Chitral چترال
Chitral Location within Pakistan
Coordinates: 35°53′N 71°48′E / 35.883, 71.8
Country	Pakistan
Province	NWFP
Municipal Corporation	1969
Government
- Nazim	Haji Maghfirat Shah
- Naib Nazim	Sultan Shah
Area
- Total	14,850 km² (5,733. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Currently the internationally recognized territory of Pakistan is subdivided into four provinces and two territories The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP ( Urdu: śimāl maġribī sarhadī sūba) is the smallest of the four main provinces of Pakistan. Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 6 sq mi)
Elevation	1,100 m (3,609 ft)
Population (2006)
- Total	20,000
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
Area code(s)	0943
Website: www. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. The elevation of a Geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point often the mean sea level. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit Pakistan Standard Time (PST is the time zone for Pakistan. It is usually 5 hours ahead of GMT though as of June 1 2008 it is 6 hours ahead due to the use of DST to help decrease UTC+5 is the Timezone for Pakistan Standard Time West Asia Standard Time. A telephone numbering plan is a plan for allocating Telephone number ranges to countries regions areas and exchanges and to non-fixed telephone networks chitraltimes. com

Chitral or Chatrāl (Urdu: چترال) is basically translated into "field" in the native language Khowar. Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised Khowar,(کھوار)also known as Chitrali is a Dardic language spoken by 250000 people in Chitral in Northwest Pakistan, in Yasin Valley It's the name of the tribe, town, valley, river, district and former princely state in the Malakand Division of the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. Chitral (or Chitrāl ریاست چترال was a former Princely state of Pakistan and British India which ceased to exist in 1969 Malakand Division was an administrative division of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, until the reforms of 2000 abolished the third The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP ( Urdu: śimāl maġribī sarhadī sūba) is the smallest of the four main provinces of Pakistan. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Chitral Town, capital of the Chitral District, is situated on the west bank of the Chitral (or Kunar) River. Chitral is a district in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan that contains the town of Chitral. The Kunar River ( Kunar Rud) is about 480 km long located in eastern Afghanistan and north-western Pakistan. The town is at the foot of Tirich Mir, the highest peak of the Hindu Kush, 7,708 m or 25,289 ft high. Tirich Mir (alternatively Terich Mir and Terichmir) is the highest Mountain in the Hindu Kush region of northern Pakistan. The Hindu Kush is a Mountain range located between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It has a population of 20,000, while the District (of 14,833 km² or 5,727 sq mi), has a population of 300,000. The altitude of the valley is 1,100 m or 3,700 ft.

Geography

The easiest access to Chitral is in the southwest along the Chitral/Kunar valley towards Jalalabad. Kunar may refer to Kunar Valley, Afghanistan Kunar Province, Afghanistan Kunar River, Afghanistan Jalalabad (Jalalkot ( Pashto: جلالکوټ، جلال اباد) is a city in eastern Afghanistan. This route is open all year and provides direct access to Kabul. } Kābul ( Persian and Pashto: کابل, IPA:) is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with However the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Durand Line) prevents this being used as an internal route to Peshawar and the south. The Durand Line is the term for the 2640 kilometer (1610 mile Border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. ( پښور; Urdu: پشاور) is the capital of the North-West Frontier Province and the administrative centre for the Federally Administered The other routes are over mountain passes. To the south, the Lowari Pass (3,200 m or 10,499 ft) leads 365 km (227 mi) to Peshawar. Lowari Pass (or Lowari Top) (el 10230 ft is a high Mountain pass that connects Chitral with Dir in the North West Frontier Province In the north, the easiest route during summer runs over the Broghol Pass (3,798 m or 12,460 ft) to Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor, however during winter this route is usually closed. Broghol, also spelled Boroghil and several other ways (el 3798 m The Wakhan Corridor or Wakhan Salient is a narrow (in some places less than 10 miles wide Corridor in the Wakhan in the Badakhshan province To the east, there is a 405 km (252 mi) route to Gilgit over the 3,719 m (12,201 ft) Shandur Pass. Gilgit ( Urdu: گلگت) is the capital city of the Northern Areas, Pakistan and a Tehsil (headquarters of Gilgit District Shandur Top (el 12200 ft is a high Mountain pass that connects Chitral to the Gilgit in Pakistan. And in the west, the Dorah Pass provides an additional route to Afghanistan. Dorah Pass, also spelled and pronounced Durah Pass connects Badakshan in Afghanistan with Chitral in Pakistan. The territory is home to rare falcons and the snow leopard, and is cut off by snow from the rest of the country for six months a year a problem soon to be relieved by the currently under construction Lowari Tunnel which will reduce transit time to Chitral as well as allow the district to be connected to the rest of the country even during the cold winter months. There several sports teams with the name Falcons or similar Atlanta Falcons, an NFL (American football team Springfield Falcons, an The snow leopard ( Uncia uncia) sometimes known as the ounce, is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia from Afghanistan Northern

