Harnai

Harnai (Pashto: هرنۍ‎) is the capital of Harnai District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It was previously in Sibi District. It is located in the northeast of Balochistan province. The town is surrounded by the cities Ziarat, Loralai and the state capital, Quetta. The population is predominantly Pashtun followed by Baloch. Wanetsi, a unique and archaic dialect of Pashto, is spoken in the town.[1] The town is inhabited by Marri, Bugti, Jamali, Babar Baloch tribes with Pashtuns as majority like the Kakars, Zamands, Sherani, Miani, Harifal and Babar.

Not to be confused with Harnai, Maharashtra.
Harnai

هرنۍ
District Capital
Harnai
Harnai
Coordinates: 30°6′0″N 67°56′16″E
CountryPakistan
ProvinceBalochistan
DistrictHarnai District
Elevation
900 m (3,000 ft)
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)

History

The name Harnai refers to an influential Hindu personality, Harnam Das, supposed founder of Harnai town, the capital of Harnai District. The town is quite close to Loralai, Ziarat, Sibi, and Quetta. Harnai is surrounded by imposing hills on all sides. The encircling hill ranges have the resounding names of 'Khalifat' and 'Zarghun'. Harnai proper has a population of about 200,000. The majority of the population of Harnai are Tareens and they mostly speak a unique, Wanetsi (Tareeno) dialect of Pashto, which is considered by some linguists to be distinctive enough to be classified as its own language. According to linguist Prods Oktor Skjaervo: "The Pashto area split into two dialect groups at a pre-literary period, represented today on the one hand by all the dialects of modern Pashto and on the other by Wanetsi and by archaic remains in other southeast dialects."[1]

Until 2007 Harnai had been a tehsil of Sibi District, in August the Balochistan Government announced the Harnai district would be created by splitting the Sibi district and forming the new district from Harnai and Shahrag tehsils and the sub-tehsil of Khost.

Geography

Harnai is surrounded by mountainous ranges. The encircling hills have the resounding names of Khalifat and Zarghoon.

Climate

The minimum and maximum winter temperature of the area is -2˚C to 20˚C. The summer is extreme in the area and the minimum and maximum temperature fall between 20˚C to 48˚C. Harnai has a fertile rainy season during monsoon time. In general, Harnai has pleasant weather in winter season.

References
  1. Hallberg, Daniel G. 1992. Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 4. LINK
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