Shaheed Benazirabad District

Shaheed Benazirabad District ( sd, شهيد بينظيرآباد ضلعو, ur, ) previously known as Nawabshah District, is one of the districts in the province of Sindh, Pakistan.

Renaming

The district was renamed in September 2008 when most of MPAs of Nawabshah demanded the district be renamed to honour the late party leader.

The renaming of the district was criticised by the family of Syed Nawabshah and others who, while saddened at the death of Bhutto, felt that Nawabshah was a historic district and ought to have kept its name.

History

At the establishment of the district in 1st November 1912, seven talukas were included in this district:
# Kandiaro
# Naushero Feroze
# Moro
# Sakrand
# Nawabshah
# Sinjhoro
# Shahdadpur

The district was divided into two Sub-divisions, namely Nawabshah Sub-division and Naushahro Feroze Sub-division. The former comprised the three talukas Shahdadpur, Sinjhoro and Nawabshah, while the later comprise the four talukas of Kandiaro, Naushahro Feroze, Moro and Sakrand.

In 1953 the talukas of Shahdadpur and Sinjhoro became part of the newly established Sanghar District. This left Nawabshah Sub-division with only one taluka, so Sakrand taluka was moved from Naushahro Feroze Sub-division to Nawabshah Sub-division. In 1989, another part of the district, the talukas of Nausehro Feroz, Kandiaro and half of the taluka of Moro, was cleaved from it to form the new Naushahro Feroze District. A new taluka, Daulatpur, was created, from half of the Moro and some of Sakrand taluka in Nawabshah district. The district then contained three talukas:
# Nawabshah
# Sakrand
# Daulatpur

In 2005, after the local government election, a new taluka named Daur was cleaved from Nawabshah taluka and Daulatpur taluka renamed to Kazi Ahmed.

The district then comprised four talukas:
# Nawabshah
# Sakrand
# Daulatpur (now Kazi Ahmed)
# Daur

In May 2014, a 5.0 magnitude earthquake struck the district, killing one person and injuring 70.

Administrative subdivisions

Shaheed Benazir Abad formerly Nawabshah District. The Deputy Commissioner is responsible for overall administration of the district. The district is sub-divided into four Tehsils:
*Sakrand
* Nawabshah
* Qazi Ahmed
* Daur

Demographics

At the time of the 2017 census, Shaheed Benazirabad district had a population of 1,613,506, of which 833,235 were males and 780,089 females. The rural population was 1,123,696 (69.64%) and urban 489,810 (30.36%). The literacy rate is 46.86%: 59.42% for males and 33.85% for females.

The majority religion is Islam, with 95.82% of the population. Hinduism (including those from Scheduled Castes) is practiced by 3.86% of the population.

At the time of the 2017 census, 82.70% of the population spoke Sindhi, 6.86% Urdu