Buner District (, ) 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in the Malakand Division of the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

province of Pakistan. Before receiving the status of a district in 1991, it was a

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

within

Swat District Swat District (), also known as the Swat Valley, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Known for its stunning natural beauty, the district is a popular tourist destination. With a populati ...

. Buner's elevation starts at 1200 ft in the South in Totalai and reaches a maximum height of 9,550 ft at the Dosara Peak in the North. The majority of the hills that encircle the Buner District are covered in pine trees. Barandu, Chamla, and Budal are the three principal rivers; the former flows through the center of the district. The majority of people reside in rural areas, where agriculture is their primary source of income. The region's principal crops include sugarcane, tobacco, wheat, and maize. The marble reserves of Buner make up 68% of the total marble reserves of Pakistan. A total of 450 factories and 316 marble mines currently operate in Buner District, contributing Rs470m in royalty.

History

The Buner Valley lies between

Swabi Swabi (; ) is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located near the bank of the Indus River. It is the 73rd largest city of Pakistan and eighth largest in the province in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Swabi is also a major city in ...

to the South and

Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

to the North. It is a valley dotted with villages and divided into four sub-divisions. The Mora Hills and the Ilam range divide it from the Swat Valley, while the Sinawar range from Yusafzai, the Guru mountains from the Mardan Valley, and the Duma range from the Puran Valley. During the 1580s, a significant uprising against the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

took place among

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangl ...

people. In late 1585, Mughal Emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

sent military forces under Zain Khan Koka and

Birbal Mahesh Das (; 1528 16 February 1586), popularly known by his title Rajah Birbal (), was an Indian minister and commander of the Mughal Empire. He is mostly known in the Indian subcontinent for the folk tales which focus on his wit. He was app ...

to crush the rebellion. In February 1586, near the

Karakar Pass Karakar Pass (; el. 1336 m./4384 ft.) is a mountain pass in the Hindu Kush, connecting Swat and Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. From the top of the pass, one can view Buner Valley. It was at this pass in February 1586 where about 8, ...

, about 8,000 Mughal soldiers, including Birbal, were killed by the Yusufzai lashkar, led by

Kalu Khan Kalu Khan is a village located between Shawwa-Adda and Adina village on the main Mardan–Swabi road in Khyber–Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The people of the area belong to the Mandanr-Yousafzai (Isapzai in Pashto) branch of Afghans throu ...

. This was the greatest disaster faced by the

Mughal Army The army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 16th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselve ...

during Akbar's reign. Throughout the 19th century, the inhabitants of Buner stood up twice against the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

during the Ambela Campaign and their

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

in the 1897 Frontier Revolt. In April 2009, the

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban, officially the Tehreek-i-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Durand Line, Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, i ...

seized control of Buner after a short battle with the local residents. The TTP then began imposing strict regulations, which reportedly included the closure of video stores, mandates against trimming beards, and restrictions on women's presence in various public spaces. On 29 April, the Government of Pakistan responded to the Taliban by deploying the army to the region, even employing parachutists delivered via helicopters. By the end of May 2009, almost whole Buner was liberated from the Taliban's grip. * Elum Ghar

Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Buner district has 118,665 households and a population of 1,016,869. The district has a sex ratio of 99.90 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 43.75%: 60.61% for males and 27.40% for females. 310,484 (30.54% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. The entire population lives in rural areas. At the time of the 2023 census, 95.91% of the population spoke

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

and 2.07%

Hindko Hindko (, , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Pun ...

as their first language.

Administration

Buner Tehsils

Buner District is currently subdivided into 6 Tehsils: {, class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers static-row-header-hash" !Tehsil !Name (Urdu) (Pashto) !Area (km²) !Pop. (2023) !Density (ppl/km²) (2023) !Literacy rate (2023) !Union Councils , - , Chagharzai Tehsil , ()() , 218 , 125,949 , 577.75 , 38.27% , , - , Daggar Tehsil , ()() , 290 , 192,776 , 664.74 , 47.57% , , - , Gadezai Tehsil , ()({{langx, ps, {{script/Arabic, ګدېزي سلارزئي تحصیل ) , 472 , 197,466 , 418.36 , 44.22% , , - , Gagra Tehsil , ({{langx, ur, {{nq, تحصیل گاگرہ )({{langx, ps, {{script/Arabic, ګګرا تحصیل ) , 217 , 179,087 , 825.29 , 46.22% , , - , Khudu Khel Tehsil , ({{langx, ur, {{nq, تحصیل خدو خیل )({{langx, ps, {{script/Arabic, خدو خېل تحصیل ) , 343 , 136,560 , 398.13 , 45.10% , , - , Mandanr Tehsil , ({{langx, ur, {{nq, تحصیل چملہ )({{langx, ps, {{script/Arabic, چملا تحصیل ) , 325 , 185,031 , 569.33 , 39.47% ,

National assembly

This district is represented by one elected MNA (Member of National Assembly) in Pakistan National Assembly. Its constituency is NA-28. {, class="wikitable" , - !colspan="1", Election!!Member!!Party , - , ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, , Sher Akbar Khan , PPP (S) , - , ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , Istiqbal Khan , ANP , - , ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , Sher Akbar Khan , JI , - , ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , Sher Akbar Khan , PTI 2024 Barrister Gohar Ali. IND

Provincial assembly

The district has three constituencies in the

Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is located in Peshawar, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of t ...

Constituencies and MPAs – Website of the Provincial Assembly of the NWFP
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422041524/http://www.panwfp.gov.pk/index.php/members/bydistrict/en/9/65 , date=April 22, 2009 and one in the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

. {, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! Member of Provincial Assembly !! Party Affiliation !! Constituency !! Year , - , Riaz Khan , ,

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The party is led by Gohar Ali Khan since late 2023. ...

, , PK-20 Buner-I, , 2024 , - , Syed Fakhr e Jehan, ,

, , PK-21 Buner-II, , 2024 , - , Abdul Kabir Khan , , PTI, , PK-22 Buner-III, , 2024

Educational establishments

* University of Buner * Government College Daggar, Buner * Government Girls Degree College Daggar * Government Degree College Jowar, Buner * Government Girls degree college bazargai * Government Degree college Ghadizai * Government Degree College Chamla

Largest villages

* Torwarsak is the most populated town in Buner which had population of about 35,165 in 2018. Torwarsak village Beautiful view

* Totalai is the second most populated town with population of about 24,562 in 2018. * Rega is the third most populated town with population of about 23,726 in 2018. * Ellai is the fourth most populated town with population of about 23,678 in 2018.{{Cite web, url=https://www.politicpk.com/bunner-district-population-of-cities-towns-and-villages-2017-2018/, title=Buner District Population of Cities, Towns and Villages 2017-2018, first=Rafiullah, last=Babbar, date=26 May 2018, access-date=22 November 2021, archive-date=6 June 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606080314/https://www.politicpk.com/bunner-district-population-of-cities-towns-and-villages-2017-2018/, url-status=live * Afghan Refugees camp had a population of about 22,380 in 2023{{Citation needed, date=August 2023 {{Clear

Notes

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References

{{Reflist {{Buner-Union-Councils, state=expanded {{Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, state=collapsed {{Authority control {{Coord, 34.5169, N, 72.4839, E, source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa