Dera Ghazi Khan District

Dera Ghazi Khan District ضِلع ڈيره غازى خان
District
Location of Dera Ghazi Khan District (highlighted in orange) within Punjab.
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
Headquarters	Dera Ghazi Khan
Government
• District Coordination Officer	Iftikhar Ali Sahu
• District Police Officer	Ch.Muhammad Saleem
Population (1998)
• Total	1,643,118
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
Number of Tehsils	2
Website	http://dgkhan.gop.pk/

File:DGK.jpg

College Chowk

Dera Ghazi Khan (Punjabi, Urdu: ضِلع ڈيره غازى خان‎), is a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Its capital is Dera Ghazi Khan city. The district covers an area of 5,306 m² and it is a long narrow strip of country, 198 km. in length, sloping gradually from the hills which form its western boundary to the river Indus on the east. Below the hills the country is high and arid, generally level, but sometimes rolling in sandy undulations, and intersected by 201 hill torrents. With the exceptions of two, these streams dry up after the rains, and their influence is only felt for a few miles below the hills.China is financing a new coal project in the area.

The eastern portion of the district is at a level sufficiently low to benefit by the floods of the Indus. A barren tract intervenes between these zones and is beyond the reach of the hill streams on the one hand and of the Indus on the other. Although liable to great extremes of temperature and to a very scanty rainfall, the district is not unhealthy.

The Sulaiman Mountains rise to a height of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the north of the district.

Administration

Main articles: Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil and Tounsa Shareef Tehsil

The district is divided into two tehsils and one De-Excluded Area. which are divided into a total of sixty Union Councils:

Tehsil	No. of Unions
Dera Ghazi Khan	41
Taunsa	24
De-Excluded Area	01
Total	60

Language

Following are the demographics of the Dera Ghazi Khan district, by spoken language:

• Punjab province local people different dialects: 90%
• Other: 10%

Inhabitants of DG khan District speak a great variety of Punjabi dialects, although few of these dialects are called as separate language “Saraiki”, but because of good and loving nature of people there is no distinction or hate among different dialects and have a mix culture of Great (North and South) Punjab.

• Derawali (Mainly)
• Majhi or standard (Sizeable population in cities also in newly cultivated areas)
• Raangri (A mixture of Punjabi and Urdu spoken by sizeable population in cities)
• Thlochi (Border areas near Layyah & Muzafargarh districts)
• Khetrani (Border areas near Barkhan & Musa khel districts)

Other languages include:

• Urdu is mother tongue of few people but being national language is spoken and understood by the sizeable population.
• English is also understood and spoken by the educated elite.
• Baluchi is also spoken by sizeable population in the Baluchistan province border areas.
• Pashto which is spoken by minority population in the Baluchistan province border areas and in the cities.

History

The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region. The Multan region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region. The city was founded in 1476 on the western bank of the Indus River and named after Nawab Ghazi Khan Mirani, son of Nawab Haji Khan Mirani, a Balochi chieftain, who had declared independence from the Langah Dynasty's Sultans of Multan. Together with two other Deras, Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Fateh Khan, it gave its name to Derajat. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Sikh Empire invaded and the Muslims faced restrictions during its rule. During the period of British rule, Dera Ghazi Khan district increased in population and importance.

The city was founded at the close of the 15th century and named after Nawab Ghazi Khan Mirani, son of Nawab Haji Khan Mirani, a Balochi chieftain, who had declared independence from the Langah Dynasty's Sultans of Multan. Together with two other Deras i.e. settlements, Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Fateh Khan, it gave its name to Derajat. Derajat eventually came into the possession of the British after the Sikh War in 1849 and was divided into two districts: Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan. After the independence, many of the city's Hindu residents settled in Derawal Nagar colony of Delhi, India. The district of Rajanpur was later carved out of the Dera Ghazi Khan district. Some of them also settled in various part of India, including Bhiwani, Delhi, Jhansi, Ranchi, Ambala and Haridwar.

Dera Ghazi Khan was founded in the 15th century by Amar, a Tribal Sardar of Mirani tribe. The old city of Dera Ghazi Khan was situated at the distance of 10 miles (16 km) towards east of the present city. In 1908, the old city of Dera Ghazi Khan was abolished due to heavy flood in the river Indus. Resultantly the existing city of Dera Ghazi Khan was came into being in the year 1910. The city is divided into different blocks. The British ruler established colonial system in the continent and declared Dera Ghazi Khan as district in the year 1849. General Court Land was appointed as first Deputy Commissioner of this District. Keeping in view the rapidly increasing population of the area and deteriorating law and order situation district Dera Ghazi Khan was divided in two districts i.e. Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur. Presently there are two revenue sub division of the District. A tribal belt/political area spread along with western side of the District. Mirani has been extinct three centuries ago. The population according to the 1901 census of India (then a British colony) was 471,149 - the great majority being Baloch Muslims. The frontier tribes on the Dera Ghazi Khan border include the Qasmani, Qaisrani, Lund, Bozdar,Jangail Khosa,kaleri Baloch, kamelani baloch, Dasti Baloch, Leghari, Jatoi, Nutkani, Gorgage, Mirani, Chandio, Sokar, Mastoi, Gorchani and Thingani (tribe). Pakistan. Their ancestors came in from Balochistan and Frontier around 200 years ago and settled in the old Dera Ghazi Khan. In very small number people belonging to Saharan Jat lineage were also settled in the old Dera Ghazi Khan, they basically belongs to Jangladesh, Utterpardesh & Rajhistan (India). After the major floods of the early 1900s that washed away the city, they moved into the new Dera Ghazi Khan. They are still settled in Block 11,48 & 28. One of the Family Member Akhund Nadir Majeed (Late) Ex Joint Secretary PML-N was known as a Great Social Worker .Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition published in 1911 mentions Baluchs of this area as:

