Badin District

Badin District (Sindhi: ضلعو بدين, Urdu: ضلع بدین‎) a district in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The total area of the district is 6,726 square kilometres,^[1] according to the 1998 census of Pakistan, it had a population of 1,136,636 of which 16.42% were urban.^[2]

Headquartered at the city of Badin the district is situated between 24°-5` to 25°-25` north latitude and 68 21’ to 69 20’ east longitude and is bounded on the north byHyderabad District on the east by Mirpurkhas and Tharparkar districts, on the south the Rann of Kutch, which also forms part of the disputed boundary with India, and on the west it is bounded by Thatta and Hyderabad districts.

Contents

• 1 Administration
• 2 History
• 3 Demographics
• 4 Languages
• 5 Education
• 6 Transportation
  • 6.1 Roads
  • 6.2 Railways
• 7 Communications
• 8 Badin Coal Field
• 9 References
• 10 External links

Administration

The district is administratively subdivided into the following talukas:^[3]

• Badin
• Matli
• Shaheed Fazil Rahu
• Talhar
• Tando Bago

With the introduction of the devolution System the talukas have been sub-divided into the Union Councils numbering 49, Tapas 109 and Dehs 511.

History

Badin was the center of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. Islam came into the region by 711. The areas remained under the control of the caliphate until it came under control of the Ghaznavids. In 1592, Sindh came under the direct rule of the Mughal emperors.^[4]

Demographics

The population of the district is mainly Muslim constituting 79.43 percent of the total population, more in urban at 82.17 percent as compared to 78.89 percent in rural areas. Important Muslim tribes include theHalaypotra and Hingora. However Hindus form an important minority at 19.93 percent in the district with a larger concentration at 20.67 percent in rural areas compared to 16.16 percent in urban areas. Presence of other minorities in the district (Christians at 0.25% and Ahmadis, also known as Qadianis.

Languages

As per National Census 1998 Sindhi in Vicholi and Kutchi dialects is primary language in the district, spoken by 74 percent of the total population in the district predominantly in rural areas. The next prominent languagePunjabi with 17 percent speakers, Urdu (5 percent) and Balochi (2 percent) and Others (2 percent).

Education

University of Sindh realizing the rights of acquiring education by the citizens of far-flung areas, the university established a campus in the region of Badin, called 'Laar'. Laar College, Badin (S.U.L.C) was establishment so to provide the inhabitants particularly girls of Laar region with the higher education at doorstep. Prof. Dr. Kalhoro M. Siddique is the campus-coordinator of the Sindh University Laar Campus Badin.^[5]

University of Sindh has provided all necessary State - of - Art facilities to cater to the needs of the students such as library and computer laboratory with the internet facility; well-qualified faculty has been appointed. The College offers 4- year (8- Semester) bachelor degree programs in Business Administration, Commerce and Computer Science, PGD. Computer Science and B.Ed., M.Ed. & M.A. (Education).^[5]

Transportation

Roads

The district's total road network is 2019 kilometres with the following main roads:^[6]

• Badin to Sajawal
• Badin to Tando Muhammad Khan
• Badin to Hyderabad

Railways

The main line runs from Badin to Hyderabad through the Matli taluka.^[7]

Communications

The district has 55 post offices.^[8] In 2003, telephone connections stood at 4,821.^[9]

Badin Coal Field

Spread at the area of 1,110sq.km, 'Badin Coal Field' reserves around 1.358 billion metric tons of coal