PUNICA GRANATUM (WILD POMEGRANATE)

Punica Granatum, also known as Pomegranate, has long been touted for its high levels of Vitamin C and antioxidants, which can help prevent cell damage. Several studies have shown its ability to speed wound healing, as well as play a positive role in the repair of sun damaged and aging skin. Pomegranate extracts exert their positive effects by extending the life of fibroblasts, the cells responsible for producing collagen and elastin, the components that give strength and support to the skin.

 Punica granatum. Wild pomegranate is very common on low hills of Kotli Sattian. It is locally known as "Dani" and "Anardana".

RUBUS ELLIPTICUS (YELLOW HIMALAYAN RASPBERRY)

Rubus Ellipticus is commonly known as Golden Evergreen Raspberry and Yellow Himalayan Raspberry. It is known as "Akhay" in local language of Kotli Sattian.

Rubus Ellipticus is an evergreen shrub producing a cluster of stout, heavily armed, upright, biennial stems from a woody root-stock. It usually grows 100 - 300 cm tall, occasionally up to 450 cm. The stems only produce leaves, and do not flower, in their first year of growth, forming flowering branches in their second year and then dying after fruiting. The plant can rapidly form tall, dense thickets. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine. The fruit is sold in local markets in the Himalayas. 

Habitats 

Shrubberies and open hillsides, to 2300 metres in the Himalayas. Dry slopes, montane valleys, sparse forests and thickets at elevations of 1000 - 2600 metres.

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw or cooked,  A good raspberry-like flavor. Sweet with a pleasant blend of acidity. The golden yellow fruit is about 10 mm in diameter.  The fruit contains about 10.9% sugars, 1.1% protein, 0.5% ash, 0.55 pectin. The fruit is a good source of micro nutrients such as anthologists, phenol's, flavoring and vitamin C. They have a moderate to good antioxidant activity and make an excellent, healthful addition to the diet.

Medicinal

The plant is astringent and febrifuge. A decoction of the root, combined with Girardinia diversifolia root and the bark of Lagerstroemia parviflora, is used in the treatment of fevers. The juice of the root is used in the treatment of fevers, gastric troubles, diarrhea and dysentery. The root, combined with the dried fruit of Brucea javanica is given in the treatment of dysentery. A paste of the roots is applied externally to wounds. Both the roots and the young shoots are considered to be a good treatment for colic. The leaf buds, combined with Centella asiatica and Cynodon dactylon, are pounded to a juice and used in the treatment of peptic ulcers. The juice of the fruit is used in the treatment of fever, colic, coughs and sore throat. The inner bark is used in Tibetan medicine, it is said to have a sweet and sour flavour plus a heating potency. A renal tonic and antidiuretic, it is used in the treatment of weakening of the senses, vaginal/seminal discharge, polyuria and micturition during sleep.

KHALABAT SATTIAN - MURREE HILLS

Khalabat is a hilly village of Murree hills in Rawalpindi district, Pakistan. Khalabat is 23 miles south-east of Murree town - a popular hill station, 31 miles north-east of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is in the lower Himalayan hills and this area has cold, snowy winters, relatively cool summer with drastically escalated rain. During monsoon village top mostly remains covered by fog, monsoon starts in July and continues til September.

Maize is the traditional crop of the area, land holdings are small due to the hilly terrain and production is hardly sufficient for subsistence. Apple, apricot, pear, plum, walnut, cherry, raspberry, fig and pine nuts are main fruit of Khalabat.

The village has forest land as well as cultivated land. Part of the forest is kept by the government ; some of it, called guzara, is for community use. The forest is covered by thick blue pine trees. The top peak of the village is at altitude of 7,417 ft which is known as "Kullah", and the distance between this peak and Patriata top is just 300 meters, Patriata top is the highest point of the Murree hills which consequently the highest point of the Punjab as well.
There is a dense blue pines forest between Khalabat and Patriata, which is home to different wild animals like leopard, bear, monkey, fox and various species of pheasant and rabbit.
Forest is full of wilderness and it has large number of culinary and medicinal herbs.

The third type of land is used for house construction. Due to the need for terraces, houses and fields are small and homes are scattered.

There are four Mosques in village including Central Jammah Mosque. There is one primary school for boys and one for girls, one private high school for boys and girls and a college for girls. The literacy rate of Khalabat is 91.5%.

The village consists of five parts. The villagers are of different ethnic groups and each occupies a specific area of the village.
The largest ethnic group in the village consists of Satti who are also the second largest tribe in the Murree Hills. There are four tribes inhabiting the Murree hills: Abbasi, Satti, Dhanial and Kethwal. Khalabat is a Satti village situated in Satti area. In this village the first migrants were three Satti brothers from a neighboring village to the south east of Khalabat. Dhanials came later, the few households of Kethwals are the latest arrivals in the village.

Ethnic group Percentage in Khalabat
Satti 66%
Dhanial 24%
Kethwal 9%
others 1%

KhalabatVibe

                                                                By : Anjum Satti

             

The Ethnobotanical Profile of Tehsil Kotli Sattian, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Authors: Rahmatullah Qureshi and Humaira Shaheen (Department of Botany, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan)

Book Description:  Kotli Sattian is an extension of the Indo-Himalayan ecological region that falls in the transitional zone of Irano-Saharan ecosystem which extends to the Southwest. This is a very beautiful subdivision of district Rawalpindi (Punjab), Pakistan which is bounded on the Northwest by the Murree Hills and touches the Kashmir territory on the East by bridging the river Jhelum on the Southwest. The evergreen hills with its gentle and steep slopes, the cool, fresh & health giving fountains, the dancing & singing streams, the winding roads & paths that wind through the lively pine woods and the bracing climate beckon the wanderer to this hilly area. The territorial name is derived from the mountain town of Kotli and the Satti tribe. This book is an amazing compilation of the plants used by the Satti tribe for medicine, food, forage, fuel, fiber and a multitude of other things. The authors have spent more than five years and documented more than 200 plant species valued by the inhabitants. This is undoubtedly the most substantial ethnobotanical survey ever undertaken, preserving indigenous knowledge of native flora for the future. This book is a valuable source for botanists, plant taxonomists, anthropologists, ethnobotanists, ethnopharmacologists, ecologists, foresters & range managers, nature lovers and tourists interested in the culture of Satti people and their way of use of native plants.