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
The Pir Panjal Range ( ; ) is a range of mountains in the Lower Himalayan region located in the Western Himalayas of northern Indian subcontinent. It runs southeast to northwest between the Beas and Neelam/Kishanganga rivers, in the Indi ...
in
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019
* Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...
, India. It connects the
Kashmir Valley
The Kashmir Valley, also known as the Vale of Kashmir, is an intermontane valley in northern Jammu and Kashmir, a region in Indian-administered Kashmir.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcont ...
to the
Rajouri
Rajouri or Rajauri (; ; ) is a city in the Rajouri district in the Jammu division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu (city), Jammu city on ...
and
Poonch districts of
Jammu
Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...
via the
Mughal Road
Mughal Road is the road between Bufliaz, a town in the Poonch district, to the Shopian district, in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The 84-kilometre roadhttp://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=6_12_2008&ItemID=3 ...
. It is the highest point on the Mughal road at and lies to the southwest of the Kashmir valley.
Name
The Pir Panjal Pass appears in Srivara's
Rajatarangini
''Rājataraṅgiṇī'' (Sanskrit: Devanagari, राजतरङ्गिणी, IAST, romanized: ''rājataraṅgiṇī'', International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɑː.d͡ʑɐ.t̪ɐˈɾɐŋ.ɡi.ɳiː ) is a metrical legend ...
as ''Panchaladeva'' (
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: ''Pāñcāladeva''), meaning the deity of ''Panchala''.
Panchala
Panchala () was an ancient kingdom of northern India, located in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab of the Upper Gangetic plain which is identified as Kanyakubja or region around Kannauj. During Late Vedic times (c. 1100–500 BCE), it was one of the ...
is a kingdom mentioned in the
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
in the northwest
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
. Other traditions place the Mahabharata regions in western Punjab and southern Kashmir. Scholar
Dineshchandra Sircar
Dineshchandra Sircar (1907–1985), also known as D. C. Sircar or D. C. Sarkar, was an epigraphist, historian, numismatist and folklorist, known particularly in India and Bangladesh for his work deciphering inscriptions. He was the Chief E ...
has analysed the geography described in the ''Shakti‐sangama Tantra'', where this is indeed the case.
Scholar
M. A. Stein states that the high mountain passes were always regarded as deities or were associated with deities. These customs continued after the region was Islamised by substituting the concept of
Pir, Muslim saint, for deity.
The Pir Panjal Pass name is tied to the entire mountain range (
Pir Panjal Range
The Pir Panjal Range ( ; ) is a range of mountains in the Lower Himalayan region located in the Western Himalayas of northern Indian subcontinent. It runs southeast to northwest between the Beas and Neelam/Kishanganga rivers, in the Indi ...
). In recent times, the term "Panjal" has become restricted to the mountain range, and the pass came to be called simply ''Peer Ki Gali'' (the Pir's pass).
It is associated with the saint
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (; CE) was a Sufi saint of the Kubrawiya order, who played an important role in the spread of Islam in the Kashmir Valley. He was born in Hamadan, Iran, and preached Islam in Central Asia and South Asia. He died in S ...
as well as another saint Sheikh Ahmed Karim.
Description
The Pir Panjal Pass can be taken to run between its western entrance, which goes by the name ''Peer Ki Gali'', and a historical way station called Aliabad Sarai (elevation: 3115 metres) at its eastern end. A stream referred to as ''Pir Panjal stream'' runs through the valley, flowing east, which becomes the
Rambi Ara
Rambi Ara is a river and tributary to the River Jhelum located in Shopian District in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
It joins the Veshaw River near Sangam in Anantnag District before the confluence finally meets the Jhelum. The ...
River in the Shopian district. Scholar Mohibbul Hassan states that the old route through the pass kept to the southern side of the stream, but the Moghuls switched it to the northern side because a steep cliff called ''Hastivanj'' to the south was difficult to cross. The modern "
Mughal Road
Mughal Road is the road between Bufliaz, a town in the Poonch district, to the Shopian district, in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The 84-kilometre roadhttp://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=6_12_2008&ItemID=3 ...
" constructed between 2005 and 2009 is close to the route used by the Mughals, though it is not identical to it.
To the west of Peer Ki Gali, cliffs descend steeply into a valley, which carries another mountain stream that joins the
Poonch River
The Poonch River (also known as Punch River, Punch Tohi, Pulast, and Tohi of Punch) is a tributary of the Jhelum River that flows through Jammu and Kashmir in India, and Azad Kashmir in Pakistan.
Name
According to Georg Bühler, the ancie ...
flowing from the north. A hill village called Bahramgala (original name: Bhairavgala) marks the end of the valley. The Sikh sources name the pass itself as "Bahramgala pass".
