The old name of Rawalpindi was Fatehpur Baori, the name the town carried before it was ruined during the Mongol invasions of the 14th century. Older still, the archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham linked ruins on the site of today's cantonment with an ancient city called Gajipur or Gajnipur, said to be a capital of the Bhatti tribe before the Christian era. The present name dates from 1493, when the Gakhar chief Jhanda Khan restored the town and called it Rawalpindi, the "village of the Rawals".
That is the short answer. Below is how each name came about, how sure historians are about each one, the decade when Rawalpindi served as Pakistan's capital, and the parts of the old city you can still walk through today.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Ancient name (proposed) | Gajipur or Gajnipur, per Cunningham |
| Medieval name | Fatehpur Baori |
| Present name given | 1493, by the Gakhar chief Jhanda Khan |
| Meaning | "Village of the Rawals" (pind or pindi means village) |
| Interim capital of Pakistan | From 1959, until Islamabad took over in the late 1960s |
| Old-city sights | Raja Bazaar, Bhabra Bazaar, Haveli Sujan Singh, Kalyan Das Temple |
What was the old name of Rawalpindi?
Two earlier names turn up in the histories, and they come with different levels of certainty.
Gajipur or Gajnipur
This is the oldest name connected with the site, but it is an identification rather than a record. In the 19th century Alexander Cunningham, who led the Archaeological Survey of India, matched ruins on the ground where the cantonment now stands with Gajipur, or Gajnipur, which tradition places as a seat of the Bhatti tribe in the centuries before Christ. Later reference works repeat his view. It is a reasonable theory, but no one has found an inscription naming the place, so treat Gajipur as "probably" rather than "certainly".
Fatehpur Baori
Fatehpur Baori is the name the town had in historical times, before its 14th-century decline. Baori (also spelt baoli) is the word for a stepwell, so the name is often read as a reference to a well or water tank in the settlement. The usual account is that the town was damaged in the campaigns of Mahmud of Ghazni in the early 11th century, was restored afterwards, and then fell into decay again after Mongol raids in the 1300s.
If someone asks you for "the old name of Rawalpindi" in a quiz, Fatehpur Baori is the answer they expect.
Who were the Rawals, and why is it called Rawalpindi?
The name means the village, or settlement, of the Rawals. Pind is the Punjabi word for a village, and pindi is its common form in place names across the Potohar.
The Rawals are usually described as a group of yogis, Hindu ascetics, who lived at a village on or near the site. When Jhanda Khan, a chief of the Gakhar tribe that controlled the Potohar plateau, rebuilt the ruined town in 1493, he named the new settlement after them. That is the account most sources give.
A less common reading takes "Rawal" as a title used among the Gakhar landholders rather than the name of ascetics. Both versions agree on the date and on Jhanda Khan; they differ only on who the Rawals were. The yogi account is the one most historians repeat.
How did Rawalpindi grow after 1493?
The Gakhars held the area for most of the next three centuries, under Mughal overlordship. The key dates after that are well recorded:
- 1765: Sikh forces under Sardar Milka Singh defeated Muqarrab Khan, the last Gakhar ruler. Milka Singh then invited traders from Jhelum and Shahpur to settle, and the town began to grow as a market.
- 1849: The British took the Punjab and Rawalpindi with it. A permanent military garrison followed in 1851.
- 1867: The Rawalpindi municipality was formed.
- 1883: An arsenal was set up, adding to the town's military weight.
- 1 January 1886: The railway reached Rawalpindi, making it a major stop on the line towards Peshawar and the frontier.
The cantonment never stopped growing. Today the city is the headquarters of the Pakistan Army, and that military role is the thread running from 1849 to now.
Was Rawalpindi ever the capital of Pakistan?
Yes. Rawalpindi was Pakistan's interim capital from 1959, when President Ayub Khan's government decided to move the capital north from Karachi and build Islamabad next to Rawalpindi. While the new city was being laid out, government offices worked from Rawalpindi.
Islamabad's official establishment date is 14 August 1967, exactly twenty years after independence, and that is the date usually given for the move. Some sources put the end of Rawalpindi's interim role at 1969, because offices shifted gradually and some stayed in Rawalpindi for a time. Either way, Rawalpindi was the working capital for most of the 1960s.
It is also why the two cities grew into one urban area, now called the twin cities.
Which parts of old Rawalpindi survive?
The old core around Raja Bazaar is where you see what the town was like before the cantonment and Islamabad grew around it. Most of it is busy, crowded trading streets rather than a preserved quarter, so go expecting a working bazaar.
Raja Bazaar and its side streets
Raja Bazaar is the heart of the old city, with narrow lanes branching off by trade. Our Raja Bazaar guide covers how to get around it and what each lane sells.
Haveli Sujan Singh, Bhabra Bazaar
The most striking surviving building is Haveli Sujan Singh, built in 1893 by Rai Bahadur Sujan Singh, a wealthy timber merchant, in the crowded Bhabra Bazaar. After Partition it fell into ruin and much of its carved woodwork was lost. In 2014 the National College of Arts took over its management for a field school and conservation project. Public access is not regular, so ask locally before you go. Our Bhabra Bazaar guide covers the area around it.
Kalyan Das Temple, Kohati Bazaar
This Hindu temple was built between about 1850 and 1880 by the Suri family. Since the 1950s its compound has housed the Government Qandeel Secondary School for the Blind. The temple building still stands but is hard to see behind the school, and you cannot simply walk in.
Christ Church and Liaquat Bagh
Outside the bazaar core, Christ Church in the cantonment dates from 1854 and served the British garrison. Liaquat Bagh, on Murree Road, is where Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated in October 1951 and where Benazir Bhutto was killed on 27 December 2007. See our Liaquat Bagh guide for the park today.
Is old Rawalpindi worth exploring for its history?
It is worth a morning if you like cities with layers: the bazaars, the decaying havelis and the colonial churches all sit within a few kilometres. It suits people who are happy to walk in crowds and do not need signboards explaining everything.
It is less rewarding if you expect restored monuments with ticket desks. Very little of pre-1849 Rawalpindi is visible, and much of the 19th-century fabric is in poor repair. Go early, before the lanes fill, and pair the old city with something easier. Our places to visit in Rawalpindi list has parks and museums for the rest of the day, and our destinations page covers where to go further afield from the twin cities.
Frequently asked questions
What was Rawalpindi called before?
Before 1493 the town was known as Fatehpur Baori. An older name, Gajipur or Gajnipur, has been linked to the site by the archaeologist Alexander Cunningham, though this is a theory rather than a recorded name.
Who named Rawalpindi?
Jhanda Khan, a chief of the Gakhar tribe, restored the ruined town in 1493 and named it Rawalpindi after the Rawals who lived there.
What does Rawalpindi mean?
It means the village of the Rawals. Pindi comes from pind, the Punjabi word for village, and the Rawals are usually described as a community of yogis.
Was Rawalpindi the capital of Pakistan?
Yes. It was the interim capital from 1959, while Islamabad was being built, and Islamabad formally became the capital in 1967.
Is Rawalpindi older than Islamabad?
By centuries. Rawalpindi was refounded under its present name in 1493, and the site is older still, while Islamabad was planned and built in the 1960s.
Why is Rawalpindi called Pindi?
"Pindi" is simply the everyday short form of the name, and it is what most people in the Potohar call the city.
