Baffa Town

Baffa is a town and Union Council (an administrative subdivision) of Mansehra District in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan [ [http://www.nrb.gov.pk/lg_election/union.asp?district=73&dn=Mansehra Tehsils & Unions in the District of Mansehra - Government of Pakistan] ] . It is located in Mansehra Tehsil and lies to the north of the district capital Mansehra [ [http://www.unjlc.org/23003/pakistan/maps/catalogue/unjlc_pak_260_a1/download?resolution=high EARTHQUAKE AFFECTED AREA OVERVIEW - United Nations Joint Logistics Centre] ] .

History

British rule

"Baffa Town" was given the status of Town back in 1876,making it one of the first town of NWFP Province.This shows the importance of this Town for the former rulers.The population in 1901 was 7,029, it was principal mart of Northern Hazara and of the neighbouring independent tracts. The municipality was created in 1873. The income during the ten years ending 1902-3 averagedRs. 4,500, and the expenditure Rs. 4,600. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 5,300, chiefly derived from octroi and the expenditure was Rs. 4,700. A vernacular middle school was maintained by the municipality and the District board [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V06_187.gifImperial Gazetteer of India, v. 6, p. 181.] ] .

Location

Union Council Baffa is situated in the Sirran Valley of Mansehra District, the town is located on the right bank of the Siran river in the northern corner of the Pakhli plain. It is 13 kilometres away from the district capital Mansehra in the North West. It is the Headquarters of the historical “Pakkhal Valley”. This valley is the last biggest plain area between Pakistan and China. Beyond Pakkhal Valley is the continuous chain of the world largest mountains the Himalayas. Baffa is situated at the base of the Himalayan mountains. It used to be a big historical Market between Gilgit and Rawalpindi. It take only half an hour from main Manshehra City through the historic Karakaram Road, on the way there is a bridge linking the small town Inayat Abad to Baffa.The Scenery of Baffa Town is very beautiful specially because of the river that passes through it.The view of lush green trees and the Mountains covered with snow give a great look to the town's scenery.

Religion

By religion 100% population Muslims.Nearly all the are of the Sunni sect with exception of a family or two of shia sect.The people of Baffa are mostly religious and give great respect to religious belief.Sahibzada Family is regarded and believed as the "Saints" (Pir).The Late Sahibzada Haji Sahib was the Saint.Who's mausoleum is within the Baffa Town and is Famous by the name "Ziarat".There are about 50 mosques within the Baffa Town boundary,with the biggest being named "Khaer Medaan",this is by nature a vast ground with half of its area boundary walled.The "Namaz e Eiden" (Eid Prayer) is offered here by the majority of the population.

Demography

Tribes

The tribes of the union council are the Swati, Gujjar , Syeds and a few Turks. Swati is the leading and major caste of the U/C Baffa. They own the substantial part of the land. About 97 percent of the total land in U/C Baffa is owned by this caste .Swatis came in this area back in 17th century. Before that this area was ruled by the “Turks” . The last Turk ruler was Sultan Mehmud Khurd.Syed Jalal Baba was his son- in- law.Sultan Memud went to Dehli to see the then Moghal king Aurangzeb.During his absence Syed Jalal Baba invited Sawatis to attack Pakhal sarkar.Swathis were met with tough resistance at Jhanjal fort near Thakot(Battagram) by one of loyal general of Sultan Mehmud, shamsher Khan.But ultimately the fort fell to Sawathis after one and half month.The sons of Sultan Mehmud were minor and their mentor syed Jalal Baba,was already with Sawathis,therefore it was an easy success for invaders. Swatis & Syed's came in this area from Swat. They conquered this area in 1703 under command of Syed Jalal Baba and established state. Turks were then expelled from the area and consequently they migrated to other parts of Hazara. Descendents of these Trkish rulers are living in various parts of Hazara.Prominent among them are the Turks(Rajas) of village Behali, district Mansehra and Manakrai district Haripu(Raja Amanuullah an ex speaker of NWFP assembly belonged to this village). Very few of them sustained their residence in this area which was then under the rule of Syed Jalal Baba son of Hazrat Pir Baba (Tomb in Sawat).Qureshis came from Karbala Iraq.

