Bathinda City

Bathinda derives its name from the district headquarters city of Bathinda, which is of great antiquity. According to Khalifa Muhammad Hassan, author of History of Patiala, its ancient name was Bikramgarh.

Bhatinda was changed to Bathinda to conform to the phonetical expression as locally pronounced. According to Henry George Raverty, Bathinda was known as Tabarhindh (Labb-ut-Twarikh). The earliest mention of Tabarhindh occurs in the Jami-Ul-Hakayat written about 607 Hijri or 1211 AD.

The city, named after the Bhati kings, is one of the oldest cities in Punjab, India and the current administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, 227 km west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth largest city of Punjab. Bathinda's nicknamed the "City of Lakes", courtesy of the artificial lakes in the city.The first empress of India, Razia Sultan was imprisoned in the Qila Mubarak fort in Bathinda.

In 1004, Mahmud of Ghazni besieged the local fort, which was located on the route from the northwest into the rich Ganges valley.

In 1189, Muhammad Ghori attacked and occupied the fort of Bathinda. Prithvi Raj Chauhan, the ruler of this region, managed to recover possession of the fort thirteen months later in 1191 after the first battle of Tarain.

In circa 1754, the town was conquered by Maharaja Ala Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala and since then it followed the history of erstwhile princely state of Patiala. With the dawn of independence and merger of Patiala and East Punjab States into a division called PEPSU, Bathinda become a full-fledged district with headquarters at Bathinda city. Its location is Coordinates: 30°13′48″N 74°57′07″E.

Bahia Fort was constructed in front of Qila Mubarak by S.Balwant Singh Sidhu.This qila was office of Army of Maharaja Bhupendera Singh of Patiala State.Now it stands converted in a four star Hotel.

Bathinda is well connected by Rail, Road and Air. Bathinda is the second largest Junction , rail lines from six sides meet here.

Administrative Setup:

Bathinda is divided into the 4 tehsils of Bathinda, Rampura Phul, Maur and Talwandi Sabo. These tehsils are further divided into the nine blocks of Bathinda, Sangat, Nathana, Rampura, Phul, Maur, Balianwali, Bhagta Bhaika and Talwandi Sabo. Total Population (2011) of Bathinda is 285,813.

School Education:

The city has many prestigious school chains too S.S.D. Senior Secondary School (Boys) is one of the oldest educational institutes and many English medium schools have also come up in the city during the last 30 years. The city also has Govt. Rajindera College and DAV College which offers various Graduation and Post Graduation Courses. St. Paul's High School is one and only school affiliated to ICSE board. DAV Public School , Delhi Public School and Police Public School have opened their branches in the city. Many missionary schools are being run in the city, such as St. Joseph's Convent Secondary School and St. Xavier's Senior Secondary School, Bathinda.

Central University of Punjab:

The Central University of Punjab Bathinda (Punjab) has been established through the Central Universities Act 2009 which received the assent of the President of India on 20 March 2009. Its territorial jurisdiction extends to the whole State of Punjab.

It started its functioning from Camp Office in April, 2009, which happens to be the residence of the Vice Chancellor, and from November 2009 it shifted to its City Campus spread over an area of 35 acres. Construction of the main campus has started on 500 acres of land in Ghuda Village (21.5 km from Bathinda ISBT) on Badal Road. Engineers India Limited, a Navratna Public Sector Undertaking, is providing PMC services for the project.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh State Technical University (MRSSTU):

Bathinda is also home to MRSSTU, formerly known as Giani Zail Singh Campus College of Engineering and Technology. It is a premier engineering college of the region, which had been made a constituent college of Punjab Technical University in 2011 with the aim to put emphasis on Post Graduate studies and Doctoral Research. It is now autonomous and known as Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University. It's objective is to play a pivotal role in producing technical manpower being the second campus of Punjab Technical University. It offers graduate and postgraduate level courses in Electrical, Electronics, Computer, Civil, Mechanical, Textile engineering fields as well as courses in Architecture and Applied Sciences. Government Polytechnic College is also here.

Takhat Sri Damdama Sahib Talwandi Sabo:

This Religious place is 28 km from Bathinda in the southern side.Baisakhi Mela is celebrated here every year, Guru Gobind Singh Ji stayed here for 9 months and 9 days.

Village Maisar Khana:

This historic village is situated at a distance of 30 km from Bathinda. Mela of Durga Mata is celebrated twice in a year. Lacs of people throng here to pay obeisance at the three Mandirs from Northern India and Delhi . This village is blessed by 9th Guru of Sikhs,Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib ji.