Bara Bandai


Bara Bandai is a village in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, known as an area crossed by Alexander The Great during his invasion of the subcontinent.
The people of village Bara Bandai belong to subsection Naikpikhel of Yusufzai the biggest and largest tribe of Pashtun or Pakhtun tribes. It is one of the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The village contains a small series of mountains and a forest, residential area starting from meadows of mountainsand merge with river swat on right bank, a village market, vast land for crops, number of canals, and a part of the Swat river. Mountains of the village include Usmani Sar, Kafar Ghat and Najia Top.

Etymology

The village was named by Yusufzai Pakhtuns after capturing it. The name Bara means "Upper" and Bandai means "Meadow", hence was named Bara Bandai due to its locality. On the West side of Bara Bandai is the neighbouring village Kuza Bandai which means The Lower Meadow. The names were basically given by their greenery, comparing the distances of both villages from Mingora the main city of Swat Valley, and by comparing their distances from the upper hilly areas of Swat such as Kalam and Bahrain. The ancient names of these villages are not known as they are just mentioned by locations in old times books and scripts.

Location

Bara Bandai is about 8 Kilometers away from Mingawara or Mingoara, the main city of Swat Valley and 10 Kilometers from Saidu Sharif
the Capital of the Yousufzai State of Swat. Situated on the left bank of Suvastu or The River Swat and is important and one of the large village of Nikpikhel. Nikpikhel is a sub tribe of Akozai and Khudizai Yousufzai and their area stretches in North to Godamanai bordering directly with Dir district, Ningolai is on the East, Dadahara and Shamozai on the West. On the South side of Nikpikhel is The River Swat.
Bara Bandai is about 80 Kilometers from Kalam, the famous tourist spot of North Pakistan. Bara Bandai comes under the PK-8 constituency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly and NA-4 constituency of National Assembly of Pakistan.

postal code

19201

Division

The village residential areas are divided into sub units called as Chams or Mohallah. Some of the major sub units are.
the village is in uc bara bandai, tehsil kabal, district swat. It is further divided into two subunits Bara Bandai & Bara Bandai. Under local body election 2015 the administration came into power is Falak naz khan & Riaz Ahmed.

Photos

Population

Total population of village Bara Bandai is 19374.Which makes it one of the largest villages in the Swat valley. There are number of sub-tribes of Yusufzais living in the village. Some names of the tribes are,
,
Mandanr,
alikhan khel, adam khel, and some of occupational and religious tribes.

Education

The village consist of 1 high, 3 govt boys primary schools and 1 middle govt school for girls along with a number of schools in private sector.

Health

Bara Bandai has its own Basic Health Unit, many clinical laboratories and number of clinics in private sector which provide health facilities to the residents.

Climate

The weather of the village is cold in the winter season and moderate during summer. Snowfall in winter intensify its beauty.

Agriculture

The village climate made it favorable for many crops and fruits. The village not only fulfill their own need but also supply its product to other areas. Among these onion and peach are commonly produce.

Notable figures

Aimal khan
Shaykh Abu Eesa Niamatullah