Misplaced Pages

Upper Dir District ضلع دیر بالا پورتنۍ دیر ولسوالۍ‎
District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Top: Jahaz Banda in Kumrat valley Bottom: Lowaro Top
Upper Dir District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Division	Malakand
Established	1996
Headquarters	Dir
Government
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	Gohar Zaman Wazir (BPS-18 PAS)
• District Police Officer	Mushtaq Ahmad (BPS-18 PSP)
• District Health Officer	N/A
Area
• District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	3,699 km (1,428 sq mi)
Population
• District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	1,083,566
• Density	290/km (760/sq mi)
• Urban	47,842
• Rural	1,035,724
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Number of Tehsils	6
Main language(s)	Pashto , Gawri
Website	dirupper.kp.gov.pk

Upper Dir District (Pashto: پورتنۍ دیر ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع دیر بالا) is a district located in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The city of Dir is its district headquarter. Geographically, it is located in the northern part of Pakistan. It borders with the Chitral district on the north, Afghanistan on the northwest, the Swat district on the east, and the Lower Dir district on the south. It shares 40 to 50 kilometers border with Afghanistan.

History

Dir was home to various popular civilizations. It has been the place where the Aryans, the Budhists, and the Mughals survived. It was also a home to the Gandhara civilization. It was invaded by Alexander The Great.

In the sixteenth century, it was invaded by the Yousafzai tribe of the Pashtuns.

In 1898, Yousafzai Pashtun Muhammad Sharif Khan was declared the Nawab of Dir. He was succeeded by his son Nawab Aurang Zeb Khan in 1904, who ruled until his death in 1925. Subsequently, his son Shah Jehan Khan succeeded him and ruled the state for almost 35 years. At the time of the independence of Pakistan, in 1947, Dir was still a princely state, separated from Pakistan. It was no later than 1969, when it was annexed with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Till 1996, Dir was a unit combined district. But in 1996, the Dir District was divided into Upper and Lower Dir districts.

Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Upper Dir district has 149,536 households and a population of 1,083,566. The district has a sex ratio of 98.36 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 46.77%: 62.76% for males and 31.67% for females. 392,214 (36.24% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 47,842 (4.42%) live in urban areas. 2,415 (0.22%) of the people in the district are from religious minorities, mainly Christians.

Languages of Upper Dir district (2023)

Pashto is the predominant language, spoken by 91.02% of the population. Kohistani languages are spoken by 5.11% of the population, and 3.87% of the population speak 'Other' languages.

Tribes

The people groups of the district are various Pashtun tribes of Afghan origin among other clans that settled in the region. These include the following tribes

• Tarkani
• Yusufzai
• Shinwari
• Akakhel
• Utmankhel
• Ghilzai
• Swati
• Tareen

Administration

Upper Dir District has 4 Tehsils.

• Dir
• Sheringal
• Kalkot
• Barawal

Wari and Larjam tehsils are part of newly created District Central Dir District.

National Assembly

This district is represented by one elected MNA (Member of National Assembly) in Pakistan National Assembly. Its constituency is NA-5 (Upper Dir).

Provincial Assembly

In the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there are three seats for the Upper Dir district. Its constituency is PK-11, PK-12 and PK-13.

Towns

Except for the town of Dir and a number of rapidly growing towns along the main road, the population is rural, scattered in more than 1200 villages in the deep narrow valleys of the Panjkora and its tributaries.

Of these, notable villages are

• Khas Dir
• Panakot
• Roghano Darra-Jelar
• Usheri
• Sundrawal
• Hattan
• Barawal Bandai
• Qashqaray
• Qulandai
• Benr
• Nusrat
• Ben Shahi
• Sunai
• Surbat
• Kair
• Pataw (Patao)
• Kalkot
• Patrak
• Sheringal
• Doog Dara
• Barawal
• Chumra
• Gandigar
• Katan
• Doryal
• Toormang
• Darorra
• Ganori
• Shalkani
• Wari
• Kakad
• Chaper
• Chukiatan

Division of Dir

Popular places

• Qashqaray
• Panakot
• Kumrat Valley
• Kalkot
• Sheringal
• Bibyawar, Malakabad
• Doog Dara
• Ushirai Dara
• Shahi Koto
• ((Doryal kozkaly))
• Nehag Dara
• Barawal
• Ganori
• Gandigar
• Nowra
• Lowari Top
• Seratai
• sawni
• Doryall
• Guli Bagh Karo
• kakad
• Roghano Darra
• Wari City

Notable people

• Dr Zia Ul Haq (born 1980), university Vice Chancellor

See also

• Dir (city)
• Dir (princely state)
• Lower Dir District
• Chitral District
• Swat District

References

1. ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
2. 1998 District Census report of Upper Dir. Census publication. Vol. 104. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
3. "About Malakand Division". The Commissioner Of Malakand, The Government Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019.
4. "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
5. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
6. ^ "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
7. Bergen, Peter; Tiedemann, Katherine, eds. (2013). Talibanistan : negotiating the borders between terror, politics and religion (first ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 150. ISBN 9780199893096. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
8. "District Dir Upper". Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
9. "Election Commission of Pakistan". Election Commission of Pakistan. Archived from the original on 10 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
10. "Pakistan: North West Frontier Province District, Tehsil and Union code Reference Map - Upper Dir". Relief Web. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2024.

v t e Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Provincial capital: Peshawar
Bannu	Bannu Lakki Marwat North Waziristan
Dera Ismail Khan	Dera Ismail Khan Tank Lower South Waziristan Upper South Waziristan
Hazara	Abbottabad Allai Battagram Haripur Kolai-Palas Upper Kohistan Lower Kohistan Mansehra Torghar
Kohat	Hangu Karak Kohat Kurram Orakzai
Malakand	Bajaur Buner Central Dir Lower Chitral Lower Dir Malakand Shangla Swat Upper Dir Upper Chitral
Mardan	Mardan Swabi
Peshawar	Charsadda Nowshera Peshawar Khyber Mohmand
Former	Chitral South Waziristan

v t e Administrative divisions of Upper Dir District
Capital	Dir
Tehsils	Dir Sheringal Wari Barawal Chapar Kalkot Khal
Union councils	Akhagram Banda Nihag Barikot Barawal Banda Nihag Bibiawar Chakianan Darorra Darikund Dislawar Dir Doog Dara Ganori Gwaldai Jabar Kalkot Khalshaflam Kotkai Nehag Pashta Patrak Palam Sawni Sheringal Shalfalam Shahikot Sundalm Taraptar Qolundy Wari

35°12′15″N 71°52′20″E / 35.20417°N 71.87222°E / 35.20417; 71.87222

• Upper Dir District
• Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa