Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Yusufzai State of Swat

Situated in the North-West Frontier Province of British India and later Pakistan, Swat State has the distinction of not being imposed by an imperial power or an individual but was founded in 1915 by a jarga of a section of the right bank Swat Valley after doing away with the rule of the Nawab of Dir over their areas. The youngest of the rule of the Princely States of India and dependent upon British Indian Government and later Pakistan for currency, post and telegraph, foreign affairs and later on electricity as well Swat State was internally independent. It had its own laws, its own justice, army, police and administration, budget and taxes, and also its own flag with an emblem of a fort in golden green background.
Swat State was probably the only governmental machine in the contemporary world, which was run without superfluity of paper work, opined by Martin Moore. Abdul Jabar Shah was the Originator of the administrative system of the State, the first ruler of the State (1915-1917). This system was modified, developed and refined by his successors at the seat of the State, Miangul Abdul Wadud 1917- 1949 and Miangul Jahanzeb who ruled swat from1949- till the merger of the State in 1969.
1 Civil Administration:
The State being founded by the jarga of a portion of Swat, the jarga had the power to install and depose the Ruler, which it practically exercised in the installation and removal of Abdul Jabbar Shah and also in the installation of Miangul Abdul Wadud. Abdul Wadud, however, gradually made himself complete autocrat and also made the office hereditary. And the rule of primogeniture was followed in succession to the seat.
1.1 The Ruler:
The administrative hierarchy comprised the Ruler on the top and Tahsildar at the bottom. Wali was the official title of the Ruler who was the supreme head of the State, possessing all powers, and the virtual head of all the departments. The Pakistani Government got signed the Government of Swat (Interim Constitution) Act, 1954, by the then Ruler of the State under which the Ruler became bound to constitute an advisory Council, with fifteen elected members and ten members nominated by him. However, no Chief Minister was imposed upon him, who would hold all the powers, as was in the case of the other Princely State; and the Ruler, according to himself, was President of the Council, Chief Minister, and Ruler. After the constitution of the Advisory Council too, in actual practice, the Ruler’s will was the law.

Being transformed into an over centralised State and complete autocracy, the Rulers maintained the centralised political pattern without having to vest absolute local power in any single hierarchy of officers, and by requiring frequent consultations by telephone, they systematically balanced the persons in authority in any one area against each other. The Ruler’s own position, however, was such that his authority was neither balanced nor otherwise curtailed by any other formally constituted body.
1.2 Secretariat:
During Abdul Wadud’s reign, at first there was no such arrangement. Then there was a Secretary, who was responsible for the correspondences with the British Government. He also performed other functions asked for by the Ruler. Later on, however, the Ruler had a Chief Secretary and a Private Secretary in the Secretariat at the Capital. The former maintained correspondence with the British Government and later with the Government of Pakistan. He had also to perform such other duties assigned by the Ruler. The Private Secretary maintained correspondence of the private nature of the Ruler and also performed other functions asked for by the Ruler.
Later posts of Deputy Secretary and Assistant Secretary cum Information Officer were also created. They were to assist the Private Secretary in his duties relating to a number of departments. Besides, a posts of Assistant Secretary was created in the office of the Chief Secretary to assist him in his duties; and there was also a head of the Judicial Department in the Secretariat, at first called Hakim Ala, then Hakim Ala Daftar-e-Hizur, and later Mashir.
1.3 Wali Ahad
Being converted into a monarchy, the Ruler had a Wali Ahad (heir apparent). The heir apparent performed duties of the Ruler in his absence. His status was next to the Ruler within the State. In order to provide the heir apparent with some administrative work and experience, he was entrusted with some responsibilities. He had no authority to discharge or dismiss an official in presence of the Ruler, but had the power on assuming the duties of the Ruler in his absence. He, however, was not authorized to make appointment of any personnel.
1.4 Administrative Officials:
At first the highest administrative official at the centre were the Wazir and Siph Salar (Commander-in Chief). In 1940 the post of Wazir-e-Azam (Prime Minister) was created but was abrogated shortly in 1943, and new posts and designations were created. These were the posts of Wazir-e-Mulk (Minister of State), Wazir-e-Mal (Revenue Minister) and Sipah Salar (Commander-in Chief). These officials assisted the Ruler in the administration of the State. They were in charge of their respective departments and were also assigned with duties of the supervision of various sub-divisions, i.e. Tahsils of the State, and so were in charge of their respective administrative areas for speedy and good administrative purposes

