khattaks

khattak is a Pashtun tribe. Khattak tribe is concentrated in North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan on the left side of the Attock river. The Khattak is a Pashtun tribe whose recorded history indicates that they originated in the area around ghazni and logar province. The largest of the tribe's population is now situated in Cherat, which hosts a Special Service Group military outpost in the NWFP. Speaking a variant of the Kandahari pashtu, their appearance belies an origin akin to the old pawindah type Earliest records show their migration from around modern day Bannu northwards towards modern day Kohat, Karak and Nowshera[citation needed]. A warrior poet by the name of Khushal Khan Khattak (1613-1690) belonged to this tribe, and his contributions to Pushto literature are considered as classic texts. They have been translated into numerous languages. The Khattaks have high literacy rate in comparison to other Pashtun tribes having achieved positions of influence throughout history.DemographicsA significant majority of the Khattak now reside in developed countries such as Malaysia, UAE, Japan, USA, Dubai but the largest contingency resides in the Britain. In particular the regions of Birmingham, London, Manchester and Aylesbury. Khattaks are known to be vey successful and wealthy in relation to other tribes. They use this wealth to invest luxurious homes back in the NWFP. Consequently, the region of Cherat and particularly Saleh Khana not surprisingly has one of the highest costs of land in the whole of Pakistan and is known as 'little Britain'. KOHAT, a town and district of Pakistan, in the Peshawar division of the North-West Frontier Province. The town is 37 m. south of Peshawar by the Kohat Pass, along which a military road was opened in 1901. The population in 1901 was 30,762, including 12,670 in the cantonment, which is garrisoned by artillery., cavalry and infantry. In the Tirah campaign of 1S9798 Kohat was the starting-point of Sir William Lockharts expedition against the Orakzais and Afridis. It is the military base for the southern Afridi frontier as Peshawar is for the northern frontier of the same tribe, and it lies in the heart of the Pathan country. - The DISTRICT OF KOHAT has an area of 2973 sq. m. It consists chiefly of a bare and intricate mountain region east of the Indus, deeply scored with river valleys and ravines, but enclosing a few scattered patches of cultivated lowland. The eastern or Khattak country especially comprises a perfect labyrinth of ranges, which fall, however,-into two principaigroups, to the north and south of the Ten Toi river. The Miranzai valley, in the extreme west, appears by comparison a rich and fertile tract. In its small but carefully tilled glens, the plane, palm, fig and many orchard trees flourish luxuriantly; while a brushwood of wild olive, mimosa and other thorny bushes clothes the rugged ravines upon the upper slopes. Occasional grassy glades upon their sides form favorite pasture grounds for the Waziri tribes. The Ten Toi, rising on the eastern limit of Upper Miranzai, runs due eastward to the Indus, which it joins I 2 m. N. of Makhad, dividing the district into two main portions. The drainage from the northern half flows southward into the Ten Toi itself, and northward into the parallel stream of the Kohat Toi. That of the southern tract falls northwards also into the Ten Toi, and southwards towards the Kurram and the Indus. The frontier mountains, continuations of the Safed Koh system, attain in places a considerable elevation, the two principal peaks, Dupa Sir and Mazi Garh, just beyond the British frontier, being 8260 and 7940 ft. above the sea respectively. The waziri hills, on the south, extend like a wedge between the boundaries of Bannu and Kohat, with a general elevation of less than 4000 ft. The salt-mines are situated in the low line of hills crossing the valley of the Ten Toi, and extending along both banks of that river. The deposit has a width of a quarter of a mile, with a thickness of Iooo ft.; it sometimes forms hills 200 ft. in height, almost entirely composed of solid rock-salt, and may probably rank as one of the largest veins of its kind in the world. The most extensive exposure occurs at Bahadur Khel, on the south bank of the Ten Toi. The annual output is about 16,000 tons, yielding a revenue of ~4o,ooo. Petroleum springs exude from a rock at Panoba, 23 m. east of Kohat; and sulphur abounds in the northern range. In 1901 the population was 217,865, showing an iiicrease of II % in the decade. The frontier tribes on the Kohat border are the Afridis, Orakzais, Zaimukhts and Turis. All these a-re described under their separate names. A railway runs from Kushalgarh through Kohat to Thal, and the river Indus has been bridged at Kushalgarh. - The Khattak sub tribes are: - *Seni Khattak(Kohat) - *Barak Khattak(Karak) - *Akorkhel Khattak(Noshera,Kohat: Gumbat, Lachi,Teri and Peshawar) - *Mungikhel Khattak(Shakar Dara) - *Mattukhel Khattak (Shakar Darra) - *Saghri Khattak (Attock)