Tank District

Administrative sub-division in Pakistan

District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan

Tank District

ضلع ٹانک
ټانک ولسوالۍ

District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

View from Tank Railway Station

Tak District (red) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Country|  Pakistan
Province|  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Division| Dera Ismail Khan
Headquarters| Tank
Government

• Type| District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner| N/A
• District Police Officer| N/A
• District Health Officer| N/A
Area

• District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

| 2,900 km2 (1,100 sq mi)
Population

(2023)[1]

• District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

| 470,293
• Density| 160/km2 (420/sq mi)
• Urban

| 49,172 (10.46%)
• Rural

| 421,121 (89.54%)
Literacy

[2]

• Literacy rate|

* Total:
40.67%
* Male:
56.89%
* Female:
23.18%

Time zone| UTC+5 (PST)
Number of Tehsils| 1
Number of Union councils| 16
Website| tank.kp.gov.pk

Tank District (Pashto: ټانک ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع ٹانک ṭāṅk; Saraiki: ٹاک ṭāk) is a district in the Dera Ismail Khan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

The city of Tank is the headquarter of the district, which consists of Union Council City I and Union Council City II. There are sixteen Union councils in the district Tank. Until 1992, Tank was a tehsil within Dera Ismail Khan district.[3]: 1 Tank is bordered with the district of Lakki Marwat in the northeast, Dera Ismail Khan in the east, FR Tank in the north and the South Waziristan district in the west. The temperature of Tank reaches 110–120 °F in summer. However, in the winter, it is normal. People of the mountainous regions of the west usually come to Tank to avoid cold weather and then return during the summer.

## History

[edit]

### Macedonian flight

[edit]

At the Battle of the Hydaspes (now the Beas River), fought between Alexander the Great's army and the Indian king Purushotthama (better known as Porus), the Macedonian army refused to go any further. It is said that the Alexander's army was at risk of being trapped, or was faced by an enemy army too big to defeat, and had to retreat southwards through the Makran desert.[citation needed]

### Arrival of Islam

[edit]

Islam came in the Tank region in the eighth century A.D., when Umayyad general Muhammad Bin Qasim attacked the Multan region and the nearby areas. The tribe known as Arain in the Tank district is the generation of those Arab soldiers who came towards Multan with Muhammad Bin Qasim.

### Modern history

[edit]

Portrait of Nawab Allahdad Khan of Tank, sketched by G. T. Vigne, published by The Illustrated London News, 25 April 1846

Finally, the Sikhs from the south overran the local tribes. They annexed the land in 1838. Somewhere in the midst of this turmoil, the British were assembling against the Pashtuns and the First British-Afghan War commenced. The British took over in 1848. The British regiments weren't able to occupy the entire territory and remained in the camps at the foothills of the mountains, while the harsh and dangerous upland terrain remained unexplored.

"...even the shadows of the hills were hazardous."[4]

The eastern border of the Kingdom of Kabul was undefined until 1893 when the Durand Line was established. Under the same agreement, the tribes of Waziristan were clearly designated as being under the British rule.

The British negotiated with the tribes through their agents in the border towns and Tank was a centre of negotiation with the Mahsud tribe. For the Britishers, the Mahsud tribe was the most difficult to control. In 1860, when the Mullah Shaleem Kaka Machi Khel Mahsud's army attacked the British with a 3000 strong armed-men, the British were forced to penetrate into the territory of Tank to control them.[citation needed]

In January 1899, Lord Curzon was appointed as the Viceroy of India. Reaching India shortly after the suppression of the frontier risings of 1897–98, he paid special attention to the independent tribes of the north-west frontier and inaugurated a new province called the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and pursued a policy of forceful control mingled with conciliation.[citation needed] The only major armed outbreak on this frontier during the period of his administration was the Mahsud Waziri campaign of 1901.

### Post-independence

[edit]

After the partition of the subcontinent, the Tank district became a part of Pakistan. In 2018, the Frontier Region Tank was formally merged with Tank district.

