BAJAUR: The district administration plans to restore Mughal-era Nawi Dand picnic spot in Bajaur.

According to a statement issued here on Sunday, the administration has decided to restore the past glory of Nawi Dand, located near the Khar River, and said to be established during the Mughal Empire.

It said the Nawi Dand had been lying in bad shape for decades, and the decision to restore its past glory was made during a meeting of the senior officials of the district administration chaired by deputy commissioner Mohammad Anwarul Haq.

The meeting was informed that the historical place, once a central picnic spot in the Khar town till the death of Nawab Abdul Subhan Khan, the last chief of Khar town in the 1990s, was fast losing its splendour.

The statement said a team of the district administration led by assistant commissioner, Khar subdivision, Mohibullah Khan Yousafzai also visited the spot. The team decided that renovation of the picnic place would start after completion of a feasibility study of the site.

According to historians, Nawi Dand, which is a Pashto name meaning a bridal pond or swimming pool, was constructed by Zahiruddin Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent in 1521 for her first wife Bibi Mubarika.

The Nawi Dand spot, located near the Khar River, had several springs, swimming pools, rest houses and a small mosque. However, most of the structures disappeared after the death of Nawab Abdul Subhan Khan, the last ruler of Khar town in 1991. Afterwards, his grandsons sold most of land to locals for building houses and a seminary.

Meanwhile, people welcomed the district administration’s decision to restore the centuries-old picnic site to its glorious past.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2023