Chakwal District ( Punjabi and ur, ) is in

Pothohar Plateau The Pothohar Plateau ( ur, ) is a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan, located between Indus River and the Jhelum River, forming the northern part of Punjab. Geography Potohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River, on the west by the ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, Pakistan. It is located in the north of the Punjab province, Chakwal district is bordered by

Khushab Khushab ( punjabi: خُوشاب) is a town as well as a district of Sargodha Division, located in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The word ''Khushab'' means "sweet water." Khushab city also serves as the headquarters of Khushab Tehsil, an admini ...

to its south,

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

to its north east,

Jhelum Jhelum ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for p ...

to its east,

Mianwali Mianwali ( Punjabi/ ur, ) is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan. The 81st largest city of Pakistan, it is known for its diverse population of, Punjabi and Pashtun ethnicities. History Mianwali District was an agricu ...

to its west and

Attock Attock ( Punjabi and Urdu: ), formerly known as Campbellpur (), is a historical city located in the north of Pakistan's Punjab Province, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 61st larg ...

to its north west. The district was created out of parts of Jhelum and Attock in 1985.

History

During

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...

, 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 Bhaun ( ur, ) is a town in Chakwal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan 12 kilometres away from the district capital Chakwal. In 2007 Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the national, state-owned railway company of Pak ...

and 248 villages. The land revenue and

cess Cess is a tax that is generally levied for promoting services like health and education. Governments often charge cess for the purpose of development in social sectors. The word is a shortened form of "assess". The spelling is due to a mistaken ...

es amounted in 1903-4 to 3–300,000.Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 10, p. 126
Dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved on 21 April 2012. The predominantly Muslim population supported

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

and

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...

. After the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

of Pakistan in 1947, the minority

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

migrated to India while the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s refugees from India settled down in the area of Chakwal later it was upgraded as a District on 1st of July 1985.

Administrative divisions

The district of Chakwal, which covers an area of 6,524 km², is subdivided into five

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

s. These tehsils were formerly part of neighbouring districts: *

Chakwal Tehsil Chakwal Tehsil ( ur, ), is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Chakwal District in the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab province of Pakistan. The tehsil is subdivided into 30 Union Councils of Pakistan, Union Councils - five of which form the capi ...

was annexed from

Jhelum District Jhelum District (Urdu and pnb, ), is partially in Pothohar Plateau, and partially in Punjab Plain of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Jhelum is one of the oldest districts of Punjab. It was established on 23 March 1849. According to the 1998 ...

and made part of the newly formed Chakwal District. *

Choa Saidan Shah Choa Saidan Shah ( Punjabi, ur, ), is a town and Tehsil of Chakwal District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. It is the capital and of one of the seven Union Councils of Choa Saidan Shah Tehsil. Geography Choa Saidan Shah is located in the ...

was carved out of sub-division

Pind Dadan Khan Pind Dadan Khan (P.D. Khan), a city in Jhelum District, Punjab, Pakistan, is the capital of Pind Dadan Khan Tehsil, which is an administrative subdivision of the district. Location It is located at 32°35'16N 73°2'44E on the bank of River Jhel ...

of Jhelum District and was amalgamated with sub-division

Chakwal Chakwal ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city in Rawalpindi Division, Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 66th largest city of Pakistan by population. Chakwal is located 90 kilometres south-west of the federal capital, Islamabad and 270 kilomet ...

. Choa Saidan Shah was upgraded to the level of a sub-division in 1993. The district is administratively subdivided into three tehsils and 45 union councils.Tehsils & Unions in the District of Chakwal
. Nrb.gov.pk. Retrieved on 21 April 2012.

Constituencies

There is one district council, one municipal committees —

— and two town committees —

and

Kallar Kahar Kallar Kahar ( ur, ) is a town and subdivision (Tehsil) of Chakwal District in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Kallar Kahar Tehsil.National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

by two constituencies: NA-60 and NA-61. The district is represented in the

provincial assembly Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

by four elected MPAs and in National Assembly by two MNAs who represent the following constituencies:

Geography

Chakwal district borders the districts of

and

in the north,

in the east,

in the south and

in the west. The total area of Chakwal district is 6,609 square kilometres, which is equivalent to . The southern portion runs up into the Salt Range and includes the Chail peak, 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 at the foot of the hills to in the neighbourhood of the Sohan; the surface is now much cut up by ravines and is very difficult to travel over.

Demography

At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population of 1,495,463, of which 723,178 were males and 772,166 females. Rural population is 1,211,855 (81.03%) while the urban population is 283,608 (18.96%). The literacy rate was 74.64% for the population 10 years and above: 84.64% for males and 65.57% for females.

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

made up almost the entire population with 99.67%, with the minorities being 3,700

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and 960 Ahmadis. Hindus number around 190. At the time of the 2017 census, 93.35% of the population spoke Punjabi, 4.40%

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

and 1.63%

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

The local Punjabi dialects are Dhani and Awankari.

Education

Chakwal has a total of 1,199 government schools out of which 52 percent (627 schools) are for female students. The district has an enrollment of 181,574 in public sector schools.

Educational institutions

Educational institutions in the Chakwal District include: *

Government Post Graduate College (Chakwal) Government Post Graduate College (Chakwal) ( ur, ) is a tertiary college located in Chakwal District, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab Province, Pakistan. It is the largest educational institute of District Chakwal. Government of Punjab (Pakistan), Gov ...

* University Of Chakwal

Notable people

Yahya Khan General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan , (Urdu: ; 4 February 1917 – 10 August 1980); commonly known as Yahya Khan, was a Pakistani military general who served as the third President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator following his pr ...

, former President of Pakistan, was born in Chakwal city in 1917. *

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

, former Prime Minister of India, was born in Gah village (formerly part of

) *

Khudadad Khan Subedar Khudadad Khan, VC (20 October 1888 – 8 March 1971) was a Pakistani and the recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military award for gallantry in the face of the enemy given to British and Commonwealth forces. During t ...

, VC, British Indian Army. *

Malik Nur Khan Air Marshal Malik Nur Khan Awan ( ur, ; 22 February 1923 – 15 December 2011) commonly known as Nur Khan, was a three-star air officer, politician, sports administrator, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force, serving under ...

, was a three-star air officer, politician, sports administrator, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force, serving under President Ayub Khan from 1965 until 1969. * Muhammad Safdar, Lt. General Muhammad Safdar is the former Governor of Punjab, having served from 1999 to 2001. He has also previously served as the ambassador to Morocco and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Punjab until 1993. *

Colonel Imam Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar, best known as Colonel Imam, (died January 23, 2011) was a one-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army, and a former diplomat who served as the Consul-General of Pakistan at Herat, Afghanistan.Matinuddin, Kamal ...

– Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar was a one-star rank

army general Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the General officer#French (Revolutionary) system, French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of genera ...

in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

, member of the

Special Service Group , colors = Maroon, sky blue , colors_label = Colours , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , ...

(SSG) of the army, and an

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...

of the

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...

(ISI).

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Authority control Districts of Punjab, Pakistan 1985 establishments in Pakistan