Chak Dina

Chak Dina^[2] (/tʃək dinə/; Urdu: چک دینا; Colloquial: Dina Chak), is a village in Kharian Tehsil of Gujrat District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located 16.68 kilometers northeast of Dinga and 7.26 kilometers west of Lalamusa.^[3][4]

Chak Dina چک دینا
Village
Chak Dina Location within Punjab, Pakistan Show map of Punjab, Pakistan Chak Dina Chak Dina (Pakistan) Show map of Pakistan
Coordinates: 32°42′10.7058″N 73°52′59.1054″E
Administration type	District administration
District	Gujrat
Tehsil	Kharian
Police Circle	Headquarters Circle
Thana	Saddar Lalamusa[1]
Kanungoi Circle	Lalamusa
Patwar Circle	Jataria Kalan
Government
• Government type	Local government
• Union Council	Kotla Qasim Khan
• Justice system	District and Session Courts
Elevation	267 m (876 ft)
Population  (2017)
• Total	1,637
• Estimate  (2023)	1,735
Demonym	Dinay Chakia
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Zip code	50200
Area code	0537

Administration

Chak Dina previously fell in the Gunja Union Council, is now part of Kotla Qasim Khan Union Council. Other villages in this Union Council are Saida Baraham, Sukhchaina, Chakori Khurd, Thurgala and Jalaldin.

Etymology

The name Chak Dina is combination of words Chak meaning village and Dina meaning of Allahdin. The first inhabitant of the village Chaudhry Allahdin was nicknamed Dina hence Chak Dina became the name of the village. There are other villages in the close vicinity which have names of the same pattern like Chak Ikhlas and Chak Rajjadi.

History

The village was founded in the second half of the 18th century CE by Chaudhry Allahdin, a Muslim descendant of Hindu Shahi ruler Jayapala at the site of Shahpur, a city ruined by revolution of the time.

Demographics

In 1966, after the Mangla Dam was built on the Jhelum River, some effected people from Mirpur (Azad Jammu and Kashmir) whose property had come under waters of the dam migrated to the village and inhabited a new locality namely Chak Fazal Shah within the revenue limits of Chak Dina. Besides purchasing land for inhabiting their locality, they also purchased some agricultural land from the people of Chak Dina. In return for such land, the local land holders were helped to immigrate their sons to England for job.

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Time span (yrs)	%±	Annual RoG %±
1951	720	—	—	—
1961	758	10	5.28%	.52%
1972	1,017	11	34.17%	2.71%
1981	1,139	9	12%	1.27%
1998	1,362	17	19.58%	1.06%
2017	1,637	19	20.19%	.97%
2023 (est)	1,735	6	5.99%	.97%
Sources[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Land and revenue

The village falls under the revenue limits of Kanungoi Circle Lalamusa and Patwar Circle Jataria Kalan. A Kanungoi Circle is headed by a Kanungo (also Qanungo^[11][12]) and a Patwar Circle is headed by a Patwari.

The village has 1,152 acres in land mass.

Schools

The village has elementary (I-VIII) school for boys and primary (I-V) school for girls.^[13][14]

Landmarks

One of the famous bazaars in the town of Lalamusa is named after Chak Dina and is called Bazaar Dinay Chakian. Dinay Chakian means, in Punjabi, the people from Dina Chak. This bazaar was inhabited by Bagh Sha, a Hindu who migrated from Chak Dina to Lalamusa in 1929. The first building in the bazaar was Haveli Bagh Sha. This was also the first building of the city of Lalamusa built according to a floor plan prepared by an architect. Some parts of this building are still present in original form.

Possible recognition

Two British ships, sharing the nomenclature of the village, were built in 1914 and 1951, respectively. The reason behind the naming, whether by happenstance or intentional tribute to the village, remains unclear.^[15][16]