The Mianwali District () is a district located in the Sargodha Division of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Mianwali District remained part of Rawalpindi Division until 1963, when Mianwali District became part of Sargodha Division. According to 2023 Pakistani census, population of Mianwali District is 1.79 million.
It has borders with the Talagang, Attock, Kohat, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Bhakkar, and Khushab districts.
History The town of Mianwali was made tehsil headquarters of Bannu District then part of Dera Ismail Khan Division of Punjab province of British India. The population of Mianwali, according to the 1901 census of India, was 3,591.
In November 1901, the North-West Frontier Province was carved out of Punjab and the tehsils of Mianwali and Isa Khel, and were separated from Bannu District (Bannu became part of NWFP). A new district was made with the headquarters in Mianwali city and placed in Punjab. The district became a part of Rawalpindi Division. There were four tehsils: Mianwali, Isa Khel, Bhakkar, and Layyah. Layyah was included in the Muzaffargarh District in 1909. The district became a part of Sargodha Division in 1963. Bhakkar Tehsil was separated from Mianwali and was made a separate district inside Sargodha Division w.e.f. 01-07-1982. Out of the three tehsils, Pashto is spoken in Isa Khel.
On January 14, 2023, CM Pervaiz Elahi announced that Mianwali and Bhakkar districts upgraded to divisional status, carved from the Sargodha Division. Newly formed Talagang district from the northern Rawalpindi Division would also be part of the division.
Geography Mianwali district covers an area of . The area in the north is a continuation of the Pothohar Plateau and the Kohistan-e-Namak. Southern side of the district is a part of Thal desert. Indus River flows through the district.
Climate Mianwali district has an extreme climate with a long hot summer season and dry cold winters. Summer lasts from May to September and winter lasts from November till February. June is the hottest month with average temperature of 42 °C (highest recorded temperature was 52 °C); in winter, the average temperature can be as low as 3 to 4 °C, particularly in December and January. The average rainfall in the district is about 385 mm.
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Average High Temperatures °C (°F) 19° (66.2 °) 21° (69.8 °) 26° (78.8 °) 33° (91.4 °) 38° (100.4 °) 42° (107.6 °) 39° (102.2 °) 37° (98.6 °) 37° (98.6 °) 33° (91.6 °) 28° (82.4 °) 21° (69.8 °) 31° (87.8 °) Average Low Temperatures °C 3 6 12 17 22 27 27 26 23 16 9 4 16 Rainfall in. (cm) 1.6 2.1 4.1 2.4 1.9 1.8 7.6 11 4.5 0.7 0.1 0.9 38.5Source: Weatherbase
Administration
The municipal committee was founded in December 1993 and has remained operational since then. The district is administratively divided into three tehsils 7 Municipal Committees and 51 union councils:
TehsilArea (km2)Pop. (2023)Density (ppl/km2)
(2023)Literacy rate (2023)Union CouncilsMunicipal CommitteesIsakhel1,863414,100222.2855.02%133Mianwali2,689908,405337.8266.09%262Piplan1,288475,763369.3863.46%122Total517
Urban areas NameArea (km2)Pop. (2023)Density (ppl/km2)
(2023)Literacy rate (2023)TehsilMianwali129,500MianwaliKundian48,658 PiplanKamar Mashani39,013Isa KhelLiaqatabad35,297PiplanDaud Khel33,141MianwaliIsa Khel27,612 Isa KhelKalabagh27,916Isa KhelHarnoli22,316Piplan
Demographics
Language
At the time of the 2023 census, 76.67% of the population spoke Saraiki language, 11.35% Pashto, 7.79% Punjabi, 0.5% Hindko and 3.15% Urdu as their first language.
Population
As of the 2023 census, Mianwali district has 296,339 households and a population of 1,798,268. The district has a sex ratio of 104.32 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 62.87%: 77.58% for males and 47.63% for females. 454,517 (25.31% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 363,453 (20.21%) live in urban areas.
Religion
As per the 2023 census, Muslims made up almost the entire population with 99.32%, although there is a small mainly urban minority of Christians numbering 11,951.
