# Kohat District

Kohat District (Pashto: کوهاټ ولسوالۍ, Urdu: ضلع کوہاٹ) is a district in the Kohat Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Kohat city is its district capital.

## History
### Mughal era

From the early sixteenth century, the history of Kohat revolves around three major tribes namely Bangash, Banoori, and Afridi. These people seemingly established their settlements within the district during the 14th and 15th centuries. From 16th to 18th centuries, Kohat being the part of Mughal Empire was administered by the chiefs of the two aforementioned tribes.

### British

Kohat district was annexed by the British from its former Sikh rulers after the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–1849.

## Demography

As of the 2023 census, Kohat district has 169,679 households and a population of 1,234,661. The district has a sex ratio of 104.05 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 58.55%: 76.38% for males and 40.28% for females. 334,178 (27.07% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 278,741 (22.58%) live in urban areas.
* Pashto 85.9 (85.9%)
* Hindko 12.43 (12.4%)
* Others 1.67 (1.67%)
At the time of the 2023 census, 85.90% of the population spoke Pashto, 12.43% Hindko, and 0.83% Urdu as their first language.

### Religion

Religions in Kohat district (2023) :
| Religion | Religion | Percent | Percent |
| Islam | Islam | 99.49% | 99.49% |
| Christianity | Christianity | 0.44% | 0.44% |
| Other or not stated | Other or not stated | 0.07% | 0.07% |
| Religion | 1941$^{:22}$ | 1941$^{:22}$ | 2017 | 2017 | 2023 | 2023 |
| Religion | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 100,868 | 88.01% | 1,106,709 | 99.59% | 1,228,271 | 99.49% |
| Hinduism | 9,156 | 7.99% | 1,004 | 0.09% | 609 | 0.05% |
| Sikhism | 3,613 | 3.15% | 71 | 0.01% | 106 | 0.01% |
| Christianity | 596 | 0.52% | 3,190 | 0.29% | 5,464 | 0.44% |
| Others | 383 | 0.33% | 292 | 0.02% | 129 | 0.01% |
| Total Population | 114,616 | 100% | 1,111,266 | 100% | 1,234,579 | 100% |
Religious groups in Kohat District (British North-West Frontier Province era) :
| Religious group | 1881 | 1881 | 1891 | 1891 | 1901 | 1901 | 1911 | 1911 | 1921 | 1921 | 1931 | 1931 | 1941 | 1941 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 169,219 | 93.21% | 187,661 | 92.36% | 199,722 | 91.67% | 208,868 | 93.79% | 197,496 | 92.23% | 218,445 | 92.45% | 266,224 | 91.99% |
| Hinduism | 9,828 | 5.41% | 10,791 | 5.31% | 14,480 | 6.65% | 10,848 | 4.87% | 12,879 | 6.01% | 13,393 | 5.67% | 17,527 | 6.06% |
| Sikhism | 2,240 | 1.23% | 4,474 | 2.2% | 3,344 | 1.53% | 2,739 | 1.23% | 2,674 | 1.25% | 3,249 | 1.38% | 4,349 | 1.5% |
| Christianity | 212 | 0.12% | 197 | 0.1% | 317 | 0.15% | 222 | 0.1% | 1,074 | 0.5% | 1,186 | 0.5% | 1,304 | 0.45% |
| Jainism | 41 | 0.02% | 50 | 0.02% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Zoroastrianism | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Buddhism | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Judaism | — | — | 0 | 0% | 2 | 0% | 13 | 0.01% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Others | 0 | 0% | 2 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Total population | 181,540 | 100% | 203,175 | 100% | 217,865 | 100% | 222,690 | 100% | 214,123 | 100% | 236,273 | 100% | 289,404 | 100% |
| Note: British North-West Frontier Province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. |||||||||||||||

## Administration

Kohat district is divided into four Tehsils:
* Kohat (Urdu: تحصیل کوہاٹ)(Pashto: کوهاټ تحصیل‎)
* Lachi (Urdu: تحصیل لاچی)(Pashto: لاچي تحصیل‎)
* Gumbat (Urdu: تحصیل گمبٹ)(Pashto: ګمبټ تحصیل‎)
* Dara Adam Khel Tehsil (Urdu: تحصیل درہ آدم خیل)(Pashto: دره ادم خېل تحصیل‎)
** formerly Frontier Region Kohat (Urdu: سرحدی علاقہ کوہاٹ)(Pashto: کوهاټ سرحدي سیمه‎)

### Provincial Assembly

| Member of Provincial Assembly | Party Affiliation | Constituency | Year |
| Amjad Khan Afridi | Independent | PK-80 Kohat-I | 2018 |
| Shah Dad Khan | Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal | PK-81 Kohat-II | 2018 |
| Zia Ullah Khan Bangash | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | PK-82 Kohat-III | 2018 |