Khyber: The Treasure Land of History

by Muhammad Nawaz Khan

Khyber is not only the name of the historic Pass but also that of the Agency, created by the British in 1878. Besides the famous Grand Trunk Road and Khyber Railway passing through the Khyber Pass, the Agency has two other important routes. One is the Warsak-Shilman route used by many old armies and races and the other is the Bara Shin Kamar route to the famous Tirah area. The Eastern portions of the Pass, the Khajuri plains around Bara and Tirah, are inhabited by the Afridis while the Western portion is the abode of the Shinwaris. The Shilmanis live along the older route, whereas the Mullagoris inhabit the hilly area near Warsak, which has gained considerable fame due to the existence of white marble mines.

While traveling through the Khyber Pass, one can see the Bab-e-Khyber, the Fatehgarh Fort of Jamrud, old bridges, British forts. pickets and cemetery, the prison of Amir Taimur (RA), the walls- of Akbar’s fort at Kafirkot and the Buddhist stupa, known as ‘Sphola Stupa’, besides many shrines of Muslim saints and martyrs of battles against the Mughals, Sikhs and the British.

There are many books on the Khyber and the Afridis. The author has also written about the Pass, forts, monuments, publications and people of the Khyber Agency. These articles were published in “The Frontier Post Peshawar”. These articles are now being presented in a book for the interest of historians and tourists.

82 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2004

About the author

Muhammad Nawaz Khan was a Pakistani army officer, author, historian, columnist and poet, born on 23rd November 1943 in Shahbaz Garhi, Mardan. His literary career started in 1957 when he wrote a novella and a poem and continued till his death in 2015. He wrote extensively about the history of north-western Pakistan, the Gandhara region, the Pukhtoon people of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the British Raj, in English, Urdu and Pashto languages.

After graduating (B.Sc. Hons) from the College of Agriculture, University of Peshawar, he joined Pakistan Army and served as part of the prestigious Frontier Force Regiment (FF) for 25 years, from 1966 till 1991. He also served as the Wing Commander at the historical Balahisar Fort in Peshawar, the Headquarters of Frontier Corps. During this time, he was also the official historian of Frontier Corps.

He was also a member of the NWFP government's Roundtable on Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Development and member of NWFP government's Experts Committee for assisting and advising Departments of Archaeology and Culture regarding protection, preservation and development of cultural, archaeological and architectural heritage of the province.

Nawaz was the proprietor/editor of the Gandhara Times Peshawar, which was launched for the preservation of cultural heritage and promotion of tourism in Pakistan. He also managed Gandhara Markaz, which publishes historical books and brochures. He also worked on a number of history/tourism projects for the Frontier Corps (N.W.F.P.) Frontier Constabulary, Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Frontier Corps Foundation, Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), Pearl Continental Hotel, Peshawar, and Sarhad Tourism Corporation (STC).

Reviews

[Babur Khan (The Pukhtoon Bibliophile) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I grew up right next to Khyber in Peshawar, I've never had a chance to travel through the region. However, since the region is pretty much part of Peshawar and Peshawari culture, I had heard a lot about it.
Reading this book helped me learn more about the history of the region. Generally when we talk about Khyber these days we only read about the region in the context of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan or post 9/11 Afghanistan. This book gives a nice walk through history without focusing on all of that.
Overall a good read. Definitely draws a detailed picture of the region and makes you wanna go and walk the Ancient trails.