Kohat

 

Kohat (Pashto: کوهاټ; Urdu: کوہاٹ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century.^[4] With a population of over 220,000 people,^[3] the city is the fourth-largest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the 35th-largest in Pakistan in terms of population. Kohat’s immediate environs were the site of frequent armed skirmishes between British colonialist forces and local tribesmen in the mid to late 19th century. It is centred on a British-era fort, various bazaars, and a military cantonment. Pashto and the Kohati dialect of Hindko are the main languages spoken in Kohat.

The city of Kohat is also the namesake of and largest city in the Kohat Division, being over four times larger than the second-largest city in the division: Karak.

 

Little is known of Kohat’s early history.^[5] According to local lore, Kohat was founded by an ancient Buddhist king by the name of Raja Kohat.^[4] Another Buddhist Raja named Adh is believed to have established his domain on the north side of the city.^[4] A fort, now in ruins, serves as a marker of their domain. The remains of this fort known as Adh-e-Samut, is possibly named after Buddhist Raja Adh. The fort is still fitted with weaponry from the Buddhist period. The Buddhist kings built roads, which were in use until the end of the Mughal rule.^[6]

According to local tradition they arrived here in the time of Daulat Khán son of Bai Khán. This would make their settlement contemporaneous with that of the Baizai Bangashes which seems to have taken place previous to the time of Babar’s invasion (A.D. 1505) . I believe, however, that they must have arrived before the settlement of Baizai.[1]^[7]

The region had been primarily populated by Orakzai Pashtuns, who were then displaced from the west by the Bangash in the 14th-15th centuries, and Khattaks from the south.^[4] The Kohat region was likely firmly dominated by Bangash tribesmen by the early late 15th century following a decisive battle at nearby Alizai,^[4] after which Bangash tribes settled in the fertile valleys and assimilated remaining indigenous inhabitants into the larger Bangash tribe, while Orakzai tribes were confined to the nearby hills.^[4]

The first historical record of the city comes from the Baburnama autobiography of Mughal emperor Babur.^[4] After capturing Peshawar, Babur was reportedly told of vast riches in Kohat. He invaded and plundered Kohat in 1505,^[4] only to discover the tales of its wealth were exaggerated.^[4] After capturing Kohat, Babur’s army marched towards Bangash country, where he defeated a band of tribesmen.^[4]

During the Persian Empire’s invasion of the Mughal Empire in the 1730s and 1740s, Kohat escaped destruction as Emperor Nader Shah‘s forces followed invasion routes north in the Peshawar Valley.^[4] Following the departure of Persian forces, Kohat was absorbed into the Durrani Empire by 1747.^[4]

Following the fall of Shah Shuja Durrani in 1810, Kohat was brought under control of the Durrani kingdom based in Peshawar and Kabul, which leased lordship of the city to various chiefs.^[4] The first chief of Kohat was Mirza Girani, who was followed in succession until 1818 by Shakur Khan, and Sultan Muhammad.^[4] In 1818, Kohat came under the control of Samad Khan following the collapse of Durrani suzerainty,^[4] though the city then came under the influence of Pir Muhammad in 1827.^[4]

In 1840, the Sikhs abandoned Kohat, and Sultan Mohammed became ruler of Kohat. In 1848 during the Second Anglo-Sikh War, Colonel George Lawrence, the British Resident at Lahore, sought refuge in Kohat, but was instead taken prisoner and handed to Sikh forces in Peshawar under Chattar Singh before being released. In 1849, Kohat and the rest of Punjab was formally annexed by the British.

 

Following British victory over the Sikhs in 1848, Kohat came under British rule and was annexed in March 1849.^[4] Lieutenant Pollack was appointed as Kohat’s first Assistant Commissioner.^[4] British authorities in Peshawar commenced construction of the Kohat Pass road in 1849,^[4] and completed it by 1850 despite violent opposition from local tribes.^[4] The pass was closed temporarily in 1853 after a quarrel arose among nearby tribes.^[4] The road which connected Kohat to Rawalpindi via Khushalgarh was of little trouble compared to the Kohat Pass road.^[4]

Kohat remained largely peaceful during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, and local Pashtun soldiers largely ignored calls for rebellion.^[4] The British established a Hill Station at Cherat, just north of Kohat, in the 1860s. Kohat Pass road was closed on and off by British authorities for several more years on account of quarrels among local tribes, including in 1865 when it was closed for more than one and a half years.^[4] Armed skirmishes between British forces and Pashtun tribesmen continued on and off between the 1860s and 1870s. Kohat Cantonment was established by the British in 1874.^[4] Routes between Kohat and Bannu and Thall were frequently blockaded by Wazir tribesmen by 1880 that resulted in large clashes between the British and Wazirs.^[4]

In 1924, Kohat was the scene of widespread communal rioting that resulted in a 21-day fast by Mohandas Gandhi, known popularly as Mahatma Gandhi, as a plea for unity.^[8] During the 1947 Kashmir War, Pashtun tribesmen from around the region convened in Kohat before departing for Kashmir in hopes of capturing the territory for Pakistan.^[9]

Kohat city is located at an altitude of 489 metres (1,604 ft).^[17] Kohat Pass lies to the north. It is situated on the left bank of the Toi river at a point where after running nearly due east for 50 miles (80 km), it turns to the south. The total area of the district is 2,545 square kilometres (983 sq mi)

The park is bounded by three different villages, Bar, Kaghazi, and Tanda Banda. The park is approachable by Hangu-kaghazi gravel road, shahpur-Bar road which is 18 km from Kohat.

The local people do not have any right of grazing, lopping or firewood collection as the ownership lies with the provincial government. The park area falls in the natural habitat of urial and chinkara, and also provides suitable habitat to hog deer. The urial is associated with scrub forest of Olea species and Accassia species. Urial were once abundant in the area but due to continuous habitat destruction these were disappeared from the area in the near past. The natural habitat of urial and chinkara lies in close proximity of human habitation.^[20]