Bajaur Agency

Bajaur or Bajur or Bajour (Pashto: باجوړ‎) is an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. Smallest of the agencies in FATA, it has a hilly terrain. According to the 1998 census, the population was 595,227 but other more recent estimates it has grown to 757,000. It borders Afghanistan's Kunar Province with a 52 km border. The headquarters of the agency administration is located in the town of Khaar.

Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani (Tarkalani) Pashtuns, and there are their main sub-tribes in Bajaur: Utman Khel, Tarkalanri, Mamund (Kakazai, Wur and Salarzai) as well as a small population of Safis. The Utman Khel are at the southeast of Bajaur, while Mamund are at the southwest, and the Tarkani are at the north of Bajaur. Its border with Afghanistan's Kunar province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistan and the region.

Geography

Bajour is about 45 miles (72 km) long by 20 miles (32 km) broad, and lies at a high level to the east of the Kunar Valley, from which it is separated by a continuous line of rugged frontier hills, forming a barrier easily passable at one or two points. Across this barrier, the old road from Kabul to Pakistan ran before the Khyber Pass was adopted as the main route.

Bajour (disambiguation)

Bajour may refer to:

Bajour (musical)

Bajour is a musical with a book by Ernest Kinoy and music and lyrics by Walter Marks. The musical is based on the Joseph Mitchell short stories The Gypsy Women and The King of the Gypsies published in The New Yorker. The title is allegedly a Romani word that refers to a con game in which lonely and unhappy women are swindled out of their life savings.

Synopsis

New York University anthropology student Emily Kirsten studies the customs of the Dembeschti tribe of nomadic gypsies for her Ph.D. thesis. This brings her in contact with tribal leader Cockeye Johnny Dembo. He works out of a dilapidated storefront in a Manhattan slum and needs to raise $9,000 to purchase Anyanka from the Moyva King of Newark as a bride for his handsome son Steve. Anyanka is so anxious to seal the deal she offers to stage a bajour to help finance it, and complications ensue when she targets Emily's widowed mother as her victim.

Productions

After tryouts at the Shubert Theatre in Boston, and Philadelphia the Broadway production opened on November 23, 1964 at the Shubert Theatre, and then transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne to complete its 232 performance run. Directed by Lawrence Kasha and choreographed by Peter Gennaro, the cast included Nancy Dussault as Emily, Herschel Bernardi as Johnny, Chita Rivera as Anyanka, Gus Trikonis as Steve, Herbert Edelman as the Moyva King, and Mae Questel as Mrs. Kirsten, with Paul Sorvino, Harry Goz, Michael Bennett, and Leland Palmer among the ensemble.