Hazro (

Hindko Hindko (, , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Pun ...

/) is a town located in the

Attock District Attock District ( Punjabi/Urdu), known as Campbellpur District during British Raj, is a district, located on the Pothohar Plateau, in north western Punjab, Pakistan; created in April 1904. According to 2023 Pakistani census population of Att ...

of the Punjab Province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Geography

It is located approximately halfway between

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

and

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, the federal capital. This town is the capital of

Hazro Tehsil Hazro Tehsil is a tehsil of Attock District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan about 85 km away from Islamabad and 7 km from GT road. Hazro City is also connected to Islamabad motorway through Chach Interchange. Hazro City is a t ...

, an administrative subdivision of the district, and the central marketplace of the

Chach Valley Chhachh or Chach (Hindko: ) is a region located in Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan between Peshawar and Islamabad at the northern tip of Attock, consisting of an alluvial plain extending from Attock District of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Paki ...

, consisting of 84 villages located along the Indus River.

History

Ancient history

Hazro is located at the historical region of

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

. The region was inhabited by the

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

Liaka Kusulaka Liaka Kusulaka (Greek: , on his coins; Prakrit: Liaka Kusulaka or , , on the Taxila copper plate) was an Indo-Scythian satrap of the area of Chukhsa in northwestern India during the 1st century BCE. Name Liaka Kusulaka name is recorded on his ...

was an

Indo-Scythian The Indo-Scythians, also known as Indo-Sakas, were a group of nomadic people of Iranian peoples, Iranic Scythians, Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the present-day regions of Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and the northwe ...

satrap of the area of Chukhsa (Chach) during the 1st century BC. Later the region was inhabited by

Turk Shahis The Turk Shahis were a dynasty of Western Turk, or mixed Turco-Hephthalite origin, that ruled from Kabul and Kapisa to Gandhara in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. They may have been of Khalaj ethnicity."The new rulers of Kabul, who according to ...

Western Turk The Western Turkic Khaganate () or Onoq Khaganate () was a Turkic peoples, Turkic khaganate in Eurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593–603 CE) after the split of the First Turkic Khaganate (founded in th ...

, or mixed Turko-

Hephthalite The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries CE, ...

and later was ruled by

Hindu Shahis The Hindu Shahis, also referred to as the Kabul Shahis and Uḍi Śāhis, were a dynasty established between 843 CE and 1026 CE. They endured multiple waves of conquests for nearly two centuries and their core territory was described as having c ...

. Many rulers such as

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

Mahmud of Ghazni Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar (; 6 August 1698 or 22 October 1688 – 20 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was a ...

and

Babur Babur (; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also ...

and their armies crossed the Indus River at or about this region in their respective invasions of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Middle Ages

According to the Gazetteer of

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, Hazro was the battlefield of the

Battle of Chach The Battle of Chach or Battle of Chaach was fought in 1007 AD between the Ghaznavid army of Mahmud of Ghazni and the Hindu Shahi army of Anandapala, near Hazro, resulting in the latter's defeat. This left the north Indian region vulnerable to ...

in which, in AD 1008,

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus to the Indus Va ...

Sultan

Mahmud Ghaznavi Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...

defeated the united forces of the

Hindu Shahi The Hindu Shahis, also referred to as the Kabul Shahis and Uḍi Śāhis, were a dynasty established between 843 CE and 1026 CE. They endured multiple waves of conquests for nearly two centuries and their core territory was described as having c ...

ruler

Anandapala The Hindu Shahis, also referred to as the Kabul Shahis and Uḍi Śāhis, were a dynasty established between 843 CE and 1026 CE. They endured multiple waves of conquests for nearly two centuries and their core territory was described as having c ...

with a slaughter of 20,000 men. The

Gakhars The Gakhar () is a historical Punjabi tribe, originating in the Pothohar Plateau of Punjab, Pakistan. They predominantly adhere to Islam. History In the Muslim historiography, the Gakhars have been frequently confused with the Khokhars, who ...

became vital in the hills to the east, but their dominion never extended beyond the Margalla pass. Ghakhars were defeated by Kashmiri ruler Shihabu'd-Din Shah near

Attock Khurd Attock Khurd (; ''"''Little Attock''"'') is a small town located beside the Indus River in the Attock District of Punjab Province in Pakistan. Khurd and Kalan are Persian words, meaning small and big, respectively. The words are themselves de ...

and continued under Kashmiri rule until the conquest of

.Gazetteer of the Rawalpindi district 1893-94 published by Sang-E-Meel Publications and Page 259

Modern period

During

British Rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

the town of Hazro became part of

Attock Tehsil Attock Tehsil ( Punjabi and ) is one of the six tehsils of Attock District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. The Indus River bounds it on the north-west, dividing it from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while the Haro River flows through from east ...

; the municipality of Attock which was created in 1867 and the North-Western Railway connected the town to Lawrencepur. The town is surrounded by rich cultivation, and from 20th century had a flourishing trade, chiefly in

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 ...

and

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

. The population according to the 1901 census of India was 9,799.

Notable people

*Dr. Ghulam Mustafa *\Dr. Muhammad Ahson Khan , Khagwani *Ahson Medical Hall Hazro * Yasir Ali * Zubair Ali Zai

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Attock District