## Administration

[edit]

The district contains two Tehsils \- Tank and Jandola. And is represented in the Provincial Assembly by one elected MPA, who represents the PK-108 (Tank) constituency.[5]

Member of Provincial Assembly | Party Affiliation | Constituency | Year

|
|
|

Muhammad Usman | [PTI] | Tank | 2024

### Tehsils

[edit]

Tehsil  | Name

(Urdu)

| Name

(Pashto)

| Area

(km²)[6]

| Pop.

(2023)

| Density

(ppl/km²)

(2023)

| Literacy rate

(2023)[7]

| Union Councils

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Jandola Tehsil | تحصیل جنڈولہ  | (Pashto: جنډوله تحصیل)  | 1,221  | 44,794  | 36.69  | 33.63%  |
Tank Tehsil | تحصیل ٹانک  | (Pashto: ټانک تحصیل)  | 1,679  | 425,499  | 253.42  | 41.43%  |

## Demographics

[edit]

### Population

[edit]

Historical populationYear| Pop.| ±% p.a.

|
|

1951 | ...| —
1961 | ...| —
1972 | 120,005| —
1981 | 171,245| +4.03%
1998 | 265,432| +2.61%
2017 | 427,044| +2.53%
2023 | 470,293| +1.62%
Sources:[8]

As of the 2023 census, Tank district has 70,563 households and a population of 470,293. The district has a sex ratio of 105.63 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 40.67%: 56.89% for males and 23.18% for females. 162,761 (34.61% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 49,172 (10.46%) live in urban areas.[1]

### Religion

[edit]

Religion in contemporary Tank District  Religious
group  | 1941[9] | 2017[10] | 2023[11]

|
|
|

Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | %
Islam | 49,847  | 89.55%  | 426,541  | 99.89%  | 469,033  | 99.73%
Hinduism | 5,279  | 9.48%  | 5  | ~0%  | 2  | ~0%
Sikhism | 390  | 0.70%  | —  | —  | 6  | ~0%
Christianity | 81  | 0.15%  | 267  | 0.06%  | 1,164  | 0.25%
Others  | 67  | 0.12%  | 231  | 0.05%  | 88  | 0.02%
Total Population  | 55,664  | 100%  | 427,044  | 100%  | 470,293[a] | 100%
Note: 1941 census data is for Tank tehsil of erstwhile Dera Ismail Khan district, which roughly corresponds to contemporary Tank district, excluding the former Frontier Region Tank. District and tehsil borders have changed since 1941.

### Languages

[edit]

Languages of Tank district (2023)[12]

1. Pashto (83.3%)
2. Saraiki (16.3%)
3. Others (0.38%)

At the time of the 2023 census, 83.32% of the population spoke Pashto and 16.30% Saraiki as their first language.[12]

People make their livelihood by farming, falcon catching, migration for employment to the Persian Gulf, or through businesses in Tank.[citation needed]

"Jirga" means council. These are the religious circles and a group of people that decide the fate of the dwellers and rule the people by their sets of laws and principles.

## Tourism

[edit]

### Shrines

[edit]

The Shrine of Pir Sabir Shah Baba is one of the most visited places in the city.[citation needed] A number of devotees from the city and adjacent districts including Bannu, Lakki and Dera Ismail Khan visit this shrine. The three-day Urs of Pir Sabir Shah Baba is annually organized from June 2 to June 5. Earlier, the Urs was considered to be one of the big festivals of the city and a large number of people attended the Urs.[citation needed] The Shrine Custodian still distribute foods among people visiting the shrine and Halwa (a traditional sweet) is usually given on every Wednesday. Second popular shrine in the Tank region is the Mama Pir Ziarat which is located near Umar Adda and a number of devotees visit the shrine of Mama Pir. The Urs of Mama Pir is also organized annually.

### Nawab Qilla

[edit]

Nawab Qilla is a mud fort built most probably by Nawab Katal Khan with views over an area of more than two hundred Kanals of land.[citation needed] The Qilla is situated at one corner of the Tank city and that is the imaginary line-dividing Tank into upper and lower part.[citation needed] The mud walls are several feet high approximately equal to a modern-day three-story building. Huge trunks of trees can be seen poking out from the walls of Qilla. These were used to give strength and stability to the mud walls. There were four huge burgs at each corner of the Qilla with several intervening pickets at regular distance all around. The four main burgs were used as an entrance for armed men who could move around and reach guard posts from within the Qilla without being seen from outside. The Qilla had three gigantic gates. The diameter or thickness of the wall from the top was initially equal to so that a Tanga (Horse Cart) could easily move over it. The residence of the Nawab Sahib was in the center of Qilla.

