Teri is a village and Union Council in Karak District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.[1] It is located at 33°18'0"N 71°6'0"E with an altitude of 634 metres (2,083 feet).[2]
If we trace back the history of Khattaks, they began to reside in the outskirts of Akora Khattak, Nizam Poor and some areas of Kohat. But a tremendous population of khattaks lives in Karak district. Teri village occupies a prominent place in Karak district. The present population, which is located on the hill, has been shifted from the footstep of mountain at a distance of one kilometer. Due to paucity of water and other necessities of life people began to move from the said place bit by bit and with the span of time the population began to erode.
When the British were ruling the subcontinent, they followed the policy of divide and rule. People living in remote corners were not possible to ruled by the British directly. Therefore local chieftains were appointed with special remuneration, particularly in the tribal belt, which was beyond their ingress. With the passage of time, the British felt the necessity of creating a new province. Therefore the proposal of Lord Curzon was accepted in 1897 and the new province Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (then NWFP) was created.
So the new province came into existence in 20 December 1901. It comprised Peshawar District, Kohat District, Hazara District, Bannu District and Dera Ismail Khan District. The tribal territories were also included in it vis Swat, Deer, Chitral, Khyber Agency, Kurram Agency, North Waziristan Agency and South Waziristan Agency. The tribal agencies used to be controlled by the political agents which still exist and the settled areas came with in the purview of deputy commissioners and as a whole province was controlled by the chief commissioner Lt. Cul Herold Deane.
Nawabism took its roots in some areas of this new province, in which the Teri village occupies a significant status. Malik Akore Khan ruled most of Khattak population and later on he was succeeded by his descendants. The old name of Teri village was called Asad Abad (on the name of Nawab Asad Khan) which covered the area from Mianwali up to Tall and Attock.
Before partition the Muslims and Hindus were living side by side. Mostly the business was run by Hindu merchants and they used to lend money to the Muslims on usury. The Hindus had their own worship places. One of them was the ashram of Guru Parmahanse, which is now under the custody of auqaff. They had great influence on our culture and tradition. Even now we feel the influence of their tradition in our society.
Teri village was the learning seat of our religion Islam. It produced many renown scholars namely Sheikh Ul Hadith Molvi Abdul Ghani, Maulana Abdul Hakim, Maulana Amal Deen, Maulana Abdul Ali, Mufti Fakhru Deen, Maulana Hakim Muhammad Hanif (Father of Hafiz Muhammad Yaqoob and Hakim Muhammad Ismail) etc. The students used to come from far away (Afghanistan, India) to go through the religious education.
After the partition of subcontinen,t the Teri State was merged into the Kohat district. Subsequently the power of administration was taken from the Nawab of Teri. Later on in 1982 the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Lt. General Fazal Haq, laid the foundation of a Karak district. Subsequently Teri village was merged into it. Teri comes between Karak and Kohat and is hardly five kilometers away from G.T. Road.
During the era of Nawabs, Teri village was given the shape of fort and various main gates were installed in different directions. There was a special system of patrolling at night to protect the inhabitants of Teri village from Durrani, Changaz, Mughal and Turks attacks. There still is one main door in its original shape. The road, which passes through Teri village to the west, was called a Defence road.
It is said that the main power was supplied to Mehmood Ghaznavi from to Teri village for various skirmishes and blitzs. In the vicinity of Teri village the old relics still exist in which Mehmood Ghaznavi along with his soldiers used to stay for offering prayers and take rest. In one corner there was a stall for his horses. This place provided him a safe haven. Presently it is called with the same name of (Sarra) from where an underground tunnel was made to the old bazaar. The tunnel was so wide that a horseman could easily move to and fro. Another underground tunnel was made from House of Nawab up to the stream, used by the family of Nawab to visit their orchards. Strangers were not allowed to use the streets of Nawabs family.
Nawab Baz Muhammad Khan Was the last Raees-e-Khattak, who died in 1978, leaving behind 4 sons.He lost his interest in the state after the death of his eldest son Lt Attabaq Khan in World War II.His sons couldn't do much for the area and the people, thus the leadership and power shifted from Teri to Karak. Prominent figures of Nawab family are Nawabzada Farooq Khan and Colonel Nawabzada Barkat Khan, who still strive to extend their services for the upcoming of the area.
All the villages in the vicinity of Teri, came under the supervision of the Police Station and Patwar Khana of Teri. Before the partition there was only a single middle school. As the time passed on, the environment of Teri completely changed. At the moment there are several schools, for girls and boys, and also high secondary schools for both.
There is no denying that the Teri village was put on the track of progress in the era of Lt. General Fazal Haq in which a new carpeted road was made from B.D.Shah to Teri and also a Degree college was constructed to uplift the education ratio. Recently according to the survey it has become the epicenter of oil and gas which has huge reserves more than Soui (Baluchistan). And a Sharki Dam is also under construction to boost the agriculture. The Highway of Teri to Tall is in progress. Nasak Baba is the great religious personality of Teri, who has spread islam in this area and Nizam Pur.
Written By A Waseem Khattak M Phil Media Studies Lecturer/MEdia Officer Sarhad University Peshawar
Teri is also important for Indians as this place is Birth Place of Satguru Dev ji Shri 1008 Shri Swami Sawarupanand Ji Mahraj. He is third Saint of Shri Anand Pur Trust Maharashtra Mumbai.