History of Bannnu

Bannu was a town and a district of British India, in the Derajat Division of the North-West Frontier Province. The population here according to the 1901 census of India was 14,291. It formed the base for all punitive expeditions by troops of the British empire to the Tochi Valley and the Waziristan Frontier. A military road led from Bannu town towards Dera Ismail Khan. This was built by Military Engineering Services under the supervision of a Bannu Engineer Ram N. Mullick who graduated from Banaras Engineering College. Mr.Mullick served in Iraq and Lahore before partition as an expert in heavy earth moving machinery. He moved to New Delhi after partition of India.

According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India:

"The population in 1901 was 14,291, including cantonment and civil lines (4,349). It was founded in 1848 by Lieutenant (afterwards Sir Herbert) Edwardes, who selected the site for political reasons. The fort, erected at the same time, bore the name of Dhulipgarh (Dalipgarh), in honour of the Maharaja of Lahore; and the bazar was also known as Dhulipnagar (Dalipnagar). A town gradually grew up around the bazar, and many Hindu traders removed hither from Bazar Ahmad Khan, which had formed the commercial centre of the Bannu valley prior to annexation. The Church Missionary Society supports a small church and a high school founded in 1865. The cantonment centres in the fort of Dhulipgarh. Its garrison consists of a mountain battery, a regiment of native cavalry, and two regiments of infantry. The municipality was constituted in 1867. The municipal receipts and expenditure during the ten years ending 1903-4 averaged Rs. 46,000. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 47,000, chiefly derived from octroi; and the expenditure was Rs. 55,000. The receipts and expenditure of cantonment funds during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 4,200 and Rs. 3,700. The profuse irrigation and insufficient drainage of the surrounding fields render Bannu an unhealthy station. The town has a considerable trade, embracing the whole traffic in local produce of the Bannu valley. The nearest railway station is at Kohat on the Khushalgarh branch of the North-Western Railway, 79 miles distant by road. A weekly fair collects an average number of 8,000 buyers and sellers. The chief articles of trade are cloth, live-stock, wool, cotton, tobacco, and grain. Bannu possesses a dispensary and two high schools, a public library, and a town hall known as the Nicholson Memorial."