Sangni Killa &
Sahibzada Abdul
Al Hakeem

I discovered sangni fort some ten years ago and it was well worth the experience. Apart from being the resting place of what people call a saint, more on this below, it also is a well known location and also houses   shrine & a mosques within the interior walls.

From a distance when you first set eyes on it, it is awe inspiring, mainly because of its serene location, and the sheer beauty of having a monument of such historical grandeur in the middle of quite literally no where.

When I visited it all those years ago, I think about ten years ago (how time flies), I was like a child being given a new toy, I didn’t know where to start exploring it from and, the fact that it was new to me made the experience more exhilarating. I was so thrilled at the sight of it that I had taken my movie camera with me to film the whole gem of a place. Upon going and visiting the killa at the time I noticed it was being renovated (see video) it sounds silly now saying that it was being renovated, but that’s exactly what was happening. I was lucky I went when I did as I found it in a bit of derelict state, so I managed to capture it almost in its original form so to speak.
The walls are huge and show years of baking in the hot atmosphere and have been washed in the monsoon rains for hundreds of years. They are perforated for viewing the outside or indeed watching the enemy and possibly firing arrow or spears, this feature is typical of killas alike.

The killa has been standing for nearly two hundred years but it is in exceptionally good condition. The wood work had decayed away and it did need internal repairs due the crumbling of some of the wall structure, but nothing that could not be repaired and maintained. However it is  now in a state of normal use after the legacy of Sahibzada Abdul Hakeem was fulfilled.

There have been what I can only call assumptions for Sangni Killas existence and why it was built, who built it and what its purpose was. I have been unable to find anything in terms of concrete evidence to answer the above but theories could be drawn to answer these questions. Indeed if you have any further information or answers to these questions, please contact us so we may add it in. A few possible reasons could be that it may have been used as some kind of checkpoint or a prison or even a safe haven for a small army. It may well have something to do with who ever conquered the area at the time.

Ownership of the killa has no doubt changed many times over the since it was constructed. It is said it change hands from the Dogras, then passed on to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. I don’t honestly know and would rather not write something here from hearsay.

As you all know it is common knowledge that times change, huge empires fall and rise to make way for new rulers and generations evolve to make way for new civilisations. It is within human nature to succeed above others to gain respect and power and leave a mark in chronological history.

But all these Badshahs (kings) and rulers have their small place in history. They ruled like tyrants, killed and shaped the regions of pothwar with their dictatorship and would speak and conquer with a naked talwar (sword). The important thing to understand here is that their reputations has earned them a place in history, but where?? They may well be mentioned in text books and in classrooms as a gentle reminder of their existence, their tombs are visited today by many people, photographs are taken and they only remain as a backdrop for tourist attraction. They no longer have any influence they once held over people lives. Yet their very memory is like a line in stone, unchanged, but only weathered by time.

The true kings are people who followed the right path of Allah subhan wa'ta'ala, such as Sahibzada Abdul Hakeem. In a sense he is a true king, he had no kingdom and no domain, yet people flock to visit his shrine in a castle (killa) and only kings live in castles. He had no followers yet hundreds of people still visit his shrine every year and festivals called mela are celebrated in his name in not one place but two, one in Sangni Killa and one in Chakrali, the original place where Sahibzada was buried. What talwar I ask is being used. It was not a talwar but deen e Islam. I ask you, the reader "Badshah koun hai" (Who is king?) the rulers of yesteryears ? or the ones that are hidden behind a veil only not be seen by us anymore - Decide for yourself?

The fort or killa is located just outside the village Sangni less than 25 km off GT Road at Gujar Khan. This is about 20 to 25 km from Kallar Syedan and around roughly around 50 km from Rawat and 75 km from Rawalpindi. Other villages in the local vicinity of Sangni Killa are Takal, Chakrali, Sui Cheemian, Choha Khalsa and Bewal. The killa stands proud on a raised embankment which I suppose could be called a hill. The front entrance has been repaired and a path created to make access easy for people. There is also parking spaces for vehicles and cars and wagons.

The roads leading to the killa remains raw and dusty and turns very muddy in wet weather as there is no tarmac. Who knows, some people enjoy walking with their salwar pulled up above the knees! This is typical for most side roads of pothwar and can lead to a dusty trip if you are visiting on a motorbike in hot dry weather. A ravine surrounds three sides of the killa and was possibly carved by running water over decades, or normal earth movement or was indeed man made to aid the defences of the killa. The water is barely visible in the stream below, in places it dries up in hot weather. This just adds to the splendour of the killa and adds a beautiful backdrop to the location. The whole area offers a breathtaking view from any face of the killa. In spring the foliage adds lots of colour.

As you enter through the main gates the inside welcomes you with lovely heather bushes and shrubs and a very lovely decorated masjid and shrine. It now has religious aspect due to the addition of the masjid.

The dome of the shrine can be seen from the outside of the killa. The towers of the killa (or bastions as they are known) have been converted to small rooms to be used as for storage. Some rooms have been built for religious events such as Khatams and melay. A tube well has been drilled and there is an ample supply of water.

After being cast out from his home he moved to the local village of Chakrali which is not far from Sangni itself.

After his timely decease in the middle of the 1800’s he was buried in Chakrali. Around fifty years later, when time had passed to the extent that Sangni Killa was abandoned and now empty, Sahibzada Abdul Hakeem mysteriously appeared in a number of peoples dreams. One of which was a religious person named Hazrat Sahibzada Sayed Muhammad Saab Al Marouf Sakhi Sarkar, asking him to relocate him from his current resting place in Chakrali and move him to Sangni Killa, which was his old home, hence fulfilling his legacy.

It is said that Sahibzada Abdul Hakeem used to pray and / or meditate on the hill where the killa now stands.  Rumour has it that the hill was later chosen for the killa because of its tactical position by a clan known as the dogras. Sahibzada Abdul Hakeem was asked to leave the spot, but probably not on such polite or amicable terms. As Sahibzada Abdul Hakeem was departing from his beloved abode / resting place, he told his adversaries (the dogras) that his return to the same spot would be ever imminent for him to eventually reside till yome qiyama!

and the fulfilled legacy !

The shrine of Abdul Hakeem is situated on the left and the masjid is on the right. The shrine has been very well decorated and maintained to a high standard.