Knives, the cause of popularity

The local industry of Dir Knives goes downward. Dir Upper a far district of Khyber Pakhtukhwa adjacent to Afghan border is famous for the locally handmade knives. Majority of the local people gifted the traditional souvenir to their friends until now. Across the province Dir Upper is known for their good looking locally made knives. The reasons behind this popularity are the beauty and low prices of the knives. Knives manufacturing adopt an industrial shape which was mostly situated at homes of manufacturers. But today the conditions are no favorable as the one manufacturer Laiq said, the load shedding, low voltage of electricity, Law and order situation and lack of governmental interest destabilize our earning.

The knives are made up of raw material which are purchased from China now while firstly will be brought from different area of Punjab. Local craftsman Amjad also added that due to ongoing operation against militancy visitors were reluctant to visit Dir Upper but we are hoping for the good days as the situation is healing with time.

When we asked about the price of  knives ,the answer was shock able as in the current day the price for a normal use knives was between 100 to 150.The handler of some knives are very decorated in a various manners which show the expertise of local manufactures

The local elders said that the creation of this industry took place in the era of Dir State, which was further merged into Pakistan in 1962. According to verbal history of local masses the factory was established by Nawab Sahah Jehan the King of Dir for their official arms production.

The craftsmen telling with confident that if govt. gives them support they are able to prepare the knives for export because some types of knives are also decorated in such a manner that they are used like antique or souvenirs.

The most important point as that the local craftsmen are also use to make pistol but all are still only manufacturing knives as a fun which show that the masses of Dir are peace and culture loving.

Written by Ikram Ullah Arif