Hissar: My City

This post is dedicated to my native city Hissar. Hissar is the Farsi word and Literal meaning of Hissar is "Fort" in English and "Qila" in Hindi. Throughout the history of almost 650 years from 1354 to 2009 A.D. the city Hissar has always been in limelight. During the Medieval period, it was a great strategic point for the centre. In British times it was an important centre of the Arya Samaj and the anti-British activities.

Throughout it's history, the city of Hissar has been a point of great attraction for the country. It was and is the, the natural meeting place of Haryanvi. Punjabi, Rajasthani, Bagrri and Deswali cultures. Some of it's main features are as follows.

1. During the days of East India Co., the city had a cattle farm, being the second largest in the world.


2. The city of Hissar is an exception where three educational institutons of national repute were shifted from Lahore in the following order: Veterinary College in 1948, Fateh Chand College for Women in 1954, and Dayanand Brahma Mahavidyalaya in 1956.


3. In 1960 per capita income of the town was highest in the country.


4. It is the only city of Haryana which has a Doordarshan Kendra and two prestigious universities --- Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University (CCS HAU) and Guru Jambeshwar University (GJU).


5. In making the Green Revolution in India a grand success, the contribution of CCS HAU is second to none in the country.


6. The city of Hissar is a great centre of steel processing in the country. Confirming this fact, even the Hindustan Times dated 8 November 2001 writes "50,000 tonnes stainless steel order for a local firm of Hissar from the U.S."


7. Hissar is also a great mandi of chane-ki-daal. According to some survey, it was the biggest in 1971.


8. It's Automobile-Market is the biggest in Asia.


9. City has been the head-quarter of Punjab-Kesari , Lala Lajpat Rai.


10. The city can also boast of having the great literary figure like Vishnu Prabhakar, Labour leader like com. Rachhpal Singh, industrialist like O.P. Jindal and the media person like Subhash Chandra Goenka of the Zee TV.


11. City is famous for it's donations. It stood first in the country while offering it's donations for the National Defense Fund during the China's aggression of 1962.


12. It is the place with maximum number of cattle heads in the country.

The above text is the extract from the book "Hissar City: Places and Personalities" by Dr. M.M. Juneja. The book contains information about 74 places and biographies of 194 personalities of Hissar including the founder of city , Feroz(1303-1388), industrialist O.P. Jindal, Actor, Yash Tonk, public figure like Mr. Balwant Rai Tayal , Ch. Bhajan Lal, Mr. Bishan Swaroop Dalwala, Pt. Kok Chand Shastri and many more.



I feel proud for Hissar being my native land and Pt. Kok Chand Shastri being my Grandfather.



I would like to conclude with the line by a शायर:

दुर्ग फिरोज का कहते जिसे हिस्सार , कल मरुस्थल था आज हरियाणा  का श्रृंगार !!