Balakot

For city of same name in India see Balakote

Balakot (Hindi: बालाकोट, Urdu: بالاکوٹ ‎) is a town in Mansehra District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Location

Balakot is located on the right bank of the Kunhar River. It is almost at two third of the length of river from it its origin at Lake Dharam Sar deep in the Kaghan Valley, before it confluence with Jehlum River.

The lower area below Balakot, sometimes referred to as Nainsukh Valley, is temperate while Kaghan Valley above Balakot City is cold enough to turn the whole area to freezing in the winter. Kaghan valley is a pleasant summer destination. Its upper part from Naran upstream lacks the monsoon but the lower part get it well and so is forested.

History

The town was destroyed during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, but was later rebuilt with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan and Saudi Public Assistance for Pakistan Earthquake Victims (SPAPEV), a Saudi relief organisation.

Balakot is now expanding city and centre among distant northern parts of Pakistan. Smaller hamlets are located in the terraced mountains around it.

The known history of the city is not well recorded before the British Period. Archaeologists from Hazara University, however, have found terracotta remains and terracotta figurines from distant points in the high altitudes around the area. They might shed light on earlier inhabitants of the area.

Old graveyards also suggest the linkages toward pre-Muslim occupants who later converted to Islam.

Mughals ultimately had this place under their control and there is a local tradition of Mughal Queen, Nur Jahan, while on the way to Kashmir, used the route below Balakot near Garhi Habibullah Khan.

Sikhs: The historical records give a detailed account of the Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen from Raebareli under the Syed Ahmad Barelvi and Shah Ismail. They were accompanied by many followers who believe Syed Ahmad to be a Khalifah, i.e. Caliph, from Raebareli and some local followers of Swati and Syed clans. Balakot was a refuge to them after being ousted from Swabi and Amb State. The Sikhs, under the banner of Lahore Durbar fought the defining battle against this movement and killed every one in general. However, there are local tradition of revering different sites in the hills, by making small stone enclosure,where the blood of the wounded Mujahideen was supposedly spelled. They name it as, 'Shaheed'. For the sake of this event, Balakot City is sometime also referred to as, Shuhada ki Sarzameen, i.e. The Land of Martyrs. Sikh Army tried to penetrate from the Garhi Habibullah (15 km downstream) with armies from Kashmir but were put to hold till the reinforcement arrived from Lahore via Timri near Shinkiari. On a little mound in the north of the city, by the Rou Nala, the Battle of Balakot was fought on May 6, 1831. Sikhs became victorious and all the Mujahideens including Syed Ahmad and Shah Ismail were killed.

Mahtab Singh, a writer of the history of Hazara to the wish of James Abbot, writes that Sikhs, to stop the movement to continue any further, reopened the grave of Syed Ahmad and set the body into the Kunhar River. It may possibly be right as in Talhatta 10 km down stream another grave is also dedicated to him. Local tradition also support that it is the head buried here.

It was a brutal and fearsome rule which ended after James Abbot's coming in Hazara and things changed after he incited local chiefdom against Sikhs in his own bid. There have been many skirmishes between locals and Shiks forces. One famous event happened in 1844 when Gulab Singh, Maharaja of Kashmir sent a campaign to Chilas under Diwan Ibrahim, which was effectively destroyed by local populations in Kaghan Valley at Diwan Bela, named after him.

British Rule: After James Abbot coming to the region in early 1840s, Sikhs were kept in check in upper Hazara. And he was able to wage war on Sikhs with this local support in Haripur. It was brutal rule of Sikhs which made him lead local chiefs and their forces. He sat in Balakot and distributed the land to the people in a summary settlement.

During the War of Independence 1857, no local chief is reported to have revolted. It is rather the other side of the history that local chiefs helped British Army to bring down mutineers of Hoti Garrission, Mardan. 55th Native Infantry mutineers were trying to seek refuge in Kashmir State, however they were only able to cross Indus in Kohistan and went up the hilly route and caught near Lake Dudipatsar by local forces of the Kaghan chiefs, Kohistanis and Gujjars. The whole gorge is now known as Purbi Nar means the gorge of Eastern People i.e. people from Bengal. Few escaped and captured by Kashmir State and then handed over to British Army for execution.

Rest of the British Period gone well and many remains of British Period structures can be seen. Examples are Dakbungalows at Burawai (now ruined PWD Rest House), Lalazar, Battakundi, Naran (now WAPDA Rest House), Kamal Ban, Sharan, Shogran, Balakot can be seen. There are number of bridges also found.

Ethnicity

The majority of the population are speakers of Hindko, an Indo-Aryan language closely related to Punjabi, and also spoken in the rest of Mansehra District. There are also speakers of Gujari. The main city area of Balakot is inhibited by Gujjar, Awan, Swati, Syed, Turk, Mughal and Hanki tribes.

References

---

Back to Jat Places in Pakistan