Saleh Khana is a large village in the

Nowshera District Nowshera District (, ) is a district in the Peshawar Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The capital and district headquarter is Nowshera city. Overview and history Nowshera was previously a tehsil (subdivision) of Pesha ...

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 just below the Cherat mountains. The name ''Saleh Khana'' derives from

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and roughly translates to "Weapon Depot", "Armour Depot" originating from the Arabic Word "''Silah''" and "''Khana" a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word for home, place.'' The village is inhabited by

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

, of the

Khattak The Khattak () tribe is a prominent Pashtun tribe located in the Khattak territory, which consists of Karak, Nowshera, Kohat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. History Origins Multiple British Raj historians have identified the Khat ...

tribe and

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 ...

is the main language spoken throughout the Village. Like other parts of

, many people live overseas for work, the people of this village are spread throughout the world, with 60% living abroad. Among the countries where one can find residents of this village are, to name a few, the UK,

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. The majority can be found in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, mainly in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, and

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

. This has earned the village the name of "little England" due to most of its residents having dual citizenship in the UK. Originally, the residents moved aboard during the early 1960s to earn and send income back home. However, as time passed, many decided to stay abroad settling with dual citizenship and regularly travelling back and forth occasionally.. There is also a small sizeable community in

. The village is surrounded by the Cherat mountains range. Within the mountains range, just above the village, is a former British Hill station or cantonment that was used in 1861 and is currently occupied by the

Pakistani 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 ...

. It mainly consists of a training ground for the Pakistani SSG. It is off limits to the public and hosts the world's largest zipline in South Asia which covers ranges of 1.6 km located at the Khattak mountain ranges. It is the only village in Pakistan with multiple banks.

People & History

The people of this village are primarily

, an ethnic group located in both North West

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 ...

. They people of Saleh Khana, belong to the

Pashtun Tribe. In 1984, there was a tribal dispute between the people of Saleh Khana and the neighbouring village of Kotli Kalan which eventually was solved, when both the villages were split up, and divided into two. Pashtuns of this village originally migrated from their homeland in the Tirah valley in present day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to their current village during the mid 17th century. After brutal tribal wars in the 17th century the Oriya Khel tribe migrated east and settled in Jalozai in Khattak tribe territories. Great hostility from surrounding clans lead to a major blood feud between the Oriya Khel and Khattak clans. The feud was so big that a Loy Jirga (Pashtun grand council) took place in order to end the bloodshed; as a result of this jirga to end the tribal feuds, the Oriya Khel were given the current lands that they now reside in today, hence they moved up into and inhabited the mountainous region of Cherat. Today 60% of the inhabitants of Saleh Khana have migrated to developed countries around the world, primarily to Europe, United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom in the

and Ayelsbury regions; during the 19th and 20th century in order to seek work and send money back home to the village. However, as time has gone by a lot of families have decided to stay and reside in the UK, US, and European countries and now view themselves with a dual identity. However, Pashto and Pashtunwali always takes precedence over all other identities.

Language

The language predominantly spoken in Saleh Khana is

Central Pashto Central Pashto () is a standard variety of the Pashto language, spoken in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. They are the middle dialects of Mangal, Zadran, Mahsudi and Waziri. These dialects are affected by what Ibrahim Khan terms as "the Gre ...

has a different vocabulary and sound than

Northern Pashto Northern Pashto () is a standard variety of the Pashto language spoken in the northern and central parts of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and central-eastern Afghanistan, comprising the Northwestern and Northeastern dialects of P ...

dialect, which is spoken in

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 ...

Mardan Mardān is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). ...

, and

Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

, mainly by the

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangl ...

tribe. Slight differences occur however since Saleh Khana is relatively close to Peshawar, a lot of the inhabitants can understand the Northern Dialects which is considered standard Pashto used in books, letters, also called "Kitaabi Pashto." Therefore, the Pashto spoken in Saleh Khana is unique on its own terms.

Tribes and Clans

Saleh Khana is inhabited by the Khattak tribe of the Pashtuns. The tribe is then divided into clans (khels). These are: *Duran Khel *Shatar Khel * Gunr Khel *Qurban Khel *Mund Khel *Mais Khel *Amirjan Khel *Amin Khel *Tattar Khel * Namawar Khel * Tarkan khel Each clan has its own Mashar (Leader) which is their clan's representative in a Pashtun council called the

jirga A jirga (, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic groups who ...

, to settle village disputes and promote progress. Every clan has its own Mohallah and every Mohalla has its own

Masjid A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were simple p ...

and own representatives for a tribal/clan meeting which is called a

Jirga A jirga (, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic groups who ...

References

{{Coord, 33.8384, N, 71.8660, E, type:city_region:PK-KP, display=title Populated places in Nowshera District