Batala

Batala lies in the Majha country of Punjab. Founded in 1465 by Abhay Pratap Bal of the Bhati Rajputs under Sultan Bahlul Lodi, it grew into a fortified town with twelve gates. Among them were the Sheran Wala, Khajuri and Bhandari gates. Its gurdwaras recall Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru.

In 1485 Guru Nanak married Mata Sulakhni, daughter of Mul Chand Chauna, at Batala. The occasion is remembered at the gurdwara of Kandh Sahib, where devotees celebrate the anniversary of the wedding. Under the Mughals, Akbar granted the city as a jagir to his foster brother Shamsher Khan. By the sixteenth century Batala had become one of the prominent towns of Punjab, alongside Lahore and Jalandhar.