Murree
Murree (hills and City) is a very popular
Hill station and a city of
Pakistan in the province of
Punjab. It is the largest of the resort towns of the
Galyatand adjoining and proposed Thesil
Circle Bakote district Abbottabad region and is a tehsil of the
Rawalpindi District.
Murree also known as the
Queen Of The Hills is a minor edition of the many classic hill stations set up by the British in the hills of
Hazara and
Galyat during the mid of 19th century. This mountainous, and one of the most popular summer resorts in the country, was originally established at 7,000 feet during the British Raj. But today Murree city is currently situated at an altitude of 2300 m (8000 ft) above sea level. Murree is a thriving summer resort for the nearby capital of Pakistan and is just an hours drive from
Islamabad. From the center of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi area, Murree is reachable by a well-conditioned main road in about two hours. The scenic journey, with a great view of forest clad mountains and majestic pines on densely wooded hills, is a delight for the visitors. People from all walks of life, mostly families, school children, students, and tourists from hundreds of miles to the south in Lahore, Multan, and Karachi, come to spend the summers, as well as the winter, here. In Murree you can enjoy the snowfall in the winter and rain throughout the year. Murree has a charm of its own only for outsiders but a hell for locals in winter. Once you get into it, you can feel the nature at your doorstep. Glorious sights of the snow-capped mountains of Kashmir can be viewed in the spring and autumn. And dazzling twilight and cloud effects can be seen daily during the July and August rains. Most of the familiar fruits of Britain, including cherries, raspberries, and strawberries, are produced there in season. The local people are very friendly & co-operative. You can see the
English lifestyle in this hill station. It is not the syble of local
culture or
civilization. The Best time to visit is from May to November. Nearest spots to visit are Kashmir & Pindi points. Breakfast at hotel. To walk at Mall road in free time and to visit Kashmir & Pindi points are familiar activities of visitors. At Pindi point you have an option to ride on the chair lift. There is an amazing view down the hills toward Islamabad & Rawalpindi. Murree has expanded since 1947 much faster than its infrastructure can sustain. Securing its water and electricity supplies has been a constant challenge. The jam-packed bazaar has burned down a number of times in the last century. The growth of tourism and a construction boom have left bare hills in their wake. Another road with shops has been built between the two major roads beneath the Mall. There is a Church, built in 1857, in the center of the town which is still in use. Many of the houses above and behind the Church, are still standing, often as hotels in various states of repair. Old Restaurants like the "Sams' at the Mall Road, have perished, and have been replaced by the Fast Food Shops and Franchises. Some old accommodations like the
Rich Villa Inn and Gulberg Hotel have completely disappeared. A typical hotel around here usually provides a
Motel type accommodation with breakfast and communication access. Newly built, hotels are also accessible.
Dressed in a coarse cloth kurta shalwar suit, a home spun three yards long chaddar wrapped around his body like a cloak, supporting a large, 20 yards pagri on his head and a hatchet upon his shoulder the paharria had his own distinctive style. Matching this simpleness was an equally modest and classical temperament. His unpretentious and friendly nature urged him to exchange greetings with absolute strangers walking on the road. Carrying an axe on his shoulder, he had no particular axe to grind. He only acted out of concern for his safety. The hatchet was used both as a weapon to keep off wild beasts and as a tool for chopping brush wood and cutting down trees. Trying to keep pace with the fast changing conditions, he discarded the hatchet in favour of a walking stick. The chaddar or woollen loi was replaced by long coat or a waistcoat in the European style. The juti was given up and the habit of wearing shoes was adopted most probably for their practicality rather than for fashion. But all these changes were cosmetic. The harsh realities of a paharria's life remained unchanged. He was fighting a grave, desperate battle for survival against harsh weather conditions, rocky terrains and small land holdings. He managed to survive despite his poverty and ignorance. He brought cartloads of potatoes, fruits and vegetables daily to the Murree Sanatorium for sale. He hawked milk, butter, poultry and fuel to the market in the hope of earning profit during the crowded summer season. Bullock carts were let out on hire for transportation of goods between Rawalpindi and Murree. Ponies were raised and hired out for riding. As they plied up and down the hilly roads, petty earnings were also a source of contentment for the owner, who was supposed to walk or run by the side of his horse at a respectable distance from the rider. Early