The History of Muhammad bin Qasim

Muhammad bin Qasim was among the finest colonialists in the Arab history, and a worthy soldier. Unfortunately, our modern writers have tried to paint him as a saint, and in the process they have lost all those features that made this Arab general an interesting human being. It is high time we restore his true picture from authentic sources of history written by the earliest Muslim historians.

Muhammad bin Qasim was born around 694 AD (if we are to believe the tradition that he was seventeen when he attacked Sindh in 711 AD). He belonged to the Saqqafi tribe that had originated from Taif in Arabia, and he was also a close relative of Hajjaj bin Yousuf (possibly a second cousin, but not a nephew as narrated in the popular tradition). Much because of the influence of Hajjaj, the young Muhammad bin Qasim was appointed the governor of Persia while in his teens, and it is said that he did a good job at crushing the rebellion in that region. Sometime around the same period he got married to a girl in the Tamim tribe. There is also a popular tradition that presents him as the son-in-law of Hajjaj bin Yousuf, but some scholars discredit this tradition since an authentic pedigree of Hajjaj doesn’t mention any daughter. It is more likely that the young hero was married to a woman of Banu Tamim, and although the name of his wife does not appear in recorded history it is certain that she gave him two sons who later became famous for their own exploits.

When Muhammad bin Qasim invaded Sindh, Hajjaj arranged for special messengers between Basra and Sindh, and told the general never to take any step without his advice. This order was followed to the letter during the campaign. “When you advance in the battle, see that you have the sun behind your backs,” Hajjaj wrote to his cousin just before the famous storming of Debal. “If the sun is at your back then its glare will not prevent you from having a full view of the enemy. Engage in fight immediately, and ask for the help of God. If anyone of the people of Sindh ask for mercy and protection, do give it to them but not to the citizens of Debal, who must all be put to the sword.”

Debal was the first important town in Sindh captured by the Arabs under Muhammad bin Qasim. It is also said that just before the final attack, a Brahmin came out to inform the invaders that the flag on the temple is a talisman and if they strike it down the city will hold no longer. “When the army of Islam scaled the walls of the fort, the Debalese opened the gates and asked for mercy,” says the writer of Chachnameh, the primary source on Muhammad bin Qasim written on the orders of his descendants. “Muhammad bin Qasim replied that he had no orders to spare anyone in the town, and that his soldiers had to do the slaughtering for three days… 700 beautiful females, who were under the protection of the temple, were all captured along with their valuable ornaments and clothes adorned with jewels.” The women and children thus captured from Debal were included in the spoils of the war. Some of them were distributed among the soldiers, while one-fifth was sent to the Caliph through Hajjaj bin Yousuf in accordance to the Islamic law that proclaimed that one-fifth of the spoils of the war belonged to the Caliph for rightful use. These spoils included two daughters of the deceased ruler of Debal, who were handpicked for the Caliph’s harem. 

The fate of Debal sent shockwaves across Sindh. People consulted their astrologers, and soon the word was out: fate has ordained the country to fall to the Arabs. It is more likely than not that the Arab invaders sponsored the rumour after seeing at Debal how local superstition could be exploited as a war strategy. The Buddhist population of Sindh was the first to make secret alliances with the Arabs, since they had little stake in the rule of the Brahmin dynasty. Hajjaj Bin Yousuf carefully dictated the Arab terms of mercy to Muhammad bin Qasim all the way from Basra. “Whoever submits to you, let him retain his power and wealth and family,” Hajjaj ordered his cousin. “And whoever does not submit, treat him brutally and torture him till he submits.”

