Khushab District


Khushab District is a district in the province of Punjab, Pakistan, with its administrative capital in Jauharabad. The district is named after the historical city of Khushab.
The district consists of four tehsils: Khushab, Noorpur Thal, Quaidabad and Naushera. Khushab is home to the Heavy Water and Natural Uranium Research Reactor, part of Pakistan's Special Weapons Program.
District Khushab shares boundaries with the districts of Sargodha, Jhelum, Chakwal, Mianwali, Bhakkar and Jhang.

History

The word Khushab is derived from two Persian words "Khush" and "Aab", referring to the river Jhelum. The city was evidently well-established by the early 16th century; the Mughal emperor Babur mentions Khushab along with Bhera and Chiniot as the frontier cities between Hindustan and Kabul in his memoirs Baburnama. In the Ain-i-Akbari, written during the reign of Akbar in, Khushab was enumerated as one of the parganas in the Sind Sagar sarkar of the Mughal province of Panjab.
After the decline of Mughal Empire in the 18th century, Khushab came under the control of Tiwana clan. The Tiwanas built the fortified towns of Mitha Tiwana and Nurpur Tiwana, and expanded their landholdings at the expense of Awans of Salt Range and the Thal Nawabs. Khushab was annexed by Ranjit Singh in 1817, but the area was later restored to Fateh Khan Tiwana as jagir in return for military services. After the annexation of Punjab by the British in 1849, Khushab became part of the Shahpur District. In 1960, Khushab and Sargodha Districts were created after the bifurcation of Shahpur District.

Geography

Khushab is situated between the cities of Sargodha and Mianwali, near the river Jhelum. The district capital is Jauharabad.
Khushab consists of agricultural lowland plains, lakes, and hills. Parts of the Thal desert touch the district, which has a breadth of over and is situated between the Indus and Jhelum rivers.
There are three lakes in the district. Kanhatti Garden is the largest forest in Khushab district, near Khabbaki village in the Soon Valley. Khabikki Lake is a salt-water lake in the southern Salt Range. The lake is one kilometre wide and two kilometres long. Khabikki is also the name of a neighbouring village. Sakesar is the highest mountain in the Salt Range, and is the site of the ancient Amb Temples. Sakesar’s summit is 1,522 m high and is situated in Khushab District.

Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Khushab district has 248,304 households and a population of 1,501,089. The district has a sex ratio of 104.80 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 62.52%: 75.59% for males and 49.03% for females. 371,528 are under 10 years of age. 418,745 live in urban areas.
According to the 1998 census, the primary language of the district is Punjabi, spoken by 97.7% of the population, with Urdu being spoken by 1.5%.
At the 2023 census, 92.38% of the population spoke Punjabi, 2.05% Pashto, 2.39% Saraiki and 1.43% Urdu as their first language. The dialect of Punjabi spoken here is Shahpuri.

Education

According to Pakistan District Education Ranking, a report released by Alif Ailaan, Khushab is ranked 42 nationally with an education score of 65.42 and learning score of 65.82.
The readiness score of Khushab is 62.33. The infrastructure score of the district is 88.11, which indicates that the schools in Khushab have adequate facilities

Administrative divisions

Khushab got the status of district in 1982. At the start, the district was divided into two tehsils, Khushab, Noorpur Thal. Later on Quaidabad was given the status of Tehsil in March 2007 and Naushera became 4th Tehsil of District Khushab in March 2013. In the local bodies delimitation of 2000, it contained a total of fifty-one Union Councils. In the 2015 delimitation of District Khushab, 48 rural union councils and 7 urban Municipal Committees were created by the election Commission of Pakistan.

Khushab Tehsil

In 2000, Tehsil Khushab was subdivided into 32 Union councils; but in 2015, 10 urban Union councils transferred to Municipal Committees whereas six Union councils have become the part of Tehsil Naushehra. Now Tehsil Khushab has 18 Union councils and 5 Municipal Committees:
Union Councils
  • Botala
  • Chak No.50/Mb
  • Daiwal
  • Hassanpur Tiwana
  • Jabbi Shareef
  • Katha Saghral
  • Kund
Union Councils
  • Lukoo
  • Mohibpur
  • Dhak Janjua
  • Nali Shumali
  • Nari
  • Padhrar
  • Roda
  • Sandral
  • Talloker
  • Waheer
Municipal Committee / Corporation
  • Khushab
  • Jauharabad
  • Hadali
  • Mitha Tiwana
  • Girote

    Noorpur Thal Tehsil

Noorpur Thal is subdivided into 12 Union Councils and 1 Municipal Committee.
Union Councils
  • Adhi Kot
  • Adhi Sargal
  • Biland
  • Jamali Noorpur
  • Jaura Kalan
  • Jharkal
Union Councils
  • Khai Khurd
  • Khatwan
  • Pelowaince
  • Rahdari
  • Rangpur
  • Noorpur Rural
Municipal Committee
  • Noorpur

    Quaidabad Tehsil

Quaidabad is subdivided into 10 Union Councils and 2 Municipal Committees.
Union Councils
  • Bandial Janubi
  • Bijar
  • Chak No.14/Mb
  • Choha
  • Goleywali
  • Gunjial Janubi
  • Gunjial Shumali
  • Okhali Mohlah
  • Utra Janubi
  • Warcha
Municipal Committee
  • Quaidabad
  • Mitha Tiwana

    Naushera Tehsil

is subdivided into 6 Union Councils and 1 Municipal Committee.
Union Councils
  • Angah
  • Khabaki
  • Khura
  • Kufri
  • Mardwal
  • Uchhali
Municipal Committee
  • Naushera
TehsilArea
Pop.
Density
Literacy rate
Union Councils
Khushab2,115816,682386.1465.94%18
Noorpur Thal2,500264,597105.8455.58%12
Quaidabad1,080274,959254.5955.11%10
Naushera 816144,851177.5170.43%6

Notable people