Nagotal
Nagotal is a village in Lower Dir District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
![](../I/m/Nagotal_MALAK_HOME.jpg)
Residents
The village is inhabited by the Sherry Kheil (family group) and the Dawlaat Khan Kheil (the sub clan of the Ismailzai Tarkanri/Tarlalani Surbanri Pukhtoon tribe).
Malak Abdul Wahid Khan (a.k.a. Nagotal Malak) was a political and public figure of Nagotal. A man of "courage and bravery", he fought against the tyranny of Nawab of Dir (the then leader of Dir) and tried to get the Nawab to allow Dir to join Pakistan, which was being formed at the time. This was the same cause for which his father Malak Abdul Ghafar Khan was martyred. Khan was imprisoned and was forced to hard labour and exile, but didn't give up the idea for the freedom of the "Maiden valley" (his hometown, within Dir) and Dir in general. He spent his days in exile and arranged protests to get attention of the government. These efforts eventually succeeded, and Gen. Ayub Khan made Dir part of Pakistan.
Geography
The village is surrounded by green mountains, and Nagotal has rich water resources.
"Maiden valley" is a populated valley that is located in the village.
It receives over 1000 mm of rain annually and has an elevation of between 4,000 and 10,000ft. Much of it is still forested: deodar and other conifer are dominant at the higher altitudes, and deciduous species including oak, wild olive and walnut proliferate at the lower altitudes. Lower down, increasing population pressure and the insatiable demand for firewood has reduced tree cover drastically.