A Pakhtun wedding in Dera Ismail Khan (D. I.

Khan)
I have been wanting to find a reason to visit Dera Ismail Khan (D. I. Khan) for a long
time now but due to the current political / ethnic / religious upheaval in NWFP
province in general and D. I. Khan aka Dera in particular, my stars would tell me to
avoid the journey. I believe it was more of a visit to the largest pool of the Indus
river basin that had always attracted me to visit Dera since I was a young man.
Well, I am still young, young at heart at least.

And when I was invited by a very dear colleague (Wazirzada Anees Sadozai) who I
have recently befriended at work, to attend his brother’s wedding in Dera, my heart
knew no bounds and thus I made the plan to go attend a Pakhtun wedding along
with my entire clan read family of five.

By this time (from my other articles) my readers must have realized that I was born
to travel and this germ I have successfully infused in my wife, two boys namely Adil
(9.5), Mohsin (5.5) and daughter Ayesha (3.5) respectively.

About five days before we would travel, Anees and I sat down and he drew a map
for me to reach Dera via the Motor way, Balkaser, Talagang, Danda Shah Bilawal,
Namal, Mianwali, Kundian, Chashma and Dhakki route. This was the first time that I
was driving down this route and thus I had to be extra cautious about directions
while Anees and his family had already left for Dera earlier to arrange for the
wedding.

The journey:

We started off on 25th October 2008, a bright sunny Saturday morning (Of course
taking a leave from work) and since Ayesha being rather small; had to start a little
late. After driving on the Motorway (a marvel given to us Pakistanis by none other
than our famous ex-PM Babloo oops Nawaz Sharif) for a while, we took the Chakwal
– Talagang route to the Balkaser interchange and thus left the Motor Way.

(Enjoyed a ‘Chai-Paratha’ breakfast at this tea spot off the Motorway)

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We later took the Danda Shah Bilawal and Mianwali route to reach the beautiful
Namal Lake where a towering university is being built by none other than famous
Imran Khan ex-cricketer turned politician.

I wonder where Imran will find the scholars to come read arts and sciences in this
beautiful valley next to the Namal Lake.

(Namal university next to the scenic Namal Lake)

During the journey, a famous Pashto quotation came to mind which translates that
when you travel to Dera from Kohat, your eyes become white but Dera does not
come. That was exactly the situation when I read the sign below. Although, I did not
take the Kohat route which had become slightly risky to travel with family but
reaching Dera from which ever route was indeed arduous.

And finally we reached Chashma Barrage which also houses the Chashma Nuclear
Power Plant (Chashnup). This is where one can enjoy beautiful views of the Indus
basin and enjoy these views we did. Had it not been for the wedding, we would have

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probably ended up staying here and enjoying the subtlety, the sublimity of the blue
waters of the Indus.

(Adil and Mohsin at the Indus basin)

I must hasten to mention that mountains, trees and waters bring about an
unexplainable calm in my personality and mood and my spirit leaves the confines of
my planetary self and reaches for the skies and it starts doing the butterfly dance
and it indeed becomes rather difficult to bring back the soul after such an out of
body experience.

After spending some time pondering at the Chashma Barrage and enjoying the calm
and serenity of these attractive waters, we headed off to Dhakki; a sleepy little
village known for its sumptuous dates. Dhakki also has a feeder canal whereby the
Indus water is routed through a canal here which irrigates the entire area for an
approximate 100 kilometers or more till Dera itself.

(The Dhakki Feeder Canal which irrigates towns uptil Dera and beyond)

On the way back, I did notice a signboard of ‘Qabar Sahabi-e-Rasool’ (Grave of the
Companion of the prophet). I have a strong feeling that these dates were indeed
brought to this area by this companion of the prophet from Medina in some pre
historic times and thus the resemblance of the Dhakki dates with the famous
‘Ajwah’ dates of Medina.

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A little bit of History:

And before I forget, as the legend goes, there were three brothers namely Ismail
Khan, Ghazi Khan and Darya Khan and these three sleepy towns are named after
them i.e. Dera Ismail Khan (Dera meaning abode), Dera Ghazi Khan and Darya
Khan. It is an irony though that Dera Ghazi Khan now falls under the jurisdiction of
Punjab while the other two fall under NWFP. This looks more of a political rigmarole
than anything else but that is not the subject of my article here.

