Layyah
Layyah District is a district in the Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in the southern part of the province. The capital is Layyah.Layyah District (formerly spelled as Leiah) is bounded to the North by Bhakkar District, to the east by Jhang District. The Indus River flows to its Western side across which lies district Dera Ghazi Khan and to the south Muzaffargarh District. District Layyah has an area of 6291 square kilometres and comprises three tehsils and two sub tehsils of:
1. Layyah
2. Chaubara
3. Karor
On January 07, 2007, two new sub tehsils of District Layyah were created:
1. Chowk Azam
2. Fatehpur
A mega project of Thal greater Canal has been started in Layyah from January 2007.
The word ‘Leiah’ itself is believed to be derived from ‘Leian’ in Saraiki language, a plural form of ‘Lai’ which is a name of bush. In former times, the land in Layyah (Leiah) was mostly covered by sand dunes with bushes (Leian). Therefore this place was known as ‘Leian’ which became ‘Leiah’ afterwards.
Majority of people in Layyah are native speakers of Punjabi and Saraiki language. Urdu is also widely understood and spoken. The medium of education is Urdu and English. The district had a population of 1,520,951 of which only 20.47% are urban in 2005. It is thus the fifth-most backward district in Punjab.
Climate and soil
The district Layyah has an extremely hot climate. Maximum temperature in the summer goes up to 53 degree Celsius. The temperature in winter is low due to nearness to Koh-Suleman range of mountains. The tehsil Chaubara is almost barren and consists of forest and sand dunes. It is actually a ‘Rakh’ under the control of Forest Department. The tehsils of Layyah and Karor Lal Esan are comparatively better developed agriculturally compared to other tehsils of the distract but still there are large tracks of sand dunes and uncultivated land. The river Indus passes from North to South on Western side of the district and touches Dera Ghazi Khan.And the other main city of District Chowk Azam that is the front look of district has population of 200,000 .
History
The town was founded around 1550 by Kamal Khan, a Mirani Baloch and a descendant of the founder of Dera Ghazi Khan, the town was taken about 1610 from the Mirani rulers by the Jaskani Balochs, who held it till 1787. After that year Abdun Nabi Sarai was appointed governor by Timur Shah Durrani, but three years later it was included’ in the governorship of Muhammad Khan Sadozai; who transferred his seat of government to Mankera.
In 1794 Humayun Shah, the rival claimant to the throne of Kabul, was captured near Leiah and brought into the town, where his eyes were put out by order of Zaman Shah. Under the Sikh government the town once more became the centre of administration for the neighbouring tract, and on the British occupation in 1849 it was for a time the head-quarters of a.District. In 1861 however, the District was broken up, and Leiah became a part of Dera Ismail Khan, but in 1901 was transferred to the new District of Mianwali. The, municipality was created in 1875. The population according to the 1901 census was 7,546. The income during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs.9,900,’and the expenditure Rs. 10,100. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 10,600, chiefly derived from octroi; and the expenditure was Rs. 10,600. The chief industry of Leiah at that was the manufacture of blankets. The town contained a dispensary and a municipal Anglo-vernacular middle school.
District at a glance
1. Education: 45% (average of urban and rural) 53% male and 40% female.
2. Literacy in Urban and rural areas is 62.45% and 34.92% respectively.
3. Safe Drinking Water Access: 89.96%
4. Electrciity availability: 46.62%
5. Main Towns:Layyah, Karor, Chobara,Fatehpur, Chowk Azam, Ladhana,Siwag Sharif,Tail Indus, Dohri Adda and Kot Sultan
6. Main Crops: Sugarcane, Wheat, Cotton, Gram and Guar seed.
7. Main Fruits: Citrus and Dates.
8. Main Vegetables: Onion, Green chilli (70% of the whole production in Pakistan) and Potatoes.
9. Forest: 34,338 acres (139 km²)
10. Total Metalled Roads: 869 km
11. No. of Grid Stations: 7
12. No. of Telephone Exchanges: 18
13. Number of Industrial Units: 365
14. Major Industries: Cotton Ginning & Pressing, Flour Mills, Oil Mills and Sugar.