butkara swat

The Buddhist sacred precint of Buutkara identified as the monestry of Ta-Lo, mentioned by Sung Yun (520 AD) visited and described by the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims of the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries AC lies at the eastern end of the ancient capital of Udyana Meng-Chich-Li, present Mingawara. The main Stupa stand in the middle, around it are crowded monuments Stupas, Viharas and columns, on the Northern side stands a great building and further to the north and west the inhabited area. The Great Stupa under event five reconstruction, each new one incasing the oldery from 3rd century B.C down to 10th century A.D.

about swat

The charming Swat, a peaceful and fascinating tract in the lap of vegetative sky-high mountains, with eternal snow on their lofty crests, is an everlasting source of attraction for the visitors. Its beauty attracts tourists from all over the world to enjoy the soothing and serene sceneries, and the friendly behavior of its inhabitants. A visitor entered in Pakistan would never be contented without roaming about Swat. The area of Swat is 4000 sq. miles with a population of about 1250000. Its height is not similar but varies from 2500 ft. to 7500 ft. above sea level.
Due to its fertile soil and favorable climatic conditions, Swat has been the abode of various nations and subjected to historical events from time to time. Though this valley has an ancient history, but in the light of historical documents, its recorded history begins with Alexander The Great, who conquered Swat in 326 BC.Alexander defeated Persia, thenceforth, he entered Swat via Kunar in 326 BC. Buddhism was in full bloom here. The Buddhist ruler fought the Greek invader, but was defeated. Having conquered Swat Alexander proceeded on along the Right Bank of Swat River. Reached Bandai in Nekpikheil, he crossed the river and camped near Manglor. He continued journey through the mountainous passes of Onra, and crossed Indus.The well-known general of Alexander, Salukis, gave Swat to Chandragupta back in 304 BC. Another Buddhist king, Kanishka, shifted his capital from Peshawar to Swat so that he may be peaceful enough to worship his deities with full satisfaction. Then Raja Ram Batti and many other great personalities ruled Swat, and worshipped their gods with full peace and meditation in cloisters. Raja Gira was the last Buddhist ruler of Swat, who was defeated by Mahmood of Ghazni.

