Amb (princely state)

This article is part of the series
Former subdivisions of Pakistan
Original provinces Baluchistan East Bengal Federal Capital Territory North-West Frontier Province Sind West Punjab
Princely states Baluchistan States Union Amb Bahawalpur Chitral Dir Hunza Kalat Khairpur Kharan Las Bela Makran Nagar Swat
Minor states Jhalawan Phulra Sarawan
One-unit provinces East Pakistan West Pakistan
Other subdivisions Gilgit Agency Trans-Karakoram Tract Marri-Bugti Country
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Amb was a princely state of the former British Raj. It governed itself (it had autonomy), but was under the overall suzerainty of the British monarch. Amb was ruled by a hereditary prince with the title of Nawab. The Nawab of Amb was the chieftain of the Tanoli tribe of Pashtun from Ghilji confederation in the Hazara. In the Partition of India in 1947, the Nawab of Tanolis/TanoKhel gave up the independence the state had previously enjoyed by joining the new country of Pakistan. Amb continued as a distinct state within Pakistan until 1969, when it was merged into the former North-West Frontier Province. The royal status of the Nawab was abolished by the Government of Pakistan in 1972.

The area in which Amb was located is historically known as Tanawal. This is in the Hazara region in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The part covered by Amb is called "Upper Tanawal", and is now part of Mansehra District. "Lower Tanawal" is in the Abbottabad District. The name "Tanawal" comes from the name of the tribe that lives there, the Tanoli (or Tanawali). The Tanoli are Muslims. They speak Hindko.