Drosh

Drosh
Town
Drosh Location in Pakistan
Coordinates: 35°34′05″N 71°48′07″E / 35.568°N 71.802°E / 35.568; 71.802Coordinates: 35°34′05″N 71°48′07″E / 35.568°N 71.802°E / 35.568; 71.802
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
District	Chitral District
Government
Elevation	1,359 m (4,459 ft)
Languages
• Spoken	Khowar
Time zone	UTC+5

Drosh (Khowar: دروش) also called dros, in khowar is a town within the Chitral District of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It was formerly a town within the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan.

History[]

In ancient times, Drosh town was part of Badakhshan and the property of Mehtar of Chitral. Mehtar was appointed his close relative as governor of Drosh. As the regime of the great Mehtar of Chitral (Aman UL Mulk), his half-brother Prince Kohkan Baig was governor of Drosh. After 14 years his attitude changed and he quit to Afghanistan and Mehtar Aman UL Mulk appointed his son, Prince Shah UL Mulk as governor of Drosh in 1872. Shah ul Mulk was governor of Drosh from 1872 to 1892. During that time Drosh province was from Broze to Chaqansarai (Afghanistan). After the murder of Shah ul Mulk, the Kohkan bag became governor of Drosh for the second time. Later, Kohkan Baig supports his other brother Sher Afzal to help him lead to the throne. In this stage Kohkan Baig let Umara Khan of Jandol to occupy Drosh fort and moved on to the siege of Chitral Fort along with Sher Afzal and Jondol forces. From 1892 to 1932 there was no strong governor of Drosh. In 1932, Mehtar Shuja UL Mulk appointed his son Shahzada Hissam UL Mulk as governor of Drosh. He was a very strong governor with full power. He remained governor until 1947. In 1947, Chitral state was merged with Pakistan.^[2]

Geography[]

Drosh is located on 35° 33' 33" N and 71° 47' 44" E on the banks of the Landai Sin River (Bashgal River) just above its intersection with the Kunar River (Chitral River), along the Drosh-Jalalabad Road. The Drosh-Jalalabad Road, including water traffic along the Kunar, used to be part of a major trade route from India to Kabul. Drosh is built on river benches that rise above the agricultural fields next to the two rivers. The land is fertile.Drosh is one of the densely populated area of Chitral. Administratively divided into five Union Councils .i.e. UC sheshekoh valley, UC Drosh 1, UC Drosh 2, UC Ashurate and UC Arando. After 2013 local government Act of Khyber Pakhtunkhaw these union councils are further devolved into twenty two village councils. It has given the status of tehsil and TMO is also established in 2017.

Demography[]

Ethnically most residents are Khos and Pashtuns.

Khowar and Pashto languages are the language spoken by the majority of the people in Drosh. As Drosh is low elevation and is the large village in Chitral District on the traditional trade route to Drosh-Jalalabad road.

After Khowar Pashto also spoken and understood. Because most of the Pashto speakers are from the surrounding areas like Dir, Afghanistan they settled there.

Climate[]

The climate in Drosh is warm and temperate. The rain in Drosh falls mostly in the winter, with relatively little rain in the summer. This location is classified as Csa by Köppen and Geiger. The average annual temperature in Drosh is 17.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 676 mm. Drosh has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa) with hot, mostly dry summers and cool moist winters with some snow.