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Bajaur

—  Agency  —

Urdu transcription(s)

 - Perso-Arabic script

باجوڑ

Bajaur

Coordinates: 34°41′N 71°30′E 34.683, 71.5 Coordinates : 34°41′N 71°30′E 34.683, 71.5

Country  Pakistan

ProvinceFederally Administered Tribal

Areas (FATA)

Administration HQ

Khar

Tehsils List[show]

Government [1]

 - The Political Agent

Shafeerullah

Area [2]

 - Total 1,290 km² (498.1 sq mi)

Population (1998)[3]

 - Total 595,227

Time zone PST (UTC+5)

 - Summer (DST) PDT (UTC+6)

Bajaur or Bajour (Urdu: باجوڑ) is an Agency (country subdivision) of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. Smallest of the agencies in FATA, it has a hilly terrain. According to the 1998 census, the population was 595,227[3]. It borders Afghanistan's Kunar Province. The headquarters of the Agency administration is located in the town of Khar.

There are three main tribes in Bajaur: Utman Khel, Tarkalanri, and Mamund. The largest tribe is Utman Khel, judged by population or territory. The Utman Khel are at the southeast of Bajaur, while Mamund are at the southwest, and the Tarkani are at the north of Bajaur. Its border with Afghanistan's Kunar province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistan and the region.

The district is partly out of control of the Pakistani authorities[4].

Contents

[show]

[edit] Geography

District map of FATA and NWFP - Districts of FATA are shown shown in blue, Bajaur is located in the north.

It is about 45 miles (72 km) long by 20 miles (32 km) broad, and lies at a high level to the east of the Kunar Valley, from which it is separated by a continuous line of rugged frontier hills, forming a barrier easily passable at one or two points. Across this barrier the old road from Kabul to Pakistan ran before the Khyber Pass was adopted as the main route.

Bajour is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani (Tarkalani) Pathans, sub-divided into Mamunds, Isazai, and Ismailzai, numbering together with a few Mohmands, Uthman zais, &c., nearly 1 million. To the south of Bajour is the wild mountain district of the Mohmands. To the east, beyond the Panjkora river, are the hills of Swat, dominated by another Pathan group. To the north is an intervening watershed between Bajour and the small state of Dir; and it is over this watershed and through the valley of Dir that the new road from Malakand and the Punjab runs to Chitral. The drainage of Bajour flows eastwards, starting from the eastern slopes of the dividing ridge which overlooks the Kunar and terminating in the Panjkora river, so that the district lies on a slope tilting gradually downwards from the Kunar ridge to the Panjkora. Nawagai is the chief town of Bajour, and the Khan of Nawagai is under British protection for the safeguarding of the Chitral road. Jandol, one of the northern valleys of Bajour, has ceased to be of political importance since the failure of its chief, Umra Khan, to appropriate to himself Bajour, Dir, and a great part of the Kunar valley. It was the active hostility between the amir of Kabul (who claimed sovereignty of the same districts) and Umra Khan that led, firstly to the demarcation agreement of 1893 which fixed the boundary of Afghanistan in Kunar; and, secondly, to the invasion of Chitral by Umra Khan (who was no party to the boundary settlement) and the siege of the Chitral fort in 1895.

Major towns apart from Khar include Raghagan, Hajilawant and Jar.

An interesting feature in the topography is a mountain spur from the Kunar range, which curving eastwards culminates in the well-known peak of Koh-i-Mor, which is visible from the Peshawar valley. It was here, at the foot of the mountain, that Alexander the Great found the ancient city of Nysa and the Nysaean colony, traditionally said to have been founded by Dionysus.The Koh-i-Mor has been identified as the Meros of Arrian's history—the three-peaked mountain from which the god issued. [5]

[edit] History and Current Events

[edit] Babur's attack on Bajaur

“In 1518 , Babur had invested and conquered the fortress of Bajaur and gone on to conquer Bhera which was on the river Jhelum,a little beyond the salt ranges .After the River Indus these formed traditionally the defensive frontier of India . Babur claimed these areas as his own because they had been part of Taimur's empire . Hence "picturing as our own the countries once occupied by the Turks" ,he ordered that "there was to be no overrunning or plundering (of the countryside)" . It may be noted that this applied to areas which did not offer resistance , because earlier , at Bajaur , where the Afghan tribesmen had resisted , he had ordered a general massacare , with their women and children being made captive .[6] ”

“Babur justifies this massacre by saying "the Bajauris were rebels and at enimity with the people of Islam , and as , by heathenish and hostile customs prevailing in their midst , the very name of Islam was rooted out ....".[7] ”

“'As the Bajauris were rebels and inimical to the people of Islam , the men were subjected to a general massacare and their wives and children were made captive . At a guess , more than 3000 men met their death . We entered the fort and inspected it . On the walls , in houses , streets and alleys , the dead lay , in what numbers ! Those walking around had to jump over the corpses . [8] ”

The Gazetteers and Reports contain nearly all the modern information available about Bajour. The autobiography of Baber (by Leyden and Erskine) gives interesting details about the country in the 16th century.