Chitral

Chitral or Chatral ( Urdu چترال ) means " field " in the language of Khowar. The city is located directly on the border with Afghanistan and is the capital of the district of Chitral. The place is located on the western shore of the so-called Kunar in Afghanistan, which is referred to in Pakistan as Chitral. The valley of Chitral is located at 1500 m above sea level.

The city lies near the 7708 m high Tirich Mir, the highest mountain in the Hindu Kush. In the village live about 20,000 people. The district Chitral has an area of ​​14,833 km ² and is inhabited by not more 320,000 people.

Geography

The picturesque valley of Chitral is dominated by the three peaks of Tirich Mir, which are according to the local belief, the seat of the gods. Chitral is the easiest to reach from the southwest along the Chitral-/Kunar-Tals of Jalalabad in Afghanistan. This road is passable all year on the direct route from the Afghan capital Kabul. Across the border from Pakistan - Afghanistan on the Durand Line, leads an international route to Peshawar, which is also used for the path to the south. All other ways of Chitral over mountain passes, in the south over the Lovari Pass, with a summit altitude of 3200 m to Peshawar. To the north is an easy-to -used route is in summer over the Broghol pass with 3798 m height from the Afghan Wakhan Corridor. This route is closed in winter months. To the east is a road of 405 km from Gilgit over the 3738 m high Shandur Pass. To the west of the Dorah Pass is to Afghanistan in the winter six months unusable. In this area there are rare falcons and the snow leopard. The routes and transport problem will be solved as soon as the Lovari tunnel is completed in the spring of 2010, which normalizes the transit time to Chitral as well as in the other regions of Pakistan and this even during the winter.

Language

Chitral linguistically takes a special role, as it is connected to the east-west axis and the north-south axis of the Silk Road at a crossroads of history. For this reason, had over time a lot of influences in Chitral, ranging from the far Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on Sodgien and Bactria as far away as Tibet and Mongolia. Likewise, Greeks, by Alexander the Great, and Persians, Huns and other peoples at times had specifically control of this valley.

Chitral is therefore regarded as one of the places where most local languages ​​were spoken in such a narrow space and are. The language that is most spoken in this area is Pakistani, Khowar (also known as Chitrali ), in addition to 13 other dialects. The population of the Kalashatals, the Kalasha speak their own language. Urdu is widely spoken and understood in most cities; the language of the Pashtuns is the understanding. The Khowar speak one of Dardischen languages ​​that are also spoken in parts of Yasin valley and in the districts of Gilgit, Ghizer and Swat. The language of the Pashtuns is there also partly spoken and understood in the cities.

Population

The largest ethnic group are the Khowar. Chitral but is also known for the famous Kalash, the native inhabitants that ruled in this region for centuries and were defeated later. The Kalasha are now living in an enclave in three valleys in the west Birir, Rumbur and Bamboret at Ayun, 16 km from Chitral.

The culture of Chitral Islamic and stands in contrast to the cities of Pakistan as well as to Gilgit District. Women are almost not visible, although they are moving on the roads. You wear burqas. There are also Nuristanis, Tajiks and Uzbeks in Chitral. The town has an airport ( IATA code: CJL, ICAO code: OPCH ).

Sports

Polo is next to football (soccer) the most -run sport. Numerous sports festivals are held in place throughout the year. Special attention is the famous polo tournament at the highest polo field in the world in 3728 m altitude at the Shandur Pass. From Chitral come football players such as Muhammad Rasool who plays for the national team of Pakistan. In Chitral, there are football clubs and sports clubs such as the Star football club goldoor, Mogholandeh.

History

The history of Chitral began with the Vedas and was started in the field of tension between Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam stood. Certificates of Hinduism are the temples at Chaghan Saray in Kunartal in the extreme east of Afghanistan.

The kingdom of Mehtar, kings of Chitral is divided into six time periods, was spoken in the Persian period from 400 BC in the Chitral in Persian. This was followed by 200 BC the Kushan period, which was replaced in the 4th century by the Chinese time. The Kalash, who came from Afghanistan, were defeated in the 11th century by Shah Nadir Rais. The Katur from Chitral ended the Raisdynastie in 1595 by Muhtaram Shah I..

In the northwestern part of the Durand line from Chitral, the historic Indian, Chinese and Russian empires, the expansion efforts were pursued. On the Afghan side of the border were the most not of the Muslim faith. This changed in the early 19th century when they were forcibly Islamized by Abd al -Rahman and the area Nuristan was known.

1895 Mehtar was killed on the hawking of his half-brother and created a power vacuum. The British sent troops to Chitral, met with fierce resistance, and fled to the castle of Chitral. Only after a six-week siege they were freed. In 1947, the state Chitral Pakistan joined in 1969 and eventually became permanently integrated.