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Just returning home from 8 days in Pakistan as part of a Khanqahi tour which I also used as an opportunity to visit Sufi shrines, historical sites and experience authentic, colourful and amazing Pakistan. Will be tweeting about this over the next few days.
My trip to Pakistan last year was only for 7 days but a truly remarkable time. There's so much to see and the people are so warm. Having arrived in Islamabad I travelled along the Grand Trunk Road visiting small towns and Taxila, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Grant Trunk Road (locally known as the GT Road) is one of Asia's longest and major roads. For 2,500 years it linked the Sub-Continent to Central Asia, running 2,400 km from Chittagong in Bangladesh to Kabul in Afghanistan, passing through Peshawar, Lahore, Amritsar and Delhi.
It was along the Grand Trunk Road that trees lining it were used as makeshift galleys during the retribution that followed the 1857 War of Independence (or the Indian Mutiny, depending on which way you look at it).
It was along the Grand Trunk Road that Alexander travelled when he invaded the Indus Valley in 326BC. Taxila literally means City of Cut Stone has been settled since 3,500 BC and surrendered to Alexander. It was a hub of Buddhist activity until around the 7th century.
Taxila was investigated as an archaeological site by the British during the Raj. What is particularly interesting is how the artifacts housed at the museum have a strong Indo-Greek influence. They say that the Buddhists only began making statues after the Greeks arrived.
During the trip we also visited the Faisal Masjid in Islamabad, located beautifully at the foothills of the Margala Hills. Completed in 1987, construction began in 1976. It's name after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia who donated $120 million for it.
The architecture is inspired by a Bedouin tent and was designed by Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay.
It can hold some 30,000 worshippers. As we were leaving we stumbled on the marble mausoleum of General Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff who died in an airplane crash in August 1988.
One of the highlights was a trip to the tribal areas and the Swat Valley where we went to offer condolences at the home of a friend whose father and grandfather tragically passed away the same night. The scenery was beautiful and some stretches of the road was along cliff edges.
Along the way we went past a place called Churchill's Picket near Chakdara along the Malakand Pass. Winston Churchill was stationed in these areas in the late 1800s.
Our destination was a village called Uch. Enroute we lost our way and went along Asia's longest bazar in Batkhela. In Uch we offered our condolences and also held a dhikr gathering and some lectures at a mosque. The Pathans here were very hospitable.
Uch is also famous for being home to a Khanqah (Noor Mahal Darbar) that was originally set up by Akhund Mulla Nasim (d. circa 1816) who was the khalifah of Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Jana of Delhi (d. 1781).
On display at the Khanqah were lots of books and personal items that I've belonged to Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Jana, including some parchments of the Quran written by Aurangzeb Alamghir.
Akhund Mulla Nasim is buried at a nearby cemetery. Mirza Mazhar was a very influential Naqshbandi Shaykh, whose khalifahs included Qadi Thanaullah Panipati and Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlawi from whom the Tariqah spread to the Middle East, Turkey and Eastern Europe.
We then headed towards Mardan but stopped at a beautiful village called Ma-Yar (My Beloved). At our destination we were treated to a delicious Pushto dish, the name of which escapes me.
Just outside Ma-Yar nestled in some fields is the mausoleum of Shah Abdur Rahim Wilayati (d.1830), one of the scions of the Chishti Sabri Tariqah.
Half of the way we travelled along mud tracks on a motorbike and then walked through some fields to get to the burial place which is locally known as Mazar Sangar Baba, sangar is a Pashto word meaning trench. Here's a video of the trip.
Shah Abdur Rahim Wilayati was the shaykh of Shaykh Nur Muhammad Jhinjhanwi (d.1843) who was the shaykh of Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (d.1899). Shah Abdur Rahim had joined Shah Ahmad Shahid (d. 1831) in his campaign against the forces of Ranjit Singh and his allies.
He died along with eight others on 27 Ramadan 1245. Shah Abdur Rahim Wilayati received khilafat from Shah Raham Ali Sadhuri in the Qadri Tariqah, he then turned to Shah Abdul Bari in the Chishti Tariqah and also received khilafat from him.
If you want former details about Shah Abdur Rahim Wilayati's death then here's an Urdu account.
I've just realised that the video isn't complete, so here's the other end of the clip. There was a lot of tranquility here. The sacrifice of our mashayikh is breathtaking.
Towards the end of the journey we travelled from Faisalabad in Punjab to Pakpattan and on the way stopped at an archaeological site called Harappa which is 15 miles from Sahiwal which used to be called Montgomery.
The Harappan civilisation is part of the Indus Valley civilisation and dates back as far as 3,000 BC. Historians say that they used to trade with the Ancient Egyptians and also Mesapotamia.
We spent an interesting few hours waking through. In the middle of the archaeological site we stumbled on the ruins of an old mosque dating from the Mughal period and a shrine with a very long grave and a musician sat outside.
