Pir Piai

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Pirpiai
General Information
Country	Pakistan
Province	North-West Frontier Province
Location	33°59′40″N, 71°53′15″E
Altitude	308 meters AMSL
Area	3 km²
Calling code	0923
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
No. of Towns
Population	25,000 1998
Government
No. of Union Councils	1
No. of NGOs Working
Website
NWFP Government Website

Pirpiai (also called Pirpai) is a village located 18 miles (27 km) to the east of city of Peshawar in Pakistan. It is part of the Nowshera district and one of the largest villages in the North-West Frontier Province. It is also sometimes called "chota vilayat" (meaning "Little England" in Urdu), because of its high literacy rate and higher living standards as compared to other villages in the country. The village owes Sui Gas facility, Digital Telephone facility, Cable Internet etc with 40-50 ft carpeted roads and streets right from the time when these facilities were hardly available at Nowshera and even Peshawar. The village is further divided into smaller sectors known as "Mohallas", namely (in alphabetical order):

Baba Khel, Babar, Deri Khel, Miskeen Khel, Qamar Khel, Sadri Khel, Tapu Khel etc. The village has 31 mosques surrounded by its own "Mohalla" as mentioned above.

Pirpiai has a population of more than 25,000 and literacy rate of more than 90% (one of the highest ratio of any village in the country). It is one of the most important villages in the District and therefore surface important significance in politics of the Province. Its Eastern and Western sides are surrounded by Industrial areas which includes Shama Ghee Mills, Sarhad Textile Mills, Adam Jee Paper Mills, Feroz Sons Laboratories, Cherat Cement Ltd etc that feed the Province with jobs and valuable revenue sources. River Kabul flows at a distance of hardly 3 Kms from it. For the most part of Pirpiains are Govt Servants, Business and servicemen but farming and land holding is still existing. Green and Lush surroundings of the area makes it a very pleasant place to live. Many Pirpiains live in the cities at Peshawar, Nowshera and Islamabad etc for many reasons but used to visit and attend Celebrations/ processions with their relatives in the village. The village is still full of local residents. One shall be wondered in finding no 'kacha' house in the village so to say all construction is paved and concreted. This is not from the last one decade but the villagers used to use lime and sand/ stones, which is quite close to the strength of cement, right from very existence of the village.

Pirpiai is particularly famous for producing more than 300 army, several Air Force and Navy officers over the years. It is also famous for producing a bevy of Politicians, Civil Servants, Bureaucrats, Doctors, Engineers, Foreign Services personnel including a number of Ambassadors, Actors, Film and Television technicians and Media personalities.

Famous British Generals were known to have been invited to the village by the late Col Mir Haider Khan which included Field Marshal Gracy, Field Marshal Roos Caple, the Governor General of india and many more notables of the time. The Barbeques and Shooting parties were famous of that time. In modern times, notables of every description have been visitors to the village and have left impressed with the tremedous progress and modernisation of the village as compared to the rest of the NWFP villages.

Originally Pirpiai was a kind of motel town for the passing travellers. It is situated on the side of the original Sher Shah Suri's Highway known in modern times as the Grand Trunk (GT) Road. The mughals and their armies, for many times, too used this route. It is known fact that men from the village were often recruited by the passing armies. One famous soldier recruited was known in those times as Bahadur Baba, he was an older man but fought fiercely and with great skill. When he died fighting for the Mughal armies he was sent by the then Mughal Emperor back to be buried in his native village of Pirpiai as per his last wish. He is now buried in the compound of House of Haroon Leghari (earlier belong to Col Mir Haider Khan) and known famously as ' Shaheed Baba '.

Education: There are many private and government schools for education to the higher secondary school level. Major colleges like Government College Nowshera, PAF College and Nisar Shaheed College Risalpur and the colleges and universities of Peshawar are within short commute. The parents are highly motivated to properly educate their children and take great interest in their studies. The village boasts the first girls high school as far back as 1963. There are now colleges having Graduate classes for boys and girls coming up in and around the village.

Health: There is a full-time government hospital in Pirpiai where all the basic health care facilities are available 24 hours a day. However, for major medical problems and specialized care, patients are usually referred to hospitals in either Nowshera or Peshawar. Besides, many private clinics are in run among which one Dr Safdar Ali Khan (Known as Fauji Doctor) has command over his job. He is now planning to shift to Kharian Cantt with his son Maj Dr Hanif but elders of the area are reluctant to leave him go.

Recreation: Young Pirpiaians are very fond of sports and music. There are several sports grounds that are used to play cricket, soccer and volley ball. The people are very friendly, peaceful, humble and whenever there is a party or wedding, whole the village is invited. Its one of those towns where everyone knows everyone. The village also boasts a 30 acre park with all kinds of emenities such as lakes and birds etc.

Shopping: Everything one needs for daily living like groceries, medicines, refreshments, poultry and meat are available 18 hrs a day.

Utilities: Electricity, gas, water, telephone, internet, cable television are available. Cellular (mobile) phone services of Ufone, telenor, Mobilink and Warid are also available in the area. One Post office and a branch of National Bank of Pakistan is working.

Transportation: Many PirPiaians own their own vehicles but most people still rely on public transportation to travel inside and out of town. Horse carriages are still in use but are slowly becoming obsolete. They are being steadily and sadly replaced by auto-rickshaws, taxis and buses. There is a bus stop and a Railway station right at the entrance to the town for travel outside.

Pirpiai is connected to Peshawar by the Grand Trunk (G.T.) Road in its West and to Nowshera in its East. It is 27 KMs from Peshawar and 8 KMs from Nowshera. Famous PAF Academy Risalpur is hardly 14 Kms away in North of the Village.It is roughly 110 KMs from the border of Afghanistan.

Notable People: Gul Hamid - Film Actor (died before Independance of Pakistan).

Maj Gen. Naseer Ullah Babar - Former Governor of NWFP and former Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan

Farhat Ullah Babar - Former Senator, Press Adviser to former PM Mrs Benazir Bhutto and Spokesman of Pakistan Peoples Party.

Dr Safdar Ali Khan - Dr Safdar Ali Khan (Known as Fauji Doctor) is the most capable and devoted doctor pirpiai has ever witnessed. He is a native pirpiaian and has command over his job. He is now planning to shift to Kharian Cantt with his son Maj Dr Hanif but elders of the area are reluctant to leave him go. May Allah give him health and happiness (Amin).

Capt Amjad Ali Khan - A well-learned and capable Master Mariner, Capt Amjad ali Khan is presently called by the Federal Government to assist them in the field of Ports & Shipping at Islamabad.

''''''''An effort by M Zafar Khan Safdar (M.Phil)''''''''