# Chakwal District

Chakwal District (Urdu: ضلع چکوال) is a district located on the Pothohar Plateau in Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in the northwestern area of the Punjab province, bordered by Talagang to its south, Rawalpindi to its northeast, Jhelum to its east. The district was created out of parts of Jhelum and Attock in 1985.

## History

During British rule, Chakwal was a tehsil of Jhelum district, the population according to the 1891 census of India was 164,912 which had fallen to 160,316 in 1901. It contained the towns of Chakwal and Bhaun and 248 villages. The land revenue and cesses amounted in 1903-4 to 3–300,000. The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India and later it was upgraded as a District on 1 July 1985.

## Administrative divisions

The district of Chakwal, which covers an area of 6,524 km$^2$, is subdivided into five tehsils. These tehsils were formerly part of neighbouring districts:$^{:1}$
* Chakwal Tehsil was annexed from Jhelum District and made part of the newly formed Chakwal District.
* Choa Saidan Shah was carved out of sub-division Pind Dadan Khan of Jhelum District and was amalgamated with sub-division Chakwal. Choa Saidan Shah was upgraded to the level of a sub-division in 1993.
Now the district is administratively subdivided into five tehsils and 45 union councils. The district Talagang has been recognized as a separate by department of revenue with tehsil Lawa and tehsil Talagang, but it is still non-functional.
| Name of tehsil | No. of union councils | No. of villages | No. of public schools | No. of police stations | No. of post offices |
| Chakwal | 30 | 207 | 485 | 5 | 48 |
| Choa Saidan Shah | 7 | 47 | 93 | 1 | 14 |
| Kallar Kahar | 8 | 72 | 146 | 1 | 15 |
| Total | 45 | 326 | 1140 | 7 | 77 |

## Administration

| # | District | Area (km²) | Pop. (2023) | Density (ppl/km²) (2023) | Lit. rate (2023) | Union Councils |
| 1 | Chakwal | 2,167 | 768,622 | 354.69 | 79.63% | 30 |
| 2 | Choa Saidan Shah | 473 | 167,537 | 354.20 | 79.28% | 7 |
| 3 | Kallar Kahar | 953 | 196,449 | 206.14 | 79.23% | 8 |

## Constituencies

There is one district council, one municipal committees — Chakwal — and two town committees — Choa Saidan Shah and Kallar Kahar.
The district is represented in the National Assembly by two constituencies: NA-60 and NA-61. The district is represented in the provincial assembly by four elected MPAs and in National Assembly by two MNAs who represent the following constituencies:
| Constituency | MPA | Party |
| (PP-20) | Sultan Haider Ali Khan | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| (PP-21) | Malik Taveer Aslam | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| (PP-22) | Malik Falk Sher Awan | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| (PP-23) | Malik Sheryar Awan | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| (NA-58) | Mjr. (Rtd.) Tahir Iqbal Malik | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| (NA-59) | Sardar Ghulam Abbas | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |

## Geography

Chakwal district borders the districts of Rawalpindi and Attock in the north, Jhelum in the east, Khushab in the south and Mianwali in the west. The total area of Chakwal district is 6,609 square kilometres, which is equivalent to 1,652,443 acres (6,687.20 km$^2$).
The southern portion runs up into the Salt Range and includes the Chail peak, 3,701 feet (1,128 m) above the sea, the highest point in the district. Between this and the Sohan river, which follows more or less the northern boundary, the country consists of what was once a fairly level plain, sloping down from 2,000 feet (610 m) at the foot of the hills to 1,400 feet (430 m) in the neighbourhood of the Sohan; the surface is now much cut up by ravines and is very difficult to travel over.

## Demographics

As of the 2023 census, residual Chakwal district has 187,476 households and a population of 1,132,608. The district has a sex ratio of 99.23 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 77.79%: 86.12% for males and 69.52% for females and stands out as 5th highest literate district in Punjab and 11th in Pakistan. As per census 2023, the district has 60,787 out of school children (OOSC). 266,804 (23.62% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 334,755 (29.56%) live in urban areas. All over Pakistan, the district Chakwal has least (9%) OOSC with highest NER in Matric (49%) and highest GER in Matric (95%)
Muslims formed the overwhelming majority at 1,722,147 (99.37%) while 0.63% of the population were from religious minorities, mainly Christians, who mostly live in Chakwal town.
Religion in Chakwal district (2023) :
| Religion | Religion | Percent | Percent |
| Islam | Islam | 99.37% | 99.37% |
| Christianity | Christianity | 0.55% | 0.55% |
| Other or not stated | Other or not stated | 0.08% | 0.08% |
Religion in Chakwal District :
| Religious group | 1941 | 1941 | 2017 | 2017 | 2023 | 2023 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 235,571 | 89.44% | 963,584 | 99.57% | 1,122,282 | 99.37% |
| Sikhism | 14,161 | 5.38% | — | — | 24 | ~0% |
| Hinduism | 13,587 | 5.16% | 132 | 0.01% | 117 | 0.01% |
| Christianity | 53 | 0.02% | 3,074 | 0.32% | 6,212 | 0.55% |
| Ahmadi | — | — | 905 | 0.10% | 768 | 0.07% |
| Others | 15 | ~0% | 12 | ~0% | 40 | ~0% |
| Total Population | 263,387 | 100% | 967,707 | 100% | 1,129,443 | 100% |
* Punjabi 89.93 (89.9%)
* Pashto 7.01 (7.01%)
* Urdu 2.15 (2.15%)
* Others 0.91 (0.91%)
At the time of the 2023 census, 89.93% of the population spoke Punjabi, 7.01% Pashto and 2.15% Urdu as their first language.
The local Punjabi dialects are Dhani and Awankari.

## Education

Chakwal has a total of 1,140 government schools out of which 52.63% (600 schools) are for female students. The district has an enrollment of 181,574 in public sector schools.

## Educational institutions

Notable Educational institutions in the Chakwal District include:
* Government Post Graduate College (Chakwal)
* University Of Chakwal
* Govt. High School No.1, Chakwal
* Govt. Girls High School No.1, Chakwal
* Govt. Islamia High School, Chakwal

## Notable people

* Yahya Khan, former President of Pakistan, was born in Chakwal city in 1917.
* Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India, was born in Gah village (formerly part of Jhelum District)
* Khudadad Khan VC, British Indian Army, operated a machine gun despite being wounded after his team was overrun and bayoneted by the Germans, holding them back long enough for reinforcements in the Western Front
* Nur Khan, was a three-star air officer, politician, sports administrator, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force, serving under President Ayub Khan from 1965 until 1969.
* Tajammul Hussain Malik, War Hero of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, held an impenetrable defence in the Battle of Hilli against a multiple times larger force and famously refused to surrender vowing to fight till the end
* Muhammad Safdar, Lt. General Muhammad Safdar is the former Governor of Punjab, having served from 1999 to 2001. He has also previously served as the ambassador to Morocco and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Punjab until 1993.
* Colonel Imam – Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar was a one-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army, member of the Special Service Group (SSG) of the army, and an intelligence officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
* Rafiuddin Hashmi, an Iqbalist, researcher, travel writer and a professor in Oriental College, and the University of the Punjab
* Sukh Devis, an Indian organic chemist, academic, researcher and writer, known for his contributions in the development of Guggulsterone, a plant-derived steroid used as a therapeutic and nutritional agent.