DIR

town and district of Malakand division, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. The town, the district headquarters, lies just north of the Dir River, an affluent of the Panjkora, and is connected by road with Malakand, 70 mi (110 km) south. Mulla Ilyas, a 17th-century holy man, is said to have been the founder. Cottage industry includes the making of clothing and footwear. There is also a wood-processing plant. The district, a former princely state of the Akhund Khel royal house, occupies an area of 2,039 sq mi (5,281 sq km), drained by the Panjkora and its affluents. The upper portion of the Panjkora Valley as far as its confluence with the Dir River is called Panjkora Kohistan. The Dir Valley is also known as Kashkar. The population is mainly confined to the Panjkora and its fertile lateral valleys, which produce abundant fruit. Forests on the mountain slopes yield timber, the main source of income. Yusufzay Pashtun are the predominant ethnic group. Pop. (1972) city, 3,540; (1981 prelim.) district, 769,000.