The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion

by Paddy Docherty

Combining personal travelogue with history, Paddy Docherty chronicles the story of the Khyber Pass, the gorge separating Afghanistan from Pakistan and northern India that has been the path of invasion for generations of aspiring conquerors.
Docherty paints a fascinating historical portrait of mountain warriors, religious visionaries, artists, scientists, and figures from Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan—and examines the Pass’s modern significance as a lawless region of gunsmiths, drug smugglers, Taliban fighters and Al Qaeda operatives. Through his own travels in this frontier region (from Pakistan through the Khyber to Kabul), Paddy Docherty brings the Pass’s epic history into the 21st century.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Pakistan, India, War, Islam, Military History

261 pages, US Hardcover Edition

First published May 3, 2007

About the author

Paddy Docherty was educated at Oxford University, where he also won a Blue for boxing and was Junior Dean of Brasenose College. Born in Scotland and raised in Gloucestershire in the west of England, Paddy has also lived in Africa and the Middle East, and currently lives in Prague. He has been a ranch hand, chef, oil & gas consultant, internet entrepreneur, shipbroker and investment banker.

Shortlisted for the Longman/History Today Book of the Year Award 2008, Paddy's first book, The Khyber Pass: a History of Empire & Invasion , was chosen as a Financial Times Book of the Year 2007.

Click here for Paddy on BBC Radio 4 or here for press reviews.

Reviews

[Alexander Mostert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very ambitious book which succeeds triumphantly - Docherty charts the rise and fall of empires and cultures around the famous gateway to India, and it's a highly absorbing read. Starting with the ancient Persians hundred of years before Christianity, he brings it up to the present day and our own soldiers and administrators struggling with the same problems that have hampered every army in Afghanistan. The coverage is vast in scope but always concise and illuminating. There's lots on religion, language and culture too, not just the empires and armies. Read this book!!

[Mosco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alla fiera dell'est

E infine il Signore, sull'angelo della morte, sul macellaio
Che uccise il toro, che bevve l'acqua, che spense il fuoco
Che bruciò il bastone, che picchiò il cane, che morse il gatto
Che si mangiò il topo che al mercato mio padre comprò
Alla fiera dell'est, per due soldi, un topolino mio padre comprò.

Angelo Branduardi

Gente che va e che viene, perde e riconquista, sottomette e viene sottomessa da qualcuno che a distanza di 50 anni viene sottomesso a sua volta da qualcun altro che verrà sottomesso da qualcuno che... eccetera. Un susseguirsi di popoli, date, battaglie, re, imperatori, invasioni, guerre, matrimoni. E basta.
Ciro, Dario, Alessandro, ok: ripasso del liceo. Il resto, la storia di quell'oriente che colpevolmente non conosco, ridotte a un bignamino molto difficile da ricordare, collegare e capire. Il Khyber pass? Ogni tanto qualche esercito lo attraversa, per un verso o per l'altro.
D'altronde, per condensare 2500 anni di storia (parte da Ciro il grande, VI secolo A.C. e arriva ai talebani) in meno di 300 pagine non si può andare molto per il sottile, bisogna correre.
Ricca bibliografia finale, per la maggior parte in inglese.
Risultato, ne so più o meno quanto prima. E, confesso, mi sono stufata e dopo averlo trascinato fin qui, lo mollo a metà.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Khyber Pass, Paddy Docherty, a writer on International issues, takes on the history of Asia Minor, in all its glory- from the Persian Empire that tried to invade Greece in the 500s BC- to the Arrival of the NATO warriors in 2001. What you find out it that if the Ancient and Medieval period seems to boil down to a new tribe with invading impetus arriving in Eastern Europe- out of the Steppes-Every 50-100 years. In Central Asia- it seem more like a Pachinko board- the New tribes come of the steppe- but then have to be "filtered" down from north to south- as well as east and west- as they travel through the myriad of valleys and passes- with the Khyber pass that last one- before the riches and plunder of India. Docherty gives you the whole history of the region at a lightning pace- possibly too fast- but giving attention to an area that tends to get glossed over in the west. Along the way you meet a lot of cool kingdoms and peoples that deserve the same study as the more familiar western ones.

