When the British bought Murree for 19 hundred rupees

Last week Murree became the subject of not only domestic but also foreign media. One of the reasons for the deaths due to the snowstorm was the indifference of the hotel owners and the local population. Even one social media user wrote: ‘We were hit by the cold of Murri, not the cold of the dead.’ Even before this, the ‘Boycott Murree’ campaign has been running on social media.

There is a general impression that the people of Murree are ruthless. Is it really so? And what does the history of this beautiful tourist destination say about it?

Is the cause of death because of Hazrat Maryam?

There are various traditions about why Murree is called Murree.

Masoud Al-Hassan wrote in his work ‘Mari Guide’ that ‘Mari’ is a Turkish word which means pasture. When the Turks came to India as conquerors, the hills of Hazara and Murree became their abode. (According to the Turkish dictionary, it is not Meri, but the word ‘Mira’ refers to pasture or meadow in Turkish.)

Another tradition written by Latif Kashmiri in his book ‘Khyaban Murree’ published in 1971 is that in Murree, where Pindi Point is today, there used to be a Marhri of an elderly woman, due to which it was first called ‘Marhri’. Died after changing.

Another researcher, Khawaja Nazir Ahmed, in his work ‘Jesus on Earth and Heaven’ has even speculated that the old woman who has been dreaming here for centuries is Hazrat Maryam who was going to Kashmir in search of Hazrat Jesus. She died at Murree.

Hindus believe that the Pandus stayed at Murree while returning from Kashmir during their exile, and the place where they stayed is still located on the Kashmir Point hill called Panj Pandu. Before partition, the annual Hindu fair was also held here in October, in which Hindus and Sikhs from far and wide participated in large numbers.

Murree used to have two gurdwaras, two temples and four churches before partition. Long before this it was also the abode of Jogis. Ancient rock carvings still exist near Patriata, which are believed to date back to the heyday of Buddhism. One such rock at Sanjakis is called ‘Ramdev’s Rock’ by the locals.

Why did the Maharaja of Kashmir save his life from Murree?

The ancient history of Murree is connected with Kashmir. Then a thousand years ago, when the Turkic Gakhar Sultan Kai Gohar settled in Potohar, he conquered the territory of Murree and added it to his empire, whose borders at that time extended from the Indus River to the Jhelum River. At that time, Murree had dense forests with a lot of bloodthirsty animals, so the population here was also nominal.

This area remained semi-autonomous during the Mughal era. In the Sikh era, Sardar Milkha Singh Thayapuria took Rawalpindi from the Ghakharas in the late 17th century and practically the rule of Milkha Singh was established here, but in practice the tribes of Murree, Mansehra and Haripur remained independent.

When Maharaja Ranjit Singh took Rawalpindi under his control in 1820, his general Hari Singh attacked the tribes of Murree and Mansehra twice in ten years because they were giving him trouble. Later, Maharaja Ranjit Singh gave the area to Gulab Singh, the Sikh governor of Muzaffarabad, who broke the mountain of oppression on the local tribes. He is said to have announced a reward of one rupee to his soldiers for the head of each rebel.

When Maharaja Ranjit Singh died in 1839, the local tribes revolted against the Sikh government, which an army was dispatched from Lahore to crush. There used to be a Sikh fort at Pindi Point, which existed until 1968. It was later demolished and now houses the broadcasting tower of PTV.

The truce agreement between the British and the Sikhs was signed in Lahore on March 9, 1846, according to which the territories of Kashmir and Hazara were pledged for one crore rupees in return for the war against the British, but on March 16, 1846, the British and Kashmir An agreement was signed between Maharaja Gulab Singh of Amritsar, according to which the British gave the territory of Kashmir and Hazara between the river Ravi and Sindh to the Maharaja for 75 lakh rupees.

