The Malakand Pass Peshawar with chitral ( ps, درہ ملاکنډ; ur, ) is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migr ...

Malakand District Malakand District ( ps, ملاکنډ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The District was formed in 1970 as a Provincially Administered Tribal Area, It had previously been a tr ...

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 List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The pass road begins at Dargai. The road across the pass is in good condition, but may often become crowded from a high volume of HGVs. From a viewpoint about one kilometre before the top of the pass, one can see the Swat Canal in the valley below. It was built by the British to channel water 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 s ...

through a tunnel under the Malakand Pass to the plains around

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...

. On the left, Malakand Fort guards the road at the top of the pass. On the other side of the pass, the road descends through the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

of Batkhela, with a

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 ...

Shahi

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

perched above it, and continues past the headworks of the Swat Canal to the Swat River. The first

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

across the river is at Chakdara, which carries the road to

Lower Dir Lower Dir District ( ps, لر / کوز دير ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Timergara city is the district headquarter and largest city. The district was formed in 1996, when Dir District was di ...

and

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 ...

. There was a battle at the pass during the

Chitral Expedition The Chitral Expedition (Urdu:چترال فوجی مہم) was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral, which was under siege after a local coup following the death of the old ruler. An interv ...

. The fort was also the residence of Mughal prince

Rafi-ush-Shan Rafi-ul-Qadr (1671 – 29 March 1712), better known by his title, Rafi' ush-Shan Bahadur, was the third son of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah I. Life and mughal service Rafi' ush-Shan Bahadur was born in delhi to Prince Muazzam (later Bahadur S ...

the son of emperor Bahadur Shah the First and grandson of Emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

History

It came into prominence in 1895 during the

, when 7000

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 r ...

held it against Sir Robert Low's advance, but were easily routed. After the campaign was over a fortified camp was formed on the Malakand to guard the road to Chitral. During the frontier risings of 1897 the Swatis made a determined attack on the Malakand, where 700 were killed, and on the adjacent post of Chakdara, where 2000 were killed. This was the origin of the Malakand Expedition of the same year.

References

{{Castles in Pakistan Malakand District Mountain passes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

History

See also

References