North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan

Categories: Provinces of Pakistan | 2005 Kashmir earthquake

The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is the smallest of the four provinces of Pakistan and is home to the Pashtuns (Afghans) and various other groups. Neighbouring regions include Afghanistan to the west and north, and the Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir to the northeast and east. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas stand as a buffer between the NWFP and parts of Afghanistan and Baluchistan. Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory are to the south and east. The principal language is Pashto and the provincial capital is Peshawar.

History

The NWFP was traditionally a part of Afghanistan, but was divided during the British rule of India (see Durand Line).

Since ancient times the NWFP has been invaded by numerous groups including the Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Scythians, Kushans, Huns, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Mughals, Sikhs, and the British. The region was populated by unknown early groups possibly related to the Elamo-Dravidians or some groups indigenous to Afghanistan. Indo-European Aryan invaders conquered the region between 2000 and 1500 BCE and the Indo-Iranian languages they brought to the region became predominant. Later, these groups would become the Pashtuns and the various Dardic peoples who currently populate the region.

The Vale of Peshawar was home to the Kingdom of Gandhara starting around the 6th century BCE and later ancient Peshawar became a capital of the Kushan Empire. The region was visited by such notable historical figures as Darius II, Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, Mountstuart Elphinstone, and Winston Churchill among others.

The region was, in ancient times, a center of Buddhism until Muslim invaders conquered the area before the 2nd millenium CE. The NWFP was an important borderland that was often contested by the Mughals and Safavids of Persia. The area, as a predominantly Pashtun region, merged following a loya jirga with the Durrani Empire founded by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747 and remained mainly under Afghan control until the coming of the British.

A series of conflicts known as the Anglo-Afghan wars during the imperialist Great Game between Britain and Russia led to the eventual dismemberment of Afghanistan. The annexation of the region led to the demarcation of the Durand Line and administration as part of British India. The Durand line is a term for the poorly marked 2,450 kilometer (1,519 mile) border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. After being defeated in two wars against Afghans, the British succeeded in 1893 in imposing the Durand line, dividing Afghanistan and what was then British India (now Pakistan). Named for Sir Mortimer Durand, the foreign secretary of the Indian government, it was agreed upon by representatives of both governments. One of the two representatives of the Afghan government was the revered Ahmadi Sahibzada Abdul Latif of Khost. The border was drawn intentionally to cut through the Pashtun tribes.

During the early 20th century the so-called Red Shirts led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan agitated through non-violence for an independent Pashtun state. Following partition, the NWFP voted to join the new state of Pakistan in 1947. However, Afghanistan’s loya jirga of 1949 declared the Durand Line invalid. During the 1950s, Afghanistan supported a secessionist movement in the NWFP known as the Pakhtunistan movement. The issue kept Pakistan and Afghanistan at odds for decades until the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Following the invasion over 3 million Afghan refugees poured into Pakistan, most residing in the NWFP. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the NWFP served as a major base for supplying the Mujahideen who fought the Soviets during the 1980s.

The NWFP remained heavily influenced by events in Afghanistan and the civil war led to the rise of the Taliban, which had emerged in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan as a formidable political force that nearly took-over all of Afghanistan. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the NWFP became a frontline region again as part of the US-led 'war on terror'.

Geography and main attractions

The NWFP sits mainly on the Iranian plateau and lies primarily in Central Asia, while parts of it overlap onto South Asia as well and this has led to considerable seismic activity (see 2005 Kashmir earthquake) in the province. The famous Khyber Pass links the province to Afghanistan, while the Attock bridge is a major crossing point over the Indus river in the east. The province has an area of 74,521 km² and its districts include Hazara (not to be confused with the Hazara people of Afghanistan), home to the town of Havelian, the western starting point of the Karakoram Highway. The capital and largest city of the province is Peshawar and other main cities include Nowshera, Mardan, Charsadda and Abbotabad.

