Editing Sialkot (section)

{{for-multi|the district|Sialkot District|other uses}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = 
| name               = Sialkot
| native_name        = {{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|سیالکوٹ}}}}
| other_name         = 
| nicknames          = ''City of [[Muhammad Iqbal|Iqbal]]''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nation.com.pk/07-Nov-2019/ji-demands-sialkot-wide-holiday-on-allama-iqbal-s-birthday|title=JI demands Sialkot-wide holiday on Allama Iqbal's birthday|date=7 November 2019|access-date=7 January 2022|work=The Nation (newspaper)}}</ref> <br>
| settlement_type    = [[City]]
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image|total_width=280px|perrow=1/2/1/|border=infobox|caption_align = center
| image1                   = Clock Tower, Sialkot 21.jpg
|caption1                 = [[Clock Tower, Sialkot]]
| image2                   = Iqbal Manzil the birthplace of Iqbal.JPG
|caption2                 = [[Iqbal Manzil]]
| image3                   = Ugoki_Park.png 
|caption3                 = Fatima Jinnah Park
| image4                   = Bab ay Sialkot.jpg
|caption4                 = Sialkot Gate
| image5                   = Garrison Masjid Sialkot.jpg
|caption5                 = Garrison Masjid Sialkot
}}
| mapsize            = 
| map_alt            = 
| map_caption        = 
| coordinates        = {{Coord|32|29|33|N|74|31|52|E|type:city_region:PK|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map        = Punjab Pakistan#Pakistan
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| pushpin_relief     = 
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Pakistan
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{PAK}}
| subdivision_type1  = [[Subdivisions of Pakistan|Province]]
| subdivision_name1  = {{flagicon|Punjab, Pakistan}}&nbsp;[[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[Divisions of Pakistan|Division]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Gujranwala Division|Gujranwala]]
| subdivision_type3  = [[Districts of Pakistan|District]]
| subdivision_name3  = [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]]
| image_blank_emblem = Municipal Corporation Sialkot.jpg
| blank_emblem_type  = Municipal Corporation logo
| blank_emblem_alt   = Municipal Corporation Sialkot
| blank_name_sec1    = Old name
| blank_info_sec1    = [[Sagala]]<ref>{{cite news|author1=Abdul Majeed Abid|title=Pakistan's Greek connection|url=http://nation.com.pk/columns/28-Dec-2015/pakistan-s-greek-connection|access-date=17 March 2017|work=The Nation|date=28 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Tarn|first1=William Woodthorpe|title=The Greeks in Bactria and India|date=24 June 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108009416|page=171|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HeJS3nE9cAC&q=Sagala+Sialkot&pg=PA171|access-date=17 March 2017}}</ref> or Sakala<ref>{{cite news|author1=Mushtaq Soofi|title=Ravi and Chenab: demons and lovers|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/779563/ravi-and-chenab-demons-and-lovers-2|access-date=17 March 2017|work=DAWN.COM|date=18 January 2013}}</ref>
| population_total   = 911,817
| population_rank    = [[List of largest cities in Pakistan|12th, Pakistan]]
| population_blank1_title = [[Municipal Corporation]]
| population_blank1  = 
| population_blank2_title = [[Sialkot Cantonment|Cantonment]]
| population_blank2  = 
| population_as_of   = [[2023 Pakistani census|2023]]
| population_footnotes = <ref name="census2017">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbscensus.gov.pk/sites/default/files/bwpsr/punjab/SIALKOT_BLOCKWISE.pdf|title=POPULATION AND HOUSEHOLD DETAIL FROM BLOCK TO DISTRICT LEVEL: PUNJAB (SIALKOT DISTRICT)|date=3 January 2018|access-date=27 April 2018|publisher=[[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]]|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516112620/http://www.pbscensus.gov.pk/sites/default/files/bwpsr/punjab/SIALKOT_BLOCKWISE.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/en/pakistan/punjab/sialkot/7320106__sialkot|title=Sialkot (Punjab): Municipal Corporation – Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information|website=www.citypopulation.de}}</ref>
| total_type         = City
| area_total_km2     = 135
| elevation_m_min    = 
| elevation_m_max    = 
| population_demonym = Sialkoti
| population_density_km2 = auto
| government_type    = Municipal Corporation
| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = None (Vacant)<ref name="tn">{{cite news|url=https://nation.com.pk/31-Dec-2021/administrators-appointments-planned-as-punjab-lg-system-dissolves-today|title=Administrators' appointments planned as Punjab LG system dissolves today|date=31 December 2021|access-date=7 January 2022|work=The Nation (newspaper)}}</ref>
| leader_title1      = Deputy Mayor
| leader_name1       = None (Vacant)<ref name="tn"/>
| leader_title2      = [[Deputy Commissioner (Pakistan)|Deputy Commissioner]]
| leader_name2       = Muhammad Iqbal<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1801923/sialkot-dc-transferred|title=Sialkot DC transferred|date=31 December 2023|access-date=31 December 2023|work=Dawn (newspaper)}}</ref>
| leader_title3      = 
| leader_name3       = 
| government_footnotes = <ref name="mcorp-web">{{cite web|url=http://www.mcsialkot.lgpunjab.org.pk/Administrative-Setup.html|title=MC Sialkot: Administrative Setup|publisher=Local Government Punjab|access-date=27 April 2018|archive-date=28 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428182413/http://www.mcsialkot.lgpunjab.org.pk/Administrative-Setup.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| postal_code_type   = [[Postal codes in Pakistan|Postal code]]
| postal_code        = 51310
| area_code          = 052
| area_code_type     = [[List of dialing codes of Pakistan|Calling code]]
| timezone1          = [[Pakistan Standard Time|PST]]
| utc_offset1        = +5
| website            = [http://www.mcsialkot.lgpunjab.org.pk/ Municipal Corporation Sialkot]
}}

