Nowshera District

Nowshera District
—  District  —
Location of Nowshera District (highlighted in yellow) within the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province
Capital	Nowshera
Established
Government
– District Nazim
– District Naib Nazim
Area
– Total	1,748 km2 (674.9 sq mi)
Population (1998)
– Total	874,373
– Density	500/km2 (1,295/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)

Nowshera (Pashto: نوشار/نوشہرہ) is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan - the principal city is Nowshera. Nowshera District is divided into 47 Union Councils and 5 provincial seats.

The district was part of the Peshawar Metropolitan Region.

Area

1,748 km² total area. The population density is 608 persons per square kilometre. Total agricultural area is 52,540 hectors. The main source of income of the region is agriculture. Until 1988 Nowsehra was a tehsil (sub division) of Peshawar; in 1988 it became a district.

Demography

According to the 1998 census of Pakistan the population was 874,373, a population density of 500.2 persons per km². The annual growth rate was 2.9% and the proportion of urban dwellers was 26%.

Muslims form 99% of the population; 0.5% are Christian, 0.3% Ahmadi and 0.1% Hindu. The main Language is Pushto followed by Hindko which is spoken in areas of Nowshera Kalan, Akora Khattak, Shaidu, Jehangira and several other villages situated along the Grand Trunk Road. The literacy rate is 89%.

Akbarpura is famous for the shrines of Sufis. Among these shrines are Akhund Panju Baba, Nanga Baba, Nadan Shaheed. Every day hundreds of people do visits these shrines to pay their respect to the Sufis. Syed Abdul Wahab alias Akhund Panju Baba aka Baba Sahib was a famous Sufi and preacher of Islam. Thousands of Hindus embrace Islam on his hand. Baba sahib was migrated from Kalu Khan Sawabi area to Akbarpura, he started his teachings and preaching from the Misri Pura area of Akbarpura, where today his tomb is present. Baba Sahib Family is Syed and locally being called as Akhun Khel Miangaan which still exists in the area. The Miangaan family is carrying on the Baba Sahib tasks of Preaching Islam till today, the present Gaddi Nasheen of the Akhund Panju Baba shrine is Syed Shamshad Ali Shah locally known as Pir Sb.

The Kakakhels are a prominent Syed clan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Their roots reach to Hazrat Ali bin Ismail bin Imame-Jafer Sadiq. Kakakhels are descendants of the Islamic Sufi (wali) Syed Kastir Gul (also known as Kaka Sahib), and Sheikh Rahamkar – a student of Sheikh Hazrat Akhun Adeen/Adyan Seljuki. Kastir Gul was affectionately known as "Kakasahib", and his descendants are known as Kakakhels – meaning "the sons of Kakasahib". The clan originated in a small village known as "Kakasaib".

See also

• Nowshera Cantonment

References

Coordinates: 33°56′N 71°59′E / 33.933°N 71.983°E / 33.933; 71.983