Chitral Town in Time of Space – By: Prof. Israrud Din

Chitral Town in Time of Space – By: Prof. Israrud Din

Introduction:

Chitral Town is the headquarter of Lower Chitral District in the north of Pakistan. It is situated on the two banks of the Chitral River on Lat. 35°36ˆ N and Long. 72° E. It lies at the elevation of 4500 Ft. ASL. The town was in 1981 given the status of a Municipal Committee and according to 1981 census its total population was recorded 18,481. Since then the growth has been as follows.

Table 1. Growth of Population (1981 – 2018)

Source: Census Reports

The municipality, a combination of fifty six hamlets, has been grouped into ten wards shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Wards and Hamlets of Chitral Town

Source: Chitral Municipality Office

The total area covered by the Municipality is 125 SQ. Km.

The Setting:

Chitral Town forms an elongated shape following the Chitral valley from North to South. The site is about seven miles long with varying breadths from 1 mile to about 3 miles. The whole area is situated on four different alluvial fans called Denin, Singoor-Balach, Chitral and Jughoor, and two high terraces called Bakarabad and Birmoghlasht. Towards the east and west it is flanked by high hills; Dolomutc and Bakarabad terraces make its northern and southern boundaries. The River Chitral meanders through it in such a way that Denin, Jughoor and Bakarabad lay on its left and Singoor, Balach and Chitral lie on its right side. The area is drained by various streams called Chitral Gol, Jughoor Gol, Denin Gol, Singoor Gol and Ochusht Gol, out of which the first two have plenty of water throughout the year. The rest of the streams have less water which also fluctuateaccording to seasons.

The whole place is generally flat with fertile soil, healthy climate and mostly with sufficient water and, therefore, an ideal site for establishment of human habitations. Archeological relics at Balahissar (Ochusht) and Singoor show that this area had settlements even before 2 millennium B.C. Many of the hamlets present today had their origin during the Kalash and pre-Muslim periods. The last settlement to be established was the upper Bakarabad which was settled after 1970 when it was brought under irrigation.

Location of the site of the town at the confluence of the Mastuj and Lotkuhrivers offered it ideal situation in respect of the surrounding regions towards the north, northeast and northwest. Thus it enjoyed central position in relation to Turkistan and Tajikistan in the north through Baroghil and Darwaz passes, Badakhshan, on the northwest through Dorah and Aqram passes, Gilgit and Kashmir, on the northeast, through Shandur pass. Towards the south it has outlet along the Chitral River into Afghanistan and via Lawari pass into Dir, Swat and the Indo-Pak Sub-continent.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

The present site of Chitral town enjoyed dominant position in the region in most of its recorded history. According to history of Chitral (Murtaza, 1963) the site remained seat of the rulers during the Kalash period up to 1320 when they used to have their fort at Balahissar (Ochusht) which is on the south-west of the Chitral alluvial fan. In those times upper Chitral was ruled by the kings of Khow tribe while the lower Chitral was divided into different Kalash Principalities. Bulle Singh was the last Kalash King to whom belonged Chitral proper and surrounding areas from Kari to Broz. In 1320, Shah Nadir Rayis of the Rayis Dynasty occupied the region including the areas under Khows in the North and under the above mentioned Kalash ruler up to Broz. He also selected the same place to be his capital. In the middle of 16^th century when Shah Nasir Rayis, after defeating the Kalash ruler to the south, extended his rule from upper Chitral to the southernmost part of the region, he kept Chitral proper as capital of his whole kingdom. The Bala Hissar fort continued to be used as the residence of the rulers till the beginning of the 19^th century when Shah Katoor II of the Katoor Dynasty decided to shift the fort to the northeast portion of Chitral fan where the present Shahi Fort is situated. The Fort was renovated and extended in 1920s. Shah Katoor II also constructed a mosque and some other establishments at Zhang Bazarduring his rule (1878- 1938). He also brought the barren land of Balach on the Singoor- Balach fan by constructing a channel from the Chitral Gol (stream).

Thus Chitral proper has enjoyed dominant position in the region during the last one thousand years or so and today it has turned into the largest commercial centre in the whole region. Describing its importance in the region, Prof. G. Morgensierne wrote in 1930s, “all the routes from the surrounding countries and through the local passes of Dorah and Baroghil coverage on Chitral town and from there go to Afghanistan and other parts of the Indian sub-continent. Thus it has remained an important commercial centre in these regions throughout the ages. Not very long ago, when these routes were closed for diplomatic reasons, there used to be a constant stream of traders from the surrounding countries, and the bazar in Chitral was packed with traders from Badakhshan, Wakhan and Turkistan”. (Morgensierne- 1932).

Thus as a capital of former state and as a headquarter of the present Lower Chitral District, Chitral town has political, administrative and economic centre of the whole region. Today it enjoys the position of an important urban settlement in the area and houses such central function e.g. district headquarter hospital, district line offices, universities, colleges, schools, Police H.Q, Shahi Palace, cantonment, extensive commercial centre, bazars, hotels, airport etc.

URBAN GROWTH:

The urban expansion of the town has been mostly a development of the last one hundred years according to the following phases.

