Mansehra

Mansehra (Urdu, ) is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. By population, it is the 71st largest city in the country and the 7th largest in the province, and serves as the headquarter of its namesake tehsil and district. It was founded by a Sikh General Maan Singh.

History

Ancient period

The region around the present-day city of Mansehra was inhabited by the early Indo-Aryans since the 3rd millennium BC, and was later a part of the ancient kingdom of Gandhara and the Mauryan Empire. Ashoka governed this area as a prince on the imperial throne in 272 BCE. He made it one of the major seats of his government. The Edicts of Ashoka, inscribed on three large boulders near Mansehra record fourteen of Ashoka's edicts, presenting aspects of the emperor's ''dharma'' or righteous law. These represent some of the earliest evidence of deciphered writing in the subcontinent, dating to the middle of the third century BCE, and are written from right to left in the Kharosthi script. Mauryans were followed by a variety of kingdoms, including Kushans, whose most notable ruler, Kanishka the Great, ruled from the nearby city of Puruṣapura. During this period Buddhist art and architecture flourished in the area.

Medieval period

The Uḍi Śāhis were the last great Gandharan dynasty before the Muslim conquest of Gandhara. They were notable for their impressive coinage and architecture, and built a series of temples in the region. They remained in control of the area until their defeat at Peshawar by the Ghaznavids in the year 1001. The region was originally known as Pakhli; it came to be known as Hazara only after Timurid invasion in 1399, when Tamerlane assigned it to his local chieftains, namely the Hazara-i-Karlugh, after whom the name of Hazara Division is derived. Hazara region comprised Pakhli Sarkar of the Mughal province of Kashmir, and was administered so until the Durrani invasions by Ahmad Shah Durrani in the early 18th century, which resulted into anarchy and severe economic decline. The area was divided among several petty tribal chieftaincies in the following decades, and remained so until the conquest by the Sikhs in 1818.

Modern period

Hari Singh Nalwa, a Sikh commander of Ranjit Singh, conquered the Hazara region in 1818 by defeating the local chieftains. He governed Hazara from the newly-established city of Haripur, named after him. After his death in 1837, Hari Singh was succeeded by Mahan Singh Hazarawala as the Nazim of Hazara, who founded the modern city of Mansehra. The Sikhs remained in power until 1849, when the area came under British rule.

The British East India Company conquered Mansehra after the defeat of the Sikhs in the first Anglo-Sikh War in 1846. The British divided Hazara region into three '' tehsils'' (administrative subdivisions): Mansehra, Abbottabad, and Haripur. Hazara formed part of Punjab province until 1901, when the British formed the buffer province of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Hazara was annexed into it. During the British rule, Mansehra was a small town. Its population according to the 1901 census was 5,087.

On 8th of June 1847 James Abbott, who would later become First Deputy Commissioner of Hazara, noted in his journal:
"Marched to Maunseera, 16 miles (from Nawan Shehr). Found a regiment of Jumboo troops in the town, quartering themselves not only in the bunnia’s shops but in the houses and amongst the women of the unfortunate inhabitants. The troops have no tents, had brought no cooking utensils, and of course were exercising the right which might confers to make use of the zenanas and cooking utensils of their fellow-subjects. Can it be wondered that any people possessing means of resistance should revolt against such tyranny?" JOURNALS AND DIARIES OF THE ASSISTANTS TO THE RESIDENT AT LAHORE - No. 11.—Journal of Captain James Abbott, Boundary Commissioner, Punjaub, from 1st to llth June 1847.

After the independence, Hazara district was elevated to the divisional status in 1976. In the October of the same year Mansehra Tehsil was made district and Mansehra became its headquarters.

Organisation

Mansehra City is the administrative capital of District and ''Tehsil'' Mansehra. The City of Mansehra is administratively divided into four Union Councils: Mansehra City Wards 1–4 and Mansehra (Rural)/suburban. Each union council is divided into Mohallas.

Demographics

Population

According to 2023 census, Mansehra had a population of 137,278.

Religion

Cultural festival

The city hosts the Mansehra Shiva Temple, which is known for its annual Shivarathri festival. During the festival of Durgashtami, held in the first month of the Hindu calendar and the seventh month of the Nanakshahi calendar, about 400 local Hindus assembled on Bareri Hill to worship Devi (as Durga). Offerings were taken by a Brahmin of Mansehra. The assembly on each occasion lasted only one day. The site is ancient, as at the base of Bareri Hill are the boulders inscribed with the Edicts of Ashoka.

Gallery

File:Mansehra City from another perspective.jpg, Northern parts of Mansehra city
File:Sunset in Mansehra city.jpg, Sunset in Mansehra City

See also

*Balakot
* Battangi
*Kaghan Valley

Notes

References

External links

Mansehra ValleyHazara UniversityTourism Corporation of KPKRural Community Council (RCC), Pakistan

{{Authority control

Populated places in Mansehra District
Mansehra District
Cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa