Chakwal District

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Chakwal
چکوال
District
Katas Raj Temples
Katas Raj Temples
Chakwal is located in the north of Punjab
Chakwal is located in the north of Punjab
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Country Pakistan
Province Punjab
Headquarters Chakwal
Government
 • District Coordination Officer Mehmood Javed Bhatti[1]
 • Members of National Assembly Tahir Iqbal (NA-60)
Sardar Mumtaz Khan (NA-61)[2]
 • Members of Provincial Assembly Chaudhry Liaqut Ali Khan (PP-20)
Tanveer Aslam Malik (PP-21)
Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan (PP-22)
Malik Zahoor Anwar (PP-23)[2]
Area
 • Total 6,524 km2 (2,519 sq mi)
Population (1998)
 • Total 1,083,725
Time zone PKT (UTC+5)
Number of Tehsils 5
Tehsils Chakwal
Kallar Kahar
Choa Saidan Shah
Talagang
Lawa

Chakwal District (Urdu: ضِلع چکوال‎) is in Pothohar Plateau of Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in the north of the Punjab province, Chakwal district is bordered by Khushab to its south, Rawalpindi to its north east, Jhelum to its east, Mianwali to its west and Attock to its north west. The large part of M2 passes through Chakwal District. The Best Way Cement Factory, the largest factory in Asia is located in District Chakwal. According to the 2007 census, Chakwal has 74% literacy rate, which is equal to Lahore and at 6th among all districts of Pakistan.

Pehlwan Revary (ریوڑی) is known all over the country and abroad. Currently, Chakwal is noted for the production of international standard oranges, wheat, barley, sugarcane, and many other fruits and vegetables. Chakwal has an urban population of 12.81%; the remainder is rural. That makes Chakwal, the district with largest rural population in Punjab, Pakistan.

Language

Inhabitants of Chakwal District speak Punjabi in dialects Dhani and Majhi (Standard). English is also spoken by educated people.

Administration

The district of Chakwal, which covers an area of 6,524,[3] is subdivided into five tehsils.[4] These tehsils were formerly part of neighbouring districts:

At present district Chakwal consists of five subdivisions (Chakwal, Talagang, Choa Saidan Shah, Lawa and Kallar Kahar), 23 qanungois and 198 patwar circles. The police subdivisions correspond with those of the district administration and there are 11 police stations: Chakwal City, Saddar, Kallar Kahar, Dhumman, Nila, Dhudhial, Talagang City, Saddar, Tamman, Lawa and Choa Saidan Shah.

The district is administratively subdivided into four tehsils and 68 Union Councils.[5]

Name of Tehsil No of Unions
Chakwal Tehsil 30
Kallar Kahar Tehsil 8
Choa Saidan Shah Tehsil 7
Talagang Tehsil 17
Lawa 6
Total 68

Constituencies

There is one district council, two municipal committees — Chakwal and Talagang — and two town committees — Choa Saidan Shah and Kallar Kahar.

The district is represented in the National Assembly by two constituencies: NA-60 and NA-61. The district is represented in the provincial assembly by four elected MPAs and in National Assembly by two MNAs who represent the following constituencies:[6]

Constituency MPA Party
(PP-20) Chaudhary Liaqut Ali Khan Pakistan Muslim League (N)
(PP-21) Tanveer Aslam Malik Pakistan Muslim League (N)
(PP-22) Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Pakistan Muslim League (N)
(PP-23) Malik Zahoor Anwar Pakistan Muslim League (N)
NA-60 Maj(R) Tahir Iqbal Pakistan Muslim League (N)
NA-61 Sardar Mumtaz Khan Tamman Pakistan Muslim League (N)[2]

Geography

Chakwal district borders the districts of Rawalpindi and Attock in the north, Jhelum in the east, Khushab in the south and Mianwali in the west. The total area of Chakwal district is 6,609 square kilometres, which is equivalent to 1,652,443 acres (6,687.20 km2).

The southern portion runs up into the Salt Range, and includes the Chail peak, 3,701 feet (1,128 m) above the sea, the highest point in the district. Between this and the Sohan river, which follows more or less the northern boundary, the country consists of what was once a fairly level plain, sloping down from 2,000 feet (610 m) at the foot of the hills to 1,400 feet (430 m) in the neighbourhood of the Sohan; the surface is now much cut up by ravines and is very difficult to travel over.[7]

Lying at the beginning of the Potohar plateau and the Salt Range, Chakwal is a barani district and the terrain is mainly hilly, covered with scrub forest in the southwest and leveled plains interspaced with dry rocky patches in the north and northeast.

