Pindigheb (or Pindi Gheb) (), is a town in

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 ...

province

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# ...

and seat of

Pindi Gheb Tehsil Pindi Gheb Tehsil (in Punjabi and ) is an administrative subdivision (tehsil), of Attock District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan, the capital is the town of Pindi Gheb. The tehsil is administratively subdivided into 13 Union Council ...

(an administrative subdivision) of

Attock District Attock District ( Punjabi/Urdu), known as Campbellpur District during British Raj, is a district, located on the Pothohar Plateau, in north western Punjab, Pakistan; created in April 1904. According to 2023 Pakistani census population of Att ...

.Tehsils & Unions in the District of Attock – Government of Pakistan
Western route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through Pindigheb.

History

The

Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

, compiled over a century ago during

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

, described the town as follows: Pindi Gheb Town - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 20, p. 147.
/ref> C360 2013-08-10-17-42-14-356

In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, took over the

Ghaznavid dynasty The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic '' mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus to the Indu ...

empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin, In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

in 1005, and followed it by the conquests of

Punjab region 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 ...

. The

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

and later

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

ruled the region. The Punjab region became predominantly

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

due to

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

saints whose

dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...

s dot the landscape of

. After the decline of the

, the

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

invaded and occupied

. The

s faced severe restrictions during the Sikh rule . During the period of

increased in population and importance. The predominantly Muslim population supported

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties British India *All-India Muslim League, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan ** Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organization above **Unionist Muslim L ...

and

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

. After the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

in 1947. The name of incumbent Assistant Commissioner of Pindi Gheb sub division is Ijaz Abdul Karim.

Present Day

Pindi Gheb is an important region of trade and acts as an important terminal for the mega highway CPEC. The main economy of Pindi Gheb revolves around agriculture and cattle. The towns local government, however, according to local residents has failed numerous times to provide the town with any real infrastructural or educational developments. The relative population of the town still remains poor with low-grade roads and bridges. Contrary to such statements, some of the richest families in Northern Punjab come from Pindi Gheb, with them owning thousands of acres of lands, huge properties both abroad and in urban centers in Pakistan, heavy presence in the industrial sector and close affiliation with people affiliated with the military and government. However, recently many reforms were passed by the government of Punjab to commence energy and road projects in Attock, including Pindi Gheb. There are many monuments present in Pindi Gheb from the Sikh and British eras which can be visited free of cost. There is also a waterfall nearby known to harbor a rare species of fish. The area is known to be relatively safe as it is included in the zone of "Act for the Super fortification for the North West Districts of Punjab" which is done with the use of Attock fort, known to be located close by. Pindi Gheb can today be visited by the CPEC, or 8 local roads that lead towards the city through other paths inside of Attock.

Demographics

Population

Language

As with the rest of Pakistan,

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 ...

has official status. However, the language variety spoken natively in the area is

Ghebi Ghebī (Hindko:گھیبی) is a dialect of Punjabi, spoken in the north-west of the Pakistani province of Punjab. In the early 20th century Grierson assigned it to his "North-Western Lahnda" group, whereas Shackle writing in 1980 placed it withi ...

– a

Hindko Hindko (, , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Pun ...

dialect that is closely related to Chacchi and

Awankari Awankari (', ) is a Punjabi dialect spoken primarily in Talagang District, in the north-west of the Pakistani province of Punjab. Awankari, classified by as a sub-dialect of Hindko dialect, is viewed by its native speakers as (a sub-dialect of) ...

References

Bibliography

* * Gazetteer of Attock 1934 {{Attock District Cities and towns in Attock District