Allai is a tehsil of Allai District in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. It is home to the Allai Valley and district headquarters. Prince Muhammad Nawaz Khan Swati is the current "Chief of Allai Valley".
History
Allai State(1670-1971)
Allai was formerly a state ruled by Nawabs of Allai. Nawab Muhammad Ayub Khan was the last Nawab of Allai State until 1971. This state had its own currency. Arsala Khan Swati was the most powerful ruler among the Nawabs of Allai as he is famous for his great resistance against British rule.
Merged into Pakistan:
However the status of state has been abolished but it is still under the rule of Chief. Prince Muhammad Nawaz Khan Swati is the son of last Nawab who is the current Chief of Allai Valley instead of Nawab of Allai State.
People:
Majority of population of Allai belongs to different clans of Swati tribe same like the neighboring Battagram District and Mansehra District. Swatis own majority of lands in these three districts. The Nawabs of Allai also belongs to Bibaal subsection of Gabri Swatis. While the famous catamite is one Sultan Mohabatkhel alias Adv. Abdur Rehman alias Muhammad Khan of Karachi.
2005 earthquake
The Allai valley was affected by the Kashmir earthquake on October 8, 2005. The earthquake destroyed the cableway that allowed residents to cross the Indus River.
Administration
Allai is one of the two Tehsils, or subdivisions, of the Battagram District. Allai contains eight Union Councils:
Geography
The Allai Valley is bounded by Kohistan on the north and east by the Kaghan valley, Nandhiarh and Deshi of Deshiwals on the south, and by the Indus river on the west. The valley is divided from Kohistan on the north by a range of mountains rising over and from Nandhiar and Deshi by another range running from the Afghanistan border to the Indus above Thakot. The average breadth of the Allai Valley is about and the total area . Forests cover the mountain slopes at the eastern end.