The City of Faisalabad
The city of Faisalabad is not more than a century old. Just hundred years back this region was the center of keeping livestock. This city was irrigated in 1892 when Jhang & Gogera branches were supplied water. The foundation of first ever-residential area was laid in 1895. Its main purpose was the construction of a market. During those days, the area across the river Chenab was called “Sandal Bar”. Before the establishment of Lyallpur City the ancient residential area was called “Pakka Marri” now known as “Pakki Marri”.

The caravans used to stay at this place while traveling from Jhang to Lahore. The English travellers of those times wanted to convert this area into a city. In the beginning the small establishment was called “Chenab Canal Colony” which was later named “Lyallpur” after the name of Governor of Punjab Lt. General Sir James B Lyall.

The foundation of Lyallpur was laid in 1896. Its famous clock tower was built on a well. It was completed in 1906. The construction of this clock tower was completed under the supervision of Ghulab Khan who belonged to the family who built Taj Mahal in Agra. The clock was brought from Bombay. It is believed that the clock tower was built in the memory of Queen Victoria after her death. By the time this tower was built the eight bazaars were already operational.

The map of Faisalabad is just the copy of British flag Union jack designed by an architect Desmond Yong. However, the real design on which this city is planned was of Sir Ganga Ram, who was a famous town planner of his time. The total area of 110 sq. acres was used to build eight bazaars & clock tower in a round shape. All these eight bazaars are connected with each other through another bazaar, which is called Goal Bazaar.

G E N E R A L    C O U N T R Y    I N F O R M A T I O N
Climate	The months of May, June, July are hot. However winter and spring are very pleasant
Currency	Unit of currency is the Rupee. Foreign currency can be exchanged at the Hotel Reception
Credit Cards	American Express, Visa, Master Cards, JCB, MCB, HBL, UBL

In 1910, the famous and oldest Chenab Club was constructed. There, British rulers used to spend their evenings to entertain themselves with drinks & music. In 1908, Punjab Agricultural College and Khalsa School were opened. Later Khalsa School was upgraded as Khalsa College, which is now called Municipal Degree College. The first railway started in 1910. The first residential area was Douglas Pura established in 1920. Industrialization was started in 1930. The project of “Lyallpur Cotton Mills” was completed in 1934. With the establishment of Pakistan as the population increased the city also expanded. When Pakistan came into being the area of this city was 3 sq. miles. Now it is more than 10 sq. miles. New residential areas were established like Peoples colony, Ghulam Muhammadabad, Lahore colony, Afghanabad, Jail road etc.

In 1961, the population of the city was 0.43 million which was increased to 0.83 million in 1972. By 1981, it went up to 1.1 million. Now demographically, Faisalabad is the third biggest city of Pakistan after Karachi & Lahore. Because of this in 1972 Municipal Committee was upgraded to Municipal Corporation. In July 1982 Faisalabad was upgraded as the Capital of Division. Along with these changes the name of the city was changed to Faisalabad after the name of Saudi King Shah Faisal.

Today, Faisalabad is the biggest industrial city of Pakistan. Due to its emphasis on textile products, It is also known as the Manchester of Pakistan. It is the third biggest industrial & trade center of Pakistan. When Pakistan came into being there were two dozen factories in Faisalabad, which increased to 43 by 1948. Now the industrial units are more than one thousand. It is the biggest textile center of Pakistan. Apart from textile unit there are Flour, Oil, Artificial Fertilizers, Art Silk, Agricultural Equipment & Wood industries in this city. It is believed that Faisalabad is the second biggest revenue-generating city of Pakistan. Asia’s biggest and the only Agricultural University is in this city. It also has a Textile College, which is the only one of its kind in the Country.