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SwatFlaggif
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Swat Mapgif
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Swat
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8,250
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Vrhbosna/Khowar_language" class="copylinks">Khowar (colloquial)
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1849
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28th July 1969
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Government of NWFP
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This is an article about the former State of Swat in Pakistan. For Swat valley, city or ditrict, see Swat (Pakistan) . For other uses, see Swat
The was a
Princely State which existed in the north of the modern
North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan until it was dissolved in 1969.
The Swat region has been inhabited for more than two thousand years and was known in ancient times as
Udyana . The location of Swat has made it an important stopping point for many invaders including
Alexander The Great and the later
Mahmud Of Ghazni . The second century BCE saw Swat forming part of the
Buddhist civilisation of
Gandhara .
The modern area of Swat was ruled sporadically by religious leaders taking the title of Akhund. The secular State of Swat was established in 1849 under Sayyid Akbar Shah but the state was in abeyance from 1863 to 1915. The British recognised the state as a princely state in 1926. At partition in 1947, the ruler acceded the state to Pakistan whilst retaining considerable autonomy. The ruler of Swat was accorded a 15-gun hereditary salute in 1966 but this was soon followed by the abolition of the state in 1969. The royal status of the former ruler was abolished in 1972, but the former ruling family are still accorded a high degree of respect by the people of Swat. The present mayor of Swat district is the grandson of Miangul Jehanzeb.
The people of Swat are mainly
Pashtuns ,
Kohistan is and
Gujar s. Some have very distinct features and claim to be descendants of the army of
Alexander The Great .
The rulers of Swat held the title
Amir -e Shariyat and from 1918 were known as
Badshah ; the title changed to
Wali in 1926 when it became a State of the
Indian Empire .
