The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a
mountain pass in the
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, ...
province of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, on the border with the
Nangarhar Province of
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 bord ...
. It connects the town of
Landi Kotal to the
Valley of Peshawar at
Jamrud by traversing part of the
White Mountains. Since it was part of the ancient
Silk Road, it has been a vital
trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sin ...
between
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...
and the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...
and a
strategic military
choke point for various states that controlled it. Following Asian Highway 1 (
AH1), the summit of the pass at Landi Kotal is inside Pakistan, descending to Jamrud, about from the Afghan border.
The inhabitants of the area are predominantly from the
Afridi and
Shinwari
The Shinwari () are an ethnic Pashtun tribe of Afghanistan. Among the greatest poets of the Pashto language in the 20th century was the late Ameer Hamza Shinwari, also known as "Hamza Baba".
The Shinwari tribe are descended from the Kasi P ...
tribes of
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically ...
.
Geography
The Khyber Pass is a
mountain pass in the
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, ...
province of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, on the border with
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 bord ...
(
Nangarhar Province). Following Asian Highway 1 (
AH1), the summit of the pass at the town of
Landi Kotal is inside Pakistan, descending into the
Valley of Peshawar at
Jamrud, about from the Afghan border by traversing part of the
Spin Ghar mountains.
History
Historical invasions of the Indian subcontinent have been predominantly through the Khyber Pass, such as those of
Cyrus,
Darius I
Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...
,
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr /> Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent) Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin ...
, and later Mongols such as
Duwa,
Qutlugh Khwaja and
Kebek. Prior to the
Kushan era, the Khyber Pass was not a widely used trade route.
The Khyber Pass became a critical part of the
Silk Road, a major trade route from East Asia to Europe.
The
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conq ...
fought for control of passes such as this to profit from the trade in silk, jade, rhubarb, and other luxuries moving from China to Western Asia and Europe. Through the Khyber Pass,
Gandhara
Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Val ...
(in present-day Pakistan) became a regional center of trade connecting
Bagram in Afghanistan to
Taxila in Pakistan, adding Indian luxury goods such as ivory, pepper, and textiles to the Silk Road commerce.
Among the
Muslim invasions of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...
through the Khyber Pass were
Mahmud Ghaznavi,
Muhammad Ghori and the Turkic-Mongols. Finally,
Sikhs under
Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He ...
captured the Khyber Pass in 1834. The
Sikh general
Hari Singh Nalwa, who manned the Khyber Pass for years, became a household name in Afghanistan.
A common phrase at the time described the length of what was then
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
as "Khyber to
Kanyakumari
Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland I ...
".
To the north of the Khyber Pass lies the country of the Shalmani tribe and
Mullagori tribe. To the south is Afridi
Tirah, while the inhabitants of villages in the Pass itself are
Afridi clansmen. Throughout the centuries,
Pashtun clans, particularly the Afridis and the Afghan
Shinwari
The Shinwari () are an ethnic Pashtun tribe of Afghanistan. Among the greatest poets of the Pashto language in the 20th century was the late Ameer Hamza Shinwari, also known as "Hamza Baba".
The Shinwari tribe are descended from the Kasi P ...
s, have regarded the Pass as their own preserve and have levied a toll on travellers for safe conduct. Since this has long been their main source of income, resistance to challenges to the Shinwaris' authority has often been fierce.
For strategic reasons, after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
, the government of British India built a heavily engineered railway through the Pass. The
Khyber Pass Railway, from
Jamrud, near
Peshawar, to the
Afghan border near
Landi Kotal was opened in 1925.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, concrete
dragon's teeth were erected on the valley floor due to British fears of a German tank invasion of India.
The Pass became widely known to thousands of Westerners and Japanese who traveled it in the days of the
hippie trail, taking a bus or car from
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Ac ...
to the Afghan border. At the Pakistani frontier post, travelers were advised not to wander away from the road, as the location was a barely controlled
Federally Administered Tribal Area. Then, after customs formalities, a quick daylight drive through the Pass was made. Monuments left by
British Indian Army units, as well as hillside forts, could be viewed from the highway.
The area of the Khyber Pass has been connected with a counterfeit arms industry that makes various types of weapons known to gun collectors as
Khyber Pass copies using local steel and
blacksmiths' forges.
Current conflicts
During the
War in Afghanistan, the Khyber Pass was a major route for resupplying military armament and food to
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
forces in the Afghan theater of conflict since the US started the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Almost 80 percent of the NATO and US supplies that were brought in by road were transported through the Khyber Pass. It was also used to transport civilians from the Afghan side to the Pakistani one. Until the end of 2007, the route had been relatively safe, since the tribes living there (mainly the
Afridi, a
Pashtun tribe
The Pashtun tribes ( ps, پښتانه قبايل), historically also known as Afghan tribes, are the tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who use the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali code of conduct. They ar ...
