The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is one of the most legendary places
on earth. The Frontier, as it is and was pop¬ularly
known, of all Pakistan's Provinces, is arguably the
most diverse ethnically, the most varied in terrain
and sports a vigorous cultural spectrum.
The
Frontier conjures up a world of valour and war, of
rugged men and mountains, of tribesmen shaped in a
heroic, hos¬pitable mould. Gateway to the Subcontinent,
since times immemorial, it has witnessed migration-waves
of peoples,campaigns of conquerors, flow of innumerable
caravans of commerce, influx of intellectuals, artists,
poets and saints from the north into its fertile valleys
and onwards to the plains of the Punjab, Sindh and
beyond the Indus to South Asia.
The routes which figured as corridors of invasion
and arteries of international traffic brought not
only men and material but also ideas which fertilized
all of India. Over the centuries this area w
as
instrumental in the spread of many concepts and intellectual
thought. Buddhism found its finest expression here
in the Gandhara civilization. And from here it spread
northwards to pollinate Central Asia, north-east to
China, Japan and the Far East. Then came Islam with
its unique transforming sweep.
Throughout the ages, Pukhtun tribes, the Afridi, the
Bangash, the Durrani, the Khattak, the Mahsud, the
Orakzai, the Toori, the Wazir and the Yusufzai, have
left their indelible imprints on the pages of history.
Other tribes are the Marwat, Mohmand, Gandapur, Swati,
Tareen, Tanoli, Jadoon and Mashwani. The Afghan, the
Pukhtun and the Pathan are three names of the same
people despite shifting political bound¬ aries.
In this terrain many civilizations have mixed and
min¬gled, risen and were razed. Its inhabitants
have excelled in countless fields of endeavour.
Perhaps
this area has seen more invasions during the course
of history than any other region in the world. In
the more recent past Sikh and British invaders from
the south met their toughest adversaries in the Frontier.
The unsure hold of Sikha Shahi "Sikh Rule",
and the uneasy control of the British Raj speak volumes
for these intrepid and freedom¬loving people.
It was a contentious extension of the Kingdom of Lahore
under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Then for almost five
decades it remained a part of the Punjab Province
during the Raj. In 1902 it was finally accorded separate
sta¬tus. This was the one Province in which the
imperial enter¬prise seemed to falter and fray.
The Pathans have been con¬quered by many an imperial
authority but never truly van¬quished.
And yet these valiant men and women of the Frontier
gave their all to the Independence Movement and a
sovereign Pakistan.
Apart from the Pathan tribes, the NWFP is home to
diverse ethnic groups and languages. In the northern
highlands such languages as Khowar, Hindko, Kohistani,
Shina, Torwali,Kashmiri, Kalasha and Kaghani are spoken.
The influx of Afghan refugees has brought Ghilzai
and Durrani tribes and hundreds and thousands of Farsi
speaking Tajiks and Hazaras who have settled here.
Nearly all the inhabitants of the Province are Muslim
with a Sunni majority, a minority of Shias and Ismailis
and a sprinkling of Animists or Shamanists.
Today NWFP, spread over 74,521 sq km, has a population
of over 22 million. It comprises of three major administrative
parts. One part, composed of settled areas, consists
of the districts of Abbottabad, Bannu, Battagram,
Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Hangu, Haripur, Kohistan,
Kohat, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Mansehra, Mardan, Nowshera,
Swabi, Peshawar and Tank. The second known as PATA
(Provincially Administered Tribal Areas) has a population
of 831 ,000 and consists of Malakand Agency and the
districts of Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Chitral, Swat,
Buner, Shangla, and the pocket of Kala Dhaka / "Black
Mountains", Kohistan (previously part of Swat
State) and the State of Amb, now submerged in the
Tarbela Dam reservoir.
The third part, FATA (Federally Administered Tribal
Areas), is spread over 27,220 sq km and has a population
of 3,764,000. It comprises of seven Tribal Agencies
and six Frontier Regions. The Tribal Agencies are
Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram, North Waziristan
and South Waziristan. The Frontier Regions include
F.R. Bannu, Central Kurram, F.R. Dera Ismail Khan,
F.R. Kohat, F.R. Lakki, F.R. Peshawar and F.R. Tank.
These are directly controlled by the Governor NWFP.
