Behali

Union Councils
name = Behali


caption =
province = NWFP
district =
tehsil =
nazim = Raja Masoodurehman
naib nazim =
population =
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Behali is village and Union Council (an administrative subdivision) of Mansehra District in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan [ [http://www.nrb.gov.pk/lg_election/union.asp?district=73&dn=Mansehra Tehsils & Unions in the District of Mansehra - Government of Pakistan] ] . Behali is part of Mansehra Tehsil and is located at the boundary area of Mansehra district and Abbottabad district, west from the Karakurram highway at Qlanderabad. It is a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains.

Raja Masoodurehman is Nazim of Union Council Bahali.

Etymology

Behali is actually a distortion of the word Bahali, which means "restoration." Tradition holds that the reason the village was named Bahali was due to its successive destruction by various tribes and Sikhs and its final restoration by Karlugh Turks, descendants of the former rulers of Pakhli Sarkar. These Karlugh Turks are still one of the influential tribes in the Hazara area.

History

After the fall and disintegration of the Turkic Pakhli Sarkar, the Turks continued their rule in the areas between Sherwan and Mangal till the arrival of the Sikhs in 1817-18. They were deprived of further areas during the 1872 settlement. Under the settlement, they continued to possess about thirty thousand (30000) kanals, equivalent to convert|7500|acre|km2 of lands between RichhBehn (Abbottabad) and Bahali (Mansehra). The Turks constructed a fort between Kakot and Mochikot, called the Mochikot fort. This fort proved to be a very strong place of resistance for Turks because of its hilltop location.

Rehabilitation

Raja Asalat Khan was the first person who settled in Behali in around 1795. However, the Turks were dislodged from Behali by Sikhs in 1817. These Bahali Turks migrated to Kashmir and stayed with their relatives in Thangar Shawai Turkan. After General Hari Singh Nalwa invited them back to resettle in Behali, they finally returned around one and a half years later. Disputes developed again with the Sikhs and the Behali Turks took asylum in the Mochikot fort. Raja Asalat passed his last days in Richhbehn. He is buried in Sohlan Bala near Kot-reen graveyard.

Raja Paras Khan, with the help of his brother Raja Maazullah Khan (both brave sons of Raja Asalat Khan), established control over the jageer on strong footing and started residing permanently in Behali. Sikh rule was generally miserable for the Turks of Behali so the Turks joined British forces to overthrow Sikhs like all other tribes of Hazara. After Raja Maazulla Khan was murdered under mysterious conditions, Raja Paras Khan continued to fight against adversaries and rose to prominence. He succeeded in regaining Turks lost authority and finally the Turks got permanent control in a sizeable area between Bahali and Richhbehn (about 24 villages, or 45 thousand kanals). Areas between Richhbehn and Bahali remained in the control of these Turks till the creation of Pakistan.

Establishment of Modern Schooling

The Turks of Bahali helped the British in the establishment of a school at Behali in 1872. This was the era when Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was trying to convince Indian Muslims to get an education. The Primary School in Bahali was amongst a first few schools established by Britishers in Hazara. Among all these schools, Bahali was the only one which was established on the request of the Rajas of Bahali. The other schools were established due to government initiatives.

References

* Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 13
* Ain-e-Akbari
* Tareekh e Farishta
* Tareekh e Hazara by Raja Irshad
* Turkaan-e-Bahali, by Raja Muhammed Khursheed.