History

In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin. In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in Kabul in 1005, and followed it by the conquests of Punjab region. The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region. The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Sikh Empire invaded and occupied Mianwali District. The Muslims faced restrictions during the Sikh rule.[citation needed]

During British rule, Chakwal was a tehsil of Jhelum district, the population according to the 1891 census of India was 164,912 which had fallen to 160,316 in 1901. It contained the towns of Chakwal and Bhaun and 248 villages. The land revenue and cesses amounted in 1903-4 to 3–300,000.[7] The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India while the Muslims refugees from India settled down in the Chakwal District.

The boundaries and area of the tehsil were described by the Imperial Gazetteer of India as follows the tehsil "lies between 28° 45' and 30°05' N. and 72°32' and 73° 13' E., with an area of 1,004 square miles".[7]

Demography

According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the total population is 1,083,725 of which only 12.01% were urban — making Chakwal the most rural district in Punjab.[8]

The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India while the Muslim refugees from India settled in the Chakwal District.

Tourism

Chakwal city has been bestowed by rich culture, history, art and extravagant environment. Once been known as a picnic spot for the Mughal dynasty and the British Lords also holds the record for producing fine men like Colonel Muhammad Khan, Tabish Kamal, India's prime minister Manmohan Sing and many other well reputed people.

Kallar Kahar

Resting in the mountains of the salt range the valley of Kallar Kahar holds beautiful environment, dazzling scenery, wonderful historic and prehistoric spots and museums. Kallar Kahar has Pakistan's first fossil museum, But the mainstay of tourist attraction is the Kallar Kahar lake that lies in the heart of the valley. Other attraction spots are Bagh e sufa, Takht e Babri, the famous shrines and other gardens and mountain ranges.

Katas Raj

Katas Raj is a 3000-year-old town sacred to the Hindus and lies about 5 km west of Choa Saidan Shah on the Choa-Kallar Kahar road. It contains over 100 temples built over more than 1000 years by its Hindu Rajas. Some of these temples are dilapidated but a large number of them have been well maintained. Hindu pilgrims from all over Pakistan and India frequently visit this town to worship.

Katas Raj at its peak time was the well renowned university; famous mathematician Alberuni measured the circumference of the earth while he was studying the Sanskrit there.

Dulmial

Dulmial is 3 km from Katas Raj, a town which is very famous for the services rendered from its residents to all walks of life for Pakistan and also in British Army.[9] Dulmial is one of the two towns on Earth which was awarded with the Victoria Gun After WWI in 1920. The gun was received by Capt. Ghulam Mohammad Malik and other WWI veterans. Since the creation of Pakistan Dulmial has kept its reputation in the Pakistan Army as well, apart from the military services this town is also known for the reputation of its people working in high ranks in almost every important governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Dalwal

Dalwal is between two tehsils: Choa Saidan Shah and Kalar Kahar. It is almost 15 to 17 km from both tehsils. Geographically it has enormous importance because both giant cement factories are also on the equal distance from this village. Recently United States Agency for International Development has executed a mega grapes orchard project, that has a revolutionary statistics in this belt with inter cropping methodology. A worth seeing orchard for all visitors who have interest in research and development.

Dams

The small dams around the city have become picnic spots for their beauty. Some of the famous dams are:

  • Dhok Taalian Dam
  • Naka Dam Kallar Kahar
  • Kot Raja Dam
  • Khokhar Zer Dam
  • Dharabi Dam
  • Arrar Mughlan Dam (under construction)
  • Maswaal/Ghazial Dam
  • Lakhwal Dam
  • Mial Dam
  • Baghtal Dam
  • Khai Dam

Villages

Educational institutions

Notables

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Official Website of Chakwal District Archived 3 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ List to tehsils and districts Archived 1 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Tehsils & Unions in the District of Chakwal. Nrb.gov.pk. Retrieved on 21 April 2012.
  6. ↑ CHAKWAL (PP-20 to PP-23) – Website of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 10, p. 126. Dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved on 21 April 2012.
  8. ↑ 1998 Census figures – Urban Resource Centre
  9. ↑ Wisdom and Waste in the Punjab Village, by M.L. Darling 1934, Page 51, "the Awan village of Dulmial close by produced more recruits in the war than any other village in India : 460 served out of a population (in 1921) of only 879 males"
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