Patiala is the fourth largest city. The city, which was previously the capital of the erst while princely state of Patiala, then of Pepsu, is at present the district and divisional head quarters.
The city was founded by Baba Ala singh, the founder of the Phulkian states of Malwa region in 1763 AD. According to tradition the place where the present fort stands was the Patanwala Theh or the ruins of Patan. The Zamindar of Sanaur, Muhammed Solak surrendered the town of Sanaur along with 84 villages to Alasingh. In order to strengthen his hold over the newly acquired territories, Ala singh built an earthern fort in 1753 AD. The present fort was built in 1763 after the fall of Sirhind from where Ala Singh collected customes and dues for its consctruction.
There are well laid out beautiful gardens, shaded wide roads, sprawling public building and residences of erstwhile rulers and their officials. among the important land marks are the Baradari Gardens, The Moti Bagh and Gurudwara Dukhnivaran. Patiala is a big centre for higher education. The important intstitutions are Yadvindera Public Schools, Mahindera College, Modi college, Khalsa college, Rajindera Medical college, Bikram College of Commerce, College of Physical Education and State College of Education. The city is also the seat of Punjabi University. The University campus is situated eight Kms from the town on the Patiala - Rajpura road and is famous for the National Institute of Sports and the Thapar College of Engineering and technology, which are prestigous institutions of India.
Share this with Friends
