Tank Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Tank Town
Head-quarters of the subdivision and tahsil of the same name in Dera Ismail Khan District, North-West Frontier Province, situated in 32° 13' N. and 70° 32 E. Population (1901), 4,402. It stands on the left bank of a ravine which issues from the Tank Zam pass, 40 miles north-west of Dera Ismail Khan town. It was founded by Katal Khan, first Nawab of Tank. A mud wall surrounds the town, 12 feet in height and 7 feet thick, with nume- rous towers and two or three gates, but it is in bad repair. The fort, now in ruins, is an enormous pile of mud about 250 yards square. The walls, faced with brick, enclose a citadel 40 feet high. Tank was declared a 'notified area' in 1893. The municipal in- come in 1903-4 was Rs. 11,500, chiefly derived from octroi; and the expenditure was Rs. 9,100. Timber and gM are brought down from the hills of Wazlristan in considerable quantities, while the exports include grain, cloth, tobacco, and other luxuries. Sir Henry Durand, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, lost his life here in 1870, from injuries received while passing on an elephant under a gateway. He was buried at Dera Ismail Khan. The military garrison has lately been withdrawn, and the post is now held by border military police.
