Torghar District

{{Short description|District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan}} {{Use Pakistani English|date=July 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Torghar District | official_name = | native_name = {{lang|ur|{{nq|ضلع تورغر}}}} {{lang|ps|{{script/Arabic|تور غر ولسوالۍ}}}} | native_name_lang = | other_name = Kala Dhaka District {{lang|ur|{{nq|ضلع کالا ڈهاکہ}}}} {{lang|ps|{{script/Arabic|کالا ډاکه ولسوالۍ}}}} | settlement_type = District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | image_skyline = Barndo.JPG | imagesize =300px | image_alt = | image_caption = Confluence of the Indus and Barndo Rivers | image_map = {{wikidata|property|raw|P242}} | mapsize = | map_alt = | map_caption = Torghar District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | coordinates = {{coord|34.613573|72.788200|region:PK_type:adm2nd|display=inline,title|format=dms}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Pakistan}} | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}} | subdivision_type2 = Division | subdivision_name2 = Hazara | founder = | established_title = Established | established_date = 2011 | seat_type = Headquarters | seat = Judba | government_footnotes = | government_type = District Administration | leader_party = | leader_title = Deputy Commissioner | leader_name = Zia-ur-Rehman Marwat<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yousaf |first=Iqra |date=2024-01-03 |title=Deputy Commissioner Torghar takes proactive measures to address health department issues |url=https://www.app.com.pk/domestic/deputy-commissioner-torghar-takes-proactive-measures-to-address-health-department-issues/ |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Associated Press of Pakistan |language=en-US}}</ref> | leader_title1 = District Police Officer | leader_name1 = N/A | leader_title2 = District Health Officer | leader_name2 = N/A | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 497 | population_as_of = 2023 | population_footnotes = <ref name="2023 census"/> | population_total = 200445 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_urban = 0 (0%) | population_rural = 200,445 (100%) | demographics2_title1 = Literacy rate | demographics2_info1 = {{ bulleted list| '''Total:''' (29.74%) | '''Male:''' (46.58%) | '''Female:''' (12.46%) }} | timezone1 = PST | utc_offset1 = +5 | blank_name_sec1 = District Council | blank_info_sec1 = | blank1_name_sec1 = Number of Tehsils | blank1_info_sec1 = 3 | demographics1_title1 = Main language(s) | demographics_type2 = Literacy | demographics2_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/table_12_kp_districts.pdf |title= Literacy rate, enrolments, and out-of-school population by sex and rural/urban, CENSUS-2023, KPK}}</ref> | demographics1_info1 = Pashto, | website = {{URL|torghar.kp.gov.pk}} }}

'''Torghar District''' ({{langx|ps|تور غر ولسوالۍ}}, {{langx|ur|{{nq|ضلع تورغر}}}}) formerly known as '''Kala Dhaka''' ({{langx|hnd|{{nq|کالا ڈهاکہ}}}}, English: Black Mountain) is a district in the Hazara Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1080683|title =KP govt creates new Kohistan district|newspaper=Dawn newspaper|date =16 January 2014|access-date=10 July 2024}}</ref> It was officially separated from Mansehra District in 2011 under Article 246 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.<ref>[https://tribune.com.pk/story/110387/tor-ghar-kala-dhaka-becomes-25th-k-p-district/ Tor Ghar: Kala Dhaka becomes 25th K-P district] The Express Tribune newspaper, 28 January 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2024</ref>

== History == By 1849, the British had established their control over the entire region of Hazara.<ref>[http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Sussex/EastbourneSussexRegimentMemorial.html Roll of Honour - Sussex - Eastbourne - Royal Sussex Regiment Memorial]</ref> The British responded with numerous expeditions to quell these uprisings, a series of campaigns lasting from 1852 to the 1920s.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite DNB12|wstitle=McQueen, John Withers|volume=2}}</ref><ref name="raugh2">Raugh, Harold E. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HvE_Pa_ZlfsC&pg=PA163 ''The Victorians at War, 1815–1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History'']. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2004, pp. 163-164, {{ISBN|978-1-57607-925-6}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=H. E. Weekes |title=History of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles1858 to 1928 |date=2011 |page=90}}</ref>

The Hazara Expedition of 1888, also known as the Black Mountain Expedition or the First Hazara Expedition, was a military campaign by the British against the tribes of Tor Ghar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EASTBOURNE MEMORIAL - ROYAL SUSSEX REGIMENT |url=http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Sussex/EastbourneSussexRegimentMemorial.html}}</ref>

