Mianwali District
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|
ضِلع مِيانوالى | |
|---|---|
| Mianwali District | |
 | |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Province |  Punjab |
| Headquarters | Mianwali |
| Government | |
| • District Coordination Officer | Talat Mahmood Gondal |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,840 km2 (2,250 sq mi) |
| Population (2010–11) | |
• Total | 1,400,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
| Number of tehsils | 3 |
The Mianwali District (Template:Lang-ur), (Pashto,Template:Lang-pa), is a district in the northwest of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is border district between Province of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. People of Mianwali understand and share the culture of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Mianwali District (Urdu: ضِلع مِيانوالى), (Pashto,Punjabi: ضلع میانوالی), is a district in the northwest of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is capital is Mianwali city.Upper Mianwali is historically known for two prominent migrant clans namely Niazis (Pashtuns) and Awan. Over the years some Baloch made Mianwali their home and Awans.
Administration
The district is administratively divided into three tehsils and 56 union councils:[2]
| Name of tehsil | No. of union councils |
|---|---|
| Isakhel | 14 |
| Mianwali | 28 |
| Piplan | 14 |
| Total | 56 |
Language
As per the 1998 census of Pakistan, the following are the demographics of the Mianwali district, by spoken language:
Though Mianwali is claimed an integral part of Seraiki speaking belt by the Seraiki language activists but Punjabi-Seraiki division seems to hold little influence on common people in this district. Awans, Maliks, Jats, Ghakkars with various subclans living in Mianwali and Khushab always associate themselves with Punjabi identity because of their superiority and origins. While Niazis associate themselves with Seraiki identity. According to 1998 census three fourth (74.2 percent) of the population named their spoken language as Punjabi while only 12 per cent answered that they speak Seraiki.[3]
Demographics
According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the district had a population of 1,056,620.[4] out of which 20.39%[5]
Geography
Mianwali district covers an area of 5,840 square kilometres (2,250 sq mi). The area in north is a continuation of the Pothohar Plateau and the Kohistan-e-Namak. Southren side of the district is a part of Thal Desert. Indus River flows through the district.
Weather
Mianwali district has an extreme climate, with a long, hot summer season and cold, dry winters. Summer lasts from May to September and winter lasts from November till February. June is the hottest month with average temperatures of 42 °C (highest recorded temperature 52 °C); in winter, December and January monthly average temperatures can be as low as 3 to 4 °C. The average rainfall in the district is about 385 mm.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high °C | 19 | 21 | 26 | 33 | 38 | 42 | 39 | 37 | 37 | 33 | 28 | 21 | 31 |
| Avg low temperature °C | 3 | 6 | 12 | 17 | 22 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 23 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 16 |
| Rainfall in. (cm) | 1.6 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 7.6 | 11 | 4.5 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 38.5 |
| Source: Weatherbase | |||||||||||||
History
Historically, all major rulers of South Asia governed this area in their turn. Mughal emperor Babur mentioned Isakhel while he was fighting against the Pakhtuns as part of his campaign to conquer the Punjab during the 1520s (ref. Baburnama). Prior to the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1738, there is little to relate concerning the history of the northern part of the district. The upper half of the district was ruled by the Gakhars, who became feudatories of the Mughal Empire, of which the district continued to form a part until the invasion of Nadir Shah. In 1738 a portion of his army entered Bannu, and by its atrocities so cowed the Bannuchis and Marwats that a heavy tribute was raised from them. Another portion of the army crossed the Darra Pezu and worked its way down to Dera Ismail Khan. Contingents raised from the neighbourhoods of Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan marched under Nadir Shah's banner to the sack of Delhi. In 1739 the area west of the Indus was surrendered by the Emperor of Delhi to Nadir Shah, and passed after his death to Ahmad Shah Abdali.
In 1748 a Durrani army under one of Ahmad Shah's generals crossed the Indus at Kalabagh, and drove out the Ghakkars, who still ruled in the cis-Indus tracts of the district, owing nominal allegiance to the Emperor at Delhi. Their stronghold, Muazzam Nagar, was razed to the ground, and with their expulsion was swept away the last vestige of authority of the Mughal Emperor in these parts. The armies of Ahmad Shah marched repeatedly through the district, the cis-Indus portion of which was, with the rest of the Punjab, incorporated in the Durrani Kingdom in 1756, and for the next sixty years a precarious hold was maintained on their eastern provinces, including this district, by Ahmad Shah and his successors to the throne of the newly created Kingdom of Kabul. Source:[1]
People from the Mianwali District
- Tilok Chand Mehroom, Urdu poet of India, from the Talokar tribe of Mianwali.
- Jagannath Azad, Urdu-Speaking poet of Hindu academic
- Maulana Kausar Niazi, poet, writer and former federal minister.
- Khawaja Khurshid Anwar, filmmaker, writer, director and music composer.
- Malik Amir Mohammad Khan Nawab of Kalabagh and Ex-Governor of West Pakistan
- Imran Khan - Former captain of the Pakistan cricket team who won the 1992 Cricket World Cup and has been elected twice the member of National Assembly of Pakistan from Mianwali.
- Attaullah Khan Essa Khailwi, Pride of Performance award winning musician.
- Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi, religious and political leader of Pakistan
- Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistani Cricketer
- Tariq Niazi, Olympian Gold Medalist in Track and Field
- Dr Ghulam Akbar Khan Niazi, former physician of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and chairman Islamabad Medical and Dental College.
- Sher Afgan Niazi - The Ex-Minister of Law and Member of Parliament
Places of interest
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See also
Further reading
- "Wichara Watan" By Harish Chander Nakra, New Delhi, India
