26 Facts About Rawalpindi

1.

Rawalpindi, is the capital city of Rawalpindi Division located in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

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2.

Rawalpindi is the 4th largest city proper in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad respectively.

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3.

Rawalpindi is 3rd largest city of Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad respectively, while the larger Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area is the country's fourth largest metropolitan area.

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4.

Rawalpindi is adjacent to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, and the two are jointly known as the "twin cities" on account of strong social and economic links between the cities.

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5.

Rawalpindi is located on the Pothohar Plateau, known for its ancient Buddhist heritage, especially in the neighbouring town of Taxila – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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6.

Rawalpindi falls within the ancient boundaries of Gandhara, and is thus in a region containing many Buddhist ruins.

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7.

Rawalpindi declined in importance as Mughal power declined, until the town was captured in the mid-1760s from Muqarrab Khan by the Sikhs under Sardar Gujjar Singh and his son Sahib Singh.

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8.

Rawalpindi became for a time the refuge of Shah Shuja, the exiled king of Afghanistan, and of his brother Shah Zaman in the early 19th century.

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9.

Sikh rule over Rawalpindi was consolidated by defeat of the Afghans at Haidaran in July 1813.

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10.

Rawalpindi's cantonment served as a feeder to other cantonments throughout the region.

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11.

Rawalpindi flourished as a commercial centre, though the city remained largely devoid of an industrial base during the British era.

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12.

Rawalpindi's cantonment became a major center of military power of the Raj after an arsenal was established in 1883.

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13.

In 1901, Rawalpindi was made the winter headquarters of the Northern Command and of the Rawalpindi military division.

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14.

At the dawn of Pakistan's independence in 1947 following the success of the Pakistan Movement, Rawalpindi was a 43.

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15.

In 1951, the Rawalpindi conspiracy took place in which leftist army officers conspired to depose the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan.

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16.

Rawalpindi later became the site of the Liaquat Ali Khan's assassination, in what is known as Liaquat Bagh Park.

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17.

Rawalpindi remained the headquarters of the Pakistani Army after the capital shifted to Islamabad in 1969, while the Pakistan Air Force continues to maintain an airbase in the Chaklala district of Rawalpindi.

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18.

On 27 December 2007, Rawalpindi was the site of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

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19.

Rawalpindi is relatively a new city contrasted with Pakistan's millennia-old cities such as Lahore, Multan, and Peshawar.

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20.

Rawalpindi was a majority Hindu and Sikh city prior to the Partition of India in 1947, while Muslims made up 43.

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21.

The Baba Dyal Singh Gurdwara in Rawalpindi was where the reformist Nirankari movement of Sikhism originated.

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22.

Rawalpindi is situated along the historic Grand Trunk Road that connects Peshawar to Islamabad and Lahore.

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23.

City-District of Rawalpindi is sub-divided into one Municipal Corporation Two Cantonment Board and Seven tehsils:.

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24.

In 2008 Jinnah Park was inaugurated at the heart of Rawalpindi and has since become a hotspot of activity for the city.

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25.

Rawalpindi is situated near the Ayub National Park formerly known as 'Topi Rakh' is by the old Presidency, between the Murree Brewery Co.

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26.

Rawalpindi, being so close to the capital, has an active media and newspaper climate.

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