'''Sialkot''' ([[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], {{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|سيالكوٹ}}}}) is a city located in [[Punjab, Pakistan]]. It is the capital of the [[Sialkot District]] and  the [[List of most populous cities in Pakistan|12th most populous city in Pakistan]].<ref name="Population city">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tageo.com/index-e-pk-cities-PK.htm|title=Pakistan City & Town Population List|access-date=29 September 2017|publisher=Tageo.com website}}</ref><ref name="census2017" /> The boundaries of Sialkot are joined by [[Jammu]] in the north east, the districts of [[Narowal District|Narowal]] in the southeast, [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]] in the southwest and [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]] in the northwest. Sialkot is known as the city of [[Muhammad Iqbal|Allama Iqbal]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-07 |title=JI demands Sialkot-wide holiday on Allama Iqbal's birthday |url=https://www.nation.com.pk/07-Nov-2019/ji-demands-sialkot-wide-holiday-on-allama-iqbal-s-birthday |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=The Nation |language=en-US}}</ref>

Sialkot is believed to be the successor city of [[Sagala]], the capital of the [[Madra Kingdom|Madra kingdom]] which was destroyed by [[Alexander the Great]] in 326 BCE. It was made 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.<ref name="google1">{{cite book|last1=McEvilley|first1=Thomas|title=The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies|date=2012|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing|isbn=9781581159332|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbjelOMYyN8C&q=sagala+sialkot&pg=PT568|access-date=2 June 2017}}</ref> In the 6th century CE, it again become capital of the [[Taank Kingdom]], which ruled Punjab for the next two centuries. Sialkot continued to be a major political center until it was eclipsed by [[Lahore]] around the turn of the first millennium CE.<ref name=":7" /> Sialkot was the capital of the [[Punjabi Muslims|Punjabi Muslim]] ruler [[Jasrat|Jasrat Khokhar]] who reigned over most of Punjab and Jammu in the early 15th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Slaje |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Slaje |title=The Atharvaveda and its Paippaladasakha. Historical and Philological Papers on a Vedic Tradition |date=2007 |publisher=[[Shaker Verlag]]  |isbn=978-3-8322-6255-6 |editor-last=Griffiths |editor-first=Arlo |page=342 |chapter=Three Bhattas, Two Sultans, and the Kashmirian Athavaveda |editor-last2=Schmiedchen |editor-first2=Annette |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/7517541}}</ref><ref name=Lal>{{Cite journal|author-link=K. S. Lal |last=Lal |first=K. S. |date=1958 |title=Jasrat Khokhar |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44145212 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=21 |pages=274–281 |jstor=44145212 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref>  Under the [[Mughal Empire]], especially [[List of emperors of the Mughal Empire|Mughal emperor]], [[Aurangzeb]]'s reign, Sialkot became known as a great centre of [[Ulama|Islamic scholarship]] and thought,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cmDVAAAAMAAJ&q=sialkot+greece |title=The Pakistan Review |date=1968 |publisher=Ferozsons Limited}}</ref> and attracted scholars because of the widespread availability of paper in the city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sahay |first=Binode Kumar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AK42AAAAIAAJ&q=sialkot+paper |title=Education and learning under the great Mughals, 1526–1707 A.D. |date=1968 |publisher=New Literature Pub. Co.}}</ref>

Sialkot city is the birthplace of [[Muhammad Iqbal]] ([[National poet of Pakistan|the National poet of Pakistan]]) and [[Asghar Sodai]] (the poet behind the famous slogan ‘Pakistan Ka Matlab Kya La Ilaha Ill Allah’) who were both leading figures of the [[Pakistan Movement]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bentlage |first1=Björn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtY6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA267 |title=Religious Dynamics under the Impact of Imperialism and Colonialism: A Sourcebook |last2=Eggert |first2=Marion |last3=Krämer |first3=Hans-Martin |last4=Reichmuth |first4=Stefan |date=2016-10-11 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-32900-3 |pages=267 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Lelyveld-Martin2004">{{citation |last=Lelyveld |first=David |title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World: A-L |page=356 |year=2004 |editor-last=Martin |editor-first=Richard C. |chapter=Muhammad Iqbal |chapter-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/iqbal-muhammad-c-1877-1938 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-02-865604-5 |quote=Muhammad Iqbal, South Asian poet and ideological innovator, wrote poetry in Urdu and Persian and discursive prose, primarily in English, of particular significance in the formulation of a national ethos for Pakistan.}}</ref><ref name="Sevea2012-2">{{citation |last=Sevea |first=Iqbal Singh |title=The Political Philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal: Islam and Nationalism in Late Colonial India |pages=14– |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VrItm_F6wncC&pg=PA14 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00886-1 |quote=In 1930, he presided over the meeting of the All-India Muslim League in Allahabad. It was here that he delivered his famous address in which he outlined his vision of a cultural and political framework that would ensure the fullest development of the Muslims of India.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Asghar Sodayee, The Creator Of Famous Pakistan Movement Slogan |url=https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/asghar-sodayee-the-creator-of-famous-pakista-1511652.html |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=UrduPoint |language=en}}</ref>

The city has been noted for its entrepreneurial spirit and productive business climate which have made Sialkot an example of a small Pakistani city that has emerged as a "world-class manufacturing hub."<ref name="economist">{{cite news |title=Pakistan's business climate If you want it done right |url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21709344-how-small-pakistani-city-became-world-class-manufacturing-hub-if-you-want-it-done-right |access-date=2 June 2017 |agency=The Economist |date=27 October 2017}}</ref> The relatively small city exported approximately $2.5&nbsp;billion worth of goods in 2017, or about 10% of Pakistan's total exports.<ref name="economist" /><ref name="Naz">{{cite web|last1=Naz|first1=Neelum|title=Historical Perspective of Urban Development of Gujranwala|url=https://www.academia.edu/9127199|publisher=Dept. of Architecture, UET, Lahore|access-date=22 December 2017}}</ref> The city has been labeled as the ''Football manufacturing capital of the World'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=World's Football Manufacturing Capital in Pakistan Gets a Green Makeover| date=25 November 2022 |url=https://www.adb.org/news/videos/world-s-football-manufacturing-capital-pakistan-gets-green-makeover#:~:text=If%2520you%2520have%2520ever%2520played,World%2520Cup%2520in%2520Doha%252C%2520Qatar.&ved=2ahUKEwja1NLpi9T7AhVxwjgGHQKMARYQFnoECAsQBQ&usg=AOvVaw1cGWtOMkcj9wAvA_Rfhy4r |access-date=2022-11-29}}</ref> as it produces over 70% of all [[Association football|footballs]] manufactured in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.adb.org/news/videos/world-s-football-manufacturing-capital-pakistan-gets-green-makeover&ved=2ahUKEwjosMrditT7AhXv6zgGHfPRD7YQFnoECAsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1cGWtOMkcj9wAvA_Rfhy4r |access-date=2022-11-29 |title=Asian Development Bank}}</ref> Sialkot is also home to the [[Sialkot International Airport]]; Pakistan's first privately owned public airport.<ref name="economist" /><ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last1=Mehmood |first1=Mirza, Faisal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5pvAwAAQBAJ&q=sialkot+gujranwala+gujrat+golden+triangle&pg=PA2 |title=An assessment of industrial employment skill gaps among university graduates: In the Gujrat-Sialkot-Gujranwala industrial cluster, Pakistan |last2=Ali |first2=Jaffri, Atif |last3=Saim |first3=Hashmi, Muhammad |date=21 April 2014 |publisher=Intl Food Policy Res Inst |pages=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Azhar |first1=Annus |last2=Adil |first2=Shahid |title=Effect of Agglomeration on Socio-Economic Outcomes: A District Level Panel study of Punjab |url=http://www.pide.org.pk/psde/pdf/AGM32/papers/Effect%20of%20Agglomeration%20on%20Socio-Economic%20Outcomes.pdf |access-date=2 June 2017 |publisher=Pakistan Institute of Developmental Economics}}</ref>