Mardan District

Mardan District (, ) is a district in the Mardan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The district is named after Mardan city, which is also the headquarters of the district. The district is famous for its agriculture industry and its archaeological sites, specifically of Takht-i-Bhai, Jamal Garhi and Sawal Dher.

History

The literal meaning of Mardan is the "Land of Brave Men". The district lies from 34° 05' to 34° 32' north latitudes and 71" 48' to 72° 25' east longitudes. It is bordered with Buner on the east, Malakand on the north, Swabi on the south east, Nowshera on the south and the Charsadda and Mohmand districts on the west and north west respectively. The total area of the district is 1632 square kilometres.

Ancient history

Mardan District is a part of the ancient Peshawar valley. The whole area was once part of the ancient kingdom of Gandhara, the remains of which are scattered throughout the district. Pashto was the predominant language, spoken by 99.07% of the population.

Ethnic groups

Pashtun, Gujjar and Sayeds are Major ethnic groups in Mardan district.

Religion

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Religion in contemporary Mardan District

! rowspan="2" |Religious<br>group

! colspan="2" |1941

! colspan="2" |2017

! colspan="2" |2023

| Islam 15px

|281,161

|93.91%

| 2,370,304

|2,732,331

|99.69%

| Sikhism 15px

|9,091

|3.04%

|167

|0.01%

| Hinduism 15px

|8,709

|2.91%

| 329

|379

|0.01%

| Christianity 15px

|360

|0.12%

| 2,021

|7,567

|0.28%

|Others

|63

|0.02%

|745

|0.03%

|248

|0.01%

! Total Population

! 299,384

! 2,373,399

!2,740,692

!100%

|- class="sortbottom"

| colspan="7" |

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Religious groups in Mardan District (British North-West Frontier Province era)

! rowspan="2" |Religious<br>group

! colspan="2" |1911

! colspan="2" |1921

! colspan="2" |1931

! colspan="2" |1941

! Islam 15px

| 293,695

| 316,842

| 341,109

| 483,575

! Hinduism 15px

| 7,344

| 9,909

| 7,367

| 10,677

! Sikhism 15px

| 5,889

| 3,936

| 8,204

| 11,838

! Christianity 15px

| 126

| 197

| 292

| 449

! Jainism 15px

| 1

| 0

! Zoroastrianism 15px

| 1

| 0

! Buddhism 15px

| 0

! Judaism 15px

| 0

! Others

| 0

! Total population

! 307,056

! 330,884

! 356,972

! 506,539

|- class="sortbottom"

| colspan="9" |

Food

The most common diet of the people is bread which is mainly made of wheat flour but maize bread is also eaten. Generally the foods are spicy. The people of the area are fond of meat, especially various forms of beef cooked in shape of chapli kebab, seekh kebab and tikkas etc. Mostly black tea with milk is taken as hot drink but Qahwa (green tea) is also popular and is liked by most of the people.

The oranges are a local famous fruit which is grown in Rustam valley in Palay, Palo Dheray, Pirsai, Baroch and Malandray villages. These oranges are transported to various parts of the country. A new access road to these villages is being constructed via Rustam through Kaludheri Srakabroona Baringan Malandry to Buner District.

Dwellings

The villages are divided into Kandis have congested house. Each Kandi is further occupied by sub-section. The division of Kandis are on the pattern of agricultural lands. Their houses are generally consists of two or three rooms and a courtyard turned as ghollai and verandah. The cattle and poultry are also accommodated beside the shelter for family.

Each Kandi of the village has its own mosque and its own Maulvi and a place of meeting or for public assembly called Hujra. In most cases it is the property of elders of the Kandi who is expected to feed and give shelter to the visitors and travellers. These Hujras are commonly used for the settlement of public disputes/business beside public meetings. Residents of Kandi assemble there to smoke, hear news of the day and discuss their problems and politics. Nowadays the people in service abroad have accumulated sufficient wealth which brought a distinct change in the life of the villagers who construct pacca houses of cement, bricks and timber.

A Tandoor (Oven) is also found for baking bread in many houses and some time women of three or four houses assembled on one Tandoor (Oven) for baking bread on their turn. The houses have huge compound walls around with gates. Chairs and tables are used in the houses of well-to-do persons whereas others use the ordinary cot (Charpoy).

Occupations

Most of the people are farmers in profession in villages. They are engaged in agriculture either directly or indirectly. Industrial labour has increased after the establishment of factories in different places of the district. Some people are engaged in-business and Government service also.

Economy

Mardan is far famous for its economy and business mind people. Recent project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor bring more importance to this era. The border of Mardan, Rashakai is one of the major Economic Zone of this project which strengthen the Economy of Mardan.

Administration

The district of Mardan is administratively subdivided into five Tehsils.

{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers static-row-header-hash"

!Tehsil

!Name

(Urdu) (Pashto)

!Area

(km²)

!Pop.

(2023)

!Density

(ppl/km²)

(2023)

!Literacy rate

(2023)

!Union Councils

|Ghari Kapura Tehsil

|()()

|143

|319,465

|2,234.02

|51.70%

|Katlang Tehsil

|()()

|422

|377,535

|894.63

|61.47%

|Mardan Tehsil

|()()

|335

|1,040,893

|3,107.14

|56.41%

|Rustam Tehsil

|()()

|379

|279,527

|737.54

|49.98%

|Takht Bhai Tehsil

|()()

|353

|727,478

|2,060.84

|56.02%

Provincial and National Assembly Seats

The district is represented in the provincial assembly by eight elected MPAs who represent the following constituencies:

National Assembly

District Mardan is represented by three MNAs in national assembly.