Khawajgan (خواجڴان;) is a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

community in northern Pakistan. It is located in

Mansehra District Mansehra District is a district in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It was established as a district in 1976, prior to which it was a tehsil within the former Hazara District. Two former subdivisions of Mansehra were ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

, about 45 kilometers east of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

and 156 kilometers from

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

, in the lower Pakhal Valley. It is the de facto headquarters of the Swati tribe and the second most populous village in the Pakhal Valley with prevailing Nambardari system; currently headed by Nambardar Abdul Ghafoor Khan and Abdul Zahoor Khan (Ex Nazim) s/o Muhammad Maroof Khan (Late Nambardar). Khawajgan is bordered on the east by the village of Sherpur; on the west by Janglat, the Meadows of Ajmer, and Chorgali; on the north by

Muradpur Muradpur is a village in Jalandhar - I in Jalandhar district of Punjab State, India. It is located from district headquarter. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representative of the village. Demography , The village has a ...

(Najjha), the Jageer area, Tatar, and Gidarpur; and on the south by the city of

Mansehra Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city of Pakistan and 7th largest city in the province. The name of the city (written in Hindko, Urdu and Goj ...

. The main language is

Pushto 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 ...

, with pockets of

Hindko Hindko (, romanized: , ) is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pun ...

. Small minorities speak

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

History

Khawajgan was built as a small Pashtun village approximately 500 years ago. The area may once have been inhabited by

Hindu 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 ...

s and

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

, before the Swati tribe invaded. The date of the invasion is not known. The people of Khawajgan are members of the Swati tribe, from the Sarkhailee, Mamyati, and Matrawi clans. The tribe first settled in

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. From there, they migrated to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, then to the

Swat Valley Swat District (, ps, سوات ولسوالۍ, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prov ...

, and then to the Pakhal Valley. The Swatis who invaded were descendants of Batu Khail Balghandar Khan, a descendant of Ali Sher Khan, son of Sultan Mitra Khan-Matrawi. Later, Inayat Ullah Khan rebuilt Khawajgan at its current location, at a high altitude with an abundance of water from a nearby stream for drinking and

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

ing. Khawajgan is a federation of a number of small villages, including Landai, Bhatain, Shanai, Skandara, Dagai, Golroo Maira, Baila, and Bandi Sheikhan.

Education

In the beginning of 19th century, the two educated and notable person were Tehsildaar Sheikh Khalil ur Rahman and Head master Khadi Khan who was also the nambardar of Khawajgan. Since independence, Khawajgan has seen a significant improvement in education and educational facilities, although the standards are fairly low in government-funded schools compared with those in the rest of the country. The literacy rate among residents 10 or older is just under 50 percent; it has increased by 34 percent since 1981. The male literacy rate is higher, at 60.5 percent. There are separate educational institutes for girls and boys, as well as co-educational institutes. However, most families with children move to Mansehra or

Abbottabad Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourth ...

for schooling. Some of the educational institutes in Khawajgan are: *Government Primary School for Boys *Government Middle School for Girls *Muslim Public High School *National Model Public School

Economy

Khawajgan is largely an agricultural area. The major crops are

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

rapeseed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus ''subsp.'' napus''), also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains a ...

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

, and various vegetables, including both

kharif Kharif crops, also known as monsoon crops or autumn crops, are domesticated plants that are cultivated and harvested in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh during the Indian subcontinent's monsoon season, which lasts from June to November depending o ...

and

rabi Rabi may refer to: Places * Rábí, a castle in the Czech Republic * Rabí, a village in the Czech Republic * Räbi, a village in Estonia * Rabi, Panchthar, a village development committee in Nepal * Rabi Island, a volcanic island in northern F ...

crops. Important fruits are

oranges An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

es,

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

berrie The Mad Capsule Markets (originally known as The Mad Capsule Market's and Berrie) were a Japanese band that formed in 1985 and were active until 2006. The band became known for their experimental style, which melded various kinds of electronic m ...

persimmon The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus ''Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-pers ...

(amlok) and

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

s. The past 10 years have seen major improvements in education, health, and infrastructure. Large-scale

poultry farming Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chicke ...

and manufacturing based on agricultural material have grown, as has the

financial sector Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...

. National

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

have opened its branch in village center, and the population is growing rapidly.

Climate

The summer season in Khawajgan is hot. Temperatures rise steeply from May to June, reaching a peak of 41.5 °C on average, and remain high through July, August, and September. During May and June,

dust storm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transporte ...

s are frequent. Starting in October, temperatures fall rapidly. The coldest months are December, January and February, with a mean minimum temperature of 2.1 °C. Most rainfall occurs in July, August, December and January. The maximum rainfall is 125.85 mm in August. Toward the end of the cold-weather season, there are occasional

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

s and hail storms. The relative

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

is high throughout the year, reaching a maximum of 73.33% in December.

