District Overview

Attock (Campbellpur) has encountered its fair share of trials and tribulations in the past which have contributed to its powerful history.

British Rule

The city’s foundations were laid in 1908, and it was named Campbellpur after Sir Campbell.

After independence

Although Pakistan had become independent from Britain in 1947 it wasn’t until 1978 that the name Attock was adopted for the city. Attock’s first oil well was drilled in Khaur in 1915. It has an oil and gas field Dakhini near Jand. One-third of Pakistan’s oil is produced.

According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India

The history of the District is practically the same as that of Rawalpindi district. Hassan Abdal, the chief relic of the Buddhist period, was one of the towns subordinate to the capital of Taxila, and under the Gakhars, Mughals, and Sikhs the District followed the fortunes of Rawalpindi. The chief historical events recorded are the defeat of Anand Pal near Ohind by Mahmud of Ghazni, the foundation of Attock by Akbar, and its vicissitudes in the Sikh Wars. The District was constituted in 1904, the tahsils of Attock, Pindi Gheb, and Fatahjang being transferred from Rawalpindi District, and that of Talagang from Jhelum.

Creation

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.

Ancient History

Panini was an ancient Indian scholar who was born between the 7th and 4th centuries BC in Shalatula, a town near to Attock on the Indus river in present day Pakistan. He is regarded by scholars as one of the most innovative people in the whole development of knowledge. He was a Sanskrit grammarian who gave a comprehensive and scientific theory of phonetics, phonology, and morphology. The Astadhyayi (also known as Astaka) is Panini’s major work. In this work Panini distinguishes between the language of sacred texts and the usual language of communication. Panini gives formal production rules and definitions to describe Sanskrit grammar. Starting with about 1700 basic elements like nouns, verbs, vowels, consonants he put them into classes. The construction of sentences, compound nouns etc. is explained as ordered rules operating on underlying structures in a manner similar to modern theory. In many ways Panini’s constructions are similar to the way that a mathematical function is defined today.

Attock Fort

Attock fort was completed in 1583 under the supervision of Khawaja Shamsuddin Khawafi, a minister of Emperor Akbar. The Mughal caravan sarai outside the fort, which is almost on the Grand Trunk (GT) Road, was also built during this period.

Gandhara

Gandhara was an historic region of ancient India, (which corresponds to areas of north west Pakistan including Attock). Situated astride the middle Indus River, the region had Taxila and Peshawar as its chief cities. It was originally a province of the Persian Empire and was reached (327 B.C.) by Alexander the Great. The region passed to Chandragupta, founder of the Maurya empire, in the late 4th cent. B.C., and under Asoka was converted (mid-3d cent.) to Buddhism. It was part of Bactria from the late 3d cent. to the 1st cent. B.C. Under the Kushan dynasty (1st cent.–3d cent. A.D.), and especially under Kanishka, Gandhara developed a noted school of sculpture, consisting mainly of images of Buddha and relief’s representing scenes from Buddhist texts, but with marked Greco-Roman elements of style. The art form flourished in Gandhara until the 5th century, when the region was conquered by the Huns.

Main Tribes

The Khattar, Syed,Paracha,Awans, Pathans, Bangashs, Gujjars, Rajput,Mughals and Shaikhs are the main tribes of Attock District. The main Rajput tribes are the Alpial, Jodhra, Janjua Chauhan and Bhatti. The Chauhan of Khaur, the Alpial of Chakri and Jodhra of Kamlial are important families in the district. The main Tribe of Royal Barlas Mughal’s is Gheba.The Gheba Sardars of kot Fateh Khan, Dhurnal, Malal, Dhari-Rai-Ditta, Shah-rai-saidullah are important families in the District.

Hindu Population Before 1947

Attock District had a heterogeneous mix of religious and ethnic populations before 1947. The Gazetteer of the Attock District 1930 records Hindus, who make up 8.5 % of the total population are by caste and in order of numerical importance, Khatris, Aroras, Brahmans and Mohyals.

Khatris

Khatris, who number about 24000 make up the greater portion of the Hindu population. In Tallagang the Chhachi Sardars, whose ancestors held the tract under the Sikhs are large Jagirdars but reside almost always in Gujranwala district, and have really little to do with Tallagang.