# Pishin District

Pishin (Pashto: پښين, Urdu: ضلع پشین), IPA: pʂin/pçin, is a district in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. District Pishin is located at a strategic point and is 45km² from the provincial headquarters, Quetta. In 1975, it was bifurcated from Quetta District, while in 1993 part of it was split off to form the new district of Killa Abdullah.
Again in 2022, part of it created the new district of Karezat. The name Pishin is a modernized form of ‘Pushang’, which is how the city was designated in (mainly pre-modern) Persian sources (Arabic sources using 'Fushang'). Myth attributes the origin of the Persian designation to a son of the mythical Emperor Afrasiab. Fushing was the spelling used in the records of Afghan government. The population of Pishin District was 300,000 in 2005.

## Administration

Pishin District is subdivided into five tehsils or sub-districts:
| Tehsil | Area (km²) | Pop. (2023) | Density (ppl/km²) (2023) | Literacy rate (2023) | Union Councils |
| Barshore Tehsil | 2,288 | 141,994 | 62.06 | 47.61% | ... |
| Hurramzai Tehsil | 418 | 147,844 | 353.69 | 39.67% | ... |
| Pishin Tehsil | 1,199 | 325,641 | 271.59 | 52.50% | ... |
| Saranan Tehsil | 83 | 65,157 | 785.02 | 48.33% | ... |
| Bostan Tehsil | 186 | 49,721 | 267.32 | 45.19% | ... |

## Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Pishin district has 147,185 households and a population of 835,482. The district has a sex ratio of 104.34 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 51.07%: 65.85% for males and 36.05% for females. 318,031 (38.07% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 243,785 (29.18%) live in urban areas. 2,441 (0.29% of the surveyed population) are religious minorities, mainly Christians. Pashto is the predominant language, spoken by 99.07% of the population.
Pishin's main ethnic groups are Pashtuns who belong to the Tareen, Syed, Kakar, and Achakzai tribes. However, the Tareen tribe is known to be the ruling one among them.
Religious groups in Pishin City (1941 & 2017) :
| Religious group | 1941$^{:13–14}$ | 1941$^{:13–14}$ | 2017 | 2017 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 1,245 | 65.87% | 35,067 | 98.65% |
| Hinduism | 447 | 23.65% | 3 | 0.01% |
| Sikhism | 183 | 9.68% | — | — |
| Christianity | 15 | 0.79% | 473 | 1.33% |
| Ahmadiyya | — | — | 4 | 0.01% |
| Total population | 1,890 | 100% | 35,547 | 100% |
Religious groups in Quetta–Pishin District (British Baluchistan era) :
| Religious group | 1901 | 1901 | 1911 | 1911 | 1921 | 1921 | 1931 | 1931 | 1941 | 1941 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 96,600 | 84.67% | 106,702 | 83.59% | 103,456 | 75.47% | 107,945 | 73.16% | 113,288 | 72.49% |
| Hinduism | 11,752 | 10.3% | 13,746 | 10.77% | 22,300 | 16.27% | 26,718 | 18.11% | 28,629 | 18.32% |
| Christianity | 3,743 | 3.28% | 4,564 | 3.58% | 6,139 | 4.48% | 7,370 | 5% | 5,441 | 3.48% |
| Sikhism | 1,798 | 1.58% | 2,430 | 1.9% | 4,848 | 3.54% | 5,255 | 3.56% | 8,787 | 5.62% |
| Zoroastrianism | 151 | 0.13% | 137 | 0.11% | 151 | 0.11% | 161 | 0.11% | 73 | 0.05% |
| Judaism | 43 | 0.04% | 47 | 0.04% | 16 | 0.01% | 15 | 0.01% | 11 | 0.01% |
| Jainism | 0 | 0% | 9 | 0.01% | 8 | 0.01% | 32 | 0.02% | 7 | 0% |
| Buddhism | — | — | 12 | 0.01% | 159 | 0.12% | 40 | 0.03% | 42 | 0.03% |
| Tribal | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Others | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0% | 5 | 0% | 5 | 0% | 11 | 0.01% |
| Total population | 114,087 | 100% | 127,648 | 100% | 137,082 | 100% | 147,541 | 100% | 156,289 | 100% |
| Note: British Baluchistan 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. |||||||||||

## Agriculture and farming

The main crops in the area are wheat, barley, corn (maize), potatoes, grapes, apple, pomegranate, almond, apricot, plum and peach which are grown in the valleys. Sheep and goats are also herded.

## Notable people

* Mohammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan
* Qazi Muhammad Essa, Senior Leader of the Pakistan Movement and a close associate of Quaid-e-Azam
* Jennifer Musa, Politician and Social worker
* Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Diplomat, former Pakistani Ambassador to United States
* Qazi Faez Isa, Chief Justice Pakistan Supreme Court