Free to follow every thread. No paywall, no dead ends.
Khyber Pass: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass is not merely a gap in the Spin Ghar mountains but a geological scar that has dictated the fate of empires for three millennia. Rising to a summit at Landi Kotal inside Pakistan, this corridor descends into the Peshawar Valley at Jamrud, creating a natural funnel that has forced every invader from Central Asia to confront the same narrow geography. The pass itself spans approximately 53 kilometers from Jamrud to Landi Kotal, though the lesser section extends another 20 kilometers westwards to the town of Loya Daka in Afghanistan. To the north lies the territory of the Shalmani and Mullagori tribes, while the south is dominated by the Afridi Tirah, and the villages within the pass are home to Afridi clansmen who have guarded this artery since time immemorial. This specific geography turned the Khyber into a strategic choke point where the width of the valley floor dictated the movement of armies, making it one of the most famous mountain passes in the world.
Silk Road and Ancient Empires
Before the Kushan era, the Khyber Pass was not a widely used trade route, yet it became the critical artery for the ancient Silk Road once it was opened to commerce. The Parthian Empire fought fiercely for control of passes like this to profit from the trade in silk, jade, rhubarb, and other luxuries moving from China to Western Asia and Europe. Through the Khyber Pass, Gandhara became a regional center of trade connecting Bagram in Afghanistan to Taxila in India, adding Indian luxury goods such as ivory, pepper, and textiles to the global commerce. The pass witnessed the spread of Greek influence into India and the expansion of Buddhism in the opposite direction, proving that despite military activities, trade continued to thrive. Historical invasions of the Indian subcontinent have been conducted through this route by Darius I, Ardashir I, Shapur I, and Anushirvan, as well as later Mongols such as Duwa, Qutlugh Khwaja, and Kebek. Indian empires rarely extended their control beyond the pass, with the Maurya king Chandragupta being the notable exception to this rule.
The Islamic Conquerors
During the Islamic period, Muslim rulers including Mahmud Ghaznavi, Muhammad of Ghor, Timur, Babur, and Nader Shah used the Khyber and nearby passes for their invasions of the Indian subcontinent. The Mughals attempted to control the pass but faced fierce resistance from local tribes, and Ahmad Shah Durrani was the last major Islamic conqueror to cross the pass, though his successors' campaigns had limited lasting impact. The region was contested during the Anglo-Afghan Wars, with control shifting between the British, Sikhs, and Afghans. Sikhs under Ranjit Singh captured the Khyber Pass in 1837, with the Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa constructing the Jamrud Fort to safeguard the pass. After the Second Anglo-Afghan War ended in 1880, the Khyber region came under British control, and the policy of paying local tribes to maintain the route's security was implemented. Throughout the centuries, Pashtun clans, particularly the Afridis and the Afghan Shinwari, have regarded the Pass as their own preserve and have levied a toll on travelers for safe conduct. Since this has long been their main source of income, resistance to challenges to the Shinwari's authority has often been fierce.
Where is the Khyber Pass located and what are its geographic boundaries?
The Khyber Pass is located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, spanning approximately 53 kilometers from Jamrud to Landi Kotal. The corridor descends into the Peshawar Valley at Jamrud and rises to a summit at Landi Kotal inside Pakistan, with a lesser section extending another 20 kilometers westwards to the town of Loya Daka in Afghanistan.
Who controlled the Khyber Pass during the British colonial period and when did they build the railway?
The British government of British India controlled the Khyber region after the Second Anglo-Afghan War ended in 1880. The British Indian Army built the heavily engineered Khyber Pass Railway from Jamrud to the Afghan border near Landi Kotal, which opened in 1925.
When did the Khyber Pass become part of Pakistan and what was its role during the War in Afghanistan?
Following the partition of India in 1947, the Khyber Pass became part of Pakistan. During the War in Afghanistan, the pass served as a major route for resupplying military armament and food to NATO forces in the Afghan theater of conflict since the beginning of the invasion in 2001.
Which historical figures and empires used the Khyber Pass for invasions of the Indian subcontinent?
Historical invasions of the Indian subcontinent have been conducted through this route by Darius I, Ardashir I, Shapur I, and Anushirvan, as well as later Mongols such as Duwa, Qutlugh Khwaja, and Kebek. During the Islamic period, Muslim rulers including Mahmud Ghaznavi, Muhammad of Ghor, Timur, Babur, and Nader Shah used the Khyber and nearby passes for their invasions.
What cultural references and media works are named after the Khyber Pass?
A number of locations around the world have been named after the Khyber Pass, from a steep and twisting minor road in Mugdock Country Park near Glasgow, Scotland, to a suburb of Civil Lines in Delhi, India. The pass features in several of Rudyard Kipling's poems, including The Ballad of the King's Jest and The Ballad of East and West, and has been referenced in songs by Tom Cochrane, Ministry, and Pink Floyd.
In the 19th century, the British East India Company aimed to secure the Khyber Pass from Russia as part of the Great Game, transforming the rugged terrain into a corridor of imperial ambition. The British invested in infrastructure development, building roads, railways, and telegraph lines through the pass. For strategic reasons, after World War I, the government of British India built the heavily engineered Khyber Pass Railway from Jamrud, near Peshawar, to the Afghan border near Landi Kotal, which opened in 1925. A common phrase during the British colonial period described the length of what was then British India as Khyber to Kanyakumari. During World War II, concrete dragon's teeth were erected on the valley floor due to British fears of an invasion of India by the Axis powers. The region was contested during the Anglo-Afghan Wars, with control shifting between the British, Sikhs, and Afghans, and the British Indian Army's elephant battery of heavy artillery was once deployed along the pass at Campbellpur in 1895.
The Hippie Trail and Counterfeit Arms
Following the partition of India in 1947, the Khyber Pass became part of Pakistan, and the area became widely known to thousands of Westerners and Japanese who traveled it in the days of the hippie trail. Travelers took a bus or car from Kabul to the Afghan border, and at the Pakistani frontier post, they were advised not to wander away from the road, as the location was a barely controlled Federally Administered Tribal Area. After customs formalities, a quick daylight drive through the Pass was made, allowing them to view monuments left by British Indian Army units from the era of British colonial rule, as well as hillside forts. The area of the Khyber Pass has been connected with a counterfeit arms industry that makes various types of weapons known to gun collectors as Khyber Pass copies using local steel and blacksmiths' forges. Passenger services through the pass have been intermittent, with the Khyber Steam Safari, a joint venture between a private company and Pakistan Railways, operating in the 1990s.
The NATO Supply Line
During the War in Afghanistan, the Khyber Pass was a major route for resupplying military armament and food to NATO forces in the Afghan theater of conflict since the beginning of the invasion in 2001. Almost 80% of the NATO and US supplies that were brought in by road were transported through the Khyber Pass, and it was also used to transport civilians from the Afghan side to the Pakistani one. Until the end of 2007, the route had been relatively safe, since the tribes living there, mainly the Afridi, a Pashtun tribe, were paid by the Pakistani government to keep the area safe. In January 2009, Pakistan sealed off the bridge as part of a military offensive against Taliban guerrillas, and the operation was mainly focused on Jamrud, a district on the Khyber road. The target was to dynamite or bulldoze homes belonging to men suspected of harboring or supporting Taliban militants or carrying out other illegal activities. This increasingly unstable situation in northwest Pakistan, where the US accused Pakistan of hosting the Taliban, made the US and NATO broaden supply routes through Central Asia, including Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
Blood on the Border
In 2010, NATO forces executed a helicopter attack across the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and killed three Pakistani soldiers in an airstrike. In response, Pakistan closed the pass to NATO supply trucks, causing a convoy of NATO trucks to queue at the closed border. This convoy was attacked by insurgents, who destroyed more than 29 oil tankers and trucks, and killed several soldiers. A probe later found that the Americans had mistakenly concluded that the Pakistani soldiers, who had fired warning shots at the helicopters, were insurgents. That led to apologies from the coalition forces in Afghanistan and top NATO and US officials. In August 2011, the activity at the Khyber pass was again halted by the Khyber Agency administration due to the possibility of more attacks on NATO forces. The pass became a focal point of geopolitical tension, where the failure of diplomacy and the brutality of war intersected on the narrow valley floor.
Echoes in Culture and Myth
A number of locations around the world have been named after the Khyber Pass, from a steep and twisting minor road in Mugdock Country Park near Glasgow, Scotland, to a suburb of Civil Lines in Delhi, India. The pass has inspired cultural references ranging from the bus journey in the memoir Deshe Bideshe by Syed Mujtaba Ali to the Cockney rhyming slang meaning arse, alluded to in the 1968 film Carry On Up the Khyber. In the 1975 movie The Man Who Would Be King, the character Peachy Carnehan tells Rudyard Kipling how he and his comrade-in-arms Danny Dravot had fought under Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts yard by yard through the Khyber Pass during the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878-1880. The pass features in several of Rudyard Kipling's poems, including The Ballad of the King's Jest and The Ballad of East and West, and has been referenced in songs by Tom Cochrane, Ministry, and Pink Floyd. The Belleville boot company has an 8-inch combat boot line named Khyber, and parts of the 1985 Jay McInerney book Ransom take place in or near the Khyber Pass, cementing its place in the global imagination.