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Swat District (, ps, سوات ولسوالۍ, ) is a
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
in the
Malakand Division Malakand Division is an administrative division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. It contains the following districts: Districts * Bajaur District * Buner District * Upper Chitral District * Lower Chitral District * Lower Dir District * U ...
of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Swat District is centered on the Valley of Swat, usually referred to simply as Swat, which is a natural geographic region surrounding the
Swat River The Swat River ( ur, , ps, سوات سیند) is a perennial river in the northern region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The river's source is in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, where it then flows into the sc ...
. The valley was a major centre of early
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
under the ancient kingdom of
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 Vall ...
, and was a major centre of
Gandharan Buddhism Gandhāran Buddhism refers to the Buddhist culture of ancient Gandhāra which was a major center of Buddhism in the northwestern Indian subcontinent from the 3rd century BCE to approximately 1200 CE.Kurt Behrendt, Pia Brancaccio, Gandharan Bud ...
, with pockets of Buddhism persisting in the valley until the 10th century, after which the area became largely
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
. Until 1969, Swat was part of the Yusafzai State of Swat, a self-governing
princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...
that was inherited by Pakistan following its independence from
British rule 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 ...
. The region was seized by the Tehrik-i-Taliban in late-2007 until Pakistani control was re-established in mid-2009. The average elevation of Swat is , resulting in a considerably cooler and wetter climate compared to the rest of Pakistan. With lush forests, verdant
alpine meadows Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...
, and snow-capped mountains, Swat is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.


Etymology

The name "Swat" is derived from the
Swat River The Swat River ( ur, , ps, سوات سیند) is a perennial river in the northern region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The river's source is in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, where it then flows into the sc ...
. The Swat River referred to as the ''Suvāstu -''in the Rig Veda, with a literal meaning "of fair dwellings". Some have suggested the Sanskrit name may mean "clear blue water." Another theory derives the word Swat from the Sanskrit word ''shveta'' (), also used to describe the clear water of the Swat River. To the ancient Greeks, the river was known as the ''Soastus.'' The Chinese pilgrim
Faxian Faxian (法顯 ; 337 CE – c. 422 CE), also referred to as Fa-Hien, Fa-hsien and Sehi, was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled by foot from China to India to acquire Buddhist texts. Starting his arduous journey about age 60, ...
referred to Swat as the ''Su-ho-to''.


Geography

Swat's total area is . In terms of administrative divisions, Swat is surrounded by
Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
,
Upper Dir Upper Dir District ( ps, بر دير ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The city of Dir is the district headquarters. Badogai Pass connects it to Utror. At the time of independ ...
and Lower Dir to the west,
Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...
to the north, and Kohistan,
Buner Buner District ( ps, بونیر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Before becoming a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. History The Buner Valley lies bet ...
and
Shangla Shangla District ( ps, شانګله ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The district's headquarter is located at Alpuri, while the largest city and commercial center is Besham. The district w ...
to the east and southeast, respectively. The former
tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
of Buner was granted the status of a separate
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
in 1991. The Swat Valley is enclosed by mountains that forms a natural geographic boundaries for it. The
Swat River The Swat River ( ur, , ps, سوات سیند) is a perennial river in the northern region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The river's source is in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, where it then flows into the sc ...
whose headwaters arise in the 18,000-19,000 foot tall
Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...
run through the length of the region. The main area consists of many sub valleys such as
Kalam ''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
,
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an a ...
,
Matiltan Matiltan is a valley in Pakistan about 11 km away from Kalam. It has large glaciers, thick forests and lofty mountain peaks. The tallest peak of Falak Sar mountain can be seen from it. It is accessible through a non metalled road from Kalam ...
,
Utror Utror, also spelt Atror, is a valley located in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is surrounded by snow clad mountains, green pastures and waterfalls. The area of the valley is about . Utror is away from Kalam Valley and ...
, and
Gabral Gabral (also spelled Gabrāl, or Ghabral) is a village and union council in Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is located on the slopes of the western end of the Himalayas, at the lower end of the Gabral Valley, where the ...
.


