Is Islamabad going to get a new cultural identity

For the Department of Archaeology, the restoration of historical monuments outside Phirwala fort is very important, with which we are trying to connect the links of history.

 Is Islamabad going to get a new cultural identity

These ancient buildings are located on the banks of the river Swan, on the east side of which the ancient historical fort of Potohar Phirwala stands in its glory.

The Swan River flows between Fort Phirwala and Tomb of Sultan Makrab. A dam has been built on the same river at Simli, a few kilometers before Phirwala, from where drinking water is provided to the residents of Islamabad.

Millions of years ago, the oldest human evidence has been found on the banks of this river. In 1939, German archaeologist Helmut de Terra discovered stone tools belonging to the Paleolithic period at Chontra, Adiala, Malikpur and Rawat along the same river.

This period is estimated to be between 2 and 2.5 million years ago. Dr D'Terra also found remains of two human skulls near Rawat dating back to the modern Stone Age, about 12,000 years ago.

The current reference to Fort Phirwala is also said to be 1,000 years old, which is attributed to the Gakhar tribe that ruled Potohar for 750 years. According to a book written by the Gakhas, Kaye Gauharnama, written in the 17th century by Donichand, a writer, the Gakhas arrived with Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, who was given the rulership of Potohar between 1001 and 1010. Was appointed.

The Gakhars claim their homeland as Kayan Iran and hence they are called Kayani, while according to Tarikh-i-Ferishta, the Gakhars are a local tribe. Another theory is that in 326 BC, the Jari tribes were gathered by Raja Puras from all over India to face the victorious scholar Alexander the Great on the banks of the Jhelum River. At the same time, the Gakhas had also landed at the foothills of the Himalayas and then Rich settled here.

There are three forts in Pothohar of Gakhdar. One is Phirwala, the other is Rawat and the third is Dan Gali which is located on the banks of the river Jhelum. Phirwala is the most important of them, where Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun also visited.

British author Major General David JF Newall in his book The Highlands of India published in 1882 also claims that the Ramayana hero Ramachandra was not born in Ayodhya but in Phirwala, which was then part of the state of 'Odhiana'. , which included areas up to Potohar, Hazara and Swat.

What is the real history of Fort Phirwala and how ancient can it be? Were there traces here even before the arrival of the Ghakharas? The Department of Archeology is working day and night to find the answer.

For if it is to be believed that we were the stirrups at the time of the third invasion of India by the Gakhar Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, in which he defeated the Hindu king Ananda Pal, whose empire extended over northern India, in 1008. It is possible that the fort of Phirwala was still in existence at the time of Anandpal and the Sultan's army captured it and handed it over to the Ghakhas.

These excavations of the Department of Archeology will prove to be very important to unravel this historical mystery.

The Department of Archeology is working day and night to find answers to various questions

Who was Sultan Muqrab Khan?

The Department of Archeology is continuing the restoration of the fort and a mausoleum and mosque on the other side of the river in the first phase.

This is a very difficult phase as the place was uninhabited for years and there was an abundance of wild bushes, which engulfed these relics. Cutting down the forest and then excavating the remains from below was a very patient phase.

Another difficulty for the archeology department was that there was no road to reach here, but despite all these difficulties, when a tomb was excavated, many questions arose for the experts.

According to the traditions of the Gakhdars, this tomb belongs to the last Gakhard Sultan, Makrab Khan. Who was Sultan Muqrab Khan? The mention we get in history in this regard is Sir Lepel H. Griffin's book The Punjab Chiefs, published in 1865, in which he writes that when Akbar sat on the throne of Delhi in 1556, Sultan Sarang Khan's son Kamal Khan Delhi. I was. Akbar appointed Kamal Khan as the ruler of Phirwala. Among the descendants of the same Kamal Khan was Dulu Murad Khan, who was himself a Sufi man and the business of government was run by his wife.

After the death of Dilu Murad Khan in 1726, Sultan Makrab Khan became the ruler. Muqarab Khan was the only Gakhar ruler in history, whose rule extended from Attock on the other side of the Indus River to the Chenab River i.e. Gujrat.

Lepel H. Griffin himself writes that no other Gakhar sultan had the power that the Gakhars got during the reign of Muqrab Khan. He defeated Yusufzai Pathans and Quli Khan Raees Khattak and defeated the Chabhas and occupied Gujrat and Bhimbar.

He participated in several invasions of India with Ahmad Shah Abdali and Ahmad Shah gave him the region between the Indus and Chenab rivers. Sultan Muqrab was the only Gakhar ruler who minted his own coin, the bearer of which was 'Between Attock and Jhelum, Sultan Muqbar was king'.

The reign of Sultan Muqbarb came to an end in 1765 when Gujjar Singh Bhangi, a Sikh nobleman, left Lahore and invaded the Gakhar state. This battle took place in Gujrat in which Sultan Makrab Khan was defeated and he retreated from Chach Doab and marched across the Jhelum.

Finding Sultan Muqbarb Khan defeated, another Gakkar chief, Humat Khan of Domeli, captured and killed Sultan Muqbarb Khan through a conspiracy and became the ruler himself. Gujjar Singh Bhangi took the rest of the Jagir from the sons of Sultan Makrab Khan, but left Phirwala.

But after the death of Gujar Singh Bhangi, Rawalpindi territory was taken from his son Sahib Singh by the Thaypur area of ​​Lahore and the Sikh chief Milkha Singh, he took away all the jagirs from the heirs of Sultan Makrab Khan and made them bankrupt.

Raja Parvez Akhtar Kayani, author of 'Tarikh Kayaniyan', told Independent Urdu that the Phirwala fort was destroyed in 1821 by Maharaja Gulab Singh, who had been in his employ at Dangali fort in Gakhdar.

There are three traditions regarding the death of Sultan Muqrab Khan. One is that when he was defeated by Bhangi Singh, he fled along with his elephant in Nala Pulkhu in Gujarat. Second, he came to Rohtas where he was tricked by Himmat Khan of Domeli and thrown into the bowli at Kottayam, and thirdly, he returned to Phirwala wounded and died at the gate.

The Department of Archeology has also found dozens of other graves in the premises of this tomb.

In this regard, project director Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Lone told Independent Urdu that no evidence of the presence of a grave was found inside the tomb of Sultan Muqrab because it is said that the Sikhs had removed the body of Sultan Muqbar from here, but the tomb Excavation of one of the remaining graves spread along it revealed that these are graves of soldiers who were killed in a skirmish and were buried on an emergency basis.

Because the bones of the deceased in the grave that was excavated were broken, but it was facing west, which suggests that these were Muslim soldiers. The Gakhdars' own sources say that these are the soldiers who were killed during Babur's attack on Phirwala fort.

These other graves in the mausoleum's premises belong to warriors killed in a battle, as the foundations of a check post built during the Sikh era have been erected just above these graves.

Why was the sanctity of the graves not considered while constructing this check post? The alignment of the other building in the tomb complex, which belongs to the Sikh period, does not match that of the tomb. Why were its foundations built over graves? We have answers to these and many similar questions.

According to a tradition, Mai Qamru, by whose name this mosque still exists, was the wife of Hati Khan 

What is the story of Masjid Mai Qamro?

About Gakhar Rani Mai Qamro the only thing we find in the traditions is that she was the wife of Gakhar Sardar Hati Khan. Hati Khan was the nephew of Gakhar Sultan Jastar Khan. Sultan Jastar Khan captured Kashmir and defeated and killed Raja Jammu Rai Bhim in 1553. He also captured the king of Kashmir Ala Shah in another attack.

He marched towards Delhi along with a Turkish general, Mukul Toghan, captured Jalandhar, but was defeated by the imperial forces at Ludhiana and fled back to Rawalpindi.

After Jastar Khan, his brother Tatar Khan became the ruler for some time, but his nephew Hati Khan rebelled against him, imprisoned and killed him. At that time, Babur was staying in Bhera for the purpose of attacking India. Tatar Khan's son-in-law Manu Chehar went to Babur and sought his help.

Babur reached Phirwala and besieged the fort. Hati Khan escaped and later sought forgiveness from Babur.

Now two things are known in history regarding the death of Hati Khan, one is that he was poisoned by his wife and the other is that he was poisoned to death by his cousin Sultan Sarang Khan. It is Sarang Khan who was killed by Sher Shah Suri along with his 16 sons, whose graves are in Rawat Qila.

According to one tradition, Mai Qamro under whose name this mosque still exists, was the wife of Hati Khan.

Raja Pervez Akhtar Kayani says that the evidence of whose wife Mai Qamro was is not found in history, but in history, apart from Mai Qamro, there is mention of two other queens of Gakhdar who ruled here. One of them is Rani Manghu and the other Rani Bah, who at that time dug a canal from the river Jhelum to irrigate the lands in the Rohtas fort area. If she is Hathi Khan's wife then Hathi Khan's shrine is in Plakhar village in Kallar Saidan.

Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Lone said that Mai Qamro Mosque is the oldest mosque in Islamabad of the Islamic era, under which we have made excavations and confirmed that there is no place of worship of any other religion under it. There were also minarets around the mosque, the remains of which have been found, while a silver ring and many rings have also been found here.

Outside the courtyard of the mosque, there are three large graves in the graveyard, which seem to belong to Gakhar chiefs. The largest tomb, found on a platform adjacent to the courtyard of the mosque, is claimed by the Gakhdars to be the tomb of Tatar Khan.

For the Department of Archaeology, the restoration of these historical monuments outside the Phirwala fort is very important, with which we are trying to connect the links of history. After which, in the next phase, an attempt will be made to find out how ancient Phirwala Fort is and what is there in this fort, which is still hidden from the eyes of history.