Gandhian (village)

Gandhian is a village located in Mansehra district, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Pakistan. It is about 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) away from Mansehra city on the main Karakoram Highway. The village has historical significance in the region because of a Hindu temple there dating back to ancient times.

Shiva Temple

Shiva Temple, also known as Chitti Gatti Temple, is located in a hamlet of Gandhian village. This temple is considered to be one of the oldest in Pakistan, and dates back thousands of years. The exact date of its construction has yet to be ascertained.[1] The Hazara District Gazetteer of 1983-84 states that the present temple standing at this site was reconstructed by a Raja of Jammu in the 1830s.[2] Recent research suggests the temple was built upon the ruins of an earlier temple from approximately 2000 years ago.[3] Hindus hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as other parts of the country, as well as Hindus from abroad, celebrate the Maha Shivratri festival on Phagan the sixth and Baisakh the 1st here,[4] thanking lord Shiva, a Hindu deity, for protecting the universe from destruction.

History and tribes

A number of tribes and people live in Gandhian area. The Tanoli is the major tribe of the village. The other tribes include; Awans, Dhunds, Syed and some Sulemani.

Gandhian was once the headquarter of Khanate of Khan Mast Khan, the younger brother of Mir Haibat Khan,[5][6] a chief of Tanawal area whose descendants later founded Amb Princely State.[7][8] Khan Mast Khan died in 1843 and his tomb is situated in Gandhian

In the year 1848, Gandhian was encamped by two Sikh regiments with four guns under Colonel Bhup Singh and Bahadur Singh.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Muhammad Sadaqat, 'Tribune', published March 18, 2013
  2. ↑ Hazara District Gazetteer 1983-84, Lahore: Government of the Punjab, 1884,p.179
  3. ↑ Report on Antiques of Mansehra region: a joint research conducted by Hazara University and UNESCO in 2007
  4. ↑ Major E.G. Wace, Report of the Land Revenue settlement of the Hazara district of the Punjab, 1874
  5. ↑ Syed Murad Ali,"Tarikh-e-Tanawaliyan"(Urdu), Pub. Lahore, 1975, pp.84
  6. ↑ Ghulam Nabi Khan"Alafghan Tanoli"(Urdu), Pub. Rawalpindi, 2001, pp.244
  7. ↑ ,Lethbridge, Roper (1893), The Golden Book of India: A Genealogical and Biographical Dictionary of the Ruling Princes, Chiefs, Nobles, and Other Personages, Titled or Decorated, of the Indian Empire, London: Macmillan, p. 328
  8. ↑ Scott (1929), pp. 71-72.
  9. ↑ |Gazetteer of the Hazara District , p.141


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