Daraban is a tehsil located in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located at 31°44'3N 70°20'11E and has an altitude of . Daraban Kalan, pronounced "Draban" is to be distinguished from Daraban Khurd, a village lying to the east of Dera Ismail Khan city. Draban lies 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. British era and its remains The region constituting present day Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was eventually colonised by the British. The effects and remains of colonialism could be observed even this remote part of Dera Ismail khan. The British built chains of Frontier Constabulary forts in the region to hold in check independent Pashtoons of the mountains. Darazinda, Draban, and Zarkani have FC forts built by the British. From these forts the British launched punitive expeditions in the mountains. Daraban boasts an FC fort, Assistant Commissioner court and large colonial style rest house, all relics of the Raj . Within the compound of the Assistant commissioner residence lies the grave of a British officer who died in action in Zarkani in colonial times. The British also built two bridges over the two perennial water