Buner District
Buner District (Pashto: بونیر ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع بونیر) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Before becoming a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District.[5]
Buner District
ضلع بونیر Buneri | |
---|---|
![]() ![]() Top: Mountains near Sar Teeraj Bottom: Hindu-Buddhist ruins of Ranigat | |
Nickname: Gul Da Namair[1] | |
Motto: The Land of sufis اولیاء کی سرزمین | |
![]() Location in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | |
Country | ![]() |
Province | ![]() |
Division | Malakand |
District | 1998 |
Headquarters | Daggar[2] |
Government | |
• Type | District Administration |
• Deputy Commissioner | Nasrullah Khan Yousafzai |
• District Police Officer | Imran Khan |
• District Health Officer | N/A |
Area | |
• Total | 1,865 km2 (720 sq mi) |
Population | |
• Total | 895,460 |
• Density | 480/km2 (1,200/sq mi) |
Demonym | Buneri |
Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
Postal code of Daggar | 19290 |
Area code | 0939 |
Number of Tehsils | 6 |
Number of Union Councils | 27[4] |
Website | buner |

History

The Buner Valley lies between Swabi on the South and Swat on the North. It is a mountain valley, dotted with villages and divided into four sub-divisions. The Mora Hills and the Ilam range divide it from the Swat Valley, the Sinawar range from Yusafzai, the Guru mountains from the Mardan Valley, and the Duma range from the Puran Valley.[6]
During the 1580s, many Yusufzais and Mandanrs rebelled against the Mughal Empire.[7] In late 1585, Mughal Emperor Akbar sent military forces under Zain Khan Koka and Birbal to crush the rebellion. In February 1586, about 8,000 Mughal soldiers, including Birbal, were killed near the Karakar Pass by the Yusufzai lashkar, led by Kalu Khan. This was the greatest disaster faced by the Mughal Army during Akbar's reign.[8]
During the 19th century, the inhabitants of Buner rose twice against the British Raj.[9]
In April 2009, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan seized control of Buner, after a brief battle with local residents. Strict rules were reportedly being enforced, including the elimination of video stores, bans on cutting beards, and the prevention of women from appearing in many public places.[10] On 29 April the government responded to the Taliban by sending the army to the region and dropping parachutists by helicopter.[11] By the end of May 2009, almost all of Buner was cleared of the Taliban.[12]
Demographics
At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population of 895,460, of which 445,872 were males and 449,555 females. The entire population was rural. The literacy rate was 46.84% - the male literacy rate was 65.10% while the female literacy rate was 29.40%. 1,402 people in the district were from religious minorities. Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 97.56% of the population.[3]
Administration
Buner Tehsils
Buner District is currently subdivided into 6 Tehsils.
National assembly
This district is represented by one elected MNA (Member of National Assembly) in Pakistan National Assembly. Its constituency is NA-28.[13]
Election | Member | Party |
---|---|---|
2002 | Sher Akbar Khan | PPP (S) |
2008 | Istiqbal Khan | ANP |
2013 | Sher Akbar Khan | JI |
2018 | Sher Akbar Khan | PTI |
Provincial assembly
The district has three constituencies in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[14] 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 | 2018 |
Syed Fakhr e Jehan | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | PK-21 Buner-II | 2018 |
Sardar Hussain Babak | Awami National Party | PK-22 Buner-III | 2018 |
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
Largest villages
- Torwarsak is the most populated Town in Buner which had population about 35,165 in 2018.[15]Torwarsak village in 2020
- Totalai is the 2nd populated town with population about 24,562 in 2018. [15]
- Rega is on 3rd populated town with population about 23,726 in 2018. [15]
- Ellai is 4th with population about 23,678 in 2018.[15]
- afghan mahajer comp population about ,
- 22,380 in 2023
See also
References
- "بونیر کے روایتی پھول نمیر سے منسوب تین روزہ میلہ شروع ہوگیا". 13 October 2017.
- "Uncertainty rules Pakistan's Buner district" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Nertherlands Worldwide
- "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2017)". www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
- "Village/Neighbourhood Council". lgkp.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
- 1998 District Census report of Buner. Census publication. Vol. 98. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
- 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.
- "Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 19– Imperial Gazetteer of India". Digital South Asia Library. p. 152. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- Richards, John F. (1993). The Mughal Empire. The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 9780521566032.
- Chisholm 1911.
- "Taliban Exert Influence In Pakistan". NPR.org.
- Pakistani forces seize main town of Buner district from Taliban
- "90% Buner Cleared: May 27, 2009". Archived from the original on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- "Election Commission of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 2013-02-24.
- Constituencies and MPAs – Website of the Provincial Assembly of the NWFP Archived April 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- Babbar, Rafiullah. "Buner District Population of Cities, Towns and Villages 2017-2018".