Attock is a district in the Punjab Province of Pakistan.The district was created in April 1904 by the merger of Talagang Tehsil in the Jhelum District with the Pindigheb, Fatehjang and Attock tehsils from Rawalpindi District of the Punjab province of British India.
District Attock is surrounded on the North by Swabi and Haripur districts of Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, on the East by Rawalpindi, on the South by Chakwal district, on the South-West by Mianwali district, in the West by Kohat district and on North-West by Nowshera district of Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa. The Indus River flows along the Western boundary of the district for about 130 Kilometers. It divides Attock district from the three bordering districts of Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa.
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| Attock Fort Attock District Punjab Province of Pakistan |
The original name was Campbellpur district after Sir Campbell who founded the city of Campbellpur to the southeast of Attock Town. The name of the district was changed to Attock in 1978.
Administrative Distribution
Attock district is spread over an area of 6857 square kilometers comprising of following six tehsils named after their major towns:
Attock, Fateh Jang, Hassan Abdal, Jand, Pindi Gheb, Hazro (Newly Established)
Attock is the Eastern terminus of the Kabul-Attock and is a corridor to the Central Asia. However unlike the modern highways, this corridor is not a work of engineering marvel but an act of nature as it was naturally carved through the Hindu Kush Mountains by the legendry Kabul River and its numerous tributary rivers and streams. The 435 miles long journey of River Kabul starts just west of the Kabul city in Afghanistan and ends at Attock where it ultimately falls into the River Indus.
History
Attock is a place of great historic significance. Emperor Akbar the Great, the grandson of Babar, recognized the strategic importance of this area in 1581 and built the famous Attock Fort Complex. The fall of Mughal Empire in eighteenth century saw the rise of Sikhs in Punjab and Durrani Afghans to the West. Attock became a battle ground between two contending powers. British finally ended the feud by subjugating both Sikhs and Afghans in the nineteenth century. British at the same time also brought rail line to the area, built first permanent bridge in 1880 over the Indus River. The district was named as Campbellpur after the name of Sir Campbell who laid foundation stone of Campbellpur City in 1908 a few kilometers away on South-East of Attock Khurd Town. The district was constituted in 1904 by taking Talagang tehsil from Jhelum district and Pindi Gheb, Fateh Jang and Attock tehsils from Rawalpindi district. The city was renamed as Attock in 1978.
Languages
Attock is a place of great historic significance. Emperor Akbar the Great, the grandson of Babar, recognized the strategic importance of this area in 1581 and built the famous Attock Fort Complex. The fall of Mughal Empire in eighteenth century saw the rise of Sikhs in Punjab and Durrani Afghans to the West. Attock became a battle ground between two contending powers. British finally ended the feud by subjugating both Sikhs and Afghans in the nineteenth century. British at the same time also brought rail line to the area, built first permanent bridge in 1880 over the Indus River. The district was named as Campbellpur after the name of Sir Campbell who laid foundation stone of Campbellpur City in 1908 a few kilometers away on South-East of Attock Khurd Town. The district was constituted in 1904 by taking Talagang tehsil from Jhelum district and Pindi Gheb, Fateh Jang and Attock tehsils from Rawalpindi district. The city was renamed as Attock in 1978.
Languages
Punjabi is the primary language of Attock, Other languages spoken include Pashto, Hindko and Urdu is the predominant languages of the city.
Tribes
Attock is home to a diverse group of people Syeds, Awans, Rajputs, Pathan, Khattar, Jodaray Ghebay,Mughal, Paracha and many other ethnic groups.
The city also had a significant Muhajir population. In fact, Attock city was dominated by the immigrants from India but gradually their population has dwindled and now they are a minority – mostly living in old quarters of Attock city. During the soviet war in Afghanistan a great number of afghan refugees came to Attock as it is closed to Peshawar, although many of these refugees have moved back to Afghanistan but still there is a considerable percentage of those who chose not to go back and have started their lives in Attock.
Kabul River
Attock is the eastern terminus of the Kabul-Attock corridor to the Central Asia through which for centuries have passed the armies and the caravans alike. However unlike the modern highways, this corridor is not a work of engineering marvel but an act of nature as it was naturally carved through the Hindu Kush Mountains by the legendary Kabul River.The 435 miles long journey of River Kabul starts just west of the Kabul city in Afghanistan and ends at Attock where it ultimately falls into the River Indus.
Resources
Dhullian is a village in Pindigheb Tehsil. This village has important resources namely oil and gas. It has been providing oil since the 1930s. There are all types of soil as mountains, plain areas fertile grounds and it also has a river flowing through it. There is a famous Ghala Mandi located in Dhullian Chowk. Here 90% of the total population area agricultural. This historical village is located at the end of Attock District.
Climate
Attock district has a climate of hot summers and cold winters. The Northern part of the district is more humid and is more moderate in climate relative to the Southern part of the district due to the higher altitude. Geographically, the district is mainly hills, plateaus and dissected plains. The Indus River flows on the Northern and Western borders of the district. After Haripur, the Haro River passes through the North of the tehsil of Attock where there is a flood plain with fertile soil. The district’s average annual rainfall is 783 mm.
CAMPBELLPUR (KAMILPUR) ——-NAMING THEORIES
Dr Abdus salam —- salampindi@gmail.com
Campbellpur is mentioned first time in current books / record in 1954 (1) According to Imperial Gazette of India it takes its name from Kamilpur Syedan, a small adjacent village (2,3) Campbellpur does not trace to anyone named Campbell (4). It is the English pronunciation of the local village of Kamilpur Syedan In 1857 kutcha barracks were built by Lieutenant Taylor of the Bengal Engineers at the cost of 3000 Rs for 50 European soldiers (5)Owners of village Kamilpur gifted 26 acres and sold 160 acres of land, for Campbellpore Cantt(6)
The widely accepted view of tracing Campbellpur to Sir Colin Campbell is based on two-line sentence of George Dodd (7)
“Wishing to obtain a healthy military station west of the Indus the brigadier in command laid the foundation of Campbellpore a station named in honor of the commander in chief “
This naming theory is baseless because of 4 reasons.
1) It appears that George Dodd a writer never visited India. He has no idea of location of Campbellpur. He places it west of Indus whereas Campbellpur is 10 kilometer east of Indus.
2) First mention of Campbellpur is in record is in 1854(1).Campbell became Commander in Chief in 1857.This is very unlikely that the town was named after him in 1854 before his becoming C in C. Brigadier Colin Campbell ( Later Field Marshal) (1792-1863) fought Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848-1849, under Sir Hugh Gough. Campbell returned home in 1853 and commanded a Brigade in Crimean War in 1854.In 1857 he was made the commander of British forces in India .He left England and reached Calcutta in August 1857
3) This naming theory has not been shared by any other authenticated official record or independent book
4) This theory has gained favor recently due to copy/cut and paste practice
References
1. General Report of the Administration of the Punjab for the Years 1849, 50 &51 -Chronicle Press Lahore 1854
2. Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 9. Oxford [1909]
3. Imperial Gazetteer of India —Provincial Series (Punjab Vol. II) —1908
4. Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism-Benjamin Walker – 1968
5. Nine Years on the North-west Frontier of India from 1854 to 1863 by Sir Sydney Cotton
6. History of MES of Pakistan — Engineer in Chief Branch GHQ Rawalpindi 1991
7. The history of the Indian revolt by George Dodd London, Edinburgh 1859