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The term “Sargodha” has its origins in the words “sar” meaning “pond” and “godha” meaning “sadhu”. There are several theories about the origin of this name. One theory is that it is derived from the Sanskrit “svargadhama” meaning “heavenly abode”. If it was so, then it would have given rise to “Sargdham” in Punjabi. The most believed theory is that there was a pond in a middle of town where a Hindu resident “GODHA” used to live. In Punjabi, “sar” is used for pond, so it is named as “Sargodha” which means “Pond of Godha”. This is also little contradictory because order of words does not reflect pujabi usage. i.e. Amritsar, “The pool of nector”.
The Sargodha city was founded by Lady Trooper in 1903. . Being the District Headquarters since 1940, Sargodha was upgraded to the status of Divisional Headquarters in the year 1960. It is one of the planned cities of a region where now a days Pakistan is present. It is only 1 hour and 33 minutes away from Faisalabad which is a hub of Textile Industry of Pakistan. Sargodha has typical Punjabi culture. People of Sargodha are very peaceful and patience. It is an actually culturally and religion ally diverse city where majority is of Muslims, Christians are second in majority and Hindus are third in number. Since the creation of Pakistan, not even a single time there has been fight among people of different sects or religion has occurred.
This city has always had greater strategic importance for Pakistan Air Force which has its largest base here in this city. This base is surrounded by famous Karana Hills which protects it from Attack of enemy jets. This city has also been discussed in reports of American Intelligence Agency “CIA” whose agents still believe that Pakistan has kept its nuclear weapons under centralized security system under Karana Hills. British Royal Air Force also build an airport in Sargodha during British Raj due to its strategic location.
The people of Sargodha have great food habits. There are several hotels and restaurants where people use to go and enjoy food with their families. One of the famous restaurants is Karana Bar Restaurant. One of the famous food hub in Sargodha is Khayam Chowk. Samosas & Pakoras of Khayam Chowk are very famous among people of Sargodha. Another trend that people of Sargodha has is that they not only go to regular restaurants but they are a great lover of food of truck driver hotels. They use to go to these truck driver hotels which are out of Sargodha city with their families and enjoy the food which is very spicy.
The trend of Education in Sargodha is also very good. People belonging to rural Sargodha also give great attention towards Education of their children. They send their children to schools and colleges with this fact that schools and colleges are mainly situated in urban Sargodha which is 2-3 kms away. There are number of schools and colleges. There is also one Government University in Sargodha called, “UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA”. It has also one medical college called, “SARGODHA MEDICAL COLLEGE” which has given 99.9% average result in first three years of its formation starting from 2009 to 2011 and has became 4th Medical Institute in Punjab and 7th in Pakistan due to its quality of education. The number of students who are going to schools and colleges can be known by this fact that this is the only district in Pakistan where every school or college system has more than 2 branches due to great number of students.
People of Sargodha are very patriotic. They have been awarded by many Presidential awards due to their great support to Pakistan Army and Air Force during the Pak-Indo wars of 1965 and 1971. Although image of Pakistan Military is very bad now days due to its alliance with American Military, still people of Sargodha shows great support for Pakistan Army.
Sargodha is also very famous for its glowing and lush green orange orchards. It is the largest Kinno producing districts of world and is called “California of Pakistan”. The quality of Kinno produce here is famous all around the world and it is playing an important part in making economy of Pakistan better and stronger. It has also one canal which comes from river Jhelum. This canal is the main source of agriculture in this district.
Sargodha has also one textile mill named as “SULTAN TEXTILE MILL”. This mill is a major source of income for poor people of Sargodha. Sargodha has also many rice processing plants and juices factories which also help people of Sargodha to earn their livelihood. Rice Processing plants include factory of famous rice processing group of Pakistani called, “OMNI RICE MILLS Pvt. Ltd. In juices factories sector, there are two major groups who are producers of juices are running their factories in Sargodha district. One is “Nestle” and second is “Shezan”. These factories are definitely not enough for population of Sargodha which is right now about half a million. Majority of people earn their living through agriculture and educated people also do jobs in government and public sector to earn living for their families.
Sargodhian culture is a great mixture of rural and urban culture. People of Sargodha still follow typical rural values which are considered as a beauty of Pakistani culture but they have modernized their living style with the help of technology. As a rate of education is very high, so rate of people who casts their vote in Sargodha district is very high. District of Sargodha has 6 seats of National Assembly and 12 seats of Punjab Provincial Assembly. In these total 18 seats, people of Sargodha has always given their votes in favor of candidates who are well educated, honest and bear good moral character without any difference of cast, race, party and religion. This shows that problems that Pakistan is facing now days can be solved easily if we give people an education on equal level and make them aware. This will help us to make Pakistan a developed country.
Sargodha is very famous in Punjab for its festivals. Sargodha hosts “MELA MAWESHIAN” each year. It is so much popular that Sargodha Cricket stadium is known as MELA MAWESHIAN GROUND. Sargodha has given Pakistan some great players of Kabbadi and cricket. In kabbadi, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Hayyat Lumbardar is known on International level. In cricket, Muhammad Hafeez, present captain of T20 team of Pakistan and Aizaz Cheema, fast bowler of Pakistan Cricket team. Rana Naveed ul Hassan also belong to Sargodha.