Attock ( Punjabi and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

: ), formerly known as Campbellpur (), is a historical city located in the north of Pakistan's

Punjab Province Punjab Province may refer to: * Punjab Province (British India), a former province of British India from 1849 to 1947 In Pakistan * Punjab, Pakistan, a province in Pakistan from 1970 onward * West Punjab, a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 195 ...

, not far from the country's capital

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 Capita ...

. It is the headquarters of the

Attock District Attock District (Urdu and pnb, ) is a district in Pothohar Plateau of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Its capital is Attock city. The district was created in April 1904 by the merging of tehsils of nearby districts. Its former name was C ...

and is 61st largest city of Pakistan by population. The city was founded in 1908 several miles southeast of the older city of Attock Khurd, which had been established by the Mughal Emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, H ...

in the 16th century, and was initially named in honour of

Sir Colin Campbell ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Etymology

The city was initially named Campbellpore, also spelt Campbellpur, in 1908 in honour of

. The name was changed to Attock in 1978, its original name, which literally means "Foot of the Mountain."

Geography

Attock is located near the

Haro River Haro ( ur, ) is the name of a river that flows through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and parts of Punjab. Its main valley is in Abbottabad District in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northern Pakistan. The famous Khanpur Dam has been bu ...

, a tributary 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 Kash ...

, from

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 ...

, from

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, and from the

Pakistan Aeronautical Complex The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex ( ur, ), or PAC) is a major defense contractor and an aerospace manufacturer that is headquartered in Kamra, Punjab, Pakistan. The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is one of the largest defense contractor in ...

, Kamra.

History

Background

Attock is located in a historically significant region.

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Val ...

was an ancient kingdom extending to the Swat valley and the

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 ...

regions of Pakistan as well as the Jalalabad district of northeastern Afghanistan. Situated astride the middle of the

, the region had

Takshashila Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area ...

and

as its chief cities. The place is of both political and commercial importance, as the Indus is here crossed by the military and trade route through the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversi ...

into

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 bord ...

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

and

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian ...

crossed the Indus at or about this spot in their respective invasions of

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. The Attock Fort was completed in 1583 under the supervision of Khawaja Shamsuddin Khawafi, a minister of

Emperor Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

. Nader Shah crossed through Attock when he defeated the Mughals at the

Battle of Karnal The Battle of Karnal (24 February 1739), was a decisive victory for Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran, during his invasion of India. Nader's forces defeated the army of Muhammad Shah within three hours, paving the way ...

and thus ended Mughal power in Northern India. The Battle of Attock took place at Attock Khurd on 28 April 1758, between the Durrani state and

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of S ...

. The Marathas under Raghunathrao Ballal Peshwa and Tukojirao Holkar Bahadur were victorious in the battle and Attock was captured. But this conquest was short-lived as

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

came in person to recapture Attock and checked the Maratha advance after destroying their forces at

Panipat Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-1. The three major battles fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761 took place near the city. The city is famous in India as the "C ...

. After the decline of the Durrani state, the

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

invaded and occupied

. The

Sikh Kingdom The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore ...

(1799–1849) under

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He ...

(1780–1839) captured the fortress of Attock in 1813 from the Durrani Nawab. In 1849, Attock Khurd (Old Attock) was conquered by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

who created Campbellpur District. Following the

Indian Rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

in 1857, the region's strategic value was appreciated by the British, who established the Campbellpur Cantonment in 1857–58. Campbellpore District was organised in 1904, by the division of Talagang Tehsil in the

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 ...

with the

Pindigheb Pindigheb (or Pindi Gheb) ( pa, ), is a town in Punjab province Pakistan and seat of Pindi Gheb Tehsil (an administrative subdivision) of Attock District.

Fateh Jang Fateh Jang (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city in Attock District of Punjab Province, Pakistan. It is located from Attock City, and nearly southwest of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital near M1 motorway. Overview The city is located in between Kala Chi ...

and Attock tehsils from

Rawalpindi District Rawalpindi District (Punjabi and ur, ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capital ...

Founding

The city's foundations were laid in 1908 by

, actual error: Sir Colin Campbell died in 1863 British Commander-in-Chief of India for whom the city is named. The old city was established near the 16th century near the Attock fort that had guarded the major routes between

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

. Attock's first oil well was drilled in Khaur in 1915, while the Attock Oil Company was established with a selling arrangement with the Burmah Oil Company. During 1928, the region produced 350,000 barrels of oil. Attock was one of the northernmost points of the

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

prior to the partition; it thus found itself being a part of the common

Hindi-Urdu Hindustani (; Devanagari: , * * * * ; Perso-Arabic: , , ) is the '' lingua franca'' of Northern and Central India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, the la ...

phrase used to describe the length of

colonial India Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spices. The search for the wealth and pros ...

: "Attock se Cuttack" (from Attock to

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

). The term "Attock se Cuttack" was first used to describe the extent of the

after they conquered Cuttack in 1750 and Attock in 1758.

Modern

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 s ...

of Pakistan in 1947, Hindu and

Sikh 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 ' ...

minorities emigrated to India, while Muslim refugees from India settled in Attock. The

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

renamed Campbellpur as Attock in 1978. The city and surrounding area are known for their high representation among soldiers of the Pakistani Military.

Education

According to the ''Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings'' ''2019'', Attock is ranked 3 out of 146 districts of Pakistan in terms of the quality of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked 17 out of 146. A detailed picture of the district's education performance is also available online. Fazaia Degree College, Government Graduate College, Government College for Women, FG Public High School, University of Education Attock Campus, Fazaia Inter College, Army Public School & College, Government Polytechnic Institute, Beacon Light English Model Secondary School, COMSATS University Islamabad, Air University Aerospace and Aviation Campus Kamra and Punjab College Attock are a few important educational institutes in Attock.

Notable people

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 ...

(22 February 1923 – 15 December 2011), Air Marshal, politician, sports administrator, and commander in chief of

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

* Ali Khan (13 December 1990), Pakistani-born American professional cricketer. * Haider Ali (2 October 2000), Pakistani professional cricketer * Ghulam Jilani Barq (26 October 1901 – 12 March 1985), Pakistani Islamic scholar *

Saleem Akhtar Raja Saleem Akhtar (Punjabi, Urdu: ) (8 September 1930 – 22 April 2004) was a former Pakistani cricketer who played for Multan and Sargodha. H ...

(8 September 1930 – 22 April 2004), Pakistani cricketer

Climate

Attock has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen: Cwa) which has hot and humid summers, and cold to mild winters.

References

{{Pakistan topics Cities and towns in Attock District Cities in Punjab (Pakistan)