In Swat, the remains of an ancient castle disappearing due to neglect

The castle was built in the 9th centur­y during the Hindu Shahi period .

SWAT: The Swat Valley attracts tourists not only because of its beauty but also because it has a rich cultural heritage, being the cradle of various civilisations.

The historical ruins of Gandhara civilisation can be seen at various places in the valley, while several ruins of Buddhist stupas and royal castles are also present across the valley.

One such castle lies in Baidara in Matta Tehsil. Built during the Hindu-Shahi period in the 9th Century CE, its remains are especially prominent. The site is often visited by international tourists.

However, the rich heritage of the castle is disappearing and the government’s seems uninterested in preserving the site.

During a visit to the castle, Mian Deer Nawab Shaheen, a local activist of the area who guided the fortification and termed its vaulted passage as a “cave”, said, “Even though local people don’t exactly know when this cave was formed, it is believed that they were used as a safe haven by the tribes, where they would run safely to the other end of the hill.”

There is also a well located inside the boundaries of the castle, whose construction is significantly different from other local wells. Its circumference is about 2.5 metres and its masonry wall is adorned with unique ancient art.

Shaheen said that the well was discovered almost ten years ago. The farmers would often have difficulty in ploughing the land in this area, so they dug it to remove stones and rocks, discovering the well. “Since then, people belonging to the nearby villages have been taking water from here,” he explained.

He said the well, located inside the boundaries of the castle, is a unique piece of construction. Even though it lies 1,524 metres above sea level on a hill, the water can be found only 12 metres below the ground. Even when all the wells in the area are out of water, this particular well remains full of fresh and cool water, Shaheen said.

Badarul Hakim, a PhD scholar, said, “This cave or passage reflects a unique architecture with a long vaulted roof which traverses through the whole mountain and reaches the other side of the hill.”

In ancient times, the area was ruled by various tribes. Every tribe had its own fort or castle, where they dug long tunnels to shift their women and children to the other side of the hill in times of emergency, Hakim said. “This tunnel was also dug by a tribe for the same purpose,” Hakim explained.

History of the castle

Dr Luca Maria Olivieri, Co-Director of IsIAO (an Italian archaeological mission in Pakistan), said, “This huge fortification at the Surai Tangai Hill has a front wall marked by semi-circular buttresses. There is an entrance with a vaulted corridor, popularly known as ‘surai’ (hole). The site can be dated back to the 9th-10th century. There is also a well in the boundaries of the castle, which was also built during the same period.”

The site was discovered by Prof Giuseppe Tucci in 1956, who published his first archaeological report on Swat in 1958.

“This is just one of the many fortresses built during the Hindu Shahi period. There are several other forts at various other places, including the ‘Raja Gira Castle’ at Udegram which was discovered by the Italians in the 1990s,” Olivieri said.

He added the fort at Damkot Hill was excavated by the Peshawar University in 1969 and Strago-manai in Talash Valley and has been studied by Prof Abdul Rehman in his book “The Last Two Dynasties of the Shahi” (1979).

The fort at Surai Tangai, along with other fortifications including watchtowers in Kalungai, Parrai, Bar-tangai (right bank of river Swat) and those discovered in Buner, have also been described by Olivieri in his book on fortification of Barikot (Rome 2003).

According to Olivieri, all the forts, castles and watchtowers were part of a complex network of fortifications. Every site is visible from the other and the forts cover all the mountain ridges along the Swat River, Malakand and Buner.

The fortified structures are characterised by their architectural features, including dimensions of watchtowers and the use of cylindrical bastions and corner buttresses. The major centre of the Hindu Shahi era was possibly Udegram, which is still preserved in the local folklore narrating the story of Raja Gira. The historical memory of their grandeur is preserved in the immortal pages of Al-Biruni.

The ninth century Hindu Shahi fortress is rapidly disappearing. The stone masonry is being used by local people, which poses a threat to the site’s very existence.

However, with the support of the archaeology department, the site can become one of the greatest historical assets in the country, attracting tourists from all over the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th,  2011.