This strategy was carried out with great success. Nothing weakens the spirit of a human being more than existing on a borderline of hope and fear. All colonialists have known this fact of human psychology, and exploited it to make traitors of their enemy. The colonialisation of Sindh by the Arabs is a superb example of this policy, and the Arab historians proudly narrate many instances. One such case is the story of Kaka Kotak, a Buddhist of some influence in Siwistan (Sehwan). Kaka made a secret alliance with the Arabs and then went to the Brahmin ruler of the town, telling him that it was written in the ancient books of India that the country of Sindh would fall to the Arabs at a certain time, and that time had now arrived. “Our religion forbids us to shed blood,” the cunning Buddhist told the governor. “We are afraid that when the Arab horde storms the city, they will take us for your followers and deprive us of our life and domestics. We have come to know that Lord Hajjaj, under the orders of the Caliph, has ordered this army to grant pardon to those who ask for it, and the Arabs are said to be faithful to their word.” He then asked for the governor’s permission to make an alliance with the Arabs. When permission was refused, Kaka continued to serve as a spy to the Arabs, and never failed to remind his governor that the fall of Sindh was foretold in books written hundreds of years ago. The governor soon lost hope, and fled to his cousin Raja Dahar while the Arab army marched on and occupied the city. True to their word, they spared the family of Kaka and his friends while the rest of the population was sold into slavery or distributed among the soldiers. Kaka was then raised to the rank of a local chief, something he might not have dreamt of under the Brahmin rulers. “When Kaka put on this dress of honor, all the noblemen in the surrounding places were inspired to accept his influence,” writes the author of Chachnameh. “Kaka secured immunity from the Arab army for those who submitted while he led the Arabs to those who refused to submit, so that the stubborn could be punished.”

Muhammad bin Qasim’s advance towards Dahar was very careful. The Arab ensured that his supply line was safe, moving ahead only after each city on the way was secured in possession and its population either annihilated or won over with generosity. To Hajjaj, who was sitting several thousand miles away, it might have seemed that his cousin was wasting time. “Now give up other towns and march against Dahar,” Hajjaj wrote in a rather frustrated mood. There is a subtle, almost vague indication that Muhammad bin Qasim wanted Raja Dahar to submit to him and rule over Sindh as the Caliph’s viceroy. Hajjaj saw this as a waste of time. “I am shocked at the weakness of your policy,” Hajjaj wrote to him. “People will think that you are trying to bring about peace! You should inspire fear."

“O Men of Arabia,” Muhammad bin Qasim charged his armies to the final contest with Dahar. “These crowds of infidels have come prepared to fight with us. You must use all your strength, for they will put up a furious resistance for the sake of their wealth and families. Ride against them… With the help of God, we hope to make them all food for our sharp swords, take away their wealth and their families, and obtain large booty. Do not show weakness, and remember that God makes the end of the pious happy.”

Dahar was killed at the Battle of Rawar. “It is related that when the fort of Rawar was taken, all the treasures and arms that were in it were secured, except what had been taken away by Dahir’s son Jaisingh,” narrates the author of Chachnameh. “All this booty was brought to Muhammad bin Qasim. The slaves were counted, and their number came to 60,000. Out of these, 30 were young ladies of royal blood including Raja Dahar’s niece whose name was Husna (Sundri). Muhammad bin Qasim sent all these to Hajjaj, together with Dahar’s head, and one-fifth of the booty, as the royal share… When the head of Dahar and women and the treasure were brought to Hajjaj, he placed his forehead on the ground and offered prayers of thanks-giving, saying: Now I have got all the treasures of the world. I rule the world.” It is said that one of Dahar’s wives, Ladi, married Muhammad bin Qasim, but there is another tradition according to which Ladi killed herself by jumping down the rampart when she saw the Arabs. 

