Nowshera District


Nowshera District is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The capital and district headquarter is Nowshera city.

Overview and history

Nowshera was a tehsil of Peshawar until 1988, when it became a district. It is bordered by Peshawar District to the West, Mardan District to the North, Charsadda District to the North West, Swabi District to the North East, Kohat District to the South, Orakzai Agency to the South West & Attock District to the East.
Previously it was known as Nowkhaar Province till it was annexed into British India via the Durand Line Agreement. Prior to its establishment as a separate district in 1990, Nowshera was part of Peshawar District. The district was also part of the Peshawar Division until the reforms of The Government of Pakistan.
Total area of Nowshera is 1,748 km². The population density is 608 persons per square kilometre. The total agricultural area is 52,540 hectares. The main source of income of the region is agriculture.

Demographics

The population of Nowshera district, according to the 2017 census, is 1,518,540 while the population, according to the 1998 census, was. The population of the district over the years is shown in the table below.

Census YearPopulationRural AreaUrban Area
1951222,527170,07252,455
1961276,937188,96887,969
1972410,718307,783102,935
1981537,638386,647647,343
1998874,373150,991227,030
20171,518,540N/AN/A

Languages

The predominant language is Pashto, which according to the 1998 census is spoken natively by 91% of the population. The previous census of 1981 reported that in the then tehsil of Nowshera, Pashto was the language of % of households, while Punjabi accounted for %, Hindko – %, and Urdu – %.

Education

Nowshera district is home of many excellent education institutions. The district has a public sector University of Technology, Nowshera and private sector Northern University, Nowshera. It also houses the campus of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan in Pabbi town while it has a campus of University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar in Jalozai town. The district also has a public sector medical college: Nowshera Medical College, Nowshera.
It is also home to many degree colleges: Government Post Graduate College Nowshera, Government Home Economics College Nowshera, Government College Akbarpura, Government Degree College Pabbi and Government Girls Degree College Pabbi.
According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017, Nowshera district is ranked 71 out of 155 districts in Pakistan in the quality of education while for facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked 14 out of 155. It is vast improvement from Rankings of 2016, when the quality of education ranking was 71 out of 151 while facilities and infrastructure, the district was ranked 42 out of 151.

Administration

The district is administratively divided into 3 Tehsils.
The district is divided into 47 Union Councils. The largest by area is Nizampur & the smallest by area is Pabbi.
The main towns in Nowshera District are Nowshera city, Badrashi, Pabbi, Jalozai, Akora Khattak, Jehangira, Risalpur, Khairabad and Nizampur. The main villages are below.
Jabba Khattak
These cantonments were created by the British Raj. There are three cantonments in Nowshera District:
The following are the rivers which flow through the Nowshera District.
Some of the most famous parks are as follows.
A list of some of the most prominent people from Nowshera District:
Mian Jamsid u Din Minister Exise and Taxation KPK
Hajji Raees Khan
Hajji Rashid Ullah Khan Khattak

Famous buildings

After the launch of CPEC project, Rashakai village of Nowshera is now an Economic Zone of KPK.

Wars and battles

The district has 5 Provincial Seats in The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
The district has 2 National Assembly Seats in The National Assembly of Pakistan.

Since 2002: NA-5 (Nowshera-I)">Constituency NA-5">NA-5 (Nowshera-I)

Since 2002: NA-6 (Nowshera-II)">Constituency NA-6">NA-6 (Nowshera-II)

The District is currently represented by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf who won all 7 Seats in the recent elections.

Military installations

Nowshera District is the home of many Sufi Shrines.

Shrine of Kastir Gul (Kaka Sahib)

The shrine of 16th century’s most popular Sufi saint Kastir Gul alias Hazrat Kaka Sahib is located in a rugged mountainous area around 12km south of Nowshera district. It is considered as one of the most frequently visited religious heritage sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Born on the first of Ramazan in 1576, Kaka Sahib had received religious education from his Sufi father,Hazrat sheikh syed Bahadur Baba, and few Islamic scholars of his time. He used to practice all four Sufi orders – Naqshbandia, Suharwardia, Chistia and Qadria. Kaka Sahib also fondly called as Ziaree Kaka used to deliver lessons to his devotees.

Shrine of Sheikh Syed Nadir Shah (Mast Baba)

The shrine of Syed Nadir Shah
He was the father of Syed Sheikh Bahadur Baba and grand father of Syed Kasteer Gul. He died on 1561-62 AD. The Shrine is located at Khawara village Khatak Territory Nowshera.

Shrine of Sheikh Bahadur Baba (Abbak Sahib)

The shrine of Sheikh Bahadur Baba is named after Sheikh Bahadur Baba. He was born at Khawara Village Khatak territory,on 1524 AD. After a life of full struggle for the prosperity of Islam and spreading of spiritual light in the region, he died on 1627 Ad.
He married once and had four Sons one died as an infant, and the remaining three are Syed Sheikh Afan Sahib and Syed Sheikh Hayat Sahib Syed Sheikh Kasteer Gul. His descendants are known as Abbak Kheil and Kakakheil scattered all over Kpk province. The Shrine is located near the village of Kana Khel.

Maslak Bahadur Baba

Bahadur Baba was follower of his father Mast Baba's maslak in Chishtiyyah and Suharwardiyah orders.

Bahadur Baba Famous Followers

Main Wali Sahib,
Main Shadi Sahib,
sheikh Afan sahib,
Sheikh Syed Kasteer Gul Sahib,
Akhund Mian Dad,
Akhund Shareef Bali,
Sheikh Allah Dad Khatak,
Sheikh Nask,
Faqeer Malik Meer.

Shrine of Akhund Panju Baba

The shrine of Akhund Pangu Baba is named after Syed Abdul Wahab commonly known as Akhund Panju Baba and Baba Sahib. It is located in Akbarpura town in Pabbi Tehsil of Nowshera. The shrine was attacked by Taliban militants in 2011 killing 11 people.

Shrine of Sheikh Baba

The shrine of Sheikh Shahbaz Baba is named after Sheikh Shahbaz Baba commonly known as Sheikh Baba.The shrine is located in Pabbi town near Grand Trunk, Nowshera.

Shrine of Pir Sabaq Baba jee

The shrine of Pir sabaq baba jee named Sheikh Abdus Salam sahib commonly known as Sahib Mubarak is located in 05KM from Nowshera Cantt on left side of Peshawar-Pindi GT road.