Toba Tek Singh

Toba Tek Singh is a city in Punjab province, Pakistan, and the capital of Toba Tek Singh District. It is surrounded by the cities of Gojra, Kamalia, Rajana and Pir Mahal. The name comes from a Sikh figure, Tek Singh, who according to legend served water and gave shelter to tired travellers beside a small pond, called a toba in Punjabi, around which the settlement grew. The British developed the place toward the end of the nineteenth century when a canal system was built, and farmland was allotted to settlers from the Lahore, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Sialkot districts. Unlike many Pakistani towns, it kept its original name when places were renamed in the 1970s, and in 1982 it was separated from Faisalabad District to become a district of its own. A farmers conference held there in March 1970 made the town known across the country.