Daraban

Daraban Kalan is a Tehsil in Dera Ismail Khan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is located at 31°44'3N 70°20'11E and has an altitude of 221 metres (728 feet). Daraban Kalan, pronounced “Draban “ is to be distinguished from Daraban Khurd, a village lying to the east of Dera Ismail Khan city. Draban lies 40 miles west of Dera Ismail khan in the foothills of Sulaiman Mountains .

Etymology

There are various theories as to the origin of the word Daraban. The word “Daraban”, according to some accounts actually came from term ”Durruh-Bund” which means the closed pass. Centuries back the people who settled down in present-day Draban aimed to close the pass which connected Draban with Sherani hills. Sherani hill tribe in those days was in habit of pillaging villages in Damaan below their hills. The term" Durruh_Bund” in due course of time became the name of the village of people living in present-day Draban. ”Durruh-Bund” got shortened as Daraban and now in further reduced form the word is pronounced as Draban. According to another popular narrative the words Daraban and Darazinda, the chief town of F.R Sherani originate in similar sound, are Persian in origin and can be traced back to Dara Shikoh, a son of Mughal king Shajahan. Daraban as per this account gets translated as Dara’s forest, here came to hunt wild animals, while Darazianda was his zindan, or prison, there he kept his prisoners. The former account as to the origin of the name of the town seems more plausible and is very much attested by the history of enmity and hostility between Sherani tribe and Miankhel Pashtoon possessors of Draban.