The University of Chitral was opened in 2017 to meet the ever increasing demand for higher education by people lving in what was then Chitral District. In 2018, the district was divided into two districts, Lower Chitral and Upper Chitral , but the University of Chitral's focus remains the whole of Chitral and its neighboring regions. The herbarium (CHIT) was officially started in 2020. At that time, it had about 1200 specimens that had been collected in different parts of Chitral.  It first began digitizing its specimens in 2023. It includes both pressed and formalin-preserved specimens. A seed bank has also been established. The herbarium is in the initial stages of its development. It was founded in response to the interest recent researchers in plant biology have shown in the region.