Hashtnagar (, more commonly known as اشنغر in
Pashto
Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
) is one of the two constituent parts of the
Charsadda District in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...
. The name Hashtnagar is derived from the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
अष्टनगरम् ''Aṣṭanagaram'', "eight towns", from Sanskrit ''aṣṭa'', "eight" and नगर ''nagara'', "settlement, locality, town". There was an unrelated town of the same name near Kabul in the 17th century. It was home to the
Roshani Movement.
The descriptive was later influenced by the Persian هشت ''hasht'', "eight". The etymology "Eight Towns", refers to the eight major settlements situated in this region.
These are:
*
Chārsadda, Hashtnagar
Muhammadzai and Kheshgi">Muhammadzai_(Hashtnagar).html" ;"title="nowiki/>Muhammadzai (Hashtnagar)">Muhammadzai and Kheshgi]
*Prang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Prang (the 1812 list groups Prang with Chārsadda)
*Rajjar, Chārsadda
*Sherpao, Chārsadda
*Tangi, Pakistan, Tangi, Chārsadda
*Turangzai, Chārsadda
*
Umarzai, Chārsadda
*
Utmanzai, Chārsadda
*
Dargai, Chārsadda
History
Buddhist period
Hashtnagar is known for an early Buddhist statue. The name Hashtnagar is derived from the Sanskrit ''Aṣṭanagaram'', ''aṣṭa'' meaning "eight" and ''nagaram'' meaning "town".
Modern era
In 1812 the Asiatick Society (Calcutta, India) described the
Gujars of Afghanistan as brave, mainly pastoral, and numerous in Hashtnagar district. The
Muhammadzai (Charsadda) and
Kheshgi were also mentioned as powerful tribes in the area.
Media
A documentary, exploring the political and cultural life of Hashtnagar, has been made by
Ammar Aziz which is the first ever film on the subject .
It features the local artists and political activists and romanticizes the
communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
movement of the area.
Notable people
*
Bacha Khan
*
Major General Akbar Khan
*
Abdul Wali Khan
*
Abdul Ghani Khan
*
Dr. Khan Sahib
*
Lieutenant General Imran Ullah Khan
*
Asfandyar Wali Khan
*
Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao
*
Rustam Shah Mohmand
See also
*
Babrra massacre
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Charsadda District, Pakistan
{{CharsaddaPK-geo-stub