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History
| Geography | Administrative Divisions | Constituencies
| Population |
Demographics | Flora & Fauna |
Politics | Notable
Politicians |
 Shangla
District is located in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The
district headquarters are located at
Alpur 1 It was previously a subdivision of Swat District, but was upgraded
to the status of a district on July 1, 1995 by
the then Chief Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao. The total area of the district
is 1,586 square kilometres. Pashto is spoken
by most of the population.
A view of ShanglaShangla comprises two sub division, Alpuri and Puran. There
are four (4) sub tehsils i.e. Besham, Chakesar,
Martung and Makhuzai.
Location
The district is bounded in the north by Kohistan District, in the east by
Battagram District and the tribal area of
Kala Dhaka (Black Mountain of Hazara), in the west by Swat District and in
the south by Buner District.
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Map
Places of Interest
| Hotels |
Parks & Gardens |
Hospitals |
Sport Centers |
Banks |
ATM |
Police Stations |
History
There are relics of the ancient Greek period at Pirsar, Chakesar and Daut.
it is believed that Alexander the Great
camped at Pirsar for a few days. There are also relics of the Hindu Shahi in
Qlandar-Ajmair
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History of Pakistan
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Geography
The only means of communications with Swat, is Shangla pass (Shangla top.
Shangla district, consists of small valleys, is situated between the
hillocks and surrounded by high mountains full
of forests comprising Pindrow Fir, Morinda Spruce, Blue Pine (Kail), Chir
Pine and Deodar Cedar trees. The average
elevation of the district is 2000 to 3000 meters above sea level 2 The
highest point (3,440 m) is near Kuz Ganrshal
in the north of the district.2 There are beautiful isolated valleys most
suitable for seed production of highly demanded
cross pollinated vegetable crops. Moreover Shangla has got pretty enough
potential for hydel power generation, one such
project underway is at Khan Khwar.
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Administrative Divisions
Under the devolved local government system Shangla is divided into two Sub-Divivisions/Tehsils
namely.
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Alpuri
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Puran
Four (4) Sub-Tehsils, namely
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Besham
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Chakesar
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Martung
-
Makhuzai
There are 28 Union Councils. Alpuri Tehsil (Sub division) consists of 19
Union Councils and Puran Tehsil (Sub-division)
consists of 9 Union Councils.
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Constituencies
The district is represented in the provincial assembly by two elected MPAs
who represent the following constituencies:7
Constituency MPA Party
PF-87 (Shangla-I) 8 M. Zahir Shah Pakistan Muslim League
PF-88 (Shangla-II) Fazalullah Independent.
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Population
According to the 1998 census, the district had a population of 435,563 with
an average annual growth rate of 3.3% and
population density of 274 persons per square kilometre. the total number of
households is 64,391 with an average
household size of 8.1. Almost the entire population of Shangla belongs to
the Pathan tribe Yousafzai. Major subtribes of
Yousafzai living in Shangla are Mian Khail linving in Lilownai,Azikhel and
Babozai. Azikhel live mainly in Chakesar,
Martung and Shahpur while Babozai live in Puran. The People of Shangla are
known for their hospitality and great moral
values. Almost the entire population is Muslim (99.8%) with very small
numbers of Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadis.
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Demographics
Most of the local inhabitants are agriculturists. Though the agricultural
area of the district is fertile but the
agricultural holdings are very small as compared to the number of owners.
The total cultivated area of the district is
423.6 square kilometres (104,700 acres) out of which only 30.75 square
kilometres (7,600 acres) is irrigated and the
remaining 392.85 square kilometres (97,080 acres) is non-irrigated. Shangla
District is full of natural resources, having
a vast scope for investment and development. It was severely hit during the
October 8, 2005 earthquake and many people
were left homeless.
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Flora & Fauna
A number of medicinal plants are found in the area including the following:
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Tarkha (Artemizia species)
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Unab (Zizyphus Sativa)
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Althea (Althaca Officinalis)
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Banafsha (Viola serpens)
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Mushki Bala (Valeriana species)
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Musli Sufed (Aspargus species)
The district is home to a variety of Fauna including deer, bears, pheasants
and leopards.
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Markhur
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Himalayan ibex
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Urial
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Himalyan black bear
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Brown bear
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Bear
Leopard
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Snow leopard
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Wolf
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Rhesus Monkey
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Blue rock pigeon
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Spotted dove
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Little brown dove
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Chakor
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Himalayan snow cock
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Red jungle fowl
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Monal pheasant
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Koklas pheasant
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Satyr tragopan
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Hoopoe
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White breasted kingfisher
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Indian robin
Shangla is also a historical place in South Asia: home to several Buddhist
hermits,as well as a small but thriving Hindu
community in the Chakesar region. It is said that the region known as
Ghorband in the north west of Shangla was visited
by Alexander the Great's Army in 326 B.C. where it fought a battle with the
locals at the mount Pir Sar. Later on in the
15th century Shangla witnessed a population shift from neighbouring
Afghanistan (Pakhtun tribe Yousafzais) with locals
migrating into Hazara.
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Fauna & Flora in Pakistan
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Politics
Shangla was given District status by the then Chief Minister Aftab Ahmad
Khan Sherpao in 1995, on the demand of lawyers
of Shangla Bar association. The chief minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao
upgraded Shangla to the status of district on
July 10, 1995 in a public meeting in Alpuri.
In January 2001, Sayed Iftikhar Hussain Shah the then governor of NWFP
decided to revert the District status of Shangla
to the previous position of July 1, 1995. For this purpose he visited
Shangla to convince the elders and politicians of
the area. All political and social groups of Shangla strongly opposed,
resisted and condemned the decision of the
government and two prominent lawyers of Shangla Bar association Sultan Rome
Advocate and Mazharul Haq Advocate were
arrested by administration while raising their voice for Shangla. The
government however withdrew the decision.
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Notable Politicians
Senator Sher Muhammad Khan, (an ally of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, died in a road
accident)
Badiuz Zaman Ex MPA(He was killed in Swat by the Sufi Mohammad Group
ofTaliban ).
Sultan Shaham KhanEx MPA (He was killed at the age of 32 due to tribal
enmity in 1987)
Zahir Shah Khan MPA He is the member of N.W.F.P Assembly. He belongs to
PF-87 Shangla.
Pir Muhammad Khan (He was elected five(5) times as member of the provincial
assembly in 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997 and 2002.
He remained Provincial Minster during 1997-1999. He was killed in a
terrorist attack at Peshawar in November 2007.)
Amir Muqam He was born in Puran Shangla on July 25, 1963, was elected for
his first term as MNA on an MMA seat. He was
politically affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami. After his success, he changed
his loyalties and joined the ruling pro-Musharraf
party Pakistan Muslim League (Q)PML(Q). During Pervez Musharraf era, he
became provincial president of the ruling party
PML. He remained on posts of State Minister for Water and Power and Federal
Minister for Political Affairs during the
PML pro-Musharraf government.
Fazlullah MPA He is the Son of Ex-Minister Pir Muhammad Khan. He elected a
member of N.W.F.P Assembly in election 2008.
He belongs to PF-88 Shangla-II. He is the second youngest member of
Provincial Assembly of NWFP Pakistan after Zaid Akram
Khan Durrani MPA from Bannu-I constituency.
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