Kafir Kot or Kafirkot (; ) is an ancient

Hindu Temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

complex in the

Dera Ismail Khan District Dera Ismail Khan District ( ps, ډېره اسماعیل خان ولسوالي, bal, ڈیرہ عِسمائیل خان, ur, , skr, ; often abbreviated as D.I. Khan) is a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in P ...

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 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 ...

. It consists of the

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

of five temples and a large fort. The Kafir Kot complex in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is often referred to as the "Northern Kafir Kot" to contrast it with the "Southern Kafir Kot" that is located in the town of

Bilot Sharif Bilot Sharif or Bilot is a town and union council of Dera Ismail Khan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. ...

, approximately to the south. The remains of Sindhu Temple (and the nearby ruins of Mari) "are proof of existence of a

Gandhara civilization 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 ...

of considerable importance and antiquity" according to a 1915 issue of the District Gazetteer of Mianwali.District Gazetteer of Mianwali 1915

Description

The ruin consists of two forts in the northwest of the district on small hills attached to the lower spurs of the Khasor Range and overlooking the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

near the

Chashma Barrage Chashma Barrage is a barrage on the River Indus in Mianwali District of the Punjab province of Pakistan 304 km NW of Lahore and 56 km downstream of Jinnah Barrage. The contract for Chashma Barrage works was awarded on 10 February 1967 ...

. One lies a few miles south of Kundal and the other near

Bilot Bilot Sharif or Bilot is a town and union council of Dera Ismail Khan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. ...

. According to the District Gazetteer of Mianwali:

Location

Bilot Fort is the second fort situated next to the town of Bilot Sharif and about 55 km north of Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan. It was an ancient Hindu Fort with a famous temple inside its walls. The fort was destroyed by the

Ghaznavids The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

in the 11th century.

Museum collections

Sculptures and architectural components from the site have been dispersed to museums across Pakistan and the rest of the world. One of the largest collections from Kafir Kot outside Pakistan is in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

.British Museum Collection
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References

External links

Dera Ismail Khan District Archaeological sites in Pakistan Archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hindu temples in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa {{Hinduism-stub