Chhachh: Difference between revisions

Chhachh چھچھ
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
District	Attock District
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	+6
Website	http://www.chachzai.com

Chhachh (Template:Lang-ur) is located in Attock District of Punjab, Pakistan. Chhachh is derived from the Pashto word Chaj is a geographical region in the northern section of Attock District and south-west to Topi - Swabi. Chhachh is 7 km off the Pindi-Peshawar GT road (northwards). Chhachh is located at the edge of North-West Frontier Province - Punjab border. It is located 20.4 kilometres from Attock city and 22.9 kilometres from Topi (North-West Frontier). Chhachh is a plain which rolls from the Hazara-Gandhara Hills south to Kamra, and from east of the Indus to the broken lands near Lawrencepur. It is an alluvial plain in the north of the District and tehsil of Attock, Punjab, lying between 33°53' and 33° 59' N. and 72° 22' and 72°44' E. It is bounded on the north and west by the Indus, and is about 19 miles (31 km) long from east to west, and 9 miles (14 km) broad. Percolation from the Indus makes it extremely fertile^[1]. It was the most fertile area of Rawalpindi Division. The famous town of Ghorghushti and the villages of Barazai and Behboodi are located here. The vast majority of people speak Hindko. Pashto is another predominately spoken at near by villages such as, Behboodi, waisa, Tajik, Kamalpur Musa, Shadi Khan, Shinka, Haroon, Yaseen, Bara, Pinjwana, saleem khan, Nartopa, etc., as well as many of the villages being bilingual in both languages.

The name "Chhachh" literally means "a bowl type container" according to the native language, which was used to drink Lassi by the people living around this region. Geographically the surface of the Chhachh region is like a bowl. Chhachh has been identified with the Chukhsa or Chuskha country of the Taxila copperplate inscription. In the Muslim period it was known as Chhachh-Hazara, or Takht Hazara, "below Hazara", or "Plain of Hazara". Hazro is located in this plain.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

A large percentage of the population of Chhachh have Pashtun roots and belongs to Qais Abdur Rashid (Qays Abdul Al-Rashid pathan)(father of all pashtuns). Mostly descendants of the tribes of Durrani, Tanoli, Alizai, Yousafzai, Kakar, Jadoon, Tareen, Tahirkheli, Sadozai, Khattak and barakzai. They arrived in the area around 1000 AD as part of the army of Ghazni and made it their permanent home after defeating the Hindu confederation near Hazro. Proof of this is that many of the villages & individual quarters are named after certain Pashtun personalities & tribes, markedly proving who had founded them. For e.g., Aka Khel, Aja khel, Nasozai, Inayat Khel, Utman Khel, Saleem Khan, Ghorghushti, Adalzai, Grhe alizai, pirzai, Barazai, etc. Most of these Pashtuns now refer to themselves as Pathans and speak Hindko as their main language. Chach Pathans are revered for their fighting ability in ancient times and more recently for their many advancements in education, culture, and society. It is claimed that Hindko was the original ancient language of Chhachh when it was part of the Gandharan civilisation and was adopted over time by the Pashtoon tribes of the area. The remaining population of Chach consists of Mughals, Kashmiris, Jats, Bangashs, Rajputs, Gujjars, Syeds, Awans.

However there are villages (Waisa, Tajik, Shadi Khan, etc.) that are predominantly inhabited by Pashto speakers. Even though the majority of Chach Pathans may no longer speak Pashto as their mother tongue, they still zealously guard the Pashtunwali traditions of badla, jirga, parda, ghairat, hujra, malmasti etc.

Chechi is a very beautiful village some 70 km (west) from Capital of Pakistan Islamabad on Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) having geographical coordinates 33 52 32 N, 72 28 26 E.

Chechi is located at the edge of Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw - Punjab. It is located 20 kilometres north from Attock city and 80 kilometres east from Peshawer (Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw).

The vast majority of people speak Hindko. Pashto is another predominately spoken. The population of Chechi consists of Gujjars, Pathanss, Awans, Mughals as wel as few other costs.

