Overland to London - Swat Valley

 

Swat River in Swat Valley

Day 24    Wed 18 June         RAWALPINDI – SWAT

DEPARTURE TIME: 7.30              Tach reading: 135,434          Distance run: 279 kms                                                          

        First we will drive up to Islamabad, the new capital of Pakistan, for a quick look, then head to the Peshawar road. Not far from the two cities is the ancient ruined city of Taxila, occupied by Alexander the Great after one of his great battles with the Indians.

The ruins of ancient Taxila

Taxila was occupied by 7 successive invaders until it was finally abandoned some time after the 7^th century. Ruins are scattered over some 25 square miles, but the main area, known as Sirkap, has a strange mixture of architecture including Jain temples, Greek Corinthian columns, Indian pavilions and Scythian eagles as well as many Buddhist remains, including an Ashokan Stupa.

        

    We will spend a short time at Taxila before pressing on to Nowshera where we turn off the  Peshawar  road and head up over the Malakand Pass and into the beautiful Swat Valley. 

The road through the Malakand Pass

    The road winds up through the rocky mountains to the top of the Malakand Pass, Near the summit is a sign that indicates the 'Churchill Picket'. In 1897, Winston Churchill had joined the Malakand Field Force because 'Like most young fools, I was looking for trouble.'  In The Story of the Malakand Field Force, Churchill describes the area around the picket: "The road passes along a narrow stone causeway between the river and the spur. Here is the Landakai position, or as the tribesmen have for centuries called it "Gate of Swat."  Beyond this gate is Upper Swat, the ancient, beautiful and mysterious 'Udyana'."   

    

    The Siege of the  British Garrison at Malakand by Yusufzai Pathan tribesmen led by Saidullah, known to the British as the 'Mad Fakir of Swat', lasted between 26 July & 2 August 1897. The tribal lands of these tribesmen had been bisected by the Durand Line, drawn up in 1893 as the border between Afghanistan and British India. It was all part of the 'Great Game' and the tribesmen were not happy. The siege was lifted by a relief column of which Second Lieutenant Winston Churchill was part.  As the British had the use of Maxim guns, the casualties among the tribesmen were high, over 2000 killed as opposed to less than 200 in the British force. Churchill, in his eloquent way, further describes the situation: “It is no exaggeration to say, that perhaps half the tribesmen who attacked the Malakand, had thought that the soldiers there were the only troops that the Sirkar (The Government) possessed. "Kill these," they said, "and all is done." What did they know of the distant regiments which the telegraph wires were drawing, from far down in the south of India? Little did they realise they had set the world humming; that military officers were hurrying 7000 miles by sea and land from England, to the camps among the mountains; that long trains were carrying ammunition, material and supplies from distant depots to the front; that astute financiers were considering in what degree their action had affected the ratio between silver and gold, or that sharp politicians were wondering how the outbreak in Swat might be made to influence the impending bye-elections. These ignorant tribesmen had no conception of the sensitiveness of modern civilisation, which thrills and quivers in every part of its vast and complex system at the slightest touch. They only saw the forts and camps on the Malakand Pass and the swinging bridge across the river.”

Local bus in the Malakand Pass

As Churchill mentioned, Swat is believed to be Uddayana, the ‘garden, or orchard’ of Buddhist trantric literature. It was one of the cradles of Buddhism and is still regarded by Tibetans as a holy land – the famous ‘second Buddha, Padmasambhava (‘lotus-born) was said to have been born here in the 8^th century. It is the ‘land of stirring beauty’ where Alexander the Great fought several decisive battles in the 3^rd century BC, before setting out to conquer the Indus plains. 

    Today Swat is of archaeological importance as well as of scenic interest and, as such, is a popular resort. We will be staying at the Swat Hotel in Saidu Sharif. 

Day 25    Thu 19 June                SWAT

Free day in the administrative area of Swat, known as Saidu Sharif. There is the Swat Museum which has many examples of the Greco-Buddhist school of sculpture of Gandhara. Gandharan art is only found in this region and in Taxila. Near Saidu Sharif which, incidentally, is named after a Moslem saint, is the commercial centre of Mingora which has a small bazaar. Locals in an inflated goat-skin boat, Swat River     The people of this valley are a branch of the Pashto speaking peoples known commonly as the Pathans, of which we will hear a lot more in the Khyber Pass. The tribe of Pathans who live in Swat are known as the Yusufzais. These people, who also inhabit much of Afghanistan, are a fiercely independent people with their own unique code of honour known as Pukhtunwali - ‘the way of the Pathan’. They have never really been subdued by any invader, be they Moghul, Sikh or British, and now the Russians are finding out the hard way in Afghanistan. As long as the Pathans are NOT left to govern themselves by their own methods, there can never be peace on the North-West Frontier (Khyber Pakhtunkwa). Puktunwali – ‘the way of the Pathan’ is best described by American diplomat James W. Spain in The Way of the Pathans: “They think of themselves as Afridis, Wazirs, Mahsuds, etc., and their first allegiance is inevitably to their own clan. They live according to their own law, called Pukhtunwali, ‘the way of the Pathan’. Theirs is a rough and untrammelled democracy tempered only a little by the hereditary prestige of certain families and by the authority of their maliks, or chieftains, whose influence is based primarily on personal bravery, wisdom and strength.” Pakistan has allowed these people a great deal of freedom and autonomy – President Ayub Khan was a Pathan – and therefore now has little trouble, but since the recent Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, the position there is much different and blood will be shed in this area for some time to come.   Pathan with hand-crafted mill stone & village of Bahrain, Upper Swat Valley Day 26    Fri 20 June           SWAT – PESHAWAR Departure time: 8.00                  Tach reading: 135,713            Distance run: 165kms           This morning we return back over the road we came up on, through the Malakand Pass once again to the Grand Trunk Road at Nowshera, then it is a straight run  to Peshwar, the main city in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier (Khyber Pakhtunkwa) Province.            Peshawar itself, has been in the news lately as being one of the main centres for refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and from here, many of the Afghan resistance leaders (mujahideen) raise support for their cause. The city is of strategic importance, as it lies at the foot of the famous Khyber Pass and now, as during the days of the British, it is important as a garrison town. In Peshawar we will be staying at the Park Hotel in the old City. text & photographs ©Neil Rawlins  Instagram accounts  @dustonmyfeet     and    @antipodeanneil My paperbacks and ebooks on my Overland travels in Asia, Europe & Africa in the early 1970s and the experiences of a tour guide on the Asian Overland routes & leading Camel Safaris in Rajasthan in the 1980s are available from Amazon.