Attock District

Attock District (Urdu: ضِلع اٹک‎), is a district in the north-west Punjab Province of Pakistan.

The district was created in April 1904[1] by the merger of Talagang Tehsil in the Jhelum District with the Pindigheb, Fatehjang and Attock tehsils from Rawalpindi District of the Punjab province of British India.

Emperor Akbar the Great, the grandson of Babar, recognising the strategic importance of this area, in 1581 built his famous Attock Fort complex here. The fall of the Mughal Empire in the 18th century saw the rise of Hindu Maratha state and Sikhs in Punjab and Durrani Afghans to the west. Once again Attock became a battle ground between two contending powers. Maratha Peshwa's brother Raghunathrao won Attock and flagged Hindu dominance over this area in 1758. But in the Third Battle of Panipat the Marathas lost to Ahmead Shah Abdali and lost control of this region. The British finally ended the feud by subjugating both Sikhs and Afghans in the 19th century.[2]


Contents
1 Name
2 Neighbours
3 Kabul River
4 Language
5 Resources
6 Geography and climate
7 Population
8 Main castes
9 Pathans or Pashtuns
9.1 Sagri Khattak Pathans
9.2 Chhachh Pathans
10 Hindu population before 1947
11 Notable people of Attock
12 References
Name

Attock District original name was Attock it changes Campbellpur after the Briton Sir Colin Campbell who founded the city of Campbellpur. The name of the district was changed to Attock as of 1978 again.[3] Attock city is the district headquarters.
Neighbours

Attock District is bordered by the Haripur and Swabi districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to the north, the district of Rawalpindi and capital Islamabad to the east, the district of Chakwal to the southeast, the district of Mianwali to the southwest, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's districts of Kohat and Nowshera to the west and northwest. The river Indus forms the western boundary of the district.
Kabul River

Attock is the eastern terminus of the Kabul-Attock corridor to the Central Asia through which for centuries have passed the armies and the caravans alike. However unlike the modern highways, this corridor is not a work of engineering marvel but an act of nature as it was naturally carved through the Hindu Kush Mountains by the legendary Kabul River.

The 435 miles long journey of River Kabul starts just west of the Kabul city in Afghanistan and ends at Attock where it ultimately falls into the River Indus.[2]
Language

As per the 1998 census of Pakistan, the following are the demographics of the Attock district, by spoken language:
Punjabi language: 90%
Other: 10%

Inhabitants of Attock District speak a great variety of Punjabi dialects: which are
Chhachi (Northern parts of district mainly in Attock tehsil)
Ghebi (Western parts of district in Fateh Jang and Pindigheb tehsil)
Majhi or standard (Sizeable population in cities)
Jandali (Jand Tehsil Southern border areas with Mianwali)
Pothohari (Easteren border areas)

Other Languages include:
Pashto which is also spoken by sizeable population in the KPK province border areas and in the cities.
Urdu is mother tongue of few people but being national language is spoken and understood by the sizeable population.
English is also understood and spoken by the educated elite.
Resources

Dhullian is a village in Pindigheb Tehsil. This village has important resources namely oil and gas, It has been providing oil since the 1930s. There are all types of soil as mountains, plain areas fertile grounds and it also has a river flowing through it. There is a famous Ghala Mandi located in Dhullian Chowk. Here 90% of the total population area agricultural. This historical village is located at the end of Attock District.
Geography and climate

Attock District has a climate of hot summers and cold winters. The northern part of the district is more humid and is more moderate in climate relative to the southern part of the district due to the higher altitude. Geographically, the district is mainly hills, plateaus and dissected plains. The Indus River flows on the northern and western borders of the district. After Haripur, the Haro River passes through the north of the tehsil of Attock where there is a flood plain with fertile soil. The District's average annual rainfall is 783 mm.
Population

According to the 1998 census of Pakistan the district had a population of 1,274,935 of which 20.45% were urban,[4] The estimated population in 2008 was 1.58 million.

According to the Gazetteer of the Attock District 1930, Hindus made up 8.5% of the total population .[5]

The city also had a significant Muhajir population. In fact, Attock city is dominated by the immigrants from India and there population multiplied at a phenominal rate as they are inclined toward having many children. Also most of the business is controlled by them. They hold key positions in public and private sector too.

