an excursion trip to taxila and khanpur dam

8/12/2019 An Excursion Trip to Taxila and Khanpur Dam

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n excursion

trip to Taxila and

Khanpur Dam

Shaikh Muhammad Ali22nd December 2 12

By


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Again, it has been four months that I have written and published my last article. Maybe its the

hot sizzling weather of June, my old age or whatever that has happened around me in these four

months; I simply could not put my thoughts together to continue writing about my family

escapades.

Well, here I am again with a new fervor and zeal to scribble my new article although Islamabadis sizzling at 42 Degree Celsius but I cannot wait for autumn since there is again so much to

write and much more to share with my ardent readers.

Before I take you along on yet another fairy tale; I would like to share that I was lately suffering

from an acuteReflux Disorderalso popularly known asGERD(by Americans) who have the

biggest population of this disease globally (No pun intended). If you are interested to read about

this fashionable disease, then please click on GERD above and go for another ride.

Getting up in the morning with vomiting and motions. God! By the afternoon my burps would

taste like sulphur and I realized that I had some sort of stomach parasite. While having GERDbouts for over a month; I was also diagnosed withH. Pylori.This virus found by the

Australians; mostly affects the body due to the consumption of contaminated water and as per

Wikipedia, half the worlds population has it without knowing it. So that makes the two of us.

LOL

It felt as if the world was coming to an end and there seemed to be no relief in sight. But

of course there is a God and he does come to your rescue after kickin your behind and

once you apologize enough then he lets go as always and you are back to normal with

your regular mischief. Indeed, we dont learn from our past mistakes and continue to

delve and eat the biblical forbidden fruit. Mere mortals thats what we are. Rascals!!!

Now that I am getting back to normal (yeah right!); let me divert your attention and confess that

the dormant gardener in me woke up again yet this time around, my garden space was my

rooftop terrace. Although I had experimented with flowers since the time I had moved to

Islamabad but had never ventured into the art / science (Whatchamacallit!) of planting veggies

but thanks to the Internet; a novice like me became a professional (A blatant lie indeed)

overnight.

After waiting for almost a month for my first seedlings to germinate, I was heartbroken to see

that my first plant turned out to be a wild Qasoori Methi(Fenugreek Leaves)although I had

supposedly bought and planted tomato seeds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroesophageal_reflux_diseasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroesophageal_reflux_diseasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroesophageal_reflux_diseasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._pylorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._pylorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._pylorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._pylorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroesophageal_reflux_disease


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(My heartbreaker: Fenugreek leaves)

But I continued my efforts and I got new saplings of Mint, Tomatoes,Karhi Patta(Murraya

koenigii), Capsicum, Green chilies and seeds of Coriander, Lady Finger & Garlic cloves and

planted them one after the other in big and small pots starting this spring 2014 and started

waiting for a miracle to happen.

(Here is my Mint plant)

One simply cannot appreciate the joy of gardening, vegetables, herbs or fruit growing until and

unless you take the plunge. And once you do; then there is no coming back.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murraya_koenigiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murraya_koenigiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murraya_koenigiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murraya_koenigii


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(Here are the Garlic plants)

Lo and behold; my seeds and saplings started turning into baby plants within weeks and I was

overjoyed and realized that indeed there is a God who puts life into humans, animals and plants

as and when he wants.

[Rahman 55:13] So O men and jinns! Which favour of your Lord will ye deny? (Al-Quran)

(Here are my green Capsicums)


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(My Green chili plant)

(My Capsicum turning red before going to sleep at night)

(My happy tomato plants at night)


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Well, the moment is here for which you have been waiting for. Laughter! On a chilly 22nd

December 2012; we left home at 11:20 a.m. and headed forTaxilaand ultimately decided to

visit theKhanpur Dam.

This is what Wikipedia writes about the Khanpur Dam:

Introduction:

Khanpur Damis a dam located on theHaro RivernearPotowar Plateauand the village

ofKhanpur,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan,about 25 miles (40 km) fromIslamabad,

Pakistan.It caters to domestic water supplies inRawalpindiandIslamabad,and irrigationwater to many of the agricultural and industrial areas surrounding the cities.

The dam was completed in 1983 after a 15-year construction period believed to have costRs. 1,352 million. It is 167 feet (51 m) high and stores 110,000 acre feet

(140,000,000 m3) of water1.

The adjoining Khanpur Lake is the venue forSarhad Tourism Corporation's annual

airborne and waterborne sports gala. The event, termed as the 'biggest' in Pakistan was

scheduled to take place between 9 and 11 April 2010. (I wonder if it ever took place).

History:

The dam was built by Gen.Ayub Khan,formerPresident of Pakistan.The dam was

believed by many to be a way for Khan to settle political scores with the feudal chief of

GakharsRaja Erij Zaman Khan.

