Rawalpindi District

Rawalpindi District (Punjabi and ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capital.

The district has an area of . Originally, its area was until the 1960s when Islamabad Capital Territory was carved out of the district, giving away an area of . It is situated on the southern slopes of the north-western extremities of the Himalayas, including large mountain tracts with rich valleys traversed by mountain rivers. The chief rivers are the Indus and the Jhelum, and it is noted for its milder climate and abundant rainfall due to its proximity to the foothills.Rawalpindi - Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition

History

Ancient history

In ancient times the whole or the greater part of the area between the Indus and the Jhelum seems to have belonged to a Naga tribe called Takshakas, who gave their name to the city of Takshasila. Known as Taxila by the Greek historians, the location of the ancient city has been identified to be in the ruins of Shahdheri in the north-west corner of the District.

At the time of Alexander's invasion Taxila was described by Arrian as a flourishing city, known more for its tourism. Taxila having too weak army, locals of the city had immediately surrendered to Greek army without a battle; adds that the neighbouring country was crowded with inhabitants and was very fertile; and Pliny speaks of it as a famous city situated in a district called Amanda. The invasion of Demetrius in 195 B.C. brought the Punjab under the Graeco-Bactrian kings. Later they were superseded by the Sakas, who ruled at Taxila with the title of Satrap. At the time of Hiuen Tsiang (Chinese explorer), the city was a dependency of Kashmir.Rawalpindi District - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 21, p. 264.
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Muslim era

Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi passed through the District after his defeat of Anandpal and capture of Ohind. The first mention of the Gakhars occurs in the memoirs of Babar, who gives an interesting account of the capture of their capital, Paralah. It was strongly situated in the hills, and was defended with great bravery by its chief Hati Khan, who escaped from one gate as the Mughal army marched in at the other. Hati Khan died by poison in 1525 ; his cousin and murderer Sultan Sarang then submitted to Babar, who conferred on him the area of Potwar. From that time on the Gakhar chieftains remained firm allies of the Mughal dynasty, and provided significant aid to the Mughal in their struggle against the house of Sher Shah. Salim Shah attempted in vain to subdue their country.

In 1553 Adam Khan, Sarang's successor, surrendered the rebel prince Kamran to Humayun. Adam Khan was subsequently deposed by Akbar, and his principality given over to his nephew Kamal Khan. During the height of the Mughal empire, the family of Sarang retained its territorial possessions. Its last and Gakhars chief, Mukarrab Khan, ruled over a kingdom which extended from the Chenab to the Indus.

British era

In 1849 Rawalpindi passed with the rest of the Sikh dominions under British rule; and though tranquillity was disturbed by an insurrection four years later, led by a Gakhar chief with the object of placing a pretended son of Ranjit Singh on the throne, its administration was generally peaceful until the outbreak of the Mutiny in 1857. The Dhunds and other tribes of the Murree Hills, incited by Hindustani agents, rose in insurrection, and the authorities received information from a faithful native of a projected attack upon the station of Murree in time to organise measures for defence. The women near the station, who were present in large numbers, were placed in safety, while the Europeans and police were drawn up in a cordon round the station. The rebels arrived expecting no resistance, but were met with organised resistance and were repelled.

The district of Rawalpindi was created during British rule as part of Punjab province. The district obtained its current boundaries in 1904 when Attock District was created as a separate district. According to the 1901 census of India the population in 1901 was 558,699, an increase of 4.7% from 1891. During the period of British rule, Rawalpindi district increased in population and importance.

Administrative division

Rawalpindi district is governed by the Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation and is divided into five tehsils.

There are also two cantonments, which are run separately by the military.
* Rawalpindi Cantonment
* Chaklala Cantonment

Demography

Population

As of the 2023 census, Rawalpindi district had 931,813 households and a population of 5,745,964 which is roughly equal to the population of Cook County, Illinois, United States or Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China. The district had a sex ratio of 103.54 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 83.05%: 87.63% for males and 78.28% for females. 1,279,536 (22.49% of the surveyed population) were under 10 years of age. 4,031,341 (70.15%) lived in urban areas.

According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the population of the district was 3,363,911 of which 53.03% were urban, and is the second-most urbanised district in Punjab. The population was estimated to be 4.5 million in 2010.

