Bannu (also called Paradise by English visitors)

Bannu is an important town (1981 pop. 35,170) in Northen Pakistan. It is a divisional administrative center and an important road junction and market town. The major industries are cloth weaving and the manufacture of cotton fabrics, machinery, and equipment. Bannu is famous for its weekly Jumma fair.

It has one Engineering & Technology University, two post graduate colleges, an engineering college affiliated with peshawar university, two degree colleges for girls, and more then 300 primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools for girls and boys.

The present location of the town was founded by Sir Herbert Edwardes in 1848, and was formerly called Edwardesabad. It was a leading British military base, especially in actions against Afghan border tribes. Bani Zai tribe of Afghans lives here. Bannu is very green amidst rugged & dry mountains and has very fertile land. Early English visitors called it as "paradise".

Bannu is called "Bana" and "Bani Gul" in the local pashte language. It is a place of very happy people. In the afternoon one can see groups of young men wearing garlands of flowers and dancing in the roads and parks.

Historical city Taxila

Taxila is an archaeological site, located in the Punjab province of Pakistan , about 15 miles west of the Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi , on the border of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province and just off the Grand Trunk Road. Its coordinates are 33.76° N 72.84° E.

Taxila is a very ancient city once has the best unversities of the world where the great Sanskrit Professor Panini wrote the grammer of sanskrit and established the roots of linguistics. Taxila is still a very famous city has a very sophisticated Engineering University and many state of the art technical installations high tech equpments like Al-Khaled Tanks are manufactured and is one the centre of Islambad/Rawapindi and Wah. A slightly moderate climate than Islamabad. It is still famous of its handicrafts as it used to be about two thousand years ago.

Taxila (then called taksh-shila) was an ancient Hindu and Buddhist seat of learning, connected across the Khunjerab pass to the Silk Road , attracting students from all over the world. Ancient Takshashila was renowned all over the Buddhist world as home to the world's first university ( Takshashila University ). It flourished during the first-fifth centuries AD (see Gandhara). Located at the junction of three major trade routes, it was of considerable economic and strategic importance.

Darius I added Taxila to the Achaemid empire (c. 518 BC).

Alexander the Great conquered Taxila in 326 BC and garrisoned the town with Macedonians, but Greek rule ended again in 317 BC.

The Punjab then came under the rule of Chandragupta Maurya and his successors, including his grandson Asoka.

Soon after Asoka's death, Taxila was conquered by the Bactrian Greeks who established a Greek city at the nearby site of Sirkap, and ruled it until about 90 BC.

Next came the Scythians (c. 90 B.C.), the Parthians (c. 19 AD) and the Kushans (c. 78 AD) whose empire was eventually crushed by the White Huns (c. 460).

The  British archaeologist Sir John Marshall conducted excavations over a period of twenty years in Taxila (see Sir John Marshall, A Guide to Taxila, Department of Archaeology in Pakistan , Sani Communications, Karachi , 1960).

Taxila has been listed by the UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites.

Abbottbad (cities of school & colleges)

Abbottabad is the most exquisite major city of Pakistan not far from Islamabad. It is north-west of Islamabad just 65 miles away on a beautful road that leads to Muzaffarabad, capital of the Pakistani controlled Kashmir (Azad Kashmir), the Kaghan Valley, Gilgit, Skardu and China. This city is at the begining of the world famous "slik route", that is now considerd as a living wonder of the world. This road ultimately leads to mountains like the K2, Nanga Parbat and many other world's highest mountains that are more than 8,000 metres above the sea level.

Abbottabad is also home to the Pakistan Miltary Academy (PMA), Kakool. So be aware that there is a large military presence in the town.

Evergreen Abbotabad has a cooler weather in the summer and snowfall in the winter. A lot of fresh water springs and surrounding snow top mountains.

Abbottabad is also known as city of schools and colleges there are 33 medical colleges in pakistan while 5 of them are in abbottabad it is a beautifull city.

Its lovely to go up to the top of Shimla Pahari and look down upon Abbottabad and hear the sounds of the town wafting upwards.