Commonly referred to as D. I. Khan, this small market town is on the west bank of
the Indus River, just east of the peak called Takht-e-Suleiman (Throne of Solomon).
Although the region is unsettled and potentially dangerous for unaccompanied
travelers, the few souls like me who have been here agree that it’s indeed a
pleasant place. 1

Its citizens are a mix of Saraiki and Pashtun tribes-people. Surprisingly, this is
Pakistan’s only divisional headquarters without a railway station. Often called ‘Dera’,
it is known throughout Pakistan for its decorative brass inlay work. 2

Getting there & away:

Dera is approximately 860 km from Islamabad, 410 km from Lahore and a little over
359 km from Peshawar. The road from Dera to Quetta is 630 km via Zhob, Qila
Saifullah and Ziarat is passable but only recommended for 4WDs. Dera Ismail Khan
(208 km) is about a four hour drive from Dera Ghazi Khan (D. G. Khan) while it takes
about three hours to reach Bannu via road. 3

About the wedding:

My family being from Karachi, had never experienced a Pakhtun wedding and it was
more of an experience for all of them. And it was no mean wedding than the nuptial
ceremony of the third son of the ex-Vice Chancellor of University of D. I. Khan who
are Wazir Zadas (Princes) of the famous Pakhtun Sadozai tribe. The lordship of
Anees was only to be appreciated once we reached Dera whereby we came to
experience the humility, hospitality yet grandeur of this great Sadozai tribe of
Pakhtun princes who had settled in Dera after their great grand parents had initially
settled in Bannu before they migrated from Afghanistan.

Incidentally, all the Pakhtuns in NWFP, Pakistan have roots in neighboring

Afghanistan which was once a kingdom of warring Afghan tribes before it was
constantly ravaged by Huns, Mongols & other Central Asian hordes of war
mongering, ruthless invaders.

Unlike Karachi, the wedding is an after noon affair whereby the bridegroom’s family
visits the bride’s family and after solemnizing the ‘Nikah’ read wedding, brings the
bride back to their place in the form of a ‘Jaloos’ read group of cars, and busses etc.
Incidentally, since it took us almost eight hours to get there, we missed this part
while we reached just at the time of lunch and without even changing and wearing

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the designated ‘Shadi’ read marriage attire, joined the feast of sumptuous Pakhtun
meals. We ate to our heart’s content and enjoyed the truly Pakhtun hospitality
whereby every now and then someone would come and poured some more into our
plates till we could eat no more.

We were made to stay at the close-by WAPDA guesthouse although there was an
eerie silence in the town due to the recent ethnic / religious killings just a few weeks
ago and thus we were told to be cautious in our travelling ventures unescorted. That
evening was spent again at Anees’ house which was more of a princely tavern which
even housed a small fruit and vegetable garden.

And much to the liking of my boys, loud Pakhtun music played that night on Car
stereos and ‘Atan’ the famous Pakhtun dance was performed by young and old
alike. This was the first encounter of my sons with the Atan and they also danced
with the Pathans.

(The Shaikh boys with the bridegroom Wazir Zada Ilyas Sadozai)

The next day was ‘Valima’ the second day of the wedding whereby the bridegroom
arranges the meal for his relatives, friends etc. This lunch was arranged at the Dera
Gymkhana where most of the elites of the town were invited and yes they came. My
sons enjoyed a rhapsody of various Pakhtun tribesmen but mostly they were
intrigued by the turban clad guest from as far away as Zhob in Baluchistan who they
took for a Wazir tribesman from Waziristan where all the military action is these
days.

(R-L: Myself, Anees, Ilyas & his cousins / friends)

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After attending the ‘Valima’ ceremony, we visited the water front at the Indus and
enjoyed a cup of local ‘Qahva’ read green tea by the river bank and after saying our
‘Asar’ prayers headed back to Anees’ house whereby we stayed till late in the night
while enjoying the company of Anees’ father.

Anees practically pushed us out around 11 p.m. in the night due to the current
uncomfortable situation although we had just started to enjoy the legendary stories
of his father and we went back to retire at the guest house. Got up early the next
morning i.e. the 27th October 2008 and headed home. It was rather painful to say
good bye to this sleepy little town where we got so much love and affection by a
Pakhtun family which we could have never enjoyed had it not been for Anees and
accepting his offer of his brother’s wedding and thus another worthwhile escapade
of the Shaikh family ended.

(A memorable snapshot at the Dhakki Feeder Canal)

This trip we will enjoy for a long time to come and the memoirs will haunt us for
years if not decades.

References:

1. The lonely planet, Pakistan, John King, Bradley Mayhew, David St. Vincent, 5th edition, July
1998.

2. ibid.

3. ibid.

Shaikh Muhammed Ali

Project Director (HRD),
Higher Education Commission, Islamabad
E-mail: mashaikh@hec.gov.pk

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