Margalla Hills · Islamabad, Pakistan
سید پور
A living museum at the foot of the Margalla Hills, where five centuries of Gakhar, Mughal, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim history share one ravine.
Scroll to travel from 1530 to today
Early 16th century · Foundation
Before Islamabad existed, clans lived in the Margalla ravines. In the early 16th century Sultan Said Khan, son of Sultan Sarang Khan of the Gakhar tribe, founded the settlement and gave it his name.
The Gakhars were a warrior clan who ruled the Potohar region. They kept strategic alliances with the Mughal dynasty against rival powers in the area.
Pilgrimage
Raja Man Singh I, the Hindu general of Emperor Akbar, turned Saidpur into a Hindu pilgrimage site. Local belief holds that Lord Ram, his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman visited the ravine during their 14-year exile, the vanvas.
To honour that tradition he built a grand temple to Lord Ram, a multi-story rest house for pilgrims, and four spring-fed pools.
Mughal era
Local accounts say Sultan Said Khan married his daughter to Prince Salim, who later took the throne as Emperor Jahangir. The alliance made Saidpur a garden resort and a resting point on the trade routes between Punjab and Kabul.
In 1607 Jahangir stayed here on his way to Kabul and wrote about the village in his autobiography, the Tuzk-e-Jahangiri.
Baisakhi · Gazetteer
The Rawalpindi Gazetteer of 1893 records an annual Baisakhi festival at the Ram Kund pond, drawing more than 8,000 pilgrims each year.
Under Sikh rule in the Punjab, a Gurdwara rose beside the temple, together with an orphanage and school. Hindu, Sikh and Muslim buildings stood side by side, which was rare for any village of its size.
Partition
When British India was partitioned in 1947, the Hindu and Sikh communities of Saidpur migrated and the religious sites were left empty.
In 1960 the temple complex was put to a new use as a girls' school. The festivals, the lamps and the crowds at the kunds were gone.
Restoration
In 2006 the Capital Development Authority began a restoration for the Government of Pakistan. Brick pathways, mud-fronted houses and the temple structures were repaired, and Saidpur was declared a Model Heritage Village.
The village square became a cultural tourism hub. Today craft shops and restaurants light up the lanes after dark.
Who came to Saidpur
What still stands
Village entrance · Dawn
Visitors entering Saidpur pass a green-domed mosque before they reach the restored temple complex. Beside the Ram Mandir and the Gurdwara it belongs to the village's mix of Muslim, Hindu and Sikh buildings.
The entrance is marked by a Pueblo-style gate, and two large banyan trees shade the open ground. At dawn the lamps along the lane are still lit.
Photographs
Views of the village, from painted studies of the domes to the lanes at night. The ring turns on its own. Pick a thumbnail to bring a picture forward, or select one in the ring to see it large.
Go further
Dates and accounts follow the local history notes this page was built from. Some details, such as the visit of Lord Ram and the royal marriage, come from tradition, and sources differ. The 3D village is an artist's impression, not a survey. The date of the mosque is not given in these notes, so the model simply shows it standing from the 1580 scene onward.