Flora and fauna

Common trees in Khawajgan are

mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...

ber ''Ziziphus mauritiana'', also known as Indian jujube, Indian plum, Chinese date, Chinese apple, ber, and dunks is a tropical fruit tree species belonging to the family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused with the closely related jujube, Chinese j ...

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

safeda The following is a list of some prominent mango cultivars. Worldwide, hundreds of mango cultivars are known, with over 1000 varieties in India. Most commercial cultivars belong to ''Mangifera indica'', while a few commercial varieties grown in Sou ...

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

, and

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

. The village has a variety of fauna, including the

jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

, and

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...

. Russian doves migrate through the area and are a target of

hunters Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...

, as locals like their meat.

Food

People of Khawajgan are traditionally meat eaters, similar to other Pashtun tribes. Popular foods in the village include beef cooked as chapli

Kabab Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish that originates from cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the category are popular around the wor ...

by Abdur Rahman mama and Nazeer mama and sticky white rice, known as Garla Rijay. Other delicacies include seekh kabab, tikka , and kehwa (

green tea Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since the ...

), rice of Gula, Kakay and Sarfaraz .

Dwellings

The village is divided into ''kandis'' based on the pattern of agricultural lands. The houses generally consist of many rooms, lounge, lawn, a

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

and a Veranda. Each kandi has its own mosque and a meeting place called a ''hujra'', commonly used for business and to settle public disputes. In most cases, hujras are the property of the kandi's elders, who are expected to feed and give shelter to visitors. The best-known hujra in Khawajgan, which is open to travelers 365 days a year, is Abdul Ghafoor Khan Sahab (Nambardar) and Abdul Zahoor Khan Sahab's (Ex Nazim) s/o Muhammad Maroof Khan Sahab (Late Nambardar) Hujra. Khawajgan has big bungalows and mansions as there are elite people living in the area.

References

Notables

The pioneer and founder of Khawajgan was Inayatullah Khan. In the beginning of 19th century, the two notable person were Tehsildaar Sheikh Khalil ur Rahman and Head master Khadi Khan who was also the nambardar of Khawajgan. At a time there were two hujras run by him; Khawajgan and Landai. Maskeen Ullah Khan; who was educated in the start of 19th century, Haji Gohar Aman, Haroon Khan, Alladad Khan, Khudadad Khan, Head master Haji Abdullah Khan, son of Kamal Khan. He was the first person with the bachelor's degree pre-partition era. Engineer Haji Sadiq Khan, son of Kamal Khan, executive engineer (R)from C&W department, and a renowned political figure of his time. Muhammad Wasiq Khan; the first Chairman of Khawajgan. Mir Aslam Khan (poet). Baji Sahib and his son Sahibzada Ayub Sahib were most spiritual person in their times. The people of Khawajgan had a belief on their spirituality. Muhammad Maroof Khan; who was Nambardar, Gul Rahman Khan and Gul Islam Khan (squadron leader). Mohammad Naseem Khan and Mohammad Saleem Khan, sons of Haji Abdullah Khan, engineers' in USA. Mohammad Naeem Khan s/o Haji Abdullah Khan senior executive OGDC. Dr. Mohammad Tariq Khan, s/o Haji Abdullah Khan, practices medicine in USA. Mohammad Naeem Khan had been keenly engaged in many projects in his village. Abdul Ghafoor Khan (present Nambardar) and Abdul Zahoor Khan (Ex Nazim); the second Chairman of Khawajgan after 30 years. Sahibzada Jahanzeb (DSP). SDO Mehboob ur Rahman. Muhammad Altaf (Commissioner Income Tax). Lt Col (R) Asif Kamal. Maj (R) Abdul Qayyum. Engr. Zulfiqar Khan. Sher Afzal Khan (Manager PTC). Brig (R) Azmat Hayat Khan. Brig (Retired) Nusrat Hayat Khan. XEN Muzzaffar Khan (C&W). Sahibzada Ihsan Ullah (Manager PTC). Muhammed Javed Khan (Chairman village council). Khan Shireen Khan (councillor). Talat Mehmood Khan. Gul Naseem Khan (PIA). Col. Tahir Hameed. Sahibzada Jamil Sarwar (CDR OGDCL). Sahibzada Shakeel Sarwar (RM ZTBL). Engr. Safeeq. {{coord, 34, 25, 40, N, 73, 08, 27, E, type:city_region:PK, display=title Populated places in Mansehra District Villages in Pakistan