Bannu (Urdu: بنوں; Pashto: بنو [ˈbanu], Bana or Bani Gul) is the principal city of the Bannu District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. It is an important road junction and market city. Bannu is a very old city, founded in ancient times; however, the present location of the downtown Bannu was founded by Sir Herbert Edwardes in 1848, and was formerly called Edwardesabad and Dhulipnagar. It lies in the north-west corner of the district, in the valley of the Kurram River and was a British military base, especially in actions against Afghan border tribes. The town is located 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the Kurram river, 79 miles (127 km) south of Kohat, 27 km north of Serai Naurang, and 89 miles (143 km) north of Dera Ismail Khan.

The earliest know village settlement in the Bannu region is the archaeological site of Sheri Khan Tarakai.

Bannu formed the base for all punitive expeditions by troops of the British empire to the Tochi Valley and the Waziristan frontier. A military road led from Bannu town towards Dera Ismail Khan This was built by military engineering services under the supervision of a Bannu Engineer Ram N. Mullick who graduated from Banaras Engineering College. Mr.Mullick served in Iraq and Lahore before Partition as an expert in heavy earth moving machinery. They moved to New Delhi after partition of India.