### Nawab of Tank Garden

[edit]

The Nawab Bagh was situated at the back of Nawab Qilla, spread over an area of more than five hundred Kanals of land. This bagh was well looked after before, during Nawab Qasim Khan time and perhaps in the early days of Qutbuddin Khan. Nawab Qutbuddin Khan had kept large herd of buffalos, cows and it was not unusual to see a herd of two hundred or more buffalos, cows moving toward Nawab Qilla every day. Nawab Bagh as said before even in the sixties was deserted, has now completely disappeared as the land was sold by Qutbuddin s’ sons and a housing colony named Qutub colony has been constructed over its place right up to city police station and Pir Sabir Shah mausoleum.

## See also

[edit]

* Federally Administered Tribal Areas
* Kakka Khel
* Khwajikhel
* Kot Allah Dad
* Districts of Pakistan
* Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
* Districts of Punjab, Pakistan
* Districts of Balochistan, Pakistan
* Districts of Sindh, Pakistan
* Districts of Azad Kashmir
* Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan
* Divisions of Pakistan
* Divisions of Balochistan
* Divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
* Divisions of Punjab, Pakistan
* Divisions of Sindh
* Divisions of Azad Kashmir
* Divisions of Gilgit-Baltistan

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 1" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
2. ^ "Literacy rate, enrolments, and out-of-school population by sex and rural/urban, CENSUS-2023, KPK" (PDF).
3. ^ 1998 District Census report of Tank. Census publication. Vol. 84\. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
4. ^ Tank: Crossroad to the Frontier Tribes
5. ^ "Constituencies and MPAs". Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa website. Archived from the original on 27 March 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
6. ^ "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, KPK" (PDF).
7. ^ "LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023, KPK" (PDF).
8. ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan website.
9. ^ "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME X NORTH-WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE". Retrieved 14 October 2021.
10. ^ "Pakistan Census 2017 District-Wise Tables: Charsadda". Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
11. ^ "Pakistan Census 2023" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
12. ^ a b "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 11" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tonk" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 10.

1. ^ Different from official population figure since it excludes sensitive areas where religion was not asked

## External links

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Provincial capital: Peshawar

Bannu|

* Bannu
* Lakki Marwat
* North Waziristan

Dera Ismail Khan|

* Dera Ismail Khan
* Tank
* Lower South Waziristan
* Upper South Waziristan

Hazara|

* Abbottabad
* Allai
* Battagram
* Haripur
* Kolai-Palas
* Upper Kohistan
* Lower Kohistan
* Mansehra
* Torghar

Kohat|

* Hangu
* Karak
* Kohat
* Kurram
* Orakzai

Malakand|

* Bajaur
* Buner
* Central Dir
* Lower Chitral
* Lower Dir
* Malakand
* Shangla
* Swat
* Upper Dir
* Upper Chitral

Mardan|

* Mardan
* Swabi

Peshawar|

* Charsadda
* Nowshera
* Peshawar
* Khyber
* Mohmand

Former|

* Chitral
* South Waziristan

* v
* t
* e

Administrative divisions of Tank District

Capital|

Tank

Tehsils|

* Tank

Union councils|

* Mulazai
* Ama Khel
* Pai
* Gul Imam
* Raniwal
* Shah Alam, Tank
* Tank City-I
* Tank City-II
* Jatataar
* Ghara Balooch
* Warspoon
* Tatta
* Dabara
* Uttar
* Gomal
* Sarangzuna

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States
* Israel

32°07′48″N 70°13′48″E﻿ / ﻿32.1300°N 70.2300°E﻿ / 32.1300; 70.2300
*[Pop.]: Population
*[±% p.a.]: Per annum growth rate
*[%]: percentage
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template