061. Grave of Shahamad Khan: Victoria Cross & Order of St. George
As I mentioned earlier in my post on Captain Raja Sarwar Shaheed, NH, the old Rawalpindi Division is home to five of the ten recipients of the Nishan-e-Haider. Even before the creation of Pakistan, this region was an important source of recruitment for the British Indian Army. Hundreds of thousands of men from this area…
060. Tomb of Sawar Muhammad Hussain Janjua Shaheed: Nishan-e-Haider
December 14, 2016, was a lucky day for me, because on this day I visited the memorials of two of the ten recipients of the Nishan-e-Haider, the highest military award of Pakistan. After visiting the monument of Captain Raja Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed a couple of hours earlier, I reached Dhok Nishan-e-Haider, the village of Sowar…
059. Monument of Captain Raja Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed: Nishan e Haider
Nishan-e-Haider is the highest military award of Pakistan, granted to honour those who display exceptional courage and make the supreme sacrifice of laying down their lives in defense of their country. So far, ten Pakistanis have received this great honour. It is interesting to note that at least seven out of these ten Nishan-e-Haider recipients…
058. Stupa Of Mankiala
The first time I saw the stupa of Mankiala was in 1989 or 1990, while travelling on the GT Road. Its huge, distinct round shape is quite visible from the road, less than two kilometers away. Subsequently, I saw it many times but could not find any information about it—though I was sure it was…
057. Rawat Fort
Rawat is a small town on the Grand Trunk Road, only a few kilometers from Rawalpindi, falling within the Islamabad Capital Territory. While traveling from Rawalpindi toward Lahore, you might catch a glimpse of the large gates of a fort, about a hundred meters off the road, behind a busy bazaar and a bus stop….
056. A Tale Of Three Old Havelis of Punjab (Haveli Bara Dari of Sardar Gurmukh Singh Ji)
As it often happens, we sometimes make unintended discoveries. Similarly, while roaming through rural Punjab in search of old battlefields, graves of forgotten warriors, abandoned gurdwaras and temples, and tombs of people lost in history, I made some interesting discoveries. Among them are three beautiful havelis, which I came across during different expeditions. I don’t…
055. Rajesh Khanna & His Ancestral Hometown Burewala
My first memory of Rajesh Khanna is his blockbuster song, Mere Sapnon Ki Rani Kab Aayegi Tu, singing in an open four-wheel drive for the beautiful Sharmila Tagore, with Sujit Kumar in the driving seat. The song is from the film Aradhana (1969), but was still very popular many years later in the late 1970s….
054. Muslim Population Of India: According To The Census of 2011
About two years ago, in one of my posts, I gave the details of the Muslim population of India, according to the censuses of 1941 and 2001. You may visit my post 036. Muslim Population Of India: According To The Censuses Of 1941 and 2001 for details. This is my second post on this subject, and…
053. British Conquest of India
The 15th century marked a turning point in the history of Europe and the world at large. During this century, the Renaissance was in full swing, and Europe began to surge ahead of the rest of the world in the fields of science, technology, and exploration. While Italy led in art and culture, Portugal and…
052. Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan
In my previous post, “The Last Assembly“, I wrote about the members of the last Provincial Assembly of United Punjab. One of the most prominent among them was Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan. Before winning the 1946 election to the Punjab Assembly, he had also been elected in 1937. He later served as a minister in the…