Where is Swat?
The mountain valley of Swat, covering 10,360 sqkm, is about 170km north-east of the NWFP capital, Peshawar, and about 160km north-west of Islamabad. With its clean river, open fields and forests, tourism has traditionally been the main source of revenue for many of its 1.8 million people, most of whom are ethnic Pashtuns. What is the history of Swat? In 327 BC, Alexander the Great conquered the area. Around the second century BC, the valley was occupied by Buddhists. From the eighth century onwards, Islamic Arab leaders started to exert pressure from the west and in 1001, the Afghan ruler, Mahmud of Ghazni, launched several invasions of the Indian sub-continent, conquering Swat. The British, colonial rulers of the Indian sub-continent from 1858 to 1947, recognised the state as one of many princely regions in India in 1926. At Partition in 1947, when Pakistan broke away from India and independence was gained from Britain, the ruler of Swat ceded the state to Pakistan while retaining con