The fore fathers of localGakharsRajas were given much of the local land by the Britishduring the nineteenth century. The British rewarded the Gakhars for their cooperation indefeating theSikhs,but deprived the localAwanand other farmers of their land. When

the decision to build Khanpur Dam was made, the Rajas wanted to receive compensation

for all the land, thus depriving all the local inhabitants of their land rights. The residentsdesperately wanted to receive compensation or new land in the nearby New Khanpur.

The local community, led byAbdul BashirKhan (the father ofSaeed Khan), the youngsecretary of KhanpursWAPDA Unionin the early 1970s, took on the Gakhars and their

friends in theKhyber Pakhtunkhwaparliament. Amid threats and intimidation, the

campaign succeeded in uniting most local villagers, who had nothing but their land.

Abdul Bashir and his fellow activists decided to take their campaign straight to the thenKhyber Pakhtunkhwa governorHayat Sherpaoby camping outside the governor's house

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Dam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxilahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxilahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxilahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haro_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haro_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haro_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potowar_Plateauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potowar_Plateauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potowar_Plateauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pakhtunkhwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pakhtunkhwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pakhtunkhwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawalpindihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawalpindihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawalpindihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarhad_Tourism_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarhad_Tourism_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarhad_Tourism_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan_(Field_Marshal)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan_(Field_Marshal)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan_(Field_Marshal)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakharshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Erij_Zaman_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Erij_Zaman_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Erij_Zaman_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakharshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakharshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakharshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awan_(tribe)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awan_(tribe)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awan_(tribe)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abdul_Bashir&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abdul_Bashir&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abdul_Bashir&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Workers%27_Federationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Workers%27_Federationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Workers%27_Federationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pakhtoonkhwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pakhtoonkhwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pakhtoonkhwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayat_Sherpaohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayat_Sherpaohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayat_Sherpaohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayat_Sherpaohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pakhtoonkhwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Workers%27_Federationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abdul_Bashir&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awan_(tribe)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakharshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Erij_Zaman_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakharshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan_(Field_Marshal)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarhad_Tourism_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawalpindihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pakhtunkhwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potowar_Plateauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haro_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxila


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for days. Abdul Bashir and his fellow activists leftPeshawaronly after they had

succeeded in winning the land rights for the people of Khanpur.

The locals were promised free water and electricity by WAPDA and the then provincial

and federal governments, but are still waiting to this day.

Khanpur Dam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Dam)

On the way to the Khanpur Dam, it is our family ritual to stop at the road side farms of Maltay

(A local fruit from the Orange family) which we always take from the trees and then pay per

dozen to the people who own these farms. My children really love and enjoy this activity.

(The Shaikh clan enjoying the maltay)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshawarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshawarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshawarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanpur_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshawar


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After feasting on the heavenly and juicy fruit, we headed towards our chosen destination. Once

we reached Taxila and passed the Taxila museum, I remember one of the sites called Nikra

Bungalowwhich I had not visited yet. Adil, my older son has also taken after his father and

takes keen interest in visiting new places. And this Nikra Bungalow is one of the 16 known

remains of the 1stCentury AD5thCentury AD Taxilas places of interest.

At the spur of the moment we decided to visit Nikra Bungalow. This property is owned by the

Archaeology Department of KPK province. Located near Taxila, it is where the legendarySir

John Marshalllived while excavating the historicBuddhistsites. Sir John Marshall is credited

with discovering and later excavating these sites.

(We are posing at the rear end of the Nikra Bungalow)

(This tree is believed to be 300+ year old and stands tall in the lawns of the Bungalow)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Marshallhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Marshallhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Marshallhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Marshallhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Marshallhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Marshall


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After spending some time here, we ultimately left for our scheduled destination i.e. the Khanpur

Dam reaching there at 1:40 p.m. sharp. The weather was very cool and there were not too many

people around. So we practically had the lake to ourselves.

(The Khanpur Lake in the backdrop)

Since we have been here many a times thus there was not much to do other than boating and the

children convinced us to go boating again.

(Life is a lake so we went boating)


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(The three musketeers and Mamma enjoying the boat ride)

We enjoyed the boat trip till 2:20 p.m. and then spent a while walking around the place while

the children played around.

Mr. & Mrs. Outbound!

By 2:30 p.m. we were hungry as hell and on the way back were tempted to stop at a roadsideDhaba(read restaurant) called Al-Shahzadto enjoy the local Salmon fried fish from the lake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhabahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhabahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaba


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(Sizzling fried fish is about to be served)

After stuffing our faces to our hearts content, we were on the way back home. Adil noticed a

signboard for the Piplan Stupawhich again is one of the 16 known remains in the Taxila

vicinity and we decided to visit it this time around since we had somehow ignored it in our

previous trips to Taxila.

