Amlohਅਮਲੋਹ

History

Amloh was founded by Faiz Baksh, the Mughal governor of Sirhind, as an administrative outpost of the great provincial capital. Its modern history begins with Sirhind's fall: in 1763, after the Dal Khalsa broke Mughal power in the region, Raja Hamir Singh — the founder of Nabha State — annexed Amloh. The Nabha rulers then developed it deliberately: the town's fort was constructed by Raja Hira Singh of Nabha, and Amloh was given the status of a Nizamat headquarters, the district-level administration of the princely state.

That princely investment shaped the town's streets and institutions: the fort anchored a planned core of administrative buildings, and Amloh's status drew officials, traders and craftsmen from the surrounding countryside. The town grew into a self-contained little capital for its Nizamat, with courts, revenue offices and the retinue a princely administration required. After 1947 Amloh became a sub-district of Fatehgarh Sahib district, but its fort and its planned core still speak of its century as a seat of Nabha administration.

Geography & people

Amloh lies near the industrial town of Mandi Gobindgarh, on the roads linking Khanna, Gobindgarh and Nabha. The 2011 census counted 14,696 residents in the municipal council. Punjabi is the everyday language, and the town serves the surrounding agricultural villages — wheat, paddy and dairy — while drawing on the industrial belt of Gobindgarh for employment. Many residents commute to the steel furnaces and rolling mills a few kilometres away, and the town's bazaars serve both its own population and the villages of the Amloh block.

Places of interest

The Nabha-era fort, built by Raja Hira Singh, is the town's landmark — a reminder of its days as a Nizamat headquarters. The old administrative core around it preserves the princely town plan, with the fort, the old courts and the main bazaar forming the historic triangle. The town's gurdwaras and temples serve its mixed population, and Mandi Gobindgarh's steel-town bustle is minutes away — Amloh itself stays the quieter, greener neighbour, a small town where the princely past is still visible in stone.

Notable people

Raja Hira Singh of Nabha, who built Amloh's fort and raised the town's status, is its defining historical figure. Raja Hamir Singh, the founder of Nabha State who annexed Amloh in 1763, set the course of its next two centuries. Faiz Baksh of Sirhind, its Mughal-era founder, belongs to its earliest chapter — three rulers, three eras, one small town. Amloh itself stays the quieter, greener neighbour of Gobindgarh, a small town where the princely past is still visible in stone.