Mansehra Valley
Mansehra is located at the eastern border of the North-West Frontier Province, two hours away from Peshawar and three hours away from Islamabad. The district is located at 34? – 12′ and 35? – 50′ and 47? – 07′ longitude. It is closely linked to Afghanistan in the west, which has increased Mansehra’s Afghan refugee count over the past years. The district of Mansehra has been blessed with wonderful scenery. Some of Mansehra’s main features are mountain ranges, plains, valleys, and numerous lakes and rivers.
Mansehra:
Mansehra is city located in Mansehra District, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. Apart from being a major stop on the Karakoram Highway, it also links to the road to Kaghan Valley, Naran, Shogran, Lake Saiful Mulook and Babusar Top. Mansehra city is further divided in four union councils. Each union council is divided into Mohallas. Prominent Mohallas are Narri, Dab, Dandi, Lohar Baanda, Muftiabad, Khanbahadar and Sainabad. Rural area surrounding Mansehra city consists of chain of villages like (Behali),Potha, Jaloo, Ogra, Labourkot, Hajiabad. Two main roads lead all the way in to city, Shinkiari road and Kashmir road. Ghazikot Township is housing colony just outside of city and is famous of its natural beauty.Mansehra is considered good place for education because of its natural beauty and climate. It has many good schools like:Mansehra International Public School,Mansehra Public School etc. First primary school in the district was established in 1872 in the village Behali.Almost at the same time in Baffa and in 1892 in Mansehra. Majority of the people belongs to Khan Khel section of the Swati tribe.
Mansehra is a gate way to the tourism. And has played and playing a vital role in the development of tourism. Mansehra itself is a little city but lies in the center that’s the reason it is very important. Mansehra is a beautiful area and has very famous areas around itself which are always very brilliant.
There are three beautiful lakes in Mansehra district. These are encircled by snow clad peaks of the mountain range in the Kaghan valley. The names of these lakes are Lulusar, Dudupatsar and Saiful Maluk Sar. The former two lie near Babusar top while the latter one near Naran. The word “sar” is used with the name of each lake meaning lake.
The fresh water fauna is directly or indirectly dependent on the local rainfall, natural springs, and mostly the Kunhar and Siran rivers. The Kunhar river abounds in trout fish, a hot favourite for amateur fishing zeal. A trout fish hatchery has been established at Shinu (Kaghan) to supplement the fish numbers. China corp. gold fish, mullah, chukar and eel are found in the Siran. For the former two a hatchery has been established in Ichrian while the latter are commonly found in the rivers and nallahs. Reptiles like the lizards and snakes are the master creepers and runners among the terrestrial fauna. In avian fauna are included several species of herons, teals, doves, cuckoos, bee eaters, wood peckers, larks, shrikes, bulbuls, finches and wagtails are widely dispersed in gardens, cultivated fields, streams and hill slopes. Swallows, parrots, mainas, pigeon, sparrows, hoopoe, kingfishers and crows are also found, while western horned tragopan, imperial monal pheasant, and kokla pheasant are found only in hilly areas, whereas black and grey partridges as well as quails are also common. The birds of prey are shikra, sparrow hawk, owl and several species of vulture.Mansehra still has varied mammalian fauna.The rhesus monkeys and the common lungur are dwelling in large numbers. Among the carnivores, lion and cheetah became extinct while the snow leopard and leopard are endangered species. The snow leopard moves up and down the mountains with its favourite prey like markhor. The other animals found in Mansehra are wolf, red fox, black and brown bears, jackal, leopard, leopard cat, Himalayan lynx, mongoose, musk deer, grey goral and ibex. The pet animals are camel, buffalo, cow, horse, donkey, sheep and goat.
Rivers:
Siran and Kunhar are well known rivers of the district. The Siran issues from Panjool and flows through the western plain of Pakhli. Two canals have been taken out from the Siran river, the upper Siran canal at Dharial and lower Siran canal at Shinkiari. From Pakhli the Siran runs into the Tanawal hills and joins the Indus at Tarbela in the north west. Its total course is between 70 to 80 miles, and it irrigates 6,273 acres of land.
The Kunhar bursts out from the lake Lulusar at the head of Kaghan valley and after a turbulent courses of 110 miles falls in the river Jehlum at Pattan. Since the land upon its bank is little level therefore, its water is not used for irrigation purposes. Some other notable bourn and nullahs which flow in district Mansehra are Pootkattha (Mansehra), Nadi Unhar (Shergarh), Butkus (joins the Siran near Icharian) and Ichar.
Important Places:
There are a number of important and historical places in Mansehra. The well-known villages and towns are Mansehra, Baffa, Shinkiari, Dhodial, Battal, Bhogarmang, Phulra (chief village of the former Phulra state), Oghi, Shergarh (the summer headquarters of the former Nawab of Amb), Darband (former centre of Amb state), Gulibagh (capital of former Pakhli Sarkar), Ichrian, Ghari, Habibullah, Jabori, Chutter, Dadar, Khaki, Kaladhaka and Batgram. Lassan Nawab is village and Union Council (an administrative subdivison) of Mansehra District in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. It is located in the south of the district and borders Haripur and Abbottabad districts.