Time zone PST (UTC+5) | Region Punjab village 1 | |
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Pind Dadan Khan Tehsil (Urdu/Punjabi: پنڈ دادن خان) is a subdivision of Jhelum District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is headquartered at the town of Pind Dadan Khan located on the bank of River Jhelum, about 22 kilometres from the M2 motorway.
The area is well known for Khewra Salt Mines, Asia's largest salt mine, in use for over 2000 years, and which features an underground mosque. The area has a long history going back to the time of Alexander the Great's invasion (see Punjab (Pakistan)). The small town of Jalalpur Sharif is located in Pind Dadan Khan and is said to be where Alexander the Great's famous horse, Bucephalus is buried.
This pind (from Punjabi word for village), is named after Dadan Khan a devoted Sufi saint from Awan tribe.
History
The Imperial Gazetteer of India, compiled over a century ago during British rule, describes the tehsil as follows:
Pind Dādān Khān Tahsīl.–Southern subdivision and tahsil of Jhelum District, Punjab, lying between 32°27' and 32°50' N. and 72°32' and 73°29' E., with an area of 875 square miles. It is bounded on the south-east by the Jhelum river, and is traversed in its northern portion by the Salt Range. The hills consist of two roughly parallel ranges about 6 miles apart, with a strip of richly cultivated and fairly level uplands between. The southern slopes of the hills are steep and barren. The rest of the tahsil consists of a belt of alluvial plain,a portion of which is much affected by saline deposits. The population in 1901 was 170,130, compared with 173,071 in 1891. It contains the town of Pind Dadn Khan ( population, 13,770), the headquarters; and 207 villages. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to 2.8 lakhs. KATAS and MALOT are places of considerable archaeological interest, the village of Jalalpur possesses historical importance, and the Mayo mine at Khewra is one of the chief sources of the supply of salt in India.
Source of income here is agriculture.
