Raikotਰਾਏਕੋਟ

History

Raikot takes its name and its history from the Rai family — Chandravanshi Rajput chiefs who ruled this tract of the Ludhiana plain. The Ludhiana District Gazetteer records that the town was founded by the Rais in 1648 AD, and a British East India Company map of about 1829–35 carefully delineates the 'main, continuous tract of territory of the Raikot chieftainship'. In the later Mughal period the Rais of Raikot were leased the western part of Ludhiana district, and by the early eighteenth century they had become effectively semi-independent.

From Raikot the family's influence spread: Rai Kamaluddin founded Jagraon in 1688, and the chiefs of both towns remained intertwined for two centuries. After the British settlement of the Cis-Sutlej states, Raikot became a quiet tehsil town — but it remains the historical anchor of the Rai chiefs' story. The town is also listed in district records as having seventy-six villages under its tehsil, making it one of the older administrative divisions of Ludhiana district.

Geography & people

Raikot lies southwest of Ludhiana city, in the flat agricultural heart of the district. The 2011 census counted 28,734 residents in the municipal council. The tehsil covers 76 villages. Punjabi is the common language, and farming — wheat, paddy and dairy — dominates the economy, with the town's grain market serving as the collection point for the surrounding countryside. The Halwara Air Force Station, now being developed as an international airport, lies in Raikot tehsil nearby, promising the town a new economic chapter. Local educational institutions, including schools and colleges affiliated to Panjab University's rural network, serve the tehsil's youth.

Places of interest

The town's old core still reflects its chieftain past in its layout and older havelis. Masjid Hazama is among its noted religious buildings, and the town's gurdwaras serve the Sikh majority. The surrounding tehsil's villages — including Talwandi Rai, named for the Rai family — carry the area's history in their names. Halwara, with its airbase and the coming international airport, is the area's modern landmark, and the countryside around Raikot is classic Malwa farmland: wheat in winter, paddy in the monsoon.

Notable people

The Rai chiefs themselves are Raikot's notable figures — the Chandravanshi Rajput line that founded the town in 1648 and from which Jagraon's founders came. Rai Kamaluddin, who established Jagraon in 1688, and the later chiefs who navigated the Mughal decline, the Sikh misl period and the British settlement, define the town's place in Punjab's history.