Akora Khattak ( ,

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: اکوڑہ خٹک ) or Sarai Akora is a town in the Jehangira tehsil of the Nowshera District in the

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 ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Its location is adjacent to the

Kabul River The Kabul River (; ), the classical Cophen , is a river that emerges in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. It is separated from the watershed of the Helmand River by th ...

, which converges with the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayas, Himalayan river of South Asia, South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northw ...

about 15 kilometres downstream. Neighbouring places are Nowshera Cantonment to the west and Jahangira town to the east.

Geography

Akora Khattak is about 14 km (9 miles) east of the Nowshera city in the Nowshera District on

Grand Trunk Road Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sadak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sadak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. It r ...

History

Akora Khattak was formerly called ''Sarai Akora. It'' is named after Malik Akor Khan Khattak, who was the great-grandfather of the famous

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

warrior and poet, Khushal Khan Khattak. In December 1826, The battle of Akora Khattak was fought between the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...

and

Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

, mainly Pashtuns, under

Syed Ahmad Barelvi Syed Ahmad Barelvi, also known as Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, (1786–1831) was an Indian mujaddid, Islamic revivalist, Islamic scholar, scholar, and commander, military commander from Raebareli, a part of the historical United Provinces of Agra an ...

. The 1500 Mujahideen defeated 4,000-strong Sikh army, killing between 500 and 700 Sikh soldiers. The British period starts from 29 August 1849. The cantonment of Akora Khattak was established in 1850. In 1916, the first police station was established.

Demographics

Population

As of the 2023 census, Akora Khattak had a population of 29,750.The population of Akora Khattak, according to the 2017 census, was 33,013.

Notable places

Tomb of Khushal Khan Khattak

Akora Khattak is the birthplace and burial place of the poet great Pashto poet and warrior Khushal Khan Khattak. The mausoleum of Khushal Khan was built in 1949.

Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania

Darul Uloom Haqqania was founded by Maulana Abdul Haq (father of Maulana Sami Ul Haq) along with his companion Haji Mohammad Yousaf in 1947. It is the second largest Islamic religious seminary in Pakistan.

Khushal Khan Khattak memorial library

Khushal Khan Khattak Memorial Library is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

in Akora Khattak. The Library was established in 1994 in the memory of Khushal Khan Khattak. The museum has many medieval era artefacts, some of which were used by Khushal Khan Khattak.

Education

Schools and colleges * Govt Centennial Model high school (boys) * Khyber Model College and School Akora Khattak Campus * The student model high school and College * Govt high school (boys) Baghbanpura * Govt Girls Middle School Baghbanpura * Sir Syed public High school * Govt high school (girls) * Haqqania High School * Tamir-e-millat high school * Public collegiate high school * Bright Start English school * Jamia Shams Ul Madaris Surya Khel for (boys and girls) * Rahman public school * Army Public school Akora Khattak * The Sun Rise public school * Govt Khushal Khan Khattak degree college (boys) * Govt Khushal Khan Khattak college (girls) * The Safah public school * The Quaid Public School * The Suffa Public School * The Sarhad Public School Akora Khattak * AIMS (Alqalam Islamic Model School) * ummah higher secondary school soria khel akora khattak Academies *Umma Children Academy * National Children Academy * Scientific Learning tuition Academy Akora khattak * The Aryana English Language & Computer Academy * Jamal Ul Quran Online Academy Institutes * Shahcom Institute of Technology (Regd.) * National Institute of Technology

Health care

* LRBT Free Eye Hospital

Paragliding 1

People from Akora Khattak

* Khushal Khan Khattak – warrior poet, chief, and freedom fighter * Abdul Haq (Islamic scholar), Maulana Abdul Haq – Islamic scholar and founder of the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Haqqania * Ajmal Khattak – politician and writer *

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Nowshera District