Mankiala ( ur, مانكياله ; also known as Manikyala and Manikiyala) is a village in the

Potohar plateau The Pothohar Plateau ( ur, ) is a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan, located between Indus River and the Jhelum River, forming the northern part of Punjab. Geography Potohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River, on the west by the ...

, Punjab near

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, known for the nearby Mankiala stupa - a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

located at the site where, according to legend,

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

sacrificed some of his body parts to feed seven hungry tiger cubs.

Location

Mankiala is located 36 km southeast of

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

, Mankiala stupa is located in the village of Tope Mankiala, near the place name of Sagri, 2nd near village of Dhakala and 3rd near village of

Sahib Dhamyal Sahib or Saheb (; ) is an Arabic title meaning 'companion'. It was historically used for the first caliph Abu Bakr in the Quran. The title is still applied to the caliph by Sunni Muslims. As a loanword, ''Sahib'' has passed into several langua ...

. It is 36 km southeast of Islamabad, and near the city of Rawalpindi. It is visible from the nearby historic

Rawat Fort Rawat Fort ( ur, ) is an early 16th century fort in the Pothohar plateau of Pakistan, near the city of Rawalpindi in the province of Punjab. The fort was built to defend the Pothohar plateau from the forces of the Pashtun king Sher Shah Suri. L ...

.Islamabad Tourist Treasures, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad Pg 1 It is situated along the '' Kallar Syedan'' Road.

Etymology

The town is said to be named after ''Raja Man'' or ''Manik'', who is said to have built the village's stupa during the Buddhist era. The village is said to have been previously known as ''Manikpur'' or ''Maniknagar'', and was capital of the ancient Hindu ''

Rakshasa Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma whe ...

s''. However, archaeological evidence does not support the conclusion that Manikpur was the capital of the ''Rakshasas'', and that the village's ruins were built during the Buddhist-era.

Background

Mankiala Stupa is a

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

era stupa built in the nearby village of Tope Mankiala to memorialize the place where, according to legend, an earlier incarnation of

sacrificed some of his body parts or his entire body to feed seven hungry tiger cubs.

History

Mankiala dates from the Gandharan era, around 2000 years ago. The village had been previously described as the former grand capital of the mythological ''

s'', though no archaeological evidence supports the theory of Mankiala serving as an ancient Hindu capital, and instead suggests that the area's ruins date from the

period. The settlement during the Buddhist era may have consisted of approximately 2,000 homes, interspersed with monasteries and 15 stupas. The archaeological site is believed to be on the same hillock where the modern village now stands. Mankiala's stupa was built in the reign of

Kanishka Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, '; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε ''Kanēške''; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 '; Brahmi: '), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire re ...

(128-151 CE). The ancient settlement is believed to have been destroyed by fire, though there is no indication that it was purposely destroyed.

Mountstuart Elphinstone Mountstuart Elphinstone (6 October 1779 – 20 November 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the government of British India. He later became the Governor of Bombay (now Mumbai) where he is credited with the open ...

, the first British emissary to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

chanced upon this stupa in 1808 AD and penned a detailed account in his memoir 'Kingdom of Caubul' (1815). According to an inscription on a stone the stupa was restored in 1891 by a regiment of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. Raja Usman was architect.

Relics from stupa

Mankiala stupa's relic deposits were removed from the site during British colonial rule, and are now housed in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Many were found by

Jean-Baptiste Ventura Jean-Baptiste (Giovanni Battista) Ventura, born Rubino (25 May 1794 – 3 April 1858), was an Italian soldier, mercenary in India, general in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Sarkar-i-Khalsa, and early archaeologist of the Punjab region of the Sikh Empi ...

in 1830 between 10 and 20 metres below the top of the dome. They were at one stage owned by the celebrated antiquarian James Prinsep.The British Museum Collection
/ref> The mouth of the stupa has a gaping hole as a result of excavations by relic hunters in the past. It now has a barrier around it for safety reasons.

Transportation

Road

Mankiala is located along the ''Kallar Syedan'' Road, which connects the city to Kallar Syedan, and the

N-5 National Highway The N-5 or National Highway 5 (Urdu: ) is a 1819 km national highway in Pakistan, which extends from Karachi in Sindh to Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Route The N-5 is the longest national highway in Pakistan and serves as an importa ...

that provides access to

and

Rail

Mankiala railway station Mankiala Railway Station (Urdu and pa, ) is located in Mankiala village, Rawalpindi district of Punjab province of the Pakistan. See also * List of railway stations in Pakistan * Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the nation ...

is served by the Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line.

References

{{Neighbourhoods of Rawalpindi Populated places in Rawalpindi District Stupas in Pakistan Buddhist sites in Pakistan