Akora Khattak


Akora Khattak or Sarai Akora is a town in Jehangira tehsil of Nowshera District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Nowshera Cantonment is located to the east while Jahangira town is located west of Akora Khattak.

Overview and history

Akora Khattak is located around 14-km to the east of Nowshera city in Nowshera District on Grand Trunk Road. Akora Khattak was formerly called Sarai Akora, and is named after Malik Akor Khan Khattak, who was the great-grandfather of the famous Pashtun warrior and poet, Khushal Khan Khattak.

Sher Shah Suri period

When the emperor “Sher Shah Suri’s army dug two wells in this place and made it a rest place and named the place Sarai Malik Pura. Caravans came from the Central Asia for trading purpose and stayed at this place.

Mughal period

In 1581 Mughal emperor Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar came to Peshawar to finish the mutiny of his brother ‘Mirza Hakeem’ and stayed there for a few years. During this stay, he met with all the tribal chiefs for the betterment of the area. In the meeting the name of Malik Akor Khan often came up. It was reported to the emperor that Malik Akor Khan was a robber and often robbed the troops on the highway. He lived at Neelab and continually created problems for the Mughal government. The emperor Jalal-ud-din Mohammad Akbar decided to resolve this problem by making Malik Akor Khan a government servant and charged him with the responsibility of collecting tolls from the caravans on the crossing of the Indus at Attock.
Malik Akor Khan came to the Sarai Malik Pura for this purpose and made this area his living place. In time this place was renamed as Sarai Akora which later became “Akora Khattak”.

Sikh period

In 1820 Sikhs of Panjab conquered Peshawar and other Pathan areas and ruled it up to 1849. In 1826 the Mujahidin-I-Islam fought a battle against Sikhs at this place. In 1834 Sardar lehna Singh built the fort of Akora Khattak near the river Kabul.

British period

The British period starts from 29 August 1849. In 1809 the colonial Indian administrator and later Governor Of Bombay, Mountstuart Elphinstone visited Peshawar.
The cantt. of Akora Khattak was established in 1850 and at 23 March 1851 Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General of India, visited the place.
In 1916 the first police station of Akora Khattak was established.

Population

The population of Akora Khattak, according to 2017 consensus, is 47,255 . The population of Akora Khattak, according to official consensus, over the years is shown in the table below.

Consensus YearPopulation
19617954
197211,191
198113,788
199819,530
201747,255

Historical places

Akora Khattak has many historical places. The most famous are Tomb of Khushal Khan Khattak, Shrine of Akhund Adyan Baba Seljoki, Darul Uloom Haqqania, Khushal Khan Khattak Memorial Library and museum.

Tomb of Khushal Khan Khattak

Akora Khattak is the birthplace and burial place of the poet great pashto poet and warrior Khushal Khan Khattak. The mausoleum of Khushal Khan was built in 1949.

Shrine of Akhund Adyan Baba Seljoki

Among the historical places of Akora Khattak, Shrine of Great Turki Sufi Master and aalim Qutb e Aalam Sheikh Akhund Adyan is situated near Kabul river. The road in front of the shrine itself traces back to Sher Shah suri regime, the road is called Shahi laar or royal road. Starting from civil hospital to military camp. The descendants of Sheik Akhund Adyan Baba Seljuki are living in Ziarat kaka Sahib and called Qazyan or Qazi. Sheikh Akhund Adyan Baba died in 1074 AH. Sheikh was teacher of Kaka Sahib.Outside the tomb of Akhun Adyan baba the grave of Shahbaz Khan Khattak is lying. Due to his religious sacrifices of that time Mughal government built his fort like area for his shrine.

Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania

Darul Uloom-e-haqqania was founded by Maulana Abdul Haq along with his companion Haji Mohammad Yousaf in 1947. It is the second largest Islamic religious seminary in Pakistan. More than 8000 students have been educated there.

Khushal Khan Khattak memorial library

Akora Khan also has Khushal Khan Khattak Memorial Library and a small museum. Library was established in 1994 in the memory of Khushal Khan Khattak. The museum has many medieval era artefacts, some of which were used by Khushal Khan Khattak.

Rang Mahal

Rang mahal of Mughal era situated near meera akora Khattak. It was built by Mughals for their rest.

Education

Schools and Colleges
Academies
Jamal Ul Quran Online Academy
Akora khattak
Institutes
The youth of Akora Khattak are very active in every field of sport but unfortunately there are few facilities available for their use.
However, cricket, volleyball, bodybuilding are sports played in akora khattak. Recently, Paragliding was also performed in Akora Khattak.

Notable people