Gazetteer Of The Rawalpindi District Revised Edition, 1893-94

· 1894 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1Bawalpindi District. ]

2CHAP. t.-GEXEUAIi DESCBIPTIOK. 9

3The rang© on tLe other side of the Indus river in the Chapter 1, A*

4Khattak country is well marked and is known as the Tak-

5kargah of Hakani^ bat on this side thero are only low wenemDescrip*

6ridges and deep ravines covered with boulders and water- ti,®

7worn stones. The tract is very bleak and wild, it bears

8little or no wood and is covered only with stunted boshes

9and coarse grass. In the Narrara iMqa there are some

10comparatively fertile valleys, bnt most of them are poor and

11inferior. The best Hnrial shooting in the district is to be

12had in the Narrara and Makhad hills.

13East of this tract in tho south of the Fatehjang tahsil Khairi-Udrat.

14the Khairi-Mdrat hills are situated, these are about 80

15miles from tho Indus, and between their western extremity

16and the Narrara or Makhad tract, tho district is a broken

17plain^ boanded on the south by tbo Sodn river. The i^airi-

18Mdrat hills are about 10 miles south of tho Edla Ohitta and

19rnn nearly parallel to it, tho tract between them being a

20rough plain >nown* ns the 6hob tract in which thoFatehjaug

21tahsil head-quarters is situate, and through which the Khuslidl-

22garh branch of tho North-Western Bnilway now rnos. Tho

23eastern extremity of this range is 12 miles west of Hdwalpindi,

24whence it runs westward for 24 miles. A cousiderablo portion

25of this hill has also been included in a Government reserve,

26and though it had been almost completely cleared of forest

27growth it is yearly becoming more valuable. It is formed

28chiefly of limestone edged by sandstone and earthy rocks,

29the vertical and contorted strata of which indicate intense

30disturbance. Tho southern portion of this range is extremely

31dreary, formed of rocky ravines and stony hillocks, gradually

32sinking into tho fortilo valley of tho Soan, the sonthemmost

33division of tho Fatehjang tahsil. There are also some rongh

34rolling hills south-east of the Kbairi-Mdrat, on tho Sodn bank,

35but this can hardly bo called a range.

36The Narrar spur, described above, crosses the Sodn at

37Fharwdia, and thence tho Bhamdrtrdr hill vans westward along

38tho Sodn bank, falling into rolling hills which disappear a

39few miles short of tho Ehairi-Mdrat, ending in enrious jagged

40rocks of reniarknblo appearance, known as tho dog’s tooth

41rocks. These carious ridges extend for some distance in

42the western portion of tho Kahuta and eastern portion of tho

43Kdwalpindi tahsil, and some of tho most curious are visible

44to the Bonth-wcat from tho Rdwalpindi cantonments.

45The drainage slope of tho country is^ from north-west OmioAgo of tto

46to south-east* Tho highest point in tho district is the Murree

47hill 7,500 feet in the extromo north-cast, from this comer

48spurs run out along tho Jhelum southwards and along the

49north boundary of tho district westward. From both these

50spurs tho conntry falls towards Makhad at the south-west

51corner of tho district. Although tho drainage from the

52northern aide of tho Ehairi-Mdrat hill runs north, cuts tho