Malakand District

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Malakand
ضلع ملاکنڈ
ملاکنډ ولسوالۍ‎
Tehsils
2
Main languagePashto (98.2%)[2]
Websitemalakand.kp.gov.pk

Malakand District (

Urdu: ضلع ملاکنڈ) is a district in the Malakand Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan
.

Until 1970, it was a part of the Malakand Protected Area of the erstwhile

Provincially Administered Tribal Area(PATA) of Pakistan. In 1970, the district became part of the Malakand Division.[citation needed
]

Malakand District lies at a strategically important position as it acts as a gateway to the

Bajaur, Lower Dir, Swat and Bunair districts.[citation needed] It is surrounded by mountains that were covered with the varieties of trees, though they have a barren appearance nowadays. The Malakand Pass which connects Mardan to Swat and Dir is located near a region of Malakand called Dargai, a site where the local Pushtun tribes fought two fierce battles with the Imperial British Army in 1895 and 1897 (Siege of Malakand).[3][4]

The

Mohmand and Bajaur districts and in the southeast and southwest by the Mardan and Charsadda districts respectively. The area of Malakand protected area is 952 km2.[citation needed
]

Geography

The soil of Malakand is loamy and moist, and is irrigated by the Swat River which flows down from Swat, passing through Swat Ranizai and joins the river Kabul near Charsadda. The average rainfall is not enough, therefore the soil requires artificial irrigation.[5]

There are rare scenic places and tourist resorts in Malakand like Jabban and Malakand hydro-electric project. Water passes through a three-mile-long tunnel, and has a natural fall of 350 feet. The main income-generating source in Malakand is the two power houses at Dargai and Malakand Khas. There are about 11 other suitable sites for construction of Small Hydel Power projects that needed investors' attention.

Malakand's mountains are rich with mineral resources. Deposits of

Fuller's Earth
have been found in Malakand.

History

Main article:
History of Malakand

Historic ruins, found in different places in the district, indicate that this area was part of the Gandhara civilization and Buddhist peoples have also lived here.[citation needed]

In the 12th century,

Muhammad Ghori invaded the area and Islam began to spread there. The Yousafzai Pashtun tribe came to inhabit this area in the wake of the invasion. About 400 years ago, successive Mughal rulers attempted in vain to capture this area. After the fall of the Mughals, Sikh rulers tried to conquer this area but were repulsed. The British had always looked at this area with covetous eyes but dared no venture to flirt with it openly. In 1882, The British approached to the elders of the Malakand District ( then known as Malakand Agency) with the request to allow the passage of post to Chitral, which was then in the administrative sphere of Gilgit. In 1885, the Chitral Expedition
necessitated the British intervention in this area. British officer and troops had been besieged in Chitral by Chitralis. To reinforce their forces there, they needed a route to Chitral as the Gilgit-Chitral road, the only route at that time, was covered with snow and they had no option left except to pass through Malakand Agency. The British therefore laid siege of the Malakand Pass. The people fought bravely and offered stubborn resistance to the enemy. The British artillery particularly proving more than a match for the old and rusty guns and swords of the natives. To fortify their position and ensure the safety of the strategically Important Chitral road, they constructed two forts at Malakand and Chakdara, and many pickets in the surrounding hills. One of them, Churchill's Picket, was named after Lt. Churchill who later on became the Prime Minister of Britain. Since then the British intervened in the politics of the area. A political agent was stationed at Malakand to mediate between the British and the people of the area.

Administration

Subdivisions

  1. Pashto
    : سوات رانيزي تحصیل‎)
  2. Pashto
    : سام رانيزي تحصیل‎)
  3. Pashto
    : تانی بايزي تحصیل‎)

National assembly

This district is represented by one elected MNA (Member of National Assembly) in

NA-35.[6]

Election Member Party
2002 Maulana Muhammad Inayat-ur-Rehman MMA
2004 Syed Bakhtiar Maani MMA
2008 Lal Muhammad Khan
PPPP
2013 Junaid Akbar PTI
2018 Junaid Akbar PTI

Provincial Assembly

Member of Provincial Assembly Party Affiliation Constituency Year
Shakeel Ahmed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-18 Malakand Protected Area-I 2018
Pir Musawir Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-19 Malakand Protected Area-II 2018

The district of Malakand is divided into two Tehsils:

1. Swat Ranizai (Batkhela):

Batkhela is the main tehsil and capital of Malakand District. During the era of Ashoka and Kanishka Batkhela was ruled by a leader named Butt hence the city has been given the name Batkhela. According to the 1998 census, the population of Batkhela is 38,222, and it is estimated to be 39,703 according to the World Gazetteer. This valley is covered by tall hills from all sides and there are many fast-flowing rivers in the area. One water canal that pours into a small dam in Jaban area is the main source of electricity production.

Batkhela main bazaar is more than 3 kilometers long; there are no intersections (junctions) so no traffic lights. Therefore, it is the longest bazaar that has no traffic lights or junctions (intersections) on it.

2. Sama Ranizai (Dargai):

tourists
going to these areas had to take Dargai, Batkhela route so business flourished in Dargai and Batkhela. Due to recent law and order situation tourists going to Swat have considerably decreased affecting people's business here. Dargai is known for its Timber Market and Batkhela for its wholesale Market.

Dargai and Batkhela are known for their battles during British rule. The British commenced their campaign against Malakand in 1853 and spread its sphere of influence to the whole Malakand since then.

There are rare scenic places and tourist resorts in Dargai like Jabban and Malakand hydro-electric project. Water passes through a three-mile long tunnel, and has a natural fall of 350 feet. There are two power houses at Dargai and Malakand Khas. A third power plant of 81MW has recently been constructed in Dargai on Wartair side. Dargai is also home to Punjab Regminent Centre located Near Dargai Railway Station.

Fish Vendor, Malakand District.

Media

There are several cable operators which provide channels with one or two video channels. Manend Media is a recent addition to the media of Pakhtunkhwa and Malakand. It currently runs a News Paper Manend Aaina, a Web TV Manend TV, a Radio Channel Manend Radio and a Social Madia. It is also called Manend News Paper, Manend Akhbar, News Paper of Malakand, News Paper of Pakhtunkhwa Manend e Aaina, The Mirror, Manend TV, Manend Radio etc. This news paper has an online epaper with the name of Manend Epaper.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1951 89,699—    
1961 133,627+49.0%
1972 185,872+39.1%
1981 257,797+38.7%
1998 452,291+75.4%
2017 717,806+58.7%

At the time of the 2017 census the district had 90,291 households and a population of 717,806, of which were males and females. Rural population was 650,120 (90.57%) while the urban population was . Malakand had a sex ratio of 991 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 61.83% - 74.45% for males and 49.45% for females. 67,686 (9.43%) lived in urban areas. 30.81% of the population were under 10 years of age. 471 (0.07%) people in the district were from religious minorities. Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 98.38% of the population.[1]

Bajaur Agency, north west Chakdara with Lower Dir District
and Swat to north.

The control of law and order within the Malakand District lies with a paramilitary force called

Malakand Field Force of British times.[citation needed
]

References

  1. ^ a b "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2017)". www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  2. ^ 1998 District Census report of Malakand. Census publication. Vol. 76. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000. p. 27.
  3. ^ https://www.medals.org.uk/united-kingdom/united-kingdom133.htm
  4. ^ "1897: Action This Day - the Churchill Centre". Archived from the original on 2007-05-29.
  5. ISBN 978-3-03842-083-5
    .
  6. ^ "Election Commission of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2015-11-06.

External links

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