Kariyala

Kariyala is a village in the Chakwal District in Punjab, Pakistan. It is situated about 10 km south of main Chakwal city, off the road leading to Choa Saidan Shah. It is located on a rainwater ravine called Banvaee and between the salt range and Karangli mountain; the antimony obtained from Karangal mountain is famous all over from old times. The village was founded by a Hindu, Baba Paraga Das, of the Chhibber caste.^[1] Kariyala served as the focal point for the Chhibbers, a caste in the Punjab region.^[1] It is the habitat of big landlords like the late Chaudhry Ghulam Haider. Before the partition of colonial India in 1947 it was a medium town consisting of Muslims, largely of the Kahut caste, as well as Hindus. Hindus were in comparatively considerable ratio but during the partition of colonial India, they migrated to independent India and the Muslims provided them safe passage.^[1] A Hindu landlord, Jaggat Singh Chhibber, and his family continued to live in Kariyala and his son, Ravinder Kumar Chhibber, the new head of the Chhibber family after his father's death, enjoy the occupation of his estate.^[1] Kariyala has a minority of other castes, such as the , though Kahuts outnumber them numerically.

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