Short answers, pulled from the story.
Sheikhupura was founded by Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1607. He laid the foundations of the city near the older town of Jandiala Sher Khan and built the Sheikhupura Fort at the city's centre in the same year.
The name Sheikhupura derives from "Shekhu," the nickname given to Emperor Jahangir by his mother, the wife of Akbar the Great. Jahangir recorded the city's earliest name as Jehangir pura in his autobiography, the Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, before it came to be known by its current name.
Between the 16th and the 31st of August 1947, an estimated 10,000 people were killed in Sheikhupura during communal violence between Sikhs and Muslims. The city's Sacha Sauda refugee camp sheltered upwards of 100,000 Sikh refugees who had fled from Gujranwala and surrounding areas, as the Sikh population had remained in the city hoping the boundary commission would award the area to India.
Hiran Minar is Sheikhupura's most renowned historical site, built by Emperor Jahangir as a monument to his beloved pet deer, Mansiraj. Construction took place between 1607 and 1620, during a period when the surrounding area served as a royal hunting ground for the Mughal emperor.
The 2017 Pakistan Census recorded Sheikhupura's population at 473,129, a rise of 68.82% from the 280,263 recorded in the 1998 census. Estimates for 2026 place the population above 602,000, including the city and its surrounding suburban areas.
Before Jahangir founded the city in 1607, the area was known as Virkgarh, named for the Virk Jats who were the main rural tribe in the region. Under Sikh rule it was briefly renamed Singhpuria, after which it reverted to Sheikhupura.