Old Mirpur City Azad Jammu & Kashmir

 

An alternate view is that the city was founded by Mira Shah Gazi and Gosain Bodhpuri, both regarded as saints. The word 'Mir' was taken from the name of the former while 'Pur’ from the latter. The area that is now Mirpur has always been a crossroad for major invasions of the South Asia and has formed part of various empires over time including Achaemenid empire of Persia, an outlying region of the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Kingdom of Gandhara, the Mauryan empire, the Kushan empire, the Sultanate of Ghazni, the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal empire amongst others. The Mirpur city itself was founded in around 1642 AD or 1052 AH by the Ghakhar chief Miran Shah Ghazi. The Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series Kashmir and Jammu (1909) provides this information about Mirpur history as "it is said to have been founded by Miran Shah Ghazi and Sultan Fateh Khan". The area that is now Mirpur has been historically associated with Pothohar. Though modern demarcation of Potohar devised by British excludes Mirpur by using Jhelum river as the eastern boundary. By the end of 18th century, Gakhar power in Pothohar had declined. Mirpur had become part of Chibb ruled state of Khari Khariyali with capital at Mangla Fort. With the rise of Sikh power in Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh established his supremacy and set his eyes on the Chibh states of Bhimber and Khari Khariyali. In 1810, a force was sent against Raja Sultan Khan of Bhimber and was met with fierce resistance. However, in 1812 another Sikh army under prince Kharak Singh defeated Sultan Khan and the Bhimber state was annexed as Jagir of Kharak Singh. Around the same time, Ranjit Singh acquired Gujrat and invaded Khari Khariyali ruled by Raja Umar Khan. Raja Umar Khan made peace with Ranjit Singh. But before a settlement could be made, he died and the state and Mirpur became part of Ranjit Singh's territories. Before the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the Mirpur District had majorities of Hindu and Sikh populations in the principal towns of Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber. In fact the remains of the old city (old Mirpur) are underneath the waters of the Mangla Lake; during the colder months of March and April, the water level recedes to such an extent that one can travel on motorcycle on old Mirpur road which still exists. Holy Shrines of Syed Abdul Karim and Meeran Shah Ghazi become visible and so do the remnants of a Sikh Gurdwara as well as a Hindu Mandir possibly dedicated to the "Mangla Mata" (Mangla mother goddess). The remains of old houses, water wells, Graveyards reappear too. People from surrounding areas visit old Mirpur during these months to pay homage to their ancient land they lived on and pray on graveyards of their loved ones. Urs Mubarak of Meeran Shah and Syed Abdul Kareem are also arranged in these months in old Mirpur.