Place : Sialkot

History
A city named “Sialkot” is situated in Pakistan’s province Punjab. It is placed near the border
of Indo-Pak, about 125k.m. from Punjab capital Lahore. Sialkot is also famous for being
Allama Iqbal’s birthplace.KKKK
According to myths, century’s old Raja Sul constructed Sialkot city. After the death of Raja
Sul, some five thousand years ago there is a mythology that dynasty continued for a few
fifteen hundred years and after that was badly swamped and for about one thousand years
it remained as one vast unpopulated region.
The popular faith is that sialkot was re-founded Vikramaditya of Ujjain in the reign by Raja
Salban or Salivahan, who gave the present name to the place and built the city and fort. It
is thought that the city name means “Fort of Sia,” in ancient times Sia individually a
particular caste founded the city.

Geography and Climate

Lying between 32°30′ North latitude and 74°31′ East longitude at an altitude of 256 m
above sea level, Sialkot is bounded on the north by Jammu, north-west by Gujrat, on the
west by Gujranwala and on the south by Narowal. The Chenab river flows to the north of
Sialkot. There are three small seasonal streams flowing through the city, Aik, Bher and
Palkhu.

Sialkot features a humid subtropical climate under the Koppen climate classification. Sialkot
is chilly during winters and hot and humid during summers. May and June are the hottest
months. The temperature during winter may drop to 0°C. The land is, generally, plain and
fertile. Most of the rain falls during the Monsoon season in summer which often results in
flooding. Sialkot has one of the most modern weather forecasting and flood warning centres
in the country, which is fully equipped to record and transfer data to and from the relevant
concerns. This facility is equipped with a radar and is internationally linked.
Importance
Punjabi culture is dominated in the poetry of this area. The poetry of this area clearly shows
the Punjabi mindset. Many poets like Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain and Waris
Shah has been cited in the city. And the Punjabi poetry of this area has been translated into
many other languages. Sialkot has produces very famous poets throughout its history. It is
the home of the greatest poet which world has ever seen, Allama Iqbal. Furthermore more
great poets and writers like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, and Asghar
Sodhar belong to Sialkot.

Sialkot is the world's largest producer of hand-sewed footballs, with local factories
manufacturing 40~60 million footballs a year, amounting to roughly 60% of world
production.The 2014 FIFA World Cup's footballs were made by Forward Sports, a company
based in Sialkot. Clustering of sports goods industrial units has allowed for firms in Sialkot
to become highly specialised, and to benefit from joint action and external economies.There
is a well-applied child labour ban, the Atlanta Agreement, in the industry since a 1997
outcry, and the local industry now funds the Independent Monitoring Association for Child
Labour to regulate factories.

Sialkot is also the world's largest centre of surgical instrument manufacturing.Sialkot was
first noted to be a centre of metalwork in the 1890s, and the city's association with surgical
instruments came from the need to repair, and subsequently manufacture, surgical
instruments for the nearby Mission hospital.By the 1920s, surgical instruments were being
manufactured for use throughout British India, with demand boosted by further by World
War Two.

The city's surgical instrument manufacturing industry benefits from a clustering effect, in
which larger manufacturers remain in close contact with smaller and specialized industries
that can efficiently perform contracted work.The industry is made up of a few hundred small
and medium size enterprises, supported by thousands of subcontractors, suppliers, and
those providing other ancillary services. The bulk of exports are destined for the United
States and European Union.

Sialkot first became a centre for sporting goods manufacturing during the colonial era.
Enterprises were initially established for the recreation of British troops stationed along the
North West Frontier. Nearby timber reserves served to initially attract the industry to
Sialkot. The city's Muslim craftsmen generally manufactured the goods, while Sikh and
Hindu merchants of the Sindhi Bania, Arora, and Punjabi Khatri castes acted like men to
bring goods to market.Sialkot now produces a wide array of sporting goods, including
footballs and hockey sticks.

Sialkot is also noted for its leather goods. Leather for footballs is sourced from nearby
farms, while Sialkot's leather workers craft some of Germany's most prized leather
lederhosen trousers.