Jehlam-- a dew Glimpse of past and Present

Jehlam—the land of warriors, braves, and martyrs, a land where societies, and so many tales are buried. It has been a land mark of ancient societies as it is situated in salt range. Attackers, trade caravans, and saints; entered subcontinent by passing this area. The Jehlam River prevented many attackers of invaders. The reference of Jehlam can also be seen in MAHANBHARAT “a holly book of Hindu religion”; it says that city was there on the both ends of river, eastern and western...

Budh Era:

The famous king of Buddhist religion, Ashoka used to rule Nepal, Sindh Baluchistan Punjab—including Jehlam in 272BC. After him Raja Kash K ruled this area, in the area of “Pothohar” the ruins of budh era can be seen at many places. According to the report of General King Hum; Dalwal, Malot, Katas, Kaler Kahar, were the favorite places to live for Panduas and Buddhists in Jehlam district.

According to the books of history Alexander faced Raja Pores, a famous Indian king, at the bank of Jehlam River when Alexander was on an expedition to conquer the world. During the fight the horse of Alexander died about whom Alexander used to believe that no one can beat him until that horse was with him. Alexander retreated after it. Historian says that the name of Alexander’s horse was Jehlam, in Greek language Jal means water and Hum means cold, so due to the characteristics of Jehlam River this name was given to it.

The ruins of era of Sultan Shahbudin Ghori, Sultan Mehmood Ghhaznavi, Muhammad Bin Qasim, and Emperor Alta mash can be seen even today and many coins of such eras also found during the process of digging.

English era:

During the war of freedom of 1957 two platoons and an arterly were present in Jehlam Cantonment. English divided the both platoons as the threat of rebellion by Muslim army, and tried to snatch their arms but Muslim soldiers showed great resistance and killed many English and Sikh officers and about 150 Muslim soldiers were martyr. This way people of Jehlam made it a land of martyrs.

During the British rule Jehlam was among the 4 districts of Rawalpindi division, and till now its status is the same. In 1884 Jehlam consist of four gains—P D Khan, Tala Kang, Chakwal, and Jalalpur. Alexander entered Jehlam via passing through a stream; even today this stream is known as NALA KHANDAR (Alexander). At the bank of this stream there is a building known as SIKANDAR E AZAM (Alexander the great) Complex, it was build through the grant of government of Greece, it freshens the memories of Alexander’s invade in Jehlam. In this complex articles form the time of Alexander are exhibited and the architect of the building is of Greek trend.

Company garden, civil lines is a beautiful garden which is adjacent to courtyard, it was build by the heads of East India company, there was a stage for band performers, a lawn for deer, and a grassy field, among them the trees, ever loaded with fruits, are the major attractions for the visitors. There used to be a tennis court and a badminton court; now they are no more and a mirage hall has replaced it—to me it must have ruined the beauty of garden.

There were two Inns in Jehlam during British rule one of them was at the bank of river known as Mangal Sen Ki Saraaye (Mangal Sen’s Inn). This inn is extinguished now. However the other one was at Railway Road, its name was Davi Das Inn—now its known as Gulshan Inn.

Jubilee Ghat- it is monument built by Lala Dhanip Rai (he was an honorary Magistrate in English era), at the bank of river and it was built in the celebrations of crowning King Jorge IV. As this monument is at the bank of river so it is a public point for gatherings and arranging events. This place also has privilege to be witness of many events during the freedom struggle. Quaid e Azam, Fatima Jinnah, and Raja Ghazanfar Ali addressed a public gathering here. The place where Quaid addressed is now known as Pakistani Medan (ground).

There was an important guruduwara of Sikh religion beside the Jubilee ghaat, now this building is used as investigation center of CIA police. The historic mosque—Masjid Afghanan, is also located near jubilee ghaat. This mosque is also a monument of British era. One small door of mosque used to open in river and the flow of water used to touch the stars of mosque to add glory to the beauty of mosque. There was a library beside the mosque which was built as a memorial to the great Turkish leader Ataturk. Now this library is no more as it has been a victim of laziness of administration. The design of Mosque is a proof of great architect of the past. Now due to less flow of water in river, one can’t see water near mosque but one can surely see the mess around it which is an evidence of insensitivity of people.