• Pre-British Period: Prior 1895
• Chitral state under the British Govt. 1895-1947
• Chitral state under Pakistan Govt. 1947-1969
• Chitral District: 1969- to date

• Pre British Period (Prior 1895):

The British occupied Chitral state in 1895. Before that the present town area included Shahi Fort (Royal Palace), a few shops with a small market area, a central mosque at Zhang Bazar and 32 small hamlets and villages with a population of about 2500 living in 330 households. (Chitral Gazetteer- 1904). As has already been mentioned most of these villages and hamlet had their origin in the Kalash and Pre-Muslim period. The Shahi Fort and the Central Mosque were constructed at the beginning of 19^th century which was to become nucleus for the future urban expansion.

• Chitral state under the British (1895- 1947):

During this period a lot of development took place mostly under the ruler Shujaul Mulk (1895- 1936), the most important landmarks are as follows:

1. Construction of Chitral Garrison Fort in 1895 and also other Govt. offices, Civil Hospital, Post office and telegraph office.
2. Irrigation of Balach from Lotkuh River and Chitral Gol a few years later. In Balach a Polo Ground, a race course and Shahi Bungalow with Garden were constructed.
3. Establishment of Shahi Bazar with Shahi Sarai at the beginning of 20^th Later Atalique Bazar, New Bazar and KlupRisht bazar were added during the next decades.
4. RehanKot Pathan settlement beginning of 20^th
5. Irrigation Development and settlement of Birmoghlasht and Bakarabad Plain (Lower): 1912.
6. Renovation and extension of Shahi Fort (Palace) in 1915.
7. Construction of Shahi Mosque: 1919-25
8. Hydro power station: 1931
9. High school Chitral with Grounds: 1939
10. Judicial council Building 1942

During this period motorable roads were also constructed within the capital area, connected to mule tracks to upper and lower Chitral state.

• Chitral under the Govt. of Pakistan: 1947-69

This period saw the following additions in the Built-up area:

1. New Bazar further extended towards the North and a few shops were added across Chew Bridge on Denin side to be fore-runners of Chew Bazar.
2. Chitral police station: 1953
3. Chitral State Secretariat.
4. Town Hall Building.
5. Grain Godown.
6. Forest Colony in Denin.
7. Girls High School, Denin
8. Prison in Denin
9. State Guest House in Denin
10. Chitral Airport at Balach
11. Meteorological Station and Colony at Balach
12. PTDC Hotel
13. A few Hotels
14. Middle School Jughoor
15. A few shops at Jughoor near Chawni Bridge.

• Chitral District 1969- to date:

Since 1969 as district headquarter the following expansion of the built-up area has taken place.

1. Irrigation and settlement of Bakarabad Bala
2. Addition of the following new bazars:
3. Goldur Bazar
4. Chew Bazar
5. Polo Ground Bazar
6. Palace Avenue Bazar
7. Jughoor Bazar
8. Balach Bazar
9. District H.Q Hospital
10. A good number of Hotels
11. Banks
12. CAD P Complex (Now Girl’s college)
13. Officers Colony in Denin
14. Governor Cottage
15. Airport colony
16. College, Chitral
17. College Colony at Jughoor
18. Commerce college
19. Power House (at Singoor- Balach)
20. WAPDA Colony (at Singoor- Balach)
21. Civil Courts (in Jughoor)
22. Public Library
23. Comprehensive School (at Denin)
24. Girls College (at Denin)
25. New Central Prison (at Denin)
26. Many Filling stations
27. PIA Building
28. Radio Station
29. V. Transmission Station
30. Chitral Museum Building
31. Chitral Public School
32. Chitral Tablighi Markaz
33. Vocational College Building
34. Airport Colony
35. Doctor’s Colony
36. Numerous Private Houses
37. Army Children Park
38. Waraich Children Park
39. Chitral University
40. Langland College Dolomutc
41. Hindu Kush Heights Hotel Dolomutc
42. Agha Khan University (Lasht)

During the period two roads were constructed which greatly boosted up the expansion of built up area in the town. The first one was along the eastern bank of the Chitral River to connect Jughoor directly to Chew Bridge in Denin. This served as a bypass for the traffic to upper Chitral from Peshawar and other lower areas. This helped both the development of Chew Bazar, along the road, and the establishment of the Shah Dok Residential colony on the right side of the road.

Another road, the Town Area Bypass road, was completed recently in 2015. This is about two kilometers long road connects Devan Begi Bazarto Polo ground Bazar, parallel to the old main Bazar. In a short period the whole area was covered with shops and market centres and thus extending the buildup area considerably.

With the establishment of Chitral University at Seen Lasht, Agha Khan University at Lasht, and many other institutions at Dolomutc the municipality area seems to be extending to the northern side thus amalgamating into it villages up to Seen and Shali.

Besides the Urban expansion during the last more than one hundred years mentioned above the built up areas within the rural settlements annexed to the Municipality have considerably expanded. During this period, i.e. 1895 to 2018, population of the area increased from 2500 (in 1895) to almost 50,000 (in 2018), thus recording 2000% increase in 125 years at the rate of 16%  per annum. The households increased from 350 to 7063 (in 2018) or 2015%.

Conclusion:

From the above discussion it becomes obvious that in the coming years the town is going to expand on all sides especially along the available terraces and gentle slopes of the surrounding hills. The cultivated lands and green spaces are getting vanished and the bleak side of all this development is that everything is hoping unplanned and haphazardly. Thus the town is going to be turned into a worst shape of a shanty town in the whole Country. It is also going to be a real challenge to the Town Planners that how they would be going to put this disordered place into an ordered space.