In eleventh century, Khwaja Ayyaz went on the Right Bank of Swat River and conquered the areas of Adenzee, Shamozee, Nekpikheil and so on. Mahmood went on the Left Bank of the river, when he reached Hudigram, there was the fort of Raja Gira, strongly built on a high peak. Mahmood commanded the conquest of this fort to an adroit general, Peer Khushal. The conquest of the fort was much more risky, but the order of the supreme commander was complied with.Taking charge, the creative minded general besieged the fort for three days and cut off the underground connection of water link. On the forth day, he attacked the fort. The attack was a serious one and many soldiers were martyred, including Peer Khushal himself, but the fort was captured and since then Mahmood proceeded on and captured the whole Swat.After conquering Swat, Mahmood settled two tribes of Afghan here, i.e. Swati and Dalazak, and went back. Both these tribes were living a happy life till they were driven away by the Yousafzai tribe of Pathans.
King of Kabul, Raja Alagh Baig, who was dethroned by his own tribe, called the help of Yousafzai to gain the imperial power of Afghanistan once again. All the chiefs, and Sardars of the Yousafzai came and supported him strongly. They fought a battle against Tajack, and Alagh Baig became the King of Kabul again.Since then, Yousafzai got an authoritative position in Kabul court and army. The Yousafzai tribe was settled there permanently. But as the king was a Tajack, his wife was Tajack, his friends, and his relatives, shortly all of the concerned people were Tajacks, so the men of his tribe confided him. They told the king that he would be afflicted by Yousafzai one day, because Yousafzai were not from his own race and all the key-posts were in their hands, therefore, they should be removed.Since then Alagh Baig schemed that the Yousafzai should be attacked at night while they are in sound sleep. His army did so, but the force of the king was defeated badly.When the elders of Yousafzai protested, the king cunningly expressed deep sorrows and assured them that some robbers might have taken the action.Alagh Baig now made another plan. He invited all the chiefs of Yousafzai and attacked them while they set to eat. All of the heads were killed, but only two of them, Sardar Malak Ahmed and Sheikh Malee, escaped. Both of the leaders migrated to Peshawar valley along with their tribe-men.Having been there for a period of time, they visited their Afghan Brothers, Swati and Dalazak, in Swat, to win their sympathy. But they, the Yousafzai, were soon attracted by the natural properties of this area. It should be mentioned here that the Yousafzai learned the art of betrayal from Tajack. So they compelled the originally settled Swati and Dalazak to quit Swat, who crossed Indus and took refuge in western Hazara district (Even now, some of the remnants of Swati and Dalazak tribes are found in the remote corners of Swat).Sheikh Mali distributed all the land among the male members of families of his tribe. According to this scheme, these families would change their villages after each decade, and the land of the new village would be distributed among the male family members.(Finally, the land was allotted permanently under the auspices of Bacha Sahib within a period of five years i.e. from 1924 to 1929, and the nomadic life of the residence of this area came to an end.).Sheikh Malee introduced the units of land also. The smallest unit of land was Damray, while the largest unit was Rupee.Having no ruling authority, Swat was subjected to lawlessness and disorder. Internecine feuds were the common feature of this tract. When they were tired of mutual bloodshed, they wanted to choose an impartial man to solve their problems and disputes. For this purpose they called Syed Akbar Shah, but after ruling for five years he died. The next personality convened was Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah. He was a good scholar, and statesman with majestic port. But a well reputed learned man, Sandakay Mullah soon blamed him as Qadyani (a person having belief in the prophet-hood of Mirza Ghulam Amad Qadyani), and so Abdul Jabbar left Swat.In this connection, the other man was Miangul Abdul Wadood, the grandson of Mian Abdul Ghafoor (Sahib-e-Swat). The people entrusted Miangul Abdul Wadood with power in 1915 (But he was formally crowned in 1916 by the council (JARGA) of the chiefs of Swat in the grassy ground of Kabal). (He was the man of vigor and high determination. Formerly, he was the ruler of Swat valley only, but slowly and gradually, he expanded the border of Swat up to Gilgit. Later on he retired and his elder son, Miangul Abdul Haq Jehanzeb was crowned as the “Wali of Swat”. Ruling time of Jehanzeb is considered as the golden period in the history of Swat. All of his reforms i.e. schools, colleges, hospitals, roads, and other communication system were matchless. There was a complete peace and order in Swat. But having the foresight of the future politics and the reaction of the nation, he gave up the ruling power in 1969.
t is painful to recount the events of the recent past. The fascinating valley of swat, during the Ex-Wali regime, presented a picture of the worldly paradise. The Wali of Swat, with unique sense of possession left no stone unturned in beautifying and developing each and every sector of Swat. He did his best, and had very lofty plans for the future. It had no match, and the visitors from all over the world had emotional attachment with the state. After the Wali regime, the officers/officials with no sense of possession, did not bother about the development of Swat with the required zeal and fervor. It not only halted the march to wards prosperity, but also took us to a very dismal state of affairs. The schools, roads, hospitals and the colleges of Swat were fully equipped with the latest trends. The Wali of Swat had plans to establish a university and professional colleges but the dreams remained unfulfilled due to the sudden turn of the table. His plans that soar high to the skies fell to the earth. The roads are no more useable. The schools and the hospitals have no proper system. The institutions have been destroyed, and every one devoid of high sense of national interest, is confined to the personal outlook and personal interests. This sad state of affairs if prolonged will further deteriorate the present infrastructure.

