# Torghar District

Torghar District (Pashto: تور غر ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع تورغر) formerly known as Kala Dhaka (Hindko: کالا ڈهاکہ, English: Black Mountain) is a district in the Hazara Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It was officially separated from Mansehra District in 2011 under Article 246 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Primarily, Pashtuns dominate this area. The main Pashtun tribe of Torghar is Yusufzai, which constitutes more than half of the district population.

## History

By 1849, the British had successfully established their control over the entire region of Hazara. Despite this dominance, the local tribes exhibited occasional rebellious tendencies, with notable instances involving the Swatis and the Tor Ghar tribes. The British responded by launching numerous expeditions to quell these uprisings, a series of campaigns that stretched from 1852 through to the 1920s.
The Hazara Expedition of 1888, also known as the Black Mountain Expedition or the First Hazara Expedition, was a military campaign by the British against the tribes of Tor Ghar.
On 18 June 1888, two British officers and four Gurkha soldiers were killed in an altercation between the British reconnaissance patrols and the local tribes. As a response, the Hazara Field Force was assembled and began its march on 4 October 1888, after an ultimatum had not been satisfied by the tribes by October 2, 1888. The first phase of the campaign ended with the Hassanzai and Akazai tribes requesting an armistice on October 19, 1888. The second phase of the campaign targeted the Swati tribe that lived north of the Black Mountain such as the Allaiwals, the Parari Sayyids and the Tikariwals. The campaign ended when the Allaiwal village of Pokal was occupied and destroyed by the British on November 2 and 3, 1888.
The then Commander in Chief of India General Sir Frederick Roberts viewed the Black Mountain Expedition as:
   a success from a military point of view, but ... the determination of the Punjab Government to limit the sphere of action of the troops, and to hurry out of the country, prevented our reaping any political advantage. We lost a grand opportunity for gaining control over this lawless and troublesome district; no survey was made, no roads opened out, the tribesmen were not made to feel our power, and, consequently, very soon another costly expedition had to be undertaken.
The failure of the tribes to honour the agreements that ended the 1888 campaign led to a further two-month expedition by a Hazara Field Force in 1891. General Roberts observed that
   the Black Mountain tribes, [having been] quite unsubdued by the fruitless expedition of 1888, had given trouble almost immediately afterwards. [The second expedition] was completely successful in political results as in its military conduct. The columns were not withdrawn until the tribesmen had become convinced that they were powerless to sustain a hostile attitude towards us, and that it was in their interest, as it was our wish, that they should henceforth be on amicable terms with us.
British and Indian Army forces who took part in these expeditions received the India General Service Medal with the clasps Hazara 1888 and Hazara 1891 respectively.

### 2005 earthquake

Torghar was severely affected by the Kashmir earthquake in 2005. According to a report in the Time magazine: "Entire villages were devastated; in an instant, stone houses turned into burial mounds. The Indus river, flowing at the bottom of the valleys, recalls one tribal elder, Mohammed Said, "looked like water boiling inside a tea kettle".

## Tourist Attraction

Machai Sar or Machai Peak is the highest peak of Torghar mountain at an altitude of 9,755 feet from the Mean sea level. Machai Sar Meadows is located northwest of Oghi Town of Mansehra District, near Machai Dhanda or Danda. The conference was less popular because it was located in the remote area of Mansehra where guests or invited guests often visited. However, if you visit here you will be fascinated by the lush jungle, cold climate, and spectacular scenery, in addition to being easily accessible.

## Geography

It lies between 34°32' and 34°50' N, and 72°48' and 72°58' E. It is bounded on the east by Agror and on the south by Tanawal; to the west it is bounded by Buner, to the northeast it borders with Battagram. The range has a length of 40 kilometres (25 mi) to 48 kilometres (30 mi) from north to south and an elevation of 2,400 metres (8,000 ft) above sea level. This area has also been called Chagharzai, because of adjoining Chagharzai areas of Buner District. Opposite Kala Dhaka (officially 'Kala Dhaka' has been renamed 'Tor Ghar'), across the Indus River is Shangla District, mainly the area belonging to Tehsil Martung.

## Administration

Torghar district covers an area of 497 km$^2$ (25,8125 acres) and is divided into 16 Union Councils, grouped in two Tehsils.
* Judba Tehsil (Urdu: تحصیل جدبا)(Pashto: جدبا تحصیل‎)
* Khander Tehsil (Urdu: تحصیل خاندر)(Pashto: خاندر تحصیل‎)

## Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Torghar district has 29,410 households and a population of 200,445. The district has a sex ratio of 103.95 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 29.74%: 46.58% for males and 12.46% for females. 67,474 (33.66% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. The entire population lives in rural areas. 287 (0.14%) people in the district are from religious minorities, nearly all Christians.
* Pashto (96.85%)
* Hindko (2.29%)
* Others (0.86%)
At the time of the 2023 census, 96.85% of the population spoke Pashto and 2.29% Hindko as their first language.

## Provincial assembly

The district is represented by one elected MPA in the provincial assembly who represent the following constituency:
* PK-58 (Tor Ghar)
The MPA between 2013 and 2018 was Zareen Gul. He is a famous political and influential leader of district Torghar active in politics since 1985. He is elected 6 times as MPA and senior most politician in KPK Assembly.
| Member of Provincial Assembly | Party Affiliation | Constituency | Year |
| Laiq Muhammad Khan Swati | Awami National Party | PK-35 Tor Ghar | 2018 |
| Member of Provincial Assembly | Party Affiliation | Constituency | Year |
| Laiq Muhammad Khan Swati | Independent (Joined PTI after electio) | PK-41 Tor Ghar | 2024 |