MUGHAL ROAD AND SHOPIAN: A HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE
History of Shopian. Shopian derives its name from a distortion of word shah-payan, i.e. “Royal Stay”. According to local people the Shopian was earlier named as “Shin-Van” meaning “Snow Forest”. It is an ancient known of Kashmir and had an importance due to it being situated on the ancient imperial route, commonly known as Mughal Road, which connects Lahore and Srinagar. The “Holy Relic of Prophet Mohammad (SAW)” is at Khankah Pinjoora. Shopian was one out of six Wazrat Headquarters in Kashmir from 1872-1892 AD.
Mughal Road. The Mughal Road was originally known as Namak Road (Salt route) before Kashmir was surmounted by Mughal. It was known as Salt route as salt was exported to Kashmir from the Western Punjab through this route. It was a podium road on which travel could be carried out only on ponies and horses. The prominence of Mughal Road was known as prominent Mughal Emperors like Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb along with their caravans travelled through this route to the paradise of Kashmir. The historic road originated at the Mughal capital, Agra, moving through Lahore to Poonch, Rajouri and then entering the valley. This particular segment of road used to be called as the “Salt road”.
Pir Ki Gali. Along the beautiful Mughal road lies the holy and pious shrine of a religiously elevated person named Sheikh Ahmed Karim. An Englishman named Barner Francios, who visited this place along the caravan of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1665 described this place to be occupied by Sheikh Karim. He noticed that the Sheikh could perform miracles by producing voices. He produced miracles and would meditate for days and months continuously. The Sheikh is believed to be a ‘living saint’
who still appears on white horse and protects the travellers from any mishappenings. This shrine is not a grave but place of meditation.
HastiVanj. Along the Mughal road also lies a mountain ridge called Hasti Vanj. As per Rajtaringini, this is the place where a Huna king called Mihrakul, living in first part of sixth century is said to have had thrown 100 elephants from the cliff. As per the legend the king was crossing Pir Panjal with his mighty army. One day he heard the terrifying cry of an elephant who has fallen off the cliff here. The king loved the sound of screeching elephant so much that he ordered 100 elephants off the cliff. Kalhana calls and describes his “another God of Death and rival to Yama”.
Today these places of interest stand proudly astride the Mughal Road. The activation and development of Mughal Road has provided new avenues of opportunity for the tourists to visit these historic sites. As also Indian Army along with other security agencies have been working relentlessly to maintain peace and tranquillity in this sensitive region which allows people from all age groups to come fearlessly and enjoy the pristine and natural beauty of this historic land.