Population

The main tribe, the Khow, speak Khowar (or Chitrali), one of the Dardic languages, which is also spoken in parts of Yasin, Gilgit and Swat. Khowar,(کھوار)also known as Chitrali is a Dardic language spoken by 250000 people in Chitral in Northwest Pakistan, in Yasin Valley The Dardic languages are a group of Indo-Iranian languages spoken in eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and in India in the region of Jammu The Yasin Valley is a high mountain Valley in the Hindu Kush mountains in the northwest region of Gilgit in the Northern Areas of Pakistan Pashto language is also spoken and understood by some in the city. Pashto ( Naskh: پښتو‎ pəʂ'to also rendered as Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto, Pashtu, Pushtu, also known as Chitral is known for the famous Kalash tribe native inhabitants that ruled the region for centuries later invaded by "Khow", Kalasha resides in three remote valleys west of Ayun, which is ten miles down from Chitral town. The Kalash ( Nuristani: Kasivo) or Kalasha, are an ethnic group of the Hindu Kush mountain range residing in the Chitral district The culture is Islamic due to its proximity to Afghanistan and contrasts considerably with the urban cities of Pakistan as well as the adjacent district of Gilgit. Women are nearly invisible except to their male relatives and other women. They do not walk the streets of town, so men or children do the shopping. Travel requires the company of a close male relative and sometimes the wearing of a burqa. A burqa (also Transliterated burkha, burka or burqua) is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions for the ^[1] There is also a sizeable population of Nuristanis, Tajiks and Uzbeks most of whom arrived from Afghanistan in the late 1980s. The Nuristani people are an Ethnic group found mostly in Laghman Province and Nurestan Province of Afghanistan.

Sport

Polo is a popular sport in Chitral and an annual polo festival between Gilgit and Chitral is held at the highest polo ground in the world, at the Shandur Pass. Polo is a team sport played outdoors on Horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team Shandur Top (el 12200 ft is a high Mountain pass that connects Chitral to the Gilgit in Pakistan. This festival is known as the 'Shandur Polo Festival' and attracts lots of International and local tourists. Sikander Ul Mulk is the captain of the Chitral Polo team for more than a decade and is considered to be a local Hero in Chitral. Other games like cricket, football, basketball, volleyball, hockey, martial arts etc are also played. Chitral is the home town of Pakistani international football player Muhammad Rasool& international ethlite Ali Amir from Karimabad Chitral. Muhammad Rasool (born on 23 May, 1985) is a Pakistani footballer who plays for KRL FC.

Chitral Bazaar

Chitral Bazaar consists of two main bazaars joined together. The Shahi Bazaar and the Ataliq Bazaar. Chitral Bazaar starts from the 'Chew Bridge' and ends up at the Polo Ground of Chitral. Two of the main chowks of chitral bazaar are: PIA chowk and the Ataliq chowk.

History

A British garrison, sent from Gilgit to oversee the smooth transition of power to the heir apparent after a ruler was murdered, was besieged in Chitral Fort for over a month in 1895. For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year

See also

• Chitral Airport
• State of Chitral
• North-West Frontier Province
• Badshah Munir Bukhari

Notes

References

• Decker, Kendall D. (1992) Languages of Chitral http://www.ethnologue.com/show_work.asp?id=32850
• Durand, Col. A. (1899), The Making of a frontier
• Leitner, G. W. (1893): Dardistan in 1866, 1886 and 1893: Being An Account of the History, Religions, Customs, Legends, Fables and Songs of Gilgit, Chilas, Kandia (Gabrial) Yasin, Chitral, Hunza, Nagyr and other parts of the Hindukush, as also a supplement to the second edition of The Hunza and Nagyr Handbook. And An Epitome of Part III of the author’s “The Languages and Races of Dardistan. ” First Reprint 1978. Manjusri Publishing House, New Delhi.

External links

• Chitral travel guide from Wikitravel
• Chitral News
• Government of NWFP
• Government of Pakistan
• Description of Northern Areas with city map of Chitral
• Yidgha, A Language of Pakistan