Description
Khanewal (Punjabi, Urdu: خانیوال) is a city and the capital of Khanewal District in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 36th largest city of Pakistan by population. Khanewal is named after the earliest settlers here who belonged to the Daha clan (A clan of Panwar Rajput) and used ‘Khan’ in their names. That is how the city came to be known as ‘khan-e-wal’. Historically The land where Khanewal is currently situated was barren originally and was called Gunji Bar or Kabirwala Bar. Bar is a geographical term used to describe elevated land on the sides of rivers. Initially, this area used to be the Southern shore of the river Ravi. At that time Ravi used to flow from East to West of Multan city. With the passage of time, the river kept changing its flow, the river soil turned this piece of land into vegetated land.
Khanewal area was populated by Zayadat Khan, the forefather of the Daha family. It is said that he was originally from Dharwar but then migrated to Bahawalpur. After trying his luck in Bahawalpur, he moved to Pakpattan. Then in the 1820s, he moved to this region after getting employment under Dewan Sawan Mall. As an employee, he was made responsible for collection and payments from Tulamba, Kamalia and Laden. He got famous in the region as Khan and thus this area was named Khanewala. The first person to populate this region was Sangar Khan. Sangar Khan was the 34th descendant of Tikkey Khan, the first Muslim in the Daha family. Sangar Khan is said to have moved to Khanewal from Pakpattan. It is said that he built a castle in the area. The family lived here for a long time and Hasan Khan, 37th descendant of Tikkey Khan, became one of the most prominent businessmen in the region. Hasan Khan was awarded Sanad from Pathan Governments in 1768. As per credible sources of the history, Khanewal was first populated in 1050 AD.