Risalpur رسالپور | |
|---|---|
| Risalpur | |
  Top: A rainy day at RisalpurBelow:PAF Academy Asghar Khan located in Risalpur | |
| Nickname(s): Home of Sappers, Home of Eagles | |
  Risalpur | |
| Coordinates:34°04′52″N71°58′21″E / 34.08111°N 71.97250°E /34.08111; 71.97250 | |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Province |  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| District | Nowshera |
| Elevation | 309.0672 m (1,014.0000 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 37,084 |
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
Risalpur (Pashto/Urdu:رسالپور) is a city inNowshera District,Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan, on the Nowshera-Mardan Road. It is nearly 45 km fromPeshawar and 18 km fromMardan and is located at 34°4'52N 71°58'21E.[1] In a basin some 316 meters above sea level, it is bounded on the south and west by the Kabul and Kalpani rivers, respectively. The famous Khyber Pass lies 90 kilometers to the north.
Risalpur is known as "Home of Eagles" and "Home of Sappers". It has several important educational institutions and industrial plants. Languages spoken here areUrdu,English,Pashto, and others.
The Risalpur Export Processing Zone is on the main Nowshera-Mardan road. The Risalpur Cantonment itself lies on high ground, some 30 feet above the surrounding area, with the oldest building dating from 1913 or 1914. The population that mostly lives here are from mixed Pushtoon tribes.
In 1910 Risalpur had a former aerodrome and airfield of theRoyal Flying Corps, and later theRoyal Air Force.[citation needed]
During the First World War, the Royal Flying Corps established an airfield and a fighter conversion unit at Risalpur in British India.[citation needed]
In the Second World War and by 1940, RAF Risalpur had become both an established training and an operational airfield of the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom. It officially became the airfield of thePakistan Air Force (PAF) on 15 August 1947.[citation needed]
No. 31 Squadron RAF was stationed at Risalpur in 1919 and was used to bombKabul andJalalabad inAfghanistan and later conducted operations inFATA againstFaqir of Ipi inWaziristan, along withNo. 114 Squadron RAF of the Royal Air Force ofBritain. No. 31 Squadron RAF was formed atFarnborough on 11 October 1915. Its first deployment was to Risalpur's Nowshera District of Pakhtunkhwa province (previously North-West Frontier Province), inBritish India.[citation needed]
With its BE2Cs and Farmans, during this time No. 31 Squadron RAF and No. 114 Squadron RAF took part in operations in theThird Anglo-Afghan War and being part ofThe Great Game, on theNorth-West Frontier and FATA. The bombing was done to ensure the patency of theDurand line border betweenAfghanistan and BritishIndia.[citation needed]
In September 1919 BE2s of the Royal Flying Corps were replaced byBristol Fighters.
The No. 31 Squadron RAF and No. 114 Squadron RAF bombing of Kabul and FATA stopped with the signing of theRawalpindi Agreement inRawalpindi (signed on 8 August 1919 and amended on 22 November 1921) between British India andAfghanistan, celebrated as Afghanistan's National Day now.[citation needed]
No. 114 Squadron RAF was disbanded by being re-numbered No 28 on 1 April 1920.[citation needed]
But theWaziristan campaign (1936–1939) continued in FATA andBannu Pakhtunkhwa againstFaqir of Ipi, which included the use of aircraft such asHawker Harts,Westland Wapitis, andHawker Audaxs flying from Risalpur and Peshawar.[citation needed]
The No. 31 Squadron RAF conducted air support in the FATA campaign againstFaqir of Ipi inMir Ali and inWanna, and in Pakhtunkhwa's district of Bannu.[citation needed]
Trouble flared up on 23 July 1938, when alashkar launched a daring attack on the town of Bannu,Mir Ali andWanna, killing up to 200 civilians and damaging a considerable amount of property. At the height of the campaign, some 60,000 regular and irregular troops were employed by theBritish in an effort to bring in control an estimated 4,000 hostile tribesmen of FATA.[citation needed]
In April 1939 the No. 31 Squadron RAF changed to the bomber and transport role.[citation needed]
During 1941, the No. 31 Squadron RAF began to concentrate on transport duties with secondedDC-2s. Returning to India the No. 31 Squadron RAF re-equipped with theDakota.[citation needed]
After the Japanese invasion ofBurma, No. 31 Squadron RAF flew missions betweenCalcutta andRangoon dropping supplies for the XIVth Army.[citation needed]
After World War II the No. 31 Squadron RAF moved toJava. In 1946 the Squadron was disbanded in Java and reformed atPAF Base Masroor,MaripurKarachi. At the end of 1947 No. 31 Squadron RAF was again disbanded, but reformed in July 1948 inBritain.[citation needed]
DuringBritish rule, theBritish Army's 14/20thHussars were garrisoned for two years at Risalpur, Nowshera Pakhtunkhwa until 1933.[citation needed]
It is stated that the army of 14th/20thHussars stayed in Risalpur town of Nowshera Pakhtunkhwa until 1933. In fact, they never arrived for their tour of duty in British India until early in 1934.[citation needed]
Upon arriving fromEgypt, where they had previously been stationed for two years, they disembarked inKarachi and immediately traveled to the town of Risalpur in district NowsheraNorth West Frontier Province and stayed there until late in 1936 whereupon they were transferred toLucknow.[citation needed]
TheRoyal Horse Artillery were also stationed at Risalpur Town of District Nowshera of Pakhtunkhwa.[2]
The airfield was formally established as PAF Station Risalpur, after the creation ofPakistan on 15 August 1947 with 20 officers, 21 trainees, 23 senior non commissioned officers (SNCOs) and 257 airmen. The airfield comprised only a handful of men and some equipment.
