Orakzai District ( Pashto : اورکزي ولسوالۍ , Urdu : ضلع اورکزئی ) is a district in the Kohat Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan . Before 1973, it was part of FR Kohat . Up until 2018, it was an agency within the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas . However, with the merger of the FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it attained the status of a district.
51-473: The Orakzai tribe derives its name, Wrak Zoy ("the lost son" ), in a literal sense, from a romantic legend, Sikandar Shah. This ancestral figure, a prince hailing from Iran, was subjected to exile. After a series of adventures, he married and ruled in the region of Tirah . The tribal area now forming Orakzai District was previously included in the Frontier Region of Kohat district. This status persisted until
102-580: A Pakistani ethnicity is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Pashto Pashto ( / ˈ p ʌ ʃ t oʊ / PUH -shto , / ˈ p æ ʃ t oʊ / PASH -toe ; پښتو , Pəx̌tó , [pəʂˈto, pʊxˈto, pəʃˈto, pəçˈto] ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family , natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan . It has official status in Afghanistan and
153-772: A Pashtun tribe native to the Orakzai Agency and parts of Kurram and Khyber Agencies in Pakistan 's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Additionally, a sub-tribe of the Orakzai resides in Afghanistan 's Maidan Wardak Province . The Orakzai people predominantly speak Pashto . The Orakzai belong to the Tirah valley located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . The Orakzais inhabit the mountains to the north-west and north-east of Kohat district, bounded on
204-453: A royal decree of Zahir Shah formally granted Pashto the status of an official language, with full rights to use in all aspects of government and education – despite the fact that the ethnically Pashtun royal family and bureaucrats mostly spoke Persian. Thus Pashto became a national language , a symbol for Pashtun nationalism . The constitutional assembly reaffirmed the status of Pashto as an official language in 1964 when Afghan Persian
255-478: A bubble trapped in lava which made this cave. •Second opinion is that it is a limestone cave which ended up on water channel beneath the surface in summer water. •Other opinion of the historian is that the graves on the ground in the general area are not Muslim graves, and it is believed that this cave was used for meditation in Kanishka times 127 CE. •The myth that its farther end is unexplored, seems false. It has
306-725: A farther end with a graduated narrowing/ suffocating effects due to low oxygen. History of Nanawar Cave compiled by Zakir Ullah Khan. Orakzai District is currently subdivided into four Tehsils . Upper Orakzai is a National Assembly constituency in the Orakzai District. Some of main areas of Upper Orakzai include: Upper Orakzai is the Sub-Division of Orakzai District. The main office are in Ghiljo Bazar . Upper Orakzai includes four big sections: Ali khel Mola Khel Mamozai Ali Sherzai Eisa khel Ahkhel Shikhan The Lower Orakzai agency
357-494: A fertile valley. The elevation of the hills varies from over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the west and to less than 6,650 feet (2,030 m) in east. Generally, the elevation of the plain varies from 5,200 to 5,500 feet (1,700 m) above sea level. Important peaks are Sangla (6325 ft) and Chara Kandaco (5643 ft). The height of Kalaya and Sangla is nearly equal. Orakzai Agency is characterized by intensely cold winters and mild summers. December, January and February are
408-645: A promoter of the wealth and antiquity of Afghanistan's Pashto culture." From the 16th century, Pashto poetry become very popular among the Pashtuns. Some of those who wrote in Pashto are Bayazid Pir Roshan (a major inventor of the Pashto alphabet ), Khushal Khan Khattak , Rahman Baba , Nazo Tokhi , and Ahmad Shah Durrani , founder of the modern state of Afghanistan or the Durrani Empire . The Pashtun literary tradition grew in
459-522: A variety very similar to it, while others have attempted to place it closer to Bactrian . However, neither position is universally agreed upon. What scholars do agree on is the fact that Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language sharing characteristics with Eastern Middle Iranian languages such as Bactrian, Khwarezmian and Sogdian . Compare with other Eastern Iranian Languages and Old Avestan : Zə tā winə́m /ɐz dɐ wənən/ Az bū tū dzunim Strabo , who lived between 64 BC and 24 CE, explains that
