Shorkot Town, 1908
Shorkot Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Head-quarters of the tahsil of the same name in Jhang District, Punjab, situated in 30 48' N. and 72 8' E., among the lowlands of the Chenab, about 4 miles from the left bank of the river, and 36 miles south-west of Jhang town. Population (1901), 3,907,
The modern town stands at the foot of a huge mound of ruins, marking the site of the ancient city, which is surrounded by a wall of large antique bricks, and so high as to be visible for 8 miles around. Gold coins are frequently washed out of the ruins after rain. Cunningham identified Shorkot with one of the towns of the Malli attacked and taken by Alexander. He also inferred, from the evidence of coins, that the town flourished under the Greek kings of Ariana and the Punjab, as well as under the Indo-Scythian dynasties up to A.D. 250. It was probably destroyed by the White Huns in the sixth century, and reoccupied in the tenth by the Brahman kings of Ohind and the Punjab. The modem town is of little importance. It is surrounded by fine groves of date-palms. Many of the buildings are lofty, but most are more or less in ruins. Shorkot is now administered as a ' notified area.'
