Social services

There is only one government hospital in Chakwal city. Unlike other areas in Pakistan, Chakwal does not have women's hospitals that can provide gynecological diagnoses or services. Women who can afford it visit private hospitals in other cities of Pakistan.

Agriculture

Chakwal is a semi-arid area with a shortage of irrigation systems and water sources for agriculture. Over 70% of the population engages in agriculture, mostly subsistence agriculture dependent on rainfall. Most villages have no irrigation system.

Environment

Although the areas around Chakwal are free of pollution as there isn't much industry in the area, Chakwal itself is polluted. There is no government sponsored garbage disposal system, and citizens in urban and rural areas do not have proper means to dispose of garbage, particularly plastic bags. Most of the streets in the city and small towns nearby are littered with trash that results in infectious diseases in summer and rainy seasons. During Musharaf's regime three cement factories were constructed in the Salt Range hills.

Community service

There are several community organizations working in District Chakwal including the following:

• The National Rural Support Program (NRSP) works in different sectors since 1996 in Chakwal District.
• Bedari--- Working on Human rights specially on women's rights in Chakwal and is currently running its project on violence against women with support of UNDP in Chakwal District.
• The National Commission for Human Development (NCHD)is a semi-governmental organization working in Chakwal District in education and volunteering.
• Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA) provides rural communities/farmers access to rights-based education, facilitates links with government and provides training in sustainable agriculture, livelihoods and advocacy skills.
• PLAN International with partner NGOs, is working in 19 UCs in Chakwal at community development in 56 rural communities^.
• The Almadina Welfare Trust is a welfare organisation.

Tourism

Chakwal's landscape features the canyons in Thirchak-Mahal. There are many man-made and natural lakes around the city in neighbouring communities.
On the top of this hill is a shrine called Chehl-Abdal of Chehl Abdal hill top which is at 3,500 feet (1,100 m) above sea level. Another well-known tourist place in the area is Kalar Kahar, 2,500 feet (760 m) above sea level. The famous temple-fort of Katas Raj is nearby. Chakwal is connected by road to Jhelum and Lahore via the Sohawa road.

Katasraj Mandir (Punjabi: کٹاس راج مندر (Shahmukhi), कटासराज मन्दिर (Devanagari)) is a Hindu mandir situated in Katas village in the Chakwal district of Punjab in Pakistan. Dedicated to Shiva, the temple has existed since the days of Mahābhārata and the Pandava brothers spent a substantial part of their exile at the site. The Pakistan Government is considering nominating the temple complex for World Heritage Site status. It also proposes to spend about Rs 20 million in three phases for the restoration of the complex.

Libraries

Chakwal has only one public and very few private libraries, the largest of which is the Allama Iqbal Library located at the committee park. Most of the collection is in Urdu. The Government College for boys has a library of reasonable size and is open to the public. In the private sector, Myer's Library located at Myers College, Kot Sarfraz Khan has a large number of both English and Urdu books. There are no public or private libraries for children in rural areas of Chakwal.

Newspapers and magazines

Considering Chakwal's small population, the number of local newspapers being published from here is relatively large. Dhan Kahoon is the oldest and most popular local newspaper. Chakwal Point, Chakwal Nama, Press Forum, Aasar, Dhudial Nama, Bab-e-Chakwal, Total and buttgam news are also published in significant quantities. An English newspaper called, " The Revolution " is also published in Chakwal. The first online newspaper (in Urdu) was established by Riaz Butt named as Dhudial News.Dhudial  Nama (in Urdu) is also found online and Dhudial2Day is online in Urdu and English, but published irregularly in English.
Monthly "Aabadiyat" is the first and so far the only Urdu magazine being published from here and covers all spheres of life.

Administration

In addition to being the district capital, Chakwal city is also the administrative centre of Chakwal tehsil (a subdivision of the district). The city of Chakwal itself is divided into five Union councils and Chakwal district is divided in to 68 union councils.

Higher/technical education

There are a number of educational institutions being developed in the city, such as University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila, the Swedish Institute of Technology and others.

Schools

The Arya Samaj founded the first school in Chakwal at the start of the 20th Century, and others, both religious and secular, followed. More information on basic child education can be found on the district government webpage, Education Department Chakwal

History

For much of its early history, Dhanni was an uninhabited part of the Jammu state of the Dogra Rajputs, held as a hunting ground for the Rajas of Jammu.
In the year 1190 CE, Raja Bhagir Dev, a Jamwal prince, while on a hunting expedition fell in love with a Muslim woman belonging to a tribe of wandering Gujjar grazers. In order to marry her, he converted to Islam and consequently his father asked him to stay away from Jammu and settle in this tract along with his men. Raja Bhagir Dev changed his name to Muhammed Mair after his conversion to Islam and his descendants are Mair-Minhas Rajputs. The Mairs preferred pastoral rather than agricultural pursuits for the next few centuries and remained confined to this area.
Mughal era

