Sultanate of Swat
The Sultanate of Swat was a medieval kingdom of Dardic Gabari[1] origin centred around the city of Manglawar between the 12th and 16th centuries. It was the strongest of the several Dardic-speaking states in the region,[2] encompassing the present-day Malakand, Buner, Swat and Dir valleys, as well as the Kohistan region.[3][4] The sultanate has been attested to by numerous medieval muslim historians such as in the Tabaqat-i Nasiri and the Baburnama.[5]
Origins
[edit]The sultanate of Swat also referred to as the 'Jehangiri dynasty' or the 'Gibari sultanate' came from the Gibari tribe of muslims who were ancient converts from Zoroastrianism.[6] It's hypothesised by H. W. Bellew that the tribe migrated to the Gandhara region during the Indo-Parthian rule, which, alongside a native Gandharan dynasty known as the Apracharajas, ruled Gandhara up until the Kushan Empire conquests in c. 78 CE.
The tribe was centred in numerous areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Bajaur, Swat and north-eastern Afghanistan with some villages in the Chitral area.[7] Their language is referred to as the Gawri language belonging to the Kohistani language subgroup. The sultanates family tradition states they descend from Dhu al-Qarnayn or Cyrus the Great via a daughter of his and that their family originally ruled the Pech Valley of Afghanistan.[8]
History
[edit]The sultanate was originally formed in 1190 CE by Sultan Bahram and Sultan Fahkal Gibari, being two brothers who ruled adjacently. Their family originally ruled the Pech Valley based in the Kunar Province of north-east Afghanistan.[8] Sultan Fakhal invaded Swat from the Pech Valley and was opposed by a local ruler centred in the city of Udigram noted as Raja Gira. A battle ensued near Malakand leading to four of Sultan Fakhal's sons being killed but he was eventually victorious after besieging Raja Gira. This victory allowed the Gibari's to control the regions of Swat, Buner and Bajaur.[9] Sultan Bahram soon after settled thousands of Khalaj Turks and Tajiks accross the Indus River region namely in the in the province of Hazara after expelling all of the local Hindu natives as a precautionary measure against the nearby Gakhars.[9]
The sultanate was orignally a vassal state of the Ghurid dynasty and ruled a large territory encompassing most of northern and central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with their Afghanistan branch ruling the North-east including Kabul, Laghman and Badakhshan.[10]
During the most of 15th century, the kingdom bordered Kashmir Sultanate to the east, Delhi Sultanate to the south, Timurid Empire to the west and the kingdom of Chitral to the north.[11] The last notable ruler was Sultan Awes Jahangiri,[11][4] during whose reign Swat was ultimately conquered between 1510 and 1518 after a series of battles by Yousafza'i Pashtuns under the leadership of Malik Ahmad Baba.[12] This led to the Pashtunization of the Swat and Dir regions.[12] Some accounts trace the origins of Shah Mir dynasty of Kashmir from these rulers of Swat.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ Arlinghaus (1988), pp. 190–191: The family of the sultans of Swat and the nobility spoke Gibri, the Dardic language of Bajaur, and the common people spoke Yadri, another Dardic language.
- ^ Arlinghaus (1988), p. 177: The Jahangiri sultans of Swat were most powerful of several local rulers in the Dardic-speaking regions.
- ^ Arlinghaus (1988), p. 177.
- ^ a b Inam-ur-Rahim & Viaro (2002), p. 68.
- ^ Akhundzada, Arif H. "The Kingdom of Swat and the Lost Tajiks of North Pakistan": 24.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Akhundzada, Arif H. "The Kingdom of Swat and the Lost Tajiks of North Pakistan": 23.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "An Inquiry Into the Ethnography of Afghanistan/Page 1-25 - Jatland Wiki". www.jatland.com. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ a b Akhundzada, Arif H. "The Kingdom of Swat and the Lost Tajiks of North Pakistan": 25.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b Akhundzada, Arif H. "The Kingdom of Swat and the Lost Tajiks of North Pakistan": 27.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Akhundzada, Arif H. "The Kingdom of Swat and the Lost Tajiks of North Pakistan": 26.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b Arlinghaus (1988), p. 191.
- ^ a b Arlinghaus (1988), p. 193.
- ^ Hasan (2023), p. 42.
Sources
[edit]- Arlinghaus, Joseph Theodore (1988). The Transformation of Afghan Tribal Society: Tribal Expansion, Mughal Imperialism and the Roshaniyya Insurrection, 1450–1600. Duke University. OCLC 247004965.
- Inam-ur-Rahim; Viaro, Alain M. (2002). Swat: An Afghan Society in Pakistan: Urbanisation and Change in Tribal Environment. Karachi: City Press. ISBN 978-969-8380-55-7.
- Hasan, Mohibbul (2023). Kashmir Under the Sultans. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-66670-9.