Page 196 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

Chapter 47

PERSONS OF IMPORTANCE

Throughout its 225 years of history, Muzaffargarh has produced many men
and women of distinction, some of whom are as follows:

SARDAR KAURA KHAN JATOI
A great benefactor of the people of
Muzaffargarh, and the surrounding
areas, Sardar Kaura Khan Jatoi was the
chief of Jatoi tribe towards the end of the
19th century. His date of birth is
unknown, yet his year of death is known
to be 1898.

During British rule, he remained
Honorary Magistrate, and was also
conferred upon the title of ‘Khan
Bahadur’. He was an extremely wealthy
person and used to spend his wealth for
the betterment of the people. He
constructed roads, dug wells, supported
education, and provided financial
assistance to the poor, orphans, and
widows. He had statedly married six
times but still remained issueless. He
donated one third of his property
situated on both sides of the River Indus
in districts of Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur for Rifa-e-Aam, i.e. the welfare of
general public, through a will executed on August 5, 1894. As a result, a total
of 82753 kanals and 14 marlas were transferred to the then Local Fund for
the purpose. This is undoubtedly the biggest donation, in the form of land,
ever made by a single person, not belonging to royalty, in the history of the
Indian subcontinent, if not in Asia and beyond. The conferment of ‘Nishan-
e-Muzaffargarh’ upon him could therefore be termed as nothing more than a
token acknowledgment.

SARDAR ABDUL HAMID KHAN DASTI
Sardar Abdul Hamid Khan Dasti was amongst the renowned activists of
Pakistan Movement from southern Punjab. He was born in 1895, graduated
from the Government College, Lahore, and did his LLB from Punjab

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