Forum Pakistan

1. A *Pashtun princely state situated in the valley of the Panjkora, and inhabited by the Pashtun tribe of the Yusufzai. 10,400 sq.krn.; with an area of and a population: 767,000. Founded in the late eighteenth century by Qasim Khan, descendant of Akhund Ilyas. In 1895 Muhammad Sharif Khan (1884-1907), ruler of Dir, recognized the suzerainty of Great Britain. In 1897 he received the title of *Nawab for aiding the British authorities in suppressing the uprising of Pashtun tribes on the northwestern frontier of *British India. In the 1930s Dir was the scene of a massive peasant antifeudal movement, which was suppressed with the aid of British troops. On 8 February 1948 Dir became part of Pakistan. In 1955, when the united province of *West Pakistan was established, the state of Dir was abolished and its territory included in the Peshawar Division.

2. A district in the Ma1akand division of the *North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Area 10,400 sq.km., population 767,000 (1981 data).

BIBLIOGRAPHY: I.M. Reisner, 'The Development of Feudalism and the Formation of the State among the Afghans', Moscow, 1954 (in Russian); V.A. Romodin, 'Dir and Swat', in: