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 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 Distric ...

and the Gateway of Lower Dir District . It is located north of Malakand near the confluence of 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 s ...

with 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 ...

, in a commanding position near the entrance to

Swat In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

District and at the entrance to Lower Dir District. It is about 130 km from

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

and 40km from

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 t ...

.The Swat Expressway collect

in Chakdara interchange at Pul saoukie.

History

Early stupa 6 meters in diameter with fallen umbrella on side in Chakpat near Chakdara

Chakdara has been an important center for the last 3500 years and is littered with remains of 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 ...

, Buddhist sites, and

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 ...

forts. The ancient route from

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 borde ...

via Nawa Pass and Katkala Pass/Zwalm pul (Bridge) Swat River crosses at Chakdara. The

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

built a fort here in 1586, occupied in 1895 by the British, who built the present fort in 1896 and were forced to defend it during the

Siege of Malakand The siege of Malakand was the 26 July – 2 August 1897 siege of the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial British India's North West Frontier Province.Nevill p. 232 The British faced a force of Pashtun tribesmen whose tribal lands ...

in 1897.

Archaeological sites

Buddhist sculpture of the first to seventh centuries from nearby sites and Hindu Shahi artefacts are now displayed at Chakdara Museum.

Damkot Hill

The most important site in Chakdara is Damkot Hill. The top of Damkot Hill has been excavated and houses with pottery and jewellery have been discovered. These items are now displayed in the Saidu Sharif Museum. At the foot of Damkot Hill at Salami there is an early graveyard. Early settlers buried partially cremated bodies surrounded by everyday utensils. The graves were sealed by large stone slabs. A Buddhist stupa and monastery of the first century AD were excavated by

Ahmad Hasan Dani Ahmad Hassan Dani (Urdu: احمد حسن دانی) FRAS, SI, HI (20 June 1920 – 26 January 2009) was a Pakistani archaeologist, historian, and linguist. He was among the foremost authorities on Central Asian and South Asian archaeology ...

in 1962–65. There are some Buddhist carvings at the foot of the hill. During the Hindu Shahi period a fort was built here which was destroyed in the 11th century. In the 19th century the British occupied this hill. Behind Damkot Hill at Chat pat is the site of a monastery of the late fourth century. The sculpture from this monastery is displayed in Chakdara Museum.

Andaan Dheri

The "Andandheri" or Andaan Dheri is a Buddhist archaeological site in Pakistan, about 4 miles north of Chakdara, excavated by Professor Ahmad Hasan Dani in 1966, for the purpose of establishing a chronology of Gandharan art and architecture. It has been known as the Uchh Stupa, being one mile south of Uchh village. Locally, it has been called Andanheri, meaning "round mound." Even after the site had been looted over the years, Dani's team was still able to "recover" 534 sculptures. Andaan Dheri, an important Buddhist site, is located 7 km north of Chakdara Bridge opposite to Gul Abad Degree College for Boys near the village of Uchh. According to the Buddhist pilgrim

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

this site was connected with a legend about Buddha. According to the legend, Buddha changed himself into a great serpent lying dead in the valley in order to save the people from famine. The starving people cut pieces from the body and fed themselves. According to another tradition,

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 Val ...

is also thought to be the location of the mystical Lake Dhanakosha, birthplace of

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

, founder of Tibetan Buddhism. The

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

sect of Tibetan Buddhism identifies the lake with the Andaan Dheri stupa. A spring was said to flow from the base of the stupa to form the lake. Archaeologists have found the stupa but no spring or lake can be identified.

Other sites

from Andannd Dherai Stupa, there is the Hindu Shahi fort of Kamal Khan Chena (spring, ur, چشمہ), which is now in ruins. From this fort a track leads to Nimogram Buddhist Monastery and Stupa. It has three main stupas, which identify three principles of Buddhism;

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 teacher,

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

(the Buddhist order). Near Chakdara Bridge there are ruins of the Hindu Shahi Period and stupas at Haibatgram, Top Dara and Landakai.

Education

The University of Malakand is located in Chakdara, and other important educational institutions are here, including *Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Malakand *OPF Public SCHOOL (overseas Pakistani foundation) old name, Mashal school *Degree College Gulabad (for boys) *Higher Secondary School (for girls) * FC Public school chakdara * Madeena Medical Center Chakdara, near THQ hospital Chakdara. *Govt Higher Secondary School Chakdara (for boys) *Chakdara Fort, which is an academy for the Chitral Scouts. *Swat public school (chakdara campus) *Cadet college chakdara *And Other Important Is THQ Hospital *FEF Girls Degree College *Polytechnic colleges for Girls and Boys (separately) *Faran Public High school Chakdara

References

{{reflist

External links

Lonely Planet
* ttp://www.sarwartravels.com/dirmuseum.htm Chakdara Museum
The Story of the Malakand Field Force, by Winston Churchill
Lower Dir District Archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Populated places in Lower Dir District Gandhara