The Swat also called Switzerland of Asia region has been inhabited for more than two thousand years and was known in ancient times as Udyana. The location of Swat made it an important stopping point for many invaders including Alexander the Great and Mahmud of Ghazni. The second century BCE saw Swat forming part of the Buddhist civilisation of Gandhara. Swat was a center of Hinayana Buddhism and of the Mahayana school that developed from it. The Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hsien, who visited the valley around 403 CE, mentions 500 monasteries. After him, Sun Yun (519 CE), Hsuan-tsang (630 CE), and Wu-kung (752 CE) visited Swat as well and praised the richness of the region, its favourable climate, the abundance of forest, flowers and fruit-trees and the respect in which Buddhism was held.

The Kushan dynasty ruled for four centuries until it was over run by the White Huns in 5th century CE and the glory of the Gandhara era came to an end. Hsuan-tsang recorded the decline of Buddhism. According to him, of the 1400 monasteries that had supposedly been there, most were in ruins or had been abandoned. The monks still quoted from the scriptures but no longer understood them. There were grapes in abundance but cultivation of the fields was sparse.

From the 8th century CE onwards, the Arabs started to exert pressure from the west in the Persian-Afghan region where the Hindu Shahi Dynasty still ruled. In 1001 CE, the Afghan ruler Mahmud of Ghazni began a series of invasions into India, conquering Swat amongst other areas and the Muslim period of Swat began.

The modern area of Swat was ruled sporadically by religious leaders taking the title of Akhund, also spelt Akhoond or Akond. This rank was particular made famous to Westerners by a poem by Edward Lear The Akond of Swat. The poem suggests a far away place, at least according to a Victorian poet.

The Islamic State of Swat was established in 1849 under Sayyid Akbar Shah with Sharia remaining in force but the state was in abeyance from 1863 to 1915. The British recognised the state as a princely state in 1926. Following the Partition of India in 1947, the ruler acceded the state to Pakistan whilst retaining considerable autonomy. The ruler of Swat was accorded a 15-gun hereditary salute in 1966 but this was soon followed by the abolition of the state in 1969. The royal status of the former ruler was abolished in 1972, but the former ruling family are still accorded a high degree of respect by the people of Swat. The present mayor of Swat district is the grandson of the last ruler, Miangul Jehanzeb.

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