This decision was resisted by the tribes of Kashmir and Hazara, in response to which the Maharaja gave the British the territory of Hazara and took Jammu instead. In 1850, the British added 309 villages of Hazara to the district of Rawalpindi for administrative convenience, which included Murree, Phalgaran, Kari, Mughal, Charahan, Deol, Kotli, Karur, Jasgam, Kahota, Kairu, Haru, Karal etc. However, when the North-West Frontier Province was created in 1901, Dhandbakot, Boi, Kural and Lora were included in Hazara instead of Rawalpindi district.

The British bought Murree for Rs.1940

There is a local tradition that the British bought Murree hill station from Rajagan for 1940 rupees and the local Raja returned ten rupees of the money to the Englishman who came to make the purchase saying ‘Your Begum’s clothes are not complete. Buy him clothes.’ That English woman was wearing a skirt at that time.

The hill station of Murree was located 39 miles from Rawalpindi, which was then developed by the British as a summer camp for their army and administration. Besides Murree, Shimla, Mazuri and Nainital in the foothills of the Himalayas were developed against this background. Government offices in Murree were built in 1853 in the Sunny Bank area. A church was built here in 1857, Mall Road was also built in 1860, which was initially only allowed to walk by English families.

During this time, buildings were allowed to be built on only one side of Mall Road so that tourists could enjoy the natural scenery. This regulation was strictly enforced for the next 130 years, but after 1990, buildings were allowed on both sides of the road. Opposite the church, a post office and a market for the necessities of life of the British were also built.

In the War of Independence of 1857, which the British called the Rebellion, Murree and Hazara people also took active part and continued to attack the British forces in Murree which continued till 1875. Murree was also the summer capital of Punjab until 1864, after which it was shifted to Shimla due to lack of water. Local people used water from springs and springs. This often led to outbreaks of cholera, which caused many deaths. The British laid a four and a half kilometer pipeline from Donga Street to Ayubia and brought water here.

In 1867, Murree got the status of a municipality. In the early 20th century, the British established military installations in and around Murree, including Kaldana, Gharial, Upper and Lower Topa, Berean in Nithia Gali and Kala Bagh, after which Murree became the summer headquarters of the Northern Command. Got the status of During this period, many schools were established in Murree for English children, including Lawrence College.

During this period, the houses built for the British officers including the army barracks in Murree were of Victorian style, hence it was called ‘Mini England’. In summer, Murree was thronged with tourists from Punjab besides the British. Apart from this, the European tourists who used to go to Srinagar also had to stay in Murree. During the British period, a plan was also made to lay a railway line up to Murree, but it could not be implemented due to high cost.

The Gazetteer of Rawalpindi 1893-94 records that ‘Murree is situated at an elevation of 7517 feet above sea level, with a population of 1768 persons, which is greatly increased by tourists from May to November, as it is in the Punjab. It is the nearest hill station which is a five-hour drive from Rawalpindi via Tangu. Around ten thousand tourists come here in summer.’

Today, people can reach Murree from Islamabad in half an hour, but once this distance was covered by tongs. Latif Kashmiri writes in his book that ‘Before the First World War, British soldiers also used to come to Murree on foot or use bullock carts. Some people used to come on thongs and a Parsi Seth Dhanji Bai from Rawalpindi ran a thong service, he also had the postal contract.’

Is it appropriate to put the responsibility of the tragedy on the deceased?

After the recent incident in Murree, the people of Murree were vilified on social media and people tried to show the nature of the whole area by narrating the incidents. There were also reports that the hoteliers took Rs. 60,000 from a Rs. 5,000 room and robbed the forced people.

But actually most of the hotels in Murree and Galiat areas are not owned by Murree people but by people from other areas, it cannot be blamed on Murree people. Secondly, while there were instances of extorting money from people, it was also seen that people in villages opened their doors to stranded travelers and announced over loudspeakers in mosques to help them. Local people came forward.

Still, the real question is why such a large number of tourists were allowed to enter Murree and Galiat despite the forecast of severe snow storm?