In approximately 1525 C.E, the Mughal King Babur stopped in this area on his way to Kashmir, and hostile tribes nearby ambushed his army. However, Babur's army was awakened by the herds owned by the Mairs and the hostile Rajputs fled. The next morning, the Mughal King summoned the chief of the tribe, Raja Sidhar, and offered him two thirds of the land of Dhanni, if he provided labour to help the Kassar tribesmen to drain the great lake which then covered all the eastern part of the tehsil, up to the ridge followed by the Bhon-Dhudial road.
Raja Sidhar, chief of the Mair-Minhas Rajputs, and Gharka Kassar, chief of the Kassars, a Mughal sub-tribe, took up the job along with their respective tribesmen. They drained the lake water by cutting through Ghori- Gala, through which the Bunha torrent now flows, and laid claim to the surrounding country. The Emperor awarded them the title of Chaudhry, and administration of the newly formed Taluka, which ever since has been called 'Dhan Chaurasi' or 'Maluki Dhan'.
Chaudhry Sidhar settled villages named after his sons Chaku, Murid and Karhan and as Chaku Khan became the chief, he decided to settle in Chakwal, the village named after him and make it the center of administration of the Taluka. Kassar chiefs founded the villages of Bal-Kassar and Dhudial.
The following few lines about the origins of Chakwal are noted in the District Gazetteer Jhelum 1904, "Chakwal has from time immemorial been the seat of administration in the Dhanni Country. It is said to have been founded by a Mair-Minhas Rajput from Jammu, whose descendants are at the present day proprietors of the land in the neighbourhood. It is still the Headquarters of tribe"
There are conflicting claims as to the ownership and leadership of the land. This story is also confirmed by the Hindu family of Gadihok, who claim that Dhanni was named "Malooki Dhan" after their forefather, Malook Chand, who was with Babur during settlement of the area, but they agree that the area was given to Mairs, Kassars and Kahuts while the Gadihoks received only a certain portion of the revenue as an 'inam'.
Awans, Mair Minhas Rajput, Mughal Kassar and Kahut Quriesh were probably the four landowning tribes that were originally settled in this tehsil by the Mughal Emperor Zaheerudin Babur. The main concentration of the Mair-Minhas Rajputs was in the center (Haveli-Chakwal), North-East (Badshahan), West (Rupwal) and South West (Thirchak-Mahal). The Kassars in the northern part of the tehsil, the area called 'Babial' and 'Chaupeda' and the Kahuts in 'Kahutani' in the South East.
These tribes, particularly the Mair-Minhas Chaudhrials of Chakwal, rose to further prominence during the short rule of Sher Shah Suri who handed them control over the adjoining territories, as far as Swan River in Potohar and the Pind Dadan Khan plains in the South.
After the Mughal ruler, King Humayun, returned to India with the help of the Persians, he handed over Potohar, including Dhanni, to the Gakhars, who had helped him escape from India during Sher Shah's revolt and reign. The Gakhars moved the capital of the taluka from Chakwal to a neighbouring town, Bhon, and stationed their Kardars there.
The Mair-Minhas and Mughal Kassar tribes again rose to power after King Aurangzeb's death. They had supported his son Moazzam Shah in his quest for power and, in return, he re-appointed the Mair-Minhas chief Gadabeg Khan as the Taluqdar and Chaudhry of the entire 'Dhan Chaurasi', whereas the rule of the Kassar Chaudhrys was confirmed in Babial and Chaupeda 'illaqa'.
Sikh era

Their rule over Dhanni continued during the Sikh era; Chaudhry Ghulam Mehdi had invited Sardar Mahan Singh to this side of Jhelum River. It was during that era that the Dhanni breed of horses became popular; even Maharaja Ranjeet Singh's personal horses were kept in the stables of the 'Chakwal Chaudhials'.
In the Second Anglo-Sikh War at Chaillianwala in 1849, the Chakwal Chaudhrials supported the Sikhs and hence their Jagirs were confiscated by the British and even the lands in their headquarters, Chakwal were distributed among their tenants. Consequently, Chakwal started growing as a city and was declared a tehsil Headquarters in 1881^.Chakwal's non-Muslim minorities departed during partition of the subcontinent in 1947. In April 2009 a terrorist attack on the Imambargah killed more than 20 people.

Chakwal language

The people of Pothohar speak Pothohari. However, the people of Chakwal and the Dhanni area (now known as Chakwal Tehsil) do not speak Pothohari and are ethnologically not regarded as Potoharis. They speak a Chakwali or Dhanni dialect of Punjabi, which is closer to Shahpuri, a dialect spoken in the Shahpur-Salt Range area.

Chakwal

Chakwal (Punjabi, Urdu: چکوال) is the capital of Chakwal District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located 90 km south-east of the federal capital, Islamabad and is named after Chaudhry Chaku Khan, chief of the Mair Minhas Rajput tribe from Jammu, who founded it in 1525 CE during the era of the Mughal Emperor, Zaheerudun Babur. It remained a small but central town of the Dhan Chaurasi Taluka for many centuries. In 1881, during the British era, it was declared the Tehsil Headquarters. It was finally upgraded to district status in 1985. The area of Chakwal city is about 10 square kilometres.

Chakwal is located in the Dhanni region of the Pothohar Plateau in northern Punjab, Pakistan. The Pothohar Plateau (also spelled Potwar or Potohar) (Urdu: سطح مرتفع پوٹھوہار) was the home of the ancient Soan valley civilization, which is evidenced by the discovery of fossils, tools, coins, and remains of ancient archaeological sites. The Indus Valley civilization flourished in this region between the 23rd and 18th centuries BC. Some of the earliest Stone Age artefacts in the world have been found on the plateau, dating from 500,000 to 100,000 years ago. The crude stone recovered from the terraces of the Soan testify to human endeavour in this part of the world from the inter-glacial period.

The Stone Age people produced their equipment in a sufficiently homogeneous way to justify grouping the inhabitants of this area into one. Around 3000 BC, small village communities developed in the Pothohar area, which led to the early roots of civilization.

Murid (darbar photo)