Ludhiana

During the period of Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, a fort was built at modern day Ludhiana. It was captured by Raja Jasrat during his 1421–22 campaign in Punjab. Later, Ludhiana was founded in 1480 by members of the ruling Lodi dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. The ruling sultan, Sikandar Lodi, dispatched two ruling chiefs, Yusuf Khan and Nihad Khan, to re-assert Lodi control. The two men camped at the site of present Ludhiana, which was then a village called Mir Hota. Yusuf Khan crossed the Sutlej and established Sultanpur, while Nihad Khan founded Ludhiana on the site of Mir Hota. The name was originally Lodi-ana", meaning "Lodi town", which has since shifted from "Lodiana" to the present form of Ludhiana. …

Ludhiana is located at 30°54′N 75°51′E. It has an average elevation of 244 metres (801 ft). Ludhiana City, to its residents, consists of the Old City and the New City. The new city primarily consists of the Civil Lines area which was historically known as the residential and official quarters of the colonial British encampment. The Old Fort was at the banks of the Sutlej (and now houses the College of Textile Engineering). Legend has it that a tunnel connects it to the fort in Phillaur– although why this should be is debatable, as the Sutlej was the traditional dividing line between the principalities, often occupied by enemy forces (see History section). The tree of largest natural extraction was the kikar, or Acacia Indica, but has been supplanted by the eucalyptus, transplanted from rural Australia in the late 1950s by the Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon. …

The World Bank ranked Ludhiana as the city in India with the best business environment in 2009 and 2013. The riches are brought mostly by small-scale industrial units, which produce industrial goods, machine parts, auto parts, household appliances, hosiery, apparel, and garments. Ludhiana is Asia's largest hub for bicycle manufacturing and produces more than 50% of India's bicycle production each year. Ludhiana produces 60% of India's tractor parts and a large portion of auto and two-wheeler parts. Many parts used in German cars such as Mercedes and BMW are exclusively produced in Ludhiana to satisfy the world requirement. It is one of the largest manufacturer of domestic sewing machines. Hand tools and industrial equipment are other specialties. …

Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana hosts a number of sporting events including athletics, football, badminton, basketball, gymnastics, handball, kabaddi, table tennis, volleyball, as well as other indoor games. Kabaddi Kabaddi world cup finals have been played twice in Guru Nanak Stadium Ludhiana. The stadium often hosts high-profile Kabaddi matches. Football Various competitions like finals of National Games Football Matches (2001) and I-League matches of clubs like Minerva Punjab FC (now RoundGlass Punjab Football Club) have been played in Guru Nanak Stadium. Kila Raipur Sports Festival, popularly known as Rural Olympics Games, is held annually in Kila Raipur, near Ludhiana. Competitions are held for rural sports, including gatka, bullock cart races, trolley races, kabaddi, loading unloading trucks and acrobatics. A skating rink is situated in Leisure Valley, Sarabha Nagar. …

Ludhiana is well connected by road and rail as Ludhiana railway station is on the main Delhi-Amritsar route, and is an important railway junction with lines going to Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Dhuri, and Delhi. The city is very well connected with daily or weekly trains to most places in India including the major cities of Jammu, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Pathankot, Kanpur, Jaipur, Ajmer, Chandigarh, Ambala, Panipat, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Ayodhya, Nanded, Patna, and Kolkata. For administrative reasons the station is under Ferozepur Railway Division. The railway line between Ludhiana and Chandigarh opened in 2013. The government has even passed a dedicated freight track between Ludhiana and Kolkata. Ludhiana is connected with other cities of Punjab and also with other states by bus service. …

As per the 2011 census, Ludhiana had a population of 1,618,879. The literacy rate was 86.50 per cent, and the population consisted of 950,123 males and 743,530 females. With around 66% adherents according to 2011 Indian Census, Hinduism is the predominant religion of Ludhiana, followed by Sikhism with 29% of the population. Islam is followed by 2.8% and Christianity by less than 1%. Prior to India's partition, Ludhiana had a population of 111,639 with Muslims being the majority with 62.9%. The Hindus were 31.1% and Sikhs 4.7%. It changed post-partition with a drastic reduction in Muslim percentage and simultaneous increase in Hindu and Sikh population, owing to migration of people between West and East Punjab. At the time of the 2011 census, 67.00% of the population spoke Punjabi, 29.24% Hindi and 1.35% Bhojpuri as their first language.