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Wikipedia / Bhera

Bhera (; ) is a city tehsil of Sargodha District, in Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is known for wood-carved items, textiles (such as quilts and khussas), and certain desserts (such as pheonian and pateesa).

The city comprises the walled Old Town and the surrounding newer development. The Old Town is surrounded by tall walls with eight gates, and is divided into mohallas, or neighborhoods; historically, different castes lived in different mohallas. The Jhelum River flows to the north of Bhera.

History

According to Ancient Geography of India by Alexander Cunningham, Bhera was once known as Jobnathnagar.

The Imperial Gazetteer of India records the history of Bhera as follows:

In the recent past centuries, Bhera was an important trading outpost on the road to Kabul, and boasted of a taksal (mint) during the rule of Ranjit Singh. The city was known for its knife and cutlery craftsmen, who made fighting daggers (Pesh-kabz) as well as hunting knives and table cutlery, often fitted with handles of serpentine (false jade) or horn. Sir Robert Baden-Powell described the process by which craftsmen manufactured gem-quality serpentine aka false jade from ores obtained from Afghanistan: "The sang-i-yesham (ore) is cut by means of an iron saw, and water mixed with red sand and pounded (with) kurand (corundum). It is polished by application to the san (polishing wheel), wetted with water only, then by being kept wet with water, and rubbed with a piece of wati (smooth pottery fragment), and lastly by rubbing very finely pounded burnt sang-i-yesham on it. This last process must be done very thoroughly."

Bhera is the setting of the novel Mayyadas Ki Mari (Mayyadas's Castle), by Indian playwright Bhisham Singh Sahni.

Notable people

References