Know Your Chakwal...Its amazing
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| Chakwal City |
Administration:-
The district of Chakwal, which covers an area of 6,524, was preciously subdivided into 4 tehsils, these tehsils were formerly part of neighbouring districts:
- Chakwal of Jhelum District
- Talagang of Attock District and police station Choa Saidan Shah, carved out of subdivision Pind Dadan Khan
- Jhelum District, and amalgamating it with sub-division Chakwal.
- Choa Saidan Shah was upgraded to the level of a sub-division in 1993.
At present district Chakwal consists of 4 subdivisions - Chakwal, Talagang , Choa Saidan Shah,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:-
Name of Tehsil:- No of Unions:-
Chakwal Tehsil:- 30
Kallar Kahar Tehsil:- 8
Choa Saidan Shah Tehsil:- 7
Talagang Tehsil:- 23
Total:- 68
There is one district council, two municipal committees- Chakwal and Talagang and two town committees- Choa Saidan Shah and Kaller 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 who represent the following constituencies:
Constituency:-
PP-20 Mrs Iffat Liaqat Ali Khan Pakistan Muslim League (N)
PP-21 Malik Tanveer Aslam Sehti PML (N)
PP-22 Khurram Nawab of Dullah
PP-23 Malik Zahoor Anwar Awan PML(N)
Topography:-
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 ; but the surface is now much cut up by ravines and is very difficult to travel over.
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 levelled plains interspaced with dry rocky patches in the north and northeast.
Demography:-
According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the total population is 1,083,725 of which 12.01% only were urban making Chakwal the most rural district in Punjab.
Languages
Punjabi is the native language of majority of the people of district.Other languages spoken are Hindko, Potohari and Urdu.
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| Peacock in Kallar Kahar |
Major tribes:-
The tribes, clans and castes that inhabit this area are the Awans, [Salaars],[Maliks],(Kahout Quresh)[Khokhar] most of them resident in Dab and Bhatti Gujjar Village,[Qazis] most of them resident in Nachindi village [Chodree] Jats (the main clans being the Khoti, Khingar, Gondal and Mekan), Bhutta, Rajputs to include Janjua, Mair Minhas, Chohan, Bhatti, Jalap & Khiwa,others are Kahuts, Mughal Kassar, Pathans, Gujars, Syeds of Chak Misri, Maliars, Kashmiris and the Punjabi Sheikhs (including the famous Sahgal family). (Tehsil Chakwal Kahout Quresh Mair Minhas,and Mughal Kassar are Major Tribe. Talagang Tehsil is almost entirely inhabited by the Awan tribe, with just a few villages of Bhatti Rajputs. Kahout, Mughal,Minhas.
The physical features of the district, its tribes, its society and its economy all combine to make Chakwal one of the main recruiting areas for the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Air Force. Main occupation of the people are Mining. Transport and poultry business also contributes imperatively towards the revenues of the district.
History:-
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 3-3 lakhs.
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"
Historical sites:-
Quite a number of historical sites lie in the undulations of Chakwal, the more important of which are:
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| Katas Raj Temple |
Katas Raj:-
Katas Raj is a 3000 year old town sacred to the Hindus and lies about 5 kilometres west of Choa Saidan Shah on the Choa-Kallar Kahar road. Its importance is derived from the fact that it contains over a 100 temples built over a period of more than a 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, a famous mathematician Alberuni measured the circumference of the earth while he was studying the Sanskrit in this University.
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| Kallar Kahar Lake |
Kallar Kahar:-
Kallar Kahar is a union council and subdivision of Chakwal District in Punjab, Pakistan. It is a tourist destination located 25 kilometres southwest of Chakwal along the motorway. It is notable for its natural gardens, peacocks and a saltwater lake. It is 125 km away from Rawalpindi.
Dulmial:-
Dulmial is located just 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. 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 Cap. Ghulam Mohammad Malik and other WWI veterans. Since the creation of Pakistan Dulmial has kept its reputaion in the Pak 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.
Economy:-
Most people of the district prefer to join armed forces like Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force. Chakwal has the highest proportion of it population serving in the Armed forces of Pakistan.
A handsome percentage of the population is employed in the mining, industrial and trading sector with a very small fraction employed in technical fields like health, education, banking and engineering.
Food and health:-
The food which the people of Chakwal consume is very modernized.biryani,halwa, sweets are most widely used.people are mostly interested in junk food from different and good restaurants of chakwal like Nisar Sweets & Bakers,Pehlwan juice,Corner sweets,Makkah restaurant,Pizza time etc.
The most well known and favourite food product coming from Chakwal is a sweet called Riyori (pronounced ree-o-ree) (Pehlwan de Riyori, Zafar de Riyaori are famous brands) As well as Dhodha and Burfi of Nisar Sweets & Bakers are also well known and liked products.
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| Khai Dam View near Bhaun |
Notable places:-
Buchal Kalan is the largest union council of Tehsil Kalar Kahar located at the top of Wanhar. Malik Shahbaz (Late) was aprominent figure of this village. This village is also famous for being the place of birth of a number of Generals of Pakistan army.
Bhaun is a town in Chakwal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan 12 kilometres away from the district capital Chakwal. In 2007 Pakistan Railways announced the resumption of the Bhaun to Chakwal service. However, no progress has been made to this effect as of February 2009. The importance of resumption of this service and extending it to salt range in Kallar Kahar area will bring significant commercial advantages for the region as the cement factories in the area can use rail for their merchandise. The population in 2006 was estimated to be over 35,000
Sarkalan is a small village but an important one being in hold of the major mineral resources of the wanhar region. Malik Lal khan (late) being the coal lease owner of this village was considered to be a mentor and authoritative chieftain of his phulial and jhurwal clans of Awan tribe. Stories of his dictates with his 11 nephews are still of stimulus interest in the Wanhar region.
Noorpur Sethi is one of the largest viallges of kalar kahar tehsil. Another hub of mineral resources, this village is considered a place of consensus in Cakwal. Nobles of the village are respected all over the district and enjoy a respectable place in the Awan tribe.
Bilalabad (Kufri) is one of the oldest towns of Tehsil Talagang. Its population is over eight thousand, before partition its dominant population were wealthy Hindus, whose businesses were spread up to Peshawar. The houses built by them are still master pieces of architecture. Most of the population are from the Awan. Beside farming the clan is noted for performing a distinguished role in Pakistan Defence Services and business.
Sadwal is an important village of Kahutani area and is located in south of Chakwal.
Budhial is a village located about 25 kilometres from Talagang. This a beautiful village, and has many places worth seeing.
Choa Saidanshah village and tehsil of Chakwal are named after a famous Sufi Sakhi Saidan Sherazi Choa Saidan Shah. It is a beautiful valley of Chakwal
Dharyala Kahun is a beautiful village situated at a hill top in the Kahoon valley, 13 km away from the centre of Choa Saiden Shah. Majority of the population are Awans and serving in the Armed Forces and other businesses. Lt Gen Muhammad Afsar,a proud son of the village earned laurals for Dharyala Kahoon when he passed out as number one from Pakistan Military Academy Kakul in April 1963. He rose to be Engineer In Chief of the Army and retired as Quarter Master General. After his retirement he served as Managing Director Army Welfare Trust also.
Yasmin Rashid : 
