Khushab District (Punjabi: ), is a district in the province of Punjab, Pakistan, with its administrative capital in Jauharabad. The district is named after the historical city of Khushab. The district consists of four tehsils: Khushab, Noorpur Thal, Quaidabad and Naushera. Khushab is home to the Heavy Water and Natural Uranium Research Reactor, part of Pakistan's Special Weapons Program. District Khushab shares boundaries with the districts of Sargodha, Jhelum, Chakwal, Mianwali, Bhakkar and Jhang.

History

The word Khushab is derived from two Persian words "Khush" (lit. 'sweet') and "Aab" (lit. 'water'), referring to the river Jhelum. The city was evidently well-established by the early 16th century; the Mughal ruler Babur mentions Khushab along with Bhera and Chiniot as the frontier cities between Hindustan and Kabul in his Baburnama. In the Ain-i-Akbari, written during the reign of Akbar in c. 1590, Khushab was enumerated as one of the parganas in the Sind Sagar sarkar of the Mughal province of Panjab. After the decline of Mughal Empire in the 18th century, Khushab came under the control of Tiwana clan. Tiwanas built the fortified towns of Mitha Tiwana and Nurpur Tiwana, and expanded their landholdings at the expense of Awans of Salt Range and the Thal Nawabs. Khushab was annexed by Ranjit Singh in 1817, but the area was later restored to Fateh Khan Tiwana as jagir in return for military services. After the annexation of Punjab by the British in 1849, Khushab became part of the Shahpur District. In 1960, Khushab and Sargodha Districts were created after the bifurcation of Shahpur District.

Geography

Khushab is situated between the cities of Sargodha and Mianwali, near the river Jhelum. The district capital is Jauharabad (founded 1953, pop. 39,477). Khushab consists of agricultural lowland plains, lakes, and hills. Parts of the Thal desert touch the district, which has a breadth of over 70 mi and is situated between the Indus and Jhelum rivers. There are three lakes (Ochali, Khabbaki, and Jahlar) in the district. Kanhatti Garden is the largest forest in Khushab district, near Khabbaki village in the Soon Valley. Khabikki Lake is a salt-water lake in the southern Salt Range. The lake is one kilometre wide and two kilometres long. Khabikki is also the name of a neighbouring village. Sakesar is the highest mountain in the Salt Range, and is the site of the ancient Amb Temples. Sakesar’s summit is 1,522 m (4,946 ft) high and is situated in Khushab District.

Demographics

At the 2017 census, Khushab district had 209,466 households and a population of 1,280,372. Khushab had a sex ratio of 1,008 females per 1,000 males and a literacy rate of 59.75% - 75.31% for males and 44.64% for females. 352,960 inhabitants (27.57%) lived in urban areas. 307,619 (24.03%) were under 10 years of age. In 2023, the district had 248,449 households and a population of 1,501,089. According to the 1998 census, the primary language of the district is Punjabi, spoken by 97.7% of the population, with Urdu being spoken by 1.5%. At the 2023 census, 92.38% of the population spoke Punjabi, 2.05% Pashto, 2.39% Saraiki and 1.43% Urdu as their first language. The dialect of Punjabi spoken here is Shahpuri.

Education

According to Pakistan District Education Ranking, a report released by Alif Ailaan, Khushab is ranked 42 nationally with an education score of 65.42 and learning score of 65.82. The readiness score of Khushab is 62.33. The infrastructure score of the district is 88.11, which indicates that the schools in Khushab have adequate facilities

Administrative divisions

Khushab got the status of district in 1982. At the start, the district was divided into two tehsils, Khushab, Noorpur Thal. Later on Quaidabad was given the status of Tehsil in March 2007 and Naushera (Wadi e Soon) became 4th Tehsil of District Khushab in March 2013. In the local bodies delimitation of 2000 (before the creation of the Tehsil Quaidabad and Naushehra), it contained a total of fifty-one Union Councils. In the 2015 delimitation of District Khushab, 48 rural union councils and 7 urban Municipal Committees were created by the election Commission of Pakistan.

Khushab Tehsil

In 2000, Tehsil Khushab was subdivided into 32 Union councils; but in 2015, 10 urban Union councils (Khushab 5, Jauharabad 2, Hadali 2 and Mitha Tiwana 1) transferred to Municipal Committees whereas six Union councils have become the part of Tehsil Naushehra. Now Tehsil Khushab has 18 Union councils and 5 Municipal Committees: Union Councils Union Councils Municipal Committee / Corporation

Noorpur Thal Tehsil

Noorpur Thal is subdivided into 12 Union Councils and 1 Municipal Committee. Union Councils Union Councils Municipal Committee

Quaidabad Tehsil

Quaidabad is subdivided into 10 Union Councils and 2 Municipal Committees. Union Councils Municipal Committee

Naushera Tehsil

Naushera (Wadi-e-Soon) is subdivided into 6 Union Councils and 1 Municipal Committee. Union Councils Municipal Committee

Notable people