The conquest of Sindh was completed with occupation of the remaining major cities, especially Brahmanabad and Multan. This brought more serious responsibilities. So far, Sindh was treated as an enemy country, and in his earlier conquests Muhammad bin Qasim had torn down temples, replacing them with mosques. “Now that the people of this land have placed their heads in the yoke of submission,” Hajjaj instructed his general. “I do not see what further rights we have over them beyond the usual tax. Therefore, permit them to build the temples of those they worship. No one is prohibited from, or punished for, following his own religion, and let no one prohibit it, so that these people may live happily in their homes.” This edict of Hajjaj bin Yousuf had a lasting influence in the history of Muslim India. By giving the Buddhists and Hindus the status of “zimmis,” and imposing “protection tax” (or “jizya”) on them, the Arabs had accepted them as “People of the Book,” hence acknowledging both Buddhism and Hinduism as divinely revealed religions. However, the Muslim psychology could never come to terms with the practice of idol-worship by the Hindus. Hence a paradoxical situation existed throughout the Muslim rule in India where Hinduism was accepted as a divinely revealed religion for the purpose of tax collection but was seen as the creed of the infidels in all other matters. It is difficult to conclude from the edict of Hajjaj what he or other Muslims of his age actually thought about Hinduism, but it is obvious that the Arabs as colonialists had to make pragmatic compromises.

Muhammad bin Qasim completed the annexation of Sindh in three years, enlisting a large cohort of loyal followers from the native population. He then prepared plans to annex other states of India, beginning with Qannauj, which lied just across the Rajasthan desert. Of course, these states had given no provocation, and since the Hindus had just been accepted as “People of the Book,” there was no justification of a religious war against them either. But clearly, Muhammad bin Qasim was serving the interests of the Arab Empire as a worldly-wise general.

It was about this time that he lost both of his sponsors at the court. His cousin Hajjaj was the first to die, soon followed by the master himself, Caliph Walid. The successor on throne, Caliph Sulieman bin Abdul Malik, was a generous monarch who owed his throne to the opponents of the late Hajjaj bin Yousuf. Most of these were relatives of people killed or tortured by Hajjaj (some 20,000 women and 50,000 men were found unjustly imprisoned when Hajjaj died). They demanded revenge, and there was no way, nor enough reason, for Sulieman to stop them. Muhamamd bin Qasim was high on the hit list due to his close association with Hajjaj.

It is said that the young general was about to invade an Indian state when the Caliph’s messengers arrived to take him back in chains. True to the soldier’s honor, like always, Muhammad bin Qasim obliged. His followers wept bitterly, warning him that he was going back to a certain death. We don’t know what he said in reply, if he said anything. We do know, however, that shortly afterwards, just before he died of torture in the prison of Wasit, he recited an Arabic couplet to the effect: “They wasted me at the prime of my youth, and what a youth they wasted: the one who was a defender of their borders.”

The Brief History of Sindh

ORIGIN OF THE NAME

The province of Sindh has been designated after the river Sindh (Indus) which literally created it and has been also its sole means of sustenance. However, the importance of the river and close phonetical resemblance in nomenclature would make one consider Sindhu as the probable origin of the name of Sindh. Later phonetical changes transformed Sindhu into Hindu in Pahlavi and into Hoddu in Hebrew. The Greeks (who conquered Sindh in 125 BC under the command of the Alexander the great) rendered it into Indos, hence modern Indus.

PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD

The Indus valley civilization is the farthest visible outpost of archeology in the abyss of prehistoric times. The areas constituting Pakistan have had a historical individuality of their own and Sindh is the most important among such areas. The prehistoric site of Kot Diji in Sindh has furnished information of high significance for the reconstruction of a connected story which pushes back the history of Pakistan by at least another 300 years, from about 2,500 BC. Evidence of a new element of pre-Harappan culture has been traced here. When the primitive village communities in Baluchistan were still struggling against a difficult highland environment, a highly cultured people were trying to assert themselves at Kot Diji one of the most developed urban civilization of the ancient world that flourished between the year 25,00 BC and 1,500 BC in the Indus valley sites of Moenjodaro and Harappa. The people were endowed with a high standard of art and craftsmanship and well-developed system of quasi-pictographic writing which despite ceaseless efforts still remains un-deciphered. The remarkable ruins of the beautifully planned Moenjodaro and Harappa towns, the brick buildings of the common people, roads, public-baths and the covered drainage system envisage the life of a community living happily in an organized manner.