in the morning, he set out on foot and walked long distances from his village to reach the town of Murree in search of work. He returned home late in the evening with a few rupees in his pocket. He earned the hard way during the tourist season by working as a coolie, tourist guide, forest guard, watchman, peon, mason, common labourer, petty shopkeeper and small time vendor. Even these meagre sources of income came to an end once the tourist season was over. Like the birds, bees and insects of his valley what he had earned and saved during the summer months he spent in winter when the blasts of frosty wind forced him to sit idle within his snowbound home. The spectre of hunger and starvation pushed many towards the plains or into the army, police and other services. This review of a hillman's life given in a nutshell is as true today as it was a century and a half back. Farming and cattle breeding, the two main occupations of the hill people have not undergone any change for the better. Farming is the main occupation of the hill people in spite of low returns. Farmers in the hilly tracts have no idea of double cropping, as the climatic and irrigation water conditions do not permit high returns. The seriousness of this restriction imposed by nature itself is further compounded by the fact that a hill farmer is the owner of an average holding of four or five acres. In view of such small land holdings he had to struggle and toil to earn a living for himself and his family. By adopting thrifty measures he managed to survive by the skin of his teeth. The second occupation cattle breeding was not done for profit. Cows were kept for supplying milk for the daily use of the household. Bullocks were used to work the plough. Hill cows are hardy but small. An indigenous breed would give up to a maximum of one seer of milk. When the Murree Sanatorium developed, a great demand for milk was created. It stipulated the local zamindar to import milch-kine from other districts. Buffaloes could give from two seers to 12 seers of milk. The profit in milk sale was considerable as it was sold at the fixed price of one anna per seer. But these windfall profits lasted only till the end of the season. As for large flocks of sheep and goats, they were valued more for providing manure than for milk, meat or skin. In those days it was a common custom to get the Gujjar herdsmen to collect their flock on the unsown fields at night. In return the farmers provided food to the herdsmen. The droppings of sheep and goats fertilised their fields with the best manure that could be made available in the hills. Coming back to the profitability of the two main occupations of the hillmen, it would suffice to say they were adequate only if the zamindar had some additional source of income, but that was not the case with the majority of people. In the absence of an industrial base, local potential was neither exploited nor gainfully employed. Hence the business of life went on at its own sweet pace. Poverty stricken and pressed by the yoke of life, the average hillman was like a lucky man born in paradise, who could feast his eyes on the boundless beauty spread all around him. Yet he went hungry to bed because no amount of beauty could satiate his hunger and need for food, clothing, shelter and warmth. Poverty stricken and pressed by the yoke of life, the average hillman was like a lucky man born in paradise, who could feast his eyes on the boundless beauty spread all around him. Yet he went hungry to bed because no amount of beauty could satiate his hunger and need for food, clothing, shelter and warmth All these misfortunes, even when put together, could not succeed in breaking the determined spirit of the hardy and contented hill people. They hung on to their small holdings and waited for better days to come. Every year they noticed heaps of snow melting and spring returning to their valleys. Hence there was no cause for despair. Fate doled out felicity and injury in varying proportions. They had to attune themselves to its vagaries and had to keep their peace. This placidity was the direct result of these people's interminable communion with nature. Their world was without end â€" unchangeable, constant and reliable. Hence as we go more than a hundred and fifty years back to the small hamlets lazing on terrace plots to find out how the hill population lived, there is no need to readjust our perceptions in any way. The ground realities have not changed in all these years. A few perceivable changes are evident in the cultural patterns of living for without minor adjustments no society can survive. The British Raj quickened the pulse of the district a little when it took control of the Murree Hills, but the quiet routine of the ordinary hillman was never seriously interrupted or changed. During the Raj, the hills and valleys of Murree had more dense forests than today. It is difficult to say when, where and how the first human dwelling started on Murree hills. From the layman's point of view, it happened roughly a thousand years back. This assumption is based upon their study of old graves and centuries old plants found growing in their