Kuragh is a village located in

Chitral Chitral () is a city situated on the Kunar River, Chitral River in northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before ...

district of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

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# ...

. It falls in

Mastuj Mastuj () is a tehsil and a valley in Upper Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Mastuj is the principal settlement. It is located at 36°17'0N 72°31'0E with an altitude of 2359 metres (7742 feet). There are ruins of ...

tehsil.

History

The narrow passageways in the mountains near Kuragh witnessed battles between local warriors under Sher Afzal Khan and British troops in late 19th century.

Terrain

Kuragh is situated on

Kunar River The Chitral River, also known in Afghanistan as the Kunar River, is a long river in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. It originates from the Chiantar glacier, located at the border of Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral in Pakistan. At A ...

which is also known as Mastuj River or Chitral River. The river here is a narrow gorge. The village is located at the confluence of Mastuj and Mulkhow valleys.

Demographics

There are about 250 households in Kuragh belonging to Sunni and Ismaili communities. Farming is a key sector of economy here. The other important industry is tourism.

Landmarks, facilities and development efforts

Kuragh has government and

Aga Khan Aga Khan (; ; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Imām of the Nizari Isma'ilism, Nizari Isma'ilism, Ismāʿīli Shia Islam, Shias. The current holder of the title is the ...

schools. The village has a shrine of Qalandar Shah, a saint. Kuragh also has a

Chitral Scouts The Chitral Scouts (''CS'') (), also known as Chitral Levies, originally raised in 1903 as the militia of the princely state of Chitral, is now part of the Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) of Pakistan. They are recruited mostly from ...

post. Chitral-Shandur Road project (a 153-km China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project) was inaugurated by the then prime minister

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

in 2021 to boost trade and tourism, with Kuragh as one of the villages on the way. However, the project was reportedly shelved in 2023 leading to agitation.

References

{{reflist Villages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa