Behali
Encyclopedia
Bahali is a village
and union council
(an administrative subdivision) of the Mansehra District
in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan
. Bahali is part of Mansehra Tehsil
and is located at the boundary area of the Mansehra district
and the Abbottabad district
, west from the Karakurram highway at Qalanderabad. It is a valley surrounded by mountains. The Turk tribe is the main tribe
of Bahali. This valley is surrounded by high mountains from all sides.
Raja Masoodurehman is Nazim
of Union Council Bahali.
s and its final restoration by the Karlugh Turks, descendants of the former rulers of Pakhli Sarkar
. These Karlugh Turks are still one of the influential tribes in the Hazara
area.
and Mangal
till the arrival of the Sikhs in 1817-18 A.D.Sultan Qiusuddin Khan was the last Wali(Governor) of Lower Tanawal area and the younger brother of Sultan Mehmud Khurd.Raja Habib was the son of Sultan Qiyasuddin. He continued to put up resistance against the surmounting pressure from Tanoli tribes. Finally Tanolis pushed the Turks towards the mountaneous areas between Richbehn to Bahali.The Turks now established their headquarter at Kakot.Raja Anayat Khan was now leading the resistance against Tanolis.Raja Asalat son of Raja Anayat settled in Bahali.The Turks of Bahali were deprived of further areas during the 1872 settlement. Under the settlement, they continued to possess about thirty thousand (30000) kanals
, equivalent to 7500 acres (30.4 km²) of lands between RichhBehn (Abbottabad) and Bahali (Mansehra). The Turks constructed a fort between Kakot and Mochikot, called the Mochikot fort. This fort proved to be a very strong place of resistance for Turks because of its hilltop location. One wall of this fort is still intact.
and stayed with their relatives in Thangar Shawai Turkan. After General Hari Singh Nalwa invited them back to resettle in Bahali, they finally returned around one and a half years later. Disputes developed again with the Sikhs and the Bahali Turks took asylum in the Mochikot fort. Raja Asalat passed his last days in Richhbehn. He is buried in Sohlan Bala near the Kot-reen graveyard.
Raja Paras Khan, with the help of his brother Raja Maazullah Khan (both brave sons of Raja Asalat Khan), established control over the jageer on strong footing and started residing permanently in Bahali. The Sikh rule was generally miserable for the Turks of Behali so the Turks joined British forces to overthrow Sikhs like all other tribes of Hazara.
After Raja Maazulla Khan was murdered under mysterious conditions, Raja Paras Khan continued to fight against adversaries and rose to prominence. He succeeded in regaining Turks lost authority and finally the Turks got permanent control in a sizeable area between Bahali and Richhbehn (about 24 villages, or 45 thousand kanals). Areas between Richhbehn and Bahali remained in the control of these Turks till the creation of Pakistan.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and union council
Union Councils of Pakistan
A sherwan or village council in Pakistan is an elected local government body consisting of 21 councillors, and headed by a nazim and a naib nazim...
(an administrative subdivision) of the Mansehra District
Mansehra District
Mansehra District is in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, an area still unofficially known as the Northwest Frontier. Mansehra district and town are named after Man Singh, a leading general of Mughal Emperor Akbar...
in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Bahali is part of Mansehra Tehsil
Mansehra Tehsil
Mansehra Tehsil is a subdivision of Mansehra District in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.-History:During British Rule, Mansehra was a tehsil of Hazara District, the boundaries of the tehsil were described as follows by the Imperial Gazetteer of India:"Tahsīl of Hazāra District,...
and is located at the boundary area of the Mansehra district
Mansehra District
Mansehra District is in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, an area still unofficially known as the Northwest Frontier. Mansehra district and town are named after Man Singh, a leading general of Mughal Emperor Akbar...
and the Abbottabad district
Abbottabad District
Abbottabad is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The district covers an area of 1,969 km with the city of Abbottabad being the principal town...
, west from the Karakurram highway at Qalanderabad. It is a valley surrounded by mountains. The Turk tribe is the main tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
of Bahali. This valley is surrounded by high mountains from all sides.
