Kulachi
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Kulachi is a city and Tehsil (administrative region) of Dera Ismail Khan District in North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. It is situated 50 km from Dera Ismail Khan in the Damaan valley of the Sulaiman Range, and lies on the banks of the Gomal River (local name "Luni" or "Khuarha"), a tributary of the Indus.
The city is surrounded by a wall, and has a planned design that includes four bazaars in the shape of a cross. The centre of the bazaars is known as Chowgalla (Square).
The city's population of about 20,000 is composed mainly of Gandapur (Pashtun) and Seraiki people. Two languages are spoken: Pashto and Seraiki (locally called Hindko, though it is not Hindko as spoken in Peshawar and elsewhere).
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[edit] History
The city was developed by the Kulachi Balochs (also written Kolachi), a branch of the Baloch people. Later on, as the Gandapur tribe settled in the area, they fought with the Kulachi Balochs and expelled them from the city and surrounding area. The Kulachi Balochs were forced to migrate closer to Dera Ismail Khan, and now only a few Baloch families reside in the city.
The Imperial Gazetteer India, Volume 16, Page 13 describes Kulachi as following,
“Kulachi Tahsil.-Western tahsil of Dera Ismail Khan District, North-West Frontier Province, consisting of the country immediately below the Sulaiman mountains, between 30’ 15” and 32’ 17” N. and 70’ 11” and 70’ 42” E., with an area of 1,509 square miles. In appearance the tract bears a generic resemblance to the Dera Ismail Khan tahsil, except for the stony plain and the line of barren and unsightly hills which form its western border. The plain is much cleft by deep channels which carry off the rain-water from the hills, and these are utilized for irrigation with great skill. The population in 1901 was 55,053, compared with 52,270 in 1891. The head-quarters are at Kulachi (population, 9,125), and the tahsil also contains 81 villages. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 96,000.
Kulachi Town. - Head-quarters of the tahsil of the same name in Dera Ismail Khan District, North-West Frontier Province, situated in 31’ 56” N. and 70’ 28” E., on the north bank of the Luni torrent; 27 miles west of Dera Ismail Khan town. Population (1901), 9,12,5. It is rather an aggregation of sixteen separate hamlets, standing near the union of their lands, than a regular town. A municipality was created in. 1867, and its income and expenditure during the ten years, ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 6,900. In .1903-4 the income was Rs. 7,200, chiefly derived from octroi; and the expenditure was Rs. 7,100. The place formerly carried on a brisk trade with the Wazirs of the hills, which declined before annexation, but has since somewhat revived, Kulachi contains a Government dispensary; and its principal educational institution is an Anglo-vernacular middle school maintained by the District board.”
[edit] City Sectors
Various Mohallas (sectors) of the city were named after sub-tribes of the Gandapur tribe. Thus Kulachi is now divided into the following Mohallahs:
Inside the walled city
- Mohallah Shakhi
- Mohallah Ibrahim Zai
- Mohallah Hussain Zai
- Mohallah Yaqub Zai
- Mohallah Musa Zai [Shumali]
- Mohallah Musa Zai [Janoobi]
- Mohallah Bara Khel
- Mohallah Kamal Khel
- Mohallah Khader Khel
- Mohallah Jattan Walla
- Mohallah Usman Khel
- Mohallah Nathoo Zai
Outside the walled city
- Mohallah Rana Zai
- Mohallah Zarni Khel
- Mohallah Behlol Khel
- Mohallah Khud Basti (Lowland town)
- Mohallah Chhoti (Small) Luni or Qasim Abad (established by Qasim Khan, who had migrated with his families from Luni village after a bloody feud with other people in Luni; hence his new abode was called "small Luni")
- Mohallah Haroon Abad (established in the 1980s by Maulana Haroon Behlol Khel, grandson of great Sufi Mian Baraan)
[edit] Walls and gates
The city wall was constructed to safeguard the city from invading tribes such as the Mahsud Pirates. The city wall is known as "Kot" (a common word for forts or walls of forts in the Indus valley). It has six gates, most in good condition. The gates are named after the Mohallahs where they are located (such as Shakhi Gate), or given the name of a nearby village if they are built on the road leading to that village (such as Maddi Gate). The gates are fine examples of 19th century Mughal and Indian Architecture.