Valley

The Valley of Swat is delineated by natural geographic boundaries, and is centered on the
Swat River The Swat River ( ur, , ps, سوات سیند) is a perennial river in the northern region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The river's source is in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, where it then flows into the sc ...
, whose headwaters arise in the 18,000-19,000 foot tall
Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...
. The valley is enclosed on all sides by mountains, and is intersected by glens and ravines. Above mountains ridges to the west is the valley of the
Panjkora River The Panjkora River ( ur, ) is a river in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of the northwest of Pakistan. The river runs through the mountainous northern part of the province, and forms the Kumrat Valley. It passes from Dir, Timergara and meet at ...
, to the north the Gilgit Valley, and
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 ...
gorges to the east. To the south, across a series of low mountains, lies the wide
Peshawar valley The Valley of Peshawar ( ps, د لوی پېښور وادي; ur, وادئ پشاور), or Peshawar Basin, historically known as the Gandhara Valley, is a broad area situated in the central part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The va ...
. The northernmost area of Swat district are the high valleys and alpine meadows of ''Swat Kohistan'', a region where numerous glaciers feed the
Usho Usho (also spelled Ushu) is a village in Usho Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is situated from Kalam and km from Mingora, at the height of 2,300 meters (7,550 feet). It is accessible through a non metalled road from Kalam by ...
, and
Gabral Gabral (also spelled Gabrāl, or Ghabral) is a village and union council in Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is located on the slopes of the western end of the Himalayas, at the lower end of the Gabral Valley, where the ...
rivers (also known as the Utrar River), which form a confluence at Kalam, and thereafter forms the Swat river - which forms the spine of the Swat Valley and district. Swat then is characterized by thick forests along the narrow gorges of the Kalam Valley until the city of Madyan. From there, the river courses gently for 160 km through the wider Yousufzai Plains of the lower
Swat Valley Swat District (, ps, سوات ولسوالۍ, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prov ...
until
Chakdara Chakdara (چکدرہ) is a city in Lower Dir District. It's the 2nd largest city after Timergara. It serves as the educational center of Malakand Division and the Gateway of Lower Dir District . It is located north of Malakand near the confluen ...
.


Climate

Climate in Swat is a function of altitude, with mountains in the Kohistan region snow-clad year round. The upper areas of the region are relatively colder and often get snowfall in the winter. Drier, warmer temperatures in the lower portions in the Yousafzai Plains where summer temperatures can reach , although the lower plains experience occasional snow. Both regions are subject to two monsoon seasons - one in winter and the other in summer. Swat's lower reaches have vegetation characterized by dry bush and deciduous trees, while the upper areas mostly have thick pine forests. File:Mount Falak Sher view from Kalam.JPG, Falak Sar, Swat's tallest mountain at File:Sunset over the Peak.jpg, Mount Mankial, which rises to File:Ushu Forest, Kalam, Swat, Pakistan.jpg, Pine forests occur in Swat at altitudes over File:Kalam in Swat Pakistan G.jpg, The northernmost region of Swat - a region known as ''Kohistan'' - has high alpine valley at the base of tall mountains File:Jarogo Waterfalls, Swat.jpg, Jarogo Waterfall, in middle Swat File:Mahodand Lake-Summer 2015.jpg, Alpine lakes, such as
Mahodand Lake Mahodand Lake ( ur, ; ps, د ماهو ډنډ - "Lake of Fishes") is a lake located in the upper Usho Valley at a distance of about from Kalam in Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The lake is accessible by a four-wheel dr ...
are found in the mountains of Swat Kohistan. File:Atror, Swat KPK (Pakistan).jpg, Alpine meadows in Utror


History


Ancient

The
Gandhara grave culture The Gandhara grave culture, also called Swat culture, or Swat Protohistoric Graveyards Complex, emerged ''c.'' 1400 BCE and lasted until 800 BCE, as recent fieldwork, along with subsequent analyses, have shown there are no burials with these ...
that emerged ''c.'' 1400 BCE and lasted until 800 BCE, and named for their distinct funerary practices, was found along the Middle
Swat River The Swat River ( ur, , ps, سوات سیند) is a perennial river in the northern region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The river's source is in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, where it then flows into the sc ...
course.


Greek

In 327 BCE,
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
fought his way to
Odigram Odigram (also spelled Udigram or Hodigram; ps, اوډيګرام) is a settlement in the Swat Valley, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northern Pakistan. It forms an administrative unit known as Union council or ward in Tehsil Babuzai, of S ...
and
Barikot Barikot ( ur, بریکوٹ‎) (Pashto: بریکوټ) is a town located in the middle course of the Swat River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located about away from Mingora and the Butkara Stupa. It is the entrance town to the central ...
and stormed their battlements; in Greek accounts, these towns are identified as ''Ora'' and ''Bazira''. After the Alexandrian invasion of Swat, and adjacent regions of
Buner Buner District ( ps, بونیر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Before becoming a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. History The Buner Valley lies bet ...
, control of the wider Gandhara region was handed to
Seleucus I Nicator Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the pow ...
.