On 18 June 1888, two British officers and four Gurkha soldiers were killed in an altercation between the British reconnaissance patrols and the local tribes. As a response, the Hazara Field Force was assembled and began its march on 4 October 1888, after an ultimatum had not been satisfied by the tribes by October 2, 1888.<ref name="raugh2"/> The first phase of the campaign ended with the Hassanzai and Akazai tribes requesting an armistice on October 19, 1888. The second phase of the campaign targeted the Swati tribe that lived north of the Black Mountain such as the Allaiwals, the Parari Sayyids and the Tikariwals.<ref>{{cite book |author=H. E. Weekes |title=History of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles1858 to 1928 |date=2011 |page=90}}</ref>{{Qn|date=May 2026}} The campaign ended when the Allaiwal village of Pokal was occupied and destroyed by the British on November 2 and 3, 1888.<ref name="raugh2" />

The then Commander in Chief of India General Sir Frederick Roberts viewed the Black Mountain Expedition as:<blockquote>a success from a military point of view, but ... the determination of the Punjab Government to limit the sphere of action of the troops, and to hurry out of the country, prevented our reaping any political advantage. We lost a grand opportunity for gaining control over this lawless and troublesome district; no survey was made, no roads opened out, the tribesmen were not made to feel our power, and, consequently, very soon another costly expedition had to be undertaken.<ref>Field Marshal Lord Roberts, [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16528 ''Forty-one Years in India''] 1897, page 524.)</ref></blockquote>The failure of the tribes to honour the agreements that ended the 1888 campaign led to a further two-month expedition by a Hazara Field Force in 1891.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin. |title=British Battles and Medals. |page=124. Published Spink, London. 1988}}</ref> General Roberts observed that<blockquote>the Black Mountain tribes, [having been] quite unsubdued by the fruitless expedition of 1888, had given trouble almost immediately afterwards. [The second expedition] was completely successful in political results as in its military conduct. The columns were not withdrawn until the tribesmen had become convinced that they were powerless to sustain a hostile attitude towards us, and that it was in their interest, as it was our wish, that they should henceforth be on amicable terms with us.<ref>Field Marshal Lord Roberts, [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16528 ''Forty-one Years in India''] 1897, page 531.)</ref></blockquote>British and Indian Army forces who participated in these expeditions received the India General Service Medal with the clasps Hazara 1888 and Hazara 1891 respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin. |title=British Battles and Medals. |page=123. Published Spink, London. 1988}}</ref>

=== 2005 earthquake === Torghar was severely affected by the Kashmir earthquake in 2005. According to a report in Time magazine: "Entire villages were devastated; in an instant, stone houses turned into burial mounds. The Indus river, flowing at the bottom of the valleys, recalls one tribal elder, Mohammed Said, "looked like water boiling inside a tea kettle".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501051107-1124362,00.html|magazine=Time Magazine|archive-date=24 October 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=10 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024135238/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501051107-1124362,00.html|title= After the Earthquake (2005 earthquake)|author=Tim Mcgirk}}</ref>

== Demographics == === Population === {{Historical populations |align=center |percentages=pagr |1951 |142,599 |1961 |151,718 |1972 |195,580 |1981 |83,927 |1998 |174,682 |2017 |171,395 |2023 |200,445 |footnote= Sources:<ref>{{cite web |title=Population by administrative units 1951-1998 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/1998/administrative_units.pdf |publisher =Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan website}}</ref> }}

