Hashtnagar

Hashtnagar [هشتنګر] (in Sanskrit अष्टनगरम्: aṣṭanagaram and more commonly known as اشنغر ashnaghar Pashto)[1] is one of the two constituent parts of Charsadda District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Later the name was changed from Hashtnagar to Utmanzai. The name Hashtnagar is derived from Sanskrit अष्टनगरम् aṣṭanagaram, n., "The eight towns" from Sanskrit aṣṭa, num. card., "Eight" and नगर nagara, n., "settlement, locality, town". The descriptive later being influenced by the Pashto asht, num., "eight". The etymology "Eight Towns", refers to the eight major settlements situated in this region.[2] These are:

Class struggle

Hashtnagar is known for its militant socialist struggle of peasants led by the Mazdoor Kisan Party which has resulted in various positive developments of the area.

History

Buddhist period

Hashtnagar is known for an early Buddhist statue. The Original name of Hashtnagar was "Ashtanagaram", "Ashta" means Eight in Sanskrit and "Nagaram" meaning "Town".[3]

Modern era

In 1812 the Asiatick Society (Calcutta, India) described the Gujars of Afghanistan as brave, mainly pastoral, and numerous in Hashtnagar district. The Muhammadzai (Charsadda) were also mentioned as a powerful tribe in the area.[4]

Media

A documentary, exploring the political and cultural life of Hashtnagar, has been made by Ammar Aziz [5][6] which is the first ever film on the subject .[7] It features the local artists and political activists and romanticizes the communist movement of the area.

Notable people

Afzal Shah Khamoosh

References

External links

Coordinates: 34°12′59.24″N 71°42′53.26″E / 34.2164556°N 71.7147944°E / 34.2164556; 71.7147944


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, February 10, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.