Forum Pakistan

1. A mountain valley in the North West Frontier Province. Its area is 4,400 sq.km., with an average height of 240-450 metres above sea level. The River Kurrarn and its tributaries have braided channels with wide river beds that stay dry most of the year. The soils are predominantly sandy, but along the Kurram the land is covered with silt. The larger part of the territory is occupied by a waste of dry shrub land. Annual precipitation does not exceed 300 mm. Irrigated lands are mainly situated between the Rivers Kurrarn and Tochi and have to be reclaimed every year, over 50 per cent of the land that is cultivated is sown with wheat, though fodder crops are of great importance. Cattle breeding is well developed, as well as the breeding of sheep, camel, and mules.

2. A district in the Division of Dera Ismail Khan of the North West Frontier Province. Situated in the mountain valley of the same name, it is located in the valley of the Kurram River. Its population is 711,000 people (1981).

3. A town and administrative centre of the district of the same name. It is the home of a large-scale wool weaving industry, as well as carpet and rug making. It includes a cantonment. Bannu has been known since ancient times. It is referred to as 'Pona' in

404 AD by a Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien. At that time there was a Buddhist monastery in Bannu housing 3,000 monks. From the middle of the eighteenth century until 1819, it was under the rule of the *Durrani Shahs of the Afghan Empire; then, until 1849, it fell under the *Sikhs. In 1849, Bannu became a part of *British India and was temporarily renamed Edwardesbad. Since August 1947, it has been a part of Pakistan. The town is surrounded by palm trees and mango orchards, and has a crowded market. It is the center of a densely populated well-irrigated and wooded farmland.

4. The town of Bannu is situated in an almost circular basin on the Kurram River, where it leaves the Kohat and Wazir hills, and was originally a trading route between the *Indus Valley and Kabul.