Geography Of Mardan

Name, Location, Boundary and Area

In the beginning, the name Mardan was given to a small area after the name of Pir Mardan Shah, a prominent religious figure. Gradually, a large surrounding area came to be known as Mardan. The area constituting Mardan district is part of Peshawar valley, which first appears in history as part of Gandhara Kingdom. Until 1937, Mardan district was a part of Peshawar district. In 1937, Mardan was set up as an independent district after the name of its headquarters town.

The district lies from 34° 05’ to 34° 32’ north latitudes and 71" 48’ to 72° 25’ east longitudes. It is bounded on the north by Buner district and Malakand protected area, on the east by Swabi and Buner districts, on the south by Nowshera district and on the west by Charsadda district and Malakand protected area. The total area of the district is 1632 square kilometers.

Physical Features/Topography

Mardan district may broadly be divided into two parts, north eastern hilly area and south western plain. The entire northern side of the district is bounded by the hills. In the district, the highest points in these hills are Pajja or Sakra, 2056 meters high and Garo or Pato, 1816 meters high. The south western half of the district is mostly composed of fertile plain with low hills strewn across it. It is generally accepted that this plain once formed the bed of a lake which was gradually filled up by the load of the river flowing into from the surrounding hills. From the foot hills the plain runs down at first with a steep slope which carried the rain water to the lower levels and ultimately to the Kabul river.

Rivers And Streams

Generally stream flows from north to the south. Most of the streams drain into Kabul river. Kalpani, an important stream of the district rises in the Baizai and flowing southwards join Kabul river. Other important streams which join Kalpani are Baghiari Khawar on the west and Muqam Khawar, coming from Sudham valley and Naranji Khawar from the Narangi hills on the left.

Climate

The summer season is extremely hot. A steep rise of temperature observed from May to June. Even July, August and September record quite high temperatures. During May and June dust storms are frequent at night. The temperature reaches to its` maximum in the month of June i.e. 41.50"C. Due to intensive cultivation and artificial irrigation the tract is humid and heat is oppressive. However, a rapid fat! of temperature has been recorded from October onwards. The coldest months are December and January. The mean minimum temperature recorded for the month of January the coldest month is 2.09° C.

Climatic data are not available. However, climatic conditions of Mardan district have been interpreted in the light of the data recorded at Risalpur station which is nearest to the Mardan district and have more or less similar topographic condition. Detail data an temperature and precipitation recorded at Risalpur is given below:

MAME OF DISTRICT: MARDAN STATION: RISALPUR

       Source: Normal for the period 1961-1990, Data Processing Centre, Pakistan Meteorological department, Karachi.

Flora

The present flora of the irrigated areas is exotic. The common trees are mesquite, ber, different species of acacia and jand. The most common shrubs are tarmariax, articulata, spands, akk, small red poppy, spera, pueghambrigul, drab grass, spera, eamelthorl and pohli chaulai etc.

Fauna

The district has a variety of fauna comprising the following:.

1. Leopard

2. Leopard Cat

3. Black Bear.

4. Brown Monkey.

5. Jackal.

6. Wild Goat.

7. Pheasant.