EARLY HISTORY

The earliest authentic history of Sindh dates from the time when Alexander the Great abandoned his scheme of conquest towards the Ganges, alarmed at the discontent of his soldiers. He embarked a portion of the army in boats, floated them down the Jhelum and the Chenab, and marched the remainder on the banks of the river till he came to the Indus. There he constructed a fleet, which sailed along the coast towards the Persian Gulf with part of his forces, under the command of Nearchus and Ptolemy, whilst Alexander himself marched through Southern Baluchistan and Persia to Seistan or Susa. At that time Sindh was in the possession of the Hindus, the last of whose rulers was Raja Sahasi, whose race, as is reported by native historians, governed the kingdom for over two thousand years. The Persian monarchs were probably alluded to, for in the sixth century BC Sindh was invaded by them, They defeated and slew the monarch in a pitched battle and plundered the province and then left. Eight years after his accession to the Persian throne, Darius I, son of Hystaspes extended his authority as far as the Indus. This was about 513 BC.

The Arab conquest of Sindh by Muhammad Bin Qasim in 712 AD gave the Muslims a firm foothold on the sub-continent. The description of Hiun Tsang, a Chinese historian, leaves no doubt that the social and economic restrictions inherent in the caste differentiations of Hindu society had however, gradually sapped the inner vitality of the social system and Sindh fell without much resistance before the Muslim armies. According to Al-Idreesi, the famous city of Al-Mansura was founded during the reign of Mansur (754-775 AD) the second Khalifa of the Abbasid dynasty. Khalifa Harun-al-Rashid (786-809 AD) was able to extend the frontiers of Sindh on its western side. For nearly two hundred years since its conquest by Muhammad Bin Qasim, Sindh remained an integral part of the Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates. The provincial governors were appointed directly by the central government. History has preserved a record of some 37 of them.

The Arab rule brought Sindh within the orbit of the Islamic civilization, Sindhi language was developed and written in the naskh script. Education became widely diffused and Sindhi scholars attained fame in the Muslim world. Agriculture and commerce progressed considerably. Ruins of Mansura, the medieval Arab capital of Sindh (11 kms south east of Shahdadpur) testify to the grandeur of the city and the development of urban life during this period.

In the 10th century, native people replaced the Arab rule in Sindh. Samma and Soomra dynasties ruled Sindh for long. These dynasties produced some rulers who obtained fame due to judicious dispensation and good administration.

Sindh was partially independent and the scene of great disorders till late in the sixteenth century when it failed into the hands of Emperor Akbar, and for a hundred and fifty years the chiefs paid tribute, but only as often as they were compelled to do so, to the Emperor at Delhi. Later the Kalhora clan claiming descent from the house of Abbas and long settled in Sindh produced religious leaders of whom Main Adam Shah attained prominence in the 16th century. His descendants continued to gather large following and this enabled them to capture political power in the north western Sindh under the leadership of Mian Nasir Muhammad. This happened in the 2nd half of the 17th century. By the turn of that century, foundations of the Kalhora power were firmly laid in the northern Sindh under the leadership of Mian Yar Mohammad. During the reign of his son, Mian Noor Muhammad, lower Sindh with Thatta as its capital came under the Kalhora administration (1150 A.H).

Under the banner of Mir Fateh Ali Khan Talpur, the Balochis defeated the last Kalhora ruler Mian Abdul Nabi in the battle of Halani in 1782 AD. Talpur Amirs regained the parts of Sindh (Karachi, Khairpur, Sabzal Kot and Umar Kot) which the last Kalhora chief had conceded to the neighboring rulers. By eliminating the foreign interference, which had plagued the Kalhora rule, and by their essentially democratic way of governance, the Talpurs were able to take the people into confidence and thus achieved

Great many things within a short period of 60 years. They built up an excellent system of forts and outposts guarding the frontiers, extended the irrigation system, encouraged scholarly pursuits and educational institutions, and promoted trade and commerce internally as well as with the neighboring countries.

