Parachinar

Parachinar (, ) is the capital of Kurram Agency, FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) of Pakistan. It is about 290 km west of the capital, Islamabad. It is situated on a neck of Pakistani territory south of Peshawar, that juts into Paktia Province in Afghanistan and is the closest point in Pakistan to Kabul and borders on the Tora Bora region in Afghanistan.

History

The name of the town Parachinar comes from a big tree of Chinar (Maple tree) at a place which now is encompassed by the headquarter offices of Kurram Agency. Also in Kurram Agency there is a tribe known as the Parakhel,which used to convene their meetings under this Chinar tree to resolve their social matters.. The old name of Parachinar is Tutki, when Kurram was apart of Afghanistan. And the inhabitant of Tutki are called Tutkiwal, even still the Afghan people called it Tutki.

Parachinar originated as a summer residence for nomadic tribes who wintered their livestock at lower altitudes, and the district had originally been a summer residence for Moghul emperors from Delhi. The Parachinar region was part of Afghanistan before the Second Afghan War of 1878-79, but was not firmly annexed by the British due to resistance from local tribes until 1892. During the colonial era between then and 1947 Parachinar became a hill station for people from Peshawar as it is relatively cool in the summer and very easy to reach from the plains despite its high altitude since there are no...
Read More