Mianwali

Mianwali
City
Mianwali
Coordinates: 32°35′07″N 71°32′37″E / 32.585411°N 71.543617°E / 32.585411; 71.543617Coordinates: 32°35′07″N 71°32′37″E / 32.585411°N 71.543617°E / 32.585411; 71.543617
Country Pakistan
Province Punjab
District Mianwali District
Government
 • MNA's NA71 Ubaid Ullah Khan, NA72 Amjid Ali Khan
Elevation 210 m (690 ft)
Population
 • Total 120,3,589 (2,014 estimated)
Time zone PST (UTC+5)
Calling code (+92)0459
www.punjab.gov.pk

Mianwali (Urdu: مِيانوالى‎) is the capital city of Mianwali District, Pakistan. In November 1989, present day tehsils of Mianwali, Isa Khel and Piplan were separated from Bannu District and districts Bhakkar and Layyah from Dera Ismail Khan District and clubbed together to form a new district named Mianwali with its headquarters in Mianwali city. The municipal committee was founded in December 1993 and has remained operational since then.

Infrastructure

The city has an FM radio station (FM 93), Feroz Shah Memorial Library, Sports Complex, Hockey Stadium and a Football Stadium. There are several educational institutions from elementary to post-graduate level.

The city has an airport built near the old World War II aerodrome and known as M.M.Alam Base Mianwali. It is one of the major operational and training air bases of the country. The No. 1 Fighter Conversion Unit of the PAF is stationed here.

There is a railway connecting the city with Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

The main highways connecting to the other parts of the country include the Sargodha–Lahore road [N–60], MM Road (Mianwali–Muzaffargarh road), Talagang–Rawalpindi road, and the Kalabagh–Bannu road [N–60].

History

Mianwali District was agricultural region with forests during the Indus Valley Civilization. The Vedic period is characterized by Indo-Aryan culture that invaded from Central Asia and settled in Punjab region. In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin, In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in Kabul in 1005, and followed it by the conquests of Punjab region. The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region. The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region.

Before the British rule, the area formed an integral portion of the Graeco-Bactrian Empire of Kabul and the Punjab.[1] During British rule, the Indian empire was subdivided into provinces, divisions and districts; afterward, the independence of Pakistan divisions remained the third tier of government until 2000. The British had made the town of Mianwali as tehsil headquarters of Bannu District then part of Dera Ismail Khan Division of Punjab province. The population of Mianwali, according to the 1901 census of India, was 3,591.[2]

In November 1901, the North-West Frontier Province was carved out of Punjab and the tehsils of Mianwali and Isa Khel, and were separated from Bannu District (Bannu became part of NWFP). A new district was made with the headquarters in Mianwali city and placed in Punjab. The district became a part of Rawalpindi Division. There were four tehsils: Mianwali, Isa Khel, Bhakkar, and Layyah. Layyah was included in the Muzaffargarh District in 1909. The district became a part of Sargodha Division in 1961. Bhakkar Tehsil was separated from Mianwali and was made a separate district inside Sargodha Division w.e.f. 01-07-1982.

The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India while the Muslim refugees from India settled in the Mianwali district.

Language

As per the 1998 census of Pakistan, the following are the demographics of the Mianwali district, by spoken language:

Though Mianwali is claimed an integral part of the Saraiki speaking belt by the Ssraiki language activists, Punjabi-Seraiki division seems to hold little influence on common people in this district. According to 1998 census three fourths (74.2 percent) of the population named their spoken language as Punjabi while only 12 per cent answered that they speak Seraiki.[3]

Inhabitants of Mianwali district speak a great variety of Punjabi dialects.

Other languages include:

Notable people

Further reading

  1. "Gazetteer of the Mianwali district 1915" by Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore, Pakistan
  2. "Tareekh-e-Niazi Qabail" by Iqbal Khan Niazi (Mochh)
  3. "Wichara Watan" By Harish Chander Nakra, New Delhi, India
  4. Henry George Raverty, Notes on Afghanistan and Baluchistan" (Indus Publications, Karachi)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Miānwāli District – Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 17, p. 318
  2. ↑ Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 17, p. 326 at Digital South Asia Library
  3. ↑ sappk.org: Profile of district Mianwali

External links


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