510-629: Is 30.03 whereas the gender parity score is 63.14 from the available data. Lack of government schools and provision of teachers are among the main issues reported by the residents of Orakzai District using the Taleem Do! App . Culture of the area is dominantly Pashtun , with people adhering strongly to the Pashtun code of conduct also known as "Pakhto or Pashtunwali ". Religion is evident in their lifestyle. People are very much social and maintain Hujra culture. Hujra
561-455: Is a community centre, guest house, meeting place, court and shelter. People adhere strongly to the jirga system for peace and justice where saying of the respectable elders is observed. Talibanization of the area started back in 2006 when sectarian violence was at a peak. In the beginning, the Taliban were welcome because no one knew their real intentions, they intermingled with the locals in
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#1732859382509612-748: Is a subdivision. The headquarters is in Kalaya, named Kalaya Headquarters, and is a fairly populated area of Orakzai agency. The main sections are: Sepoy , Bar Muhammad Khel , Mani Khel , Feroz Khel, Utman Khel, Bezoti and Stori Khel According to Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017 published by Alif Ailaan , Orakzai District ranks 125th in Pakistan in terms of primary school infrastructure while it ranks 132nd in Pakistan for middle school infrastructure. In terms of education score, Orakzai District stands at 103rd number in National Ranking. The retention score
663-504: Is taught poorly in schools in Pakistan. Moreover, in government schools material is not provided for in the Pashto dialect of that locality, Pashto being a dialectically rich language. Further, researchers have observed that Pashtun students are unable to fully comprehend educational material in Urdu. Professor Tariq Rahman states: "The government of Pakistan, faced with irredentist claims from Afghanistan on its territory, also discouraged
714-461: Is the primary language of the Pashtun diaspora around the world. The total number of Pashto-speakers is at least 40 million, although some estimates place it as high as 60 million. Pashto is "one of the primary markers of ethnic identity" amongst Pashtuns. A national language of Afghanistan , Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south, and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of
765-572: The Ali Khel , has been traced to Swat , whence they were expelled by the other inhabitants and it is not improbable that the whole tribe consists of refugee clans of the surrounding races. They cultivate a good deal of the Khanki and Kurmana valleys in the winter, but in the hot months retire to the heights of Tirah , of which they occupy the southern half called the Mastura Valley. The Orakzais served in
816-525: The Buland Khel or Beland Khil , is attached to the Orakzai agency also for administrative and historical reasons, although they live some distance from the agency between Thall and Bannu , North Waziristan . Then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto announced the creation of the agency at a grand tribal jirga in Samana, and it began functioning on 1 December 1973. Before this, the Orakzai tribes were part of
867-500: The Kohat and Hangu Frontier region. The headquarters of the agency are at Hangu District , but tehsil -level headquarters are in Kalaya and Ghiljo Bazar . The valley is flanked by mountain ranges 6,000 to 7,000 feet (2,100 m) high. Among the seven tribal agencies, Orakzai Agency is the second smallest in area after Bajaur Agency . It is bounded by Kurram Agency in the west, Khyber in
918-581: The Mughal army. The Bhopal State of India was established by Dost Muhammad Khan , an Orakzai commander in the Mughal army. His descendants, the Nawabs of Bhopal , were of Orakzai ancestry. The government of British India estimated that the tribe had 28,000 fighting men. They were the object of various British military expeditions, notably in 1855, 1868, 1869, 1891 and the Tirah campaign of 1897. This article about
