Pishin (Pashto: پښين; IPA: pʂin/pçin) is a district in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Pishin District is located at 45 km² from the provincial headquarters, Quetta. In 1975, it was bifurcated from Quetta District, while in 1993 part of it was split off to form the new district of Killa Abdullah.
Again in 2022, part of it created the new district of Karezat. Myth attributes the origin of the Persian designation to a son of the mythical Emperor Afrasiab. The population of Pishin District was 300,000 in 2005.
Administration Pishin District is subdivided into five tehsils or sub-districts:
TehsilArea (km²)Pop. (2023)Density (ppl/km²)
(2023)Literacy rate (2023)Union CouncilsBarshore Tehsil2,288141,99462.0647.61%...Hurramzai Tehsil418147,844353.6939.67%...Pishin Tehsil1,199325,641271.5952.50%...Saranan Tehsil8365,157785.0248.33%...Bostan Tehsil18649,721267.3245.19%...
Demographics
As of the 2023 census, Pishin district has 147,185 households and a population of 835,482. The district has a sex ratio of 104.34 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 51.07%: 65.85% for males and 36.05% for females. 318,031 (38.07% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 243,785 (29.18%) live in urban areas. 2,441 (0.29% of the surveyed population) are religious minorities, mainly Christians. Pashto is the predominant language, spoken by 99.07% of the population.
Pishin's main ethnic groups are Pashtuns who belong to the Tareen, Sayed, Kakar, and Achakzai tribes. However, the Tareen tribe is known to be the ruling one among them. + Religious groups in Pishin City (1941 & 2017)Religiousgroup19412017 Islam 1,245 35,067 Hinduism 447 233 Sikhism 183 Christianity 15 473 Ahmadiyya 4 Total population 1,890 35,547
+ Religious groups in Quetta–Pishin District (British Baluchistan era)Religiousgroup19011911192119311941 Islam 96,600 106,702 103,456 107,945 113,288 Hinduism 11,752 13,746 22,300 26,718 28,629 Christianity 3,743 4,564 6,139 7,370 5,441 Sikhism 1,798 2,430 4,848 5,255 8,787 Zoroastrianism 151 137 151 161 73 Judaism 43 47 16 15 11 Jainism 0 9 8 32 7 Buddhism 12 159 40 42 Tribal 0 0 Others 0 1 5 5 11 Total population 114,087 127,648 137,082 147,541 156,289
Agriculture and farming The main crops in the area are wheat, barley, corn (maize), potatoes, grapes, apple, pomegranate, almond, apricot, plum and peach which are grown in the valleys. Sheep and goats are also herded.
Notable people Qazi Muhammad Essa, Senior Leader of the Pakistan Movement and a close associate of Quaid-e-Azam Jennifer Musa, Politician and Social worker Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Diplomat, former Pakistani Ambassador to United States Qazi Faez Isa, Chief Justice Pakistan Supreme Court
See also Khanozai Barshore Killa Abdullah Districts of Pakistan Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Districts of Punjab, Pakistan Districts of Balochistan, Pakistan Districts of Sindh, Pakistan Districts of Azad Kashmir Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan
References
Bibliography
External links
Pishin District at www.balochistan.gov.pk Pishin District at www.balochistanpolice.gov.pk District Development Profile 2011