Maini
Maini is the name of a village and a union council as well as a lush green physiographic valley with natural streams and fertile agricultural land which resides in Topi Tehsil in the eastern part of Swabi District of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. It has a very detailed historic profile, from the early historic age till the Partition of Pakistan. Maini lies at latitude 34°07'07.23" north and longitude 72°36'32.38" east with an elevation of about 383 meters above the sea level. Total area of Maini valley is about 5 kilometres from east to west and 6 kilometres from north to south.
The population of Maini is now exceeding 80,000. It is considered one of the highly educated area of Topi Tehsil, where there are about twenty five Government primary schools, a Government high school for boys, a Government high school for girls, one Government degree college, one private girl's college and more than two dozen of private primary and high schools. These institutions produced highly qualified personals for the country, who are serving the nation in different public sector departments and private sector as well. Most of the population Maini also helps the country in foreign exchange earnings; where they serve the Gulf and European countries in this respect.
On the other side initial health facilities are provided in the Government's Basic Health Unit while one can also find a dozen small private medical units. With these basic and dire needs, Maini also provides good opportunities for the sports facilities. There is an official sports ground, named as Cheeno, in its development the Government is taking keen interest but a case has been filed in the court which made it disputed. Most of the population play cricket, soccer, badminton volleyball and kabaddi, while the local game mukhka/''makha'' is also played only at the arrival of summer.
Geography
Maini is located 17 kilometers east of Swabi city, 5 kilometers north of Topi city and 2 kilometers west of Gadoon Amazai Industrial Zone. The main Swabi-Topi road provides a connection near Kotha village which runs towards north and takes 5 kilometers to arrive at Maini village. This road is also an ancient track which then runs north of Maini, goes through Jhanda village and extends to Buner District. On the three sides Maini is bounded by hills while the southern plain gap provides a flowing route to one hill-torrent, one river and a natural spring that are running through its heart and irrigate the southern fields.Maini resides in the southern foothills of 2225 meters high Mahābaṇ Range of mountains while Ajumair hill lies in its west and the barren Gadoon hills are lying in its east which blocks the water of Tarbela Dam. All these mountains are Piedmont zones and a tentative division between lesser Himalayas and the Hindu-Kush.
Topi lies in its south, Kotha village lies in its proper south, Baja & Bamkhel lies in its southwest, it is bounded by Ajumair hill in the west, Boko & Jhanda lies in its north-northwest, Pabini lies in its north, Malakabad lies in its north-northeast, Beesak lies in its northeast, Gadoon-Amazai Industries lies in its east and the Gadoon Afghan Refugee Camp lies in its southeast.
Subdivisions
Maini village comprises numerous subdivisions locally called tapas or mohallahs. Originally the tapas where formed at the time of Sheikh Mali baba between the year 1500–1550, at the time when the newly acquired lands were distributed among the families. These tapas were as follow:- Sheikh Mali Khel
- Mani Khel
- Said Ali Khel
- Khadhar Khan Khel
- Khadhar Khan Khel
- Niki Khedad
- UR Ibrahim
- Habib Khel
- Arab Zai
- Juna Khel
- Gulbahar 1
- Gulbahar 2
- Redawan
- Qadarmann Zalmi Chowk
- Ismail Abad
Name
As for as the nomenclature of the name Maini is concerned, most of the local elders are of the view that it is a derivative from the name of a certain non-Muslim Queen Mainamati. History mentions Queen Mainamati as the wife of Manikachandra of Candra dynasty who ruled during 10th/11th century A.D in Bengal. Whereas, some of the modern writers are of the view that the term Maini may be taken from the name of a group of passerine birds common Myna or Mynah. However, a thorough research is needed to search the term Maini in Sanskrit and Prakrit languages. Zafar Hayat Khan of the Department of Archaeology, University of Peshawar is taking keen interest and trying his best to solve the issue of the term Maini.Languages, people and religion
Pashto is the main language spoken in a specific dialect. Urdu being National language is also spoken and understood. People mainly belong to the Utman tribe of Mandanr, the specific branch/lineage of Yusufzai clan. Whereas the religious background of the whole population is Sunni Muslim. However, before the partition of Pakistan and India in 1947, Hindu community was living side by side with the Muslim community, who were known as the business class Hindus.Climate
Maini features a semi-arid climate, with very hot summers and cold winters. Winter starts in mid-November and ends in late-March, while summer months are from May to September. The mean maximum summer temperature surpasses during the hottest month, and the mean minimum temperature is. The mean minimum temperature during winter is, while the maximum is.Here the rainfall occurs in both winter and summer because it is a monsoon region which comes under both the Malakand and Hazara zonal rainfall regions. Due to western disturbances, the winter rainfall shows a higher record between the months of February and April.
Wind speeds vary during the year, from in December to in June. The relative humidity varies from 46% in June to 76% in August. The highest temperature of was recorded in June 1995, while the lowest occurred in January 1970.
Natural mounds
Deelor Dherai lies in the north of Maini which separates it from Pabini, whereas it blocks the Kundal River from entering the populated area of Gulbahar. One can approach this mound through Deelor/Kundal route, leads from Gulbahar-1 to Pabini village.Salo Dherai and Shado Dherai lies in the northwest of Maini which can be considered the northern portion of Ajumair hill. These natural mounds are a division between Jhanda and Maini and can be approached from Qasim Abad through the Jhanda road.
Ajumair hill is the highest and largest amongst all the natural mounds which covers the whole western border of Maini. It naturally separates Maini from Baja and Bamkhel village and is accessible through Gulbahar-1, Garhai and Kutkanre through Dundhery and Jabay routes.
Banr Dherai another low mound is located inside Maini but in its southwestern territory. It separates the two Mohallahs of Maini, one Kutkanre being in its north and the other Soganday in its south. It is approachable through the Kutkanre–Baja route and through Soganday.
Rahima Dherai also resides inside the populated area of the village which is located a little east to the Banr Dherai. One can access this low mound through Najeem Jare and through Mohallah Rahima.
Sulai Dherai lies inside the thickly populated area of Maini which is now mostly covered by modern houses. It resides in the south-central part of the village which can be approached from Raidawan, Shalizara and Sulai Mohallahs.
Muradu Dherai is a low mound which is located beside the Cheeno sports ground on the bank of Kundal river which provides a scenic view to the sports lovers. It resides in the southeast of Maini which can be approached through Karpa route and the modern Pehur High Level Canal.
Loye Salay, Boos-Dhery and Tor-Batai are other natural mounds which are located immediately in the eastern populated area and resides Poray Kalay Mohallah in its gulfs. Two of these block the water of Kundal river and separate the eastern agricultural lands of the village from the populated area. These can be approached through Karpa route, Poray Kaly and Tor-batai route.
Ghundhery resides in the center of the village, looks like an ancient stupa, and is a low hill now covered by modern houses on all the sides.
Khazana Dherai and Patya Dherai lies in the north-northeast of Maini which is natural division between Mohallah Patya and Chatya. Khazana Dherai can be considered a natural block to the Kundal River which does not let the water approach Chatya wand. These two mounds are accessible through Chatya route and Patya route.