969-565: The Pashtun tribes spoke Pashto as their native tongue . King Amanullah Khan began promoting Pashto during his reign (1926–1929) as a marker of ethnic identity and as a symbol of "official nationalism" leading Afghanistan to independence after the defeat of the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. In the 1930s, a movement began to take hold to promote Pashto as a language of government, administration, and art with
1020-618: The Punjab province , areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and in Islamabad . Pashto speakers are found in other major cities of Pakistan, most notably Karachi , Sindh, which may have the largest Pashtun population of any city in the world. Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in India , Tajikistan , and northeastern Iran (primarily in South Khorasan Province to the east of Qaen , near
1071-490: The 30th of November, 1973. The Biland Khel or Boland Khel, a small pocket of about 6.5 square kilometers, is part of this district and is two kilometers off Thall, bordering North Waziristan and Kurram agencies. Responding to a long-standing demand of the Orakzais, the then President of Pakistan announced the creation of Orakzai Agency on 3rd of November, 1973 and was formally inaugurated on 1st of December, 1973. Before it gained
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#17328593825091122-755: The 8th century, and they use the writings found in Pata Khazana . Pə́ṭa Xazāná ( پټه خزانه ) is a Pashto manuscript claimed to be written by Mohammad Hotak under the patronage of the Pashtun emperor Hussain Hotak in Kandahar ; containing an anthology of Pashto poets. However, its authenticity is disputed by scholars such as David Neil MacKenzie and Lucia Serena Loi. Nile Green comments in this regard: "In 1944, Habibi claimed to have discovered an eighteenth-century manuscript anthology containing much older biographies and verses of Pashto poets that stretched back as far as
1173-686: The Afghan border). In India most ethnic Pashtun (Pathan) peoples speak the geographically native Hindi-Urdu language rather than Pashto, but there are small numbers of Pashto speakers, such as the Sheen Khalai in Rajasthan , and the Pathan community in the city of Kolkata , often nicknamed the Kabuliwala ("people of Kabul "). Pashtun diaspora communities in other countries around the world speak Pashto, especially
1224-710: The Orakzai tribes is between 33° -33' to 33° -54' north latitudes and 70° -36' to 71° -22' east longitudes. It is bordered in the north by Khyber District, in the east by FR Kohat, in the south by the Kohat and Hangu districts, and in the west by Kurram District. The total area of the district is 1,538 square kilometers. Certain Orakzai tribes like the Masozai and half the Lashkarzai find themselves in Kurram Agency for historical and administrative reasons. An ethnic Pashtun Bangash tribe,
1275-485: The Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ( افغانی , Afghāni ). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns , it is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan alongside Dari , and it is the second-largest provincial language of Pakistan , spoken mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern districts of Balochistan . Likewise, it
1326-517: The Pashto Movement and eventually allowed its use in peripheral domains only after the Pakhtun elite had been co-opted by the ruling elite...Thus, even though there is still an active desire among some Pakhtun activists to use Pashto in the domains of power, it is more of a symbol of Pakhtun identity than one of nationalism." Robert Nicols states: "In the end, national language policy, especially in
1377-653: The Society's annual meeting in 1927. In 1955, Pashtun intellectuals including Abdul Qadir formed the Pashto Academy Peshawar on the model of Pashto Tolana formed in Afghanistan. In 1974, the Department of Pashto was established in the University of Balochistan for the promotion of Pashto. In Pakistan, Pashto is the first language around of 15% of its population (per the 1998 census). However, Urdu and English are
1428-889: The Taliban in the west from the Kurram Agency , in the south from Kohat and in the east from Bara and began an attack. Locals supported the army and soon the Taliban were forced to flee and evacuate the lower subdivision. Heavy casualties were also inflicted upon them in the upper subdivision, and their influence in the area was greatly reduced. This resulted in the mass evacuation of the IDPs towards Kohat and Hangu where they were given shelter in camps. The situation has defused greatly in Lower Orakzai division, but an army operation against Taliban militants continues in Central and Upper sub-divisions. Orakzai The Orakzai ( Pashto : وركزۍ) are