Gandhara

In 305 BCE, the
Mauryan The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...
Emperor conquered the wider region from the Greeks, and probably established control of Swat, until their control of the region ceased around 187 BCE. It was during the rule of the Mauryan emperor
Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...
that Buddhism was introduced into Swat, and some of the earliest stupas built in the region. Following collapse of Mauryan rule, Swat came under control of the
Greco-Bactrians The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic-era Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world in Central Asia and the Indi ...
, and briefly the
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
of the Central Asian Steppe. The region of Gandhara (based in the
Peshawar valley The Valley of Peshawar ( ps, د لوی پېښور وادي; ur, وادئ پشاور), or Peshawar Basin, historically known as the Gandhara Valley, is a broad area situated in the central part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The va ...
and the adjacent hilly regions of Swat,
Buner Buner District ( ps, بونیر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Before becoming a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. History The Buner Valley lies bet ...
, Dir, and
Bajaur Bajaur District ( ps, باجوړ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, then during restructuring that merged ...
), broke away from Greco-Bactrian rule to establish their own independence as the
Indo-Greek Kingdom The Indo-Greek Kingdom, or Graeco-Indian Kingdom, also known historically as the Yavana Kingdom (Yavanarajya), was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of Afghanistan and the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent ( ...
. Following the death of the most famous Indo-Greek king,
Menander I Menander I Soter ( grc, Μένανδρος Σωτήρ, Ménandros Sōtḗr, Menander the Saviour; pi, मिलिन्दो, Milinda), was a Greco-Bactrian and later Indo-Greek King (reigned c.165/155Bopearachchi (1998) and (1991), respectivel ...
around 140 BCE, the region was overrun by the
Indo-Scythians Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples of Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into modern day Pakistan and Northwestern India from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th centu ...
, and then the Persian
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 conque ...
around 50 CE. The arrival of the Parthians began the long tradition of
Greco-Buddhist art The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art of the north Indian subcontinent is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara. The s ...
, which was a syncretic form of art combining Buddhist imagery with heavy Hellenistic-Greek influences. This art form is credited with having the first representations of the
Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
in human form, rather than symbolically. The Parthians were ousted from Swat by the
Kushans The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...
, based in the
Peshawar valley The Valley of Peshawar ( ps, د لوی پېښور وادي; ur, وادئ پشاور), or Peshawar Basin, historically known as the Gandhara Valley, is a broad area situated in the central part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The va ...
. Kushan rule began what is considered by many to be the golden age of Gandhara. Under the greatest Kushan king,
Kanishka Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, '; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε ''Kanēške''; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 '; Brahmi: '), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire re ...
, Swat became an important region for the production of Buddhist art, and numerous Buddhists shrines were built in the area. As a patron of
Mahayana Buddhism ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...
, new Buddhists ''stupas'' were built and old ones were enlarged. The Chinese pilgrim
Fa-Hsien Faxian (法顯 ; 337 CE – c. 422 CE), also referred to as Fa-Hien, Fa-hsien and Sehi, was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled by foot from China to India to acquire Buddhist texts. Starting his arduous journey about age 60, h ...
, who visited the valley around 403 CE, mentions 500 monasteries. File:General View of the main Butkara-I Stupa.JPG,
Butkara Stupa The Butkara Stupa (Pashto: بت کړه سټوپا) is an important Buddhist stupa near Mingora, in the area of Swat, Pakistan. It may have been built by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, but it is generally dated slightly later to the 2nd century BCE ...
may have first been built during Mauryan rule in the 2nd century BCE. File:Amlukdara stupa close.JPG, Amlukdara Stupa was built around the 3rd century CE, and is one of many Buddhist ruins in Swat. File:Nimogram Stupa.jpg, Nemogram Stupa, dating from the Kushan period , with many of its statues on display at the Swat Museum File:Shingerdar stupa - panoramio.jpg, Shingardar Stupa, a 27 meter tall stupa that is built along the main road that enters into Swat from the Peshawar Valley File:Swat Shamozi Stopa (1).jpg, Shamozi Stupa


