leads 365 km (227 mi) to Peshawar. In the north, the easiest route during summer runs over the
BrogholBroghol, also spelled Broghil, Boroghil and several other ways, is a high mountain pass that crosses the Hindu Kush and connects the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan with Chitral in Pakistan....
Pass (3,798 m or 12,460 ft) to Afghanistan's
Wakhan CorridorThe Wakhan Corridor or Wakhan Salient is a narrow, in some places less than wide, nearly impassable corridor in the Wakhan in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. It is located in the Pamir mountain region, with Tajikistan to the north, Pakistan to the south and China to the east...
, however during winter this route is usually closed. To the east, there is a 405 km (252 mi) route to
GilgitGilgit is a city in Northern PakistanGilgit may refer to other terms related with the area of the city:* Gilgit River* Gilgit Valley* Gilgit District* Gilgit Agency * Gilgit Airport...
over the 3,719 m (12,201 ft)
ShandurShandur Top is a high mountain pass that connects Chitral to the Gilgit in Pakistan.The top is flat, a plateau and can be crossed between late April and early November. The grade is very gradual, and the area is crossed by small streams of trout...
Pass. And in the west, the
Dorah PassDorah Pass, also spelled and pronounced Durah Pass, connects Badakshan in Afghanistan with Chitral in Pakistan. The Dorah Pass is more than high. It crosses the Hindu Kush. It became important during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan because the Soviets were unable to stop the flow of arms and...
provides an additional route to Afghanistan. The territory is home to rare
falconsThere several sports teams with the name Falcons or similar:* Atlanta Falcons, an NFL football team* Springfield Falcons, an American Hockey League team* Falcons , a South African rugby team who play in the Currie Cup...
and the
snow leopardThe snow leopard , sometimes known as ounce, is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia...
, 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 completion of the 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.
Languages
The main languages spoken in this area of Pakistan are Khowar and about 13 other dialects. The people of the Kalash Valley speak the Kalash language. Urdu is widely spoken and understood in major towns and to some extent Pashto are also spoken.
Population
The main tribe, the Khow, speak
KhowarFor the ethnic group, see Kho people.Khowar , also known as Chitrali, is a Dardic language spoken by 400,000 people in Chitral in Northwest Pakistan, in Yasin Valley and Gupis in neighbouring Gilgit, and in parts of Upper Swat. Speakers of Khowar have also migrated heavily to Pakistan's major urban...
(or Chitrali), one of the
Dardic languagesThe Dardic languages is a sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, eastern Afghanistan, and in the Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir.-Position in Indo-Iranian languages:...
, which is also spoken in parts of
YasinThe Yasin Valley is a high mountain valley in the Hindu Kush mountains, in the northwest region of Gilgit in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Yasin is separated from the Ishkoman Valley by a high mountain pass. To reach Yasin one must take the Karakoram Highway north from Islamabad, and then turn...
,
GilgitGilgit is a city in Northern PakistanGilgit may refer to other terms related with the area of the city:* Gilgit River* Gilgit Valley* Gilgit District* Gilgit Agency * Gilgit Airport...
, Ghizer and
SwatSwat is a valley and an administrative district in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan located 160 km/100 miles from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is the upper valley of the Swat River, which rises in the Hindu Kush range. The capital of Swat is Saidu Sharif, but the main...
.
Pashto languagePashto , also known as Afghani, is an Indo-European language spoken primarily in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Pashto belongs to the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian language family...
is also spoken and understood by some in the city. Chitral is known for the famous
Kalash tribeKalash or Kalasha may refer to:*A people of northern Pakistan, the Kalash**their language, Kalasha-mun*A people of Nuristan in Afghanistan, the Kalasha of Nuristan**their language, Kalasha-ala...
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 (16 km) down from Chitral town. The culture is Islamic 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 avoid walking the streets of the town, so men or children do most of the shopping. Travel requires the company of a close male relative and sometimes the wearing of a
burqaA burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions for the purpose of cloaking the entire body...
. There is also a sizeable population of Nuristanis, Tajiks and
UzbeksThe Uzbeks are a Turkic-speaking people in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
most of whom arrived from Afghanistan in the late 1980s.
Sport
Chitral is a sport loving town. Unlike the rest of the country where cricket dominates,
PoloPolo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet...
is most popular sport with
footballFootball is the name of several similar team sports, all of which involve kicking a ball with the foot in an attempt to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
being the most played sport. A number of sport festivals and tournaments are held throughout the year. This includes the famous
ShandurShandur Top is a high mountain pass that connects Chitral to the Gilgit in Pakistan.The top is flat, a plateau and can be crossed between late April and early November. The grade is very gradual, and the area is crossed by small streams of trout...
polo tournament held at the highest polo ground in the world, around 15,000 people travel to Shandur for the tournament which lasts around a week.
Chitral has also produced some national players such as Muhammad Rasool who plays for the national football team.There are many football clubs in chitral such as united sports club,star football club goldoor and many others. United sport club has recently won the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed memorial cup which arranged by ayun football association chitral.
Buddhist and Hindu period
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 FortThe Chitral Expedition was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral which was under siege after a local coup.-Background to the conflict:Chitral was at the extreme north west of British India...
for over a month in 1895.
See also
- Chitral Airport
Chitral Airport is a small domestic airport situated 2 nm north of the city centre of Chitral, in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan.-See also :* List of airports in Pakistan* Airlines of Pakistan* Transport in Pakistan...
- State of Chitral
Chitral ; was a former princely state of Pakistan and British India which ceased to exist in 1969. The area of the state now forms the Chitral District in the North-West Frontier Province.- Location :...
- North-West Frontier Province
The North-West Frontier Province is the smallest of the four provinces of Pakistan...
- Badshah Munir Bukhari
Badshah Munir Bukhari is a linguist from Northern Pakistan. A native of Chitral, he is a lecturer in linguistics and a member of the Department of Urdu, University of Peshawar....
External links