After taking a left turn and leaving the main TaxilaIslamabad road; within 10 minutes we

reached an intersection and turned right while taking a small dilapidated road to Piplan Stupa.

(On the path of the Sufi, all roads lead to heaven)


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By 3:45 p.m. we were at the Piplan site and the kids (as usual) were rather excited to have

explored a new place. As a routine ritual, we took pictures at the entrance along with the

signboards which would later become part of our memories and some would go into these

articles.

(Piplan, here we are!)

Incidentally, the Internet is silent about this place and the only information available is on this

signboard which conveys the story about this particular stupa. While going around the place, we

saw an iron door which was supposed to be locked but strangely the lock was either mistakenly

opened or maybe the site was ready to be vandalized by the treasure hunters. There was no

caretaker around and we sneaked inside the four walls and saw the remains of the stupa.

(We are inside the premises and posing with the stupa)


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We rushed out after taking a few pictures since we did not want to get locked up in this small

8x 8 (Feet) jail like place and being arrested for trespassing. On the way back, we stopped

again for a hot cup of tea at a roadside stall around 4:00 p.m. Since we had already been to the

Mohra Muraduremains some years back so we just stopped at the signboard to take this

picture.

(Adil and I at the Mohra Muradu signboard)

We moved further towards our abode when we came across yet another signboard ofSirsukh

remains by 4:15 p.m. This time we just did not take a picture rather the children forced us to

revisit this particular site.

(Mohsin and Adil posing at the Sirsukh signboard)

This is what the Wikipedia writes about Sirsukh:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohra_Muraduhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohra_Muraduhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirsukhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirsukhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirsukhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirsukhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohra_Muradu


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The city of Sirsukh was founded by theKushankingKanishkaafter 80 CE, and is the

last of the great ancient cities of Taxila. The invaders decided to abandon the older city of

Sirkapand build a newer city on the other side of the Lundi-nala. The wall of the city isabout 5 kilometers long and about 5.4 meters thick. The city wall covers an area of

around 2300 x 1000 meters seen along the east-west direction, and is laid out in a typical

Central Asian style, complete with suburbs. Sirsukh was left uninhabited when theWhiteHunsinvaded thePunjabat the end of the fifth century CE. To the north-east of the cityflows the Harro River whereas to the south the Lundi-ravine is present.

The ancient city was excavated only on a very small scale in 1915-16 CE, and further

excavation work has been impeded by a high water table which threatens the integrity of

ancient structures. It was included in theWorld Heritage Listof the UNO in 1980 as part

of Taxila.2

(My better half at the Sirsukh UNESCO World Heritage site)

By 4:30 p.m. we left Sirsukh and touched theGrand Trunk Road(built by Sher Shah Suri) on

the way to Islamabad. We have been passing by theNicholson Obeliskoff and on our trips

towards Taxila, Wah Cantt., Abbottabad and Peshawar but this time around we stopped by and

decided to visit the Nicholson Memorial and then the Nicholson Obelisk (monument).

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirsukh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanishkahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanishkahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanishkahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirkaphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirkaphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hunshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hunshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hunshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hunshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab_regionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab_regionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab_regionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Trunk_Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Trunk_Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Trunk_Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholson%27s_Obeliskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholson%27s_Obeliskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholson%27s_Obeliskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholson%27s_Obeliskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Trunk_Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Listhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab_regionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hunshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hunshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirkaphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanishkahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire


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(Adil and Mohsin at the Nicholson memorial)

After parking your car, bike or horse; when you start walking towards the monument on an

extremely old pebbled street, you come across this signboard:

(Original portion of the GT Road)

Once we reached the monument, about 50 or so steep stairs were staring in our faces andalthough we were quite tired but our boys did not want to miss the opportunity to go meet Uncle

Nicholson at the top.


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(My brats ready to climb the steep stairs)

The views were beautiful at the top but there were still some more stairs inside the needle which

were closed to general public; the reasons being known to the Archeology Department.

(On top of the world)

We took many a pictures at the top, stayed there till 5:15 p.m. and after descending from the

heavens; headed home reaching there by 6:00 p.m.


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(This was the parting picture of the trip)

Parting Note:

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails which I religiously do every once

in a while. I sometimes imagine that I am not actually traveling so much as running in

place, just trying to keep up with a world that is spinning under my feet. Every morning I

wake to hear the whir of thebutterflieswings, I am keenly aware that this day could be

my last. And I am thankful all day to God Almighty, for the blazing of the morning sun,

for the banging of the lunchtime boom boxes, for the meandering of the evening trafficjams. Yes, even for the traffic jams, I am grateful.

Shaikh Muhammed AliThe Wandering ervishE-mail:[email protected]

Cell: +00-92-321-5072996Saturday, 15thShaban ul Muazzam, 1435 H

14thJune 2014, 18:00 p.m. (PST)
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

an excursion trip to taxila and khanpur dam

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