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Hazara Division ہزارہ ڈویژن هزاره څانګه | |
|---|---|
 Hazara Division (red) inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Headquarters | Abbottabad |
| Districts | 9 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Divisional Administration |
| • Commissioner | Aamir Sultan Tareen(BPS-20 PAS) |
| • Regional police officer | Tahir Ayub Khan(BPS-20 PSP) |
| Area | |
• Division | 17,064 km2 (6,588 sq mi) |
| Population (2023) | |
• Division | 6,188,736 |
| • Density | 362.68/km2 (939.33/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 634,914 (10.26%) |
| • Rural | 5,553,822 (89.74%) |
| Native Speakers | |
| • Speakers | |
| Literacy | |
| • Literacy rate |
|
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
| Area code | CNIC: 13 |
| Website | chd |
Hazara Division, located along theIndus River in Pakistan'sKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province, serves as anadministrative region of the province, encompassing nine districts:Abbottabad,Allai District[4],Battagram,Haripur,Kolai-Palas,Lower Kohistan,Mansehra,Torghar, andUpper Kohistan.[5]
Hazara Division is located in the east of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province - to the west it is bordered byMalakand andMardan divisions of the province - to the south it is bordered by theRawalpindi Division ofPunjab andIslamabad Capital Territory, to the east byAzad Kashmir and to the north byGilgit-Baltistan.[6]
During thecolonial era Hazara Division (then Hazara District) had been part ofPeshawar Division[7] and was made up of three tehsils namely Haripur, Mansehra and Abbottabad[8] - following the dissolution ofWest Pakistan in 1970,Hazara District and the two tribal agencies were merged to create the new Hazara Division, with Abbottabad designated as its capital. Initially, the division comprised two districts: Abbottabad and Mansehra. Over the next few years, administrative changes led to the creation of two additional districts—Haripur was carved out of Abbottabad District, and Batagram was separated from Mansehra District.
Hazara functioned as a district until 1976, when it was formally upgraded to a division. In October of that year, Mansehra was granted full district status, encompassing the tehsils of Mansehra and Batagram. Later, in July 1991, Haripur Tehsil was separated from Abbottabad and established as an independent district. This left only the original Abbottabad Tehsil, which was then officially became Abbottabad District.
In 2000, Pakistan abolished its administrative divisions, elevating districts to serve as the new third tier of government. At the time of abolition, Hazara Division consisted of eight districts.[9]
However, in 2008, administrative divisions were reinstated, and Hazara Division was formally re-established.
| Year | Event | Tehsil Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Hazara District and two tribal agencies merged to form Hazara Division (capital: Abbottabad) | Hazara District included Abbottabad, Mansehra, and Haripur tehsils |
| 1970s | Haripur District created from Abbottabad; Batagram District created from Mansehra | Haripur Tehsil became Haripur District; Batagram Tehsil separated from Mansehra |
| 1976 | Hazara formally upgraded to division status; Mansehra becomes a full district | Mansehra District comprised Mansehra and Batagram tehsils |
| 1991 | Haripur Tehsil separated from Abbottabad and made into a district | Abbottabad Tehsil was then split into Havelian and Abbottabad tehsils forming the tehsils of Abbottabad District |
| 2000 | Administrative divisions abolished; Hazara Division dissolved | Districts functioned independently; tehsil structure remained intact |
| 2008 | Administrative divisions reinstated; Hazara Division restored | Hazara Division included Abbottabad, Mansehra, Haripur, Batagram, and later Kohistan and Torghar districts |
According to the2023 census, Hazara Division division had a population of 6,188,736[10] roughly equal to the nation ofBulgaria[11] or the US state ofMissouri.[12]
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | ... | — |
| 1961 | ... | — |
| 1972 | ... | — |
| 1981 | 2,701,257 | — |
| 1998 | 3,505,581 | +1.54% |
| 2017 | 5,325,121 | +2.22% |
| 2023 | 6,188,736 | +2.54% |
| Sources:[13] | ||
The increase in population from 1981 to 2023 was 129.1% equivalent to an average increase of approximately 1.96% per annum.
