Darra Adam Khel () is the main town of Dara Adam Khel Tehsil (formerly known as " Frontier Region Kohat") in the Kohat District of

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 ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It has gained fame and notoriety for its bazaars packed with

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...

s and weapons

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

s. The town consists of one main street lined with multiple shops, while side-alleys and streets contain workshops.

Economy

A wide variety of firearms are produced in the town, ranging from anti-aircraft guns to pen guns. Weapons are handmade by individual craftsmen using traditional manufacturing techniques, which are usually handed down from father-to-son. Guns are regularly tested by test-firing into the air. Darra is controlled by the local tribesmen. The town has certain special laws compared to the rest of Pakistan. Most of the people here make or sell just one thing, i.e., guns, while the second largest business of the inhabitants is transport. Manufacturing of heavy ammunition, however, has been closed down. Tourism is not advisable because tribal police ( Khasadar) visit the market to check for any local rules and law violation. Foreigners without permits are taken to secure places to avoid any mishaps. The Darra arms trade first fired up in 1897 and became popular with the Adam Khel Afridis. According to Vice News, the gun trade in the area was affected by

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and was forced to go underground.

Tourism

Michael Palin visited the town as part of his ''

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

'' television series, as did Ethan Casey in his travel book ''Alive and Well in Pakistan'' while Australian film director Benjamin Gilmour's feature drama '' Son of a Lion'' set in Darra Adam Khel premiered at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

2008. Suroosh Alvi of Vice Media also entered the market-town in 2006 for a segment of ''Vice Guide to Travel''.

Notable people

* Ajab Khan Afridi * Maulana Bijligar * Tahir Afridi

References

External links

'Tribesmen Rally to the Gun', Observer article
September 23, 2001 * 2005 *
Pakistan's

August–September 1992

''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' March 30, 2008
Son of a Lion official website
2008
2007 video of Darra
from VBS.TV
Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Pakistan
{{Campaignbox Waziristan Populated places in Kohat District Firearms in Pakistan

Economy

Tourism

Notable people

See also

References

External links