Alawalpur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alawalpur | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Nickname: Lalpur | |
  Alawalpur Location in Punjab, India  Alawalpur Alawalpur (India) | |
| Coordinates: 31°26′N 75°39′E / 31.43°N 75.65°E | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Punjab |
| District | Jalandhar |
| Elevation | 232 m (761 ft) |
| Population (2001) | |
• Total | 7,172 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Punjabi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| Postal code | 144301 |
Alawalpur is a town and a municipal council in Jalandhar district in the state of Punjab, India. Alawalpur is named after Alawal Khan, a Pashtun who ruled the area during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Sardar Himmat Singh Jallewalia, a Bains Jat Sardar and a general in Ranjit Singh's army, later conquered Alawalpur. His descendants still live in a fort located in the center of the town.
Alawalpur was founded by Alawal Khan, a Pashtun. Later, the Pashtuns were overthrown by Bains Jat chief Sardar Himmat Singh Bains, son of Chaudhary Gulab Rai Bains. The Bains family had been a Zamindar Chaudhary family of Mahilpur for centuries, and later held jagirs in two villages in Adampur. After repelling Afghans, the jagir and other villages came under the control of Sardar Himmat Singh, fifth son of Chaudhary Gulab Rai. His family also held jagirs in Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, Sirhind, Nabha, Patiala, and Jind riyasats.
Jagirs in Peshawar and Multan also exceeded 120,000 INR in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sardar Himmat Singh was a vakil of Raja Jaswant Singh of Nabha and later a vakil of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Sardar Albel Singh Bains died fighting Afghans at the Battle of Jhelum in 1824. General Ram Singh Bains was also one of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's generals from this family.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]