1479-501: The backdrop to weakening Pashtun power following Mughal rule: Khushal Khan Khattak used Pashto poetry to rally for Pashtun unity and Pir Bayazid as an expedient means to spread his message to the Pashtun masses. For instance Khushal Khattak laments in : "The Afghans (Pashtuns) are far superior to the Mughals at the sword, Were but the Afghans, in intellect, a little discreet. If
1530-411: The coldest months and snow falls in these months. Summers are mild and the maximum temperature does not go above 30 degrees Celsius. Surrounding mountains are covered by dense thick forests, which produce a cooling effect in summer. Due to the geographical position of Orakzai and its thick forest cover, it rains throughout the year. In winter, the precipitation is snowfall over the surrounding mountains and
1581-416: The country. The exact number of speakers is unavailable, but different estimates show that Pashto is the mother tongue of 45–60% of the total population of Afghanistan . In Pakistan , Pashto is spoken by 15% of its population, mainly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern districts of Balochistan province. It is also spoken in parts of Mianwali and Attock districts of
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1632-410: The different tribes would but support each other, Kings would have to bow down in prostration before them" Pashto is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language with split ergativity . In Pashto, this means that the verb agrees with the subject in transitive and intransitive sentences in non-past, non-completed clauses, but when a completed action is reported in any of the past tenses, the verb agrees with
1683-538: The district were from religious minorities, mainly Christians. Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 99.87% of the population. Nanawar cave is located in Mani Khel Dara Orakzai Tribal District. It is approx 200 Meters long cave with 2 entrances and is home to thousands of bats & spiders. The cave traces its history back thousands of years with varying opinions and myths: - •Thousands of years back, lava erupted here and it seems like
1734-443: The eighth century. It was an extraordinary claim, implying as it did that the history of Pashto literature reached back further in time than Persian, thus supplanting the hold of Persian over the medieval Afghan past. Although it was later convincingly discredited through formal linguistic analysis, Habibi's publication of the text under the title Pata Khazana ('Hidden Treasure') would (in Afghanistan at least) establish his reputation as
1785-547: The establishment of a Pashto Society Pashto Anjuman in 1931 and the inauguration of the Kabul University in 1932 as well as the formation of the Pashto Academy (Pashto Tolana) in 1937. Muhammad Na'im Khan, the minister of education between 1938 and 1946, inaugurated the formal policy of promoting Pashto as Afghanistan's national language, leading to the commission and publication of Pashto textbooks. The Pashto Tolana
1836-447: The field of education in the NWFP, had constructed a type of three tiered language hierarchy. Pashto lagged far behind Urdu and English in prestige or development in almost every domain of political or economic power..." Although Pashto used as a medium of instruction in schools for Pashtun students results in better understanding and comprehension for students when compared to using Urdu, still
1887-399: The government of Pakistan has only introduced Pashto at the primary levels in state-run schools. Taimur Khan remarks: "the dominant Urdu language squeezes and denies any space for Pashto language in the official and formal capacity. In this contact zone, Pashto language exists but in a subordinate and unofficial capacity". Some linguists have argued that Pashto is descended from Avestan or
1938-405: The native elements of the lexicon are related to other Eastern Iranian languages . As noted by Josef Elfenbein, "Loanwords have been traced in Pashto as far back as the third century B.C., and include words from Greek and probably Old Persian". For instance, Georg Morgenstierne notes the Pashto word مېچن [mečә́n] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) i.e.
