Maidan is a valley in 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 ...

of the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

province of

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# ...

. The inhabitants of Maidan are mostly

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

. The most numerous tribe living in Maidan is Ismailzai or Samelzai. It is one of the four clans of Tarkani also called Tarkalani tribe. Maidan was not directly under the control of Pakistan government at the time of partition, the valley was governed by a Nawab named "Nawab Shah Jehan". This region was part of the separate state named "Royal State of the Dir" till the 1960s. In 1961, Maidan came directly under the control of the Government of Pakistan. The main bazaar of Maidan Valley is Kumbar. There is a rural health centre situated at Lal Qilla region. Kumbar is the main business center in the valley. The valley passes through high mountains that are covered with snow in the winter season. Maidan is known for its lush green mountains and springs in the summer season. Kumber, being the main village of the Maidan valley, is a big trade centre comprising many commercial markets. People from various villages of the valley come to Kumbar Bazaar to fulfill their daily needs. Most of the population of the valley go abroad for earning their livings. Tehsil Maidan has recently been declared a subdivision, which comprises five Union Councils: Lal Qilla,

Kotkay Kotkay or Kotkai is a small village near Aloch in the Shangla District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependen ...

, Bashigram, Zaimdara and Gal. There are two police stations in Maidan, namely Lal Qilla and Zaimdara.

Religions, language and peoples

The peoples of Maidan are mostly

and they speak the

Pashto language Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

. They are mostly Sunni

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

History

Early Maidan was under the

Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

rule. But after 1965, Maidan or Dir became a part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan .

Crops

Wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

and

walnuts A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an invo ...

are common crops in the region.

Politics

Four main parties participate in politics: JI, PPP, ANP and PTI. PTI won the election in 2018 and Malak Liaqat Ali became a MPA and Bashir Khan MNA of Madian.

References

{{coord missing, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Lower Dir District Populated places in Lower Dir District