Kohistan

Intorduce yourself and share your city photos and tell us about your beautiful city of Kohistan.

Information:

Kohistan is a Persian word meaning mountainous region or highland (Koh = mountain; -istan = suffix -land).

The word Kohistan (کوہستان) in Persian literally means Country of the Hills. The Kohistan district has a rich local history as a crossroads between Central, South and Southwestern Asia. Predominantly inhabited by Dardic and Pashtun tribes since ancient times, Kohistan has been invaded and contested by Persians, Greeks, Scythians, Kushans, Turks,Afghans, Mughals and the British.

The River Indus flows through Kohistan and divides it socially and culturally. Kohistan is one of the least developed districts in the country and its national significance is the Karakurum Highway. This road is
the main source of trade, transportation and link between Pakistan and China. The ancient Silk Road has long been a thoroughfare for the tourists, traders and conquerors from Central Asia and in the past, business delegations would use this passage to travel up to Europe and the Little Asia (Kochak).

Kohistan is where the famous Hindukush, Karakuram and Himalayan mountain systems meet and serve as a natural boundary for environmental regions in the chains of Himalayan, Karakurum and Hindukush mountains. This uniqueness of the mountains system also results in rich flora and fauna and therefore gives home to unique species such as the Western Tragopan pheasant and the Snow Leopard.

District Kohistan covers an area of 7492 sq. Kilometres. The capital lies at Dassu and the District is divided into three Tehsil’s namely Palas, Pattan and Dassu. According to the demographic survey of 1981, the population of district Kohistan is about one million. The average literacy rate is around two percent, but the actual literacy rate based on the field data shows that this rate is three times more.

_________________
Regards,

Forum Pakistan
Be proud to be a Pakistani (instead of being a Punjabi, Sindhi, Baloch or Pushtoon)