During the soviet war in Afghanistan a great number of afghan refugees came to Attock as it is closed to Peshawar, although many of these refugees have moved back to Afghanistan but still there is a considerable percentage of those who chose not to go back and have started their lives in Attock.
Main castes

The Syed, Mughals(Sardar), Awan, Jutt, Khattar, Qanungoh Shaikhs, Paracha, Arains, Pathans, Gakhars, Gujjars, Rajputs and Qureshis are the main castes of Attock District.[6]
Pathans or Pashtuns

The Pashtun, or as they are referred to in the this region, Pathans, are found principally in the Attock District and belongs to Qais Abdur Rashid(father of all pashtuns). There are two Pathan settlements in that district, one in the south-west of Pindigheb Tehsil at Makhad and in the Narrara hills, the other in the Attock Tehsil, chiefly in the Chhachh illaqa.[7] In addition, there are also a few scattered villages, in Rawalpindi District.Almost 50% of the population of this city near area chachh are of Pashtun) origin, who speak Hindko language. There is also significant villages of predominately Pashto speaking Pashtuns in Attock, who have managed to keep their Pashto language, but are often bilingual in both Hindko and Pashto. The remaining population consists of Sayyeds, Gujjars and other non-Pathan tribes.

A large percentage of the population of Chhachh have Pashtun roots and are mostly descendants of the tribes of SHEIKH Durrani, Bangash, Alizai, Yousafzai, Kakar, Dilazak, Tareen, Tahir Khel (Tahirkheli), Qazikhel, khattak, Tanoli, Sadozai and Barakzai. They arrived in the area around 1000 AD as part of the army of Mahmud of Ghazni and made it their permanent home after defeating the Hindu confederation near Hazro.

Proof of this is that many of the villages & individual quarters of chach are named after certain Pakhtun personalities & tribes, markedly proving who had founded them. For example Aka Khel, Nasozai, Utman Khel, Saleem Khan, Ghorghushti, Adalzai, Musazai tribes People live in Barazai, Sarkani Tribes people live in Behboodi and Umarzai people live in Malak Mala and Shinka etc. Most of these Pashtuns now refer to themselves as Pathans and speak Hindko as their main language, were as the Pashto speaking Pashtuns are still referred to as Pashtuns.

Some of the Pashto speaking Pashtuns of chach (Attock) belong to the following Pashtun tribes namely Ismail Khel, Tarakhel Khel, Salat Khel, Hisab (Yusuf) Khel, Tur Khel and Babarkarzai. There is also a steady flow of Pashtuns from Afghanistan settling into the area, and are hospitably welcomed by the local Pashtuns.

Chach Pashtuns are revered for their fighting ability in ancient times and more recently for their many advancements in education, culture, and society. It is claimed that Hindko was the original ancient language of Chhachh when it was part of the Gandhara civilisation and was adopted over time by the Pashtun tribes that invaded the area.

According to the 1901 Census of India, these were the main sub-divisions of the Pathans in Attock District.[8]
Tribe Attock Tehsil Pindigheb Tehsil Fateh Jang Tehsil Talagang Tehsil Total
Akhund Khel 722


722

Alizai 4,415


4,415
Bangash
900

900
Babi 581


581
Barakzai 578


578
Dilazak 1,070 3 43
1,116
Jamal Khel
579

579
Lodhi 727 1 5
733 Piru Khel 594


594
Saddo Khel 801


801
Sagri Khattak
4,759

4,759
Tareen 658


658

Sagri Khattak Pathans

The Pindigheb Pathans are practically all Sagri Pathans, a branch of the Bulaki Khattaks. The Babar family of Bhangi Khel Khattaks is also represented in the Narara hills. Another branch of the Khattaks, the Jamal Khel also have a presence in settlements near the town of Makhad.

