Chiniot District

For other uses, see Chiniot.

Chiniot District
—  District  —
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
Capital	Chiniot
Established	2009
Government
- District Nazim	Zulfiqar Ali Shah
- District Naib Nazim	Shahid Hamid
Population (1998)
- Total	965,124
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
District Council
Number of Tehsils	3

Chiniot District (Urdu: ضلع چنیوٹ) became the 36th district of the Punjab province of Pakistan in February 2009.^[1] Earlier it was a tehsil of Jhang District.

History

Chiniot's name consists of two words of Punjabi, Chan and Ote, which translates as 'Behind the moon without light'. Some historians suggest the name takes its birth from "Cheen" means China and "wut" means border in local Jhangochi dialect. Thus they conclude that once in history the city was a border town of China named as Cheenwut which later on transformed into Chiniot. Until February 2009 Chiniot District formed part of Jhang District in the former Faisalabad Division. Chiniot forms a very important part of the historic area of Jhang District, the history of which goes back into antiquity. It is said that Alexander of Macedonia passed through the district while going back to Greece. But the first glimpse of this district appeared in 'Tuzk-e-Babari' written by Zaheerudin Babar, the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, in the year 1526. CE Chiniot was known for its mastercrafted furniture, not only in Pakistan, but all over the world. Its highly special and master craft Jharokhas are known in the whole country. Sheikh, Sayed, Qazi, Japaa, Chadhar, Haral, Khokhar, Rai and Khundowaa tribes are leading tribes ^[2]

On 2 February 2009, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif formally approved the creation of Chiniot as the 36th district of Punjab province.^[3] Calls for Chiniot to be made a district date back to 2005, when a movement was a launched to elevate the former tehsil to district level. The movement died down when the public were assured the next Nazim would be from Chiniot – however this was not to be the case.^[4]

Rana Tahir-the maiden DCO Chiniot along with Mr Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, raised the flag of Pakistan on DCO office on the fine morning of 1 July 2009. The efforts of Rana Tahir in giving a proper developed outlook to the infant district will find a place in history and cannot be over-emphasized. Mr Fayaz Sunbal was appointed as First DPO Chiniot.

Language

Punjabi is the native language of majority people. Urdu is also spoken.

Villages

Most of the villages in the districts are named Chak, which means outpost in the Urdu and Punjabi languages, and suffixed by a number. Many of the villages were planned and established by British engineers during the colonial period. These villages were planned mostly along canal banks to distribute the population evenly. Disst Chiniot start from union councile No 1 Kandiwal .In union no 1 most famous villige is LOLEY SHAREEF and it is modrenest village in this union. Ch. Ahmad Khan Chadhar (0313-2767076) is a famous personality of the village.

Satelitte Town

Satelitte Town is a town in District Chiniot. MQM Office, Hockey stadium, Election commission, Excise and textation, benazir income support, Sui gas, post office, zakat distribution office, are located in Satelitte Town.

Nalka Adda (Hussain Abad)

This area is situated at about 47 km away from Chiniot city and about 10 km from tehsil Bhowana and almost boundary town of Chiniot district. This area is in moza Thatta Muhammad Shah. In Hussainabad there are two private schools and one bank which is mcb bank. Hussainabad is the centre of trade for the villagers. In this moza there are several villages, which are:

1. Riazwala

This area is about 1.5 km from Hussainabad. This is on the name of a famous saint Sakhi Haji syed Riaz Hussain, whose sharine is situated in Wara Sadaat. This area is famous for its records corps. There is one basic health centre and primary school for boys and girls separately.

2. Wara Sadaat

It is very old village of moza thatta Muhammad shah. this town eas established by Hindus. Before independence this was centre of trade in the area. Wara is situated near Thatta Muhammad Shah.

3. Mehdiabad

It is about 1.5 km from Adda Nalka (Hussainabad) on Wara road.

4. Sumundri

This village is situated in a little desert on the bank of severage canal called seaam.

5. Raza Nagar

6. Kandiwal

Kandiwal is the 1st union council of the distt Chiniot. The famous folk singer Sanam Marvi is also a resident of Kandiwal.

8. Khujianwala

9. Mundanwala

10. Shankarwala

11. Ahmedaba

12. Murdianwala

13. Munawarabad

14. Taqiabad

15. Aliabad

There is one Middle school of boys and no any English medium school in the area. This whole area is under the influence of Sardars which are the landlords.

16. Ratta Pur Bala

It has fertile lands with small holdings. Important crops grown are wheat, rice, sugarcane, and maize. There are primery Schools for boys and girls. The entire village consists of only one caste "Balla". Most people of the village are illiterate. There are three tomb of "Olia-e-Kram". Most famous tomb is "Bava Syed Jhulan Shah". Annual Oras and Mela is continuing from Last 100 years.

Gatti Kamoka

Formerly known as Thatta Masta, Gatti Kamoka is also an important Chak (No. 152), lying in Tehsil Chiniot. It has fertile lands with small holdings. Important crops grown are wheat, rice, sugarcane, and maize. Fodder grown is supplied in Chiniot and Faisalabad markets.

Fauna and flora

The fauna and flora of the district include: Jand trees (Prosopis spicigera), Karir (Capparis aphylla), Beri (Zizyphus jajaba), Van (Salvadora abeoides), Kikar (Acacia arbica), Shisham (Dalbergia ) and Aak (Calotropois hamiltonit) are found within the district.^[5]

Architecture

The Omar Hayat Mahal (also known as Gulzar Manzil, is a 19th-century palace in Chiniot. (Badshahi Masjid ) it was built by Nawab Saad Ula Khan. It has same architecture as Shahi Masjid Lahore. Nawab Saad Ula was minister in the cabinet of the Mughal Empire.

Kalowal

Kalowal is a famous and historical village of Chiniot district, situated near the boundary line of Sargodha district.

There are many schools in Kalowal, including the Government High School for Boys, the Government High School for Girls, the Hassan Model High School, the Knowledge Seekers Academy, and various others.

Glotar clan

Glotar clan consists number of burj, Burj Umer, Burj Mal, Burj Malka and most prominent village is, Jhangher Glotran. These are situated on the bank of river Chenab.

References

1. ^ Archive | Your Source of News on the World Wide Web. Dawn.Com. Retrieved on 2011-11-04.
2. ^ TMA Chiniot Website. Tmachiniot.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-04.
3. ^ Chiniot gets district status: Rs500m for infrastructure. Dawn. Retrieved on 2011-11-04.
4. ^ Jhang nazim's choice sparks row in party. Dawn.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-04.
5. ^ Punjab Portal. Pportal.punjab.gov.pk (2008-08-26). Retrieved on 2011-11-04.