In his Sanskrit treatise,
Brihat Samhita,
Varahamihira (505–587) mentions the city as 'Satudar Desh'. Later it was inhabited by a tribe of Sairindhas Aryans, leading to its present name. According to
Huan Tsang, the Chinese traveller who visited India during the seventh century, Sirhind was the capital of the district of Shitotulo, or Shatadru (the present day River
Sutlej). In the 12th century, Sirhind came under the rule of the
Hindu Chauhan Rajputs of
Delhi. During the rule of
Prithvi Raj Chauhan (1168–1192), the
Hindu Rajput ruler of
Delhi, it became his military outpost. The city was besieged by
Jasrat Khokhar in 1421. However, he failed to conquer it. In 1431, Jasrat Khokhar allied with Sikander Tohfa, the governor of Lahore, against Afghans of Sirhind. They managed to capture Sirhind, but the Afghans had already left and moved towards the hills, where many of them were massacred by Jasrat Khokhar and Sikander. It became a provincial capital during the
Mughal Empire, controlling the
Lahore–
Delhi highway. During the Mughal era, Sirhind was the name for
Malwa, the area's capital city. Sirhind was the headquarters of the Mughal administration in Eastern Punjab. Many European travelers describe its splendours, and it developed into a cultural center. ', built by most probably, Sultan Hafiz Rakhna, during the reign of emperor
Akbar Sirhind was known for dozens of saints, scholars, poets, historians,
calligraphers and scribes who lived there. This city is famous to Muslims for Great saint Imām-e-Rabbānī Shaykh
Ahmad al-Farūqī al-Sirhindī (R.) (1564–1624). He was an Indian Islamic scholar of Arab origin, a Hanafi jurist, and a prominent member of the
Naqshbandī Sufi order. Many buildings survive from this period, including Aam Khas Bagh; it is said that in its heyday, the city had 360 mosques, gardens, tombs,
caravansarais and wells. ==Education ==