Tor Ghar District KPK Province

Kala Dhaka

Tor ghar District or Tor Ghar, formerly The Black Mountain (or Kala Dhaka in Hindko), is one of the 25 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Formerly a tribal area under PATA (provincially administrated tribal area), it also became a settle area under Article 246 of the Constitution, when it official became a district on 28th January 2011 before it was a Tehsil in Mansehra District. Tor Ghar will now be considered part of the settled area of the province. Its population is about 0.5 million and it is located near Battagram and Mansehra. Under Article 246 of the Constitution, the president has the power to change the status of any tribal area. The main language of the district is Pashto & Hindko.

Education

The only system of education which exists in Tor Ghar is primary education which is, unfortunately, also moribund. Teacher absenteeism is acute, teachers are underpaid, and teaching materials scarce. Also, there is a lack of supervision of the teachers by the concerned department and of institutionalized in-service training for teachers. Most of the schools don’t have their own buildings. Staffs recruited from outside the area don’t have inclination to serve in the area due to lack of basic needs of life. Literacy rate is just less than 7% while women don’t have any opportunity of education.

Mineral

Mountains of Tor Ghar are considered to be filled with precious minerals, marble is one of them. Limestone, China clay and Granite can be produced in plentiful. The only thing needed is dedication and commitment for unearthing these resources and bringing change in the lives of common.

Geography

The Black Mountain itself has a total length of 20 to 25 miles, and an average height of 8,000 ft. It rises from the Indus basin near the village of Kiara up to its watershed by Bruddur, then it runs northwest by north to the point on the crest known as Chittabut. From Chittabut the range runs due north, finally descending by two large spurs to the Indus again.

The only road that traverses Tor Ghar from Darband to Thakot is 84 kilometres Long. This road connects the area with the outer world.

Thakot is on the Karakoram Highway and thus coming out of Kaladhaka Via Thakot is a much better route as compared to choosing the Darband Route. The Karakoram Highway is in a much better shape from Thakot down to Abbottabad. The road that traverses through Tor Ghar keeps in touch with the left bank of the River Indus almost throughout its course.

Tor Ghar is also called F. R. Mansehra. F. R. denotes Frontier Region. This tribal area is administered by Administrator Tor Ghar on the behalf of Provincial Govt. who is based at Mansehra. There is also a political agent/political tehsildar who is usually based at Oghi Town (Ogai).

Tribes

On the western slopes most people in Tor Ghar (Black Mountain) are Pukhtoons from Mada Khel, Hasanzai, Akazai, Nusrat Khel and Basi Khel the divisions of Isazai and Malizai sub-clans of the Yousufzai tribe, while eastern slopes are dominated by the Swati clans, some Hindko speaking people can be found at the fringes of the region.

The Black Mountain (Tor Ghar) Tribes have a more certain origin among the people of Mansehra district. They belong to the Isazai and Malazai clans of the Yousafzai tribe. The Isazai sub-clan is further divided into three sub-clans: Mada Khel, Hassanzai and Akazai. The Malazai sub-clan is divided into two sub-clans: Basi Khel and Nasrat Khel. Basikhel is the largest group, consisting of 37% of the population of Tor Ghar while Nusrat Khel and Akazai constitute 12% each; the populations of Hasanzai and Mada Khel are 18.5% and 20% respectively. Basi Khel, Nusrat Khel and Akazai inhabit the left bank of the Indus while the Mada Khel tribe resides on the right side and the Hassanzai are situated on both the sides of river Indus.

Major tribes

Akazai , Basi Khel , Nusrat Khel , Mada Khel , Hassanzai

Roads

Darband To Thakot Road.

Khanano Dheri (Buner District) to Manjakot (not completed yet)

Petao Amazai (Distt: Shangla) To Mada Khel (not completed yet)

Shugli Bandi Oghi To Tilli Saydan Hasanzai

Oghi Choor Kalam To Machai Sar

Gijborri (Batagram District) To Mangri & Kamasir

Kotgala (Batagram District) to Bartooni

Topi (District Swabi) to Teetay Madakhail (the best way to travel to Tor Ghar)

Dilbori to Miran and Beland Kot to Sonchal

Hazara

Hazara is a region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It comprises six districts: Abbottabad District, Battagram District, Haripur District, Kohistan District, and Mansehra District.
On the dissolution of West Pakistan in 1970, Hazara District and the two tribal agencies were merged to form the new Hazara Division with its capital at Abbottabad. The division was initially composed of three districts (Abbottabad, Kohistan and Mansehra) but within a few years, Haripur district was spun off from Abbottabad District and Battagram District was spun off from Mansehra District.
Hazara remained a District right up to its conversion into a Division in 1976. In October 1976, Mansehra was given the status of a fully fledged District, which consisted of Mansehra and Battagram Tehsil. Subsequently in July 1991, Haripur Tehsil was separated from Abbottabad and made into a District. Thus only the old Tehsil of Abbottabad remained, which was declared as Abbottabad District.
In 2000, administrative divisions were abolished and the fourth tier districts were raised to become the new third tier of government in Pakistan.