Starting clockwise from Shakhi Gate , the names of the six gates are as follows:
- Shakhi Gate
- Maddi Gate
- Usman khel Gate
- Jattan Wala Gate
- Mithu Gate
- Maday Khan Gate
[edit] Economy
Kulachi is an agricultural city. The area lies at the foot of the Sulaiman Range and hence is irrigated by flood water from Sulaiman Mountains. The system of irrigation is called Rod Kohi (Rod means channel and Koh means Mountain in Persian) and hence it is the system of Mountain Channels or hill-torrents inundating the whole valley of Damaan. The Rod Kohi system was very well developed by the British Colonialists and Kulachi had the highest share in Agricultural Revenue of the District Dera Ismail Khan before 1947. The system of Rod Kohi is now in shambles due to lawlessness in the area and apathy of the NWFP Government. "Kharbooza" [melon] of Kulachi is famous all over Pakistan. It is very sweat and delicious.
[edit] Crafts
Kulachi is famous for various artefacts and handicrafts.
- Kulachiwal Chaakku (Knife). Small knives with ornamental design are manufactured on a small scale by artisans in the Porta Bazaar (West Bazaar). This beautiful art is on the verge of extinction due to lack of patronage.
- Handicrafts. Various forms of beautiful handicrafts, similar in style to Multani handicraft, are made in the area.
- Ornamental Shoes. Popularly known as "tillay waali Jûtti", the ornamental shoes made by the local cobblers are very popular in the area. They are best suited for long walks in the fields of Damaan.
[edit] The pre-partition cloth hawking & Usury Business
Captain J.A.Robinson in his book "Notes on Nomad Tribes of Eastern Afghanistan" published in 1934. writes,
| “ | There is another type of business of comparatively recent growth which had had begun to occupy the attention of increasing numbers of Powindahs [1] until about the year 1929, when it received a severe set-back owing to economic depression in India. This cloth-hawking and usury. It is said to have been started by the Gandapurs of Kulachi, which was the chief mart in the Derajat for Powindah import and export trade before the improvement in communications caused its eclipse by Dera Ismail Khan; and the Powindahs followed the Gandapurs and extended their activities all over northern India as far south as Bombay and as far east as Lower Burma. This business was mostly financed by the Hindu bankers of Kulachi and Dera Ismail Khan, and to a smaller extent by the Powindahs themselves. In 1882, one Mansa Ram, Gera Arora, of Kulachi saw that it would be a great advantage both to him and to the Powindahs if the latter were financed by a branch of his business established for the winter at Calcutta. Accordingly, in the autumn of 1883 he accompanied the Powindahs to Calcutta, to be imitated in the following years by other sahukars, until in the winter of 1912-13 there were no fewer than twenty three money-lending agencies in Calcutta. Business flourished to such an extent that most of the leading bankers in Dera Ismail Khan used to spend the winter in Calcutta; and many came to depend entirely on the Powindah trade for a livelihood. About 1905-06, the bankers found that by acting as agents for the purchase of cloth and articles of clothing from the merchants of Calcutta, or as cloth-merchants themselves, they could make still greater profits. This money-lending and cloth trade reached its zenith about the winter of 1911-12 when Rs. 46 lakhs are said to have been invested in it annually. | ” |
The First World War, poor crops in Bengal, low prices of agricultural products, misbehaviour of the Powindahs, higher rates of interest (75-225 % per annum), general trade depression and activities of the All Indian National Congress led to the downfall of cloth hawking and usury business of Gandapurs and Powindahs.
[edit] The City of Saints
Kulachi is famous for the presence of tombs of various Sufi saints. The most notable among them are tomb of Hazrat Noor Muhammad Kamal Khel (Noori Darbaar), tomb of Hazrat Mian Baraan, tomb of Hazrat Maddey Khan, tomb of Hazrat Khair Shah, tomb of Hazrat Bukhari, tomb of Hazrat Bahadur (Baz daada), tomb of Hazrat Syed Karam Shah (recited The Holy Quran more than 100,000 times), tomb of Hazrat Raza (Razau dadaa). All these tombs have surrounded the walled city of Kulachi.
[edit] The Future of Town
Kulachi was once mart of the entire area. It was the first stop when nomads used to come down from Sulaiman mountains. After the development of two important route i.e. South Waziristan-Tank-Dera Ismail Khan and Zhob-Daraban-Dera Ismail Khan, Kulachi has been left in a triangle with no real means of progress. The future of agriculture is still hostage to the delay in construction of Gomal Dam. Hence with poor agriculture and being cut off from important trade routes, the city is on the decay. There has been great migration of people to the near by Dera Ismail Khan thus leaving the town with less resources and capable people.
[edit] Notes