As of the 2023 census, Torghar district had 29,410 households, a population of 200,445, a sex ratio of 103.95 males to 100 females, and a literacy rate of 29.74%: 46.58% for males and 12.46% for females. 67,474 (33.66% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. The entire population lives in rural areas.<ref name="2023 census">{{cite web |title=7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/kp/dcr/table_1.pdf |website=www.pbscensus.gov.pk |publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> 287 (0.14%) people in the district are from religious minorities, nearly all Christians.<ref name="2023censusreligion">{{cite web |title=7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/kp/dcr/table_9.pdf |website=www.pbscensus.gov.pk |publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> ===Ethnic groups=== Gujjars and Pashtuns are two major ethnic groups in the Torghar district.<ref name=":0" /> The eastern parts of Torghar (black mountain) is mainly inhabited by the Gurjars and western parts are inhabited by the Pashtun tribes (Madakhel, Hasanzai, Akazai, Nusratkhel, Basikhel). Some Hindko-speaking tribes also found in the district.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Khan |first=Dr. Shakirullah|url=https://www.academia.edu/116929909/DISTRICT_KOHISTAN_LOWER_KHYBER_PAKHTUNKHWA_PAKISTAN_Report_Series_2 |title=Archeological survey report: District Battagaram, Torghar, Kohistan Upper, Lower and Kolai Palas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan |publisher=Department of Archeology, Hazara University |pages=50 |quote=Torghar district: On the western slopes most people in the Torghar (Black Mountain) are Pashtuns from Maddā Khel, Hasanzāi, Ākāzāi, Nusrat Khel and Bāsi Khel the divisions of Isāzai and Malizāi sub-clans of the Yusufzāi tribe, while eastern slopes are dominated by the Gujjar, some Hindko speaking people can be found at the fringes of the region. The Black Mountain (Torghar) tribes have a more certain origin among the people of Mānsehra District.|edition=2|year=2023}}</ref> === Language === {{Pie chart | thumb = right | caption = Languages of Torghar District (2023)<ref name="2023censuslanguage"/> | label1 = Pashto | value1 = 96.85 | color1 = olive | label2 = Hindko | value2 = 2.29 | color2 = lightblue | label3 = Others | value3 = 0.86 | color3 = grey }}

At the time of the 2023 census, 96.85% of the population spoke Pashto and 2.29% Hindko as their first language.<ref name="2023censuslanguage">{{cite web |title=7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/kp/dcr/table_11.pdf |website=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics}}</ref>

== Geography == The district lies between 34°19'29N to 34°46'8"N, and 72°43'2E to 72°56'24E.<ref>[https://torghar.kp.gov.pk/ = About District Torghar]</ref> It is bounded on the east by Agror and on the south by Tanawal; to the west it is bounded by Buner, to the northeast it borders with Battagram. The range has a length of {{convert|25|mi|order=flip}} to {{convert|30|mi|order=flip}} from north to south and an elevation of {{convert|8,000|ft|order=flip}} above sea level. This area has also been called Chagharzai, because of adjoining Chagharzai areas of Buner District. Opposite Kala Dhaka (officially 'Kala Dhaka' has been renamed 'Tor Ghar'), across the Indus River is Shangla District, mainly the area belonging to Tehsil Martung.

== Administration == Torghar district covers an area of 497 km2 (25,8125 acres) and is divided into 16 Union Councils, grouped in these Tehsils: {| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers static-row-header-hash" !Tehsil !Name (Urdu) (Pashto) !Area (km2)<ref>{{Cite web |title=TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, KPK |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/table_1_kp_districts.pdf}}</ref> !Pop. (2023) !Density (ppl/km2)

(2023) !Literacy rate (2023)<ref>{{Cite web |title=LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023, KPK |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/table_12_kp_districts.pdf}}</ref> !Union Councils |- |Daur Maira Tehsil | |86 |50,503 |587.24 |25.92% | |- |Judba Tehsil |({{langx|ur|{{nq|تحصیل جدبا}}}})({{langx|ps|{{script/Arabic|جدبا تحصیل}}}}) |63 |63,083 |1,001.32 |19.78% | |- |Khander Hassanzai Tehsil |({{langx|ur|{{nq|تحصیل خاندر}}}})({{langx|ps|{{script/Arabic|خاندر تحصیل}}}}) |305 |86,859 |284.78 |38.66% | |}

==Provincial assembly== The district is represented by one elected MPA in the provincial assembly who represent the following constituency: * PK-58 (Tor Ghar)

The MPA between 2013 and 2018 was Zareen Gul.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pakp.gov.pk/2013/member/pk-58/|title = Zareen Gul | Member (2013 - 2018), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Pakistan|url-status=dead|access-date=10 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607222507/http://www.pakp.gov.pk/2013/member/pk-58/ |archive-date=7 June 2017|website=Provincial Assembly Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan website}}</ref> He has been elected six times as MPA and senior most politician in KP Assembly.

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Member of Provincial Assembly !! Party affiliation !! Constituency !! Year ! |- | Laiq Muhammad Khan Swati||Awami National Party ||PK-35 Tor Ghar||2018 | |} {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Member of Provincial Assembly !! Party affiliation !! Constituency !! Year ! |- | Laiq Muhammad Khan Swati||Independent (Joined PTI after election) ||PK-41 Tor Ghar||2024 | |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Torghar District Category:Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa