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About 135 km (80 miles) from Lahore on the Grand Trunk Road lies Grjrat a town known for the romantic tale of Sohni Mahinwal the excellent crockery made in Pakistan and the lovers of the river Chenab which flows about 5 miles from it on the Lahore side.
Tradition ascribes the foundation of the town to Bachan Pal a Rajput Chief in the 5th century B.C who named the city Udainagri. This city was destroyed towards the beginning of the Christianera. It was refounded by Rani Gujran a daughter -in -law of Raja Rasalu of Sialkot. This town was in turn destroyed and refounded by Ali Khan in 9th century, which was again destroyed by the Mongols in one of the invasions during the reign of Alauddin Khilji in the 14th century. The present city was laid by the Moghul Emperor Akbar the Great on the site of an ancient own. It has seen the march of history and was the site of the Second Sikh War, which sealed the fate of the Sikh rule and led to the annexation of the Punjab by the British.
As the name suggests it ease a stronghold of the Gujjar tribes who guarded its Fort for the Moghuls. They were subdued by the Gakkhars who in turn gave way to the sikhs.
The narrow cobbled streets of the old town take you back to ages gone by About 1 miles from Gujrat is the shrine of Pir Shah Daula where according later left their first born whose heads were pinched for making them beggars "Shah Daula Rats", a practice now banned.
Gujrat lies on the Trunk railway line linking Lahore with Rawalpindi and Peshwar. The Grand Trunk Road passes by this city.