Swat (Pakistan)
From Wikinfo
- This is an article about the Swat Valley and District in Pakistan. For Swat River, see Swat River. Also see: State of Swat
- For other uses of the name Swat, see Swat.
| Swat | |
| General Information | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province | North West-Frontier Province |
| Coordinates | 34|50|00|N|72|22|00|E|region:PK_type:city|display=inline,title}} |
| Elevation | 850–1,170 m (2,789–3,839 ft) |
| Area | Template:Convert/sqkm |
| Calling code | 0946 |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+5) |
| No. of Towns | 2 |
| Population | 1.5 million (1998) |
| Government | |
| No. of Union Councils | 65 |
| Website | |
| NWFP Government Website | |
Swat (Pashto/Urdu: سوات) is a valley and a district in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. the capital is Saidu Sharif. With high mountains, green meadows, and clear lakes, it is a place of great natural beauty, and until recently a popular destination for tourists. It was a princely state (see State of Swat) in the NWFP until it was dissolved in 1969.
In recent years, militant Islamists in the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) organization, led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah have rebelled against the Pakistani government in Swat. In 59 villages, the militants set up a "parallel government" with Islamic courts imposing sharia law. After a four-month truce ended in late September, 2007, fighting resumed.[1] The Pakistan Army has been deployed to the area, but seems ineffective, indeed cowed. Militants were reported on November 16, 2007 to have captured Alpuri district headquarters in neighboring Shangla. The local police fled without resisting the advancing militant force which, in addition to local militants, also included Uzbek, Tajik and Chechen volunteers.[2]
Contents |
History
Swat has been inhabited for over two thousand years and was known in ancient times as Udyana. The first inhabitants were settled in well-planned towns. The independent monarchs of this region came under Achaemenid influence, before reverting back to local control in the 4th century BC. In 327 BC, Alexander the Great fought his way to Udegram and Barikot. In Greek accounts these towns have been identified as Ora and Bazira. By 305 BC, the region became a part of the Mauryan Empire. Around the 2nd century BC, the area was occupied by Buddhists, the Indo-Greeks, and the Kushans who were attracted by the peace and serenity of the land. Swat is thought to be the probable birthplace of Vajrayana Buddhism. There are many archaeological sites in the district, and Buddhist relics are common, testimony to their skills as sculptors and architects.
Buddhist Heritage of Swat
The Swat museum has the footprints of the Buddha, which were found in the Swat valley and can now be seen in the Swat museum. When the Buddha died, His relics (or ashes) were distributed to seven kings, who built stupas over them for veneration..
The Harmarajika stupa (Taxila) and Butkarha (Swat) stupa at Jamal Garha were among the earliest stupas of Gandhara. These had been erected on the orders of king Ashoka and contained the real relics of the Buddha.
The Gandhara school is probably credited with the first representation of the Buddha in human form, the portrayal of Buddha in his human shape, rather than shown as a symbol.
As Buddhist art developed and spread outside India, the styles developed here were imitated. For example, in China the Gandhara style was imitated in images made of bronze, with a gradual change in the features of these images. Swat, the land of romance and beauty, is celebrated throughout the world as the holy land of Buddhist learning and piety. Swat acquired fame as a place of Buddhist pilgrimage. Buddhist tradition holds that the Buddha himself came to Swat during his last reincarnation as the Guatama Buddha and preached to the people here.
It is said that the Swat was filled with fourteen hundred imposing and beautiful stupas and monasteries, which housed as many as 6,000 gold images of the Buddhist pantheon for worship and education. There are now more than 400 Buddhist sites covering an area of 160 km in Swat valley only. Among the important Buddhist excavation in Swat an important one is Butkarha-I, containing the original relics of the Buddha. Source: Indo Pak Hist till 1951
Islamic militant attacks during November 2007 has caused irreparable loss to the head and damage to shoulders of a Seventh century Buddha statue in the Jihan Abad area. The Buddha statue is considered to be a sole example of Buddhist cultural heritage.The Buddhist statue is considered to be the tallest in asia after the Bamiyan buddhas (which was also destroed by taliban a islamic militant organization which isnsists on practicing islam in purest form .)[3]
Advent of Islam
In the beginning of the 11th century AD, Mahmud of Ghazni advanced through Dir and invaded Swat, defeating Gira, the local ruler, near Udegram. Later, when the King of Kabul Mirza Ulagh Beg attempted to assassinate the dominant chiefs of the Yousafzais they took refuge under the umbrella of the Swati Kings of Swat and Bajour. The whole area was being dominated by the Swati/Jahangiri Sultans of Swat for centuries. According to H. G. Raverty, the Jahangiri Kings of Swat had ruled from Jalalabad to Jehlum. After more than two decades of guerilla war, they were dispossessed by the Yousafzais. The majority of the aboriginal inhabitants of Swat migrated to the Hazara region to the east, where Swatis predominate with their surname Swati, reflecting their link to the region.
