Khawajgan

Khawajgan[1] [خواجڴان] is a Pashtoon community resided in the North of Pakistan(34⁰25'43.26"N 73⁰08'24.45"E, elev 2824 ft) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of District Mansehra, situated c. 45 kilometers to the East of the Indus river, where it enters the head of the magnificent Tarbela reservoir & 156 kilometers from Islamabad. Its (Khawajgan) literal meaning is a place where shareef and poised people live. Its old name was Dagai rebuild on its new current location. This new name was given after Shareef Ullah Khan son of Areef Ullah Khan(occupier of Khawajgan). This village is situated in the middle of lower Pakhal Valley. It is the de facto headquarters of the Swati tribe and the second most populous village in the both Pakhali (Lower/Upper). It is a busy business hub in the whole area of the lower Pakhal.

Location

View at khawajgan

On its eastern side Sherpur village on Khawajgan-Baffa Road, on western side janglat /meadows of Ajmer / Chorgali connected to Oghi Khaki road, Northern side connected with Muradpur (Najjha), Jageer Area, Tatar / Gidarpur through Khawajgan-Tatar road while on southern side connected to Mansehra City through Khaki -Khawajgan road. This village is in the revenue estate of union council Malikpur district Mansehra. It is situated in Pakistan. It has quite a good collection of shops and houses. There are many points and it is quite interesting because bacon is very prominent in these regions. Around the time of Eid it is a very festive place. Khawajgan boasts many good places to sit down and enjoy. Other than that, it also has good grounds.It is amazing in winter. It is a place to visit and has interesting places such as The Adda and a restaurant called Nazir Kay Kabab which is well known in the surrounding areas.

Language

The main language spoken in Khawajgan is Pushtu and traces of Hindko are also found. A small minority speaks Urdu and English. The schools there offer all of these languages for learning, as well as the metric and such subjects.

Tribes Found here

The tribes here are Swati descendant of Yousafzais, clans of:

Sub clans or Khails i.e.Batu Khail, Jeewan Khail, Shehzad Khail, Ramzo Khail, Kae Khail,Jalang Khail-Jlangian,and leftover Tanolies. There are others like Jangiri,Turk, Syed & Gujars in this village. Some discussion is held whether to allow " Awan" into the tribes of Tanolies.

History

Khawajgan was built as a small Pukhtoon village. Probably for rest on long journeys. It was built approximately 500 years ago and is still in the developing stage with not much progress or structural change. However other important points of its history include that it could have once been inhabited by Hindus & Turkish people before Swaties-Yousafzai invaded & cornered Tanolies to Amb state. The actual date is not known. The ruins are called "Kandar" (in Pushtu) which is derived from the Urdu word for ruins (Khandar), it is called that because termites had one of their worst attacks and the city had to be abandoned. You can occasionally find old plates and signs of civilization. The date put into consideration is 300 years back.

This is the history today. The descendants of the people can be traced to the " Khan" family. It was actually rebuilt, that too by the Swaties, who first settled in Tajikistan then migrated to Afghanistan - Sarawat (In those days Afghanistan was considered a promising place for settlers) then migrated to Swat then and thus invaded Pakhal valley. Khawajgan and turned it into what it is today. The Swaties who Invaded it were pedigree of Batu Khail, Balghandar Khan descendant of Ali Sher Khan son of Sultan Mitra Khan-Matrawi. Later on Inayat Ullah Khan rebuilt Khawajgan on its current location, well planned at a high altitude with an abundance of water for drinking and for agriculture from nearby stream (Khuwar). Most of its land is agricultural.

Khawajgan is a federation of a number of small taluqas / villages (Landai, Bhatain, Shanai, Skandara, Dagai, Golroo Maira, Baila, Bandi Sheikhan etc.) coming together to form a Business Town. Saeed Khan and his nephew Inayat Ullah Khan today both are the ancestors of these two are found in Khawajgan. They are " Tahira Nasreen" and "Sher Afzal Khan".

Language

Pukhtu & Hindko are the languages spoken by the people of Khawajgan.

Education

Over the years, since independence, Khawajgan has had a high improvement in education and educational facilities, although the standards are fairly low in government funded schools, as compared with the rest of the country.

