HISTORY OF KASUR

Kasur the city of Bulleh Shah and the capital of Kasur District, is located 55 km southeast of Lahore, and is one of the oldest cities in Pakistan. Kasur is adjacent to the border between Pakistan and India. It is a major tourist attraction because of the famous guard changing ceremony.
It is famous for its very spicy fish, a sweet dish called Andrassay, Falooda and Kasuri methi. Apart from that, it is also the birthplace of Noor Jehan, the famous Pakistani singer and actress who gained popularity in the 1950s.
There are different traditions about the name of Kasur. One is that the town was founded by Kasur/ Kasu the son of King Ram and named after him as Kasurpur. (One of Kasu brother was Loh and the City of Lahore was named after him.) According to another tradition the town was founded by Pashtun families from Kabul (today the capital of Afghanistan) during the period of Mughal King Akbar. The Pashtuns constructed 12 small forts known as Kot. There were about twelve Kots named after the heads of various families. These names still exist.
History
Early History
Kasur had been allotted by the Mughals to Pashtuns or Afghans of Kabul and still contains a colony of Pashtuns. However the site was occupied by a Rajput town long before the period of Muslim rule. There are various traditions about the origin of the name of Kasur. Kasur was named after Kusha, son of Lord Rama of Hindu epic Ramayana, who supposedly founded the city.
Modern history
On July 1, 1976 the city of Kasur became the capital of Kasur District after the area was detached from Lahore District.
Kasur as bordering district and district headquarters town is the most important after Lahore built upon the high bank which marks the termination of the Majha and looking down upon the Low-Lands of the Satluj Hither. It is a place of great antiquity and is identified by the historians as one of the place visited by the Chinese pilgrim, Howang Tsang in the 7th century CE but it does no appear in history until late in the Muslim period when it was settled as a Pashtun colony from east of the Indus. These migrants entered the town either in the reign of Baber or in that of his grandson Akbar and founded a considerable principality with territory on both sides of the Satluj. When the Sikhs rose to power, they met great opposition from the Pashtuns of Kasur. The chiefs of the Bhangi confederacy stormed the town in the 1763 and again in 1770 and although they succeeded in holding the entire principality for a while, the Pashtun leaders re-established their independence in 1794 and resisted many subsequent attacks also. The town of Kasur was incorporated in the Kingdom of Lahore by Ranjit Singh in 1807 and had been a municipality since 1885.
Customs and Traditions
Kasur has a glorious past set in spiritual and cultural traditions, nurtured by Sufi Saints like Baba Bulleh Shah, Baba Kamal Chishti,Imam Shah Bukhari, on one hand and by musicians, singers like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Barkat Ali Khan, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Malka-e-Tarrannam Noor Jehan etc. on the other hand. The important cultural events in the district are the Urs of Baba Bulleh Shah and Urs of Baba Imam Shah Bukhari.
Kots (residential areas)
The city of Kasur is an aggregation of fortified hamlets, called kots, small in themselves, but together forming a considerable town. In 1592 originally there were 12 principal residential colonies were built under the rule of Mogul Chagatai Genghis Khan's descendant Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar in promulgation with the grace extended from Moguls to Pashtuns. The names of 12 kots are as follows:
1. Kot Pacca Qila
2. Kot Nawan Qila
3. Kot Azam Khan
4. Kot Ghulam Mohammad Khan
5. Kot Murad Khan
6. Kot Haleem Khan
7. Kot Peeraan
8. Kot Fateh Din Khan
9. Kot Usman Khan
10. Kot Badar-ud-Din Khan
11. Kot Ruken Din Khan
12. Kot Nawab Hussain Khan
The following residential areas are built later on.
