Kingdom of Chitral
Kingdom of Chitral | |||||||||
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State flag
Emblem
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Chitral highlighted in the Dominion of Pakistan in 1947 | |||||||||
| Capital | Chitral | ||||||||
| Official languages | Persian (official, literary, and administrative language) Khowar (court, mother tongue, literary language) | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Mehtar | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 5,737 sq mi (14,860 km2) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1951 census | 1,05,724 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||
| This article is part of the series |
| Former administrative units of Pakistan |
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Chitrāl (Khowar: ݯھیترار; Persian: چترال) was a kingdom in the Hindu Kush region, in the northwest of South Asia, from 17th century until its abolition in 1969. Between 1885 and 1947, it was one of the princely states in alliance with British Raj, after which it became a princely state of Pakistan. The area it covered is now part of the Upper and Lower Chitral districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
During the reign of Mehtar Aman ul-Mulk (r. 1857 – 1892), the kingdom extended from Asmar in the Kunar Valley of Afghanistan to Punial in the Gilgit Valley. It was an independent monarchy until 1885, when the British negotiated a subsidiary alliance with Aman ul-Mulk, under which Chitral became a princely state, still sovereign but subject to the suzerainty of the British Indian Empire. After the Chitral Expedition in 1895, the British hold became stronger, but the internal administration remained in the hand of the Mehtar. In 1947 British India was partitioned and Chitral opted to accede to Pakistan. After accession, it finally became an administrative district of Pakistan in 1969.