Raja Masoodurehman is Nazim
Nazim
A nazim is the coordinator of cities and towns in Pakistan. Nazim is the title in Urdu of the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council....
of Union Council Bahali.
Etymology
Behali is actually a distortion of the word Bahali, which means "restoration." Tradition holds that the reason the village was named Bahali was due to its successive destruction by various tribes and SikhSikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
s and its final restoration by the Karlugh Turks, descendants of the former rulers of Pakhli Sarkar
Pakhli
Pakhli was an ancient sarkar of the Mughal Subah of Punjab, now part of Hazara, Pakistan. It roughly corresponds to the ancient Urasa, the Aρσa or Οΰaρσa which Ptolemy placed between the Bidaspes and the Indus....
. These Karlugh Turks are still one of the influential tribes in the Hazara
Hazara Division
On the dissolution of West Pakistan in 1970, Hazara District and the two tribal agencies were merged to form the new Hazara Division with its capital at Abbottabad...
area.
History
After the fall and disintegration of the Turkic Pakhli Sarkar, the Turks continued their rule in the areas between SherwanSherwan
Sherwan is a Union council of Abbottabad District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, located 35 km west of Abbottabad.The population of Sherwan Town is over 25000.The local language is Hindko while Urdu is also understood and spoken by local people...
and Mangal
Mangal (tribe)
The Mangal are one of the largest and perhaps the most powerful and influential Pashtun tribes, residing in Southeastern Paktia and adjacent Khost provinces of Afghanistan The Mangals are known for their independent nature, and have a long history of resisting British forces, central and provincial...
till the arrival of the Sikhs in 1817-18 A.D.Sultan Qiusuddin Khan was the last Wali(Governor) of Lower Tanawal area and the younger brother of Sultan Mehmud Khurd.Raja Habib was the son of Sultan Qiyasuddin. He continued to put up resistance against the surmounting pressure from Tanoli tribes. Finally Tanolis pushed the Turks towards the mountaneous areas between Richbehn to Bahali.The Turks now established their headquarter at Kakot.Raja Anayat Khan was now leading the resistance against Tanolis.Raja Asalat son of Raja Anayat settled in Bahali.The Turks of Bahali were deprived of further areas during the 1872 settlement. Under the settlement, they continued to possess about thirty thousand (30000) kanals
Kanal (unit)
-Description:A kanal is a traditional unit of land area in northern areas of Pakistan and also in the states of north India - Punjab , Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh; equal to 20 marlas...
, equivalent to 7500 acres (30.4 km²) of lands between RichhBehn (Abbottabad) and Bahali (Mansehra). The Turks constructed a fort between Kakot and Mochikot, called the Mochikot fort. This fort proved to be a very strong place of resistance for Turks because of its hilltop location. One wall of this fort is still intact.
Rehabilitation
Raja Asalat Khan was the first person who settled in Bahali around 1795. However, the Turks were dislodged from Behali by Sikhs in 1817. These Bahali Turks migrated to KashmirKashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
and stayed with their relatives in Thangar Shawai Turkan. After General Hari Singh Nalwa invited them back to resettle in Bahali, they finally returned around one and a half years later. Disputes developed again with the Sikhs and the Bahali Turks took asylum in the Mochikot fort. Raja Asalat passed his last days in Richhbehn. He is buried in Sohlan Bala near the Kot-reen graveyard.
Raja Paras Khan, with the help of his brother Raja Maazullah Khan (both brave sons of Raja Asalat Khan), established control over the jageer on strong footing and started residing permanently in Bahali. The Sikh rule was generally miserable for the Turks of Behali so the Turks joined British forces to overthrow Sikhs like all other tribes of Hazara.
After Raja Maazulla Khan was murdered under mysterious conditions, Raja Paras Khan continued to fight against adversaries and rose to prominence. He succeeded in regaining Turks lost authority and finally the Turks got permanent control in a sizeable area between Bahali and Richhbehn (about 24 villages, or 45 thousand kanals). Areas between Richhbehn and Bahali remained in the control of these Turks till the creation of Pakistan.