Attock ( Punjabi and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Punjab Province, not far from the country's capital

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 61st largest city of Pakistan by population. The city was founded in 1908 several miles southeast of the older city of Attock Khurd, which had been established by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 16th century, and was initially named in honour of Sir Colin Campbell.

Etymology

The city was initially named Campbellpore, also spelt Campbellpur, in 1908 in honour of Sir Colin Campbell. The name was changed to Attock in 1978, its original name, which literally means "Foot of the Mountain."

Geography

Attock is located near the

Haro River Haro ( ur, ) is the name of a river that flows through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and parts of Punjab. Its main valley is in Abbottabad District in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northern Pakistan. The famous Khanpur Dam has been b ...

, a tributary of the Indus River, from Rawalpindi, from

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, and from the

Pakistan Aeronautical Complex The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex ( ur, ), or PAC) is a major defense contractor and an aerospace manufacturer that is headquartered in Kamra, Punjab, Pakistan. The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is one of the largest defense contractor in ...

, Kamra.

History

Background

Attock is located in a historically significant region. Gandhara was an ancient kingdom extending to the Swat valley and the

Pothohar Plateau The Pothohar Plateau ( ur, ) is a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan, located between Indus River and the Jhelum River, forming the northern part of Punjab. Geography Potohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River, on the west by the ...

regions of Pakistan as well as the Jalalabad district of northeastern Afghanistan. Situated astride the middle of the Indus River, the region had Takshashila and

as its chief cities. The place is of both political and commercial importance, as the Indus is here crossed by the military and trade route through the Khyber Pass into

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

and Nader Shah crossed the Indus at or about this spot in their respective invasions of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The

Attock Fort , partof = the History of Pakistan , location = Attock, Punjab region , image = Attock Fort - Optographer.jpg , image_size = 280px , caption = , coordinates = , map_type = Pakistan , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Pak ...

was completed in 1583 under the supervision of Khawaja Shamsuddin Khawafi, a minister of Emperor Akbar. Nader Shah crossed through Attock when he defeated the Mughals at the

Battle of Karnal The Battle of Karnal (24 February 1739), was a decisive victory for Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran, during his invasion of India. Nader's forces defeated the army of Muhammad Shah within three hours, paving the way fo ...

and thus ended Mughal power in Northern India. The Battle of Attock took place at Attock Khurd on 28 April 1758, between the Durrani state and

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

. The Marathas under Raghunathrao Ballal Peshwa and Tukojirao Holkar Bahadur were victorious in the battle and Attock was captured. But this conquest was short-lived as Ahmad Shah Durrani came in person to recapture Attock and checked the Maratha advance after destroying their forces at Panipat. After the decline of the Durrani state, the Sikhs invaded and occupied Attock District. The Sikh Kingdom (1799–1849) under Ranjit Singh (1780–1839) captured the fortress of Attock in 1813 from the Durrani Nawab. In 1849, Attock Khurd (Old Attock) was conquered by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

who created Campbellpur District. Following the Indian Rebellion in 1857, the region's strategic value was appreciated by the British, who established the Campbellpur Cantonment in 1857–58. Campbellpore District was organised in 1904, by the division of

Talagang Tehsil Talagang Tehsil (تلا گنگ تحصیل), is a tehsil of Talagang District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Talagang city is its headquartere. Administrative divisions Local government under plga 2019 https://lgcd.punjab.gov.pk/chart_of_succ ...

in the Jhelum District with the Pindigheb, Fateh Jang and Attock tehsils from Rawalpindi District.

Founding

The city's foundations were laid in 1908 by Sir Colin Campbell, actual error: Sir Colin Campbell died in 1863 British Commander-in-Chief of India for whom the city is named. The old city was established near the 16th century near the

Attock fort , partof = the History of Pakistan , location = Attock, Punjab region , image = Attock Fort - Optographer.jpg , image_size = 280px , caption = , coordinates = , map_type = Pakistan , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Pak ...

that had guarded the major routes between

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

. Attock's first oil well was drilled in Khaur in 1915, while the Attock Oil Company was established with a selling arrangement with the Burmah Oil Company. During 1928, the region produced 350,000 barrels of oil. Attock was one of the northernmost points of the Punjab Province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

prior to the partition; it thus found itself being a part of the common Hindi-Urdu phrase used to describe the length of colonial India: "Attock se Cuttack" (from Attock to Cuttack). The term "Attock se Cuttack" was first used to describe the extent of the

after they conquered Cuttack in 1750 and Attock in 1758.

Modern

After the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

of Pakistan in 1947,

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and Sikh minorities emigrated to India, while Muslim refugees from India settled in Attock. The Government of Pakistan renamed Campbellpur as Attock in 1978. The city and surrounding area are known for their high representation among soldiers of the Pakistani Military.

Education

According to the ''Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings'' ''2019'', Attock is ranked 3 out of 146 districts of Pakistan in terms of the quality of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked 17 out of 146. A detailed picture of the district's education performance is also available online. Fazaia Degree College, Government Graduate College, Government College for Women, FG Public High School, University of Education Attock Campus, Fazaia Inter College, Army Public School & College, Government Polytechnic Institute, Beacon Light English Model Secondary School,

COMSATS University Islamabad The COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), formerly known as COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), is a public university in Pakistan. It is a multi-campus university with its principal seat located in Islamabad. Comsats was envisio ...

, Air University Aerospace and Aviation Campus Kamra and Punjab College Attock are a few important educational institutes in Attock.

Notable people

* Malik Nur Khan (22 February 1923 – 15 December 2011), Air Marshal, politician, sports administrator, and commander in chief of

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

* Ali Khan (13 December 1990), Pakistani-born American professional cricketer. * Haider Ali (2 October 2000), Pakistani professional cricketer * Ghulam Jilani Barq (26 October 1901 – 12 March 1985), Pakistani Islamic scholar * Saleem Akhtar (8 September 1930 – 22 April 2004), Pakistani cricketer

Climate

Attock has a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: Cwa) which has hot and humid summers, and cold to mild winters.

References

{{Pakistan topics Cities and towns in Attock District Cities in Punjab (Pakistan)