nawaz sharif park

Rawalpindi, also known as Pindi, has a long history spread over several millennia. Archaeologists believe that a distinct culture flourished on this plateau as far back as 3000 years. The material remains found at the site prove the existence of a Buddhist establishment contemporary to Taxila
Taxila

Taxila is an important archaeological site in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It dates back to the Ancient Indian period and contains the ruins of the Gandhara city of Takshashila an important Vedanta/Hinduism and Buddhist centre of learning from the 6th century BCE...
and of a Vedic civilisation. The nearby town of Taxila has another significance; according to the Guinness Book of World Records it has the world's oldest university - Takshashila University.

Sir Alexander Cunningham
Alexander Cunningham

Sir Alexander Cunningham was a United Kingdom archaeologist and army engineer, known as the father of the Archaeological Survey of India. Both his brothers, Francis Cunningham and Joseph Cunningham became well-known for their work in British India....
identified certain ruins on the site of the cantonment with the ancient city of Gajipur or Gajnipur, the capital of the Bhatti tribe in the ages preceding the Christian era. Graeco-Bactrian coins, together with ancient bricks, occur over an area of 500 ha
Hectare

A hectare is a unit of area equal to , or one square hectometre , and commonly used for surveying.The hectare is used in most countries around the world, especially in domains concerned with land ownership, land planning, and land management, including law , agriculture, forestry, and town planning....
(2 mi²). Known within historical times as Fatehpur Baori, Rawalpindi fell into decay during one of the Mongol invasions in the fourteenth century.

It appears that the ancient city went into oblivion as a result of the White Hun devastation. The first Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
invader, Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni

'Mahmud of Ghazni Province' , also known as , was the founder of the Ghaznavid Empire, which he ruled from 997 until his death. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which extended from Afghanistan into most of Iran as well as Pakistan and regions of North-West India....
979-1030), gave the ruined city to a Gakhar
Gakhars

File:Hazara.gifThe Gakhars were a fiercely independent and warlike clan now located in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Jhelum District, Kashmir, Gilgit Valley, Baltistan, Chitral, Khanpur and Mirpur, Pakistan regions in modern day Pakistan....
Chief, Kai Gohar. The town, however, being on an invasion route, could not prosper and remained deserted until Jhanda Khan, another Gakhar
Gakhars

File:Hazara.gifThe Gakhars were a fiercely independent and warlike clan now located in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Jhelum District, Kashmir, Gilgit Valley, Baltistan, Chitral, Khanpur and Mirpur, Pakistan regions in modern day Pakistan....
Chief, restored it and named it Rawalpindi after the village Rawal in 1493. Rawalpindi remained under the rule of the Gakkhars until Muqarrab Khan, the last Gakkhar ruler, was defeated by the Sikh
Sikh

Sikh is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. The term has its origin in the Sanskrit ' "disciple, learner" or ' "instruction"....
s under Sardar Milka Singh in 1765. Singh invited traders from the neighbouring commercial centres of Jhelum and Shahpur to settle in the territory.

Early in the nineteenth century Rawalpindi became for a time the refuge of Shah Shuja
Shuja Shah Durrani

Shuja Shah Durrani was ruler of the Durrani Empire from 1803 to 1809. He then ruled from 1839 until his death in 1842. Shuja Shah was of the Sadozai line of the Abdali group of Pashtun people....
, the exiled king of Afghanistan, and of his brother Shah Zaman. The present native infantry lines mark the site of a battle fought by the Gakhars under their famous chief Sultan Mukarrab Khan in the middle of the eighteenth century. Rawalpindi was taken by Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Maharaja Ranjit Singh may refer to:*Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a ruler of Punjab*Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Bharatpur, the Jat ruler of the Bharatpur princely state in Rajasthan, India...
in 1818. It was at Rawalpindi, on March 14, 1849, that the Sikh army under Chattar Singh and Sher Singh finally laid down their arms after the battle of Gujrat and were decisively defeated.

Anarkali Bazar

Anarkali is the oldest bazaar of South Asia and is named after legendary girl “Anarkali” who was buried alive in 1599 by the Mughal Emperor Akbar for falling in love with the Prince Jahangir. See my travelogue on Lahore page.

