Faisalabad district actually began as Lyallpur district in 1904 and prior to that, was a tehsil of Jhang district. During the British Raj, the city Lyallpur was named in honour of the then Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, Sir James Broadwood Lyall, for his services in the colonisation of the lower Chenab Valley.His surname Lyall was joined with “pur” which in old Sanskrit language means city.In 1979, the Government of Pakistan changed the name of the city from Lyallpur to Faisalabad (meaning City of Faisal), in honour of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, who made several financial contributions to Pakistan.