The literacy rate of the village among the population aged 10 years and above is 49.95 percent. It has increased by 34% since 1981 when it was only 15.95 percent. The male literacy ratio is much higher at 60.50% compared to 50.00% for women. There are separate educational institutes for girls and boys, although there are many co-educational institutes for school going children.But most families migrated to Mansehra or Abbottabad for their children schooling

Some of the educational institutes in Khawajgan are:

Economy

Khawajgan is largely an agricultural area. The major crops are wheat, sugarcane, tobacco, maize, rice, rapeseed, mustard and various vegetable crops both Kharif / Rabi are grown. Important fruits are orange, plum, peach, apricot, pear, and apple. Even though the population is largely middle and relatively educated, recent 10 years have seen major improvements in education, health and infrastructure. Poultry Farming on large scale & Manufacturing based on of agricultural material has also grown over the years and so has the financial sector where the town center has become home to national banks.Population is growing rapidly.

Climate

The summer season is extremely hot. A steep rise of temperature occurs from May to June, and July, August and September record high temperatures. During May and June dust storms are frequent. The temperature reaches its maximum in the month of June i.e. 41.5 °C. Due to intensive cultivation and irrigation, the area is humid. A rapid fall of temperature occurs from October onwards. The coldest months are December and January. The mean minimum temperature recorded for the month of January is 2.1 °C.

Most of the rainfall occurs in the months of July, August, December and January. Maximum rainfall for August is 125.85 mm. Towards the end of cold weather there are occasional thunderstorms and hail storms. The relative humidity is quite high throughout the year while maximum humidity has been recorded in December at 73.33%.

Flora and fauna

Common trees are mesquite, ber, different species of acacia and eucalyptus i.e. Safaida & Pines-cedars. The most common shrubs are Tamarix articulata, spands, akk, small red poppy, spera, pueghambrigul, drab grass, eamelthorl and pohli chaulai etc.

The Village has a variety of fauna, including the jackal, goat, and pheasant. Russian doves migrate through the area and hunters gather during open season as their meat is liked by the locals.

Food

Popular foods are Rice, beef cooked as chapli kabab-(Nazir or Adrahman Kabab), seekh kabab, tikka, and kahwa (green tea). Tandoor (oven) for baking bread is present in many houses as well as in the market.Most of the people like Cholay (Chick pea) and Lobya (beans), Saag and Rotai of Juwar (maize) is liked by a lot of people.

Dwellings

The villages are divided into Kandis. The divisions of Kandis are on the pattern of agricultural lands. The houses generally consist of two or three rooms and a courtyard. Cattle and poultry are also accommodated beside the shelter.

Each Kandi of the village has its own mosque and a place of meeting or for public assembly called a Hujra. Most famous Hujra of the Village is named as Naberdar saib Hujra which is open for travelers for 365 days of the year. In most cases it is the property of elders of the Kandi, who are expected to feed and give shelter to visitors. These Hujras are commonly used for the settlement of public disputes and business.Template:Pukhtoon's Culture:

Many houses are without compound walls around them. This is because they are immediately adjacent to one another (Wall to Wall) with gates.

Notables

There are numerous nobles in this village; some of the respected & notables are:

  1. Khadee Khan Naberdar First Head Master of pre-partition (1947) of this village
  2. Khalil Ur Rehman Khan known as Sheikh Saib was the First Tehsildar of pre-partition (1947) of this village
  3. Haji Abdullah Khan known as Head master saib- First Graduate of the village before partition
  4. Abdul Raheem Khan known as Master saib- Chairman Zakat & Usher Committee.
  5. Sadiq Khan known as Xen saib- Ex-District President NAP
  6. Gul Islam Khan S/O Khalil Ur Rehman Khan squadron leader Royel Air Fore & PAF
  7. Muzaffar Khan -Ex-Director C & W KPK
  8. Safee Ullah Khan patwari saib
  9. Habib Ullah Khan Naberdar
  10. Maroof Khan Naberdar
  11. Engineer Sher Afzal Khan Ex-Director BATCO
  12. Engineer Naeem Khan Ex-Chief Engr. OGDC
  13. Maj. Abdul Qayum Khan
  14. Brg. Azmat Hayat Khan
  15. Brg. Nusrat Hayat Khan
  16. Abdul Ghafoor Khan Naberdar
  17. Javaid Khan-Local Consular
  18. Shireen Khan-Local Consular
  19. Col. Asif Kamal Khan
  20. Engineer Muhammad Ayaz Khan s/o Gul Islam Khan (Retired Squadron Leader, Pakistan Air Force)

References

  1. ↑ khawajgan
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