Tank (Pakistan)

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For other uses, see Tank (disambiguation).

Tank
General Information
Country	Pakistan
Province	NWFP
Coordinates	32°13′0″N 70°22′60″E / 32.21667, 70.38333Coordinates: 32°13′0″N 70°22′60″E / 32.21667, 70.38333
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
No. of Towns	1
Government
No. of Union Councils	16
Emblem

Location

Tank or Tonk (Urdu: ٹانک ), is the capital city of Tank District, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. The city's location near Waziristan has meant that it is prone to attacks by Taliban fighters. In 2007 fighters attacked the town, looting bank and government buildings.^[1]

1 Location
2 History
3 Languages
4 Climate
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Location

It is located at situated in 32º13' N. and 70º32' E^[2] at an altitude of 255m (839ft)^[3] and is situated to the north-west of the Indus River and close to the Takht-i-Sulaiman Range, Tank is hot and humid in summers. At a distance of 200 miles from Peshawar and about 40 miles from Dera Ismail Khan, Tank hasn't learnt much from its neighbours. Where Peshawar and Dera evolve into beautiful cities, Tank remains to be a small unplanned town. It's a minor yet thriving city at the west bank of the Indus river.

To the far western side of the city lies the Federally Administered Tribal Areas abbreviated to FATA making Tank the a gateway to the no-mans land as the FATA is commonly perceived. The mainly Pashtun tribes that inhabit the areas are fiercely independent, but until recently the tribes had very friendly relations with Pakistan.

In the book Tank: Crossroads to the Frontier Tribes by Molly Pont, an English Missionary surgeon who came to Tank in 1983 the town was described as follows:

“

...unknown, unloved, and lost to the world in the wastes edging Waziristan... not one in a hundred Pakistanis beyond the River Indus has heard of this strategic little town

”

[edit] History

[edit] Foundation

The town was founded by Katal Khan, the first Nawab of Tank, the Imperial Gazetteer of India (written in the early 20th century) describes the town as follows:

"It stands on the left batik of a ravine which issues from the Tank Larn pass, 40 miles north-west of Dera Ismail Khan town. A mud wall surrounds the town, 12 feet in height and 7 feet thick, with numerous towers and two or three gates, but it is in bad repair. The fort, now in ruins, is an enormous pile of mud about 250 yards square. The walls, faced with back, enclose a citadel 40 feet high^[2]". It was the residence of a Nawab of Tank (Shah Nawaz Khan) from Katti Khel family , who formerly exercised semi-independent powers.

[edit] British rule

After defeating the Sikhs, Tank came under British control, here Sir Henry Durand, lieutenant-governor of the Punjab, was killed in 1870 when passing on an elephant under a gateway^[4]. Dubbed as the Little England, this town is a staging point for most of the tribes of the region

During British rule, Tank was the Headquarters of Tank Tehsil which was then a subdivision of Dera Ismail Khan District. The population of the town according to the 1901 census of India was 4,402^[2].

Tank was declared a `notified area' in 1893. The municipal income in 1903-4 was Rs. 11,500,' chiefly derived from octroi; and the expenditure was Rs. 9,100. Timber and ghi were brought down from the hills of Waziristan in considerable quantities, while the exports included grain, cloth, tobacco, and other luxuries. Sir Henry Durand, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, lost his life here in 1870, from injuries received while passing on an elephant under a gateway. He was buried at Dera Ismail Khan. ^[2].

[edit] Tank seen as a centre for negotiation

The British negotiated with the tribes through their agents in the border towns and Tank was a centre of negotiation with the Mahsud tribe - the Nawab of Tank having married a Mahsud wife. For the Britishers the Mahsud tribe was the most difficult to control, and in 1860 when the Mahsuds attacked the British with a 3000 strong Lashkar the British were forced to penetrate into the territory of Tank to control them.

[edit] Languages

People in the region speak native languages like Pushtu and other non-Pushtu languages such as:

[edit] Climate

The climate in Tank reaches 110-120 °F, however in the cold, harsh winters of the mountains, people come to Tank to enjoy a pleasant stay and then resort back during the summer.