Buner District
ضلع بونیر
بونېر ولسوالۍ‎
District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Top: Karrakarr Buner Gateway :Tabligh Markaz : Pir Baba Masjid: Torwarsak Mountain:Mahabanrr Tourist Camps
Top: Karrakarr Buner Gateway
:Tabligh Markaz : Pir Baba Masjid: Torwarsak Mountain:Mahabanrr Tourist Camps
Nickname: 
Gul Da Namair[1]
Motto: 
The Land of sufis اولیاء کی سرزمین
Buner District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Buner District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Country Pakistan
Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
DivisionMalakand
District1998
HeadquartersDaggar[2]
Government
 • TypeDistrict Administration
 • Deputy CommissionerHamid Ali[3]
 • District Health OfficerN/A
Area
 • Total1,865 km2 (720 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)[4]
 • Total895,460
 • Density480/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
DemonymBuneri
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Postal code of Daggar
19290
Area code0939
Number of Tehsils6
Number of Union Councils27[5]
Websitebuner.kp.gov.pk
Pir Baba masjid

Buner District (Pashto: بونېر ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع بونیر) is a district in the Malakand Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Before receiving the status of a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District.[6]


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.[7]

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.[8]

History

The grave of Pir Baba

The Buner Valley lies between Swabi to the South and Swat 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.[9]

During the 1580s, a significant uprising against the Mughal Empire took place among Yusufzai people.[10] In late 1585, Mughal Emperor Akbar sent military forces under Zain Khan Koka and Birbal to crush the rebellion. In February 1586, near the Karakar Pass, about 8,000 Mughal soldiers, including Birbal, were killed by the Yusufzai lashkar, led by Kalu Khan. This was the greatest disaster faced by the Mughal Army during Akbar's reign.[11]

Throughout the 19th century, the inhabitants of Buner stood up twice against the British Raj.[12]

In April 2009, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan seized control of Buner after a short battle with the local residents. [citation needed]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.[13] On 29 April, the Government of Pakistan responded to the Taliban by deploying the army to the region, even employing parachutists delivered via helicopters.[14] By the end of May 2009, almost whole Buner was liberated from the Taliban's grip.[15]

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1951 109,147—    
1961 123,217+1.22%
1972 187,984+3.91%
1981 265,517+3.91%
1998 506,048+3.87%
2017 895,460+3.05%
Sources:[16]

At the time of the 2017 census, the district had 92,990 households and a population of 895,460. Of these, 445,872 were male and 449,555 were female. The entire population was rural. Buner had a sex ratio of 1008 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 46.84% - 65.10% for males and 29.40% for females. 32.18% of the population were under 10 years of age. 1,402 (0.16%) people in the district were from religious minorities, mainly Sikhs.[4]

Languages of Buner district (2017)

  Pashto (97.56%)
  Hindko (0.95%)
  Others (1.49%)

At the time of the 2017 census, 97.56% of the population spoke Pashto and 0.95% Hindko as their first language.[4]

Administration

Buner Tehsils

Buner District is currently subdivided into 6 Tehsils.

  1. Daggar (Urdu: تحصیل ڈگر)(Pashto: ډاګر تحصیل‎)
  2. Chagharzai (Urdu: تحصیل چغرزئی)(Pashto: چغرزي تحصیل‎)
  3. Chamla (Mandanr) (Urdu: تحصیل چملہ)(Pashto: چملا تحصیل‎)
  4. Khudu Khel (Urdu: تحصیل خدو خیل)(Pashto: خدو خېل تحصیل‎)
  5. Gagra (Urdu: تحصیل گاگرہ)(Pashto: ګګرا تحصیل‎)
  6. Salarzi & Gadezai (Urdu: تحصیل سلارزئی گدیزئی)(Pashto: ((script/Arabic|ګدېزي سلارزئي تحصیل )

National assembly

This district is represented by one elected MNA (Member of National Assembly) in Pakistan National Assembly. Its constituency is NA-28.[17]

Election Member Party
2002 Sher Akbar Khan PPP (S)
2008 Istiqbal Khan ANP
2013 Sher Akbar Khan JI
2018 Sher Akbar Khan PTI

2024 Barrister Gohar Ali. IND

Provincial assembly

The district has three constituencies in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[18] and one in the National Assembly of Pakistan.

Member of Provincial Assembly Party Affiliation Constituency Year
Riaz Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-20 Buner-I 2024
Syed Fakhr e Jehan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PK-21 Buner-II 2024
Abdul Kabir Khan PTI PK-22 Buner-III 2024

Educational establishments

Largest villages

See also

References

  1. ^ "بونیر کے روایتی پھول نمیر سے منسوب تین روزہ میلہ شروع ہوگیا". 13 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Uncertainty rules Pakistan's Buner district" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Nertherlands Worldwide
  3. ^ List of District Returning Officers Election Commission of Pakistan 11 December 2023 Retrieved 10 January 2024
  4. ^ a b c "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2017)". www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  5. ^ "Village/Neighbourhood Council". lgkp.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  6. ^ 1998 District Census report of Buner. Census publication. Vol. 98. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
  7. ^ "Buner". Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Official Web.
  8. ^ "High time for govt to protect Buner's marble industry from collapse". Samaa TV. October 16, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  9. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Buner". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 798.
  10. ^ "Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 19– Imperial Gazetteer of India". Digital South Asia Library. p. 152. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  11. ^ Richards, John F. (1993). The Mughal Empire. The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 9780521566032.
  12. ^ Chisholm 1911.
  13. ^ "Taliban Exert Influence In Pakistan". NPR.org.
  14. ^ Pakistani forces seize main town of Buner district from Taliban
  15. ^ "90% Buner Cleared: May 27, 2009". Archived from the original on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  16. ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  17. ^ "Election Commission of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 2013-02-24.
  18. ^ Constituencies and MPAs – Website of the Provincial Assembly of the NWFP Archived April 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ a b c d Babbar, Rafiullah (26 May 2018). "Buner District Population of Cities, Towns and Villages 2017-2018".

34°31′01″N 72°29′02″E / 34.5169°N 72.4839°E / 34.5169; 72.4839

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