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Tank (Pakistan)
Encyclopedia
Tank or Tonk is the capital city of Tank District
, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
. The city's location near Waziristan
.
and close to the Takht-i-Sulaiman Range. Tank is hot and humid in summer. It's a minor yet thriving city at the west bank of the Indus river.
To the far western side of the city lies the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
abbreviated to FATA
making Tank the gateway to the no-mans land as the FATA is commonly perceived. The mainly Pashtun
tribes that inhabit the area are fiercely independent, but until recently the tribes had very friendly relations with Pakistan.
In the book Tank: Crossroads to the Frontier Tribes by Molly Pont, an English Missionary surgeon who came to Tank in 1983 the town was described as follows:
The current incumbent of Tank National Assembly seat (NA24) is Maulana Atta ur Rehman of JUI (F) who is also the brother of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. But Maulana Attaur Rehman has not visited the area even once in last four years. This has considerably eroded the political base of JUI F.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is very active in the area and lost last elections with a very slim margin. Faisal Karim Kundi has announced his plans to contest next elections from Tank. On the other hand Dawar Khan Kundi is giving him a tough time by forming alliances with local tribal leaders.
Pakistan Tehrike Insaaf (PTI) is making inroads in the area despite no previous track record of contesting elections in this area. Many notable people of the area including Abdul Quayyum Khan Kundi
has joined the party which has provided them a considerable clout. Ahmed Kundi son of Babu Khan has also joined the party and expected to contest elections from Tank area.
The town was founded by Katal Khan, the first Nawab
of Tank, the Imperial Gazetteer of India (written in the early 20th century) describes the town as follows:
"It stands on the left batik of a ravine which issues from
the Tank Larn pass, 40 miles north-west of Dera Ismail Khan
town.
A mud wall surrounds the town, 12 feet in height and 7 feet thick, with numerous towers and two or three gates, but it is in bad repair. The fort, now in ruins, is an enormous pile of mud about 250 yards square. The walls, faced with back, enclose a citadel 40 feet high". It was the residence of a Nawab of Tank (Shah Nawaz Khan) from Katti Khel family, who formerly exercised semi-independent powers.
, lieutenant-governor of the Punjab
, was killed in 1870 when passing on an elephant
under a gateway. Dubbed as the Little England, this town is a staging point for most of the tribes of the region
During British rule
, Tank was the Headquarters of Tank Tehsil which was then a subdivision of Dera Ismail Khan District. The population of the town according to the 1901 census of India was 4,402.
Tank was declared a 'notified area
' in 1893. The municipal income in 1903-4 was Rs. 11,500,' chiefly derived from octroi
; and the expenditure was Rs. 9,100. Timber and ghi were brought down from the hills of Waziristan in considerable quantities, while the exports included grain, cloth, tobacco, and other luxuries. Sir Henry Durand, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, lost his life here in 1870, from injuries received while passing on an elephant under a gateway. He was buried at Dera Ismail Khan.
the British were forced to penetrate into the territory of Tank to control them. In 1925 the British used Tank as a base to conduct air operations against the Mahsud tribe
.
Tank District
Tank , is the southern district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, the city of Tank is the capital of the district, which consists Union Council City I and Union Council City II. There are totally sixteen Union councils of district Tank. Tank was formerly part of district Dera Ismail...
, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 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...
. The city's location near Waziristan
Waziristan
Waziristan is a mountainous region near the Northwest of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . The area is entirely populated by ethnic Pashtuns . The language spoken in the valley is Pashto/Pakhto...
.
Location
It is located at 32º13' N. and 70º32' E and is situated to the north-west of the Indus RiverIndus River
The Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
and close to the Takht-i-Sulaiman Range. Tank is hot and humid in summer. It's a minor yet thriving city at the west bank of the Indus river.
To the far western side of the city lies the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
abbreviated to FATA
Fata
The FATA or FC-ATA is a type of computer hard disk drive. FATA is simply the low cost ATA or SATA disk drive equipped with a small external converter, that changes the interface to Fibre Channel...
making Tank the gateway to the no-mans land as the FATA is commonly perceived. The mainly Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
tribes that inhabit the area are fiercely independent, but until recently the tribes had very friendly relations with Pakistan.
In the book Tank: Crossroads to the Frontier Tribes by Molly Pont, an English Missionary surgeon who came to Tank in 1983 the town was described as follows:
Politics
Tank politics is dominated by tribal affiliations rather than national or regional issues. This paternalistic approach to politics has not served the region well as basic amenities of life like health, education, jobs and security has not improved in last sixty years. The lack of education has served the politics of maliks to keep the people under their influence.The current incumbent of Tank National Assembly seat (NA24) is Maulana Atta ur Rehman of JUI (F) who is also the brother of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. But Maulana Attaur Rehman has not visited the area even once in last four years. This has considerably eroded the political base of JUI F.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is very active in the area and lost last elections with a very slim margin. Faisal Karim Kundi has announced his plans to contest next elections from Tank. On the other hand Dawar Khan Kundi is giving him a tough time by forming alliances with local tribal leaders.
Pakistan Tehrike Insaaf (PTI) is making inroads in the area despite no previous track record of contesting elections in this area. Many notable people of the area including Abdul Quayyum Khan Kundi
Abdul Quayyum Khan Kundi
Abdul Quayyum Khan Kundi is a Pakistani businessman and political activist. He was elected as president of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA in 2010. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of getTickets, LLC and Interactive Ventures...
has joined the party which has provided them a considerable clout. Ahmed Kundi son of Babu Khan has also joined the party and expected to contest elections from Tank area.
Foundation
The city was situated inside a fort, a trench was dug around it and filled with water. When the British came they called it Tank.The town was founded by Katal Khan, the first Nawab
Nawab
A Nawab or Nawaab is an honorific title given to Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. It is the Muslim equivalent of the term "maharaja" that was granted to Hindu rulers....
of Tank, the Imperial Gazetteer of India (written in the early 20th century) describes the town as follows:
"It stands on the left batik of a ravine which issues from
the Tank Larn pass, 40 miles north-west of Dera Ismail Khan
Dera Ismail Khan
Dera Ismail Khan is a city in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. It is situated on the west bank of the Indus River, west of Lahore and northwest of Multan. The city is the capital of the district and tehsil of the same name. In Pakistan, its name is often abbreviated to D. I...
town.
A mud wall surrounds the town, 12 feet in height and 7 feet thick, with numerous towers and two or three gates, but it is in bad repair. The fort, now in ruins, is an enormous pile of mud about 250 yards square. The walls, faced with back, enclose a citadel 40 feet high". It was the residence of a Nawab of Tank (Shah Nawaz Khan) from Katti Khel family, who formerly exercised semi-independent powers.
British rule
After defeating the Sikhs, Tank came under British control, here Sir Henry DurandHenry Marion Durand
Sir Henry Marion Durand was a British soldier and colonial administrator.-Career:After training at the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe , Durand left Britain for India in 1829, arriving in May 1830. He served initially as Second Lieutenant in the Bengal Engineers...
, lieutenant-governor of the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, was killed in 1870 when passing on an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
under a gateway. Dubbed as the Little England, this town is a staging point for most of the tribes of the region
During British rule
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, Tank was the Headquarters of Tank Tehsil which was then a subdivision of Dera Ismail Khan District. The population of the town according to the 1901 census of India was 4,402.
Tank was declared a 'notified area
Notified area
In urban planning, a notified area is any land area earmarked by legal provision for future development. The term is used in the Hindi belt region of North India....
' in 1893. The municipal income in 1903-4 was Rs. 11,500,' chiefly derived from octroi
Octroi
Octroi is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption.-Antiquity:Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, being known in Roman times as vectigalia...
; and the expenditure was Rs. 9,100. Timber and ghi were brought down from the hills of Waziristan in considerable quantities, while the exports included grain, cloth, tobacco, and other luxuries. Sir Henry Durand, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, lost his life here in 1870, from injuries received while passing on an elephant under a gateway. He was buried at Dera Ismail Khan.
Tank seen as a centre for negotiation
The British negotiated with the tribes through their agents in the border towns and Tank was a centre of negotiation with the Mahsud tribe - the Nawab of Tank having married a Mahsud wife. For the Britishers the Mahsud tribe was the most difficult to control, and in 1860 when the Mahsuds attacked the British with a 3000 strong LashkarLashkar
Lashkar , a Persian word for army, may refer to:* Lascar, a type of sailor or Militiaman employed by the British in South Asia.* A town in Madhya Pradesh that is now part of the Gwalior municipality in India...
the British were forced to penetrate into the territory of Tank to control them. In 1925 the British used Tank as a base to conduct air operations against the Mahsud tribe
Pink's War
Pink's War was an air to ground bombardment and strafing carried out by the Royal Air Force, under the command of Wing Commander Richard Charles Montagu Pink, against the mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in South Waziristan in March and April 1925....
.
Taliban
In the last few years, Taliban influence has grown in the area, lately the Taliban has fractured into rivals groups, on 24 June violence broke between the rival factions in Tank Bazar.In Tang Bazar They Broke Out The Computer Shop Nice Internet Cafe and Theft the all Computer Systems and Cash Money of the shop.Notable People
- Muhammad Yaqoob is a famous bloggers and social media strategist. He currently works at University of Gujrat, Punjab as Management Consultant to Vie Chancellor. He belongs to Marwat tribe.
- Qayyum Marwat is a Pushtu famous writer. He has been awarded Khushal Khan Khattak Adabi Award by President Farooq Laghari for one of his famous book "Putt Makhoona". He belongs to Marwat Tribe and is currently now settled in Kohat.
Languages
People in the region speak native languages like Hindko and other languages such as:- HindkoHindko languageHindko , also Hindku, or Hinko, is the sixth main regional language of Pakistan. It forms a subgroup of Indo-Aryan languages spoken by Hindkowans in Pakistan and northern India, some Pashtun tribes in Pakistan, as well as by the Hindki people of Afghanistan...
- Saraki
- PunjabiPunjabi languagePunjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
- Pushtu
- Marwat
- PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
- Hurmanr
Climate
The climate in Tank reaches 110-120 °F, however in the cold, harsh winters of the mountains, people come to Tank to enjoy a pleasant stay and then resort back during the summer.See also
- Federally Administered Tribal AreasFataThe FATA or FC-ATA is a type of computer hard disk drive. FATA is simply the low cost ATA or SATA disk drive equipped with a small external converter, that changes the interface to Fibre Channel...
- The Indus RiverIndus RiverThe Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
- Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
- The Pushtun people
- Lord Curzon