Sherani District

Sherani or Shirani () is an entirely rural subdistrict in the Zhob division of the Balochistan province of Pakistan, with a population of 153,116 as of the 2017 census. There are six villages of note: Ahmadi Dirga (Ahmedi Derga), Karama, Zarkai Landawar, Shinghar, Tsappar Kili, and Manikhawa (Mani Kwa). The subdistrict lies within the Sulaiman mountain range, and its highest point is Takht-e-Sulaiman. Zhob is the parent district of Sherani District. Prior to 2006, Sherani was a subdivision (subdistrict) of Zhob. Sherani District was created on 3 January 2006, following the bifurcation of Zhob District. The earlier history of the District is enshrouded in obscurity like that of the rest of Balochistan. At the beginning of the seventh century a Chinese pilgrim who visited India, Xuanzang, made the first mention of Zhob, describing it as the abode of Pashtuns. In 1398 Pir Muhammad bin Jahangir Mirza, grandson and appointed successor of Timurlane, led an expedition against the Pashtuns of the Suleiman Mountains. Both Nader Shah (reigned 1736–47) and Ahmed Shah Abdali (reigned 1747–73) extended their power through Balochistan and thence to Zhob and Sherani, so this area remained under the more or less nominal suzerainty of the Durranis and Barakzai. Sherani was a quasi-independent and quite refractory tribe until brought under British control in the winter of 1890 following the Khiderzai expedition. The Bargha lands (highlands) were formerly held by the Hazaras, who deserted the country and migrated to Rozgan (Urazgan) in the north. The hypotheses based on traditional knowledge, substantiated by the Gazetteer, assert that around the 17th century the Bargha lands were left waste from fear of the Wazirs, and the Sheranis were engaged in constant and protracted wars with the Baitanis. In those very early days the Bargha land had gained notoriety as a bandit-infested locality. Pillage and murder were endemic in the area. The leader of the Sheranis met a Syed boy of saintly countenance who had migrated from Pishin, and sought his supernatural help.