Galyat

Galyat (Urdu: گلیات ‎) region, or hill tract, (also written Galliat and Galiyat)[1] is a narrow strip or area roughly 50–80 km north-east of Islamabad, Pakistan, extending on both sides of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Punjab border, between Abbottabad and Murree.[2] The word itself is derived from the plural of the Urdu word gali, which means an alley between two mountains on both sides of which there are valleys and it is not the highest point in the range. Many of the towns in the area have the word gali as part of their names, and are popular tourist resorts.[3]

Brief history and ethnology

The Galyat tracts were first 'discovered' by early British colonial officials, such as James Abbott (Indian Army officer), who ventured into these areas circa 1846-47.[4] The British found them climatically conducive to them and began to develop some of the sites in the range/tract as hill resorts, to escape the summer heat of the low-lands. Later on, after Partition/Independence of Pakistan in 1947, these were neglected for some time but eventually developed further from the 1960s onwards as popular resorts.

The area, being home to the Karlal tribe, was called the 'Karral country' during the colonial times by the British (named after the tribe). The Karlal's are still the dominant tribe of the Galyat. The language spoke by the tribesmen is Hindko whereas the dialect of Hindko spoken is called the 'Dhundi-Kairali'. [5]

Localities in the Galyat

References

  1. ↑ "Visit Galiyat". Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Hazara District Gazetteer 1883-84, Lahore: Govt of the Punjab, 1884, p.3
  3. ↑ "Tourism in Abbottabad District". Archived from the original on January 21, 2009.
  4. ↑ Charles Allen, Soldier-Sahibs: The Men who made the North-West Frontier London, 2000, p.
  5. ↑ Details of the history and tribes etc, of this region have already been given in considerable detail in several other articles here
  6. ↑ Dagri Naka


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