Swat District

An 1869 photo of a Buddha statue seated on a lotus throne in Swat Valley

Historically known as Uddiyana, Tantric Buddhism flourished under King Indrabhuti. However, there is an old and well-known scholarly dispute as to whether Uddiyana was in the Swat Valley, Orissa, or somewhere else. Padmasambhava (flourished eighth century AD), also called Guru Rimpoche, Tibetan Slob-upon (teacher), or Padma 'Byung-gas (lotus born), semi-legendary Indian Buddhist mystic who introduced Tantric Buddhism to Tibet was, according to tradition, native from Uddiyana.[17] He is revered as the second Buddha in Tibet. Padmasambhava is said to be the son of Indrabhuti, king of Swat in the early eighth century AD and one of the original Siddhas. Indrabhuti's sister, Lakshminkaradevi, is also said being an accomplished Siddha of the 9th century AD.[18]

Ancient Gandhara, the valley of Pekhawar, with the adjacent hilly regions of Swat, Buner, Dir, and Bajaur, was one of the earliest centers of Buddhist religion and culture following the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, in the third century BC. The name Gandhara first occurs in the Rigveda which is usually identified with the region[19]

Buddhism heritage site in Swat Valley

The Gandhara school is credited with the first representations of the Buddha in human form, rather symbolically as the wheel of the law, the tree, etc.

Amlukdara stupa

Swat was ruled by the Hindu Shahi dynasty, who built an extensive array of temples and other architectural buildings, now in ruins. Sanskrit may have been the lingua franca of the locals.[20]

Hindu Shahi rulers built fortresses to guard and tax the commerce through this area. Their ruins can be seen in the hills of Swat: at Malakand pass at Swat's southern entrance.[21]

At the end of the Mauryan period (324–185 BC), Buddhism spread in the whole Swat Valley, which became a very famous center of Buddhist religion.

After a Buddhist phase the Hindu religion reasserted itself, so that at the time of the Muslim conquest (1000 AD) the population was solidly Hindu.[16]^:19

Main Building of Saidu Sharif Hospital

In 1023, Mahmud of Ghazni attacked Swat and crushed the last Buddhist King, Raja Gira in battle. y.[22]

Swat Valley, located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, has many Buddhist carvings, statues, and stupas. The town of Jehanabad contains a Seated Buddha statue.[23] Kushan-era Buddhist stupas and statues in Swat Valley were demolished by the Taliban, and after two attempts by the Taliban,[24] the Jehanabad Buddha's face was dynamited.[25][26][27] Only the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, which the Taliban also demolished, were larger than the Buddha statue in Swat.[28] The government did nothing to safeguard the statue after the initial attempt at destroying the Buddha, which did not cause permanent harm; when the second attack took place on the statue, the feet, shoulders, and face were demolished.[29] Islamists (particularly the Taliban) and looters destroyed many of Pakistan's Buddhist artifacts, which dated to the Buddhist Gandhara civilization.[30] The Taliban deliberately targeted Gandhara Buddhist relics for destruction.[31] Gandhara artifacts were thereafter plundered by thieves and smugglers.[32] In 2009, the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocsece of Lahore, Lawrence John Saldanha, wrote a letter to Pakistan's government denouncing the Taliban activities in Swat Valley, including their destruction of Buddha statues and their attacks on Christians, Sikhs, and Hindus.[33] A group of Italians helped repair the Buddha.[34]

Utror is a secondary valley in Swat.

As mentioned above, Swat lies in the lap of mountainous ranges, which are the offshoots of Hindukush, so the larger part of Swat is covered with high mountains and hills, the crests of which are hidden by everlasting snow. Though these gigantic ranges run irregularly: some to the west while the others to the east, the general direction is North-South.

The length of the valley from Landakay to Gabral is 91 miles. Two narrow strips of plains run along the banks of Swat River from Landakay to Madyan. Beyond Madyan in Kohistan-e-Swat, the plain is too little to be mentioned. So far as the width concerns, it is not similar, it varies from place to place. We can say that the average width is 5 miles. The widest portion of the valley is between Barikot and Khwaza Khela. The widest viewpoint and the charming sight where a major portion of the valley is seen is at Gulibagh on the main road, which leads to Madyan.

Gwalerai village located near Mingora is one of those few villages which produces 18 varieties of apples due to its temperate climate in summer. The apple produced here is consumed in Pakistan as well as exported to other countries. It is known as ‘the apple of Swat’.[38] Swat is famous for peach production mostly grown in the valley bottom plains and accounts for about 80% of the peach production of the country. Mostly marketed in the national markets with a brand name of "Swat Peaches". The supply starts from April and continues till September because of a diverse range of varieties grown.

The region elects three male members of the National Assembly of Pakistan (MNAs), one female MNA, seven male members of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (MPAs)[45] and two female MPAS. In the 2002 National and Provincial elections, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an alliance of religious political parties, won all the seats.