Phalia
Encyclopedia
Phalia is a city in Mandi Bahauddin District
Mandi Bahauddin
Mandi Bahauddin is the capital of Mandi Bahauddin District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The town is some 220 metres above the sea level and is situated in upper Punjab, between the rivers Jhelum and Chenab . Mandi Bahauddin city is situated some 50 km from the M2 - Motorway of...

, Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...

, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. The population of Phalia was calculated to be 25,914 in 2007 (21,025 in 1998).

History

Alexander the Great and his army crossed the Jhelum in 326 BC
326 BC
Year 326 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Visolus and Cursor...

 at the Battle of the Hydaspes River
Battle of the Hydaspes River
The Battle of the Hydaspes River was fought by Alexander the Great in 326 BC against King Porus of the Hindu Paurava kingdom on the banks of the Hydaspes River in the Punjab near Bhera in what is now modern-day Pakistan...

 where he defeated the Indian king, Porus. According to Arrian (Anabasis, 29), he built a city "on the spot whence he started to cross the river Hydaspes", which he named Bukephala (or Bucephala
Bucephala
Bucephala may refer to:* Bucephala , the goldeneye, a duck genus* Bucephala is the name of at least two Greek cities:** Bucephala, or Alexandria Bucephalus, a city founded by Alexander the Great and named in honor of his horse, Bucephalus...

) to honour his famous horse Bukephalus or Bucephalus
Bucephalus
Bucephalus or Bucephalas was Alexander the Great's horse and one of the most famous actual horses of antiquity. Ancient accounts state that Bucephalus died after the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC, in what is now modern Pakistan, and is buried in Jalalpur Sharif outside of Jhelum, Pakistan...

 which was buried in Jalalpur Sharif. It is thought that ancient Bukephala was near the site of modern Jhelum City. According to a historian of Gujrat district, Mansoor Behzad Butt, Bukephalus was buried in Jalalpur Sharif, but the people of Mandi Bahauddin
Mandi Bahauddin
Mandi Bahauddin is the capital of Mandi Bahauddin District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The town is some 220 metres above the sea level and is situated in upper Punjab, between the rivers Jhelum and Chenab . Mandi Bahauddin city is situated some 50 km from the M2 - Motorway of...

, a district close to Jehlum, believed that their tehsil Phalia was named after Bucephalus, Alexander's dead horse. The Shah and Butt families of Phalia are highly respected and seen as the heads of the district.

Geography and climate

Phalia is situated at 32.43 N latitude and 73.58 E longitude. It is located between the main cities of Mandi Bahauddin
Mandi Bahauddin
Mandi Bahauddin is the capital of Mandi Bahauddin District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The town is some 220 metres above the sea level and is situated in upper Punjab, between the rivers Jhelum and Chenab . Mandi Bahauddin city is situated some 50 km from the M2 - Motorway of...

 and Gujrat
Gujrat
Gujrat is a city in Pakistan. It is the capital of Gujrat District and the Gujrat Tehsil subdivision in the Punjab Province. People living in Gujrat refer to themselves as Gujratis, which sometimes leads to confusion with people from the Indian state of Gujarat which adjoins Pakistan...

, about 20 kilometres from Mandi Bahauddin and 52 kilometres from Gujrat, at an altitude of 672 feet (204.8 m) above sea level.

Phalia has a moderate climate, which is hot in summer and cold in winter. During peak summer, the day temperature rises up to 45 °C. The winter months are mild and the minimum temperature may fall below 2 °C. The average annual rainfall in the district is 50 mm.

Education

SCHOOLS: The Govt Pilot Secondary School, established in 1926, is a famous progressive school in Phalia.
Two other reputable government schools are the Islamia High School for Boys and the Govt. High School for Girls. International Islamic University, Islamabad has also opened its campus, IIUI Schools, Phalia Campus
IIUI Schools, Phalia Campus
IIUI Schools, Phalia Campus , located in Phalia, District Mandi Bahauddin, is part of the IIUI Schools nationwide network launched by International Islamic University, Islamabad in 2010 on occasion of its Silver Jubilee...

 to provide modern education from Playgroup
Pre-school playgroup
A pre-school playgroup, or in everyday usage just a playgroup, is an organised group providing care and socialisation for children under five. The term is widely used in the United Kingdom. Playgroups are less formal than the pre-school education of nursery schools...

 to GCE O/A Levels
General Certificate of Education
The General Certificate of Education or GCE is an academic qualification that examination boards in the United Kingdom and a few of the Commonwealth countries, notably Sri Lanka, confer to students. The GCE traditionally comprised two levels: the Ordinary Level and the Advanced Level...

. In addition, there are many famous private schools in Phalia making it a hub for quality education in Mandi Bahauddin District
Mandi Bahauddin District
Mandi Bahauddin is a district of the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at 32°34'60N 73°30'0E and is bounded on the northwest by the Jhelum River, on the South-East by the Chenab River which separates it from Gujranwala District and Gujrat District and on the southwest by Sargodha District...

.

COLLEGES: There are several private and government colleges in Phalia; prominent of these are Govt. Yaqoob Shah Degree College for Boys,it was an intermediate college and was upgraded after the death of renowned spiritual personality Yaqoob Shah and was named after him by the Punjab Government, Govt. Degree College for Girls, and Govt Degree College for Boys, Bhoa Hassan.
One of the branch of Punjab College just opened here about a year ago.Its a very beautiful college where co-education does not exist.Farabi College also opened about 2 years ago and showing excellent results.There are many colleges in phalia now.

Sources of Earning

Majority of the peoples earn their livelihood through agriculture. Few peoples are in Government services and among them most are in WAPDA, ARMY, POLICE AND WORKING AS LAWYERS. Now there is trend among the youth to go abroad that’s why many peoples of the Phalia city and villages near the city are found in England, France,Spain, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia, Muscat etc. in search of their earning.

Health Facilities

Health Medical facilities in the city are fairly well established the main hospital in the city is THH (Tehsil Headquarter Hospital). There are several other private hospitals Health center and Clinic at different locations within the city with some famous doctors.

Population and religion

Phalia is not a big city, with about 15,000 houses occupied by about 100,000 people. Most of the population of the village are Muslim with some Christians.

Languages

Punjabi is the native language of the province and is the most widely spoken language in Phalia. Urdu has started to become more prominent in many areas now due to its official status as the national language.

Registered voters

The number of registered voters in the city and village is almost 130,000 among them almost half of them are of female voters.

Media in Phalia

The media appearance in Phalia is increasing as reveluation in electronic media in Pakistan. There are corrospondant of Pakistani Electroic TV Channels including DM Digital, Geo News, Waqt News, Channel 5 in Phalia. In Newspaper category, here are Daily Elaqa, Daily Agah, Aap, Phalia Times (First Online Newspaper of Phalia).

Shopping

Phalia city has developed markets with over 3000 shops. main market is Gold and cloth market of Jamia Masjid street and Main bazar of the city. Its markets are more developed as compared to the other near cities now Tehsil Phalia is the 5th biggest revenue generator in Punjab.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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