the swat region has been inhabited more 2 thousand years , known in ancient times udyana. location of swat made important stopping point many invaders, including alexander great , sultan mahmud of ghazni. in second century bce, swat formed part of buddhist civilisation of gandhara.
swat center of hinayana buddhism , of mahayana school developed it. chinese pilgrim fa-hsien, visited valley around 403 ce, mentions 500 monasteries. after him, sun yun (519 ce), xuanzang (630 ce), , wu-kung (752 ce) visited swat , praised richness of region, favourable climate, abundance of forest, flowers , fruit-trees , respect in buddhism held.
the kushan dynasty ruled 4 centuries until overrun white huns in 5th century ce , glory of gandhara era came end. xuanzang recorded decline of buddhism. according him, of 1400 monasteries had supposedly been there, in ruins or had been abandoned. monks still quoted scriptures no longer understood them. there grapes in abundance cultivation of fields sparse.
from 8th century ce onwards, muslim arabs started exert pressure west towards areas hindu shahi dynasty still ruled. @ beginning of 8th century, various pashtun , turkic tribes advanced through laghman, ningarhar, , dir invade swat, defeating buddhists , hindus , seized control in parts of swat area. later in 1519 , 1520 ousted in turn yusufzais backed mughal badshah zahiruddin muhammad babur.
the modern area of swat ruled sporadically religious leaders, variously took title of akhoond, spelt akhund or akond. akhund of swat died in 1878 particularly famous subject of known humorist poem edward lear, akond of swat. nonsensical poem suggests far away place , mystical person, @ least through eyes of victorian poet , painter.
the islamic state of swat established in 1849 under sayyid akbar shah sharia law remaining in force, state in abeyance 1878 1915. thereafter sayyid abdul-jabbar khan, nephew of sayyid akbar shah, made ruler local jirga , had trouble exercising power. in 1917 jirga appointed miangul golshahzada abdul-wadud, founder of dynasty of swat. british recognised ruler , state princely state in 1926. following independence of pakistan in 1947, ruler acceded state pakistan, while retaining considerable autonomy. ruler of swat accorded 15-gun hereditary salute in 1966, followed abolition of state in 1969 government of pakistan.
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