History of Rawalpindi

The region around Rawalpindi has been inhabited for thousands of years. Rawalpindi falls within the ancient boundaries of Gandhara, and is thus in a region containing many Buddhist ruins. In the region north-west of Rawalpindi, traces have been found of at least 55 stupas, 28 Buddhist monasteries, 9 temples, and various artifacts in the Kharoshthi script.

Rawalpindi (“Village of Rawals”) occupies the site of an old village inhabited by the Rawals, a group of yogis (ascetics). Certain ruins on the site are identified with the ancient city Gajipur, or Gajnipur, the capital of the Bhatti tribe before the Common Era. Destroyed during the Mongol invasion (14th century CE), the town was restored by the Gakhar chief Jhanda Khan, who gave it its present name. It grew rapidly in importance when Milka Singh, a Sikh adventurer, occupied it in 1765 and invited settlers from the Jhelum and Shahpur areas to settle there. It was annexed by the British in 1849.

The Leh River separates the city from the cantonment (permanent military station), and a satellite town has been built on the Murree Road. Rawalpindi is an important administrative, commercial, and industrial centre. Its industries include locomotive works, gasworks, an oil refinery, sawmills, an iron foundry, a brewery, and cotton, hosiery, and textile mills; it also produces shoes, leather goods, pottery, newsprint, and tents. An annual horse fair is held in April. Rawalpindi was incorporated as a municipality in 1867 and contains Ayub National Park, Liaqat Gardens, a polytechnic school, a police-training institute, an armed forces medical college, and several colleges affiliated with the University of the Punjab. It is also the Pakistan army headquarters.