+ Religion in contemporary Mianwali DistrictReligiousgroup194120172023 Islam 266,9841,535,3451,783,68799.32% Hinduism 30,08421630% Sikhism 2,869410% Christianity 3027,04411,9510.67%Ahmadi101450% Others47901100.01%Total Population300,2861,542,6011,795,897100% + Religious groups in Mianwali District (British Punjab province era)Religiousgroup19011911192119311941 Islam 371,674 299,971 308,876 357,109 436,260 Hinduism 50,202 36,326 45,974 49,794 62,814 Sikhism 2,633 4,881 2,986 4,231 6,865 Christianity 44 168 369 380 358 Jainism 35 31 0 20 23 Zoroastrianism 0 0 0 5 1 Buddhism 0 0 0 0 0 Judaism 0 0 0 0 0 Others 0 0 0 0 0 Total population 424,588 341,377 358,205 411,539 506,321 + Religion in the Tehsils of Mianwali District (1921)TehsilIslam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Mianwali Tehsil 129,004 17,177 1,189 183 0 0 147,553 Bhakkar Tehsil 122,437 23,262 1,335 87 0 0 147,121 Isa Khel Tehsil 57,435 5,535 462 99 0 0 63,531 + Religion in the Tehsils of Mianwali District (1941)TehsilIslam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Mianwali Tehsil 194,442 25,488 2,202 251 0 33 222,416 Bhakkar Tehsil 169,276 32,730 3,996 22 0 1 206,035 Isa Khel Tehsil 72,542 4,596 667 51 23 1 77,870
People Mian Sultan Zikria - Famous Sufi saint from the Mianwali district Hazrat pir Syed Gulam Rabani shah Gillani . Qamar Abad sharif Isakhel Hazrat pir Syed Muhammad Saleem Shah Gillani . Qamar Abad sharif Isakhel Amjad Khan Niazi - Retired Chief of Naval Staff of Pakistan Navy. Nawab Malik Amir Mohammad Khan - Chief of the Awan tribe, Nawab of Kalabagh, Former Governor of the West Pakistan. Tilok Chand Mehroom – Urdu poet Jagannath Azad – Urdu-Speaking poet of Hindu academic. Imran Khan Niazi – Former captain of the Pakistan cricket team, twice elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Mianwali and served as the 22nd Prime minister of Pakistan . Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi – Folk singer Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi – religious and political leader of Pakistan Misbah-ul-Haq – Pakistani cricketer Sher Afgan Niazi – Former Minister of Law and Member of Parliament Sardar Khan Niazi – Chief Editor and publisher of Daily Pakistan, Daily The Patriot, Daily Pak Watan, Daily Action, Daily Nawa-e-Nawabshah, Monthly Naya Rukh, and also Chairman of the Pakistan Group of Publications. Shadab Khan – Pakistani cricketer. Aqeela Asifi – Afghan refugee and teacher who has educated thousands of other Afghan refugee children in Mianwali Lt. Gen. Amir Abdullah Niazi - Commandent Army Eastern Command III Corps in East Pakistan Lt. Gen. Muhammad Aslam Shah- Corps Commander Pakistan Army Lt. Gen. Zarar Azim- Corps Commander Pakistan Army Maj. Gen. Sanaullah Khan Niazi - Two-star Major-General rank officer of Pakistan military, GOC Malakand, who embraced martyrdom in Pakistan's War on terrorism. Maj. Gen. Javed Sultan Khan- Two star Major-General rank officer of Pakistan military, GOC Kohat, who embraced martyrdom in Pakistan's War on terrorism. Maj. Gen. Hidayatullah Khan Niazi- Two-star Major-General rank officer of Pakistan military Maj. Gen. Inayatullah Khan Niazi- Two-star Major-General rank officer of Pakistan military Maj. Gen. Rafiullah Khan Niazi- Two star Major-General rank officer of Pakistan military Air Vice Marshal Abdul Razzaq Anjum- Two-star Air Vice Marshal of Pakistan Air Force Sher Shah Awan , commander of an ambushed platoon in the Burma Campaign where despite his shattered leg he crawled at the enemy to continue to fight Ayla Malik- Politician
Places of interest
Mari Indus railway station Kalabagh Dam Jinnah Barrage Chashma Barrage Namal Lake Kundian Railway Station Daud Khel Railway Station Mari Indus Railway Station
See also Divisions of Pakistan Mianwali Division Tehsils of Pakistan Tehsils of Punjab, Pakistan Tehsils of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Tehsils of Balochistan, Pakistan Tehsils of Sindh, Pakistan Tehsils of Azad Kashmir Tehsils of Gilgit-Baltistan Districts of Pakistan Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Districts of Punjab, Pakistan Districts of Balochistan, Pakistan Districts of Sindh, Pakistan Districts of Azad Kashmir Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan
Further reading "Manaqib-E-Sultani" By Mian Alamgir "Wichara Watan" By Harish Chander Nakra, New Delhi, India
Notes
References
External links
History of Niazi tribe Niazi chiefs in the service of Mughals Niazi uprising against the Sikhs (1829-30) History of Kalabagh