Timergara (, ) is a city and the district headquarters of the

Lower Dir District Lower Dir District (, ) is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Timergara is the district's headquarters and largest city. The Lower Dir district was formed in 1996, when Dir District was divided into Upper Dir and Lower ...

and temporary headquarter of newly established Central Dir District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Timergara city is located on the east bank of the Panjkora River. It lies at an altitude of . The town is the site of excavated graves of

Indo-Aryans Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of peoples predominantly found in South Asia, who (traditionally) speak Indo-Aryan languages. Historically, Aryans were the Indo-Iranian speaking pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia int ...

, dating from 1500 to 600 BC. On the west side of the Panjkora River is the excavated site of Balambat. The site has been occupied continuously since the time of the Indo-Aryans in 1500 BC. Discoveries included houses dating from 500 BC and fire altars, showing that the people followed early Vedic Hinduism which revolved around

fire worship Worship or deification of fire (also pyrodulia, pyrolatry or pyrolatria), or fire rituals, religious rituals centred on a fire, are known from various religions. Fire has been an important part of homo, human culture since the Lower Paleolithic. ...

ping. The areas early political history is defined by the control of the Hindu Shahis, artifacts and ruins from the period is found throughout the region. At the 2023 Census, the town had a population of 47,860. Most of the main city lies on the bank of the river Panjkora, which separates Balambat from the main city.

Public Universities in Timergara Dir Lower

* University of Dir * Virtual University of Pakistan Timergara Campus * Timergara Medical College (Rani) pending from 2015 * Government College of Technology Kandaro Balambat Timergara *Government Post Graduate college Timergara *Government Girls Post Graduate college Timergara *Government Girls Post Graduate college Balambat *Abdul Wali Khan university Mardan Timergara Campus

Education demographics in Lower Dir

The total gross enrollment ratio is 73.83% excluding Kachi and 79.59% including Kachi class. Student–teacher ratio is 43 students per teacher. There are 41 boys per male teacher and 46 girls per female teacher. According to the recent

Universal Primary Education The second of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals focuses on achieving Universal Primary Education. This goal aims to ensure global access to complete primary education for all children, regardless of gender, by 2015. Education plays a ...

(UPE) survey, the total number of children in the age group 5–7 years is 104,498Education Department Survey for UPE in 2005 in which 56,937 are boys and 47,561 are girls. Due to the limited access, the number of out-of-school children among the age group 5–7 years is 25,169. Almost 24% children of the total (age group 5–7 years) are out of school, in which 19% are boys and 30% are girls. These figures also include the dropout students of both genders.

Economy

The area has a weak agriculture infrastructure with no industry. The economy is completely based on the remittances sent back to the area by people (mainly males) living in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

People

The people of Timergara are mainly

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

. The main tribes are

Yousafzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangl ...

, Ibrahimkhel, Utmankhel ghilzai

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

and Umarkhel Tor Baba (Abdur Rahim Khan), Timergara Babaje and Jaloo Baba were the prominent religious figures of this area. Abdur Rahim Khan migrated from Mandal (Bajawar Agency) in the late seventeenth century and settled in Timergara. He was known as Tor Baba for his piousness. Abdur Rahim Khan and Akhund Ilyas (d. 1676) were disciples of Shaikh Adam Binori. The Mandal (clan of Utmankheil) in Timergara or mostly called Shaikhan are the descendants of Baba Abdur Rahim Khan.

Climate

The summer season is hot and arid while the winter is cold and wet. A steep rise in temperature occurs from May to June, and then is very hot from July to the end of August. However, the weather becomes cooler, especially at night, during September. A rapid fall in temperature occurs from October onwards. The coldest months are December and January. The mean minimum temperature recorded for the month of January is −8 °C. Rainfall mostly occurs in the months of July, August, December, January and February. Towards the end of cold weather, there are occasional thunderstorms and hailstorms. Timergara is equally affected by global warming and climatic changes. In 2010, along with snowfall, heavy floods occurred which resulted in heavy damage to the infrastructure of the city. In March 2014, the Panjkora river's level began rising again, which was a threat to the Balambat bridge.

