Khukha
Encyclopedia
Jhelum District
Jhelum District is in the Punjab province of Pakistan. According the 1998 census the district had a population of 936,957, of which 31.48% were urban. Jhelum is known for providing a large number of soldiers to the British and later to the Pakistan armed forces due to which it is also known as...
, Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
, 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...
. It is a 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 Jhelum Tehsil
Jhelum Tehsil
Jhelum Tehsil is an administrative subdivision of Jhelum District in Punjab province, Pakistan. The tehsil is subdivided into 27 Union Councils and is heaquartered at the city of Jhelum.-History:...
and is a "model" village. It is located at 33°0'0N 73°33'0E with an altitude of 259 metres (853 feet) and lies 7 km west of Dina, 5 km north of Rohtas and 10 km north east of Tilla Jogian
Tilla Jogian
Tilla Jogian is the highest peak in the Eastern Salt Range in Punjab, Pakistan. At 975 meters above sea level, it is about 25 km to the west of Jhelum city and 10 km west of the model village of Khukha. The view from the top of Tilla is highly rewarding...
. Many people from here have emigrated to all over the world. Approximately 500 live in the UK.
The historical Grand Trunk Road
Grand Trunk Road
The Grand Trunk Road also formerly known as Uttarapatha, Shah Rah-e-Azam or Sadak-e-Azam or Badshahi Sadak is one of South Asia's oldest and longest major roads...
(before the British made the tarmac road) runs from north to south on the west side of the village leading to Rohtas and then onto Jhelum. There is a Bavali (deep water well) made by the Mughals on this route about 1 km to the north west of the village. There is now a new water supply which uses a new bore-hole (located near Baba Sher Shah's darbar) from where water is pumped to the new water tank (located near the jamia masjid) and water is supplied to almost the entire village.
There have been many people who have gone abroad from Khukha.
The first to go and live abroad was Haji Chaudhary Mohammed Sarwar (son of Chaudhary Ali Mohammed) who went to the UK in 1954 and died there in 1989. He is survived by his son Al-Haj Chaudhary Mohammed Yaqoob, BSc(Hons), FCA (Eng & Wales), FCA (Pak), Cert PFS. He is the first from Khukha to graduate in the UK and many have followed in his footsteps since.
The first person to immigrate to America from Khukha, was Mohammed Azam Choudhry. He worked at Mangla Dam Hospital(currently known as WAPDA Hospital)from 1964 as a stenographer. He helped many of his friends, and family from Khukha by recruiting them as labourers for the dam. He went to the US (Brooklyn,NYC) in 1974 with his wife and four children. They also lived in Queens, NYC. He worked at Sakura Bank on Park Ave, NYC. Since then, there are over 45 family members who have immigrated to the USA, and growing from Khukha. He died in October 2009, and taken back to Khukha, buried at the family burial plots, by his wishes. He is survived by his wife, two sons,two daughters, and 9 grandchildren, all residing in New Jersey, USA.