1989-686: The north and east by the Afridis or Khyber Agency , on the south by the Bangash or Miranzai Valley and on the west by the Bangash country and the Safed Koh mountains. The Orakzai tribes take their name, which literally means the lost son (Wrak Zoi), he was an exiled Prince of Iran named Sikandar Shah from the Qajar Dynasty with Oghuz Turkic Origin, he got lost and was adopted by karalan, and after many adventures he married and settled in Tirah . One branch,
2040-455: The north, Kohat District on the south and Peshawar in the east. The whole of the territory of Orakzai agency is a mountainous tract dissected by numerous dry water courses, especially in the southwest part of the agency. The two major streams are the Mastura River and Khanki Toi River , both of which originate from the hills to west and run eastwards. Orakzai Agency is a hilly region with
2091-465: The possessed in the genitive construction, and adjectives come before the nouns they modify. Unlike most other Indo-Iranian languages, Pashto uses all three types of adpositions —prepositions, postpositions, and circumpositions. *The retroflex rhotic or lateral, tends to be a lateral flap [ 𝼈 ] at the beginning of a syllable or other prosodic unit, and a regular flap [ ɽ ] or approximant [ ɻ ] elsewhere. In Pashto, most of
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2142-618: The remaining people founded the Pakistan army's operation against the Talibs. Many people were injured. The Taliban entirely destroyed Kalaya village and Orakzai's business. People migrated to different places and different countries to save their lives. After a humiliating defeat in Waziristan , the Taliban fled to Orakzai Agency. Very soon the area saw intense violence and the Army commenced an unannounced offensive ( Orakzai and Kurram offensive ). The army cut
2193-464: The sizable communities in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia . Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, along with Dari Persian . Since the early 18th century, the monarchs of Afghanistan have been ethnic Pashtuns (except for Habibullāh Kalakāni in 1929). Persian, the literary language of the royal court, was more widely used in government institutions, while
2244-448: The start and when they were in sufficient numbers, they started to dictate to the people. The local people found themselves helpless and were forced to obey Taliban dictates. In Kalaya village in August 2013, the Taliban attacked and kidnapped 230 Orakzai people. Elderly Orakzai, young men, women and children were arrested. Taliban tortured many, and martyred 80 innocent people. After one week
2295-513: The status of an agency, this area was administered as a Frontier Region of the Kohat district by the Deputy Commissioner of Kohat. The Orakzai District consists of two sub-divisions: Upper sub-division and Lower sub-division. The Upper sub-division comprises two Tehsils, Upper Tehsil and Ismailzai Tehsil, and the Lower sub-division also has two Tehsils, Lower Tehsil and Central Tehsil. The land of
2346-444: The subject if it is intransitive, but with the object if it is transitive. Verbs are inflected for present, simple past, past progressive, present perfect, and past perfect tenses. There is also an inflection for the subjunctive mood . Nouns and adjectives are inflected for two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and four cases (direct, oblique, ablative, and vocative). The possessor precedes
2397-534: The tribes inhabiting the lands west of the Indus River were part of Ariana . This was around the time when the area inhabited by the Pashtuns was governed by the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . From the 3rd century CE onward, they are mostly referred to by the name Afghan ( Abgan ). Abdul Hai Habibi believed that the earliest modern Pashto work dates back to Amir Kror Suri of the early Ghurid period in
2448-411: The two official languages of Pakistan. Pashto has no official status at the federal level. On a provincial level, Pashto is the regional language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and north Balochistan . Yet, the primary medium of education in government schools in Pakistan is Urdu. The lack of importance given to Pashto and its neglect has caused growing resentment amongst Pashtuns. It is noted that Pashto
2499-472: The valley. There is no rain gauge, but rainfall is estimated to be around 36 inches (910 mm) per year. As of the 2023 census , Orakzai district has 52,104 households and a population of 387,561. The district has a sex ratio of 112.14 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 33.57%: 50.70% for males and 14.97% for females. 138,265 (35.68% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. The entire population lives in rural areas. 812 (0.21%) people in
2550-575: Was later incorporated into the Academy of Sciences Afghanistan in line with Soviet model following the Saur Revolution in 1978. Although officially supporting the use of Pashto, the Afghan elite regarded Persian as a "sophisticated language and a symbol of cultured upbringing". King Zahir Shah (reigning 1933–1973) thus followed suit after his father Nadir Khan had decreed in 1933 that officials were to study and utilize both Persian and Pashto. In 1936
2601-615: Was officially renamed to Dari . The lyrics of the national anthem of Afghanistan are in Pashto. In British India , prior to the creation of Pakistan by the British government, the 1920s saw the blossoming of Pashto language in the then NWFP : Abdul Ghafar Khan in 1921 established the Anjuman-e- Islah al-Afaghina (Society for the Reformation of Afghans) to promote Pashto as an extension of Pashtun culture; around 80,000 people attended
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