The British who came to Sindh also as traders became so powerful in rest of the sub-continent that in 1843 Sindh lost its independence falling prey to the British imperialistic policy. The Talpurs were defeated on the battlefields of Miani, Dubba and Kunhera and taken prisoners. The conquerors behaved inhumanly with the vanquished as they did with the Muslim rulers in India. Charles Napier who commanded the troops subsequently became the first Governor of the province of Sindh.

The British had conquered Sindh from their bases in Bombay and Kutch and their supporters were Hindus. Therefore, Sindh was annexed to the Bombay Presidency in 1843 and a constant policy to subdue the Muslim majority and to lionize the Hindu minority in Sindh was followed. Trade and commerce, Services and education became monopolies in the hands of the minority whom with the support of the rulers wrought havoc on Muslims. Within a few years forty percent of the Muslim land holdings passed on to the Hindu creditors. It was after a long struggle that the cause of Sindh was supported by the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah when he brought in his famous 14-points the demand of Sindh's separation from Bombay Presidency. H.H. Sir Agh Khan, G.M. Syed, Sir Abdul Qayyum Khan (NWFP) and many other Indian Muslim leaders also played their pivotal rule that was why the Muslims of Sindh succeeded in getting Sindh separated from the Bombay Presidency in 1936.

A Brief History Of Bermuda Triangle

Some people trace the Bermuda Triangle history back to the time of Columbus. Estimates range from about 200 to about 1,000 incidents of ships and airplanes disappearing in the past 500 years. Howard, an expert on Bermuda Triangle, claims that more than 50 ships and 20 planes have gone down in the Bermuda Triangle over the last century itself. 

It was in 1952, when the author George Sand first mentioned about the Bermuda triangle in a magazine called Fate. In this magazine, he mostly described the Flight-19incident where the U.S navy airplanes went missing in 1945. He also mentioned about the ship Sandra that disappeared in 1950. 

In the whole of 1950s, the stories of Bermuda triangle basically had been spreading by the word of mouth. Every time there was a new incidence, people used to refer to that area by Bermuda triangle. In early 1960's though, it acquired the name The Deadly Triangle. 

In 1962, the author Dale Titler in his book The Wings of Mystery started introducing concepts like the electromagnetic phenomenon and such. This was the book which actually started to trigger all the discussions and hypothesis about Bermuda triangle. 

Again in 1962, Allan W. Eckert wrote about some interesting dialogue from Flight-19 in one of the American magazines. This sensational article The Mystery of the Lost Patrolbecame extremely popular. He mentioned reports from Flight-19 stating ... "the ocean looks strange", "...all the compasses are going haywire", and that they could not make out any directions and so on. 

The name "Bermuda Triangle" is generally attributed to the writer Vincent H. Gaddis who first used it in a 1964 article he wrote for Argosy magazine. Gaddis wrote a bookInvisible Horizons in 1965 that further helped spreading the concept of the Bermuda Triangle. 

In 1969, John Spencer stated that the area had no real shape and tried to include the Gulf of Mexico as well as New Jersey as part of the area. It sold in limited quantities, but was later reproduced in paperback in the early 1970s and did well. 

  

Dozens of magazine and newspaper articles came out in the early ‘70s, each author offering a shape and theory to the area. Richard Winer proposed the name The Devil’s Triangle and extended the area close to the Azores near Portugal.  

But it was Charles Berlitz’s in 1974, who produced the world's all-time best seller called, The Bermuda Triangle. It sold way over 5,000,000 copies in hardback and became a phenomenon by itself. However, he too cautioned that there was no real shape of Bermuda Triangle. 

Out of all the books that were published so far on Bermua Triangle, only one remains in reprint today: Larry Kusche’s book The Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Solved. 

Related Articles 

1) Check out Bermuda Triangle Mystery to know more about the mystery of Bermuda Triangle, amazing stories of planes and ship disappearing and how it has been solved. 

                               

Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Facts and Myths

So looking for the facts behind the mystery of Bermuda Triangle? More than 1000 ships and planes have disappeared in the triangle area over the past five centuries and continue to do so. And all these happen when apparently there are no human errors, equipment failures or even natural disasters. Strangely, the ships and aircraft just vanish when everything seems to be okay. Many believe that Devil is at play here and therefore call the area also as Devil's Triangle.  

