Margalla Hills

The Margalla Hills — also called the Margalla Mountain Range and simply known as Margalla, is a hill range part of the lesser Himalayas located north of Islamabad, Pakistan. Margalla Range has an area of 12,605 hectares. The hills are a part of Murree hills. It is a range with many valleys as well as high mountains.

The hill range nestles between an elevation of 685 meters at the western end and 1,604 meters on its east with average height of 1000 meters. Its highest peak is Tilla Charouni. The range gets snowfall in winters.

On 6 January 2012, after almost six years, Pir Sohawa, the city’s highest tourist spot, received few inches of snowfall.

Etymology

Two different legends describe the origin of the word 'Margalla'. According to the first legend, these hills have always been known as an abode of snakes. Mar means 'snake' in Persian galla means 'herd', therefore Margalla means a place with a lot of snakes.

According to the second legend, the word 'Margalla' was derived from Mar Galla, meaning 'to strangulate'. Mar means 'hit' and Galla means 'neck'. It is believed that there were lots of bandits and robbers who used these hills as a sanctuary and would strangle travelers in order to rob them.. It has also been suggested that the name derived from Mārĩkalā, the Persian equivalent of Takshaśilã (Taxila).