Gujranwala

Ranjit Singh—the Lion of the Punjab, founder of the Sikh Empire—was born in Gujranwala in 1780, and the city's identity still orbits around the gravitational pull of that single fact. The haveli where he was born, the baradari (pavilion) he built, and the clock tower commemorating his legacy anchor a city that otherwise defines itself through brass, steel, and electric fans.

Gujranwala sits in the heart of Pakistani Punjab on the Grand Trunk Road, the ancient highway connecting Kabul to Calcutta. The road determined everything: trade flowed through, workshops clustered along it, and the metalworking tradition that started with agricultural implements evolved into the industrial manufacturing base that defines the city today.

The numbers are specific and outsized for a city of its population. Gujranwala produces an estimated 90% of Pakistan's electric fans, a significant share of its household appliances, and a major portion of its brass and copper goods. The manufacturing is overwhelmingly SME-driven: family workshops of 5-50 workers that use generational knowledge to produce goods at price points that large factories cannot match.

The fan industry alone employs tens of thousands. Pakistani electric fans—sold domestically and exported to Africa and the Middle East—are designed for the specific conditions of South Asian summers: high ceilings, unreliable electricity, extreme heat. The engineering is practical rather than elegant, optimized for a market that buys on durability and price.

Gujranwala is also the wrestling capital of Pakistan. Kushti (traditional wrestling) tournaments draw thousands, and the city produces a disproportionate share of Pakistan's Olympic and international wrestlers. The connection between industrial labor and physical sport is not coincidental.

Gujranwala's economy demonstrates specialization without planning—a cluster that emerged from proximity and imitation rather than government policy.