Jamrūd (

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 ...

/) or Jam () is a town in the

Khyber District Khyber District (, ) is a district in the Peshawar Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 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 ...

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# ...

. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, on the western fringe of

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

city, Jamrud is the doorway to the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...

which is just to the west of the town. The pass connects Jamrud with

Landi Kotal Lanḍī Kōtal (, ) or Lwargai ( ''Lwāṛgai'') is a town in the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, and the administrative capital of Khyber District. It was one of the largest towns in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, an ...

to the west, located near the border of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Nangarhar Province Nangarhār (Pashto: ; Dari: ), also called Nangrahar or Ningrahar, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country and Border, bordering Logar Province, Logar, Kabul Province, Kabul, Laghman Province, Laghm ...

. Jamrud has remained a location on the trade route between

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, and a strategic military location. It is located at an altitude of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The Jamrud Fort is located west of the city of Peshawar.

History

The Battle of Jamrud 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 the Emirate of Kabul took place at Jamrud where the Sikh general

Hari Singh Nalwa Hari Singh Nalwa (29 April 1791 – 30 April 1837) was the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army, Sikh Khalsa Fauj, the army of the Sikh Empire. He is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Attock, Multan, Kashmir, Peshaw ...

was killed. The famous Jamrud Fort was built in 54 days by Hari Singh Nalwa. The proposal to build the fort was issued to him by one of his generals. The proposal was opposed; however he finally decided to build the fort and construct its layout. The foundation of the fort that has survived was laid by General Hari Singh Nalwa on 18 December 1836 and the construction was completed in 54 days. The fort was finished on 10 February 1837. Hari Singh Nalwa's grave is still next to the fort where his cremated ashes remain. The fort of Jamrud was captured by the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

in 1849 after they annexed the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

region and ended the

. The British signed a treaty with

Dost Mohammad Khan Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai (Pashto/; 23 December 1792 – 8 June 1863), nicknamed the Amir-i Kabir, was the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War. With the decline of ...

cementing British rule over the

. Jamrud was a strategic location and served as a base for a cantonment of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

during the period of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. In 1857, the Second Anglo-Afghan Treaty was signed there. It was mainly used by the British army as a base of operations for their wars in Afghanistan. During the military operations of 1878-79 Jamrud became a place of considerable importance as the frontier outpost on British territory towards Afghanistan, and it was also the base of operations for a portion of the Tirah campaign in 1897-1898. It was also the headquarters of the Khyber Rifles, and the collecting station for the Khyber tolls. The place is currently the headquarters of the Frontier Corps, a branch of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

. The population in 1901 was 1,848. In 2017, the population was recorded to be 63,843 and the place continues to be of strategic significance.

Demographics

Population

As of the 2023 census, Jamrud has 8,463 households and a population of 56,642. Jamrud has a sex ratio of 109.72 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 63.94%: 78.52% for males and 48.03% for females. 17597 (31.14% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age.

Languages

was the predominant language, spoken by 99.25% of the population.

Religion

Notes

References

* Jamrūd - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 14, p. 52. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V14_058.gif * North-West Frontier Province - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 19, p. 153. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V19_159.gif *Gazetteer of the Peshawar District 1897-8, revised edition, Lahore: Punjab Government, p. 74. * The Return of the King by William Dalrymple https://www.amazon.com/Return-King-Battle-Afghanistan-1839-42/dp/0307958280

External links

* {{usurped,
Battle of Jamrud (1837)
} Populated places in Khyber District