Jehangira is a town in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is situated on the banks of River Kabul, which divides Jehangira into two union councils and districts. Eastern Jehangira is under Swabi district while western Jehangira is under the administration of Nowshera District.
Overview and history
According to the British record of 1870 for land information management in Indo-Pak, Jehangir Khan Awan founded this town in 1681 when Afzal Khan Khattak was the chieftain of Khattak tribe. In the beginning, it was known as Jehangir village but gradually became famous as Jehangira. In 1818 during Ranjit Singh invasion on Peshawar valley, Sikhs badly ruined Jehangira. But soon after, the Chieftain Abbas Khan Khattak, succeeded in reconciliation with Sikhs, as a result, Khattaks and Awans stopped resistance against Sikhism and returned to their homes with peace. Sikhs built an army post inside Jehangira to control the area and launched boats service across the river to connect the area with Peshawar. During British colonialism, as like their predecessors, they built a check post and police station at the bank of Kabul River and fastened a floating bridge over the river. Since the Pakistan Movement which led to the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the local government of Pakistan has been using the British's check-post as "Jehangira Police Station" and in 1970 an enforced hollow-core concrete bridge was constructed over the River, known as Jehangira bridge. The bridge first time came under water for few hours on 30 July, during 2010 floods. As the time passed, the village became more populated, most of the adjacent areas overlapped edge to edge, as a result many new markets and industries emerged in the area and Jehangira arose as "Jehangira town". On July 3, 2005, the North-West Frontier Province government had announced the delimitation of union council Jehangira, which merged it with Nowshera district from Swabi district and renamed it Jehangira-2.
Boundaries
Wide boundaries of Jehangira town touch the mountains of Khawri behind Jehangira Railway station in the west. The southern shore of Indus river sets the border with Punjab, Pakistan. Tordhair town and Ala Dher Village on the east and village Mian-Esa and Jalbai are located in the North of Jehangira.
Climate
The climate of Jehangira town is similar to Islamabad but sometimes more humid due to the streams of Kabul and Indus Rivers. In the summer days, chain of Rocky Mountains and desolate area in the northwest brings hot dusty winds in the area.
People and cultures
Some Inhabitants of Jehangira town is a mixture of Pashtoon clans migrated from different parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Population units
Several hamlets were incorporated with Jehangira, their names with brief introductions are as follow: Jehangira village : Also known as Pushtoons Village because of Pushto language,and majority of pashtoons, like Yousafzai, miangan, mullayan, awaran, chachakhel, khankhel etc. this is the fundamental population of the town since 1681. Population of 42 thousand and leading by Ch. Imdad Ullah who is serving them for long time. And in 2005 election Muhammad Ismail Khan was elected as Nazim of Union council jehangira. And in Local Body election Imdadullah elected as district member and muhammad ismail khan elected as tehsil member of jehangira. Mardgan village: Secondary population resided by Sikh-Raj in 1818 for the purpose of boating services in Kabul River. "Mardgan" is a Pushto word which means "Boatmen or Sailors"; majority of the people of this village area speak Hindko but all of them are not Margan or "Boatmen", while some pushtoon families are also found among them. New hamlets : There are some newly populated areas like Mera, Kodray, Hayatabad, New-Nehr, ismail abad, Marab, Budai-Kamar, Garha, Karkhana, Zorh Nehr, Shekh baba and Mia-Esa road etc. Dubandi Bazaar : Located near the junction of Swabi road with historical highway Jurnaily Road. In the beginning, there were few temporary shelters for foodstuffs and tea sellers at bus stand and Railway station of Jehangira. Gradually, as the population grew up, Dubandi became a real bazaar and a famous shopping center in the area. Dherri Khattak : Located in the north near Jehangira railway station, famous for Volleyball game. The majority of Dehri Khattak is Hindko speak.
Mausoleums and cemeteries
About of area consists of graveyards in various locations at eastern town. Tomb of Badu Baba is in the north-east and Lakai bebyane are in the south of the town. Tomb of Sheikh baba is located on the eastern bank of Kabul river. A Hindu "Baniya" was converted to Islam in 1834 and preached Islam for the rest of his life. An urs is celebrated annually on 12th of Rabi Alawal on his Mazzar.
Notable people
Major Baseer Ahmad Khattak, Ex DEDAC Chairman Nowshera. Muhammad Ismail Khan Merajuddin Khan from nowshera founder of iqra education system kpk and naib ameer ji kp Imdad ullah khan HAJI RAJ WALI KHAN Air Chief Marshal Mohammad Abbas Khattak NI, SBt Engineer Malik Bilal Khan
Brigadier Muhammad Usman Khan Riasat Sarhadi Founding member of Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf in Kpk. Founder of Pakistan School and College. Ex Chairman of the Press club Jehangira.