The province's main districts include Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat, Bannu, Peshawar, and Hazara.

The region varies in topography from dry rocky areas in the south to forests and green plains in the north. The climate can be extreme with intensely hot summers to freezing cold winters. Despite these extremes in weather, agriculture remains important and viable in the area. The hilly terrain of Swat, Kalam, Naran and Kaghan is renowned for its beauty and attracts a great many tourists from neighbouring regions and from around the world. Swat-Kalam is also termed 'a piece of Switzerland' as there are many landscape similarities between it and the mountainous terrain of Switzerland.

The chai-khanas of Peshawar's Old City allow visitors to witness the multicultural inhabitants in a relaxed setting. The Khyber Bazaar, Qissa Kahani Bazaar and other parts of Peshawar can remind visitors of an Arabian Nights tale.

The Takht-i-Bahi is perhaps the most impressive Buddhist ruin in the province and dates back to the 1st century BCE.

Demographics and society

The NWFP has an estimated population of roughly 18 million that does not include more than 3 million Afghan refugees in the province.

The major language spoken in the NWFP is Pashto, and most of its residents are Pashtuns, especially in the lowlands and the southern areas of the NWFP. The main local tribes include the Afridi, Orakzai, Bangash, Khattak, Mahsud, Mohmand, Wazir, and Yusufzai and many other smaller tribes.

The mountainous northern regions of the province known as the Kohistan District is also home to diverse ethnic groups and languages, such as Khowar, Hindko, Kohistani, Shina, Torwali, Kashmiri and Kalami.

In addition, Afghan refugees, although predominantly Pashtun (including the Ghilzai and Durrani tribes), include hundreds of thousands of Persian-speaking Tajiks and Hazaras as well other smaller groups found throughout the province.

Nearly all of the inhabitants of the NWFP are Muslim with a Sunni majority and Shia, Ismaili, and Ahmadi minorities, the latter having been declared 'non-Muslim' by the government following pressure from extremist groups in the 1970s.

Economy and education

Agriculture remains important and the main cash crops include wheat, maize, rice, sugar beets, as well as various fruits are grown in the province. Some manufacturing and high tech investments in Peshawar has helped improve job prospects for many locals, while trade in the province can involve nearly every product known to man as the bazaars in the province are renowned throughout Pakistan.

Numerous workshops throughout the province support the manufacture of small arms and weapons of various types.

Trade with Afghanistan remains important as well, including illegal drug trafficking that largely moves through the province on its way to markets in the West.

The trend towards higher education is rapidly increasing in the province and the NWFP is home to Pakistan's foremost engineering university (GIK Institute) which is located in Topi, a town in the lower part of the province. The University of Peshawar is also a notable institution of higher learning. The Frontier Post is perhaps the province's best known newspaper and addresses many of the various issues facing the local population.

Social issues

The NWFP continues to have an image problem. Even within Pakistan it is regarded as a "radical state" and a "backwater" due to the rise of Islamist parties in the province and purported support for the remnants of the Taliban who are believed by some to be hiding in the province. In reality the NWFP has been the most stable and peaceful of Pakistan's provinces. The plagues of sectarianism, terrorism and insurrection have not been a problem in the North-West Frontier and the local economy has met with significant gains inspite of hosting millions of Afghan refugees, many of whom have been integrated into the local society.

The NWFP remains closely linked to Afghanistan and is a natural bridge for Pakistan's hopes to conduct trade with Central Asia, including the possibility of oil and natural gas pipelines.

Pashtuns within the NWFP have sought to rename the province Pakhtunkhwa, which translates to "Land of the Pakhtuns" in Pashto. This has been opposed by the people of the mountainous northern regions of NWFP, many of whom are non-Pashtuns.

See also

• Pashtuns
• Peshawar
• Federally Administered Tribal Areas
• Durrani Empire
• Pashtunistan
• Pakistan
• Afghanistan
• Iranian people

External links

• The Frontier Post [1].