Hephthalite

Swat and the wider region of Gandhara were overrun by the Iranian
Hephthalites The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...
around about 465 CE. Under the rule of
Mihirakula Mihirakula (Gupta script: , ''Mi-hi-ra-ku-la'', Chinese: 摩酰逻矩罗 ''Mo-hi-lo-kiu-lo''), sometimes referred to as Mihiragula or Mahiragula, was the second and last Alchon Hun king of northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent betwee ...
, Buddhism was suppressed as he himself became virulently anti-Buddhist after a perceived slight against him by a Buddhist monk. Under his rule, Buddhist monks were reportedly killed, and Buddhist shrines attacked. He himself appears to have been inclined towards the Shaivism sect of Hinduism. In around 520 CE, the Chinese monk
Song Yun Song Yun () was a Chinese Buddhist monk who was sent by the pious Buddhist Empress Hu (, ?-528 CE) of the Northern Wei Dynasty with other monastic companions including Hui Zheng, Fa Li and Zheng (or Wang) Fouze, to northwestern India to search ...
visited the area, and recorded that area had been in ruin and ruled by a leader that did not practice the laws of the Buddha. The Tang-era Chinese monk Xuanzang recorded the decline of Buddhism in the region, and ascendance of Hinduism in the region. According to him, of the 1400 monasteries that had supposedly been there, most were in ruins or had been abandoned.


Hindu Shahi

Following the collapse of Buddhism in Swat following the Hephthalite invasion, Swat was ruled by the
Hindu Shahi The Hindu Shahis (also known as Odi Shahis, Uḍi Śāhis, or Brahman Shahis, 822–1026 CE) were a dynasty that held sway over the Kabul Valley, Gandhara and western Punjab during the early medieval period in the Indian subcontinent. Details r ...
dynasty beginning in the 8th century, who made their capital at Udigram in lower Swat. The Shahis built an extensive array of
temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temple ...
and other architectural buildings, of which ruins remain today. Under their rule, Hinduism ascended, and
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the la ...
is believed to have been the
lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
of the locals during this time. By the time of the
Muslim conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
(), the population in the region was predominantly
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
,Fredrik Barth, ''Features of Person and Society in Swat: Collected Essays on Pathans'', illustrated edition, Routledge, 1981 though Buddhism persisting in the valley until the 10th century, after which the area became largely
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
. Hindu Shahi rulers built fortresses to guard and tax the commerce through this area, and ruins dating back to their rule can be seen on the hills at the southern entrance of Swat, at the
Malakand Pass The Malakand Pass Peshawar with chitral ( ps, درہ ملاکنډ; ur, ) is a mountain pass in Malakand District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The pass road begins at Dargai. The road across the pass is in good condition, but may often becom ...
.


Muslim rule

Around 1001 CE, the last Hindu Shahi king,
Jayapala Jayapala or Jaipal was a ruler of the Hindu Shahi dynasty from 964 to 1001 CE. His kingdom stretched from Laghman to Kashmir and Sirhind to Multan, with Peshawar being in the center. He was the son of Hutpal and the father of Anandapala. Epi ...
was decisively defeated at the
Battle of Peshawar (1001) Battle of Peshawar, was fought on 27 November 1001 between the Ghaznavid army of Mahmud of Ghazni and the Hindu Shahi army of Jayapala, near Peshawar. Jayapala was defeated and captured, and as a result of the humiliation of the defeat, he lat ...
by Mahmud of Ghazni, thereby ending 2 centuries of Hindu rule over Gandhara. Sometime later, ethnic Swatis entered the area along with Sultans from Kunar (present-day
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 ...
).


Yousafzai State of Swat

The Yousafzai State of Swat was a kingdom established in 1849 by the
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
saint Akhund Abdul Gaffur, more commonly known as ''Saidu Baba,'' that was ruled by chiefs known as Akhunds. It was then recognized as a
princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...
in alliance with the
British Indian Empire 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 himse ...
between 1926 and 1947, after which the Akhwand acceded to the newly independent state of
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. Swat continued to exist as an autonomous region until it was dissolved in 1969, and incorporated into
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
Province (formerly called NWFP).