Frank and open in his manners, fairly truthful, faithful to his word, temperate and enduring, and looking upon courage as the highest virtue, the true Baluch of the Derajat is a pleasant man to have dealings with.

The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India while the Muslim refugees from India settled in the Dera Ghazi Khan District.

There are petroleum and gas reservoirs in district Dera Ghazi Khan at sites Rodho, Zindapir, Afiband, Dhodhak etc.

The Koh-e-Sulaiman Range constitutes a major part of this area, This range is full of naturl deposits like Marble & Lime Stone. A big cement plant DG Cement is also situated in Kofli Sattai Tehsil Dera Ghazi Khan.

Based on the surveys of 2004-2005, Dera Ghazi Khan district is considered one of the twenty most poorest districts of Pakistan with about 51% of its population living under the poverty line.

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Location

Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil

Main article: Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil

As well as being district capital, Dera Ghazi Khan is also the capital of Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of the district. The city of Dera Ghazi Khan is itself administratively subdivided into seven Union Councils.

Tounsa Sharif

Main article: Taunsa Sharif

Taunsa Sharif tehsil of D.G. Khan is known throughout Pakistan for having a literacy rate in Pakistan that approaches 100%. The well-known scholar of Taunsa Sharif is Hazrat Molana Abd-ul-satar Tonsvi. Taunsa Sharif or Taunsa is a tehsil (subdivision) of Dera Ghazi Khan District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The town of Taunsa Shareef is the headquarters of the tehsil. The town has important Sufi shrines, the most notable is that of Hazrat Muhammad Suleman Taunsvi. Khawaja Shah Suleman came from Darug Balochistan. It is customary in Pakistan to use the postfix Sharif with the name of any place with a saint is buried, hence, the city is also called Taunsa Sharif. Taunsa Sharif is located on the Karachi-Peshawar Highway, which is also known as Indus highway, it is approximately 975 km from Karachi and 600 km from Lahore. Taunsa is also the location of one of the headworks on the Indus River called Taunsa Barrage, located several kilometres south of Taunsa city. The main language of the area is Saraiki, whilst the city itself contains a range of ethnic groups, the adjacent towns and rural areas in the Tehsil are primarily occupied by Baloch tribes including the Nutkani Sakhani, [kalati Baloch] Qaisrani, Lund, Dasti Baloch, Buzdar,Bakhri, Nasuha, Malghani, Khetran,Malik,Dahar and Kulachi. Most of the above-mentioned tribes including Nasuha and Malghani are part of the Nutkani tribe. Qaisrani is the largest tribe of Tausa Sharif. The Shirani, a collection of Pashtun tribes, migrated from Barkhan Balochistan to Taunsa, and the Kulachi tribe came from Kulachi Tehsil (NWFP) in 1867.

The main town of Tounsa Sharif located 50 km toward D.I.Khan, Khetran tribe is the ruling and landlord tribe of Vehoa.

File:Fort munro.jpg

On the way to Fort Munro

De-Excluded Area (Tribal Area)

See also: Fort Munro

Fort Munro, locally called as Nimroo, is a hill station in Dera Ghazi Khan which lies on the Quetta Road at 80 km from Dera Ghazi Khan city in the Sulaiman Mountains Range of the Dera Ghazi Khan's Tribal Area. Away from dusty and hot climate of Multan and D.G.Khan it is blessed with clean and cool weather. Many sick and ill people come here for refreshment and recovery from different diseases and sickness. Its altitude is 1800 meters (6,470 feet) above sea level and attracts many people for short stays during the summer. Many school trips and families use to go for recreation. Families from south Punjab cities, such as Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Jampur Layyah, Taunsa, Kot addu, Lodhran, Bahawalpur and Kot Mithan make trips to this beautiful hill station during summer. In summer when the temperature reaches 48 °C (118 °F) in south Punjab, the temperature remains at 20 °C (68 °F).It is the only place in south Punjab to receive snowfall in winter.

File:Snow fall.jpg

Snow fall in Fort Munro

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: