Bar Region

The Bar Region, or the Bars, is an area in central Punjab, now part of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. The area consists of agricultural land that was cleared in the nineteenth century for the then 'new' canal irrigation system that the British were developing at the time. The soil of the Bar Region is fertile.^[1] The plains have been made by the stream deposits driven by the rivers flowing from the Himalayas.

The area stretches from the river Sutlej to the river Chenab and down to the junction of two rivers Jehlum and Chenab. The word bar in Punjabi language refers to a threshold, an outer space, an area away from the human settlement, a barrier between populated area and wild forest, a natural jungle. So the area between two rivers that formed a natural barrier between two different settlements was called bar. All the 'Bar Regions' had and still have almost the same or similar culture and language or dialect with slight variations.^[1]

The 'Bar' is further divided into four regions: the Sandal Bar (the area between the Ravi and Chenab rivers), Kirana Bar (the area between the Chenab and Jehlum rivers), Neeli Bar (the area between the Ravi and Sutlej rivers) and Ganji Bar (the area between the Sutlej and dry river bed of the Hakra).^[1]

Most of the old Sandal Bar now forms part of the modern Faisalabad, Jhang, Tob Tek Singh, Okara, Vehari, Khanewal, Pakpattan, Sargodha, Chiniot and Sahiwal districts of the Punjab province in Pakistan.

See also

• Baar di boli

• Geo-political history of Punjab^[2]

References