The main ethnic groups are:
Hazara culture day is celebrated in the division as something that unites the people of the region.[17]
The census of 2023 recorded the main languages of Hazara Division - as can be seen from the below chart, Hindko (unlike elsewhere in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province) was the main language of this area.[18]
Shown below are the historic census details for what was then the Hazara District of British India'sNorth-West Frontier Province when it was part ofPeshawar Division.
| Religious group | 1881[20] | 1891[21] | 1901[22] | 1911[23] | 1921[24] | 1931[25] | 1941[26] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
Islam | 385,759 | 94.76% | 488,453 | 94.61% | 533,120 | 95.15% | 572,972 | 95.02% | 591,058 | 94.97% | 636,794 | 95.03% | 756,004 | 94.95% |
Hinduism | 19,843 | 4.87% | 23,983 | 4.65% | 23,031 | 4.11% | 24,389 | 4.04% | 26,038 | 4.18% | 25,260 | 3.77% | 30,267 | 3.8% |
Sikhism | 1,381 | 0.34% | 3,609 | 0.7% | 4,036 | 0.72% | 5,489 | 0.91% | 4,850 | 0.78% | 7,630 | 1.14% | 9,220 | 1.16% |
Christianity | 90 | 0.02% | 236 | 0.05% | 101 | 0.02% | 178 | 0.03% | 403 | 0.06% | 432 | 0.06% | 737 | 0.09% |
Jainism | 0 | 0% | 3 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
Zoroastrianism | 0 | 0% | 4 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
Buddhism.svg) | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 2 | 0% |
Judaism | — | — | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Others | 2 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Total population | 407,075 | 100% | 516,288 | 100% | 560,288 | 100% | 603,028 | 100% | 622,349 | 100% | 670,117 | 100% | 796,230 | 100% |
| Note:British North-West Frontier Province era figures are forHazara District, which roughly corresponds to present-day Hazara Division. | ||||||||||||||
Hazara Division contains the following districts:[27]
| # | District | Headquarter | Area (km2)[28] | Pop. (2023) | Density (ppl/km2) (2023) | Lit. rate (2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abbottabad | Abbottabad | 1,967 | 1,419,072 | 721.6 | 77.34% |
| 2 | Allai | Allai Valley | 521 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 3 | Battagram | Battagram | 1,301 | 554,133 | 425.9 | 39.09% |
| 4 | Haripur | Haripur | 1,725 | 1,174,783 | 681.3 | 74.88% |
| 5 | Kolai Palas | Kolai | 1,410 | 280,162 | 198.7 | 18.80% |
| 6 | Lower Kohistan | Pattan | 642 | 340,017 | 529.5 | 22.05% |
| 7 | Mansehra | Mansehra | 4,125 | 1,797,177 | 435.6 | 63.79% |
| 8 | Torghar | Judba | 454 | 200,445 | 441.6 | 29.74% |
| 9 | Upper Kohistan | Dasu | 5,440 | 422,947 | 77.8 | 19.05% |
The following are a list oftehsils in Hazara Division along with their respective districts.
Note: Website message predates the creation of Allai District.
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The erstwhile Hazara division, incorporating Abbottabad, Haripur, extending further into Swat have a substantial population of Gujjars a pastoral tribe.
The Gujjars also live in Hazara. They are also numerous in Dir, Swat, and Bajaur, where they speak Pashtu, through on the borders of Dir and Asmar they retain their Indian speech.
Sprinkled throughout Kohistan and Upper Hazara, and even extend-ing into Buner are a nomadic-type people known as Gujars.
Unlike other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Hazara division has a sprinkling of non-Pashtun population, represented by Gujars, Khokhars and other hill tribes who speak Hinduki (Hindko) as their mother tongue.
Gujar populations are spread all over the country in urban and rural areas of all the five provinces. They are found everywhere in Hazara division especially in the Mansehra, Haripur and Abbottabad districts. They once owned a tract of 84 villages in the center of Hazara including the Channai Hazara. The chief of Gujar Tribe of Hazara was the ever-mentioned Mokaddam Mir Ahmad Gujar, the jagirdar of Kot Najibulla (Watson, 1907). Gujars are in simple majority in Mansehra and Haripur Districts, especially in Kaghan Valley.
