Chhachh

Chhachh or Chach (Hindko and Urdu: چھچھ ‎) is a region consisting of an alluvial plain extending from Attock District of Punjab, Pakistan, southwest of Topi and Swabi.[1]

Chach
چھچھ
Chach
Location in Pakistan
Coordinates: 33°53′00″N 72°22′00″E / 33.88333°N 72.36667°E / 33.88333; 72.36667
Country  Pakistan
Province Punjab
District Attock District
Tehsil Hazro Tehsil
Time zone UTC+5 (PST)
 • Summer (DST) +6

It is bounded on the north and west by the Indus river and is about 19 miles (31 km) long (from east to west) and 9 miles (14 km) broad. Percolation from the Indus makes the area extremely fertile.[2] The population of the area is primarily Hindko and Pashto speakers.

Geography

Chhachh is 7 km (4 mi) off the Pindi-Peshawar GT road. Chach is at the edge of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Punjab border. It is 20.4 km from Attock city and 22.9 km from Topi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[3]

Chhachh is a plain which rolls from the Hazara-Gandhara hills south to Kamra, and from east of the River Indus to the broken lands near Lawrencepur.

History

The name "Chhachh" means A bowl type container according to the native language, which was used to drink lassi by the locals.[4] 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. Hazro is in this plain.[2]

Demographics

A small percentage of the population of Chhachh has Pashtun roots and belongs to Qais Abdur Rashid. They are mostly descendants of the tribes of Durrani, Tanoli, Alizai, Yousafzai, Daudzai, Malizai, Kakar, Umarzai, Jadoon, Tareen, Tahirkheli, Sadozai, Khattak and Barakzai. They arrived in the area at around 1000 AD as part of the army of the Ghaznavid Empire and made it their permanent home after defeating the Hindu confederation near Hazro.[5]

Proof of this is that many of the villages and individual quarters are named after Pashtun personalities and tribes, markedly showing who had founded them. These include Nasozai, Musazai, Musakhel, Utman Khel, Saleem Khan, Ghorghushti, Shadi Khan and Barazai.

Villages

There are some 84 villages in the early 90s but now this figure has increased to more than 90 villages in Chhachh valley, including: (khurakhail)

References

  1. ↑ Peach, Ceri; Vertovec, Steven (2016-07-27). Islam in Europe: The Politics of Religion and Community. Springer. ISBN 9781349256976.
  2. 1 2 Chach (Chhachch) - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 10, p. 115
  3. ↑ Conference, British Dam Society (2002). Reservoirs in a Changing World: Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the BDS Held at Trinity College, Dublin, 4-8 September 2002. Thomas Telford. ISBN 9780727731395.
  4. ↑ The Indian Antiquary, vol. xxv, pp. 174-5.
  5. ↑ Shaw, Alison (2014-02-04). Kinship and Continuity: Pakistani Families in Britain. Routledge. ISBN 9781134434305.

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

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