Ghalegay ( ps, غالیګے) is a village of Swat Valley, located at a distance of 14 km south of

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 ...

, on the left bank of

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 s ...

. It is one of the main villages lying between the two cities, Mingora 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 ...

. During the recent Pashtun era in 1849, when the first legal government was formed, Ghalegay was chosen as the first capital of Swat because of its suitable geographical location. Syed Akbar Shah, who belonged to the family of

Pir Baba Sayyid Ali Tirmizi ( ps, سيد علي ترمذي), more commonly known as Pir Baba (), was a Naqvi Sayyid, and a Sufi who settled in Buner (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) among the Yusufzai Pashtuns. He was probably born in 908 AH (1 ...

and was a close friend of Syed Ahmed Shaheed, was nominated as the head of the government. In 1915, when Swat State came into being after a long period of civil war, Miangul Abdul Wadood (also known as Bacha Sahib) was announced as the head of the state. The

Jirga A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtuns, Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of oth ...

of the village crowned him at Ghalagay. The populace of Ghalegay depends mostly on the agricultural land and River Swat for their living. The village is among the top on educational level, from primary to doctorate. A vast majority of the people are studying and working abroad in Arab countries, Europe and USA. They are now the main source of income for most of the families. A Human Welfare Association is an active society in the town. The society builds excellent streets and sewage system with the help of

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

. Vocational training for females are among the widely admired work of the society. The society is currently running a computer course in their computer lab for females of the town.

Landmarks

Shingerdar stupa

The stupa is located in the village of Shingardar (a village between Ghalegay and Barikot). This stupa is a remnant of Buddhist era, and is one of the thousands ancient monuments in Swat Valley. It was built by Uttarasena, an ancient king of Swat, to enshrine his share of the relics of

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 L ...

. The building of stupa is made of large stones and layers of thin slate. On the way to Mingora there is a statue of Buddha sculptured in a rock on the right side of G.T. road. There are also some remnants in a cave beside this statue. The Shingardar stupa was identified by Colonel Deane and S.A Stein during the British period. Shingerdar Stupa1

References

{{coord, 34.6979761, 72.2474453, display=inline,title Villages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa History of Pakistan Swat District