Swat Valley
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Swat Valley is a natural geographic region surrounding the Swat River in modern-day Pakistan. The valley was a major centre of early Buddhism of the ancient civilisation of Gandhara, mainly Gandharan Buddhism, with pockets of Buddhism persisting in the valley until the 16th century conquest of Swat by the Yousafzais, after which the area became largely Muslim, along with the Pashtunization of Swat and its neighbouring regions.[1][2]
Most modern scholars believe that the ancient region of Uddiyana, known in Tibet as a center of tantric Buddhism, was located in the Swat Valley.
The Swat River is referred to as the Suvāstu in the Rigveda; hence the Swat Valley is also known as the Suvāstu valley.
Notes
- ↑ East and West, Volume 33. Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente. 1983. p. 27.
According to the 13th century Tibetan Buddhist Orgyan pa forms of magic and Tantra Buddhism and Hindu cults still survived in the Swāt area even though Islam had begun to uproot them (G. Tucci, 1971, p. 375) ... The Torwali of upper Swāt would have been converted to Islam during the course of the 17th century (Biddulph, p. 70).
- ↑ Mohiuddin, Yasmeen Niaz (2007). Pakistan: A Global Studies Handbook. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851098019.
Further reading
Swat District, Wikipedia