The bazaar is in front of Lahore Museum and on the side of Punjab University Old Campus. Spanning from Mall Road on one side to the “Lohari” Gate of the ancient walled city of Lahore at the other end. Here one can find a number of sub markets of men and women wear. It is a famous shopping area for girls and women, prices are reasonable and bargaining is must.

Gujrat Pakistan

Gujrat is an ancient city which was founded by Raja Bachhan Pal Gurjar in 460 BC, according to General Cunningham, the British historian. Historical consensus is that it existed in the time of Alexander the Great, and that the city's Raja Porus put up a fierce challenge to Alexander's invasion at the bank of the Jehlum River. The establishment of Gujrat City was realized early in the 1900 century after the British Empire and in support of regional land lords (e.g., Daswandi Khan of Daswandi Pura).

According to some opinion Gujrat was founded by Janak Sutariya of sabarkantha.Presently he is working with etv Gujarati news channel. His will get hick of 2000 in his next salary pay.

During the Mughal period Mughal royalty would travel through the district en-route to Kashmir. When King Jahangir died while he was returning from Kashmir, the news of his death was not released to avoid any unrest in the empire. As such, his abdominal organs were taken out and buried in Gujrat. To this day an annual festival is held commemorating this event, commonly known as the "Festival of Jahangir".

Two main battles between British and Sikh armies were fought in this district: the Battle of Chillianwala and Battle of Gujrat. Only after winning the battle of Gujrat on 22 February 1849 did the British declare victory in Punjab.

Makli Graveyard

One of the largest necropolises in the world, with a diameter of approximately 8 kilometers, Makli Hill is supposed to be the burial place of some 125,000 Sufi saints. It is located on the outskirts of Thatta, the capital of lower Sind until the seventeenth century, in what is the southeastern province of present-day Pakistan. [1]

Legends abound about its inception, but it is generally believed that the cemetery grew around the shrine of the fourteenth-century Sufi, Hamad Jamali. The tombs and gravestones spread over the cemetery are material documents marking the social and political history of Sind.

Imperial mausoleums are divided into two major groups, those from the Samma (1352–1520) and Tarkhan (1556–1592) periods. The tomb of the Samma king, Jam Nizam al-Din (reigned 1461–1509), is an impressive square structure built of sandstone and decorated with floral and geometric medallions. Similar to this is the mausoleum of Isa Khan Tarkhan II (d. 1651), a two-story stone building with majestic cupolas and balconies. In contrast to the syncretic architecture of these two monuments, which integrate Hindu and Islamic motifs, are mausoleums that clearly show the Central Asian roots of the later dynasty. An example is the tomb of Jan Beg Tarkhan (d. 1600), a typical octagonal brick structure whose dome is covered in blue and turquoise glazed tiles. Today, Makli Hill is a United Nations World Heritage Site that is visited by both pilgrims and tourists.

:: ROYAL FORT- LAHORE

Although most parts of the Royal Fort were constructed around 1566 A.D. by the Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great, there is evidence that a mud fort was in existence here in 1021 A.D. as well, when Mahmood of Ghazna invaded this area. Akbar demolished the old mud fort and constructed most of the modern Fort, as we see it today, on the old foundations.

The Royal Fort is rectangular. The main gates are located alongside the centre of the western and eastern walls. Every succeeding Mughal Emperor as well as the Sikhs, and the British in their turn, added a pavilion, palace or wall to the Fort. Emperor Jehangir extended the gardens and constructed the palaces that we see today in the Jehangir?s Quadrangle, while Shah-Jehan added Diwan-e-Khas, Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) and his own Sleeping Chambers. Aurangzeb built the impressive main gate which faces the Hazoori Bagh lying in between the Badshahi Mosque and the Fort. The Famous Sheesh Mahal or Palace of Mirrors is in the north-east corner of the Fort. This is the most beautiful palace in the Fort and is decorated with small mirrors of different colours set.

The part of the wall of the Elephant Steps towards the Fort?s inner gate are scarred by bullet marks, bearing testimony to the Sikh Civil War of 1847 A.D.

The Sleeping Chamber of Mai Jindan houses a very interesting museum with relics from Mughal and the Sikh periods.