Ali Masjid (

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

and ) is the narrowest point of the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing pa ...

. It is located in

Khyber District Khyber District ( ps, خېبر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas; with the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakh ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

, Pakistan. It is around east of the city of

Landi Kotal Lanḍī Kōtal ( ps, لنډي کوتل, ur, ) or Lwargai ( ps, لواړګی ''Lwāṛgai'') is a town in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, and the administrative capital of Khyber District. It was one of the largest towns in the form ...

(West of Peshawar) and has an elevation of . The width of the Khyber near Ali Masjid was earlier too narrow for two fully laden camels to pass each other, but since has been widened.

Name origin

It was named in memory of

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

, the cousin of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

. A mosque and a shrine has been built here in the memory of Ali, who visited this place according to a local tradition. There is also a huge boulder which carries the marks of a hand believed to be that of Ali.

History

Ali Masjid is located at the narrowest point in the

. It contains a shrine to ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (circa 600–661) the cousin and son-in-law of

.Caption of Ali Masjid from Bewlow WDL11473, Library of Congress Travellers would stop to pray at the shrine while on the trading route between Kadam and Ali Masjid. The area was originally within

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, with a

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

built on the height above Ali Masjid in 1837 by the Afghan amir, Dōst Mohammad Khān (1793–1863). The shrine and fort are located in extremely rugged terrain overlooking a deep gorge.

First battle of Ali Masjid

Ali Masjid was the scene of battles during the

Anglo-Afghan wars Anglo-Afghan War may refer to: * British-Afghan Wars ** First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842) ** Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880) ** Siege of Malakand & Tirah Campaign (1897) ** Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919) ** Operation Herrick (War in Afghan ...

. In 1842 during the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking si ...

, the fort was garrisoned by the British. During the disastrous retreat from Kabul, a relief force under Colonel Charles Wild was attacked by Afghan troops of Akbar Khan at the entrance of the Khyber Pass and forced to fall back. The British garrison was forced to evacuate the fort and withdraw to Jamrud.

Second battle of Ali Masjid

In November 1878, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, the

Peshawar Valley Field Force The Peshawar Valley Field Force was a British field force. It was the largest of three military columns created in November 1878 at the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880), each of which invaded Afghanistan by a different route. The Pes ...

under General Sir Samuel Browne captured the fort from the Afghans under

Faiz Muhammad Faiz Muhammad (23 September 1937– 2014 ) was a Pakistani freestyle wrestler. He was from 5 AK regt (HAIDER DIL BN). In May 1879, the Khyber Pass was ceded to British control by the Treaty of Gandamak, after which the fort was within the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. Treaty of Gandamak, 26 May 1879: text The British then established their own fort on the site, commanding a strategic view over the Khyber Pass. The fort has a small cemetery which contains the graves of British soldiers who fell in the second Afghan War. The valley walls bear insignias of regiments that have served here.

Name origin

History

First battle of Ali Masjid

Second battle of Ali Masjid

References

See also