Dir Upper

Dir Upper is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Location

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. It is connected with the Kohistan District via the Badawi Pass and connected with Chitral District through Lawari Pass and with Afghanistan through Bin Shahi Pass. The topography of Upper Dir is dominated by high mountains. The most important mountain range is the Hind Kush. It runs from north east to south west along the northern borders with Chitral District.

Tahsils

The district is administratively subdivided into six tehsils:

• Barawal
• Chapar
• Dir
• Kalkot
• Khal, Upper Dir
• Wari

History

In winter whole area remains snow-covered. The mountains in the western part of the district are covered with forests, while the eastern mountain range, Dir Kohistan is barren. Panjkora River is the main river of the district, which originates from Dir Kohistan. Upper Dir headquarters is connected to all tehsil headquarters.

Major 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.

Of these, notable villages are

• Khas Dir - Dir is sometimes known as Dir Proper or Dir Khas to distinguish it from the district. It lies at the foot of the Lowarai Pass, the main motor road to Chitral, on the Dir River, a tributary of the Panjkora River.
• Barawal
• Gandigar
• Sahiba-bad
• Sundrawal
• Ganori
• Shalkani
• Bibyawar

References

---

Back to Jat Places in Pakistan