Islamabad the Capital

Islamabad  is the capital city of Pakistan , and is located in the Potohar Plateau in the northwest of the country. It is located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , though the area has historically been a part of the crossroads of the Punjab region and the North-West Frontier Province (the Margalla pass being a historic gateway to the North-West Frontier Province , and the Potwar Plateau historically a part of the Punjab). Islamabad is located at 33°40′N, 73°10′E .

The city was built during the 1960s to replace Karachi as Pakistan 's capital . A Greek firm of architects, Doxiadis Associates, drew up a master plan, triangular in shape based on a grid system with its apex towards the Margalla Hills . Rawalpindi is considered its sister city due to the close proximity of the two cities.

This city was built for several reasons: The development of the country was focused on Karachi and President Ayub Khan wanted it to be equally distributed; Karachi was vulnerable to attack from the sea in an event of a war with India; and Islamabad by contrast is safely surrounded by the mountains. The climate in Islamabad is favourable compared to Karachi with lower average temperatures throughout the year. It was also closer to the GHQ which was, and still is in Rawalpindi.

Islamabad is a rather modern and clean city, especially in comparison to other cities in Pakistan . It is well-organized, with the city being divided into different sectors and zones. Islamabad was divided into eight zones: the diplomatic enclave, the commercial district, the educational sector, the industrial area and so on, each with its own shopping area and park. Islamabad is also home to the Faisal Mosque which is well known for its architecture and immense size. The mosque was gifted by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia .

Kaghan Valley (Home Of Beauty)

The Kaghan Valley is located in Northern Pakistan northeast of Hazara, NWFP. It's one of the valleys that's relatively easy to reach from Rawalpindi / Islamabad.

The mountain scenerey, the dales, lakes, water-falls, streams and glaciers are the main reason to come here. The Valley extends for 155 km rising from an elevation of 2,134 meters to its highest point, the Babusar Pass, at 4,145 meters. Further north from from Babusar Pass, a jeep track leads to Chilas, which is now on Karakoram Highway (the road that connects Islamabad to Xinjiang province of China via Gilgit, Hunza and Khunjerab Pass). Before Karakoram Highway was opened in 1978, the only road access to Gilgit was through Kaghan Valley.

Naran is the best base for treks and walks in the valley. There are some options for accommodation here and some restaurants. Naran is best reached by jeep from Balakot some 200 km north of RawalPindi / Islamabad.

The best time to visit Kaghan is in summer months (May to September). From the middle of July up to the end of September, the road beyond Naran, snow-bound throughout the winter, is open right up to Babusar Pass. Movement may be restricted during the monsoon season due to heavy rains and landslides.

In summer it is possible to continue to Gilgit Valley - one hell of a trip with incredible views - but roads are not always in tiptop condition so it may involve some hard work to get to the other site of the mountains

