About Faridkot

The fort and town of Faridkot, about 40 km south of the Indo-Pak border, was founded about 800 years ago by Raja Mokulsi, who named it Mokulhar. Some years later, when the great Sufi saint Sheikh Baba Farid visited it, its name was changed to Faridkot.

For many years Faridkot was constantly subjected to raids by rival chieftains. Maharaja Ranjit Singh also regarded this fort as a place of strategic importance and surrendered it unwillingly to the British in 1809. Only after 1837 did the town begin to expand and was made the capital of the newly constituted state of Faridkot by the British. The merger of Faridkot with Pepsu in 1948 dealt a severe blow to the importance of the city. From the capital of an independent state it was reduced to the position of administrative headquarters of a subordinate unit.

However, it regained its past glory at the hands of former President of India, the Late Giani Zail Singh, who was the then Chief Minister of Punjab. He carved Faridkot as the 12th district of the state on August 7, 1972. Harcharan Singh Brar, the then Chief Minister of the state, also gave the status of the fourth revenue division of Punjab to this town on January 26, 1996.

Faridkot is one of the biggest cotton markets in South-East Asia. Faridkot District was part of the then Ferozepur Division but in the year 1996, Faridkot Division has been established with a Divisional headquarter at Faridkot which includes Faridkot, Bathinda and Mansa districts. It is situated between 29 degrees 54 feet to 30 degree 54 feet north latitude and 74 degree 15 feet to 75 degree 25 feet east longitude. It lies in south west of the state and is surrounded by Ferozepur District in the northwest, Moga and Ludhiana Districts in the northeast and districts of Bathinda and Sangrur in the south.

The District covers an area of 1469 Sq. Kms, which is 2.92% of the total area of the State and accommodates a population of 5,52,466, which is 2.27% of the total population of the State. It has two Sub divisions/ Tehsils namely Faridkot and Jaito and two Sub Tehsils namely Kotkapura and Sadiq comprising of a total of 171 villages. Faridkot District has two development blocks namely Faridkot and Kotkapura.