The modern Mughal Road avoids the steep descent by following the hill sides to the north. It ends at a town called
Bufliaz about 10 km to the west of Bahramgala. From there the
National Highway 144A connects to
Poonch to the northwest and
Rajouri
Rajouri or Rajauri (; ; ) is a city in the Rajouri district in the Jammu division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu (city), Jammu city on ...
to the south.
At Peer Ki Gali, the night temperatures often drop below -15°C in winters. It is the highest point on Mughal Road. Peer Ki Gali is 40 km away from Shopian, 80 km from Poonch.
History
Historian Mohibbul Hasan states that the Pir Panjal Pass was one of the main passes into the
Kashmir Valley
The Kashmir Valley, also known as the Vale of Kashmir, is an intermontane valley in northern Jammu and Kashmir, a region in Indian-administered Kashmir.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcont ...
and exercised a great influence on its history. A route linking
Hirapur (modern Hirpora) in the Kashmir Valley with
Rajauri
Rajouri or Rajauri (; ; ) is a city in the Rajouri district in the Jammu division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu city on the Poonch Highway.
History
The first ruler ...
via the pass is known to have been used from ancient times. During the period of the
sultans
Sultan (; ', ) 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 came to be use ...
it seems to have been extended up to
Bhimber
Bhimber () is a town and the headquarters of the eponymous district in Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir. The town and district are between the Jammu region of Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistan proper, about by road southeast of M ...
.
After conquering the Kashmir Valley, the emperor
Akbar
Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
strengthened the route into an 'Imperial Road' stretching from
Lahore
Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
to Kashmir. In modern times, the route has been referred to as the 'Mughal Road'.
The Sikh emperor, Maharaja
Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839.
Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...
, launched an invasion of the
Durrani
The Durrānī (, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes, tribal confederation of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan (Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, ...
-controlled Kashmir Valley in 1814, partly via the Pir Panjal Pass. He divided the forces into two parts, one attacking via the Pir Panjal Pass under the command of Dewan Ram Dayal and the other led by himself via the
Tosa Maidan
Tosa Maidan (or Toshamaidan) is a tourist destination and a hill station in the Khag area of the Budgam district in the Kashmir Valley of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The name also marks the historic Tosa Maidan route into ...
. Ram Dayal forced through the Pir Panjal Pass, reached
Baramulla
Baramulla (), also known as Varmul () in Kashmiri, is a city and municipality of the Baramulla district of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various r ...
, and fortified himself. However, Ranjit Singh could not break through the Durrani defences at Tosa Maidan, where he faced resistance from the
Raja
Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
T ...
of
Rajouri
Rajouri or Rajauri (; ; ) is a city in the Rajouri district in the Jammu division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu (city), Jammu city on ...
,
Raja Aghar Khan, ultimately forcing him to retreat. In a second invasion in 1819, all the forces were sent via the Tosa Maidan, and conquered the Durrani forces.
Aliabad Sarai

The Aliabad Sarai is a rest house in the Pir Panjal Pass, said to have been constructed by the Emperor
Jahangir
Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...
towards the end of the 16th century. It was one of the 14 halting stations constructed between Lahore and Srinagar along the Moghal Road. An Iranian engineer called Ali Mardan Khan was in charge of the construction, aided by the local chieftains. The safe keeping of the heritage building has been neglected by the government, and it has been used in recent times by local shepherds as a shed for cattle.
The original Moghal Road passed in front of the Aliabad Sarai rest house. The current one runs behind it, at a higher elevation.
Pirs

The local tradition associates Saint
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (; CE) was a Sufi saint of the Kubrawiya order, who played an important role in the spread of Islam in the Kashmir Valley. He was born in Hamadan, Iran, and preached Islam in Central Asia and South Asia. He died in S ...
[tafatul arfin manucript] with the Peer Ki Gali. Written records note a Pir called Sheikh Ahmed Karim lived and meditated in the Peer Ki Gali during the time of emperor Jahangir. He converted to Islam from Hinduism, regarded the Peer Ki Gali as a place of God and insisted all the passersby treat it with reverence. The records also state that emperor Jahangir disregarded his commandments, but
Shahjahan
Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked th ...
and
Aurangzeb
Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...
followed them.
[
A shrine stands in the Peer Ki Gali to mark the Pir's meditating place, inside which some believe is a stone with his hand print.][
]
References
Bibliography
*
*
* {{citation , last=Stein , first=M. A. , title=Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A chronicle of the kings of Kasmir, Volume 2 , url=https://archive.org/details/RajataranginiVol2 , date=1900 , publisher=Archibald Constable and Co. , location=Westminster , isbn=978-81-208-0370-1
External links
* The original Mughal Route partly marked on OpenStreetMap
Hill stations in Jammu and Kashmir
Tourism in Jammu and Kashmir
Tourist attractions in Poonch District, India
Mountain passes of Jammu and Kashmir