Sialkot

Sialkot (Punjabi, Urdu: سيالكوٹ‎) is a city in, and the administrative headquarters for, Sialkot District, located in the northeast of the Punjab, Pakistan. Sialkot is Pakistan's twelfth most populous city. The city area of Sialkot is 19 square kilometres (7.3 sq mi).

History of Sialkot

Medieval Sialkot

Sialkot became a part of the Muslim Sultanate of Delhi when the Afghan noble Sultan Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Ghauri conquered Punjab in 1185. He was unable to conquer Lahore but left a garrison in Sialkot. Later Sultan Khusro Malik tried to capture the city but failed to do so. Sialkot then became a part of the Muslim Mughal Empire. The Mughal commander Usman Ghani Raza, advanced towards Delhi by way of Sialkot which capitulated to his armies.

Zaheer-ud-Din Muhammad Babur records:

At the end of the Mughal dynasty the suburbs and the outlying districts and areas of Sialkot were left to themselves. Sialkot itself was appropriated by powerful families of Pashtuns from Multan, Afghanistan and Swat, the Kakayzai and Sherwani, and another family from Quetta. In 1748 the four districts of Sialkot, Sambrial, Pasrur and Daska were given to the Afghan Pashtun ruler Ahmed Shah Durrani and the area was amalgamated into the Afghan empire. After 1751 Ahmed Shah Durrani left his son Taimur to rule Lahore and the surrounding districts. During that time Raja Ranjit Deo of Jammu expanded his dominion over the peripheral areas but not the city of Sialkot. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Sikh invaded and occupied Sialkot for about 40 years, though it was held by a Pashtun clan for some time during the decline of the Durrani regime.

Shahid Afridi

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi, better known as Shahid Afridi (Urdu: شاہدآفریدی‎; Pashto: شاهد اپریدی‎; born on 1 March 1980) or Boom Boom Afridi, is a Pakistani T20 cricketer and former Test and ODI cricketer. He is currently the captain of Pakistan T20 cricket team. Considered as a legend in Pakistani cricket history, Afridi is regarded as one of the greatest big-hitting cricketers of all time, where he has the longest six of any form of the game. He also holds a record of taking most wickets and most player-of-the match awards in Twenty20 International cricket.

He is known for his aggressive batting style, and previously held the record for the fastest ODI century in 37 deliveries. He also holds the distinction of having hit the most number of sixes in the history of ODI cricket, and he hit the longest ever six in the history of cricket. Afridi considers himself a better bowler than batsman, and has taken 48 Test wickets and over 350 in ODIs. Currently Afridi is leading the chart of most T20I wickets with 86 wickets from 86 matches. Shahid Afridi has signed to play for Sydney Thunder in Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash league.

International airport

An international airport is an airport that offers customs and immigration facilities for passengers travelling between countries. International airports are typically larger than domestic airports and often feature longer runways and facilities to accommodate the heavier aircraft commonly used for international and intercontinental travel. International airports often also host domestic flights. Some, such as Frankfurt Airport in Germany are very large; others such as Fa'a'ā International Airport in Tahiti, are quite small.

Buildings, operations and management have become increasingly sophisticated since the mid 20th century, when international airports began to provide infrastructure for international civilian flights. Detailed technical standards have been developed to ensure safety and common coding systems implemented to provide global consistency. The physical structures that serve millions of individual passengers and flights are among the most complex and interconnected in the world. By the second decade of the 21st century, there were over 1,200 international airports and almost two billion international passengers along with 50 million metric tonnes of cargo were passing through them annually.