Literature in Swat Through Years.

The beautiful valley of Swat has a unique place in the fields of education and literature. It has produced great intellectuals and scholars. But in this land of amazing beauty, civilizations are forgotten.Various religions have flourished here, and this land has seen their rise and decline. The imprints of their culture can be easily seen in archaeological sites in Swat. Some of the relics are reflective of great inclination towards knowledge. From the Kuldanees to Aryans, Greeks to Mughals and the Britishers, all have left their marks on this land of Pakhtoons. The history of Swat has thus got a shape, reflecting cultural, economic, religious and political glimpses of these nations. We can easily judge from the various aspects of their lives the position of Swat in the files of education then.Renowned historian, late Abdul Haleem Asat Afghani, in his “Swat Da Tareekh Pa Rana Kay”, says that of all the people who came to Swat, the Kuldanees left everlasting imprints of their culture on this land. The Kuldanees maintained sway over Swat from 2500 B.C to 500 B.C. The two inscriptions found from the archeological remains of Khadokhel, which belong to the age of Dareyoosh Kabir, are kept in Lahore Museum. The inscription point out that the relics of Kuldanee culture can be traced on the outskirts of Kanju.Swat, in the past, has been home to Buddhism. Buddhism flourished in Swat and spread to other parts of Asia from here. This great progress became possible due to personal dedication of King Ashoka to Buddhism. During his reign, Buddhism spread to Japan, Tibet, China and Bhutan. Many monasteries have been found, where monks used to live. Some historians consider Swat as the center of Ghandhara civilization. Many eminent Chinese pilgrims came to Swat, and saw the monasteries here. They mentioned in their travelogues the cultural, political, religious and economical aspects of the people of those days. There were monasteries, in which Buddhist teachers imparted education to their students. In 40 A.D. renowned Chinese traveler, Fahyan came to Swat through Hindu Kush and according to him, the religion practiced in Swat and Buner was Buddhism at that time. In 519 A.D. another Chinese traveler, Sangyun, visited Swat via Kafiristan. He writes in his travelogue: “ Buddhism is in full swing in Swat. At night bells are rung in monasteries in such a great number that the sound echoes on the whole valley. Monasteries are situated on the bank of the river Soto (now River Swat). Swat is a fertile land, and people are, by and large, farmers”.In 630 A.D, another famous tourist Haven Tsang came to Swat through Kabul. He writes in his travelogue: “ Buddhism is on the decline in Swat. The monasteries on the banks of River Swat have been deserted”. Haven Tsang pays tributes to the people of Swat by saying that they are good – natured and industrious. The traveler from China was Viking, who came to Swat in 752 A.D, Hebecame a monk in a monastery. The archeological remains and the travelogues of Chinese travelers show that Padma Samnwa, the prophet of the Buddhists, was born in Swat. It is also stated that Chinese traveler, Haven Tsang, took with him, from Swat, as many religious books as could be loaded on 40 horses.International Buddhism University has published a book Udyana (the old name of Swat). The book was written by an old Buddhist ruler, titled as “ Udtana Peta”. Thus, it becomes crystal clear that Swat was the center of learning.After Buddhist, Hindus captured Swat. Their contribution to education and literature is worth mentioning. The inscriptions of the days of Jay Pal Dev, found from the archaeological remains at Barikot, find a mention in book The Pathans. “ The inscriptions are in Sarda alphabet, written in Sanskrit”. It shows that during the reign of Hindus Rajas, Sanskrit was the language of Swat The name of River Swat has also been mentioned in Hindu’s religious book Rig Veda.Famous conqueror Mehmood of Ghazna attacked Swat in 1100 A.D. By defeating the Buddhist ruler Raja Gira, he