Upper Dir
Upper Dir is an area
in the North-West
Frontier Province of
Pakistan. Dir is
administratively
subdivided into
Upper Dir and Lower
Dir districts. Dir
district is 5,280
square kilometres in
area and part of the
Malakand division,
lying along the
Afghanistan border
between Chitral and
Peshawar. Almost all
of it lies in the
valley of the
Panjkora which rises
high in the Hindu
Kush at Lat. 35.45
and joins the Swat
River near Chakdara,
where the district
is usually entered,
at Lat. 34.40. Apart
from the tehsils of
Adenzai round
Chakdara and Munda
in the south-west,
Dir is rugged and
mountainous with
peaks rising to
16,000 feet in the
north-east and to
10,000 ft. along the
watersheds with Swat
to the east and
Afghanistan to the
west. The only motor
road to Chitral
reaches 10,234 ft at
the Lowarai Pass.
Timergara, however,
the district
headquarters, lies
at only 2,700 ft.
twice the altitude
of Peshawar but much
lower than the
traditional and
eponymous capital of
Dir at the foot of
the Lowarai. Except
for them and a
number of rapidly
growing bazaar towns
along the main roads
the population is
rural, scattered in
more than 1200
villages over the
plains of Adenzai
and Munda and the
deep narrow valleys
of the Panjkora and
its tributaries. Of
these the largest
are Barawal, Usherai,
Nihag, Karo and
Toormang.Dir
district was
officially split
into Upper Dir and
Lower Dir in 1996.
Until 2000 as funds
were not available
to provide the
accommodation needed
at Dir town by
government
departments at a
district
headquarters, both
districts continued
to he administered
by a single deputy
Commissioner
stationed at
Timergara.
Lower Dir
Lower Dir enjoyed a
status of a great
independent state
since 13th century
covering the area of
present Deer, Swat,
Bunir and amb. In
1914 father of the
Wali-e-Swat Abdul
wadood revolted
against the Nawab-e-Deer
Nawab Aurangzeb Khan
with the help of
British masters and
held the control of
territories East of
river Swat. In 1947
Deer declared it
status under the
territory of
Pakistan as a state.
In 1960 during Deer-Bajaur
operation it fell
under the authority
of Malakand Agency.
Later on, in1970 it
earned the status of
a District. Deer(L)
is situated in the
north-west of
N.W.F.P touches and
bounded by long
chain of
Koh-e-Hinducash. |
