Haripur District

Haripur (Urdu: ہری پور,"The Town of Hari or God") is a district in the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan with an altitude of around 610 metres (2,000 ft) above sea level. As of 2005, Haripur District has the third highest Human Development Index of all the districts in Pakistan.

History

Ancient and medieval period

The Haripur district is situated at the heart of the ancient Gandhara civilization. At the time of Alexander, the region including Taxila was known as "Eastern Gandhara", with its boundaries reaching as far as Kashmir. Geographically it lies on either side of the Sindu River, near the Tarbela Reservoir. Most historians believe that the Aryans must have composed a number of Vedic hymns on the banks of Indus. During the kingship of his father Bindusara, the Maharaja Ashoka ruled this region as governor and, according to Tibetan Buddhist traditional stories, he died here.

Turkish rule

In 1399, the Turko-Mongol warrior king Timur, on his return to Kabul, stationed his Turk soldiers in Hazara to protect the important route between Kabul and Kashmir. By 1472, Prince Shahab-ud-Din, a Turk of Central Asian origin and a descendant of Amir Taimur, established his rule over the region. The prince founded the state and named it Pakhli Sarkar (Pakhli), choosing Gulibagh as his capital.