Chhachh
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 Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa - Punjab border. It is located 20.4 kilometres from Attock city and 22.9 kilometres from Topi Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. 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.
History
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]
Tribes
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.
Villages
Chechi
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-Pakhtunkhwa - Punjab. It is located 20 kilometres north from Attock city and 80 kilometres east from Peshawer.
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
Ghorghushti ( غورغشتى) is one of the largest towns of Chhachh in Attock District and is on the border of Punjab (Pakistan), and Hazara division of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. 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 Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 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
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%.
Tribes and demographics of Nartopa
Nartopa has three tribal groups.
Vardag
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.
Nasozai
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.
Syed Khail
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.
Waisa
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 to The Great Challah khan, He is not only loved by village waisa peoples also loved by all the other near by village peoples, such Kamal pur musa, Formulli, Shadi khan, Sirka, Painda, Daman, Malla, Haroon and many more, due to his great social work. He is a landlord and a millionaire who helps poors and needy peoples 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-ul-Mubarak he opens his daraha to everyone to have free Breakfast and Iftari, Where hundreds participates daily. 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. Due to his tremendous efforts and the social work he has done and been doing and he should certainly be nominated for the Pride of Performance by Federal Government of Pakistan, though he deserve alot more than that.