Ghorghushti ( غورغشتى) is one of the largest towns of Chhachh in Attock District and is on the border of North-West Punjab (Pakistan), and Hazara in Pakhtunkhwa/North-West Frontier Province. The official spelling is Ghorghushti, but alternative, incorrect, spellings include: Ghurghushti, Ghourghushti, Ghaurghashti, Ghaur Ghushti, Ghurgushti, Ghourgashti or Ghaurghashti. In the Pashto language it is called Gharghashto.

The people who live here are predominantly Pashtuns, speak Hindko with some speaking Pashto and follow the Pashtunwali code of conduct.

It is the birth place of the famous Pathan warrior Nawab Najabat Khan, also known as Najaf Khan. Najaf Khan was born in Mohalla Ishaq Zai in a house near the pond.

Ghorghushti was founded by the Inayat Khel (the Khan tribe), Matta Khel, Dilawar Khel (both Malaks) and the Kakar tribes. Matta Khel and Dilawar Khel have the same progenitor. The Kakar tribe came from Kakaristan, an older name of Balochistan. Other tribes include: Asad (Sadoo) Khel, Najab Khel, Haider Khel, Suleiman (Sarma) Khel, Khizar (Khadar) Zai, Kara Khel and Chacha Khel. The progenitor of the Sadoo Khel tribe was Asad Khan. The proginator of the Haider Khel tribe was Haider Khan. Members of the Kara Khel "tribe" had migrated from Ghari Khara Khel,(now called Khurra Khel) located in NWFP around 1840s after the great flood which swept much of eastern Chach in 1841. It is believed that it was severe flooding and economic situation that led some people from their village to migrate to other villages, mainly to Ghorghushti. Another village, Allo, was also destroyed by this flood and it's surviving inhabitants migrated to Shinka (where they named a Mohalla after their village namely; Allo), Asghar and majority to Malak Mala.

Nartopa نرتوپہ (Urdu/Hindko: نرتوپہ) is a village in Hazro Tehsil, Attock District in Punjab province, Pakistan. Other villages surrounding Nartopa include Behboodi, Shinka, Malak Mala, Salem Khan, Yaseen, Ghorghushti, and Saha Dair. The population consists of Muslims, most of them practising and with religious lifestyle. The spoken languages include Pushto, Hindko and Persian. Nartopa's population is approximately 8,000 with a literacy rate of about 59%.

Nartopa has three tribal groups.

The vast majority of the population of Nartopa are Vardag (وردگ). The Wardag tribe is situated in the middle of Nartopa. Wardag people are the literate and landowner community of Nartopa. Vardags originated from Vardag Province (Afghanistan) and came to Nartopa in 18th century. Wardags are hardcore pathans with rich history and have many members in ruling elite of Afghanistan, one being the ex-Army chief. Major spoken languages are Pushto and Hindko.

The Nasozai people (نسوزئ) are largely literate. Nasozai is the second largest and most important mohallah of Nartopa. The people of Nasozai migrated from Afghanistan (Nasozai) to Nartopa in 1723. The Tribe of Nasozai label some specific part of Nartopa the "Nasozai".

The Nasozai are further divided into two sections: firstly Nasozai ("real name" and Aliabad) in east Nartopa and secondly Qibla Banda in west Nartopa, that is part of nasozai tribe. And also is link to Hazro (Bangahe)at 'nartopa ghaba'point. The Nasozai people have properties (fields) in the most south of Nartopa. The People of Nartopa that lives in east area are mostly pathans, Yosif Zai etc their native language is Pushto. The people that live in western area (Qibla Banda) speak Pushto and Hindko, in this area mostly people are Hindko.