) were paid by the Pakistani government to keep the area safe. However, after that year, the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pas ...
began to control the region, and so wider tensions started to exist in their political relationship.
Since the end of 2008, supply convoys and depots in this western part had increasingly come under attack by elements from or supposedly sympathetic to the Pakistani Taliban.
In January 2009, Pakistan sealed off the bridge as part of a military offensive against Taliban guerrillas. This military operation was mainly focused on Jamrud, a district on the Khyber road. The target was to “dynamite or bulldoze homes belonging to men suspected of harboring or supporting Taliban militants or carrying out other illegal activities”. The result meant that more than 70 people were arrested and 45 homes were destroyed. In addition, two children and one woman were killed. As a response, in early February 2009, Taliban insurgents cut off the Khyber Pass temporarily by blowing up a key bridge.
This increasingly unstable situation in northwest Pakistan, made the US and NATO broaden supply routes, through Central Asia (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan). Even the option of supplying material through the Iranian far southeastern port of
Chabahar was considered.
In 2010, the already complicated relationship with Pakistan (always accused by the US of hosting the Taliban in this border area without reporting it) became tougher after the NATO forces, under the pretext of mitigating the Taliban's power over this area, executed an attack with
drones
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
over the
Durand line, passing the frontier of Afghanistan and killing three Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan answered by closing the pass on 30 September which caused a convoy of several NATO trucks to queue at the closed border. This convoy was attacked by extremists apparently linked to Al Qaida which caused the destruction of more than 29 oil tankers and trucks and the killing of several soldiers. NATO chief members had to issue a formal apology to the Pakistani government so the supply traffic at this pass could be restored.
In August 2011, the activity at the Khyber pass was again halted by the
Khyber Agency administration due to the more possible attacks of the insurgency over the NATO forces, which had suffered a period of large number of assaults over the trucks heading to supply the NATO and ISAF coalitions all over the frontier line. This instability made the Pakistan Oil Tanker Owners Association demand more protection from the Pakistani and US government threatening not to supply fuel for the Afghan side.
Gallery
Image:Pakistan_Khyber_Pass_IMG_9928.jpg, Khyber Pass Gateway southbound towards Peshawar
Image:Pakistan_Khyber_Pass_IMG_9792.jpg, Typical Pakistani transport truck and passengers
Image:Pakistan_Khyber_Pass_IMG_9903.jpg, Washed out bridge
Image:KhyberRailway 01.jpg, The Khyber Railway. With a Pakistan Railways HGS 2-8-0 at front and rear a charter train climbs the Khyber Pass through a series of zig-zags to gain height
Image:Liebigbild-Bala Hissar and Khaiber Pass.jpg, An advertisement card from 1910 depicting Khaiber Pass
File:Army Camp near Khyber Pass.jpg, A camp of the British Indian Army near the Khyber Pass (c. 1920)
Image:Mountain passes of Afghanistan2.png, Mountain passes of Afghanistan
File:Khyber-Pass.jpg,
File:Khyber Pass Area Map.jpg,
KhyberPassPakistan.jpg,
Cultural references
A number of locations around the world have been named after the Khyber Pass:
* A steep and twisting minor road in
Mugdock Country Park near
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
. The road is a landmark along the
West Highland Way
The West Highland Way ( gd, Slighe na Gàidhealtachd an Iar) is a linear long-distance route in Scotland. It is long, running from Milngavie north of Glasgow to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, with an element of hill walking in the ...
and is popular among local road cyclists.
*A suburb of
Civil Lines, Delhi, India.
* Khyber Pass Road, a major road in the suburb of
Newmarket,
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
, New Zealand
Google Earth view* An artificial rockwork feature at
East Park, Kingston upon Hull, UK.
* Khyber Road in
Phoenix Park,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
, Ireland.
* A steep and twisting road up the West Cliff at
Whitby, UK.
* A pedestrian alley in
Stromness, Orkney, Scotland
* Khyber Pass Pub in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Pennsylvania.
* Khyber Himalayan Resort and Spa in Gulmarg Jammu and Kashmir.
* A mountain bike trail connecting the Top of the World trail at
Whistler, British Columbia
Whistler ( Lillooet/Ucwalmícwts: Cwitima, ; Squamish/Sḵwx̱wú7mesh: Sḵwiḵw, ) is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mo ...
to the Whistler Creekside Village.