It seems that South Asia has always been an attractive and fabled source of riches throughout this history, but it seems too, that it never appeared out of reach or too well defended. Every Emperor, King, Brigand, Tribal leader, or Adventurer who came into the area- can't resist the attraction. Nor can they seem to have a clear field. Every time- as any army, refugee flow, or Tribal group on the move travel in any direction- war or Raiding ensues. Medians, Achaemenid Persian, Macedonians, Greeks, Successor Hellenistic Kingdoms, Armenians, Azeris, Parthians, Bactrians, Sogdians, Kushans, Sassanid Persians, Romans, White Huns, Arabs, Ghaznavids, the Mongols, Pushtuns, The Mughals and eventually the Sikhs, Russians and British all figure in part of this book- and I've left out a few groups! The "Great Game" of the 19th Century seems to be the least of the struggles over this region-when you see how many other peoples have sought to dominate it all. Overall the effect can be overwhelming- I'm not sure if Docherty spends enough time on each different culture and civilisation, For me. it's a far better book on the Ancient/Medieval period- than it is on the recent history or modern era.

With a lot of Adult themes (lots of palace intrigues all over the place) and some overly frank descriptions of violence (Gerachty likes shocking legends), this is good book for a junior reader over about 12/13. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast, this is as mixed bag. I thought it a GREAT reference for an Ancient/Medieval player/modeller- showing you how Hellenistic Armies (Hoplites/Phalangists/Cataphracts/Peltasts) continued in this region for centuries after Alexander- and can be integrated into/opposed to the Massive Archer Cavalry armies transitioning from the steppes. This is also an area where all sorts of Armies can feature Elephants- a Wargamer favourite! The Book is a lot weaker at the modern end- where there are many better resources- but still a good way of introducing the issues/players of Central Asia.

[Harry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am engaged in a long-running debate with a friend of mine about the relative importance of surprise and insight in making good stories. To my mind, surprise is a feature of bare facts. It is surprising, for instance, that platypuses lay eggs. That is not, however, a compelling story. No one would read a novel which consisted of a plot leading up to the revelation that platypuses lay eggs. Certainly they wouldn't give it a glowing review at the end, anyway. Surprisingness alone does not make a story worthy or good: the famously appalling Wild Animus, for example, is nothing if not surprising. Surprise is merely a precondition of a good story (stories that are neither insightful nor surprising are just bad). Insight is what makes stories worthwhile.

This dynamic extends beyond fiction. A history book that provided no new information—no surprise—would be a waste of paper. Similarly, as I have observed elsewhere, histories which make no attempt at excavating meaning feel incomplete. Surprise without insight is pointless; facts without meaning are useless.

The Khyber Pass leans hard into the facts-or-surprise side of the equation. Happily, many of the facts are little known and therefore new—Docherty's subject lies well outside my sphere and I suspect that of most Western readers. Docherty works hard in each chapter to tie the chronological history of who ruled the Khyber Pass to wider global events (an effort that betrays, to my mind, Docherty's subconscious awareness that the bare facts of Kushans succeeding Mauryans succeeding Hellenes succeeding Achaemenids have no inherent value). Beyond that, though, there is no effort on Docherty's part to derive meaning from the facts in this book. The Khyber has been ruled by a range of people over the years, he tells us. Isn't that interesting?

Well, I suppose so. But why should anyone care?

It's not as if there isn't meaning and insight to mine from Docherty's subject. A theme of the book (which he never makes any effort to surface) is that all the successive forces which dominated India have come from the northwest (or, in the case of the British Empire, have dominated the northwest and then come across the sea because it was faster). Why is that the case? What does it tell us about the geographical and ecological dimensions of history to observe that India has been invaded from flat(tish), temperate lands but not from rugged tropical ones? What does that tell us about power dynamics and how we should think about human relations?

Not sure. Docherty didn't have a word to say about the whole thing. Which rather makes you wonder, upon finishing his book, was this story worthwhile?

