"Bajaur Agency" by FATA Awareness Initiative

Bajaur Agency
Introduction

Bajaur or Bajour or Bajor (باجوڑ) is the north-most Agency (tribal district) of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. Area-wise it is the smallest of the agencies in FATA while population-wise it is the largest. Its terrain is a mix of hills, valleys, mountain passes and fertile plains; a diversity that makes it unique among the agencies of FATA. Its border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistan and the region.

Khar is the chief town of Bajaur and houses the headquarters of the Agency’s administration and the paramilitary Bajaur Scouts force. The two main tribes in Bajaur are Tarkanri (also Tarkani or Tarkalani) and Utman Khel. The Tarkanris are at the centre, south and west of Bajaur, while Utman Khels are at the north and east.

Map of Bajaur Agency

Detailed Map of Bajaur Agency (FATA), Pakistan.

Geography
Bajaur has an area of about 1290 Sq km. To its west lies the Kunar Valley from which it is separated by a series of rugged Hindukush hills and intermittent mountain passes; Nawa Pass, Ghakhi Pass and Leti Sar being the notable ones. Across these hills, the old road from Kabul to Pakistan via Nawa Pass ran before the Khyber Pass was adopted as the main route. To the south of Bajaur liess another tribal district, Mohmand Agency.
To the east, beyond the Panjkora river, are the hills of Malakand overlooking Batkhela and Dargai. To the north is an intervening watershed between Bajaur and Dir. It is over this watershed and through the valley of Dir that the G.T road from Mardan via Malakand runs to Chitral.The major towns of Bajaur are Khar, Nawagai, Pashat and Inayat Qilla (pronounced Anat Kallay). Other notable towns of the agency include Qazafi, Jaar, Raghagan, Paatak (Sadiq Abad), Lagharai, Loi Sam (destroyed in the 2008 military operation) and Kotkay (Charmang).
Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkanri and Utman Khel Pukhtoons. The sections of Tarkanri tribe inhabiting Bajaur are Salarzai, Mamund and Ibrahimzai while those of Utman Khel tribe are Shamozai, Alizai, Mandal and Aseel. Some sections of Tarkanri and Utman Khel tribes live outside the geographical limits of Bajaur and are not mentioned here.
The 1998 census conducted by the Govt. of Pakistan put the population of Bajaur at 0.595 million and population growth rate at 4.33 percent. By simple interpolation of the 1998 census data, the current population of Bajaur (as of 2011) must be touching the 1 million figure.
A number of natural canals (called Rud or Khwar) flow through the fertile semi-hilly plains of Charmang, Nawagai, Mamund, Salarzai, Mandal and Utman Khel. Starting from the western slopes of the hills overlooking Kunar and terminating in the Panjkora river, these Khwars form a magnificent natural irrigation system; not witnessed in any other agency of FATA.
One prime feature of Bajaur’s topography is a mountain spur from the Kunar range, which, curving eastwards, culminates in the well-known peak of Koh-i-Mor that is visible from the Peshawar valley
Bajaur and the MYTHOLOGY: Legend has it that it was here, at the foot of the Koh-i-Mor, that Alexander the Great founded the ancient city of Nysa and the Nysaean colony, traditionally said to have been founded by Dionysus. The Koh-i-Mor has been identified as the Meros of Aryian's history—the three-peaked mountain from which the god issued.

Administrative Setup of Bajaur Agency:

Bajaur Agency is divided into a number of administrative units as under:

Agency	Subdivision	Tehsil
Bajaur Agency	Khar	Khar
		Utman Khel
		Salarzai
	Nawagai	Nawagai
		Mamund
		Barang
		Chamarkand

The administrative Setup of the agency and the various departments are given as under:

Appointment / Post	Jurisdiction / Authorities / Responsibilities
Administration and Judiciary
Political Agent	Overall Charge-de-Affairs of the Agency
Additional Political Agent	Oversees development activities in the Agency
Assistant Political Agents, A.P.A	Admin / Judicial affairs of their respective Subdivisions
Political Tehsildars, P.T / Naib Tehsildars, P.N.T	Admin / Judicial affairs of their respective Tehsils
Law and Order
Subedar Major of Levies	Incharge of Levies / Khasadars (Local Police force)
Quarter Master of Levies	Head of Operations of Levies
Subedars / Naib Subedars of Levies	Incharge of their respective Levies Posts / Piquets
Education
Agency Education Officer, A.E.O	Overall Incharge of Schools (Primary to Higher Secondary)
Assistant Agency Education Officer (Female)	Incharge of Girls Schools
Assistant Agency Education Officers (Male)	Incharge of Boys Schools in their respective subdivisions
Health
Agency Surgeon	Overall Incharge of Health Facilities
Medical Superintendent	Incharge of Agency Head Quarter (AHQ) Hospital
Support Departments
Executive Engineer, XEN (C&W)	Incharge of Civil Works
Sub Divisional Officer, SDO (WAPDA)	Incharge of Electricity Supply
Assistant Divisional Engineer, ADE (PTCL)	Incharge of Telephone Services
Sub Divisional Officer, SDO (Public Health)	Incharge of Water Supply / Tube wells etc
Assistant Director, AD (Forests)	Incharge of Forests plantation and conservation etc
Assistant Director, AD (Agriculture)	Incharge of Agriculture affairs

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"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team.