Hasan Abdal
Encyclopedia
Hasan Abdal is an historic town in Northern Punjab
, Pakistan
. It is located where the Grand Trunk Road
meets the Karakoram Highway
near the North-West Frontier Province
province, northwest of Wah. It is 40 km northwest of Rawalpindi
. It has a population of about over 50,000. It is famous for Gurdwara
Sri Panja Sahib, one of the most sacred places of Sikhism
. Thousands of Sikhs visit the Gurudwara on the eve of Besakhi every year. The other historical place is a tomb erroneously called Lala Rukh Tomb. There is a grave inside a square walled Garden and a fresh water fish pond near the tomb. On the nearby hill there is a meditation chamber attributed to a saint Baba Hasan Abdal also known as Baba Wali Kandhari with local folklores. The city is named after this saint.
to the northwest of Taxila
which is identical to the one at the current site of Gurdwara Panja Sahib
.
The town is mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari
in the context that Shams al-Din built himself a vault
there in which lies Hakim Abu’l Fath buried. Akbar’s visit to the town on his way back from Kashmir
is also mentioned.
William Finch who travelled through India between 1608 and 1611 describes Hasan Abdal to be a "pleasant town with a small river and many fair tanks in which are many fishes with golden rings in their noses ...; the water so clear that you may see a penny in the bottom". The Mughal emperor Jehangir mentions in his Tuzk-e-Jahangiri
this town by the name of Baba Hasan Abdal where he stayed for three days. He also praises the city in these words: "The celebrated place at this station is a spring which flows from the foot of a little hill, exceedingly clear, sweet and nice...". Hasan Abdal was visited by various Mughal kings on their way to Kashmir
, formerly known as Campbell Pur. Hasan Abdal is one of the five tehsil
s of the District Attock. The former town committee was renamed as tehsil municipal administration in the Musharraf era. The tehsil municipal administration is divided into two union councils.
.
In the vicinity of the city limits there is a missionary school called Presentation Convent School Wah which offers education for girls up to high school.
In addition to the above schools that cater for the local population, there is a military style boys residential school which enrolls boys from 8th to 12th grades and was originally founded to prepare them for a military career. Cadet College Hasan Abdal
is administered by a board of directors and is associated to the provincial Government of Punjab.
During the second world war the area where Cadet College Hasan Abdal is situated, was a british air strip and recruitment and training center .
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. It is located where the Grand Trunk Road
Grand Trunk Road
The Grand Trunk Road also formerly known as Uttarapatha, Shah Rah-e-Azam or Sadak-e-Azam or Badshahi Sadak is one of South Asia's oldest and longest major roads...
meets the Karakoram Highway
Karakoram Highway
The Karakoram Highway is the highest paved international road in the world, but at its peak at the China-Pakistan border it is only paved on the Chinese side. It connects China and Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an altitude of as confirmed by both...
near the North-West Frontier Province
North-West Frontier Province
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
province, northwest of Wah. It is 40 km northwest of Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
. It has a population of about over 50,000. It is famous for Gurdwara
Gurdwara
A Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
Sri Panja Sahib, one of the most sacred places of Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
. Thousands of Sikhs visit the Gurudwara on the eve of Besakhi every year. The other historical place is a tomb erroneously called Lala Rukh Tomb. There is a grave inside a square walled Garden and a fresh water fish pond near the tomb. On the nearby hill there is a meditation chamber attributed to a saint Baba Hasan Abdal also known as Baba Wali Kandhari with local folklores. The city is named after this saint.
Historical Mentions
The famous Chinese traveler Hiouen Thsang who visited the place in the 7th century A.D. mentions the sacred spring of Elapatra about 70 liLi (unit)
The li is a traditional Chinese unit of distance, which has varied considerably over time but now has a standardized length of 500 meters or half a kilometer...
to the northwest of Taxila
Taxila
Taxila is a Tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab province of Pakistan. It is an important archaeological site.Taxila is situated about northwest of Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi in Panjab; just off the Grand Trunk Road...
which is identical to the one at the current site of Gurdwara Panja Sahib
Gurdwara Panja Sahib
Gurudwara Panja Sahib is situated at Hasan Abdal, 48 km from Rawalpindi in Pakistan. This is one of the most holy places of Sikhism because of the presence of a rock believed to have the hand print of Guru Nanak imprinted on it...
.
The town is mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari
Ain-i-Akbari
The Ain-i-Akbari or the "Institutes of Akbar", is a 16th century, detailed document recording the administration of emperor Akbar's empire, written by his vizier, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak...
in the context that Shams al-Din built himself a vault
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
there in which lies Hakim Abu’l Fath buried. Akbar’s visit to the town on his way back from Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
is also mentioned.
William Finch who travelled through India between 1608 and 1611 describes Hasan Abdal to be a "pleasant town with a small river and many fair tanks in which are many fishes with golden rings in their noses ...; the water so clear that you may see a penny in the bottom". The Mughal emperor Jehangir mentions in his Tuzk-e-Jahangiri
Tuzk-e-Jahangiri
Tuzk-e-Jahangiri or Tuzk-i-Jahangiri is the autobiography of Mughal Emperor Nor-u-Din Muhammad Jahangir . Also referred to as Jahangirnama , Tuzk-e-Jahangiri is written in Persian, and follows the tradition of his great-grandfather, Babur , who had written the Baburnama; though Jahangir went a...
this town by the name of Baba Hasan Abdal where he stayed for three days. He also praises the city in these words: "The celebrated place at this station is a spring which flows from the foot of a little hill, exceedingly clear, sweet and nice...". Hasan Abdal was visited by various Mughal kings on their way to Kashmir
Punja Sahib
In 1521 the founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak, arrived in Hasan Abdal, a Gurdwara was built on the spot that he stayed containing a sacred rock that is believed to contain the hand print of Guru Nanak. Punja or panja :hand or paw. There are different traditions about the origin of the Hand print.Sikh Tradition
The founder of the sikh faith Guru Nanak, "when proceeding about the country, being wearied one day, asked the Faqir on the hill to give him a cup of water and some food. The Faqir was surly, and an altercation ensued between them, when the Faqir told him that if Nanak was a man of any miracles he would supply his wants without any assistance, and would even move the hills. Nanak put out his hand and stamped his fingers on the rock, where the mark still remains; and in commemoration of the Baba, the late Sirdar Hari Singh built a small temple, which he named Panja Sahib, from the five fingers...".Muslim Tradition
"The Mussulman story is that one Hasan, a Gujar, had many buffaloes; that a Faqir named Abdal came and asked him for a draught of milk. Hasan said, I would gladly give you some, but my buffaloes are at present dry. Abdal laid his hand on one of them and said, "Now milk it." He did so, and soon gave him a copious draught. Abdal expressed his gratitude to Hasan, and asked what he could do for him. Hasan replied that they were much straitened for want of water, on which Abdal struck the neighbouring hills in two places, from which the two streams of Hasan Abdal have come forth. On the departure of the Faqir, Hasan said the spot should hereafter be called after them jointly".Another Tradition
"Another story about the impression of the five fingers is that the Akalis of the fraternity of Sobah Singh Nehang, who held a jaghir near Hasan Abdal, being desirous of promoting their own interests, one of them engraved the five fingers on a piece of stone. It was soon given out by these artful fanatics to be the stamp of Nanak's fingers, from whence the springs issue. At present, all the Hindu and Sikh pilgrims make many offerings at the spot, which are taken by the Akalis. In a small tank which has been built round the spring are kept a number of fish which are fed daily by the visitors."Administration
Administratively the city is a part of Attock DistrictAttock District
Attock District is a district in the north-west Punjab Province of Pakistan.The district was created in April 1904 by the merger of Talagang Tehsil in the Jhelum District with the Pindigheb, Fatehjang and Attock tehsils from Rawalpindi District of the Punjab province of British India.Attock...
, formerly known as Campbell Pur. Hasan Abdal is one of the five tehsil
Tehsil
A Tehsil or Tahsil/Tahasil , also known as Taluk and Mandal, is an administrative division of some country/countries of South Asia....
s of the District Attock. The former town committee was renamed as tehsil municipal administration in the Musharraf era. The tehsil municipal administration is divided into two union councils.
Health and Medical Care
There is a governmental Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and numerous privately owned clinics in and around the city. Despite the exponential growth in population, the health care facilities are extremely insufficient. For any serious illness one has to visit a specialist in the nearby Wah Cantonment or in RawalpindiRawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
.
Schools
The city has several state owned primary schools, a high school each for boys and girls, a higher secondary school each for boys and girls and a degree college for women. There are a number of privately run schools to make up for the shortfall of the state owned ones.In the vicinity of the city limits there is a missionary school called Presentation Convent School Wah which offers education for girls up to high school.
In addition to the above schools that cater for the local population, there is a military style boys residential school which enrolls boys from 8th to 12th grades and was originally founded to prepare them for a military career. Cadet College Hasan Abdal
Cadet College Hasan Abdal
Cadet College, Hasan Abdal is a residential high school located in Hasan Abdal, Attock District, Punjab, Pakistan.-History:Cadet College, Hasan Abdal is the first Cadet College in Pakistan and was established by the government of Punjab at the initiative of General Muhammad Ayub Khan, the then...
is administered by a board of directors and is associated to the provincial Government of Punjab.
During the second world war the area where Cadet College Hasan Abdal is situated, was a british air strip and recruitment and training center .
The city in recent past
The city has been an idyllic place till a couple of decades ago. It was hardly imaginable that its fresh water springs with crystal clear water and loquat orchards will turn to ruins so soon. In 1980 it had a population of about ten thousands and everything seemed to be in control. Now, the population of the city has more than quadrupled in a matter of two decades without any plan. One can see houses and commercial buildings built at every imaginable place. The fresh air of the 1970s and early 1980s has become a nostalgic memory.Important Industries
- KSB Pumps Company
- Karim Aziz Industries Pvt Limited (steel)
- LT Engineering and Trade Services (Pvt) Ltd (optical fibres)
- Khawaja Glass Works Limited
- Gunj Glass Works Limited
- Neelum Glass Works Limited
- Monoo Textile Industries
- Taxila Cotton Mills Limited