Food

Popular foods are fish and beef cooked as Chapli Kabab, Seekh Kabab, and tikka. A

Tandoor A tandoor ( or ) is a large vase-shaped oven, usually made of clay. Since antiquity, tandoors have been used to bake unleavened flatbreads, such as roti (as well as leavened ones, such as naan) and to roast meat. Tandoors are predominantly use ...

(oven) for baking bread is present in many houses. Many inhabitants eat Lobya (Beans),

Saag Saag also spelled sag, saagh or saga, is a leafy vegetable dish from the Indian subcontinent. It is eaten with bread, such as roti or naan, or in some regions with rice. Saag can be made from mustard greens, collard greens, basella or finel ...

and Juwar Doday (bread of Maize).

Lassi Lassi () is a Dahi (curd), yogurt–based beverage with a smoothie-like consistency. It has been called "the most popular and traditional yogurt-based drink" in India. It has also been described as the form in which yogurt "is most cherished ...

and Saag with Sookrak (sweet bread of Maize) are also offered to guests.

Dress and ornaments

The people generally wear typical Pashtun dress. During the winter season, men wear a Chadar (a long piece of cloth, mostly used to make the body warm) around the body along with Kameez (shirt) and Shalwar. Women typically wear

Shalwar Kameez Shalwar kameez (also salwar kameez and less commonly shalwar qameez) is a traditional combination dress worn by men and women in South Asia, and Central Asia. '' Shalwars'' are trousers which are atypically wide at the waist and narrow to a ...

and

Burqa A burqa or burka (; ) is an enveloping outer garment worn by some Muslim women which fully covers the body and the face. Also known as a chadaree (; ) or chaadar (Dari: چادر) in Afghanistan, or a ''paranja'' (; ; ) in Central Asia, the Ara ...

. A Chitrali woolen cap is used in winter, while a typical white Diroji cap is worn in the summer. Peshawari Chappal (leather sandals) are the most common footwear among men.

Festivals and fairs

Festivals and fairs are a part of the Pashtun culture. The most important festivals are the two Eids (

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the ...

and

Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...

). Apart from that, most youngsters hike in the hills of Kumrat, Lowari Pass, Laram, Shahi and Oshery in pleasant weather.

Demographics

Population

As of the 2023 census, Timergara had a population of 47,860.

Transport

Timergara connects Bajawar, Dir Upper and Chitral to the rest of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. Timergara has two busy bypass roads that connect different areas. The nearest airport is Peshawar International Airport, about ninety-eight miles away. The buses, taxis and private vehicles are the main means of transport.

Sports

There is no public sports ground but the people of khungi payeen village make for themselves a very beautiful ground in the bank of river. Football players play their football and cricketers play Cricket and also players play volleyball. There is no proper facility available for players to play a professional sports. The area has produced some prominent players in different sports i.e. Naseem Shah,

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

and Israrullah (cricket), Murtaza Ahmad (hockey) and Irfan Ahmad (badminton). These players have represented

in different types of international cricket and provincial and regional teams in different games. The youngsters have a great passion for sports like cricket, football, basketball, volleyball, and hockey. Rest House Ground and FC Ground (Balambat) are the two main sporting events sites. The residents have made small grounds for sports facilities on the banks of rivers and as well as at the bottom of mountains.

Health facilities

The main healthcare facility is District Headquarters Hospital Timergara. There are many more private hospitals and a number of hospitals available for ladies' treatment. MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières), an international NGO, is supporting parts of the District Headquarters Hospital e.g. Maternity, Accident, Emergency and Newborn Unit. The pioneer practitioner of this area was the late Dr. Burhan Uddin (1942–2009). He provided primary health care to the people of this area when no hospital existed.

References

{{Pakistani cities Lower Dir District 2 Cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa