Gujranwala

Gujranwala, city, northeastern Punjab province, northeastern Pakistan. The city is connected by rail and the Grand Trunk Road with Peshawar and Lahore. An agricultural marketing centre (grains, melons, sugarcane), it is also a commercial and industrial centre, manufacturing ceramics, iron safes, and copper, brass, and aluminum utensils. With the establishment of an industrial park, textile, silk, pipe fitting, electric fan, and tannery production increased in importance.

Gujranwala was founded by a pastoral people called Gujars and in 1867 was incorporated as a municipality. The city has a hospital and several colleges affiliated with the University of the Punjab. The birthplace of the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh, it remained his capital until he occupied Lahore in 1799. It contains a lofty cupola covering a portion of his ashes, together with the grave and Jinnah Bagh Gardens, originally named for his father, Maha Singh.

Cultivation in the surrounding area is dependent upon canal irrigation; wheat, cotton, rice, barley, and millet are the chief crops. The Gujranwala hydroelectric project provides power from the Chenab River. There are also rice and sugar mills and glassworks in the locality. The area was annexed by the British in 1849 and ruled by them until Pakistan’s independence in 1947. Pop. (2007 est.) urban agglom., 1,513,000.