shergarh (District Okara, Pakistan), present between Lahore and Multan. Shergarh at that time was part of the Chunian, subsequently Shergarh became the center of the Qadiri Silsila and the saints Khankah began to attract thousands of people from all walks of life.

Muslim historian 'Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni

The famous 16th century Muslim historian 'Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni went to Shergarh in AD 1572. He lived there for four days. The detailed account of his visit along with a biography of the saint is preserved in Volume II and III of his famous work, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh.

Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar

According to Badaoni, the Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar when visited Pakpattan passed through Shergarh and after hearing about the sanctity and influence of the saint was desirous of meeting him. Akbar sent General Shahbaz Khan Kamboh, an important nobleman of the court, to the khankah in order to obtain permission from the saint. Shaikh Daud, who never associated with those who possessed worldly power or wealth, sent Shahbaz Khan back with the message that he (Shaikh Daud) always remembered the Emperor in his prayers and thus there was no need for him (the Emperor) to come physically in his presence for the purpose of prayer and benediction.

It is the great spiritual power of Hazrat Daud Bandagi, who converted a large number of Hindu Jat and Rajput tribes of the Punjab to Islam. Some of the tribes converted either fully or partially by the saint are, Chatta's, Cheema's, Virks, Hanjra, Dehotar, Warraich, Gurhai, Maan and Sansi in District Gujaranwala. In District Sialkot, Bajwa's, Basra's, Cheema's, Ghumman's, Kahlon's, Gurhai, Sahi and Sindhu. In district Sahiwal, Ihrar's, Haan's, Hutiana's, Majhiana's and Murdanay Baluch.