Hund (

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

: ), known in antiquity as Udabhandapura, is a small

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

Swabi district Swabi District ( ps, سوابۍ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in the Mardan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It lies between the Indus and Kabul Rivers. Before becoming a district in 1988, it was a tehsil wit ...

, situated on the right bank of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmi ...

in the

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 ...

province of

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 ...

. It is about 15 km upstream of

Attock Fort , partof = the History of Pakistan , location = Attock, Punjab region , image = Attock Fort - Optographer.jpg , image_size = 280px , caption = , coordinates = , map_type = Pakistan , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Pak ...

and is located 80 km to the east of

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 ...

. It was the site of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

's crossing of the Indus in 327 BC, and an important site of

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 ...

ruins. It is also the site of Hund Museum.

History

It was

Turk Shahi The Turk Shahis or Kabul Shahis were a dynasty of Western Turk, or mixed Turko-Hephthalite, origin, that ruled from Kabul and Kapisa to Gandhara in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. They may have been of Khalaj ethnicity."The new rulers of Kabul ...

capital of Gandhara, which possibly functioned as a winter capital alternating with the summer capital of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

, within their kingdom of Kapisa-

in the 7-9th century AD."The capital of the state of Kapisa–Gandhara (possibly, its winter capital) was Udabhandapura, now the settlement of Hund, situated on the right bank of the Kabul river. Most of the city was surrounded by a defensive rampart." in Hund was also the last capital of Gandhara, following

Charsadda Chārsadda ( ps, چارسده; ; ur, ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

(then

Pushkalavati Pushkalavati ( ps, پشکلاوتي; Urdu: ; Sanskrit: ; Prākrit: ; grc, Πευκελαῶτις ) or Pushkaravati ( Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ), and later Shaikhan Dheri ( ps, شېخان ډېرۍ; ur, ), was the capital of the Gandhara kingd ...

) and

(then known as Purushapura), under the

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 ...

rulers until the beginning of 11th century AD, when

Mahmud of Ghazni Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn ( fa, ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( fa, ), was the founder of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 998 to 1030. At t ...

defeated

Anandapala 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 r ...

, the last Hindu Shahi ruler in

. The Hindu Shahi capital was then shifted to

Nandana Nandana or Nandna ( pnb, ) was a fort built at strategic location on a hilly range on the eastern flanks of the Salt Range in Punjab Pakistan. Its ruins, including those of a town and a temple, are present. It was ruled by the Hindu Shahi king ...

in the

Salt Range The Salt Range ( pnb, ) is a mountain range in the north of Punjab province of Pakistan, deriving its name from its extensive deposits of rock salt. The range extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River. Th ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

. It has also been said that the Mongol invader

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; ; xng, Temüjin, script=Latn; ., name=Temujin – August 25, 1227) was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in history a ...

also followed Khwarezm Shah up to Hund, before the prince jumped into the Indus River on his way to India.

Geography

The village Hund is surrounded by a fort, remains of which are still visible. There were four gates of the walled city which are visible till to date and were used as entry and exit points. It is said that of the walled city a deep trench was also dug to control un authorized entry. The trench was crossed by a movable wooden bridge which used to be lifted at night by the guards of the gates and Garrison closed at night. According to some historians there was a tunnel inside the walled city which connected Hund Garrison with Attock Fort so that both Garrisons can reinforce each other in case of attack and used the tunnel as a withdrawal route in case a Garrison fell into enemy hands. Old relics and remains of ancient civilizations have been found in the village after excavation work was undertaken by the government in recent past. The history and past glory of the Hund has been preserved by the govt by constructing a museum in the village on the bank of river Indus. A replica of tower of Olympia has also been constructed watching the mighty Indus in the memory of Alexander the Great who crossed river Indus and stayed in Hund during his last military campaign of the Indian sub continent.

Settlements

The settlements of Balar Khel are mainly in villages Zaida, Maini, Yaqubi, Yar Hussain, Hund,

Ambar Ambar may refer to: * Hambar, a Balkan or Central European building for drying maize * Arda (Middle-earth) The cosmology of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium combines aspects of Christian theology and metaphysics with pre-modern cosmological conce ...

, Lahor, Kaddi and

Panj Pir Panjpir (Urduپنج پیر) is a town and Union council of Swabi District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan that is surrounded by Shahmansoor, Kaddi, Thand Kohi, Bam Khel, Dara and Ismailabad.Panj peer means five Sufi Sanits. Distric ...

Swabi District Swabi District ( ps, سوابۍ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in the Mardan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It lies between the Indus and Kabul Rivers. Before becoming a district in 1988, it was a tehsil wit ...

. File:Museo d'Arte Orientale, Torino 05.jpg, Buddhist Devata statue from Hund, 6-7th century AD.

Museum of Oriental Art (Turin) The ''Museum of Oriental Art'' ( it, Museo d'Arte Orientale, also known by the acronym ''MAO'') is a museum located in a 17th-century palazzo in the city of Turin, Italy. The museum contains one of the most important collections of Asian art in I ...

File:Pakistan, hund, devata maschile, vi-vii sec.JPG, Buddhist Devata, 6-7th century AD, Hund.

File:Hund_Museum.JPG, Hund Museum

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Swabi District Archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Kabul Shahi History of Buddhism in Pakistan History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Populated places along the Silk Road Gandhara Swabi District

History

Geography

Settlements

See also

References