The vast majority of the area are Syed Khail (سیدخیل).About 20% of Syed Khail people, who are now migrating to Karachi (Pakistan) for Jobs. The people of Syed Khail work in agriculture, trading, cattle and government jobs and are the richest people in nartopa. Syed Khail is also a good and important Mohalla (neighbourhood) of Nartopa because of the "Ghazi Brotha Dam" that passes alonge the area. The people of Syed Khail came from Afghanistan (Syed Khail) most of them belong to Amat Kahil tribe. Their habits, culture,their emotions and religion activities are related to the Nasozai tribe. Major spoken language is Pushto.

Wasia is located 33◦55'13,17" N, 72◦24'25,71" E and its Elevation is 1006 ft above sea level. Waisa is one of the 84 villages of Chhachh Valley, situated on the Abaseen (The Great Indus River). Abaseen literally means The Father of the Rivers. Waisa is a geographical region in the northern section of Attock District which is East of Peshawar and west of Islamabad.

It is one of the most fertile areas of Pakistan, known to be one of the most beautiful regions in Pakistan due to its varied topography. The village is surrounded by distant mountains from three sides and Indus River from one side. Waisa People

The majority population of Waisa village are from Pashtun origin belongs to kan khel, lal khel, mirki khel, alo khel, batakhel, patol khel, razakhel, daodzai and wardag, they speak Pushto language,

which is the nationalized language in Afghanistan. The remainder of the population speak Hindko, a dialect of western Punjab and not dissimilar to Punjabi. Pushtuns are revered for their vicious fighting ability in ancient times and more recently for their much advancement in education, culture, and society.People also speak hindko language and their ancestor are known to be originated from Afghanistan therefore they all share the sheer qualities such as faithfulness, humbleness, hospitality and respect, which are uniquely common in Pathans. They are in involved in all aspects of the community. The people of Waisa are extremely hospitable and generous. They proudly uphold the common codes of the pashtunwali, honour, dignity, friendship with humbleness.

Village Waisa belongs The Great Challah khan, but he is also loved by all the near by village peoples such Kamal pur musa, Formulli, Shadi khan Sirka, Painda, Daman, Malla, Haroon and many more. He is a great landlord and a millionaire who helps poor and needy people not only of the area but he also helps new immigrant to the area to settle and helps homeless people to have their own houses by giving them 10 Marla land free of cost and also helps them by digging materials and supplying electricity and clean drinking water.

During important festivals such as Ramadhan he opens his daraha to everyone to have free Breakfast and Iftari, Where hundreds participates. He also takes responsibilities of hundreds of girls and boys for their schooling. He is a person who is friend to everyone specially poors and needy and he is loved by everyone in the area.

Attock people specially and Pakistani people as a whole can certainly proud of Great Challah khan and he can certainly be nominated for the Pride of Performance by Federal Government of Pakistan, though he deserve alot more than that.................

The name of the village is Shadi Khan which is situated in chhachh valley. This village was found about 600 years ago. The population of the village is about 1,200 of which half are settled overseas in the UK, USA, Hong Kong and UAE. It is said that this village was named after a man called Shadi Khan baba,who was a pashtun. Today many of the people living in Shadi Khan are part of Shadi Khan baba's family.Majority of people are pathans and belongs to Mirdad khel, Fateh khel and dilazak. Over the years people from other villages have also settled here.

During the early years the village was very close to the River Indus, but then gradually over time it went further away. Today it is about 2 km away from the River Indus. Below are details of places surrounding Shadi Khan:

• North Indus River
• South Walia
• East Waisa
• West Mallah
• North-East Sirka
• North-West Formuli
• South-East Tajik
• South-West Haidar Khurd

There is a carpeted road in Shadi Khan which is connected with G T Road. From G T Road Islamabad is about 75 km away and Peshawar is 80 km.

