Namli Mera is a mountainous rural area located in

Abbottabad District Abbottabad District () is a district of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is part of Hazara Division and covers an area of 1,969 km2, with the city of Abbottabad being the principal town. Neighbouring districts are Mansehra to ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

province,

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 is one of the 51 union councils of

,Administrative Units of District Abbottabad
and takes its name from the two largest

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

in the Union Council, Namli and Mera. These settlements are nestled on mountain

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

s about 20 kilometres from the city of

Abbottabad Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourth ...

, in the foothills of

Miranjani Miranjani is the highest peak in Galyat Region which is located at the elevation of , in Abbottabad District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the Province of Pakistan. It is located in the Namli Maira area, in Ayubia National Park, north of Islamabad i ...

, the highest peak in the district. A

metalled A road surface (British English), or pavement (American English), is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, hoggin, cobble ...

road connects Namli Mera to the main Abbottabad—

Nathia Gali Nathia Gali or Nathiagali ( ur, ) is a hill station and mountain resort town located in the Abbottabad District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located at the centre of the Galyat range, where several hill stations are situated. Na ...

road and is an alternate route to reach Nathia Gali from Abbottabad. Namli Mera is around 3 kilometres away Bagnotar on the main road.the main population area starts from chanat Al Noor masjid and along there is a famous Gull super store owned by sardar Nafees gul onward to this there is a main market named as pull market of maira kalan

Climate and crops

Being at a high altitude, this region hosts extreme winters (starting October) and a temperate and slightly humid summer (April onwards) which temperatures reaching 30C. July and August also see the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

which cause a pleasant drop in temperature. Farming is the main occupation of the population. The farming is done by

oxen An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer spec ...

in remote areas but in villages with better accessibility the land is ploughed by machinery. The two crops grown there are

rabi Rabi may refer to: Places * Rábí, a castle in the Czech Republic * Rabí, a village in the Czech Republic * Räbi, a village in Estonia * Rabi, Panchthar, a village development committee in Nepal * Rabi Island, a volcanic island in northern F ...

and kharaif. The major rabi crops grown in the area are

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, and the kharaif crop is only

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 ...

, in a very small area of village. The wheat is used for cattle and for grain only. Some vegetables are also found here, including

turnip The turnip or white turnip (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. The word ''turnip'' is a compound of ''turn'' as in turned/rounded on a lathe and ' ...

radish The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an Eating, edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman Empire, Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, be ...

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

s and

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

. Fruits like pear, apple, black grapes, grapes, fig, peach, damson plum, mulberry, wild fig, lemon, apricot, charry are found in abundance in Namli Mera. As the

hill people Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains. This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation. The climate is generally harsh, with s ...

lack awareness of the markets, they are unable to get a proper return. These fruits are therefore used for

subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...

. Most of the area around these mountain villages is covered with trees. Peaks are covered with evergreen trees including pine, walnut, oak and maple trees. Herbs, shrubs, wild flowers and thorny bushes can be seen in abundance. Goats and other pet animals graze the pastures.

Livelihood and economy

The main occupation of the people is subsistence farming and cattle breeding. Farmers cultivate one crop per season as climatic conditions do not permit double cropping. The other occupation is cattle breeding. Cows, sheep and goats are kept to supply milk for daily use of the household. Bullocks are used to work the plough. Poverty has forced many people to seek economic opportunities in the plains. Besides earning livelihood doing jobs in nearby towns, many have joined the army and civil service. Hotels in the nearby hill towns of

Ayubia Ayubia National Park ( ur, ), also known as Ayubia ( ur, ), is a protected area of located in Abbottabad District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It was declared a national park in 1984. Ayubia was named after Muhammad Ayub Khan (19 ...

and

Murree Murree ( Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is about ...

provide another source of employment to the locals. After turmoil in

Swat In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

, Namli Mera is gradually becoming popular with tourists from down country. Wood is the primary source of fuel and home construction, as there is no gas in Namli Mera. People go to forests and cut trees so that they can light fires for cooking and other activities. Those who can afford them use LPG gas cylinders.

People

The population of Namli Mera is Muslim, belonging to the

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

sect. About 90% belong to the

Karlal The Karlal (Urdu: کڑلال), also known as ''Karral'', ''Kiraal'', and '' Sardar'' is a Hindko and Pahari speaking tribe dwelling mostly in the Abbottabad District of the Hazara Division region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Etymology an ...

(

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

) tribe. Other tribes in this area include

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

Awan Awan may refer to: Places * Awan (ancient city), a city-state in Elam in the 3rd millennium BCE * Awan (region), a town in Guna district, Madhya Pradesh, India * Awan, Bhulath, a village in Kapurthala district, Punjab, India, Punjab, Pakistan * ...

, Abbasi and a handful of

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. The mother language of the people of Namli Mera is Pahari پہاڑی, which is slightly different from Pothwari. Locals also speak and understand

Hindko Hindko (, romanized: , ) is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pun ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

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 languages ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. The elderly people of the area can also speak and understand

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and Arabic.

Education

Namli Mera village has one of the highest literacy rates for the district. The literacy rate of Namli Mera is about 92%. But some says its 99.99%. Government and private schools cater to the elementary educational needs of the residents. There are Primary schools for boys and girls, Government Boys High School and Girls High School. A number of private schools are also available. Habib Public School, Abaseen Public School, Model Public School are the oldest and famous school of the village. Al-falah Public School in Chanati and Iqra Public School in Upper Mera Kalan are the other private schools.

Tourism

Since the earthquake of 2005 tourists prefer Nathi Gali and surrounding areas like Namli Mera, Kala Bagh, Thandiani and Mushkpuri. The approach to Namli Mera is the same from Murree and Abbottabad (32 km from either side).

(also known as "Choki") is one of the most popular sites of Namli Mera. Mirajani stands approximately 9,000 feet above sea level. There is an old track adjacent to Mirajani which connects Nathia Gali to

Thandiani Thandiani (literally meaning "very cold") is a hill station in the Galyat area of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Thandiani is located in the northeast of Abbottabad District and is about from Abbottabad in the foothills of the Himal ...

. Along the track lies a British-era forest rest house, called Dagri Bangla by the locals. The location of the building, in the middle of thick forest, colonial style of construction and remoteness give it an aura of mystery.

2005 earthquake

On 8 October 2005, an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck the northern areas and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, causing significant damage to housing and a large number of deaths.

Aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

s were felt through December. As some houses were damaged in the earthquake, the Pakistani army donated money and funds for the people.

References

{{Abbottabad-Union-Councils Union councils of Abbottabad District