Mong, Punjab

Mong or Mung (مونگ ) is a town and Union Council of Mandi Bahauddin District in the Punjab province of Pakistan.[1] It is located at 32°39′00″N 73°31′00″E / 32.6500°N 73.5167°E / 32.6500; 73.5167Coordinates: 32°39′00″N 73°31′00″E / 32.6500°N 73.5167°E / 32.6500; 73.5167 at an altitude of 217 metres (715 feet).[2] Mong, a historic and densely populated village.

History

A local tradition says that Mong was built on the ancient city of Nicaea which was founded by Alexander the Great in commemoration of his victory over Raja Porus in the Battle of the Hydaspes River.[3][4] However, the ruins of the city of Nicea have not been found yet, and any attempt to find the ancient battle site is doomed, because the landscape has changed somewhat.[5][5] The 1910 version of the Encyclopædia Britannica cited Mong as the location of "Nicaea",[6] but the modern version no longer has this claim.

Campaigns and landmarks of Alexander's invasion of the Indian subcontinent.

According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India: “ The overthrow of the Bactrians by the Parthians in the latter half of the second century brought another change of rulers, and the coins of the Indo-Parthian Maues (c. 120 BCE), who is known to local tradition as Raja Moga, have been found at Mong. At the end of the first century CE the whole of the Punjab was conquered by the Yueh-chi. ”

The Hungarian archaeologist and Silk Road expert Sir Marc Aurel Stein believed that instead of using the road from Taxila to Jhelum which dates from medieval times, Alexander's army would have gone south to cross the river near modern Bhera[7] At this site the battle would have happened near the town of Mong. The topography, river orientation and natural features including salt cliffs in this vicinity match closely the description given in ancient sources. To further support this claim, the residents of Mong and nearby Phalia have a traditional claim that Mong is Hellenistic Nicaea.

Centuries later, at almost the same location, a few kilometers away from Mong, in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, the British forces under Lord Guff and the Khalsa Sikh Army fought at Chillianwala in January 1849.

In a terrorist attack on October 7, 2005, 8 people Ahmadis were gunned down and 20 were injured while at morning worship.

Demography

The three main ethnic groups are Arain, Khokhar and Jat respectively. Most families work on their small native land farms although significant numbers of Mong residents have sought employment in Saudi Arabia, some other Gulf States and Europe.

The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India while the Muslims refugees from India settled down in Mandi Bahauddin District.

Mong is also home to some famous players of Kabaddi district level team, and Volleyball is a favourite game of the village.

References

  1. ↑ Bahauddin Tehsils & Unions in the District of Mandi Bahauddin - Government of Pakistan
  2. ↑ Location of Mung - Falling Rain Genomics
  3. ↑ Michael Wood, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (Random House, 2004 ).
  4. ↑ F.R. Allchin & George Erdosy, The archaeology of early historic South Asia : the emergence of cities and states /(Cambridge University Press, 1995).
  5. 1 2 P.H.L. Eggermont, Alexander's campaign in Southern Punjab (1993).
  6. ↑ The encyclopædia britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 14 p. 398. 1910
  7. ↑ Michael Wood, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (Random House, 2004).
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