Chowgalla (also called Chogallia) is the centre of

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; Urdu and , ), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 10th largest city of Pakistan and third or fourth largest in the province of Khy ...

, a city in

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a province of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the fourth largest province of Paki ...

Province (formerly North West Province NWFP) 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# ...

. The majority of the population speaks Saraiki.

Geography

It is situated on the west bank of 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 ...

, 320 km west of

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and 190 km northwest of

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

. The total population of the city is 86,969 according to the census of 1998. It is a gateway to the four major bazaars of Dera Ismail Khan: Kalan Bazaar, Muslim Bazaar, Topanwala Bazaar, and Bhatiya Bazaar. These four bazaars are laid in each of the cardinal directions, with all four converging in the town's centre.

Economy

The markets and shops of all types cater to the needs of the

Derawal The Derawal ( Saraiki: ) are a community originating from the Derajat, a cultural region extending from river Indus to Sulaiman Range in central Pakistan. The varieties of Saraiki spoken by the Derawal people are collectively known as Derawali ( ...

people.

History

In 1940, the British government built a strong defence structure at the location of Chowgalla in which police and militia could be positioned as needed. For defence, four big gates were installed on all four sides by the British government to cut the link to the four bazaars during a conflict between Hindus and Muslims. These gates remain the same today. They are closed on the day of

Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the tenth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. For Sunni Muslims, Ashura marks the parting of the Red Sea by Moses and the salvation of the Israelites ...

, 10th Moharam-ul-Haram, Imam Hussain's Shahadat, until the passing of the procession.

References

2. https://www.travel-culture.com/pakistan/dera-ismail-khan.shtml Dera Ismail Khan {{DeraIsmailKhan-geo-stub