According to their traditions, the khattaks came across the Indus river from the neighbourhood of Kohat, and got conflict with Awans, whom they found in possession, they drove out the weak branch of Awans from the west, but Awans successfully defended their strongholds in the east and expelled Khattaks from their strongholds. The khattaks look up to the Khans of Makhad" Sher Ahmed Khattak", as their headmen. They own seven villages, of which Makhad and Narara are the largest. The village of Hadowali in the west with boundary to the east, where the Awans with stronghold are their neighbours.Their speech is the soft or western dialect of Pashto.[9]
Chhachh Pathans

The Attock Pathans are found in two parts of the tehsil, those of Sarwala, and those of Chhachh. The Chhachh Pathans have very little in common with the Sagri Khattaks, as they are separated by the Kala Chita mountains, and a solid territory of Awan and Khattar Rajput villages.The Chhachhies are also known as Chhachi (Pashtun). The Chhachh have Hindko and pushto speaking community, and have much in common with the Pashtun tribes settled in the neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Chhachh have Pukhtun culture and peoples are following Pashtunwali code of conduct strictly like in NWFP. Mostly Pathans in Chhachh came with Ghaznavi from Afghanistan.[10]

The largest clan are the Alizai, who include the Tahirkheli, one of three main septs of the Alizai. The Tahirkheli inhabit villages along the Haro river. The other tribe along the Haro are the Sadozai, and both they and the Alizai, are branches of the Durrani-Tareen tribe. In addition, a very sizeable number of clans and septs of the great Yusufzai tribe are aso found here.

The Attock District Gazetteer gives the following description regarding Pathan settlement in the district: The connection of Pathans with the tahsil is not very ancient. The earliest comers may have been the Lodhis, who are a section of the Ghilzai nation, and accompanied Mahmud Ghaznavi as mercenaries on his invasions of India. Their numbers are inconsiderable. Next after a long interval came the Dilazak who were gradually driven from the Safed Koh by the Yusufzai. About the end of the 16th century they crossed the river, and found the Chhachh, then a swamp being slowly recovered from the Indus, in possession of the Gujjars. Apparently they never settled down and in consequence of the turmoil caused by their constant attempt to recover Mardan illaqa of Peshawar from the Yousafzais, were finally deported by Jahangir and scattered over the India Peninsula.[10] The great Pathan invasion of the Chhachh took place much latter. About the end of the 17th Century the Khattaks, pushing up from Kohat at the south,began to press on the flanks of the Yousafzai between Attock and Peshawer of which they had been put in charge. At the same time too the Gujars of Hazara has summoned the Yousafzais across the river to help against the Tareen, a tribe of original Afghans of Jewish and Arab origin, who had fallen on the Haripur plain. Later in the middle of the 18th Century the Piro Khels who are Afridis and Pathans proper, came with Nadir Shah perhaps from Persia, and remained behind when he returned.By the end of the 18th Century Dilazaks, Tareens, Yousafzais and Afridis had settled down in the Tahsil, with the Yousafzai numerically immensely superior. Since then no immigration has taken place. The chief accretion to Pathan strength has been that of the Akhund Khel. Akhund is the title given to any chief of special sanctity, and Akhundzada is the title of his descendants. Many Akhund Khel are by origin Sayyid and Awan.The Tahirkheli Pathans who inhabit the north-east of the Tahsil below the main wall of the Gandgarh Hills and along the line of the Haro by tradition and sentiment have little to with Attock. They live or own land in the Hazara District, and many are Jagirdars.[11]

The Chhachh ilaqa is almost entirely held by the Pathans, as is the Nala estates, along the Haro river valey. The Attock Pathans were the earliest group of this reigon to start emigrating to Europe and North America.There are now large communities of Chhachh Pathan settled in British cities, such as Bradford, Birmingham and Manchester, also there are sizeable Pathan communities from Chachh/Attock in California(US) cities of Stockton,Lodi,Sacramento,San Francisco Bay area and in the state of North Carolina.[12]
Hindu population before 1947

Attock District had a heterogeneous mix of religious and ethnic populations before 1947. The Gazetteer of the Attock District 1930 records "Hindus, who make up 8.5% of the total population are by tribes and in order of numerical importance, Khatris, Aroras, Brahmans and Mohyals".[13] After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India while the Muslim refugees from India settled in the Attock District.
Notable people of Attock
Malik Amin Aslam, former Minister of state[14]
Malik Ata Muhammad Khan, a prominent feudal lord of Kot Fateh Khan, Attock
Ahmad Shuja Pasha, former Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence[15]