The facts however are quite far from what is generally known or believed to be true. There are many stories and myths created through sheer imagination by writers who have used them rampantly to draw publicity to their books. In many cases, the facts got blurred. But one thing which is beyond doubt is, far too many incidents have taken place in this area for it to be ignored casually or interpreted to be just another normal ocean area. Well, I have been digging deep into the incidents and analyzing the facts and evidences. This section is an account of those findings.  

So where is Bermuda Triangle located and how large is the area? Is there a map? And do you get to know when exactly you cross the line and enter the area? By the simplest of all definitions, Bermuda Triangle is located off the South-Eastern coast of the United States and in the Atlantic Ocean. The three corners of the triangle are: Miami (in Florida); San Juan (in Puerto Rico); and Bermuda (a north-Atlantic island). 

The disappearances have mostly taken place near the southern boundary of the triangle between Florida and Puerto Rico. You can always argue that it's obvious because that's where the area of the triangle is widest and therefore such possibilities should be more anyway! But the area is not as simple as it appears in the picture above. In order to know more about its location, how the area is actually laid out in the Atlantic, and whether you will ever know when you are entering the dreaded Bermuda triangle area as you take a cruise or flight, Visit Triangle Location & Map. 

So the next question is why the name "Bermuda Triangle"? At the time of coining the term, the first name that came up was "Miami Triangle". But Florida objected saying that they would lose visitors to Miami with such name as people would fear to come there. So the next name taken up was "Puerto Rico Triangle". Puerto Rico too raised objections. Then it was the turn for the 21 square mile tiny island Bermuda which forms the third corner of the triangle. And no one seems to have bothered. Bermuda was then also known as the "Isle of the Devils" which fitted to the triangle concept quite well and therefore the final name "Bermuda Triangle" was coined. 

Lost Planes & Ships in Bermuda Triangle 

Here are some of the most amazing stories of planes and ships that disappeared while crossing the triangle area. As you visit the links, you will also see my findings behind such great mysteries of all times. In most cases I have discussed and explained the possible causes, in some cases I have also given excerpts from official reports that were produced by US Navy, US Air Force or US Coast Guards after completing the search operations. And in several cases, I have given updates on further findings. 

Flight 19: The Avenger planes of Flight-19 took off from the U.S Naval Base of Florida for a routine training session on an afternoon of December 1945, but strangely this time they never returned. 

PBM Martin Mariner: When all hopes for the above Flight-19 planes were quickly fading, two Martin Mariner planes (flying boats) were sent by US Navy to search them out. One came back, but the other didn't. Read the full story to know what happened. 

Tudor Star Tiger: Star Tiger, a Tudor Mark-IV aircraft disappeared in Bermuda Triangle shortly before it was about to land at the Bermuda airport. 

Fight DC-3: The flight DC-3 NC16002 disappeared when it was only 50 miles south of Florida and about to land in Miami. 

Flight 441: A Super Constellation Naval Airliner disappeared in October 1954. 

C-54 Skymaster: Apparently it seemed to be a sudden thunderstorm that had disintegrated the plane. But there was much more to the story. 

Mary Celeste - The Ghost Ship: Known as one of the ghost ships of Bermuda Triangle, Mary Celeste had many misadventures even before her mystery voyage in 1872. But this time, although the ship could be salvaged, none on board could ever be traced. 

Marine Sulphur Queen: This 524-foot carrier of molten sulphur started sail on Feb 2, 1963 from Beaumont, Texas with 39 crew. It was reported lost in Florida Straits on February 4, and lost for ever. 

Ellen Austin: The Ellen Austin, an American schooner, met with another ship in Bermuda Triangle. The other ship was moving in full speed but strangely had nobody on board. 

USS Cyclops: Disappearance of the carrier ship U.S.S. Cyclops in Bermuda Triangle has been one of the greatest mysteries of the sea. 

USS Scorpion: USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was a Nuclear powered submarine of United States Navy that disappeared in Bermuda Triangle area in May 1968. 

Those were only few cases. Check out Bermuda Triangle Incidents for a list of all the major indents in the triangle area along with fascinating stories for many. 

Popular theories solving the mystery 

So what caused the ships and aircraft to disappear mysteriously? There have been many research and explorations done to uncover the mystery. There is no single theory that can explain all the incidents of disappearances. The ships and aircraft have been victims of different circumstances and situations. Things happened quickly and unexpectedly. While many theories have come out, there are few that come close to solving the Bermuda Triangle Mystery.  

Methane Gas trapped under the sea floor can erupt, and as a result can lower the water density and cause ships to sink like a rock. Even planes flying over it, can catch fire and get completely destroyed during such gas blowout. 

Sargasso Sea is a strange area that has no shores and bounded only by water currents on all sides. Many ships passing through it have been stranded and made motionless. 

Electronic Fog, a strange thick cloud appears from nowhere and engulfs a ship or a plane. Instruments begin to malfunction, and finally the ship or the aircraft vanishes without a trace. 

There are many other theories that try to solve or explain the mysteries of Bermuda Triangle. Check out the Theories of Bermuda Triangle that describes most of such strange factors that would have caused the disappearances. 

And there are also theories that took recourse to some supernatural events to explain the disappearances. Check out Supernatural Theories to know about them. 

History of Bermuda Triangle 

So how and when did it all start, and who first noted the abnormal incidents in the triangle area? Check out Bermuda Triangle History to know about that. 

News articles on Bermuda Triangle 

Over the years there have been dozens of articles, books, and television programs that promoted Bermuda Triangle incidents. Here are some references to such news articles published in the past: News Articles on Bermuda Triangle 

History of Bari Imam Islamabad

                                
Bari Imam is a small village in the outskirts of Islamabad. It is famous for shrine of Hazrat Bari Imam (1617–1705), whose real name was Shah Abdul Latif Kazmi, was born in 1026 Hijra (1617 AD). His father, Syed Mehmood Shah, shifted his family from Jhelum District to Baghan village, presently called Aabpara. At that time, it was a barren land. Soon after the arrival of Bari Imam’s family, his father started farming and also kept some animals. Shah Latif helped his father in grazing the animals, but left his father at 12 and came to Nurpur Shahan. From Nurpur Shahan, Bari Imam went to Ghaur Ghashti (now known as Attock) where he stayed for two years for learning fiqh, hadith, logic, mathematics, medicine and other disciplines, because at that time Ghaur Ghashti was a great seat of learning.

Shrine

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, who was devoted to spreading his empire, originally built the silver-mirrored shrine of Hazrat Bari Imam [RA]. It has been renovated and is now is maintained by the government. Inside the mausoleum, where the great saint rests, only men are permitted, a steady stream of worshippers enter and exit, most bending to kiss and strew rose petals on the green cloth covering the grave of Hazrat Bari Sarkar [RA]. The shrine is a tourist spot in the tour guide's list. Every year as the Urs of the saint, who spread Islam in this part of the world, gains momentum, devotees in their thousands set out for the Margalla foothills and gather at Nurpur Shahan to pay their respect. Although many swarm the shrine all year round, only last year the number exceeded a head count of 1.2 million people.

Nighttime is the best time to visit the shrine, as the atmosphere is hyped by glittering lights, sounds of qawalisand dhammals of malangs. There was a time when the event attracted a number of dancing girls from Lahore. Although dancing is no more allowed, the women still come to pay their respect.

Reciting verses from the Quran, women view the grave through a glass window, which many touch and kiss while praying for the blessings of AlmightyAllah.

The faithful read from one of the hundreds of the copies of the Quran, the moment when one leaves after recitation. Some simply sit in silence as mark of respect for the great saint, taking a moment to say a final prayer and to collect the inspiration and strength to make the journey back home.