Taliban destruction of Buddhist relics

The region was seized by the Tehrik-i-Taliban in late-2007, and its highly-popular tourist industry was subsequently decimated until Pakistani control was re-established in mid-2009 after a month-long campaign. During their occupation, the Taliban attacked Nobel laureate
Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai ( ur, , , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997), is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second Pak ...
in 2012, who at the time was a young school-girl who wrote a blog for BBC Urdu detailing life under Taliban rule, and their curb on girls' education.
Kushan The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...
-era Buddhist stupas and statues in the Swat Valley were demolished by 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 Pashtu ...
, and the Jehanabad Buddha's face was blown up using
dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and patented in 1867. It rapidly g ...
, but was repaired by a group of
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...
restorers in a nine-year-long process. The Taliban and looters subsequently destroyed many of Pakistan's Buddhist artifacts, and deliberately targeted Gandhara Buddhist relics for destruction. Gandhara artifacts remaining from the demolitions were thereafter plundered by thieves and smugglers.


Economy

Approximately 38% of economy of Swat depends on
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
and 31% depends on
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
.


Agriculture

Gwalerai village located near
Mingora Mingora ( ps, مینګورہ, ur, ) is a city in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located on the Swat River, it is the 3rd largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the 26th largest in Pakistan. Mingora is the largest city and ...
is one of those few villages which produces 18 varieties of apples due to its temperate climate in summer. The apple produced here is consumed in Pakistan as well as exported to other countries. It is known as ‘the apple of Swat’. Swat is famous for peach production mostly grown in the valley bottom plains and accounts for about 80% of the peach production of the country. Mostly marketed in the national markets with a brand name of "Swat Peaches". The supply starts in April and continues till September because of a diverse range of varieties grown.


Demographics

At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population of 2,308,624, of which 1,171,947 were males and 1,136,545 females. Rural population was 1,612,803 (69.86%) while the urban population was 695,821 (30.14%). The literacy rate was 50.27% - the male literacy rate was 65.25% while the female literacy rate was 35.10%. 1,811 people in the district were from religious minorities. Swat is mostly inhabited by
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 re ...
who make up 90.78% of the population. The dominant tribe is the
Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Suliman mountains du ...
tribe. The language spoken in the valley is
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 ...
(mainly the Yousafzai dialect). Other languages, mainly the Kohistani languages of Torwali and Kalami, are spoken by 7.35% of the population, and form the majority in the Swat Kohistan region of Upper Swat.


Education

According to the ''Alif Ailaan Pakistan Education Rankings for 2017'', Swat with a score of 53.1, is ranked 86 out of 155 districts in terms of education. Furthermore, the Swat schools infrastructure scores 90.26 which ranks it on number 31 out of 155.


Ethnic groups

*
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 re ...
**
Durrani The Durrānī ( ps, دراني, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan (Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, Pakistan, but ...
(Abdali) **
Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Suliman mountains du ...
*
Gujjars Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...
* Torwalis * Gawri/Kalami people


Administrative divisions

Swat is subdivided into 7 administrative divisions
Tehsils A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
: #
Babuzai Babuzai is a Union Council located in Mardan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The reason Babuzai is called Babuzai is because one of Pashtun tribe Babuzai is living here. District Mardan has 3 Tehsil Each Tehsil comprises certain numbers ...
# Matta # Khwaza Khela #
Barikot Barikot ( ur, بریکوٹ‎) (Pashto: بریکوټ) is a town located in the middle course of the Swat River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located about away from Mingora and the Butkara Stupa. It is the entrance town to the central ...
# Kabal #
Charbagh ''Charbagh'' or ''Chahar Bagh'' ( ''chahār bāgh'', ''chārbāgh'', ''chār bāgh'', meaning "four gardens") is a Persian and Indo-Persian quadrilateral garden layout based on the four gardens of Paradise mentioned in the Quran. The quad ...
#
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an a ...
Each tehsil comprises certain numbers of union councils. Swat has 65 union councils: 56 rural and 9 urban. According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, a new ''local governments'' system was introduced, in which Swat is included. This system has 67
wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
, in which the total amount of village councils are around 170, while neighbourhood councils number around 44.


Politics

The region elects three male members of the National Assembly of Pakistan (MNAs), one female MNA, seven male members of the
Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is located in Peshawar, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of t ...
(MPAs) and two female MPAS. In the 2002 National and Provincial elections, the
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal The Muttahida Majlis–e–Amal (MMA; Urdu: , "United Council of Action") is a political alliance consisting of conservative, Islamist, religious, and far-right parties of Pakistan. Naeem Siddiqui (the founder of Tehreek e Islami) proposed suc ...
, an alliance of religious political parties, won all the seats.