* A
subway
Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to:
Transportation
* Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems
* Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle
* Subway (George Bush Interconti ...
in the
King's Cross St Pancras tube station. After the
King's Cross fire in November 1987, it was replaced.
Other references include the following:
* The bus journey on this road was belle-lettered very beautifully, and a part of its first act, in the selective memoir ''
Deshe Bideshe'' (1948) by
Syed Mujtaba Ali.
* Before the
partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
, the pass was mentioned as part of common
Hindustani
Hindustani may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Hindustan (another name of India)
* Hindustani language, an Indo-Aryan language, whose two official norms are Hindi and Urdu
* Fiji Hindi, a variety of Eastern Hindi spoken in Fiji, and ...
phrase used to describe the length of
colonial India, "Khyber sé Kanyakumari".
* 'Khyber Pass' is
Cockney rhyming slang meaning 'ass'. This use is alluded to in the 1968 film ''
Carry On Up the Khyber''.
*In the 1975 movie
''The Man Who Would Be King'', the character Peachy Carnehan tells
Rudyard Kipling how he and his comrade-in-arms Danny Dravot had fought under
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914) was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. Born in India to an Anglo-I ...
yard by yard through the Khyber Pass during the
Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878-1880
* The podcast ''Twilight Histories'' has an episode called "Napoleon in Afghanistan" which partly takes place in the Khyber Pass.
* The
Vampire Weekend song "M79" references the Khyber Pass.
* The
Tom Cochrane song "
Life Is a Highway" (covered by
Rascal Flatts and others) references the Khyber Pass.
* The album ''
Rio Grande Blood
''Rio Grande Blood'' is the tenth studio album by American industrial metal band Ministry, released in 2006. It is their first release through 13th Planet and Megaforce Records.
Overview
The album is the second installment in the band's anti ...
'' by
Ministry (2006) has a song called "Khyber Pass" which references it as a possible hiding place for then missing and at large
Osama bin Laden. This song was also featured at the end of the film ''
The Hurt Locker''.
* The song "Red War" by
Probot, featuring
Max Cavalera on vocals, mentions the pass.
* British rock band
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...
references the Khyber in their song "
Up the Khyber", featured on the soundtrack to the film ''
More''.
*In an episode of the cartoon series ''
The World of Commander McBragg
Commander McBragg is a cartoon character who appeared in short segments (usually 90 seconds) produced by Total Television Productions and animated by Gamma Productions. These segments first appeared in 1963 on the animated series ''Tennessee Tuxedo ...
'' titled “Khyber Pass”, the eponymous commander has to fend off ten thousand screaming tribesmen in the Khyber Pass.
* Parts of the 1985
Jay McInerney book ''Ransom'' take place in or near the Khyber Pass.
*The Khyber pass features in several of
Rudyard Kipling's poems: it appears by name in "The Ballad of the King's Jest",
as "the Pass" in "Arithmetic on the Frontier",
and semi-fictionalized as the Tongue of
Jagai in "
The Ballad of East and West
"The Ballad of East and West" is a poem by Rudyard Kipling. It was first published in 1889, and has been much collected and anthologized since.
The poem
Kamal, a tribal chieftain in the North-West Frontier of the British Raj, steals a Britis ...
".
See also
*
Ali Masjid
Ali Masjid (Pashto and ) is the narrowest point of the Khyber Pass. It is located in Khyber District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is around east of the city of Landi Kotal (West of Peshawar) and has an elevation of . The width of the Khy ...
*
Bab-e-Khyber
*
Battle of Ali Masjid
The Battle of Ali Masjid, which took place on 21 November 1878, was the opening battle in the Second Anglo-Afghan War between the British forces, under Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel James Browne, and the Afghan forces, under Ghulam Haider Khan ...
*
Battle of Khyber Pass
*
Bolan Pass
* ''
Carry On... Up the Khyber'', film
*
Dasht-e Yahudi
*
Dorah Pass
*
Durand Line
*
Khyber Agency
*
Khyber Pass Copy
*
Khyber Pass Railway
*
Khyber Pass Economic Corridor
*
Khyber Rifles
*
Khyber train safari
References
Further reading
*
External links
History of Khyber Pass, PakistanTwilight histories, Napoleon in Afghanistan
{{Authority control
Afghanistan–Pakistan border crossings
Landforms of Paktia Province
Mountain passes of Afghanistan
Mountain passes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Mountain passes of the Hindu Kush
Rail mountain passes
Sites along the Silk Road
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, ...