[Pang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this book, and I was a bit disappointed by it. The book went through a massive amount of historical information--from Alexander the Great to the present war in Afghanistan. Even though the history of the region was very fascinating to read (and I could tell that the author was passionate about the subject), there were too many details cramped into such a short book for me. Names of people and places started to blur, even though the author attempted to keep each chapter on separate periods/eras. It was still too much for me.

I was also disappointed about the little detail the book covered on the Khyber Pass itself. Out of all 11 chapters, I really enjoyed the first and the last two chapters the most since they covered why Khyber Pass was the strategic location that it'd become. I get it that it was a passage into and out from India, and that it had changed hand from different empires through wars. But I didn't get how the Khyber Pass had played that important role. May be it didn't. I just didn't get it...

I'm still glad I read the book. It was very fascinating and very detailed. The book had made me even more fascinated with the region and its rich cultures and histories.

[Hemen Kalita · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book encompasses the 2500 year long political drama centered around khyber pass, in present day NWF province, Pakistan. Khyber pass was a critical part of the Silk road connecting East asia with Europe. The book starts with the first persian empire in 500 bc and ends with the post 9/11 US overthrown of Taliban from Afghanistan.
The author romanticizes some emperors and in many places mixes fables with historical facts. Otherwise the book is quite good.

[Radiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paddy Docherty has written an outstanding book. I have been searching for a book like this for ages, one that condenses and describes the rise and fall of the area in good detail. It is simply valuable.

A readable history of the rise and fall of empires centered around the Khyber Pass - a piece of mountainous and rugged land that has seen much fighting over the course of history. Starting from Cyrus the Great, Paddy goes on to chronicle the rise of the Persian empire, then the empire of Alexander the Great, before moving on to the Mauryan empire of India, the Greeks and Nomadic tribes of Iranian stock, the Kushans, the Sasanian Persians and the White Huns, the Muslim conquest of the area, Genghis Khan's conquest, Emperor Timur, the rule of the Mughals and the tensions with the Sikhs to the British involvement in India and Afghanistan and finally, the fall of the pass to Pakistan.

What really makes this book readable is Paddy's writing. He is factual as far as I could tell from what little knowledge I possess about the events without straying into his own personal feelings of each conquest, and it is peppered with humour. He also does include some personal experiences, mostly while he describes his journey through the Khyber Pass but overall, I found that he was writing about the events as an observer. He doesn't go too deep into the facts, but writes some background information about the various major players of the events. Through it all, I caught a sense of passion about the history of the pass which was projected in his writing.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into the history of the region and why no country has ever been able to conquer the Afghan area

[Atul Sabnis · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far one of the better histories of a region/place I have read in a long time.

[Arijit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started with a lot of interest - since it covers an area and period which fascinates me. But there are issues.

The author follows a template - asks the reader to visualise each and every actor - be in Cyrus, or Alexander, or Kanishka, or Mahmud, or Genghis etc, even their armies walking around the Khyber Pass, and goes on describing the likely dress, armour etc. The problem is, this style is so repetitive, that it becomes boring after three or four instances. And I've already encountered around twenty, and I'm about halfway reading the book.

And there are factual errors. Timur invaded Delhi in 1398 and defeated a ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty. Docherty named a certain Mahmud here. And what was Jama Masjid doing in Delhi in 1398? By all records, it was established during Shah Jahan's rule - in 1656. Docherty probably confused Timur with Nadir Shah, who came much later. Even the whole incident described here seems to be the one that happened during Nadir's invasion.

And now I've lost interest in the book...because this is lazy authorship, almost to a criminal extent.

[Saju Pillai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paddy Docherty's Khyber Pass is a nearly 2500 year long survey of empires, armies of whom have had occasion to transit through the fabled Khyber Pass - the gateway to India. The book covers the Achaemenids, Alexander, Mauryans, Selucids & Graeco-Bactrians, Kushans, Parthians, Sassanians, the Hepthalites, Shahids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Mongols, Timur, Mughals, Sikhs, the Raj and finally Pakistan - (the Khyber Pass was virtually a traffic jam on the highway of Central Asian & Indian history)

Packing this much of history in under 300 pages is not easy. Docherty nevertheless succeeds at this, for this book is very well written. On a personal note Docherty is awarded multiple brownie points for referring to both Justin Marozzi's and Abraham Eraly's books in the bibliography - both favourite authors of mine. The set of references included in the book are excellent and I have discovered some books by Indian authors that promise to make for exciting reading.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Docherty covers a lot of history in a relatively slim book. For someone unfamiliar with many of the empires and kingdoms that dominated that region of the world, this book was a great introduction to them. If you're looking for an in-depth review, this isn't it.

