Mianwali
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| Mianwali مِيانوالى |
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 Mianwali
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| Coordinates: 32°35′07″N 71°32′37″E / 32.585411°N 71.543617°ECoordinates: 32°35′07″N 71°32′37″E / 32.585411°N 71.543617°E | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province | Punjab |
| District | Mianwali District |
| Government | |
| • Nazim | Humair Hayat Khan Rokhri |
| Elevation | 210 m (690 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 110,359 (2,009 estimated) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+5) |
| Calling code | (+92)0459 |
| Punjab Government Website | |
Mianwali (Urdu: مِيانوالى) is the capital city of Mianwali District, Pakistan. It is situated in the north-west of Punjab province on the eastern bank of the Indus River. Thal canal traverses the city and makes the surroundings a picturesque place. In the 1998 census of Pakistan, the city had a population of 85,000.[citation needed]
In November 1901, present day tehsils of Mianwali, Isa Khel and Piplan were separated from Bannu District and Districts Bhakkar and Layyah from Dera Ismail Khan District and clubbed together to form a new district named as Mianwali with its headquarters in Mianwali city. The municipal committee was founded in December 1903 and has remained operational since then.
Infrastructure
The city has a FM Radio Station (FM 93), municipal library now called Professor Muhammad Feroz Shah Library, sports complex, and hockey stadium. There are several educational institutions from elementary to post-graduate level. Mianwali is also home to Namal College, a University of Bradford accredited institute providing quality higher education to underprivileged youth.
The city has an airport built near the old World War II aerodrome and known as PAF Base Mianwali. It is one of the major operational and training air bases of the country. The No.1 Fighter Conversion Unit of the PAF is stationed here.
There is also a railway connecting the city with Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi.
The main highways connecting the city to the other parts of the country include the Sargodha–Lahore road [N–60], MM Road (Mianwali–Muzaffargarh road), Talagang–Rawalpindi road, and the Kalabagh–Bannu road [N–60].
Rc news Mianwali is the local online newspapers. HTTP://www.rcmianwali.com/newspaper
History
Before the British rule, the area formed an integral portion of the Graeco-Bactrian Empire of Kabul and the Punjab.[1] During British rule, the Indian empire was subdivided into provinces, divisions and districts; afterward, the independence of Pakistan divisions remained the third tier of government until 2000. The British had made the town of Mianwali as tehsil headquarters of Bannu District then part of Dera Ismail Khan Division of Punjab province. The population of Mianwali, according to the 1901 census of India, was 3,591.[2]
In November 1901, the North-West Frontier Province was carved out of Punjab and the tehsils of Mianwali and Isa Khel, and were separated from Bannu District (Bannu became part of NWFP) and hence a new district was made with the headquarters in Mianwali city and placed in Punjab. The district became a part of Rawalpindi Division. There were four tehsils namely Mianwali, Isa Khel, Bhakkar, and Layyah. Layyah was included in the Muzaffargarh District in 1909. The district became a part of Sargodha Division in 1961. Bhakkar Tehsil was separated from Mianwali District and was made a separate district inside Sargodha Division w.e.f. 01-07-1982.
Namal College Mianwali
In 2008, the legendary sportsman, humanist and politician Mr. Imran Khan lay the foundations of Namal College near Mianwali. Located in the district of Rikhi on Talagang road, this college is currently offering two four-year degree programs namely B. Sc. (HONS) Computer Sciences and B. Eng. Electrical & Electronics. Although new to the field of technical higher education in Pakistan, the college aims to become at par with the best colleges and universities in the world.
Accreditation from University of Bradford (UoB), UK
Namal College, Mianwali has the honor of being the only college in Pakistan to offer a foreign degree. It is an associate college if University of Bradford and therefore each graduating student receives the same degree that a U.o.B. graduate would receive. While the same degree from the UK could cost the student in Pakistani Rupees around PKR. 10,000,000 the same can be had from Namal College in just PKR. 1,000,000.
Local Partnership with LUMS
The world-renowned university of LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences) is a local partner of Namal College. Many members of LUMS faculty are actively involved in providing consultation and guidance in running the affairs of Namal College and its curriculum.