propagated the teachings if Islam in the area. An inscription has been found from an old mosque. The mosque was built by Mehmood of Ghazna in Odigram, Swat. The inscription, found in 1948, is in Arabic. In this way, the existence of Arabic in old Swat can also be traced.In 1485, the Yousafzai tribe of Pathans, under the leadership of Malik Ahmad and Shaikh Milli, came to Swat and settled here permanently. Malik Ahmad was the chief of the tribe. He was a great statesman, historian, poet and scholar. He wrote two books in Pushto “Dafter-e-Milli” and “Fatah Swat”.Dafteri was a book of prose, which contained laws, and rules of distribution of land. This book was a guideline not only for Yousafzais but for the rest of Pushtoon also, so far as distribution of land was concerned. It is considered as masterpiece of the fourteenth century literature.Fatah Swat was a book of poetry. It contained some very valuable information about the old history of Swat. Both these books are missing today, yet their existence has been confirmed by Major Roverti in his writings. Besides this, great poet of Pushtoons Khushal Khan Khattak has also mentioned in his poetry the “Dafter” of Shaikh Milli. He writes about this book in Swat Nama in the following words;“There are two valuable and virtuous things (books) in Swat, one is Makhzan by Darviza and the other is Dafter by Shaikh Milli.”In fifth century, Bayazid Ansari, called as Pir-i-Rokhan by his followers and Pir-i-Tareek by the opponents, wrote Khair-ul-Bayan. The book was in three languages namely Pushto, Arabic and Persian. One part of the book is autobiographical, while the other part is about the rules pertaining to the recitation of the holy Quran. Though this book is missing today, yet some of its pages are still available.After Bayazid Ansari, Sayed Ali Shah Termizi (Pir Baba) and Akhund Darweza Baba started influencing the people with their religious teaching. Akhund Darweza wrote two books “Tazkera” and “Makhzan”. These two books are considered as the master pieces of Persian and Pushto literature of those days. Akhund Darweza Baba held many religious discussions with Bayazid Ansari. He opposed the teaching of Bayazid Ansari in many ways. Akhund Darweza was a religious scholar. He wrote “Makhzan” as an apology to Bayazid Ansari’s book “Khair-ul-bayan”.In 1050 AD great poet of Pushto Khushal Khan Khattak came to Swat. During his stay in Swat, he wrote “Swat Nama” in verse. It was a great contribution to Pushto literature in Swat. “Swat Nama” contains the geographical, cultural, political and historical aspects of the Swat of those days. We can get a lot of information about Swat of those days from “Swat Nama”. In 1624 AD a book “Tawareekh Hafiz Rahamat Khani” was written. This book is the summary of the Malik Khawaja voluminous book “Twareekh-i-Afghani”. Some very basic information about the old history of Swat is contained in the book. This book was missing for a long time. Latter on the book was found in British Museum, London and was send to Pushto Academy by the Britishers on request. This book was for the first time published by Pushto Academy in 1971. Khan Roshan Khan translated the book in Urdu, and wrote by himself its detailed foreword, in which he has given some valuable information the history of Swat.In 1849 A.D. Sayed Akbar Shah came into power and after his demise great unrest started in Swat. In 1914, Sayed Abdul Jabbar Shah became the king of Swat. The official language of Swat was Persian in those days Sayed Abdul Jabbar was himself a great scholar, poet and historian. He wrote many books on the history of Pathans and Swat. After Sayed Abdul Jabbar Shah, Miangul Abdul Wadood became the ruler of Swat in 1917. Though he had not gotten regular education, yet he had great regard for it. During his reign, a voluminous book of history was written by Asaf Khan. This book is a blind of old and new history of Swat. This book in a way is the autobiography of Badshah Sahib. This book of Asif Khan was source of information, for the letter writes, who tried to write on the historical aspect of Swat. In order to develop Pushto language and literature, Badshah Sahib (ruler of Swat) took the revolutionary steps by making the official Pushto language of Swat. Later on, many important books were translated into Pushto include “Anwar-i-sohaili”, “Tarkeekh Farishta”, “Fatawa Wadudia” and “Mezan Sarf”.Fatawa Wadudia, which contains two volumes, comprises maters about Sharia and other social affairs. The book is written in ordinary language. Both the volumes contain 1180 pages, which were a guideline for every Qazi, in state times. Mezanul Sarf was published in Persian. It is very useful book for the students of religious scholar the rule of Swat published all these books on government costs and were distributed free of cost among the masses.In 1949 Badshah Sahib was succeeded by his son, Miangul Abdul Haq Jehanzeb was an educated person. He spread a network of schools in Swat. He maintained Pushto as the official language of the state. In the connection, the late director of Pushto Academy, Maulana Abdul Qadir, through his correspondence with Wali of Swat, inspired him to do due service to Pushto and the Wali of Swat took great interest in the development of Pushto. On coronation ceremony of the Wali of Swat, “Mushairas” used to be held. Eminent poets from Swat as well as other area participated in these “Mushairas”. Late Fazal-ur-Rahaman Faizan, a great poet of Swat, played a pivotal role in this regard.A scientific and literary magazine was published for the first time from Jehanzeb College in 1949. It was published in three languages, Pushto, Urdu and English. The magazine was called “Eelum” this magazine has been publishing regularly. The services rendered by Shah Yousafzai, to this magazine, are worth mentioning. Sahar Yousafzai took keen interest in the magazine, to make it an ideal one for the generations to come.Journalism in Swat was introduced by a famous person from Mingora, Fazal Khaliq. He, for the first time, published a monthly digest in 1968 under the title “Swat Digest”. It was a digest of high standard. Thus he laid the foundation of modern journalism in Swat. A magazine was also published by the department of Family planning in1966. Department of Information also published a magazine “Riyasat-i-Swat”.The first newspaper published from Swat was the weekly “Falak Sair” by Miangul Farosh of Qandil. Later on by Mian Sayed Umer Nasih tried his best to modevate it.In 1989, Mian Sayed Umer Nasih published a weekly magazine under the title “Sada-i-Swat”. In the same year, Mumtaz Ahmad Buneri published “Sadae-i-Malakand” from Buner/Swat. “Salam” the first daily from Swat was published by Sayed Umer Nasih in 1993. the newspaper on August 1994, Sayed Badar Zaman Saba launched the weekly “Malakand Times”. On August 14, 1994 Niaz Pasha Jadoon launched another daily “Shamal” from Swat.Thus the land of Swat has produced great scholars. Hafiz Alpuri, a great Pushto poet, was one of them. He was a great religious scholar. His poetry no doubt , is masterpiece in Pushto literature. He is as popular as Rahman Baba and Khushal Khan Khattak among Pushtoons. For the promotion of Pushto language and literature a number of literary organizations are playing active role. These organizations are: Swat Adabi Sanga, Nangyal Pushto Adbi Tolana, Naway Tegh Adbi Tolana, Pushto Adbi Lakhkar and Markazi Islami Adbi Tolana.Among the modern poets of Swat, the names of Fazal-ur-Rahman Faizan, Saiful Malook Siddique, Zaibsar and Sahar Yousafzai are worth mentioning. These poets and writers have contributed a lot for the promotion of Pushto literature in Swat. Mohammad Pervesh Shaheen, Sher Afzal Barikoti, Fazal Mehmood Rokhan, Rahim Shah Rahim, Fazal Rabi Rahi, Laiq Zada Laiq and Ibrahim Shabnam are also playing an important role in this regard.

Monday, June 21, 2010

SWAT RIVER


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FIZA GAATH

FIZA GAATH MINGORA SA 3 KM K FASLY PER DRYA SWAT K KENARY AK PARK HA ,

MALAM JABA

MALAM JABA SWAT KA BOLAND TAREEN OR KHOBSORAT MOQAM HA ,YA MINGORA SE 55 KM DOOR HA,