[Waseem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. My ancestral roots have a deep connection with Khyber Pass, so ready this book was more of an emotional journey for me. Well-researched and I can see the author is passionate about British History, especially British India.

[Zeeshan Butt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just marvelous

[Arjanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good summary of the rich history in the region. A comprehensive biography is provided at the end for further study.

[Jevon Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mildly interesting history of Asia Minor and the subcontinent, told from the geographical perspective of the Khyber Pass. I battled through it, but enjoyed it in parts.

[Rafael Cejas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars. Pleasantly surprised, included many ancient civilizations that I had never heard of before

[Sean Glover · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to Docherty, Cyrus the great and the Ancient Persians; Alexander and the Greeks; the empire of Chandragupta Maurya (Mauryans)and his grandson Ashoka the successor emperor and convert to the Buddhist path of Dhamma around sometime after 300 BC; Greeks from the land of Bactria slightly after 200 BC; the Scythian Shakas that descended from the Iranian horseman, in some way related to the Persians of Cyrus and who characteristically carried their legacy of dominance that originated in the seventh century BC when they violently acquired the territory which is now Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Palestine but mainly occupied a place from the Oxus river (that partially delineates the present border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) to Crimea not excluding raids into the caucuses; the Parthian followers of the Zoraster faith to whom it is said influenced both Buddhism and Judaism with the concept of a redeemer against evil or "World Savior"; the Kushan empire emerging from a Iranian/Aryan nomadic group perhaps reaching it’s height under the king of kings Kanishka who ruled Parts of India and Central Asia and all of modern day Afghanistan and Kabul from his capital in Purushapura in what is modern day Peshawar where it is said that the fourth Buddhist council was held and around 100 CE Mahayana Buddhism emerged to be more unconditional in embracing adherents and was perhaps quite influential in the spread of Buddhism to China; Sasanian Persians of present day Iran and White Hun warriors, an Iranian tribe; Muslims; the Mongols under Genghis Khan and Mongol-Turks under Timur; the Turkic/Mongol child Babar, the conqueror who ruled the Mughal empire in India starting in 1494; the Sikhs who originally were the followers of Guru Nanak; the British Raj whose origins in India are an imperialist, colonialist company that imposed rule for maximum gain in profit and prestige; Afghanistan/Pakistan as we know it today not to mention shoulder launching stinger missiles provided by the US through the CIA to the Afghan Mujahideen all were involved in crossing or controlling the Khyber Pass area. Docherty provided an indepth detailing of the afore framework, which occasionally becomes overly simple in some explanation (which is not entirely inappropriate) and illuminates the history of this Khyber area. I read this some months after Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children but belive the two couldn’t have been more complementary.

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Catchy title + flowery jacket and no follow through.

This is a disappointing book.

Marketed as a discourse on the Khyber Pass, this book is actually a series of short chapters that cover the various powers that have asserted control over the region. Undoubtedly there is a strategic significance and a romantic appeal to the pass. Considering what is happening in Afghanistan, this book's suggested connection could be highly appealing.

Nonetheless, the only thing of significance (and that is entirely questionable) is the final few chapters at the end.

If you want a brief synopsis on ancient empires - and don't want to go too deep - then this book is for you. In, "Khyber Pass," you have a book that does little justice to the empires covered in such a cursory manner. I have no doubt that Paddy Docherty is knowledgeable but he has attempted to do too much in too little a book. This book leaves me longing to read something on the order of MacNiel's "Rise of the West" or Arnold Toyenbee's 12 volume work, "A Study of History".

Both works listed above are dated and could use a fresh re-telling - unfortunately, contemporary writers tend to just cut and paste nowadays.

