Sialkot (Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and is the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir) in the north east, the districts of Narowal in the southeast, Gujranwala in the southwest and Gujrat in the northwest.
Sialkot is believed to be the successor of Sagala, the capital of the Madra kingdom razed by Alexander the Great in 326 BCE, and then made the capital of the Indo-Greek kingdom by Menander I in the 2nd century BCE—a time during which the city greatly prospered as a major center for trade and Buddhist thought. In the 6th century CE, it was again made capital of the Taank Kingdom, which ruled North Punjab for the next two centuries. Sialkot and nearby Kashmir was ruled by the Arabs based in South Punjab after the Islamic conquest in 8th century. Sialkot continued to be a major political centre until it was eclipsed by Lahore around the turn of the first millennium CE. The city rose again in prominence during the British era and is now one of Pakistan's most important industrial centers. The city is also the birthplace of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan's national poet.
The city has been noted for its entrepreneurial spirit and productive business climate that has made Sialkot an example of a small Pakistani city that emerged as a "world-class manufacturing hub." The relatively small city exported approximately $2.5 billion worth of goods in 2017, or about 10% of Pakistan's total exports.
The city has been labelled as the Football manufacturing capital of the World, as it produces over 70% of footballs manufactured in the world. Sialkot is also home to the Sialkot International Airport; Pakistan's first privately owned public airport. Along with the nearby cities of Gujranwala and Gujrat, Sialkot forms part of the so-called "Golden Triangle" of industrial cities with export-oriented economies. Through exports, Sialkot-based industries are obtaining foreign exchange to more than $2.5 billion annually to strengthen the national exchequer. Sialkot has a GDP(nominal) of $13 Billions, which make it 4th largest in Pakistan.
History
Ancient
Founding
Sialkot is likely the capital of the Madra Kingdom Sagala, Sakala (), or Sangala () mentioned in the Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic of ancient India, as occupying a similar area as Greek accounts of Sagala. The city may have been inhabited by the Saka, or Scythians, from Central Asia who had migrated into the Subcontinent. The region was noted in the Mahabharata for the "loose and Bacchanalian" women who lived in the woods there. The city was said to have been located in the Sakaladvipa region between the Chenab and Ravi rivers, now known as the Rechna Doab.
Greek
The Anabasis of Alexander, written by the Roman-Greek historian Arrian, recorded that Alexander the Great captured ancient Sialkot, recorded as Sagala, from the Cathaeans, who had entrenched themselves there. The city had been home to 80,000 residents on the eve of Alexander's invasion, but was razed as a warning against any other nearby cities that might resist his invasion.
Indo-Greek
The ancient city was rebuilt, and made capital by the Indo-Greek king Menander I of the Euthydemid dynasty, in the 2nd century BCE. The rebuilt city was shifted slightly from the older city, as rebuilding on exactly the same spot was considered inauspicious.
Under Menander's rule, the city greatly prospered as a major trading centre renowned for its silk. Menander embraced Buddhism in Sagala, after an extensive debating with the Buddhist monk Nagasena, as recorded in the Buddhist text Milinda Panha. the text offers an early description of the city's cityscape and status as a prosperous trade centre with numerous green spaces. Following his conversion, Sialkot developed as a major centre for Buddhist thought.
Ancient Sialkot was recorded by Ptolemy in his 1st century CE work, Geography, in which he refers to the city as Euthymedia (Εύθυμέδεια).
Alchon Huns
Around 460 CE, the Alchon Huns invaded the region from Central Asia, forcing the ruling family of nearby Taxila to seek refuge in Sialkot. Sialkot itself was soon captured, and the city was made a significant centre of the Alchon Huns around 515, during the reign of Toramana. During the reign of his son, Mihirakula, the empire reached its zenith. The Alchon Huns were defeated in 528 by a coalition of princes led by Prince Yashodharman