State of Swat
see State of Swat
Post 1970 merger
Demographics
The main language of the area is Pashto. The people of Swat are mainly Pashtuns, Kohistanis and Gujars. Some have very distinctive features and claim to be descendants of the army of Alexander the Great.
The people of the Kalam region in northern Swat are known as Kohistanis and speak the Torwali and Kalami languages. There are also some Khowar speakers in the Kalam region. This is because before Kalam came under the rule of Swat it was a region tributary to both Yasin and Chitral and after Yasin itself was assimilated into Chitral the Kalamis paid a tribute of mountain ponies to the Mehtar of Chitral every year.
Tourist attractions
There is a ski resort in Swat at Malam Jabba as well. Malam Jabba is about 40km north east of Saidu Sharif. It is a popular ski resort in Pakistan. The ski slope is also the longest in Pakistan at about 800m.
Administrative Set up
The region has gone through considerable changes over the last few years. Since the dissolution of the princely state.
Local Politics
In August 2001, a new local government system was introduced by the military-led government of Pervez Musharraf. The new system consists of a District Nazim (or mayor) and a deputy Naib Nazim, and the district in turn was subdivided into two tehsils. The first is Swat Tehsil with 52 union councils and the other is Matta Tehsil with 13 union councils. Each tehsil has its own Nazim and Naib Nazim.
The District Nazim is Jamal Nasir Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League and his Naib Nazim is Malik Sadiq Ahmed. Swat Tehsil's Nazim is Fazal Rehman Nono from the Pakistan People's Party , while its Naib Nazim is Shah Dawran from the Awami National Party. In Matta Tehsil, the Nazim is Abdul Jabbar Khan and Zakir Khan both of the Awami National Party. Abdul Jabbar Khan was wounded during an attack on ANP leaders by a gunman on the 21st of September 2007. The attacker killed two people and wounded three members of the ANP including ex-federal minister and central leader of Awami National Party, Mohammad Afzal Khan[4]
Provincial & National Politics
The region elects two Male M.N.A,s and one female M.N.A and seven male M.P.A,s as well as two female M.P.A,s. In the 2002 National and Provincial elections, the Muttahida-Majlis-e-Amal, an alliance of religious political parties won all the seats amidst a wave of anti Americanism that spread after the United States invasion of Afghanistan.
Hotels and Resorts
- Rockcity Resort Fizaghat Swat [2]
Also see
- Akhund of Swat
- Assakenois and Aspasios (ancient people of north-east Afghanistan)
- Padmasambhava
References
- ^ [1], Qayum, Khalid and Ahmed, Khaleeq, "Pakistan Deploys Troops in Swat to Curb Militants (Update 1)", Bloomberg News, October 25, 2007, article references Dawn newspaper in Pakistan, "citing Badshah Gul, home secretary of the province"; accessed November 7, 2007
- ^ "Militants Gain Despite Decree by Musharraf" article by Jane Perlez and Ismail Khan in The New York Times November 15, 2007
- ^ "Seventh century Buddha statue destroyed by militants in Swat".
- ^ Two killed in attack on ANP leader - DAWN
External links
- http://www.eps-swat.org
- Valley Swat Site ( History, Society, Economy, Tourism, Photo Gallery, Art and Architecture, Literature etc )
- Swat Valley site
- Premium Free Photography Collection of Pakistan
- Website of Quarterly Pushtu Journal Meena From Swat
- RoyalArk website on general and dynastic history
- Details on the ruling family of Swat
- Francis Hannaway's Website on Swat
| Administrative Divisions of North-West Frontier Province | 
| |
|---|---|---|
| Capital | Peshawar | |
| Districts | Abbottabad | Bannu | Batagram | Buner | Charsadda | Chitral | Dera Ismail Khan | Hangu | Haripur | Karak | Kohat | Kohistan | Lakki Marwat | Lower Dir | Malakand | Mansehra | Mardan | Nowshera | Peshawar | Shangla District | Swabi | Swat | Tank | Upper Dir | |
Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Swat (Pakistan)" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swat_(Pakistan), used under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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