Upper Dir (Pashto:دیر بالا) is one of the 26 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At the time of independence, Dir was a princely state ruled by Nawab Shah Jehan Khan. It was merged with Pakistan in 1969 and later on declared as a district in 1970. In 1996, it was bifurcated into Upper and Lower Dir districts. This district is situated in the northern part of Pakistan. It borders Chitral district and Afghanistan on the north and north west and Swat district to the east, and on the south by Lower Dir District.
Towns
Except for Dir and a number of rapidly growing bazaar towns along the main roads, the population is rural, scattered in more than 1200 villages in the deep narrow valleys of the Panjkora and its tributaries.
Dir district was officially split into Upper Dir and Lower Dir in 1996. Until 2000 as funds were not available to provide the accommodation needed at Dir town by government departments at a district headquarters, both districts continued to be administered by a single deputy Commissioner stationed at Timergara in Lower Dir.
Dir is a region in northwestern Pakistan, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Lying in the foothills of the Himalayas it has beautiful valleys and scenic mountains. Before Pakistan was created, Dir was a princely state, and it remained so until 1969 when it was abolished by a presidential declaration, with the Dir District being created the following year. Dir District was 5,280 square kilometres in area and lay along the disputed border controlled by the Afghan nationalists. The region is situated between Chitral and Peshawar. In 1996 the district was split into Lower Dir and Upper Dir.
Dir derives its name from an Arabic word that means place of worship, monastery/convent where one can live in seclusion from others. The history of Dir goes back to at least the 2"d millennium BC, which is testified by the excavations of numerous burials of Aryans at Timargarha and other places, dating from 18th to 6th century BC. The Aryans were followed by the Achaemenians, who were ousted by the invasion of Alexander in 327 BC, though he faced great difficulties in subjugating the local population. Greek historians have paid great tributes to the population, the army and the queen of Massaga, an ancient site near the modern Ziarat village, located between Chakdara and Timergara. After the Greeks, the area witnessed the Gandharan Civilization, which achieved great fame. This period is signified by the presence of the monumental remains of the Buddhist stupas and monasteries, a few of which has already filled the museum at Chakdara.
... were identified as Fahad Khan, resident of Thana district Malakand, Hazrat Umar, resident of Sheringal in Upper Dir district and Azmat son of Sultanat Khan, a resident of Asban in Adenzai tehsil.
... Waziristan and Kurram districts ... Overall, the progress on land record computerisation in the province stands at 83%, while land settlement is in process in the merged districts, Upper and Lower Dir.
Farzana, wife of Mir Alam from Upper Dir, who is currently residing in Wapda Colony in TaruJabba, told the police that her husband Mir Alam Khan was ...
Teachers here on Monday said the primary schools in Upper Dir district would be closed indefinitely as part of a strike by the All Primary Teachers Association (APTA) to press for the acceptance of their demands.
Deputy Commissioner Upper Dir NaveedAkbar inaugurated the district’s computerised land and criminal record centre here on Wednesday ... “The record of Upper Dir’s protection ...
It was decided that, initially, the project would be launched in Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Mansehra, Abbottabad, and Swat districts.
... hours, however, thunderstorm and rain occurred at scattered places in Chitral, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Swat, Mansehra, Kohistan, Bajaur, Khyber and Buner Districts.</p><p>APP/adi</p> .
It was decided that, initially, the project will be launched in Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Mansehra, Abbottabad, and Swat districts.
In this file photo, taken on August 30, 2024, residents gather at the site of a landslide owing to heavy monsoon rains in the remote area of Patrak, in Upper Dir district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
DIR. The Health Department has launched a 12-day “big catch up” vaccination campaign starting October 1 to immunize children under 5 against 12 diseases in Upper Dir.
