Mianwali District

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ضِلع مِيانوالى
District
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 PST (UTC+5)
Number of tehsils 3
Thal Canal

The Mianwali District (Urdu: ضِلع مِيانوالى‎), (Pashto,Punjabi: ضلع میانوالی), is a district in the northwest of Punjab province, Pakistan.

Administration

Grave of Lt. Col. A J O'Brien, 1st Deputy Commissioner of Mianwali district, at Brompton Cemetery, London

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

Dialects of Punjabi

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

Mughal era, rule of Ghakkars and invasion of Nadir Shah

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]

Notable personalities

Places of interest

A view of Namal Lake in Mianwali Salt range
File:PR ZE class 230 train, en route to Lakki Marwat from Mari Indus (ca. 1987).jpg
"Days of Yore" PR ZE. class 230 en route to Lakki Marwat from Mari Indus in frosty winter morning circa 1987. (Mianwali was the only district in Punjab with about 80 km of narrow gauge section, which was closed in 1992.)

See also

Further reading

  • "Wichara Watan" By Harish Chander Nakra, New Delhi, India

References

  1. ↑ South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (sappk.org): Profile of district Mianwali
  2. ↑ Tehsils & Unions in the District of Mianwali - Government of Pakistan
  3. ↑ sappk.org: Profile of district Mianwali
  4. ↑ http://census.gov.pk/PUNJAB/MIANWALI.htm
  5. ↑ Urban resource centre

External links


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