Saidpur is a 400 or 500 year old Pakistani village in built on the slopes of the Margalla Hills which overlook Islamabad, Pakistan. It is a popular tourist attraction and is frequented by locals and outsiders alike.

History

Saidpur is named after Said Khan, one of the sons of Sultan Sarang

Sultan Sarang

Sultan Sarang was a chief of the Gakhar tribe which resided in the Pothohar region in Northern Punjab, modern day Pakistan. He was born in Pharwala fort and his father was a Gakhar chief Tatar Khan...

, the Gakhar

Gakhar

Gakhar may refer to:*Gakhars, an ancient clan predominantly in present day Punjab, Pakistan.*Gakhar Hindus, the Hindu section of the Gakhar clan*Ghakhar Mandi, a small city in northeastern Punjab, Pakistan...

 chief of the Pothohar region (who ruled from Attock to Jehlum) during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Babur

Babur

Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of South Asia. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother...

. The Emperor Jahangir

Jahangir

Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...

's memoir, Tuzke Jahangiri, mentions him halting at a place “beyond 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...

”, on his way to Kabul, which is assumed to be Saidpur. Said Khan gifted Saidpur village to his daughter who was married to son of Mughal emperor Akbar.

The village was converted into the a place of Hindu worship by a Mughal commander, Raja Man Singh. He constructed a number of small ponds: Rama kunda, Sita kunda, Lakshaman kunda, and Hanuman kunda. The region is home to many Hindu temples that are preserved, showing the history of Hindu civilisation and architecture in the region.

This to do in Saidpur

The Capital Development Authority

Capital Development Authority

Capital Development Authority , is a public benefit corporation responsible for providing municipal services in the Islamabad city , established on June 14, 1960, first by an executive order issued on June 24, 1960 entitled the Pakistan Capital Regulation, to be superseded by the CDA ordinance...

 (CDA) of Islamabad

Islamabad

Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

 has developed Saidpur into a tourist attraction by giving it the look and feel of a quaint village. The initial cost of the project was about 400 million rupees.

Saidpur is good for:

• Old Saidpur School building (it preserves the images of the making of Saidpur, as well as Islamabad)
• Restaurants
• Cafe's/Art Gallery
• Some Pir's
  Pir (Sufism)
  Pir or Peer is a title for a Sufi master equally used in the nath tradition. They are also referred to as a Hazrat or Shaikh, which is Arabic for Old Man. The title is often translated into English as "saint" and could be interpreted as "Elder". In Sufism a Pir's role is to guide and instruct his...
  
  tomb

External Links

• An escapade to Saidpur