Attock

Attock stands east of the Indus River on the Pothohar Plateau of Punjab, Pakistan. Its district combines hills, plateaus and dissected plains, with the river forming the northern and western boundaries. The city itself occupies fertile floodplain between the Kala Chitta range to the south and Gandghar to the north. Nearby elevations range from roughly three hundred to more than twelve hundred metres.

This position beside the Indus made the district part of Gandhara and placed it across routes used by armies moving between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Akbar founded the historic settlement of Attock Khurd in the sixteenth century, and Attock Fort was completed in 1583 to guard the crossing. The place later passed among Mughal, Maratha, Durrani, Sikh and British rulers.

Its old fort and river crossing explain why this hilly margin of Punjab became a strategic gateway.