History of Buner. Valleys of Buner are still echoing with gallant armies of the past, most of them faced military disaster at the hands of militants of these mountains areas. Olaf Caroes has pointed out that the armies of Alexander the Great has passed through Karakar, Daggar, Ambela and Malndrai passes in 327-326 BC. The same route was later on followed by Mughal armies in 1586 AD. This has been referred by Sir Robin Lane Fox in his book “Alexander the Great” and the Olaf Caroes in his book “The Pathan”. The Yousafzai Tribe had occupied Buner shortly before 1519 AD after which the great land settlements by venerated Sheikh Mali had been carried out in this area. Throughout history, even in this time of Alexander the Great. Akbar, Aurang Zeb, the Sikh or the British, the ancient inhabitants and later on the Yousafzai of the area had never remained the subject of any empire.

In 1587 AD Akbar’s armies had passed through Karakar, Torwarsak, Daggar (Barandu) who were ultimately defeated at Malndrai wherein King Akbar’s beloved Raja Bairbal and his 8,000 men lost their lives. Akbar could not get even the body of Raja Birbal to be burnt. During Sikhs rule over Frontier, they could never enter the area of Buner. This area became sanctuary and strong citadel for the Muslims fighters of Hazrat Syed Ahmed Shaheed Rahmatullahe alaihe and his followers for about 130 years. The great Syeds of Sitana, Malka and Takhtaband loyally stood in support of those Mujahiddins against the Sikhs and the British. The people of Swat and Buner got united and formed state, under the rule of the great freedom fighters Syed Akbar Shah Rahmatullahe alaihe (Sitana) from 1849-1857.  After his death in 1857(exactly on the same day the independence War of 1857 started), the area remained without a ruler till 1915 which period is known as “Era of Pukhtoo” where every tribe was ruled by its own elders.

The armies tried to reach Malka, a strong hold of Mujahiddin through Ambela in 1863 AD which resulted in the famous AMBELA WAR. The Raja shamefully failed to achieve the target. The British persuaded the Khans of Buner through Ajab Khan and Aziz Khan of Sudham, District Mardan to strike a deal, who went to British officers, burnt few houses and thus saved their prestige. The British, as per their own record had lost the largest number of British officers and soldiers in a single military expedition in India i.e. 238 dead and 670 injured. They could not establish their rule in Buner till independence in 1947.

The light of Islam had reached the area through Sufis and Ulamas much earlier but shortly after 1000 AD, the forces of Sultan Memood of Ghazna defeated the last Budha ruler Raja Geer under the command of “Pir Khushal” and the Yousafzai tribe started entering Buner and thus spread the religion of Islam. The arrival of Hazrat Pir Baba Rahmatullahe alaihe(1502-1575 AD) accelerated the spread of Islam in the area. His shrine at Pacha Kalay is still the center of attraction for Muslims throughout sub-continent. In 1915 Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah of Sitana became Badshah of Swat but in 1917 Mian Gul Abdul Wadood manipulated his expulsion from Swat and became a ruler himself. He was succeeded by his son Mina Gul Jehanzeb in 1949. Buner remained as a pert of Swat state till it merged with Pakistan. On 29th July 1969 In 1991 Buner was upgraded to the District level.

The whole area is homogenous; however Hindus and Sikhs minorities are also living in the district since partition in a scattered shape. Local language is Pashto. The Ajars and Gujars from Behrain (Swat) seasonally visit the area and speak Gojri language.

The whole population belongs to Sunni sect of Islam and dress themselves in the traditional Shalwar, Qamees and Chaddar. Hospitality, locals of the areas are divided into sub-tribes known as Khel. Economically, majority of the people are poor while few people are engaged in marble business and are relatively rich. Majority of the people depend on agriculture and livestock. At village level 95% income comes from agriculture and livestock, 4% from daily labour and 1% from other activities. Joint family system is common in the area. Most of the houses area made of mud. Living standard is gradually improving as most of the people are presently serving abroad or in the down cities of Pakistan.

LOCATION: Buner lies between 34-9 and 34-43 N latitude and 72-10 and 72-47 E longitude. It is bounded on the North by Swat District, on the West by Malakand Agency, on the  South by Mardan District, and on the East by river Indus and Hazara Division. The region is encircled by hill on all side and is separated from Swat by a range of mountains. Elevation varies from 1200 ft in Totalai (Khudukhel) in the South to 9,550 ft of Dosara Peak in the North. The hilly tracks are enriched with mineral which has now become the vivid symbol of business in the area.

The District for revenue administration is divided into six (6) Tehsils vis-à-vis Gadezai, Daggar, Gagra, Chagharzai, Chamla, and Totalai. Buner is one of the less developed District of the North West Frontier Province.

GEOLOGY & PHYSICAL FEATURES. Buner lies between 34-9 and 34-43 N latitude and 72-10 and 72-47 E longitude. It is bound on the North by Swat District, on the West by Malakand Agency, on the South by Mardan District, and on the East by River Indus and Hazara Division. The region is encircled by hill on all side and is separated from Swat by a range of mountains reaching to an elevation of 9,550 ft Elevation varies from 1200 ft in Totalai (Khudukhel) in the South to 9,55, ft of Dosara peak in the North. The hilly tracks are enriched with mineral, which has now become the vivid symbol of business in the area.

The area of Buner District is mostly surrounded by big hills which are covered with pine trees. There are three main rivers namely Barandu, Chamla and Budal and the former flows in the midst of the District. Most of the population is rural and main source of their livelihood is agriculture. Main crops of the area are wheat, maize, tobacco, and sugarcane.

