VISIT TO RAJAURI TOWN IN JAMMU DISTRICT

                                                                         
                                     The bridge over river Munawar Tawi leading to Rajauri town

                                                                           
                                                         A board near Rajauri Town

                                                  A view of Rajauri town from Munawar Tawi Bridge.    

                     With Mr Fazal Rehman Dar ( In White shawl ) . Autar Mota is on left hand side of Mr Dar.

                                  Dara singh son of Khazan singh. A shepherd   near sunderbani   .

                          Mughal Serai ( Transit Camp ) at Chingus . Chingus is 24 kms from Rajauri

                                                   Inside  view of Chingus serai.

                                                      A view from roof of chingus serai.

                                                       A view of the road near Rajauri

“ Jenab I belong to Dar Family of Rajauri .I am married in Raina family. Our families are from Kashmir . If you go to nearby  Thana Mandi , you shall find some Wani or Mir families . They too are from Kashmir . And again we had one Mr. Rawal as Executive engineer over here who had his ancestral Jaagir ( agricultural land ) in this area . Bakshi Family from Kashmir had their Jaagir in Thana Mandi. This area was known as Rajpuri in olden days . Mughals also traveled through this area to visit Kashmir. If you go via Loran , Bafiaz , Noori Chhamb and Behraamgala , you shall immediately reach Shopian. This route was also used by Sikh forces of Ranjit Singh to enter Kashmir where they defeated the Afghans in a bloody battle fought at Shopian town."

Jenab visit CHINGUS just 24 Kms from Rajauri town. This was a Mughal Sarai. Mughals stayed at this beautiful sarai ( Transit camp ) enroute to Kashmir . In fact Noor Jehan buried intestines of Jehangir in this serai when the emperor died in October 1627 AD on their way back journey to Delhi from Kashmir . Noor Jehaan kept this death as secret from Delhi Darbaar to avoid war of succession She got the body of jahangir embalmed to protect it from decay . Once embalmed , the body was dressed and kept on a horse in a sitting posture to make every one believe that the emperor was alive . ”

 So Said  Mr. Fazal Rehman Dar ( In white kashmiri shawl ) in a group photo above. He  does not remember the name of his ancestor who had migrated from Kashmir to Rajauri in Jammu division . Mr Dar  is a well known name in Rajauri town and owner of our Bank 's building in Rajauri town.

I know that Mr Dar told us only well established historical facts. I also need to add that Word CHINGUS in Persian means intestines . History also tells us that Forces of Sultan Zain Ul Abdin ( with his army commander Jasarat Kholkhar )and his brother Sultan Ali Shah ( His wife was the daughter of a hilly king from Jammu ) fought a pitched battle for kashmir’s throne at Thana Mandi . Sultan Ali Shah was defeated and Zain Ul Abdin entered kashmir as a victorious king. This Sultan was later known as Budshaah or Great King in kashmir for his noble and just deeds .

We also know that the present Mughal road passes through Bufliaz , Poshana , Chattapani , Peer Ki Gali , Aliabad , Zaznaar , Dubjan , Heerpora and Shopian . Mughals built many rest houses and Serais on this road . I also met many kashmiri speaking persons in this area who reported that their ancestors had migrtated to this part of Jammu some 200 hundred years back. I found some kashmiri poets in Rajauri area. Kaangri and pheran is also used by some people over here..Apart from Pahaari , Dogri , Punjabi and urdu , Kashmiri is widely spoken in this area. A sizeable population of Loran and Thana Mandi has kashmiri as thier mother tongue. A road now connects this part of Jammu Division with Shopian town of Kashmir .Further Rajauri town is about 150 kms from jammu on jammu- Poonch road . Prior to 1968 , this area was a part of Poonch district .

kalhana has repeatedly mentioned this area and its kingdoms as Lohaara ( Loran ) and Rajapuri ( Rajauri ) in his Book Rajatarangini. See the story of Rajapuri ( Rajauri ) in Taranga 8 canto 429, Taranga 6 canto 286,Taranga 7 cantos 1597to 1599,Taranga 7 cantos 1150 1152 and Taranga 7 cantos 588 to 590 and also in many other Tarangas of Rajatarangini .

( Autar Mota )

                                                    
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