One month later, the Flying Training School was established here. Wing CommanderAsghar Khan, later to become the first Air Chief of the PAF, took over as the first Officer Commanding of the school, with Harvard and Tiger Moth aircraft in the inventory.[citation needed]
Flt Lt M Khyber Khan, who later rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal, and his student, Flight Cadet Akhtar, flew the first training sortie on 22 September 1947.[citation needed]
On 13 April 1948, the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad AliJinnah, visited Risalpur Flying Training School and raised its level to that of a college.[citation needed]
Risalpur thus became the genesis of PAF pilots. It became the only military academy of Pakistan to be visited by Jinnah. At this ceremony, Jinnah took the General Salute at the parade. Fighter aircraft fromPeshawar Airbase, from the nearbyPeshawar district of Pakhtunkhwa performed aerobatics at the event.[citation needed]
On 21 January 1967 PresidentAyub Khan elevated the status of the Pakistan Air Force College, Risalpur to that of aPakistan Air Force Academy. Currently, it consists of five different components.[citation needed]
At the heart of the Pakistan Air Force since its inception, the Pakistan Air Force Academy, Risalpur's Nowshera Pakhtunkhwa, has bred generations of officers for the PAF and other branches of thePakistani Armed Forces.[citation needed]
The Pakistan Air Force Academy at Nowshera Pakhtunkhwa was established in 1947.[citation needed]
| Religious group | 1911[4][5] | 1921[6][7] | 1931[8] | 1941[3] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
Islam | 2,268 | 71.61% | 2,721 | 32.02% | 3,170 | 39.55% | 3,506 | 38.93% |
Hinduism [b] | 716 | 22.61% | 3,369 | 39.64% | 2,900 | 36.18% | 3,937 | 43.71% |
Sikhism | 177 | 5.59% | 601 | 7.07% | 314 | 3.92% | 1,024 | 11.37% |
Christianity | 6 | 0.19% | 1,808 | 21.27% | 1,629 | 20.32% | 333 | 3.7% |
Zoroastrianism | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 0.04% | 0 | 0% |
Jainism | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | — | — |
Judaism | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
Buddhism.svg) | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | — | — |
| Others | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 207 | 2.3% |
| Total population | 3,167 | 100% | 8,499 | 100% | 8,016 | 100% | 9,007 | 100% |
On 9 November 2007, unknown miscreants fired three rockets that landed near Risalpur inNowshera District, without causing any damage to life or property.[9]
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Due to the lack of quality educational institutions in Mardan and Nowshara District, many students travel daily to Risalpur in order to study at the relatively better educational institutions operated by the Armed Forces of Pakistan. The students who come to these institutions usually belong to the privileged class of the two districts, or their parents suffer through tremendous financial hardship in order to send their children to these schools.
On the other hand for under privileged there we have been no provincial Government High School or College for Girls, Parents send their daughters to near by High Schools and Colleges. Being a prominent area for education its very embarrassing for corrupt politician of District Nowshera to not have a provincial Government High School and College for Girls in Risalpur.
Risalpur has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa) which has hot and humid summers, and cold to mild winters.[citation needed]
