Khewra

Khewra lies in the Salt Range of Punjab, where extensive deposits of rock salt give the mountains their name. Tradition tells that Alexander's horses discovered the salt by licking the stones. Nearby, the fortified settlement of Nandana was a capital of the Odi Shahi rulers until Mahmud of Ghazni captured it in 1014. The scholar al-Biruni later measured the Earth's circumference there.

Under the Mughals, salt from Khewra reached markets as far away as Central Asia. After Mughal power declined, the Sikhs took over the mines. The Salt Range came under the management of the Sikh commander Hari Singh Nalwa and Gulab Singh of Jammu, with Khewra held by the latter. Salt served both the needs of households and the rulers' revenue.