Bannu District ( ps, بنو ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...
in
Bannu Division of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
province in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. It was recorded as a district in 1861 during the British Raj.
It is one of 26 districts that make up the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
province of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. It borders
North Waziristan to the northwest,
Karak to the northeast,
Lakki Marwat
Lakki Marwat or Lakki ( Urdu and ps, ) is the headquarters of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Lakki Marwat has become one of the fastest growing cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Lakki Marwat is also the 20th ...
and
Bettani
The Bettani ( ps, بېټني), also spelled Baittani or Bhittani, is a Pashtun tribe located mostly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Bettani are named after ''Shaykh Beṭ'', their legendary ancestor who is said to be the second son of Qais Abd ...
to the southeast, and
South Waziristan to the southwest. It is represented in the
provincial assembly by four
MPAs.
The major industries of Bannu are cloth weaving, sugar mills and the manufacturing of cotton fabrics, machinery and equipment. It is 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 which originate in the hills of Waziristan. The Bannu Valley proper stretches to the foot of the frontier hills, forming an irregular oval, measuring from north to south and from east to west.
History
The history of Bannu goes back to prehistoric times, due to its strategic location.
Sheri Khan Tarakai is an ancient settlement site located in the Bannu District with ruins of the oldest known village settlement in the Bannu region, which was occupied from the late fifth until the early third millennium BC.
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. Bannu is the homeland and birthplace of
Fereydun;
British era (1861–1947)
After the British annexation of
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...
, 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
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...
. 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
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
Salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
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 .
Bannu Jirga (1947)
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
Pashtunistan ( ps, پښتونستان, lit=land of the Pashtuns) is a historical region in Central Asia and South Asia, inhabited by the indigenous Pashtun people of Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto language, ...
composing all Pashtun territories of British India, instead of being made to join either India or Pakistan. However, the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
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.
Pashtun National Jirga (2022)
On 11-14 March 2022, the
Pashtun National Jirga was held at
Mirakhel
Mirakhel ( ps, میراخېل) or Mira Khel is a town and union council in Bannu District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is located at 32°51'9N 70°38'39E and has an altitude of 314 metres (1033 feet).
Pashtun National Jirga
On 11-14 March 2022, th ...
in Bannu District in order to defend the rights of the
Pashtun people
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...
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.
Administrative subdivisions
Bannu District is divided into 6
Tehsils
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administ ...
and 46
union councils.
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Bannu Tehsil
#
Domel Tehsil
#
Kakki Tehsil
#
Baka Khel Tehsil
#
Meryan Tehsil
#
Wazir Tehsil
#
Gumatti (formerly
Frontier Region Bannu
Bannu Subdivision, formerly Frontier Region Bannu (FR Bannu), is a subdivision in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The region is named after Bannu District, which lies to the east, and also borders Karak District and Hangu District to th ...
)
Provincial and National Assembly Seats
The district has 4 Provincial Seats in the
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly while it has 1 seat in
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
.
National Assembly
*
NA-39 (Bannu)
NA-39 (Bannu) () is a constituency for the National Assembly of Pakistan. It covers the whole of district Bannu. The constituency was formerly known as NA-26 (Bannu) from 1977 to 2018. The name changed to NA-35 (Bannu) after the delimitation in ...
Provincial Assembly
Demographics
At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population of 1,210,183, of which 614,911 were males and 595,248 females. Rural population was 1,160,235 (95.87%) while the urban population was 49,948 (4.13%). The literacy rate was 46.55% - the male literacy rate was 66.84% while the female literacy rate was 26.26%.
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
was the predominant language, spoken by 98.20% of the population.
Religion
Universities in Bannu
District Bannu has two Universities with one i.
University of Science & Technology, Bannu(USTB),
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
*
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
References
External links
"History and Settlement of Bannu, Excerpts from Gazetteer of the Bannu District, 1887", Khyber.orgWebsite about Bannu
{{Authority control
Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
1861 establishments in British India
sv:Bannu District