Dasuyaਦਸੂਆ

History

Dasuya claims one of the deepest pasts of any town in the Punjab plains. According to tradition reported as early as a 1977 Tribune account, the town is the seat of King Virata of the Mahabharata, at whose court the Pandavas lived out their thirteenth year of exile in disguise — which is why Dasuya is still called 'Virat Ki Nagri', the city of Virata. Local lore adds that the town was destroyed and rebuilt ten times, giving it its name: das (ten) plus suya/built.

Recorded history reaches the town too. In the late fourteenth century armies passed through during the struggles against the conquerors of the age, and in December 1557 the forces of the young Akbar, led by his governor of Lahore Khizr Khan, camped at Dasuya while moving against Sikandar Sur. When the linguistic reorganisation of states was debated, a claim that Dasuya should go to Himachal Pradesh as a Dogra homeland was rejected as irrelevant to language — and Dasuya stayed in Punjab under the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966.

Geography & people

Dasuya lies at about 239 metres above sea level, 48 kilometres from Hoshiarpur, 14 from Mukerian and 56 from both Jalandhar and Pathankot. The Beas flows to the west of the town, and seasonal streams water the northern and southern approaches; two major canals of the Upper Doaba system irrigate its fields. The municipal council counted 25,192 people in 2011. The town sits near the Shivalik foothills, and the Dasuya forest division's mixed deciduous woods begin not far to the north-east.

Punjabi is the mother tongue, and the town's temples — several traditionally linked to the Pandavas — draw devotees from across the Doaba.

Places of interest

Dasuya's interest is historical and religious: the old temples associated with the Mahabharata legend, the Garna Sahib gurdwara at nearby Bodal village, and the Shakti and Baba Balak Nath temples in the town's newer quarters. The surrounding Kandi belt's forested landscape makes the countryside around Dasuya greener and more undulating than the central Doaba plain.

Notable people

Dasuya's fame is ancient rather than modern — its 'notable person' is arguably King Virata himself, a figure of epic rather than record. In living memory the town is known for its soldiers: the Doaba's tradition of military service runs strong here, and Dasuya has contributed officers and men to the Indian Army in every generation since independence.