Bannu District

The district forms a basin drained by the Kurram River, Gambila River and Tochi river^[3]: 392 which originate in the hills of Waziristan. Extending its reach to the base of the frontier hills, the Bannu Valley unfolds as an asymmetrical oval, spanning 60 miles (97 km) from north to south and 40 miles (64 km) from east to west.^[5]

The history of Bannu goes back to prehistoric times due to its strategic location. Notably, Sheri Khan Tarakai is an ancient settlement site located in the Bannu District. Here, remnants bear witness to the presence of the most ancient village settlement within the Bannu region. This site witnessed occupation from the late fifth century to the early third millennium BC.^[6]

The sacred texts of Zend Avesta and Vendidad mentions Varəna, the Avestan predecessor of the name for Bannu, as one of the sixteen most beautiful and perfect lands created by Ahura Mazda.^[7] Bannu is the homeland and birthplace of Fereydun.^{[8]: 47–50}

Malik Dilasa Khan had also fought a successful battle against the sikh empire.^[9] in which he killed one of the prominent Sikh Military commander Jai Singh Atariwala in the Battle of Bannu.^[10]

British era (1849–1947)

Bannu District was annexed by the British from its former Sikh rulers after the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–1849.^[11] After the British annexation of Punjab, then including parts of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), the valley was administered by Herbert Edwardes.^[5] As a result of his administration, the region became a source of strong support^{[clarification needed]}, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Although the valley itself was peaceful, it was subject to incursions from the Waziri tribes of the Tochi Valley and the neighbouring hills. The primary export of the region was wheat, Salt and alum were also quarried at Kalabagh.^[5]

As of 1911, the Indus had no bridges within the district, but was navigable for local boats throughout its course of 76 mi (122 km).^[5]

Bannu District is divided into 6 Tehsils and 46 union councils.^[16][17]

The district has 4 Provincial Seats in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly^[21] while it has 1 seat in National Assembly.^[22]

As of the 2023 census, Bannu district has 183,130 households and a population of 1,357,890. The district has a sex ratio of 108.33 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 41.75%: 58.47% for males and 23.84% for females. 445,307 (32.87% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 48,398 (3.56%) live in urban areas.^[1] Pashto is the predominant language, spoken by 99.09% of the population.^[24]

Religion

More information Religious group, Pop. ...

Religion in contemporary Bannu District

Religious group	1941[25]		2017[26]		2023[27]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	157,097	83.74%	1,208,054	99.82%	1,349,359	99.61%
Hinduism	24,517	13.07%	275	0.02%	279	0.02%
Sikhism	5,285	2.82%	—N/a	—N/a	22	~0%
Christianity	467	0.25%	1,494	0.12%	4,844	0.36%
Others	232	0.12%	360	0.04%	170	0.01%
Total Population	187,598	100%	1,210,183	100%	1,354,674[a]	100%
Note: 1941 census data is for Bannu tehsil of erstwhile Bannu district, which roughly corresponds to contemporary Bannu district sans the former Frontier Region of Bannu. District and tehsil borders have changed since 1941.

Close

More information Religious group, Pop. ...

Religious groups in Bannu District (British North-West Frontier Province era)

Religious group	1881[28]		1891[29]		1901[30]		1911[31]		1921[32]		1931[33]		1941[34]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	301,002	90.51%	337,269	90.6%	206,429	89.18%	225,374	90.12%	219,695	89.04%	237,674	87.93%	257,648	87.06%
Hinduism	30,643	9.21%	33,832	9.09%	22,178	9.58%	20,721	8.29%	23,509	9.53%	26,181	9.69%	31,471	10.63%
Sikhism	790	0.24%	1,062	0.29%	2,673	1.15%	3,746	1.5%	3,286	1.33%	5,482	2.03%	6,112	2.07%
Christianity	82	0.02%	58	0.02%	183	0.08%	245	0.1%	244	0.1%	964	0.36%	699	0.24%
Jainism	60	0.02%	55	0.01%	22	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Zoroastrianism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Buddhism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Judaism	—N/a	—N/a	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Others	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Total population	332,577	100%	372,276	100%	231,485	100%	250,086	100%	246,734	100%	270,301	100%	295,930	100%
Note1: British North-West Frontier Province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. Note2: Population decrease noted between 1891 census and 1901 census due to the creation of British North-West Frontier Province, bifurcating from British Punjab province. The trans-Indus tract of Bannu district was allotted to the newly formed North-West Frontier Province, the cis-Indus tract remaining in the Punjab jurisdiction. The cis-Indus portions of the Dera Ismail Khan and the Bannu districts would comprise the new Punjab district of Mianwali.

Close

District Bannu has two Universities with one i.e University of Science & Technology, Bannu (USTB),^[36] founded in 2005 by Mr. Akram Khan Durrani, the then Chief Minister, has a full degree awarding status and another one as a campus of the University of Engineering & Technology (UET), Peshawar. USTB offers a wide variety of courses in Science, Engineering and Arts subjects at Bachelors, Master and PhD level. These universities host students from District Bannu, the neighboring districts of Lakki Marwat, Karak, Waziristan as well as from all over Pakistan.

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa