places Categories: Attractions and Hill Stations
The Malakand Pass is a mountain pass in Malakand District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The pass road begins at Dargai. The road across the pass is in good condition, but is always crowded with a continuous stream of trucks.
The pass road begins at Dargai. The road across the pass is in good condition, but is always crowded with a continuous stream of trucks. From a viewpoint about one kilometre before the top of the pass, one can see the Swat Canal in the valley below. It was built by the British to channel water from the Swat River through a tunnel under the Malakand Pass to the plains around Mardan.
On the left, Malakand Fort guards the road at the top of the pass. On the other side of the pass, the road descends through the market town of Batkhela, with a Hindu Shahi fort perched above it, and continues past the headworks of the Swat Canal to the Swat River. The first bridge across the river is at Chakdara, which carries the road to Lower Dir and Chitral. There was a battle at the pass during the Chitral Expedition. The fort was also the residence of Mughal prince Rafi-ush-Shan the son of emperor Bahadur Shah 1 and grandson of Emperor Aurangzeb.
A part of Malakand is occupied by the Uthmankhel clan of Pukhntoons (Pathans), while towards the south, at the bottom of Malakand Pass, live the Ranizais known as Sam Ranizai. Those living beyond the pass towards Swat are Swat Ranizai. This is also evident in the administration division; where one is called the Swat Ranizai and the other as Sam Ranizai.
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