Chhachh

Chhachh is a geographical region in the northern section of Attock District of Punjab, Pakistan, and south-west Hazara. Chhachh is a plain which rolls from the Hazara-Gandhara Hills south to Kamra, and from east of the Indus to the broken lands near Lawrencepur. It is an alluvial plain in the north of the District and tehsil of Attock, Punjab, lying between 33°53' and 33° 59' N. and 72° 22' and 72°44' E. It is bounded on the north and west by the Indus, and is about 19 miles (31 km) long from east to west, and 9 miles (14 km) broad. Percolation from the Indus makes it extremely fertile[1]. It was the most fertile area of Rawalpindi Division. The Hindko village of Nartopa and the Pukhto village of Pabuto is located here.

History

Chach has been identified with the Chukhsa or Chuskha country of the Taxila copperplate inscription. In the Muslim period it was known as Chach-Hazara, or Taht Hazara, `below Hazara,' probably because it was subject to the Karlughs who held Hazara. In this plain lies HAZRO.

Tribes

A large percentage of the population of Chhachh have Pushtoon roots and are mostly descendants of the tribes of Durrani,Alizai,Yousafzai,Samozai,Kakar,Jadoon, Tareen and Kakhar. They arrived in the area around 1000A.D as part of the army of Ghazni and made it their permanent home after defeating the Hindu confederation near Hazro. Most of these Pashtoons now refer to themselves as Pathans and speak Hindko as their main language. It is claimed that Hindko was the original ancient language of Chhachh when it was part of the Gandharan civilisation and was adopted over time by the Pashtoon tribes of the area. The remaining population of Chach consists of Mughals, Kashmiris, Jats,Bangashs, Rajputs, Gujjars, Syeds, Awans. However you can still find villages that are predominantly inhabited by Pashto speakers. Even though the majority of Chach Pathans may no longer speak Pashto as their mother tongue, they still zealously guard the puktoonwali traditions of badla, jirga, parda, ghairat, hujra, malmasti etc.

Topography

It is known to be one of the most beautiful region in Pakistan due to its geostatistics. It is a valley surrounded by mountains from three sides and Indus river from one side. It offers the perfect shape of Pakistan's diverse culture.