Provincial Assembly


Notable people

* Mubarika Yusufzai *
Wāli of Swat The Wāli of Swat ( ur, ) was the official title of the leader (wāli) of the erstwhile princely state of Swat and also the nomenclature of the Miangul dynasty that ruled there from 1926 to 1969. History The earlier titles of the rulers of Sw ...
* Mahmood Khan *
Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai ( ur, , , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997), is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second Pak ...
*
Ziauddin Yousafzai Ziauddin Yousafzai ( ur, ضیاء الدین یوسفزئی; ps, ضیاالدین یوسفزی; born 20 April 1969) is a Pakistani education activist best known as the father of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who protested against the Tehrik- ...
*
Muhib Ullah Khan Muhib Ullah Khan is a Pakistani politician who was the Provincial Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Agriculture, in office from 29 August 2018 till 18 January 2023. He had been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Augu ...
* Anwar Ali *
Nazia Iqbal Nazia Iqbal ( ps, ) (born c.1984) is a Pashtun singer from Pakistan.Ghazala Javed Ghazala Javed ( ps, ; 1 January 1988 – 18 June 2012) was a Pashtun playback singer from Swat Valley, Pakistan. She began singing since 2004 and was "popular with young, progressive ethnic Pashtuns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Her music was famous no ...
*
Afzal Khan Lala Muhammed Afzal Khan Lala also known as Afzal Khan Lala (1926 – 1 November 2015) was a Pashtun nationalist, former Pakistani provincial and Federal minister from the Swat valley in the North-West Frontier Province. Hailing from the Yousafzai ...
* Haider Ali Khan * Malak Jamroz Khan * Rahim Khan * Nasirul Mulk *
Badar Munir Badar Munir (1940 – 11 October 2008) was a Pakistani film actor. Originally from MadyanActor Badar Munir ...
* Murad Saeed *
Shaheen Sardar Ali Shaheen Sardar Ali is a British Pakistani law professor and an author who formerly served chair of the National Commission on the Status of Women of Pakistan. She is a professor of law at the University of Warwick. Biography Shaheen, a Pashtun, ...
*
Rahim Shah Rahim Shah ( ps, ) is a Pakistani pop singer, composer and music producer, predominantly working in Pashto music industry. He sings primarily in Pashto, however he has also created songs in Urdu and Punjabi.
* Sherin Zada


See also

* Akhund of Swat * Lower Swat Valley * List of tourist attractions in Swat * Oḍḍiyāna *
Swat (princely state) State of Swat (Urdu, ps, ; locally called as Dera Swat) was a kingdom established in 1849 that was ruled by chiefs known as Akhunds. It was then recognized as a princely state in alliance with the British Indian Empire between 1926 and 19 ...
* Lower Dir *
Upper Dir Upper Dir District ( ps, بر دير ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The city of Dir is the district headquarters. Badogai Pass connects it to Utror. At the time of independ ...
*
Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
*
Buner Buner District ( ps, بونیر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Before becoming a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. History The Buner Valley lies bet ...
*
Kaghan Valley The Kaghan Valley ( ur, ) is an alpine valley located in the Mansehra District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The valley covers a distance of across northern Pakistan, rising from its lowest elevation of to its highest point at the Babusar ...
* Kohistan * 1974 Hunza earthquake *
Operation Black Thunderstorm Operation Black Thunderstorm was an aggressive military operation that commenced on April 26, 2009 conducted by the Pakistan Army, with the aim of retaking Buner, Lower Dir, Swat and Shangla districts from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan after the ...
*
Operation Rah-e-Rast Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
*
2009 refugee crisis in Pakistan The 2009 refugee crisis in Pakistan was the massive displacement of civilians in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan that was caused by Operation Black Thunderstorm. Since the beginning of Operation Black Thunderstorm against the Taliban, over 1.2 ...
* Pushtu People *
Barikot Barikot ( ur, بریکوٹ‎) (Pashto: بریکوټ) is a town located in the middle course of the Swat River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located about away from Mingora and the Butkara Stupa. It is the entrance town to the central ...
* Swati *
Srivastava Srivastava (; ), also spelled variously as Shrivastava, Shrivastav or Srivastav, is a common surname found amongst the Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha community of upper caste Hindus particularly in the Hindi-speaking regions of India. Origin Srivast ...


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Visit Swat Valley

Swat Valley Photos
{{Authority control Hill stations in Pakistan Valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Indus basin Buddhism in Pakistan