BANU, a district of British India, under the Lieutenant-Governor of the Panjâb, lies between 33° 15' 30" and 32 10' 30" N. lat, and 72° Γ and 70° 27' E. long. . It is bounded on the N. by the Khatâbi hills, separating it from the district of Kohât, and by a corner of the Rawâl Pindi district; on the E. by the districts of Jhilam and Shâhpur; on the S. by the district of Derâ Ismail Khân; and on the W. by the Waziri hills. Total area, 3148 square miles. Population, 287,547: consisting of Hindus, 26,222, or 9 - 12 per cent.; Mahometans, 260,550, or 90 - 61 per cent.; Sikhs, 493; others, 282; density of population per square mile, 91. The principal tribes inhabiting the district are— (1.) Waziri Pathans, recent immigrants from the hills, for the most part peaceable, and good cultivators; (2.) Banuchis, inhabitants of Banu proper; (3.) Pathàns, criminal and depraved, with all the vices and few of the virtues of their race, but fair cultivators; and ('4.) Murati Pathâns, inhabitants of the Erakhel valley, a fine manly race, truthful and industrious....
The Indus flows through the district from north to south, dividing it into two portions. The other streams are the Kιiram (which falls into the Indus) and its tributary the Gambilâ. The course of the Indus is very capricious, and has a tendency to encroach eastwards During inundations its vast body of waters stretches for many milθβ across the country. Principal crops of Banu district: wheat, barley, gram, and pulses for the spring harvest; millet, Indian corn, sugar-cane, cotton, and oil seeds, for the autumn harvest. Average produce of land per acre in lb :—Rice, 369 lb.; cotton, 100; sugar, 1394; tobacco, 512; wheat, 480; other inferior grains, 640; oil-seeds, 240; fibres, 87. Cultivated area of the district in 1871-72, 450,519 acres; uncultivated and pasture grounds, 414,607; cultivable, 58,562; uncultivable, 1,092,493; total, 1,565,662 acres, or 2446 square miles reported on. Revenue from all sources in 1871-72, £50,218, of which £42,741 was derived from the land. The first regular settlement of the land revenue commenced in 1871-72, and is still (1874) in progress. A police force of 464 men of all grades is maintained, of whom 395 belong to the imperial, 57 to the municipal, and 12 to the primitive police. The district contained 33 schools in 1871-72, attended by 1152 pupils. The principal towns are— Trâkhel,population, 7446; Kalâbâgh, 6419; Edwardesâbad (Banu), 3185; Bhangi-khel, 5339; Nimal, 5010; and Van Bachran, 6178.
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