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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 22, p. 335.

.VALKOY' TO frN 335 the Aik torrent, upon the edge of the 'high triangular ridge which extends southward from the Jammu hills, and is 72 miles from Lahore. Popular legends attribute its foundation to Raja Sala, the uncle of the Paridavas, and say that it was refounded in the time of Vikrarnaditya by Raja Salivahan, who built the fort and city. Salivahan had two sons: one, Puran by name, was killed by the instrumentality of a wicked step- mother,and thrown into a well, still the resort of pilgrims, near Sialkot; the other, Rasalu, the great mythical hero of Punjab folk-tales, is said to have reigned at Sialkot. Towards the end of his reign Rasalu became involved in wars with Raja Hudi, popularly stated to have been a Gakhar chieftain. Being worsted' in battle, Rasalu, as the price of peace, was forced to give his daughter in marriage to his conqueror, who gave the territory he had conquered to Rasalu's adopted son. According to a further legend related to Mr. Prinsep :- ` After the death of Raja Rasalu, the country is said to have fallen under the curse of Puran (brother of Rasalu, who had become a fakir) for 300 years, lying totally devastated from famine and in- cessant plunder.' It has recently been suggested that Sialkot is the ancient site known as Sakala or Sagal. In A. n. 790 the fort and city were demolished by an array under Raja Naraut, supported by the Ghandaurs of the Yusufzai country. Under the Mughal emperors, Sialkot became the head-quarters of a fiscal district (sarkdr). The country was afterwards occupied in the seventeenth century by the Rajput princes of Jammu. The mound which rises in the centre of the town, crowned with the remains of an ancient fort, is popularly believed to mark the site of the original stronghold of Raja Salivahan ; but the fort itself is not more than r,ooo years old, and is said to have been rebuilt by Shahab-ud- din at the end of the twelfth century. Some old baths with hot-water pipes of solid masonry have been discovered here. Other similar mounds stand among the outskirts of the town. In modern times, the old fort is of historical interest for its gallant defence by the few European residents who took refuge here during the Mutiny of 1857. It is now dismantled, and the few buildings it contains are used for public purposes. The town also contains the shrine of the first Sikh Gurii, Baba Nanak (see AMRITSAR DISTRICT), the scene of an annual fair largely attended by Sikhs from all parts of the District ; the Darbar Baoli Sahib, a covered well, erected by a Rajput disciple of Baba Nanak, held high in religious consideration among the Sikhs; the Muhammadan shrine of Imam Ali-ul-hakk, a handsome building of ancient construction; and a temple erected by Raja Tej Singh. The municipality was created in 1867. The income and expenditure during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged about a lakh. In 1903-4 the