Bannu District Explained

District Bannu
Native Name:Urdu: {{nq|ضلع بنوں
Pushto; Pashto: {{script/Arabic|بنو ولسوالۍ
Settlement Type:District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Total Type:Total
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Pakistan
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Type2:Division
Subdivision Name2:Bannu
Established Title:Established
Seat Type:Headquarters
Seat:Bannu
Government Type:District Administration
Leader Title:Deputy Commissioner
Leader Name:Mohammad Khan Bangash
Leader Title1:Member of National Assambley
Leader Name1:Mualana Nasim Ali Shah
Leader Title2:District Health Officer
Leader Name2:N/A
Unit Pref:Metric
Area Total Km2:1972
Population Total:1,357,890
Population As Of:2023
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics1 Title1:Main language(s)
Demographics1 Info1:PashtoUrdu
Timezone1:PST
Utc Offset1:+5
Blank Name Sec1:District Council
Blank1 Name Sec1:Number of Tehsils
Blank1 Info Sec1:5

Bannu District (Pushto; Pashto: بنو ولسوالۍ, Urdu: {{nq|ضلع بنوں) is a district in the Bannu Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Its status as a district was formally recorded in 1861 during the British Raj.[1]

This district constitutes one of the 26 districts that collectively form the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It borders North Waziristan to the northwest, Karak to the northeast, Lakki Marwat and Bettani to the southeast, and South Waziristan to the southwest. It is represented in the provincial assembly by four MPAs.

Cloth weaving, sugar mills and the manufacturing of cotton fabrics, machinery and equipment are the major industries in Bannu. It is also known for its weekly Jumma fair. The district forms a basin drained by the Kurram and Gambila (or Tochi) rivers, which originate in the hills of Waziristan. Although Bannu is surrounded by rugged and dry mountains, it is a fertile place, and early English visitors had been known to refer to it as a "paradise" – see the description by Edwardes quoted by Thornton.

Physical features

The district forms a basin drained by the Kurram River, Gambila River and Tochi river[2] which originate in the hills of Waziristan. Extending its reach to the base of the frontier hills, the Bannu Valley unfolds as an asymmetrical oval, spanning 60 miles (97 km) from north to south and 40 miles (64 km) from east to west.

History

See also: Bannu. The history of Bannu goes back to prehistoric times due to its strategic location. Notably, Sheri Khan Tarakai is an ancient settlement site located in the Bannu District. Here, remnants bear witness to the presence of the most ancient village settlement within the Bannu region. This site witnessed occupation from the late fifth century to the early third millennium BC.[3]

The sacred texts of Zend Avesta and Vendidad mentions Varəna, the Avestan predecessor of the name for Bannu, as one of the sixteen most beautiful and perfect lands created by Ahura Mazda.[4] Bannu is the homeland and birthplace of Fereydun;[5]

Malik Dilasa Khan had also fought a successful battle against the sikh empire.[6] in which he killed one of the prominent Sikh Military commander Jai Singh Atariwala in the Battle of Bannu.[7]

British era (1861–1947)

After the British annexation of Punjab, then including parts of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), the valley was administered by Herbert Edwardes. As a result of his administration, the region became a source of strong support, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Although the valley itself was peaceful, it was subject to incursions from the Waziri tribes of the Tochi Valley and the neighbouring hills. The primary export of the region was wheat, Salt and alum were also quarried at Kalabagh.

As of 1911, the Indus had no bridges within the district, but was navigable for local boats throughout its course of 76miles.

Bannu Jirga (1947)

See main article: Bannu Resolution. On 21 June 1947 in Bannu, a jirga was held by Pashtun leaders including Bacha Khan, his brother Chief Minister Dr Khan Sahib, the Khudai Khidmatgars, members of the Provincial Assembly, Mirzali Khan (Faqir of Ipi), and other tribal chiefs, just seven weeks before the Partition of India. The jirga declared the Bannu Resolution, which demanded that the Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of Pashtunistan composing all Pashtun territories of British India, instead of being made to join either India or Pakistan. However, the British Raj refused to comply with the demand of this resolution, in response to which the Khudai Khidmatgars boycotted the 1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum for merging the province into Pakistan.[8] [9]

Pashtun National Jirga (2022)

See main article: Pashtun National Jirga. On 11–14 March 2022, the Pashtun National Jirga was held at Mirakhel in Bannu District in order to defend the rights of the Pashtun people in the country. The critical issues which were faced by the Pashtuns were discussed during the jirga in a bid to suggest solutions to them.[10] [11]

Administrative subdivisions

Bannu District is divided into 6 Tehsils and 46 union councils.[12] [13]

  1. Bannu Tehsil (Urdu: {{nq|تحصیل بنوں)(Pushto; Pashto: {{script/Arabic|بنو تحصیل)
  2. Domel Tehsil (Urdu: {{nq|تحصیل ڈومیل)(Pushto; Pashto: {{script/Arabic|ډومیل تحصیل)
  3. Kakki Tehsil (Urdu: {{nq|تحصیل ککی)(Pushto; Pashto: {{script/Arabic|ککي تحصیل)
  4. Baka Khel Tehsil (Urdu: {{nq|تحصیل بکاخیل)(Pushto; Pashto: {{script/Arabic|بکاخېل تحصیل)
  5. Miryan Tehsil (Urdu: {{nq|تحصیل میریان)(Pushto; Pashto: {{script/Arabic|میریان تحصیل)
  6. Wazir Tehsil

Provincial and National Assembly Seats

The district has 4 Provincial Seats in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly[14] while it has 1 seat in National Assembly.[15]

National Assembly

ElectionMemberParty
Maulana Syed Nasib Ali ShahMMA
Maulana Fazal-ur-RehmanMMA
Akram Khan DurraniJUI (F)
Imran KhanPTI
2018 (by-election) Zahid Akram DurraniMMA

Provincial Assembly

Member of Provincial Assembly Party AffiliationConstituency Year
bgcolor=Pakistan Peoples Party ParliamentariansBannu-I2018
bgcolor= Pakistan Tehreek-e-InsafBannu-II2018
bgcolor= Pakistan Tehreek-e-InsafBannu-III2018
bgcolor= Muttahida Majlis-e-AmalBannu-IV2018

Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Bannu district has 183,130 households and a population of 1,357,890. The district has a sex ratio of 108.33 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 41.75%: 58.47% for males and 23.84% for females. 445,307 (32.87% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 48,398 (3.56%) live in urban areas.[16] Pashto is the predominant language, spoken by 99.09% of the population.[17]

Religion

1941[18] ! colspan="2"
2017[19] 2023[20]
Religion
157,09783.74%1,208,0541,349,35999.61%
24,51713.07%2752790.02%
5,2852.82%22~0%
4670.25%1,4944,8440.36%
Others2320.12%3600.04%1700.01%
Total Population187,598100%1,210,1831,354,674100%
Religious
group! colspan="2"
1881[21] 1891[22] 1901[23] 1911[24] 1921[25] 1931[26] 1941[27]
301,002337,269206,429225,374219,695237,674257,648
30,64333,83222,17820,72123,50926,18131,471
7901,0622,6733,7463,2865,4826,112
8258183245244964699
6055220000
0000000
0000000
000000
Others0000000
Total population332,577372,276231,485250,086246,734270,301295,930

Universities in Bannu

District Bannu has two Universities with one i.e University of Science & Technology, Bannu (USTB),[28] founded in 2005 by Mr. Akram Khan Durrani, the then Chief Minister, has a full degree awarding status and another one as a campus of the University of Engineering & Technology (UET), Peshawar. USTB offers a wide variety of courses in Science, Engineering and Arts subjects at Bachelors, Master and PhD level. These universities host students from District Bannu, the neighboring districts of Lakki Marwat, Karak, Waziristan as well as from all over Pakistan.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bannu; or our Afghan Frontier . Trűbner & Co. . 1883 . S.S. Thorbourne . 1314135279 . London.
  2. Web site: Bannu District . Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 6, page 392. 4 March 2024.
  3. Petrie, C.A., Thomas, K.D. & Morris, J.C. 2010. Chronology of Sheri Khan Tarakai, in Petrie, C.A. (ed.). Sheri Khan Tarakai and early village life in the borderlands of north-west Pakistan, Bannu Archaeological Project Monographs – Volume 1, Oxbow Books, Oxford: 343–352.
  4. http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/AryanHome.pdf Michael Witzel, "The Home of the Aryans"
  5. Gherardo Gnoli. Zoroaster's Time and Homeland: a study on the origins of Mazdeism.Published by Istituto Universitario Orientale (1980), ASIN: B0018NEFO0.
  6. Book: Rashid, Haroon . History of the Pathans: The Ghurghushti, Beitani and Matti tribes of Pathans . 2008 . Haroon Rashid . 436 . en.
  7. Book: Chopra, Gulshan Lall . Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab . 1940 . Government Printing . 200 . en.
  8. Book: Ali Shah, Sayyid Vaqar . 1993 . Afghanistan and the Frontier . . Emjay Books International . 256 . Fazal-ur-Rahim Khan . Marwat . 2019-08-18 . 2019-12-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191219182034/https://books.google.com/books?id=c05uAAAAMAAJ . live .
  9. Book: H Johnson . Thomas . Thomas Howard Johnson . Zellen . Barry . 2014 . Culture, Conflict, and Counterinsurgency . . 154 . 9780804789219 . 2019-08-18 . 2019-12-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191219182407/https://books.google.com/books?id=B9ZZAgAAQBAJ . dead.
  10. Web site: Nationalist parties convene jirga on Pakhtun issues. March 12, 2022. The News International.
  11. Web site: په بنو کې درې ورځنۍ "پښتون قامي جرګه" روانه ده. Radio Mashaal. ps.
  12. Web site: Pakistan Tehsil Wise Census 2017 [PDF] (official)]. www.pbscensus.gov.pk. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107021641/http://www.pbscensus.gov.pk/sites/default/files/PAKISTAN%20TEHSIL%20WISE%20FOR%20WEB%20CENSUS_2017.pdf. 2017-11-07. dead. 2017-11-11.
  13. Web site: Pakistan: North West Frontier Province District, Tehsil and Union Code Reference Map . United Nations Pakistan unportal.un.org.pk . 1 July 2009 . Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . https://web.archive.org/web/20130810074849/http://www.pdma.gov.pk/documents/District_Tehsil_and_Union_code_Reference_Map_Bannu.pdf . 10 August 2013 . dead.
  14. Web site: By Seat KP Assembly. www.pakp.gov.pk. en-US. 2017-11-13.
  15. Web site: The Election Commission :: Untitled Page. 2012-11-15. 2017-11-13. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20121115231135/http://www2.ecp.gov.pk/vsite/ElectionResult/Search.aspx?constituency=NA&constituencyid=NA-26. 2012-11-15.
  16. Web site: 7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1 . www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  17. Web site: 7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11 . .
  18. Web site: CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME X NORTH-WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE . 14 October 2021.
  19. Web site: Pakistan Census 2017 District-Wise Tables: Hangu . Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  20. Web site: 7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9 . Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  21. Web site: Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. II. . saoa.crl.25057657 . 16 June 2024 . 1881 . 17.
  22. Web site: The Punjab and its feudatories, part II--Imperial Tables and Supplementary Returns for the British Territory . saoa.crl.25318669 . 22 June 2024 . 1891 . 14.
  23. Web site: Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province. ]. saoa.crl.25363739 . 25 February 2024 . 1901 . 34.
  24. Web site: Census of India 1911. Vol. 13, North-west Frontier Province : part I, Report; part II, Tables. . saoa.crl.25394102 . 23 September 2021 . 1911 . 306.
  25. Web site: Census of India 1921. Vol. 14, North-west Frontier Province : part I, Report; part II, Tables. . saoa.crl.25430163 . 2 February 2023 . 1921 . 344.
  26. Web site: Census of India, 1931, vol. XV. North-west frontier province. Part I-Report. Part II-Tables . saoa.crl.25793233 . 7 February 2023 . Mallam . G. L. . Dundas . A. D. F. . 1933 . Peshawar, Printed by the manager, Government stationery and printing, 1933. . 373.
  27. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 10, North-West Frontier Province . saoa.crl.28215543 . 23 September 2021 . 1941 . 22.
  28. Web site: mskd. University of Science & Technology, Bannu. 2022-02-25. University of Science & Technology, Bannu. en.