Dera Ghazi Khanਡੇਰਾ ਗ਼ਾਜ਼ੀ ਖ਼ਾਨ

Dera Ghazi Khan is a city in southwestern Punjab, Pakistan, with 494,464 people (2023 census). Named for the 15th-century Baloch chief Ghazi Khan and lying west of the Indus in the Derajat region, it is one of Pakistan's hottest cities, known for the Sakhi Sarwar shrine, the Fort Munro hill station and sohan halwa.

Where is Dera Ghazi Khan?

Dera Ghazi Khan stands in southwestern Punjab, Pakistan, at 30.03° N, 70.64° E, west of the Indus River in the region called Derajat. It is the headquarters of both Dera Ghazi Khan District and Dera Ghazi Khan Division, and it sits at the junction of Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with the barren Suleiman mountains rising to its west.

History: the Dera of Ghazi Khan

The city was founded at the close of the 15th century, in 1474, when Shah Hussain, the second Langah Sultan of Multan, invited Baloch tribes to settle the region. It was named after Ghazi Khan, the son of the Baloch chief Haji Khan Mirani. Dera means a settlement or encampment, and this Dera, together with Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Fateh Khan, gave the whole region its name: Derajat, the land of the Deras.

Between the 16th and 18th centuries the city was part of the Multan province of the Mughal Empire. In 1819 the Sikh army of Ranjit Singh, under general Khushal Singh, took the city and it came under Sikh rule. After the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848 to 1849, the British annexed it from its former Sikh rulers and divided Derajat into the two districts of Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan.

After the Partition of 1947, many of the city's Hindu and Sikh residents moved to India, and many of them founded the Derawal Nagar colony in Delhi together with migrants from Dera Ismail Khan. Muslim refugees from India settled in the district, and the district of Rajanpur was later carved out of Dera Ghazi Khan district.

Geography, climate and people

Dera Ghazi Khan has a semi-arid climate. Winters are mild and dry, but summers are very hot and rainy, with average summer highs around 42°C, among the highest in Pakistan. Windstorms are common in summer because of the barren Koh-e-Suleman mountains and sandy soil, while the Fort Munro hill station, on the edge of Punjab province, has relatively cooler weather.

The 2023 census counted 494,464 people in the city, making it the 23rd largest city in Pakistan and the 16th largest in Punjab. Saraiki is the first language of 81.2 percent of residents, Urdu of 12.4 percent, Balochi of 4.65 percent and Punjabi of 1.04 percent.

Culture: shrines, fairs and sohan halwa

The city's culture revolves around its shrines. The shrine of Sakhi Sarwar, the folk saint also called Lakhdata, hosts the Sangh Mela, a Vaisakhi fair held in March and April that has drawn visitors from Jhang and Faisalabad for centuries. The fair is celebrated by Hindus and Muslims together at wheat-harvest time, and in 1911 tens of thousands of Sikhs reported themselves as followers of Sakhi Sarwar.

The city's famous sweet is sohan halwa, made by boiling water, sugar, milk and wheat flour until it sets. Daily Jang is published from Dera Ghazi Khan, along with local newspapers in Urdu, Saraiki and Balochi.

Places of interest

The tomb of Ghazi Khan, the chief for whom the city is named, stands in the old city with Multan-style blue tilework. The shrine of Sakhi Sarwar lies a short drive away and fills with pilgrims at urs time. Fort Munro, the hill station west of the city in the Suleiman range, is the summer escape for the region, with cooler air and views over the plains.

Notable people

Dera Ghazi Khan has produced former president Farooq Leghari, former chief minister of Punjab Usman Buzdar, former chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa, former governors Latif Khosa and Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, former federal minister Zartaj Gul, poet Mohsin Naqvi and actor Tauqeer Nasir.

Today

The city is an education centre for southern Punjab, with Ghazi University (established in 2012), Ghazi Khan Medical College and the Mir Chakar Khan Rind University of Technology. Dera Ghazi Khan International Airport carries domestic and international flights, the railway station links it to the rest of the country, and its bazaars trade in wheat, cotton and the region's famous sohan halwa.