The Dream of Namal Knowledge City
Namal College Mianwali carries a vision of creating a knowledge city that competes with the world’s best higher education facilities. The knowledge city is expected to be composed of at least 7 different types of schools, including campuses for humanitarian sciences, agricultural engineering, business administration and many more. It is believed that the vision of Namal Knowledge City may be realized by the year 2020.
Another major salient feature of the college’s vision and mission is to provide quality higher education to the underprivileged youth of Pakistan. Its unique merit-and-need based admissions system implies that on an average, 90% of all the students ever enrolled at the college have received substantial financial support till April, 2013. Consequently, this educational institute is very distinguished from most commercial colleges and universities of Pakistan.
Located right next to the beautiful Namal Lake near Talagang Road, the vicinity of this educational institute is a vital part of its overall vision and mission. To quote the founder of the college Mr. Imran Khan, this facility has been built away from metropolitan centers of Pakistan (such as Karachi, Lahore, etc) because the idea is to provide a relaxed and conducive-to-learning atmosphere to the students where research can be conducted with full attention. Campuses should be built away from cities and noise pollution and so is the case with Namal College Mianwali.
Namal College has a student body of about 300 students belonging to 43 districts of Pakistan. There are 9 full-time Ph.D. faculty members employed at the campus, making the student-Ph.D. Faculty member ratio to a noteworthy 33. There are about 242 computers in the four computer labs of the college, thus ensuring that there is almost one computer per student available with a 12-MB internet connection for each student. Other facilities of the campus feature uninterrupted power supply, student on-campus residence and hostel facilities (currently accommodate about 250 male and 20 female students), state of the art engineering labs and a large library with about 2500 different volumes of books.
Namal College Website
The college has its own website whose link is:
This website contains a detailed description of all the courses offered, the faculty as well as the mechanism for donating to Namal College Mianwali.
Contributing to Namal Knowledge City
Contributing to this noble cause is extremely convenient and easy. Recently there was a campaign launched by Namal Education Foundation to revive the popular marketing campaign of Imran’s Tigers. The website also features and online donations menu at the link:
https://www.namal.edu.pk/donate/
This link is an SSL- secure for carrying online transactions.
Imran’s Tigers and Facebook
Imran’s Tigers was a community of very dedicated and young volunteers who in the 1990s helped in making the dream of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre come true. Once again, these group of dedicated individuals have been called to action by Imran Khan to help realize yet another dream of Namal Knowledge City. The community of Imran’s Tigers also has a social media existence. The link to the Facebook community address is:
http://www.facebook.com/OfficialImransTigers
At this community, members play various missions and help further spread the cause of Namal College. They also donate for Namal College through the same app.
Language
As per the 1998 census of Pakistan, the following are the demographics of the Mianwali district, by spoken language:
Though Mianwali is claimed an integral part of Seraiki speaking belt by the Seraiki language activists but Punjabi-Seraiki division seems to hold little influence on common people in this district.According to 1998 census three fourth (74.2 percent) of the population named their spoken language as Punjabi while only 12 per cent answered that they speak Seraiki.[3]
Inhabitants of Mianwali district speak a great variety of Punjabi dialects.
- Jandali/Rohi (Central parts of the district)
- Awankari (Northern parts)
- Shapuri (Easteren parts)
- Thalochi (Southern parts in desert areas)
- Majhi or standard (Sizeable population in cities)
Other Languages include:
- Pashto which is also spoken by sizeable population in the KPK province border areas and in the cities.
- Urdu is mother tongue of few people but being national language is spoken and understood by the sizeable population.
- English is also understood and spoken by few, mainly educated elite.
Tribes
City of Mianwali is a mix community of Niazi, Jat, Awan and Syed tribes.
Further reading
- "Gazetteer of the Mianwali district 1915" by Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore, Pakistan
- "Tareekh-e-Niazi Qabail"
- "Wichara Watan" By Harish Chander Nakra, New Delhi, India
- Henry George Raverty, Notes on Afghanistan and Baluchistan" (Indus Publications, Karachi)
External links
- http://mianwalinews.wordpress.com
- http://www.MianwaliOnline.com
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mianwali". Encyclopædia Britannica 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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