vicinity. The construction and style of graves, the direction in which they are made also help in determining their age. If we leave the conjectures aside and just concentrate on the available material of recorded history, the forefather of the Dhoond Abbasi tribes, namely Shah Wali alias Dhoond Khan came to Murree in the middle of the 12th century. Calculating from then onwards it comes to about nine hundred years. The remaining one hundred years can also be retrieved from the mist of time but the plan is to travel down memory lane just a hundred and fifty years and look at the rural population of Murree, who were the bonafide inhabitants of the hills in comparison to the white population of foreigners. The rural population of Murree lived in far- flung, small hamlets called dhoks. Each dhok consisted of one to 50 houses at the most. A hamlet comprised of less than a dozen houses. Each family had its own mud house and cattle sheds constructed in the middle of its own fields. This isolation was self-desired and voluntary. The need for mutual protection often force the rural population of the countryside to congregate and live in large villages. The hill people felt no such compulsion. They were in perfect harmony with their environment. Their priorities lay in two entirely different directions. The quality of soil in the hills is not the same at every place. The zamindars do not get the best land in one village. It may be in patches that are scattered at great distances from each other. Hence the difference between manured and unmanured soil determined their choice of residence. They distributed their dwellings with the view of readily obtaining manure for land that appeared potentially fertile. Actually the soil of Murree and Patriata spurs was considered best in the tehsil. It was deep and earthy and of a dark brown colour. High return crops could be grown in it with the help of ample rainfall and a lot of hill manure. When compared with the rich soil of the Punjab plains it is not that good, but from hill standards this was the best. It is for this reason alone that the Murree and Patriata spurs are densely populated as compared to the other spurs. The happy mixture of the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim population in the Murree hills some hundred and fifty years back was also a significant feature. The great bulk of population in the rural areas was of Sunni Muslims. In a rural population of say ten thousand people, there were nine thousand Muslims, more than five hundred Hindus and nearly four hundred and fifty Sikhs. When both the urban and rural population is taken together, out of a total of every ten thousand people, there were a little more than one thousand Hindus, nearly five hundred Sikhs and approximately eight thousand and five hundred Muslims. In spite of their predominance, the Muslims were not an overbearing presence. They were tolerant of other's religion and lived with them in great harmony. If they felt some animosity it was only towards the Sikhs. Under the rule of the Sikhs, the Muslims suffered a lot due to inaccurate assessment of land revenue. The painful memories of those bad times had dimmed but they could not be totally erased from memory. Yet the atmosphere was of mutual tolerance between the three groups. People interacted at all levels and displayed a genuine concern for each other in times of joy and sorrow. In those days the Hindu population was more concentrated in Potah Kotli Sattian, Phapprial, Angoori and Deval. This lastly mentioned village had derived its name from the fact that it had a small temple. In the Hindi language "deval" means the abode of gods or a temple. Other Hindu sites were concentrated in Murree Station. At the far end of Lower Bazar, the Hindus had their own locality called Mohallah Shiwala. It comprised of a big temple, a holy water spring of fresh water, cremating grounds located in a ravine and tastefully constructed residential buildings with their characteristic Hindu arches, courtyards, motifs and woodwork. This place resounded with the jingle of temple bells, singing of bhajans, supplications of jogis and cries of pilgrims who dipped in the cold and clear streams of the holy springs behind large boulders. The ashman was a symbolic act of purification of the body and soul from worldly sins. It was a concerted world, self- created at a distance from the untouchables by the financially strong Hindu population of Murree.(Extract from
Mystique of Murree By Lala Rukh Shaukat Ferozsons, 60 Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam, Lahore Tel: (042) 630 1196-8; UAN 111-62-62-62 ISBN 969-0-01986-4 192pp. Rs995
Founded in 1851 by Governor of Punjab
Sir Henry Lawrence, The
Murree Hill Station was originally established at 7,000 feet for the British troops garrisoned on the Afghan Frontier in
Rawalpindi. Due to the Rawelpindi's hot and dusty weather The British for their troops due to its suitable weather conditions selected the site of the Murree Hill Station in 1850. And in 1851, the troops were initially housed in Kuldanna, the zeeropoint of Murree. The permanent station was constructed at Sunnybank in 1853.
A Church was sanctified in May 1857 in the center of the town. Along with was built the main road, The Mall. Across the Church were established the most significant commercial establishments, the Post Office, General Merchants with European goods, tailors and a millinery or hat store. Until 1947, access to the Mall was restricted for non-Europeans.Up till 1876, Murree was the summer headquarters of the [Punjab] Local Government, which was later moved to
Simla.
The railway communication with
Lahore, the capital of the
Punjab Province, made this a place of frequent resort of the wearied officials, employed in the government and judicial administration of that great province during the past.The extensive barracks constructed at Murree, for British troops removed from Peshawar cantonment to restore their health. And the number of villas and other houses erected for the accommodation of English families gave it a quite European aspect. Murree must have been most attractive place in the past, as has been described in the Gazetteer of the Rawalpindi District, 1893-94: "The sanitarium of Murree lied in north latitude 33 54' 30" and east longitude 73 26' 30", at an elevation of 7,517 feet above sea level, and contained a standing population of 1,768 inhabitants, which was, however, enormously increased during the season [May-November] by the influx of visitors and their attendant servants, and shopkeepers. Part of the station, especially the
Bhurban, Rawat, Osia, Dewal, and adjoining
Circle Bakote 1st Union Council
Berote Kalan, are also well wooded and pretty."People who plan to go to
Murree, usually also go to
Nathia Gali,
Ayubia,
Dunga Gali,
Khaira Gali,
Changla Gali,
Patriata,
Bhurban,
Abbottabad and
Thandiani.
In 1857 summer local tribes Dhond Abbasi, Karhral, Awan, Syeds, Gakhers, a few Satties and Gujjars planned to
attack on Murree in command of Chief of Dhond Abbasi Sardar Sherbaz Khan, but this intelligence leacked out and last fight of local tribes had failed. The master mind of this War of Independence Sardar Sharebaz Khan executed omong his 72 goliegs.
Malot Dundan is one of the greatest tribe in Murree as it had played the major role in the war of independence from British rule. The greatest of leader that Murree has ever produced is
Sardar Baz Khan. He was the first among Murree people who organized his own troops i.e. his companions. Murree is proud of this great worrier. He was later captured and was taken as prisoner to
KALA PANI, a british prisoner camp.
Dhond Abbasi tribe is descendant of Shah Wali Khan whose nickname was Dhond Khan. Dhonds are a martial and a intelligent tribe if Circle Bakote and Murree Hills. They are belonging to Hadhrat Abbas, the real uncle of the Prophet of Islam MOHAMMED in Muslim Holy city of Macca. They came in power as Abbasid destiny and governed 500 years on Baghdad, Iraq as a center of Muslim Amah. Abbasids 1st delegate came Texila, India where they constructed a masque and started preaching of Islam by the order of Caliph Haroon Al-Rashid on 844 AD. An Abbasi scholar Abu Fadhal taught a Kashmiri King Onti Vermon on 882, and he translated
Holly Quraan in Hindi Bhasha 1st time in Indian history from Alif Lam Meem to Sorah Yasin. A Circle Bakote historian
Mohammed Obaidullah Alvi wrote in his book Tarikh-o-Tamaddun-e-Kosar that in 1025 AD Raja Mell of Jhelum who also governed over Circle Bakkote and Murree Hills, embraced Islam by Mehmood Ghaznawi and constructed a fort at Malkote, Malpur near Islamabad and Malal Bagla apposite of east of Birote in AJK. He died in Jhelum. In 1021 local government of Gakhers, take place in Kohsar by an authority document of Mehmood Ghaznavi, that a time Gakhers contacted Dhonds in Delhi. Dhond Abbasis were living there, an ancestor Poro Khan came and settled there in 880 AD. Noh Khan was his son borne 900 AD. In 968, Karhral chief Galler Khan came in Circle Bakote from Kehan Iran and settled there. Dhond Chief Sardar Taeq or Taif Khan met with Sabaktagin, the father of Mehmood Ghaznawi at Kabul in 975 AD and joined his army among other family members. This royal honeymoon continues until 17 attacks of Mehmood Ghaznawi than they became allies and guards of Gakhers Tribe of Kohsar and Potohar. (To be continued)