My own city Jhelum

JHELUM, or JEIILAM (Hydaspes of the Greeks), a river of northern India. It is the most westerly of the “ five rivers “ of the Punjab. It rises in the north-east of the Kashmir state, flows through the city of Srinagar and the Wular lake, issues through the Pir Panjal range by the narrow pass of Baramula, and enters British territory in the Jhelum district. Thence it flows through the plains of the Punjab, forming the boundary between the Jech Doab and the Sind Sagar Doab, and finally joins the Chenab at Timmu after a course of 450 miles. The Jhelum colony, in the Shahpur district of the Punjab, formed on the example of the Chenab colony in 1901, iS designed to contain a total irrigable area of 1,130,000 acres. The Jhelum canal is a smaller work than the Chenab canal, but its silt is noted for its fertilizing qualities. Both projects have brought great prosperity to the cultivators. JHELUM, or JEHLAM, a town and district of British India (Now India and Pakistan), in the Rawalpindi division of the Punjab. The town is situated on the right bank of the river Jhelum, here crossed by a bridge of the North-Western railway, 103 m. N. of Lahore. Pop. (1901), 14,95I. It is a modern town with river and railway trade (principally in timber from Kashmir), boat-building and cantonments for a cavalry and four infantry regiments
The DISTRICT OF JHELUM stretches from the river Jhelum almost to the Indus. Area, 2813 sq. m. Pop. (1901), 501,424, showing a decrease of 2 % in the decade. Salt is quarrie.d at the Mayo mine in the Salt Range. There are two coal-mines, the only ones worked in the province, from which the North-Western railway obtains part of its supply of coal. The chief centre of the salt trade is Pind Dadan Khan (pop. 13,770). The district is crossed by the main line of the North-Western railway, and also traversed along the south by a branch line. The river Jhelum is navigable throughout the district, which forms the south-eastern portion of a rugged Himalayan spur, extending between the Indus and Jhelum to the borders of the Sind Sagar Doab. Its scenery is very picturesque, although not of so wild a character as the mountain region of Rawalpindi to the north, and is lighted up in places by smiling patches of cultivated valley.
The backbone of the district is formed by the Salt Range, a treble line of parallel hills running in three long forks from east to west throughout its whole breadth. The range rises in bold precipices, broken by gorges, clothed with brushwood and traversed by streams which are at first pure, but soon become impregnated with the saline matter over which they pass. Between the line of hills lies a picturesque table-land, in which the beautiful little lake of Kallar Kahar nestles amongst the minor ridges. North of the Salt Range, the country extends upwards in an elevated plateau, diversified by countless ravines and fissures, until it loses itself in tangled masses of Rawalpindi mountains.
In this rugged tract cultivation is rare and difficult, the soil being choked with saline matter. At the foot of the Salt Range, however, a small strip of level soil lies along the banks of the Jhelum, and is thickly dotted with prosperous villages. The drainage of the district is determined by a low central watershed running north and south at right angles to the Salt Range. The waters of the western portion find their way into the Sohan, and finally into the Indus; those of the opposite slope collect themselves into small torrents, and empty themselves into the Jhelum
The history of the district dates back to the semi-mythical period of the Mahabhdrata. Hindu tradition represents the Salt Range as the refuge of the five Pandava brethren during the period of their exile, and every salient point in its scenery is connected with some legend of the national heroes. Modern research has fixed the site of the conflict between Alexander and Porus as within Jhelum district. After this event, we have little information with regard to the condition of the district until the Mahommedan conquest brought back literature and history to Upper India. The Janjuahs and Jats, who now hold the Salt Range and its northern plateau respectively, appear to have been the earliest inhabitants.
The Ghakkars seem to represent an early wave of conquest from the east, and they still inhabit the whole eastern slope of the district; while the Awans, who now cluster in the western plain, are apparently later invaders from the opposite quarter. The Ghakkars were the dominant race ‘at the period of the first Mahommedan incursions, and long continued to retain their independence.
During the flourishing period of the Mogul dynasty, the Ghakkar chieftains were prosperous and loyal vassals of the house of Baber; but after the collapse of the Delhi Empire Jhelum fell, like its neighbours, under the sway of the Sikhs. In 1765 Gujar Singh defeated the last independent Ghakkar prince, and reduced the wild mountaineers to subjection. His son succeeded to his dominions, until 1810, when he fell before the irresistible power of Ranjit Singh. In 1849 the district passed, with the rest of the Sikh territories, into the hands of the British.
The British, after annexation of Punjab in 1949 from Sikhs, established administration at district level and Jhelum District, which originally was covering large area inclusive of Pindigheb and territory upto River Indus, was delimited later to include sub-districts (Tehsils) of Jhelum, Chakwal and Pind Dadan Khan, with District Head Quarters shifting from P.D. Khan to Jhelum.
During World War I, Jhelum provided maximum number of Soldiers as a result of which the British recruited very extensively from Jhelum, till their last days of rule. First Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry was earned by Subedar Khuda Dad Khan during World War I. Later its equivalent (Nishan-e-Haider) of Pakistan has been won by Major (Shaheed) Muhammad Akram during our war of 1971.