Religion

According to the 2023 census Muslims were the overwhelming majority religion in Rawalpindi district with 98.05%, while Christians were 1.86% of the population, mainly concentrated in urban areas. Ahmadis and Hindus make up the remainder of the population.

Language

The population of Rawalpindi is 6,058,540 in 2023. 3,434,400 spoke Punjabi, 1,007,836 Urdu, 623,084 Pashto, 140,837 Hindko, 86,817 Kashmiri, 39,482 Saraiki, 16,953 Sindhi, 9,733 Shina, 9,553 Kohistani, 7,538 Balti, 3,869 Balochi, 504 Mewati, 317 Brahui, 202 Kalasha & 307,925 Others.

At the time of the 2017 Census of Pakistan, 67.15% of the population spoke Punjabi, 11.51% Pashto, 10.64% Urdu, 3.25% Hindko and 1.89% Kashmiri as their first language. 4.22% of the population spoke languages classified as 'Others'.

Education

According to the 2015 census, Rawalpindi was ranked number one district of Pakistan in terms of education and school infrastructure facilities. According to official 2014 Public Schools Census data, district Rawalpindi had a total of 1,230 primary, 316 middle, 365 secondary and 40 higher secondary schools. Out of these public sector schools, 911 are male schools while 1,040 are for girls. There were 4,279 teachers teaching at primary level while 3,129, 6,516 and 1,155 teachers are teaching at middle, secondary and higher secondary level, respectively. Out of these teachers, 9,788 are female while 5,291 are male. 24% of the Class 2 students could not read a story in Urdu, 26% could not read a sentence in English and 46% of Class 5 students could not do two digit divisions. 8% of the students dropped out of the school at the primary level.

Agriculture

The principal crops were wheat, barley, maize, millets, and pulses. The district was traversed by the main line of the North-Western railway, crossing the Indus at Attock and also by a branch towards the Indus at Kushalgarh.

Notable people

* Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah Current Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), Pakistan Army
*Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Chairman PML N (Political Party), Opposition Leader in Senate, Former Leader of house in Senate, Former Federal Minister, Former Ambassador.
*Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, ex Prime Minister of Pakistan
*Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, ex Chief of the Army Staff (2007–2013)
*Gen. Tikka Khan, ex Chief of the Army Staff (1972–1976), Governor of East Pakistan (1971), Governor of Punjab (1988–1990)
*Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, ex Interior minister of Pakistan.
* Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, MNA, Former Minister for Interior of Pakistan
*Shoaib Akhtar, former Pakistan Cricket Team player and World's Fastest Bowler
* Wajid Zia, Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency
*Sohail Tanvir, Pakistan Cricket Team player
*Gen. Zaheerul Islam, director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan
* Muhammad Mahfuz, Nishan-e-Haider (Highest Military Award)
*Bilquis Sheikh, Pakistani author
*Rohail Hyatt, Pakistani record producer, keyboardist, and composer.
*Swaran Lata (actress), Pakistani film actress
*Azhar Mahmood, Cricketer
*Najaf Shah, Cricketer
*Umar Amin, Cricketer
*Raja Muhammad Sarwar, Nishan-e-Haider (Highest Military Award)
*Amir Khan (boxer), Boxer
*Mohammad Amir, Cricketer
* Sawar Muhammad Hussain Shaheed, Nishan-e-Haider (Highest Military Award)
* Khan Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Politician from Taxila, Former Federal Minister
* Mohammad Wasim, Cricketer
* Mohammad Akram, Cricketer
* Sawar Khan, Ex Vice Chief of the Army Staff
*Abdul Aziz Mirza, Chief of Naval Staff, ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
*Dada Amir Haider Khan, ex MPA PP2 Punjab Assembly Col Shabbir Awan joined PTI on 19 December 2013
* Tara Singh, Sikh Activist
* Virender Lal Chopra, an Indian biotechnologist, geneticist and agriculturalist, known to have contributed to the development of wheat production in India

See also

* Tehsils of Punjab, Pakistan
* Districts of Pakistan
** Districts of Punjab
** Districts of Sindh
** Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
** Districts of Balochistan, Pakistan
** Districts of Azad Kashmir
** Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan
* Divisions of Pakistan
** Divisions of Punjab, Pakistan

References

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Districts of Punjab, Pakistan