I am not accusing Docherty of this. However, if he didn't, he may as well have. There really wasn't much on the Khyber Pass itself and that is disappointing. Moreover, since the large part of the book was missing new and original material - save for the final two chapters - the only other thing missing from this book was library dust.

If the book's jacket is to be believed, Docherty is giving us an insight as to what makes the locals of the region are about. Nothing of the sort happens. I feel ripped off.

Too bad I didn't know this in advance. I would never have bought it.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love history books that focus on a geographical region (or food or an object...) rather than military history and sovereign nations. I couldn't resist a book about one of the oldest and most contested routes in history.

I liked the book because I learned about historical peoples that I hadn't known much about before. This book doesn't go into a great deal of detail but it does give you a reference point to learn more. I plan on reading about the Parthians when I get a moment. His observations on how conquest through the Khyber permanently altered the face of nations and peoples and our world as a whole are very important. Turk/hun invasions into India solidifying Islam, Genghis khan’s invasion of Afghanistan and resulting widespread destruction; the Afghan peoples never really recovered, even today. Buddhism's aggressive history in India were interesting to learn about.

Thing is, the author decided to write a date-event-person focused history and the book often is just a "survey" history book rather than a people-centered book. Just an overall lack of attention on cultural and scientific advances, too much emphasis on battles and war. I stopped reading about how he imagined some king might look in full battle dress.

Too bad, because for me, the most interesting part was his epilogue: observations and reflections on traversing from Peshawar to Kabul through the pass. He should have spent more time in reflection as he was telling the histories, also, he should have tried to talk about the culture of the peoples he met.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far, I'm not very impressed. It's a slim book that attempts to cover all the empires/groups/nations/etc that have used or conquered the pass. That's a fascinating subject, but I don't find his writing particularly gripping, nor am I taken by his moments of military tactics/uniforms/etc. By necessity, the book can't go into extreme detail, I don't find that his brief accounts make me want to learn more. But in the interest of fairness, I will note that I read the first 100 pages while my flights were being delayed/rerouted/cancelled/uncancelled in an airport father away from my destination than the city I departed from.

[charles Moffett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding! Docherty's one-and-only written work (to date) puts ethnic, religious, and cultural perspective's up for examination through a chunky, but swift, survey of prior empires that were made and destroyed via that mountain pass. Historical and current issues are made clear in this 21st century world via his summary of the people, places, and participants who have, and are now making said history. I urge all to find time to read Docherty's excellent and yes, outstanding, book. You will be so much more aware. So, read it already!

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does a good job of neatly summarizing the history of the region from the Persian Empire through the current war on terror, however he does not focus very much on the Khyber Pass, or the surrounding are (what is now Khyber Agency in Pakistan and Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan). The book is short and relatively interesting, however it did not focus on the subject area that I was hoping for based on the title.

[Craig Fiebig · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've read Green on Alexander or Steve Coll on Ghost Wars you have a sense for the course of 'Khyber Pass'. The book is worth reading to appreciate the vastness of the conflict passing the narrow walls but its brevity forces a light touch for each era. Great overview and connecting dots but little depth.

[Adiel Simick lepcha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book which has more to do with the history of the region centered around Khyber Pass rather than the history of the pass itself.
It gives a fascinating detail about the various empires ,nations and rulers who controlled the Af-Pak Area from Cyrus ,Alexander and Asoka to Moguls,Sikhs,British and Soviets.

[Gerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Other than the ripping yarn in the Introduction, this book reads much like my high-school history texts: name-date-event, name-date-event. I'm sure it has its uses, but I was hoping for a more subjective experience.

Gerald.
Boychik Lit

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dad returned this to me with no comments...if it was really bad he would have said so...and if it was really good he would have said so too...

[Claire S]

To read: maybe.. want to hear what more have to say, etc.. some criticisms so far would, if more say the same, strongly discourage me..

[Sorabhs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read, fills all the black holes in history that most history books leave behind.

[Amitabh]

History truly comes alive. For someone who was born on a staple diet of Amar Chitra Kathas, this recreates the era of kings, of conquerers...