Musakhel District, Pakistan

For other uses, see Musakhel (disambiguation).

Musakhel موسىٰ خيل
District of Balochistan
Map of Balochistan with Musakhel District highlighted
Country	Pakistan
Region	Balochistan
District	Musakhel District
Union Councils	17
Mauzas	71
Government
• NA	263
• MNA	Molana Ameer Zaman
• Political Party	JUI-F
Area
• Total	5,728 km2 (2,212 sq mi)
Population
• Total	1,34,056 (Census 1,988)
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
Area code(s)	Post Code : 84700

Musakhel (Pashto: ضلع موسی خیل ) is a district of Balochistan (also called District Musakhel or Musakhel District or Musakhel Balochistan or Balochistan's Musakhel or District Musakhel Balochistan or Musakhel District of Balocistan) in the northeast of Balochistan province of Pakistan.

Musakhel, all hilly and green, is hard to be traced in the historical descriptions as there is no isolated account of the area available. However, by studying the history of Kandahár and northern Balochistan little can be ascertained about Musakhel. According to the early history, this area, being a part of Kandahár province, has been ruled by the Ghaznavids, Maliks of Kurat Dynasty, Amir Timur and his successors (1383-1470 AD), Sultan Husain Mirza of Herát (1470-1480 AD), and Amir Shuja-ud-Din Zunnún (1480-1504). In 1505 AD, the Mughals conquered the province of Kandahár and held it till 1559 AD when the Safavid Kings of Persia acquired it. The Mughals regained the province in 1595 AD but lost it again in 1622 AD, to the Safavid Kings of Persia. This time, the Safavids, conferred the government of Pishin and its tribal dependencies upon Sher Khan Tarin. He, after 7 years, refused to submit to the governor of Kandahár and became semi-independent, but had to retreat later on. In 1709 AD, the Afghan inhabitants rose under Mir Wais Ghilzai and established the Ghilzai power in Kandahár. The Ghilzai power was terminated by Nadir Shah in 1737 AD. After the assassination of Nadir Shah in 1747 AD, the first democratic government was established in Kandahár by the Afghans as they elected Ahmed Shah Durrani as their ruler. In 1826, the first Amir of Afghanistan, Dost Muhammad Barakzai, took hold of the area and annexed it to Afghanistan.

After the first phase of the Afghan war of 1878-79 AD, the British took control of the northern areas of Balochistan under the Treaty of Gandamak. During 1879-84 AD, efforts were made to extend the British influence over the Khetrans and Musakhels of the, now Musakhel, territory. The Musakhels took part in outrages committed by the Kakars under Shah Jahan in 1884, but surrendered to the British government on the conclusion of the expedition in the same year. On 1 November 1887, the whole area was declared part of British India. Zhob agency was formed in 1890 and Musakhel territory was annexed to it. Musakhel was made a tehsil in 1892 and was transferred to Loralai district in October 1903.

In 1905, the Musakhel tehsil comprised 61 villages and the total population, according to 1901 census, was 15,537 (8,374 males and 7,163 females). The principal tribes represented were: Isot Afghans (1,941); Jafar Afghans (1,026); Panri Afghans (10,144) including the Musakhel clan (9,748) the principal divisions of which were the Belkhel (7,662) and Laharzai (2,086); and Saiads (271). The chief language spoken was Pushto.Musakhel remained a tehsil of Loralai district till 1 January 1992 when it was notified as a district as a result of splitting Loralai district into 3 districts, Loralai, Musakhel, and Barkhan. Although Musakhel is an old human settlement there is no remarkable archaeological site.

Geography

District Musakhel is located in north-eastern border of Balochistan and bordering to Khyber Phakhtoon Khawah and D.G.Khan Punjab. The total area of the District comprises on 7552 km². The district is divided into Four Tehsils: Musakhel, Darug, Kingri and Toisar. The headquarters of the district is MusaKhel.

Tribes

The main tribes of the district are the Belkhel Musakhel, Mughdozai the most brave Marghzani Musakhel, Laherzai Musakhel, Jaffer Pathans, Kudaezai, Laherzai Musakhels, Essot, Qaisrani and Buzdars, Zimris, and Gharshin.

Language

According to the United Nations, in 1981 over 85% of households spoke Pashto, 7.2% spoke Jafferki and 7.8% spoke Balochi. Seraiki is commonly spoken in the region as well.

Temperature

The climate of Musakhel, located 1,200-2,400 meters above sea level, is semi-arid. It can be placed in the "warm summer and mild winter" temperature region.The summer is hot with mean temperatures ranging from 21 C to 32 C. June is the hottest month when maximum temperature does exceed 32 C and occasionally rises above 38 C. Summer is longer than winter and lasts for about 7 months (April–October). In winter the temperature drops below 21 C, but in the coolest month (January) the mean monthly temperature drops below 10 C. The mercury may touch the freezing point during cold spells.

External links

• Musakhel District at www.balochistan.gov.pk
• Musakhel District at www.balochistanpolice.gov.pk