Lower Dir District

Lower Dir is one of the 26 districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Timergara city is the district headquarters and largest city.At the time of independence, Dir was a state ruled by Nawab Shah Jehan Khan. It was merged in Pakistan in 1969 and later on declared a district in 1970. The district was formed in 1996, when the district of Dir was divided into Upper Dir and Lower Dir. The District borders with Swat District on its East, Afghanistan on its West, Upper Dir and Chitral on its North & north-west respectively and Malakand and Bajaur Agency on its South.HistoryThe history of Dir dates back to at least the 2"d millennium BC, testified by the excavations from 18th to 6th century BC of numerous burials of Aryans at Timergara and other places. The Aryans followed by the Achaemenians, were ousted by the invasion of Alexander in 327 BC. The area witnessed the Gandharan Civilization after the Greeks. This period is signified by the presence of the Buddhist stupas and monasteries.Pilgrims and historians have defined Gandhara, as "the area to the west of Indus and north of Kabul rivers which included the valleys of Peshawar, Swat, Dir and Bajaur, extending westwards to Hadda and Bamiyan in Afghanistan and Taxila Valley in Punjab in the east". Dir therefore offers unique collection of Gandharan Art some of which are at Dir Museum in Chakdara.