Peer_Ki_Gali_Mughal_Road_Poonch_Srinagar

Mughal Road is the road between

Bufliaz Bufliaz, or Bafliaz, is a village and the headquarters of the eponymous community development block in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district in the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies on the Poonch–Rajouri road and is also the ...

, a town in the Poonch district, to the

Shopian district Shopian district (), known as Shupyan () in Kashmiri, is a hill district with its administrative division in Shopian town, located in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, since it is situated on the historical road commonly known ...

, in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The 84-kilometre roadhttp://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=6_12_2008&ItemID=35&cat=1 traces a historic route used in the

Mughal period The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

over the

Pir Panjal Pass The Pir Panjal Pass, also called Peer Ki Gali (or ''Peer Gali''), is a mountain pass and a tourist destination located in the Pir Panjal Range in Jammu and Kashmir. It connects the Kashmir Valley to the Rajouri and Poonch districts via the Mug ...

, at an altitude of , higher than the Banihal pass at . The road connects

Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...

and

Rajouri Rajouri or Rajauri (; Pahari: 𑠤𑠬𑠑𑠶𑠤𑠮, راجوری; sa, राजपुर, ) is a city in Rajouri district in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu city on th ...

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

in the Kashmir valley, and reduces the distance between Shopian and Poonch from 588 km to 126 km. It also provides an alternative route into the Kashmir valley off the Jammu-Srinagar highway. The road passes through Buffliaz, Behramgalla, Chandimarh,Dogray (Dogran), Poshana, Chattapani,

Peer Ki Gali The Pir Panjal Pass, also called Peer Ki Gali (or ''Peer Gali''), is a mountain pass and a tourist destination located in the Pir Panjal Range in Jammu and Kashmir. It connects the Kashmir Valley to the Rajouri and Poonch districts via the Mug ...

, Aliabad, Zaznar, Dubjan,

Hirpora Hirpora (or Heerpora) is a village, near Shopian town in the Shopian district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the second largest village in the district, after Devepora. It is situated on the Mughal Road, west of Sho ...

, and Shopian.

History

A route linking Hirapur (modern Hirpora) in the Kashmir Valley with

via the

(Peer Ki Gali) has been used from ancient times. During the period of the

sultans Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

, it was extended to

Bhimber Bhimber ( ur, ) is the capital of Bhimber District, in the Azad Kashmir. The town is on the border between Jammu region and Punjab in Pakistan proper about by road southeast of Mirpur. History Bhimber was the capital of the Chibhal dynasty ...

. Historian Mohibbul Hasan says it played an important role during this period. After conquering the Kashmir Valley, the emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

strengthened the route into an "Imperial Road" stretching from

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

to Kashmir. In modern times, the route has been referred to as the "Mughal Road". The route has also been traditionally used by the nomadic pastoral communities of

Gujjar Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...

s and

Bakerwal The Bakarwal (also Bakkarwal, Bakharwal, Bakrawala and Bakerwal) are a nomadic ethnic group, who along with Gujjars are listed as Scheduled Tribes in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1991.https://tribal.nic.in/downloads/CLM/CLM_1/1 ...

s for their seasonal migration.

Construction

The new road was proposed in the 1950s to improve the economy of the Kashmir valley. Then chief Minister

Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later rena ...

took up this project in 1979 and named it the "Mughal Road", but it came to a halt as

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

took over. Bafliaz Bridge on the road was blown up by the terrorists. Actual construction began in October 2005 with a target of completion in March 2007 and an estimated cost of 255 crore rupees. A conservation trust petitioned the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

to stop construction, citing the disturbance to animals in the

Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary or Heerpora Wildlife Sanctuary is located, Hirpora in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir. It lies 12 km from Shopian town, south of Srinagar. It spreads over an area of . It is bounded to the north by Lake Gums ...

, especially the endangered

Markhor goat The markhor (''Capra falconeri'') is a large Capra (genus), ''Capra'' species native to Central Asia, the Karakoram, and the Himalayas. It is listed on the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened since 2015. The markhor is the national animal of Paki ...

; and claiming the road would get early

snowfall Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

in winter and hence would not serve as an alternate route to the existing Jammu-Srinagar highway. However, the Court gave conditional permission for the construction of the road. Construction was to be completed in December 2008, but was delayed for a number of reasons, including the Amar Nath land row. The road was opened on 12 July 2009 for inspection by state legislators, officials, engineers, and others. It was supposed to be thrown open for light vehicles in October 2010 but the law-and-order situation in Kashmir in 2010 imposed delays. A double-lane road was completed and opened for light vehicles in August 2012. A Mughal Road Car Rally has been held annually since 2010. It covers 600 km, including the picturesque stretch across Pir Panjal.

References

{{Jammu and Kashmir topics Roads in Jammu and Kashmir

History

Construction

See also

References