Education

The overall literacy rate in U/C Baffa satisfactory . Baffa has a lot of good education institutions serving Baffa and surrounding areas. There is 1 Government owned High School for boys and an Inter College for girls,two government owned middle schools.There are privately owned schools for boys and girls as well. There are 9 PhD Scholars in different subjects in Baffa which in fact is a very impressive figure for such a small town. There is a considerable number of people having professional degrees in medicine, engineering, business etc. The Female literacy rate for elder population is not satisfactory in the area,but is very much satisfactory for the young female generation,as parents are now preferring to send their daughters to schools and colleges. Recently a new university named "Hazara University" has been established just few kilometers away from Baffa Town which has motivated a lot of students to continue their studies specially female students who could not go far or live in other cities for higher studies.Mostly educated females of Baffa are engaged in teaching at different government and private schools. The ratio of educated women doing job other than teaching is extremely low.

Languages

All the population of Baffa speak Pashto as their communication language.Urdu,the National Language and Hindhko are also used.

Agriculture

Main agricultural yields include vegetables, wheat, maize, Rice, Sugarcane, and Tobacco. Tobacco produced in Baffa is of superb quality. “Super Virginia” Tobacco produced in the area is considered as the second best quality tobacco in the world. Two multinational Tobacco companies i.e. “Lacson Tobacco Company Limited” and “Pakistan Tobacco Company” are operating in the area. They purchase the locally produced tobacco and export it to Europe and USA where this is used in world’s top cigarettes Brands like Gold leaf, Marlbro, Capston etc. Tobacco farming is very tedious as well as very risky. Farmers may earn big profits or may suffer from a huge loss.Some families do not find it morally good to cultivate Tobacco so they turn to vegetables. Tomatoes, Potatoes and other vegetables are cultivated in large numbers. Unfortunately there are no fruit gardens, as people have not adopted the trend of fruit gardens, even though the climate is very suitable for a lot of fruits.

The climate of U/C Baffa is very suitable for tea farming. Research about tea production in Pakistan was first initiated by a local Farmer of U/C Baffa. There were privately owned tea farms in Baffa even in late 70s. Owner of the world leading tea company “Brook Bond” Mr. David Brooks visited Baffa in early 80s and admire the research work of the local farmer on tea production. Government of Pakistan established Pakistan’s first tea research centre “National Tea Research Institute (NTRI)” in Baffa.

Development

Development works are bit slow since the last two decades for such a big Town, it is has been neglected by the previous governments for development works. This is clear from the fact that Baffa Town being the top quality cultivator of Tobacco does not have high quality tobacco leaf roasting facilities like Natural Gas, the people of Baffa Town are desperately waiting for the supply of natural gas. Electricity projects were started in the mid 50's, Telecom sector of Pakistan "PTCL" started its services in mid 70's. There is one government owned Hospital in Baffa Town .

Public And Private Offices

There are two different banks providing its services namely the National Bank of Pakistan and Habib Bank Limited. There is one Pakistan Post Office,Two Utility Stores.

Sports

A lot of sports are played in Baffa Town, these include football, volleyball, swimming and cricket. Every year a number of tournaments are held in the Boys High school of Baffa.The most popular game is cricket.

Notable People

* Moulana Ghulam Ghous Hazarvi was a former MNA and famous religious scholar.

* Mian Abdul Qayyum was a well known congress leader and politician. He was an ally of Ghaffar Khan and later served as editor of the Aljihad newspaper in early 50s, he died in 2nd may 1972. He was a cousin of Moulana Ghulam Ghous Hazarvi.

* Mr. Abdul Sattar Khan was a former Provisional Minister.He belongs to swati family.He is prominant personality of pakhal.He started his political career from pakistan muslim league Qayyum group. He did many development projects in the regions.Abdul Sattar khan has played great role in the politics of Mansehra.

* Justice (R.) Abdul Hakeem Khan, former Governor of NWFP and former Chief Justice Peshawar High Court.

*Principal Mehboob-ur-Rehaman: An eminent Education Specialist and former district education officer of Mansehra. He died of cardiac arrest on 12-08-2007. He has the honour of being the first principal in B-19 ever in the history of Baffa. His first death anniversary was commemorated on August 12,2008 by offering tributes to his service. He served Education Department for 35 years and earned prestigious rewards for invaluable service record. He had very deep understanding of "Tasawaf".

* Brig. General (R.) Mohammad Iqbal Khan: Internationally known civil engineer, who received the Sitara-I-Imtiaz for the successful completion of the Shah Faisal Mosque whilst he was Managing Director of the National Construction Company; Brig. Iqbal was also manager of the Pakistan Atomic Energy program for developing, mining and enrichment of the radioactive materials in the NWFP.

* Rustam Khan Advocate, involved in pioneering research in the tea production in Pakistan. He got the award for “progressive farmer of Pakistan” in 1997 from Prime Minister of Pakistan.

ee also

*Bajna
*Dhodial
*Kaghan
*Khawari
*Khaki
*Saiful Muluk
*Shinkiari
*Balakot

References