Roughly speaking, Hazara is that part of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) east of the Indus; a series of fertile plains and terraced or forested hills rising from north of the Grand Trunk Rd into the Lesser Himalaya. Today’s Hazara Division consists of the Abbottabad and Mansehra districts, and since the 1970s the Kohistan district, reaching west from the Indus into the Hindu Raj mountains.

Southern Hazara was a favourite gateway from the plains into Kashmir for expanding regimes - the Mughals, the Afghan Durranis who defeated local tribes in 1752, and the Sikhs who wrested it away during the period 1818-24. After the First Sikh War (1846), Major James Abbott came here as a British ‘adviser’ to the Sikhs; on the Sikhs’ defeat in the Second Sikh War (1849) he became Hazara Division’s first deputy commissioner. Abbottabad, the divisional headquarters, is named after him.

Some towns still have the remains of old Sikh forts, as well as gurdwaras (Sikh temples) built in the 20th century. The Sikh popula­tion only evacuated at Partition. The road to Kashmir was severed at Partition, and now Hazara’s main artery is the KKH, ascending for 160km from Havelian to the Indus River at Thakot.

Haripur, a dusty and chaotic town 34km north of the Grand Trunk Rd, was once Hazara’s ‘capital’. It was founded in 1822 as the headquarters of the Sikh General Hari Singh, after whom it’s named. In 1853 the British moved all its administra­tive functions to Abbottabad, and Haripur’s importance waned.

Half an hour north of Haripur is Havelian, another nondescript bazaar, with one claim to fame: it’s the official southern end of the KKH, and there was already a road through to Abbottabad before the KKH was even an idea. But there is a kind of geographical bound­ary: from here the road leaps out of the plain into the hills, rising nearly 500m in the 15km to Abbottabad.

Getting There & Away

There are two busy routes north to Haripur from the Grand Trunk Rd (GT Rd). At Hasan Abdal (p90) there’s a sign welcoming you to the KKH although it’s not the official start of the Highway. The alternative route strikes north from Taxila. Both routes to Haripur suffer heavy truck traffic.

The daily Hazara Express train from/to Rawalpindi (Rs 38) departs Rawalpindi at 8.30am (arriving at 12.30pm), and the re­turn leg departs Havelian at 10.45am (arriv­ing at 2.45pm). Buses to Abbottabad (Rs 7) or Mansehra (Rs 30) wait outside the train station. There are also frequent minibuses to Abbottabad and Mansehra at the other end of the bazaar.

ABBOTTABAD

Abbottabad (ab-it-uh-baad), Hazara’s head­quarters and biggest town, was founded as a British garrison town in the 1850s, and the shady gardens, church bells and wide streets in the Cantonment evoke the colonial era. Beside the Cantonment is a compact and vibrant bazaar. At 1220m, Abbottabad has a cool climate, and one of the country’s fin­est hill-station retreats is an hour away at Thandiani. Southbound cyclists should take a rest and contemplate the scenic mountain

ABBOTTABAD

The town has a sizable Christian minor­ity and three active churches (Presbyterian, Anglican and Catholic). The language of the region is Hindko Punjabi, but you can get by with English and a little Urdu. 

Orientation

North of the general bus stand is a round­about, Fowara Chowk. Down the right fork is the Mall (Mansehra Rd). The left fork is Jinnah Rd, running by the bazaar and Cantonment before rejoining the Mall.