Shah Allah Ditta ( ur, ) is a centuries-old village and a union council located at the foothills of the

Margalla Hills The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, just south of Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are part of the Himalayan foothills. Th ...

in the

Islamabad Capital Territory The Islamabad Capital Territory ( ur, , translit=Vafāqī Dār-alhakūmat) is the only federal territory of Pakistan. Located between the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it includes the country's capital city of Islamabad. The terr ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. It s located adjacent to

Sector Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a p ...

D-12 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 ...

Etymology

The village is named after a Mughal period

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...

History

The village is believed to be more than seven hundred years old and lies on the route which was used to travel from

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

to the Gandharan city of Taxila by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

and

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

, while Mughal rulers and other emperors often passed through while traveling from

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 ...

to the

Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( , from '' Hindū'' and ''-stān''), also sometimes spelt as Hindōstān ( ''Indo-land''), along with its shortened form ''Hind'' (), is the Persian-language name for the Indian subcontinent that later became commonly used by ...

. Local people used to call that route Gernaili Road (Sher Shah's road), and some of its remnants are still visible today. It is said that

Mughal emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Akbar built a watering hole for travelers in this village.

Archeology

Relics of the Buddhist era dating back to the 8th century can be found here along with burnt diyas and trees with amulets tied to them. Shah Allah Ditta caves are located on the route leading towards Khanpur. These caves are next to the shrine and tomb of Shah Allah Ditta. 2,400-year-old Buddhist era murals of Buddha appear on the walls of caves at Shah Allah Ditta. Archaeological evidence indicates that the caves and the platform-like formations surrounding the area were first used for meditation by Buddhist monks and later by Hindu

sadhus ''Sadhu'' ( sa, साधु, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female)), also spelled ''saddhu'', is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. The ...

before Muslim ascetics took over during the Mughal period. Marked on the ground close to the caves the location where

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

arrived and was received by Raja Ambi, King of Taxila. The road next to the caves that leads to the main top of the mountain, Shah Allah Ditta road, is said to be built on the exact path followed by

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

emperor

during his visit. Moving up the mountain from the caves, there is a

stepwell Stepwells (also known as vavs or baori) are wells or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from 7th to 19th century. So ...

called Losar Baoli and a mosque built by Shahāb-ud-Din Ghori. The mosque has broken walls and the road leading to it is dilapidated.

Preservation

* In October 2010,

Capital Development Authority A Capital Development Authority is a special sort of entity found in various countries that is concerned with the municipal development of the capital city or capital territory of that country. Examples include: *Capital Development Authority (Isla ...

(CDA) finally approved the plan after realizing the importance to preserve this 2,400-year-old archeological site. The plan covers conservation of the Buddha caves as well as the adjacent garden known as 'Sadhu ka Bagh'. This is the second heritage site in Islamabad which has been targeted for preservation; the first was the historical Saidpur Village, also situated at the foothills of the Margallas. * The Taxila Institute of Asian Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, the Natural History Museum and Department of Architecture, and a recent effort by the Mass Communication Department of NUST has urged the government to preserve such sites of Mughal heritage. * Embassy of Japan in Pakistan, reportedly offered to provide funds for the preservation of Shah Allah Ditta caves.

Residential land

There is approx. 23,000 kanal land located in Shah Allah Ditta village and its surroundings. As of July 2011, approx. 17,000 kanal land is privately owned, and approx. 6,000 kanal of land has been purchased by the housing society developers of sectors D-13, E-13 and C-13. The federal government has only 30 kanals of land in and around Shah Allah Ditta.

Margalla Ridge Trail

The village also serves as the starting point of the Margalla Ridge Trail. Inaugurated on 3 November 2018 as Pakistan's longest single trans-provincial trail, 15 of its 44 km length lies within Islamabad Capital Territory, while the rest passes through districts Abbottabad and Haripur in the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

province. It passes though six villages, including Talhar (in Islamabad Capital Territory) and Lora (in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and has multiple exit points. It ends at Summa.

Gallery

File:Sadhu ka bagh.jpg, The ''Sadhu ka Bagh'' near the caves

References

External links

Sadhu Ka Bagh ProjectA memorable trip to Shah Allah DittaPhotography: Shah Allah Ditta Caves
{{Cultural heritage sites in Islamabad Capital Territory , state=autocollapse Union councils of Islamabad Capital Territory Villages in Islamabad Capital Territory