Rawalpindi District

Rawalpindi () is a district of Pakistan in the north of the Punjab province which contains the city of Rawalpindi. The district has an area of . It was part of Rawalpindi Division, until the year 2000 when the division was abolished. It is situated on the southern slopes of the north-western extremities of the Himalayas, including large mountain tracts with rich valleys traversed by mountain rivers. It contains the Murree hills and the sanatorium of the same name, the chief hill station in the Punjab. The chief rivers are the Indus and the Jhelum, and the climate is noted for its health benefits.

Demography

According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the population of the district was 3,363,911 of which 53.03% were urban,

The main tribes of the district are the Gakhars (kiani), Janjua, Awans, Gujjar, Jats, Rajput, Sheikh, Abbasi, Bhatti, Chauhan , Mughals, Qureshi, Rawal, Satti and Sayyid.

History

Ancient history

In ancient times the whole or the greater part of the area between the Indus and the Jhelum seems to have belonged to a Turanian race called Takkas or Takshakas, who gave their name to the city of Takshasila. Known as Taxila by the Greek...
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