Buner District

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 District ضلع بونیر بونېر ولسوالۍ‎
District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
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
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Division	Malakand
District	1998
Headquarters	Daggar[2]
Government
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	Hamid Ali[3]
• District Health Officer	Dr. Raj Wali
Area
• Total	1,865 km2 (720 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[4]
• Total	1,016,869
• Density	550/km2 (1,400/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[5]
Website	buner.kp.gov.pk

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 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 during the Ambela Campaign and their rebellion in the 1897 Frontier Revolt.^[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]

• Elum Ghar

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% 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%
2023	1,016,869	+2.14%
Sources:[16]

As of the 2023 census, Buner district has 118,665 households and a population of 1,016,869. The district has a sex ratio of 99.90 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 43.75%: 60.61% for males and 27.40% for females. 310,484 (30.54% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. The entire population lives in rural areas.^[4]

Religion in Buner District

Religion	2017[17]		2023[18]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	894,058	99.84%	1,013,575	99.70%
Hinduism	246	0.03%	141	0.01%
Christianity	23	~0%	1,872	0.18%
Sikhism	—	—	1,023	0.10%
Others	1,133	0.13%	63	0.01%
Total Population	895,460	100%	1,016,674[lower-alpha 1]	100%

Languages of Buner district (2023)

  Pashto (95.91%)

  Hindko (2.07%)

  Others (2.02%)

At the time of the 2023 census, 95.91% of the population spoke Pashto and 2.07% Hindko as their first language.^[19]

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.^[20]

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^[21] 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

• 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
• Government Degree College Chamla

Largest villages

• Torwarsak is the most populated town in Buner which had population of about 35,165 in 2018.^[22]

  

  Torwarsak village in 2020

• Totalai is the second most populated town with population of about 24,562 in 2018.^[22]
• Rega is the third most populated town with population of about 23,726 in 2018.^[22]
• Ellai is the fourth most populated town with population of about 23,678 in 2018.^[22]
• Afghan Refugees camp had a population of about 22,380 in 2023^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Pakistan portal

• Rustam, Mardan
• Mardan
• Sawawai

Notes

1. Different from official population figure since it excludes sensitive areas where religion was not asked

References

1. "بونیر کے روایتی پھول نمیر سے منسوب تین روزہ میلہ شروع ہوگیا". 13 October 2017. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
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. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-07-26. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
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. Archived from the original on 2023-11-26.
8. "High time for govt to protect Buner's marble industry from collapse". Samaa TV. October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on November 26, 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. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. 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. Archived from the original on 2024-08-19. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
12. Chisholm 1911.
13. "Taliban Exert Influence In Pakistan". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
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. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-06-05. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
17. "Pakistan Census 2017 District-Wise Tables: Buner". Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 2024-08-19.
18. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 9" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-08-19. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
19. "Pakistan Census 2023" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-08-19. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
20. "Election Commission of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 2013-02-24.
21. Constituencies and MPAs – Website of the Provincial Assembly of the NWFP Archived April 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
22. Babbar, Rafiullah (26 May 2018). "Buner District Population of Cities, Towns and Villages 2017-2018". Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.

34.5169°N 72.4839°E / 34.5169; 72.4839