Sikh Period In the 18th century, religious persecution led the Sikhs to form strong warrior groups called Misls, united in resisting Mughal rule. In 1760, they defeated the Mughal Governor of Lahore. In 1763, Hari Singh of the
Bhangi Misl sacked
Kasur, and his commander
Gujjar Singh crossed the Sutlej to capture Ferozepur, handing it over to his nephew Gurbakhsh Singh. Though the Dogars resisted, Gurbakhsh Singh subdued them and expanded his territory on both sides of the Sutlej. Around 1792, he gave
Ferozepur to his second son, Dhanna Singh, who proved to be a weak ruler. Facing rebellion, Nihal Singh Atariwala, a favourite Sardar of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, crossed the Sutlej and surrounded his lands. At this time, the British East India Company began offering protection to Trans-Sutlej chiefs. Dhanna Singh accepted British protection, preventing Ranjit Singh from expanding eastward. Dhanna Singh died in 1818–19, and his widow Lachhman Kaur succeeded him. She died in 1835 without an heir, after which the British took control of
Ferozepur Jagir.
First Sikh War The
First Anglo-Sikh War was mainly fought in Ferozepur district. The Sikh leadership was divided and could not properly lead the
Khalsa Army of Ranjit Singh. The Sikhs crossed the Sutlej River to fight the British but were often let down by their commanders. The first
battle was at Mudki, where victory was close, but Sikh commander
Lal Singh abandoned his troops. At
Ferozeshah, another Sikh leader,
Teja Singh, fled when victory was near, saving the British from defeat. Later, Sikh commander
Ranjhor Singh won at
Baddowal but lost at
Aliwal. At the decisive
battle of Sobraon, Gulab Singh betrayed the Sikhs by giving the British their battle plans three day before the battle. During the fight,
Teja Singh again fled, causing a Sikh defeat.
British Period The
Treaty of Lahore was signed in 1846, and as a result, the British took control of all the land east of the Sutlej River. This land was divided among the districts of Ferozepur, Badhni, and Ludhiana. Ferozepur district received the areas of Zira, Mudki, Khai, and parts of Kot Kapura, Guru Har Sahai, Jhumba, Kot Bhai, Bhucho, and Meharaj. In 1847, the Badhni district was dissolved, and its areas—Mallanwala, Makhu, Dharmkot, Kot Isa Khan, Badhni, Chuhar Chak, Mari, and Sada Singh Wala—were added to Ferozepur district. Sultankhanwala was also taken from
Faridkot State in exchange. In 1852, parts of Muktsar and Kot Kapura were added to Ferozepur. In 1855, the area of
Chirk was returned to
Kalsia State. In 1856, the
Nawab of Mamdot was removed because of his and his son's wrongdoings, and his lands were added to Ferozepur district. In 1884, Sirsa district was divided, and the western part, including Fazilka tehsil and about 40 villages of Dabwali tehsil, became part of Ferozepur district.''''
Mahraj Ilaka was a group of 38 villages that formed a British-administered exclave of Ferzopur district, entirely surrounded by
Phulkia &
Faridkot states during the British era.'
The Charik Ilaka, a group of 7 villages, was an enclave within the district and an exclave of Kalsia State.'
Modern Period Following the
Partition of Punjab Province, Ferozepur district became part of India. Amid the communal violence and mass migrations, a total of 349,767 sikh, hindu refugees from areas that became part of Pakistan settled in Ferozepur district, by 1951 Census. Much of this refugee population hailed from
Bahawalpur State and the districts of Montgomery, Sheikhupura, Lyallpur, and Lahore, crossing the border into Ferozepur.
Faridkot State, accepted dominion of the Indian Union and became a tehsil of
Bathinda district. Bathinda district itself became part of the
PEPSU in 1948, which was later merged into the state of Punjab in 1956. While the
Charik area—an exclave of
Kalsia State and an enclave of Ferozpur's
Moga tehsil—also became part of
Bathinda district, it was transferred to Moga tehsil of Ferozepur district in 1950 by Absorption of Enclaves Order. Additionally, the Maharaj-
Nathana ilaqa, a group of 38 villages that formed an exclave of Ferozepur District and was transferred to
Bathinda district in 1959. In 1960, two villages—Mohd. Yar Chishti and Chak Mohd. Usman—of Fazilka tehsil in Ferozepur district were completely transferred to Pakistan, along with parts of 12 other villages that had no population. Later, in 1970, Jhumba along with seven villages was transferred to
Bathinda district. In 1972, a new Faridkot district was created by combining Faridkot tehsil (from Bathinda district) and the Moga and Muktsar tehsils (from Ferozepur district). Later, in 1995,
Moga &
Mukatsar of
Faridkot district was carved out to form the new Moga district. In 1999, Moga district expanded by gaining the Dharamkot block from Zira tehsil of Ferozepur district. This included 45 villages from Zira tehsil and 47 villages from Makhu sub-tehsil, along with the entire Dharamkot sub-tehsil of Zira tehsil of Ferozepur district. Later, in 2011, Ferozepur district had six tehsils: Fazilka, Abohar, Jalalabad, Ferozepur, Zira. From these, Abohar and Fazilka tehsils, along with a part of
Jalalabad tehsil, were separated to form the new
Fazilka district. The remaining portion of Jalalabad tehsil was reorganized to create the new
Guru Har Sahai tehsil within Ferozepur district. ==Administration==