GEOLOGY MINING: The mountains of Buner District are rich in various mines and very little efforts have been made in this regard in the past. However, marble industry is well developed in the area. There are around 150  marble industries in Buner District and about 40-50 marble industries are under construction.

GENERAL ASPECT:

 

LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS: The common spoken language is Pashto. However, “Ajars” and “Gujars” also speak Ajari and Gujari languages respectively.

CLIMATE: The climate of Buner varies with the elevation and may be classified as dry sub-tropical. Most part of the year remains pleasant. Moon-Soon rains during summer while in winter; snowfall on the mountain peaks is also common. During Rabbi crop season people grow crops like tobacco and wheat and during Kharif maize and sugar-cane. The temperature in summer steadily raises up to 44 C0 and in winter it gradually drops and goes down to -2 C0. Rainfall throughout the year is 105 CM with un-even distribution. The average annual rainfall is approximately 30 inches.

FORESTRY: Total area covered with the forest is32102 hectares. Buner District falls in the subtropical ecological zone with warm summer and mild winter. Generally Forest is very weak. Main forest types are shrubs (acacia, kaha sanatha etc) at lower elevation and chir pines at higher elevation. Local people are dependent on this forst to meet their timber, fuel wood and fodder requirements. About 30 years ago during era of “Wali Swat”, the area was known for its best forests. Those forests comprised of Chir, Samantha, Olea and Phulai etc. at that time, after merger of the area with Pakistan, road network was developed and administration control become loose that led to over exploitation of forest. In addition to that, few locals and non-local an non-local started illegal timber business. Resultantly forest resources were badly damaged in only two decades. Seasonal Ajars (Nomadic grazers) have also played their role in forest depletion. With the ever-increasing population pressure locals are forced to think over the situation but no joint effort/decision could be made in this regard.

COMMUNICATION:

AGRICULTURE: The average annual rainfall is approximately 30 inches in the area. Buner is mostly surrounded by high hills, which are densely covered by pine and other trees. Main crop of the area are wheat, Maize, Tobacco, sugarcane, barly and pules. Vegetable production is very low. However potato, ladyfinger, pumpkins, beans, tomato, etc. are grown on small scale. A few types of fruits are also grown in the area such as apricot, mulberry, fig, plum, walnut, wild-persimmon, and apples etc. 61.7% of the land is cultivable.

Buner has a total surface of 172096 hectares out of this 111733 hectares are uncultivable and are classified as forest, pasture or unusable leaving 60,363 hectares of potentially cultivable land. Various projects which previously operated such as B.D.P. (Buner Development Project)  etc. had constructed lift irrigation schemes and tube-wells which have increased the production of cereal crops but still the gap between demand and supply could not be bridged.

LIVESTOCK:

 

FOOD: Maize and wheat are staple food items but in some parts rice is also a common dish. Among vegetables tomato, okra, brinjals, pepper, ground and beans are eaten commonly.

DRESS & CLOTHING. Shalwar Qameez is common dressing among both male and female

MARRIAGE & DEATHS: Generally people prefer to marry in their tribes. The death is mourned for three days at least usually in the common Hujras by all the people of the village.

GAMES & SPORTS: Football, Cricket, waliball, Kabaddi

EDUCATION:

 

Health/Public Health:

PUBLIC HEALTH.

 

RIVERS AND STREAMS. Various perennial and seasonal streams flow from the catchments of hills and are bisecting the valley. The main stream is “Barandu” which is used for irrigating most of the plains of Buner District.

FLOURA. The area is also well known for medicinal plants. The following is a plant species found in the area:-  

  

Fauna:

ELECTRICTIY: Population coverage: 40%

MAIN CITIES: Swari and Pir Baba bazaars are main urban centers.

LAW AND ORDER. Buner is famous for its peaceful atmosphere. The ratio of crimes as compared to other districts of NWFP is very low.

LOCAL COUNCIALS:

TMAs : 02

Union Councils : 27

25. REVENUE ADMINISTRATION:

JUDCIAL SETUP:

 

EECUTIVE SETUP:

 

CONSTITUENCIES/ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES:

 

OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES: A part from routine development works carried out by TMA-I and TMA-II, EDO (Works and Services) various projects like MRDP and CBRM carry out various programs for improvement of social and physical infrastructure in Buner District.

CULTURE & TRADITION: Ethnically and religiously, the whole population of Buner is homogenous. However, Hindus and Sikhs minorities are also living in the district since partition in a scattered shape. The main and common spoken language is Pashto; however, “Ajars” and “Gujars” seasonally visiting Buner also speak Ajari and Gujari languages. The people of Buner belong to Sunni seet of Islam and dresses themselves in the traditional Shalwar Qameez. The people of Buner are divided into “Khel”, Sub-Khels/Sub-Tribes. Generally people prefer to marry within their “Khels”. Socially Buner is a male dominated area and females play negligible role in decision-making.

Economically, majority of the people are poor and joint family system is common in the area. Most of the houses are made of mud; however, living standard is gradually improving because many people of Buner are serving abroad. Buner is a rural area with no known urban center. Pir Baba and Sowari Bazaars, which the people consider urban settlement, also carry rural features. Tobacco and marble industries are though vivid symbols of business in the area. Yet, agriculture is still the main source of livelihood for most of the people . Other major sources of income of the local population are daily labour, business and Government services. Along side this many people are also serving abroad cities of Pakistan and also in several countries of the World specifically Saudi Arabia, England, America, India, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia and UAE