Bhakkar

Coordinates	22°28′26″N45°36′28″N
Name	Bhakkar
Settlement type
Native name	بھکر
Pushpin map	Pakistan
Pushpin label position	bottom
Pushpin map caption	Location in Pakistan
Pushpin mapsize	300
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates region	PK
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name
Subdivision type1	Province
Subdivision name1	Punjab
Subdivision type2	District
Subdivision name2	Bhakkar District
Subdivision type3	Tehsil
Subdivision name3	Bhakkar Tehsil
Leader title1
Established title
Established title2
Established title3
Unit pref	Imperial
Area total km2
Area land km2
Population blank1 title	Ethnicities
Population blank2 title	Religions
Timezone	PST
Utc offset	+5
Timezone dst	+6
Elevation footnotes
Elevation m	159
Postal code type
Blank name	Calling code
Blank info	0453
Blank1 name	Union councils
Blank1 info	42

Bhakkar (Urdu: بھکر, Seraiki Bakhar : بکھر) is the principal city of Bhakkar District, Punjab, Pakistan. It lies on the left bank of the Indus river. It has a population of almost 300,000 and was given status of district in 1981.

Administration

Bhakkar city is also the administrative centre of Bhakkar tehsil one of the four tehsils of the district. Bhakkar tehsil is sudivided into 17 Union Councils, three of which form the city of Bhakkar

History

Bhakkar was founded probably towards the close of the fifteenth century by a body of colonists from Dera Ismail Khan

British rule

During British rule Bhakkar Town was headquarters of Bhakkar tahsil (now Bhakkar District) in Mianwali District, and was on the North-Western Railway line. The municipality was created in 1874. Its income and expenditure during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 7,700. The income in 1903-4 was Rs. 7,500, chiefly derived from octroi; and the expenditure was Rs. 8,600. The population according to the 1901 census of India was 5,312, at that time the town contained a dispensary and a municipal vernacular middle school.

The Imperial Gazetteer of India described the town as follows:

Relics

The town has some historical places like the Dilkusha Bagh which is believed by some to be a Mughal garden built by Humayun, however Humayun never visited the area, on his retreat to Iran, he went to another Bakhar in Sindh to seek help from Mahmood Khan, which was however denied by historian Henry Raverty.

The old town was walled and had the Tavela, Imamanwala and King Gates, of the three the King Gate, which was built during the British period and was named after Mr King the then Deputy Commissioner of the Mianwali District, survives - since the end of colonial rule it has been renamed as the Jinnah Gate

This is a very scarce silver coin belonging to the reign of Nadir Shah 1148-1160 AH (1735–1747) of the Afsharid dynasty. It is an Indian type minted during his post-occupation of. It is listed by type as Album #2744.2 (Type D). It weighs 11.3 gr. (18 mm.) and minted in the city of Bhakkar in the state of Punjab in India, dated 1157AH.

Demography

Bhakkar is now a bustling town, with population of more than three hundred thousand.

Languages

Seraiki is the main languages of people. Urdu and Punjabi are also spoken by majority of people. There used to be a few Pashtuns in the area who spoke Pushto.

References

External links

Official website

Category:Populated places in Bhakkar District