" Khara Road
" Pakeeza Colony
" Bhatta Gorian Wala
" Munir Shaheed Colony
" Kot Ghulam Muhammad Khan
" Kot Mir Baz Khan
" Kot Sherbaz Khan
" Kot Abdul Qadir
" Rod Kot
" Dhoor Kot
" Jinnah Colony
" Baghdadia Colony
" Bulley Shah Colony
" Mushtaq Colony
" Ghosia Colony
" Gulberg Colony
" Gora Nagar
" Fazal Colony
" Roshan Colony
" Shakoor Colony
" Bhasar Pura
" Sheikh Bhago
" Rukan Pura
" Salamat Pura
" Din Garh
" Ali Garh
" Niaz Nagar
" Wylie Pur
" Jamat Pura
" Kirshna Nagar
" Syed Chiragh Shah Town
" Basti Sabir Wali
" Basti Barat Shah
" Basti Qadir Abad
" Basti Babian Wali
" Basti Noor Shah Wali
" Garden View Housing Scheme Steel Bagh
Weather
The city has extremes of climate; the summer season begins from April and continues till September. June is the hottest month. The mean maximum and minimum temperature for this month are about 40 and 27 degree Celsius respectively. The winter seasons lasts from November to March. January is the coldest month. The mean maximum and minimum temperatures for the coldest month are 20 and 6 degree Celsius respectively.
Rainfall
Towards the end of June monsoon conditions appear and during the following two and a half months spell of rainy season alternates with intervals of sultry weather. The winter rain falls during January, February and March ranging from 23 to 31 millimetres. Details data on temperature and precipitation is not available for Kasur. These are however, available for the nearest meteorological station Lahore which as close proxy of the district and can be easily found.
Banks
" Bank Alflah Limited Railway Road Kasur
" Bank Al Habib Railway Road Kasur
" Bank Alfalah Limited
" Habib Bank Limited(2 branches)
" National Bank (2 branches)
" Muslim Commercial Bank Limited (8 branches)
" United Bank Limited
" Allied Bank Limited (2 branches)
" Meezan Bank Limited Railway Road Kasur
" Habib Metro Bank Railway Road Kasur
" Picic Commercial Bank Limited Railway Road Kasur
" ASKARI BANK CHOK CHANDNI RAILWAY ROAD KASUR
Schools and colleges
" Government Islamia College, Kasur
" Moon Star Public High School Krishna Nager Kasur
" Saint Paul Joseph Christen School
" Kasur Model High School
" Govt. High School Kacha Pacca
" Kasur Public School, Kasur
" Bhatti International Public School
" Main Khara Road, Kasur]
" Dhing Shah Model High School, Khudian
" Sadiq memorial High School, Khudian
" Government Model High School, Kasur
" Government Degree College for Women, Kasur
" Pakistan Model High School, Kasur
" Allama Iqbal Cadit High School, Kasur
" Bank Model High School, Kasur
" Sharif Model High School (Campuses in Bhatta Gorian Wala, Kot Rukin Din Khan Kasur, Muhalla Haji Shah Sharif, Near Khan Mehal Cinma Raiwind Road and Kot Usman Khan)
" Al-Madina Ideal High School Khara Road Kasur
" Pappa Educational Academy of Literature And Sciences Kasur
Beaconhouse Educators, a franchise of the Beaconhouse group, has recently opened up in Kasur, and is providing quality English medium education.
Health
Very few specialist doctors are available and most of the people resort to the adjacent city of Lahore for their health care needs.
Radio
New Radio Channel in Kasur City. (FM 92)
Sui gas supply
In 2004 the work for laying a gas pipe line from Lahore to Kasur was completed, allowing the residents of Kasur access to a gas supply for domestic purposes. But most of the city area has not yet received the gas.
Kasur-Lahore Motorway
The Kasur-Lahore Motorway, a 6-lane highway inaugurated by President Pervez Musharraf is under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of 2007. This is particularly important to Kasur's development as many people commute from Kasur to Lahore on a regular basis
Industries
Tanneries
Kasur is famous in all over the world for producing supreme quality Leather and Leather made ups