Malhoo is a famous village in the Chhachh Valley of Attock District, Punjab, Pakistan. Malhoo is situated six kilometres north of Kamra from Rawalpindi Pishawar GT Road and six kilometres south of the Indus River. It is bordered on the north by Daman is a village where the respected elder Haji Muhammed Ayub Khan Barakzai was from, it is a small village, on the east by Hameed, on the west by Kamalpur Musa on the south by Shamsabad, and on the south-east by Saman and green fields. The village was founded in 1785 when Malhoo Khan belongs to mehboob khel tribe of bangash pathans settled in the area from Kohat. Majority of people are pathan and belong to bangash tribe settled in the area from Kohat. Religion is sunni islam. 30% of people lives in foreign countries (Usa, Uk, Hong Kong and Middle East, 20% people doing Government Services, 30% have the occupation of agriculture, 15% have their own business. The literacy rate 71%.

Attock Education Trust was initially registered as Gen. Jahan Dad Khan Education Trust but the trust was later converted into Attock Education Trust. It started with purpose of promoting literacy and job opportunities through vocational institutes. Gen. Jahan Dad Khan bangash belongs to Malhoo. He was also former governor of Sindh

Among the others, Mr. Ghulam Khan Bangash is the remarkable social and political personality.

Behbudi or Behboodi also known as Pabuto in Pashto is a village in the Chachh region of Attock District, Northern Punjab, Pakistan. It is located at 33°55'32N 72°31'44E with an altitude of 314 metres (1033 feet) and lies close to the borders of the North-West Frontier Province.

The people who live here are Pashtun also known as ethnic Afghans; all speak Pashto/Pashto and follow the Pashtunwali code of conduct. The Ismail Khel, Tor Khel, Salat Khel, Hisab (Yusuf) Khel and Babarkarzai clans of the Pashtun tribes reside in Behboodi. The Village was founded by four brothers who came from Afghanistan. The Pashtuns of Behboodi speak with the northern "kh" dialect of Pashto and belong to the Sarban branch of the Pashtun tribes.

The city of Hazro lies about 3.8 km away, nearby villages are Malak Mala, Nartopa, Shinka. These villages have Pashtuns also living in them and speak languages such as Hindko.

Shinka is a small village near Jalalia village in Hazro Tehsil, Attock District, Punjab province of Pakistan. Its neighbouring places are Behbudi, Ghorghushti town, Malak Mala and Nartopa.

The village has government and private schools, health clinics, a post office and a telephone exchange. There are number of small tribes in Shinka whose spoken language is Pashto, which include the Show Khel, Aja khel, Aka Khel, Baboo Khel, Kaca Khel, Karam Khel and Khan KhelUMARZAI AKA KHAIL is one of the brave pashtune tribe in shinka.whose ancestors were from (KANDAHAR)Afghanistan named UMAR KHAN HUSSAIN BABA MUHAMMAD AHMED NEHMATULLAH FAZAL KHAN....the history of this tribe almost 200 years Ancient

Additionally Pashto and Hindko is spoken by the Awan, Gujjars, Kashmiris, Mughals and Mulla's

Malak Mala is a village in the Chhachh region of Attock District in Northern Punjab of Pakistan. It lies close to the borders of the North-West Frontier Province. Its neighboroung villages include Behbudi, Shinka, Nartopa and Ghorghushti town.

The people who live here predominately consider Pathans (Pashtun people), but speak Hindko rather than Pashto language and follow the Pashtunwali code of conduct.^{[citation needed]}. The predominant Afghan tribes of Malak Mala are the Umarzai, Musakhel (Musazai), Khankhel (the three being sub-clans of Sarkani-Alokazai-Zirakzai-Abdali branch of Afghans), Amazai (Yusufzai), Alokhel, and Torkhel.

Malak Mala is the largest land owning village in the Chhachh valley (around 180,000 Kanals), the area which expands from river Sindh in the North to the river Haro in the South (Valleys North-South boundary). it also has lands which are on the NWFP side of River Sindh (village Hund area).

Jalalia is approximately 4–5 miles east of the city of Hazro and is bordered on the east,southeast and south by the town of Ghorghushti, on the southwest by the village of Shinka, on the west by the village of Momen Pur, on the north by the Indus River, and on the east by the village of Shakh Chur. Jalalia is approximately 15–20 miles west of the Tarbela Dam. Mostly descendants of the tribes of aka khel (akbar khan), jan khanzai (jan khan) ibrahimzai(ibrahim khan), ganjyal (bahadar khan). These all are the sons of jalal khan (founder of this village)

The village is divided into nine different village quarters (locally known as Mohallas):

• Abdulrehman Ghari
• Alo mera
• Aka Khel
• Dheri Sara
• Ganjal
• Gharib abad
• Kashmir abad
• Mughal abad
• NasirZai
• Utman Khel

Momanpur, also spelt Momen Pur, is a small village bordering Jalalia Union Council in Pakistan. It is located at 33°57'55N 72°31'52E with an altitude of 304 metres (1000 feet) lying to the west of Jalalia village. It is situated along the Indus river and one of the 84th village of chhachh valley known as Wadi-E-Abaseen.

Most of the land is of the village called "Allo" which was along the Indus river and was destroyed by floods. The survivors migrated to Momen pur, Asghar, Malak mala and some in Shinka, and named a mohallah after their village, namely "Allo".

Momen pur had a large population of Hindus, who owned a large part the village, prior to the creation of Pakistan. During the partitioning of India the Hindus left and the land was subsequently occupied by the locals. Majority of the people are Awans and Maliyars, farmers and remaining are the Pashtuns which belongs to Aka Khel, Tor Khel and Alizai tribes.

Garhi Matani is a small but growing village of chhachh in Attock, Punjab, Pakistan.

It is situated to the south of the river Indus and has good fertile lands which are very well cultivated. The population is all Pashtun and speak Pushto belongs to Qais Abdur Rashid(Qays Abdul Al-Rashid Pashtun)(father of all pashtuns). Mostly descendants of the tribes of muradkhel syedkhel inamkhel and khankhel known as Lodi Pashtun tribe,and follow pashtunwali code of conduct. The religion is Sunni Islam. The origins of the village are unknown but it could be a 100–200 years old.

As of recent study in to the history of the area, there has been some evidence which suggests the village may have been a pashtun army camp under Ahmad Shah Abdali. Invading armies from Afghanistan were usually camped next to the river Indus. And from there they would carry further military expeditions into Hindustan. Further research into the area is being carried out now to confirm these findings.

Barazai is the biggest village of UC Malak Mala with a population of nearly 16,000.Founder of this villege was "Bara khan" came from Afghanistan,and had four sons namely Qaisim khan,maghdod khan,mirza khan and kod khan.A large percentage of the population of barazai have Pashtoon roots and belongs to Qais Abdur Rashid(Qays Abdul Al-Rashid Pashtun)(father of all pashtuns). Mostly descendants of the tribes of musazai (sarkani) and alizai (Durrani),now speak hindko language, but follow pashtunwali code of conduct. Other tribes are peshawar Hindu origin.

Barazai has both Girl and Boy High Schools. There are one Sofi Buzarag Almahrof Baba Jee Sab which belong to Barazi and the sharen of Shaheed Baba are also in the village of Barazai. Basically Barazai has 4 Mohallahs from Start Maghdozai, Qasim Khail, Shaba Khel and Mula Khel but recently it contail Musa Khel, Mashriqi Dhwok, Maghrabi Dhowk, Nawab Abad, School Banda and many more. Safdar Khan (Naib Nazim), Barazai

Basti Musa is a small village in Chhachh, the northern section of Attock, in the Punjab Province of Pakistan, located 2 km from Hazro.

It has a post office, schools and a hospital. The people are Hindko and follow traditional Chhachh life. The main crop is peanuts. A well known local person is the late Syed Muhammad Sulman Shah, who was the spiritual and religious leader of the village. The neighbouring villages are Koolathi and Sherani.

• Chhachi (Pashtun)
• Hazro, Punjab
• pathans
• Qais Abdur Rashid
• pashtunwali

24°43′59″N 68°30′00″E / 24.733°N 68.500°E / 24.733; 68.500