Swat Museum

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Swat Museum
Swat Museum.jpg
Swat Museum
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Swat Museum
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Swat Museum (Gandhara)
Location Swat District
Coordinates 34°45′49″N72°21′34″E / 34.763487°N 72.359382°E / 34.763487; 72.359382
TypeArchaeological

Swat Museum is a museum located in Mingora, on the road connecting Mingora and Saidu Sharif in the Swat District of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. [1]

Contents

History

The museum was conceived in 1959 under the aegis of the Italian Archaeological Mission to Swat and the Wali of Swat to contain his personal collection of artifacts. [2] It was later expanded with the assistance of the Japanese government. [3] However, it was badly damaged in the Kashmir earthquake in 2005. With the war between the Pakistan government and Taliban in 2007, the museum was closed and its contents were moved to Taxila, this proved lucky as a bomb exploded nearby in February, 2008 that killing many people and damaged the museum severely. The 2,700 objects were returned to the museum in July 2011, [4] and a new seismic-resistant museum was opened on December 11, 2014. [5]

Collection

Location of Swat Museum in Mingora city. Swat Museum in Mingora city.jpg
Location of Swat Museum in Mingora city.

The museum contains Gandharan statuettes and friezes depicting the lives of the Buddha along with seals, small reliquaries and other treasures, mostly from Butkara No 1 and Odigram. Additionally, there are pre-Buddhist artefacts, and an ethnographic gallery with traditional carved Swati furniture, jewelry and embroideries. [6] A recent discovery, includes a stone ‘board’ game found at the Buddhist Complex of Amluk-Dara, of a sort still played in the valley today. [7]

Related Research Articles

Miangul Jahan Zeb HPk, HQA, CIE, also known as Miangul Abdul-Haq Jahan Zeb, was the Wāli of Swat from 1949 to 1969, a princely state that is now part of Pakistan. He succeeded his father, Wadud of Swat. He is remembered for building schools, hospitals, and roads, but also for his absolute rule over the region, which ended in 1969. When Pakistan came into being, Wadud of Swat declared the accession of Swat State to Pakistan on November 23, 1947. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Governor-General of Pakistan, accepted the Instrument of Accession on November 24, 1947. Wadud of Swat announced his resignation in favor of his son Jehanzeb. Jahanzeb also worked to protect the landmarks of previous cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swat District</span> District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Swat District, also known as the Swat Valley, is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with many popular tourist attractions.

Chakdara (چکدرہ) is a city in the Lower Dir District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It's the second largest city in Dir Lower after Timergara. It serves as a gateway of Malakand Division. It's located in the center of Malakand Division at the entrance of the Lower Dir District, also near the entrance of the Swat District. The Swat Expressway also touches this area Chakdara interchange. Chakdara is about 130 km far from Peshawar, 40km from Mingora and 38 km from Timergara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malakand Division</span> Administrative division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Malakand Division is an administrative division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It contains the following districts:

The Lower Swat Valley in Swat and Lower Dir Districts in Pakistan is an area of important archeological sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saidu Sharif</span> City in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Saidū Sharīf is the capital of the Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The city also serves as the capital city of the Malakand Division. It was named after Saidu Baba, a prominent leader of the former princely state of Swat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malam Jabba</span> Place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Malam Jabba is a hill station and ski resort in the Hindu Kush mountain ranges. It is nearly 40 km far from Saidu Sharif in the Swat Valley of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is 314 km far from Islamabad and 51 km from Saidu Sharif Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miandam</span> Place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Miandam is a hill station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in the foothills of Hindu Kush mountains. It is located at a distance of 55 km away from Mingora the capital of Swat Valley, and 56 kilometers (35 mi) from Saidu Sharif.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mingora</span> City in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Mingora is a city in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located on the Swat River, it is the 3rd largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the 26th largest in Pakistan. Mingora is the largest city and the epicenter of social, cultural, and economic activities in Malakand Division, and also the largest in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Kanju is a village situated on the bank of the River Swat in Swat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabal Tehsil</span> Town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Kabal is a town in Swat District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan located 10 kilometres (6 mi) from Mingora city. The old name of kabal was Chendakhwara. It is the tenth largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 82nd largest in Pakistan by population

  1. Kabal
  2. Bara Bandai
  3. Kuza Bandai
  4. Kanju
  5. Hazara
  6. Bar Abakhail
  7. Kuz Abakhail
  8. Deowlai
  9. Shah Dehrai
  10. Totano Bandai

Kuza Bandai

Ningolai is a village in Swat Pakistan. Old name was Ningula which was named by a person name Ningula. Later it was named Ningolai by the ruler of Swat State. The people of village Ningolai belong to subsection Naikpikhel of Yusufzai the biggest and largest tribe of Pashtun tribes. The village contains a small series of mountains and a forest, residential area starting from meadows of mountains and merge with river swat on right bank, vast land for crops, number of canals, and a part of the Swat river. Mountains of the village include Usmani Ghar, Kursi Ghat, Kafar Ghat and Najia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuza Bandai</span> Union Council & village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Kuza Bandai is a well developed village in Swat Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is known for its natural environment and also known as an area crossed by Alexander the Great. Later, after the Lal Masjid battle, Kuza Bandai and Bara Bandai became sympathetic to the Taliban movement. The village consists of Yusufzai Pakhtun tribes. It is one of Pakistan's Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miangul Asfandyar Amir Zeb</span> Pakistani politician

Miangul Asfandyar Amir Zeb was a Pakistani politician and a member of the royal family of the former Princely State of Swat, who was killed in an assassination attack by the Taliban during the 2007 skirmishes in Swat. His assassination was the first high-profile killing by the Taliban militants of Swat, occurring just a day after the killing of Benazir Bhutto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahmud Ghaznavi Mosque (Odigram)</span>

Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in northern Pakistan, discovered by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan in 1985. The mosque represents a splendid design of old Muslim architecture.

Islampur, also called Salampur, is an administrative unit, known as Union council or Ward in Tehsil Babuzai, of Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is at 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the main city of Mingora, and Marghuzar is in its neighbourhood. Islampur is famous for its woolen products and shawls. It is adjacent to Saidu Sharif.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manglawar</span> Union council in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Manglawar is an administrative unit, known as Union council of Tehsil Babuzai, of Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and former capital of Kingdom of Swat. It is located at 34°48'30.7"N 72°25'50.0"E with an average altitude of 987 meters.

Government Post Graduate Jahanzeb College is one of the pioneer institutes of higher education in the Swat Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was founded by the ex-ruler of the Swat State in order to provide education to the population of the region. It is located within the Malakand division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saidu Sharif Stupa</span> Sacred Buddhist area near Saidu Sharif, Pakistan

The Saidu Sharif Stupa, excavated under the name Saidu Sharif I, is a Buddhist stupa located near the city of Saidu Sharif, at the foot of the mountains that separate the river valley Saidu from that of the river Jambil, in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The sacred area consists of two terraces built on the slope of the hill, through a cut in the rock on the north side. Artificial terracing includes one stūpa, surrounded by smaller monuments, and a monastery.

References

  1. "Swat Museum". is located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
  2. Gauhar, Feryal Ali (Nov 10, 2013). Breathing life into history: the new Swat Museum. Dawn.
  3. Shah, Sadia Qasim (Nov 25 2008). Swat Museum can be Taliban`s next target. Dawn.
  4. Iqbal, Amjad (July 13, 2011). Antiquities to return to Swat Museum. Dawn
  5. (December 11, 2014) Swat Museum reopens after seven years. Dawn
  6. Swat Museum - Museum in Mingora & Saidu Sharif. LonelyPlanet.com
  7. Khaliq, Fazal (April 27, 2017). Board game in Swat museum becomes focus of attention. Dawn.