History

The origin of Fazilka dates back to 1844 CE. After the Amritsar Treaty of 1809, the East India Company sought permission from Maharaja Ranjit Singh to install a boat pier on Sutlej River at Ferozepur to reach Karachi Port. The request was declined and the Company commissioned an officer Mr. Patrick Vans Alexander Agnew to discover a site for the boat pier, downstream of Ferozepur. He discovered the horseshoe shaped freshwater Lake ‘Badha’ and established a camp on its Southern Periphery. The Company sanctioned a bungalow on the bank of Badha Lake to install boating pier at Village Jhangar. The bungalow was constructed in 1844 which came to be known as “Bangla”.

Another officer Mr. J. H. Oliver became in-charge of the bungalow in 1846. He persuaded an elder of ‘Watto Tribe’ namely Mian Mohd. Fazil Wattoo Lambardar to gift the land for the development of a township around the bungalow. He agreed and gifted the land on which the town prospered and emerged as a trading centre for raw wool. Mr. Oliver named the new market town after Watto Lambardar as “Fazilka”.

The British Raj connected Fazilka with a new rail link which served as an economic and more efficient alternative for despatching wool bales to Karachi, resulting in the relinquishment of the boat pier at village Jhangar. Till 1947, Fazilka was earning highest revenue for the Government of Punjab. The rich traders shared their prosperity in a liberal manner by gifting money to install Schools, Clock tower (famous Ghanta Ghar) and a Degree College in the town.However, after partition, the prosperity vanished as the basic trading tool i.e. the Rail track was snapped at the border. Being at the border, Fazilka had to bear the brunt of India-Pakistan partition in 1947 and the Indo-Pak wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999. On 16 July, 2012 rail service between Fazilka and Abohar became operational. At present, Fazilka is situated on the rice growing and cotton rich belt of Punjab and is one of the major rice exporting centers in India.

Fazilka also known as ‘Bangla’ located in South-Western Punjab is one of newest districts in the State of Punjab. On 27 July 2011, Government of Punjab declared Fazilka as a District consisting of three Sub-Divisions i.e. Fazilka, Jalalabad and Abohar besides three Sub-Tehsils i.e. Arniwala Sheikh Subhan, Sito Gunno and Khuian Sarwar.

In 1970, a 305 metre (1000 feet) high steel TV tower was constructed on the eastern periphery of Fazilka town which is used for FM and television broadcasting in whole of the Punjab. It is the 2nd tallest man-made structure in India. This tall tower became a landmark in the city and is nicknamed as “Fazilka Eiffel Tower”.

Since the day of its creation on 27 July 2011, Fazilka has been continuously growing as a District. All the other administrative branches of the District Administration, Fazilka were already functioning since the day of issuance of the award for district status to Fazilka. However, Sessions Division at Fazilka has been created by the Punjab Government later on 12 November, 2018.

Fazilka city is headquarter of the district but the largest city of the district is Abohar. Fazilka has the district of Ferozepur to its North, Sri Muktsar Sahib to its East, Rajasthan to its South and Pakistan to its West. Fazilka is near the India-Pakistan border which is just 11 km away. River Sutlej runs through the district and moves over to the Pakistan through the Indo-Pakistan border.