Chitral (Khowar: ݯھیترار, romanized: ćhitrār, lit. 'field') is a city situated on the Chitral River in the northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before that the capital of Chitral princely state. The region was encompassed into West Pakistan between 1969 and 1972.
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👉 Chitral in the context of Shina language
Shina (ݜݨیاٗ, Ṣiṇyaá, [ʂiɳjá]), also known by its exonym Gilgiti, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic branch in the Indo-European language family, primarily spoken by the Shina people, native to northern Pakistan, specifically Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan. A small community of Shina speakers is also found in India, in the Gurez valley of Jammu and Kashmir and in Dras valley of Ladakh. Outliers of Shina language such as Brokskat are found in Ladakh, Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir, Palula and Sawi in Chitral, Ushojo in the Swat Valley and Kalkoti in Dir.
It is one of the major regional languages of Pakistan, being the most-widely spoken one in Gilgit-Baltistan. It is also spoken outside of Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan by Shina communities in major metropolitan areas around the country, particularly Islamabad–Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar.
In this Dossier
Chitral in the context of Gilgit
Gilgit (/ˈɡɪlɡɪt/; Shina: گِلیٗت IPA: [ɡi˧.leː˨˦t̪]; Urdu: گِلْگِت IPA: [ˈɡɪlɡɪt̪]) is the capital and most-populous city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. It is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit and the Hunza rivers. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a hub for trekking and mountaineering expeditions in the Karakoram mountain range of Northern Pakistan.
Gilgit was once a major centre for Buddhism; it was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road, and today serves as a major junction along the Karakoram Highway with road connections to China as well as the Pakistani cities of Skardu, Chitral, Peshawar, and Islamabad. The city's economic activity is mainly focused on agriculture, with wheat, maize, and barley as the main crops.
Chitral in the context of Tirich Mir
Terich Mir (also spelled Terichmir, Tirich Mir and Turch Mir) is the highest mountain of the Hindu Kush range, and the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas–Karakoram range, at 7,708 meters (25,289 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
It is the 33rd highest peak in the world. The first recorded ascent of the mountain was on 21 July 1950 by a Norwegian-British expedition consisting of Arne Næss, P. Kvernberg, H. Berg, and Tony Streather, depicted in the 1952 documentary film Tirich Mir til topps. Tirich Mir overlooks the town of Chitral, and can be easily seen from the main bazaar.
Chitral in the context of Gandhara grave culture
The Gandhara grave culture of present-day Pakistan is known by its "protohistoric graves", which were spread mainly in the middle Swat River valley and named the Swat Protohistoric Graveyards Complex, dated in that region to c. 1200–800 BCE. The Italian Archaeological Mission to Pakistan (MAIP) holds that there are no burials with these features after 800 BCE. More recent studies by Pakistani scholars, such as Muhammad Zahir, consider that these protohistoric graves extended over a much wider geography and continued in existence from the 8th century BCE until the historic period. The core region was in the middle of the Swat River course and expanded to the valleys of Dir, Kunar, Chitral, and Peshawar. Protohistoric graves were present in north, central, and southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as well as in north-western tribal areas, including Gilgit-Baltistan province, Taxila, and Salt Range in Punjab, Pakistan, along with their presence in Indian Kashmir, Ladakh, and Uttarakhand.
The grave culture has been regarded as a token of the Indo-Aryan migrations but has also been explained by local cultural continuity. Estimates, based on ancient DNA analyses, suggest ancestors of middle Swat valley people mixed with a population coming from the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor, which carried Steppe ancestry, sometime between 1900 and 1500 BCE.
Chitral in the context of Sultanate of Swat
The Sultanate of Swat was a medieval kingdom of Dardic origin centred around the city of Manglawar between the 12th and 16th centuries. It was strongest of the several Dardic-speaking states in the region, encompassing the present-day Malakand, Buner, Swat and Dir valleys, as well as the Kohistan region.
During the most of 15th century, the kingdom bordered Kashmir Sultanate to the east, Delhi Sultanate to the south, Timurid Empire to the west and the kingdom of Chitral to the north. The last notable ruler was Sultan Awes Jahangiri, during whose reign Swat was ultimately conquered between 1510 and 1518 after a series of battles by Yousafza'i Pashtuns under the leadership of Malik Ahmad Baba. This led to the Pashtunization of the Swat and Dir regions. Some accounts trace the origins of Shah Mir dynasty of Kashmir from these rulers of Swat.
Chitral in the context of Khowar language
Khowar (کھووار, Khōwār, [kʰɔːwɑːɾ]), also known by its common exonym Chitrali, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic group, primarily spoken by the Kho people (Chitralis), native to the Chitral region and surrounding areas of Pakistan.
Khowar is the lingua franca of Chitral, and it is also spoken in the Gupis-Yasin and Ghizer districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, as well as in the Upper Swat district.