The Swat River is a river in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. Its source is in the Hindukush Mountains, from where it flows through the Kalam Valley

Kalam valley

Kalam Valley is a valley along the upper reaches of the Swat River in Swat, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.Kalam Valley is known for its waterfalls, lakes and lush green hills, and is a 270 km drive from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan...

 and Swat District. In then skirts Lower Dir District

Lower Dir District

Lower Dir is one the 24 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The district was formed in 1996, when the district of Dir was divided into Upper Dir and Lower Dir.- Administration :...

 and flows through Malakand District

Malakand District

Malakand District is a district of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.The District was formed in 1970 as a Provincially Administered Tribal Area, It had previously been a Tribal Area known as the Malakand Protected Area, part of the Malakand Agency...

 to enter the Kabul River

Kabul River

Kabul River , the classical Cophes , is a 700 km long river that starts in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan and ends in the Indus River near Attock, Pakistan. It is the main river in eastern Afghanistan and is separated from the watershed of the Helmand by the Unai Pass...

 at Charsadda

Charsadda

Charsadda is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at 34°8'43N 71°43'51E with an altitude of 276 metres and lies 29 kilometres from the provincial capital - Peshawar....

 in the Peshawar

Peshawar

Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....

 valley.

The Swat River irrigates large areas of Swat District and contributes to the fishing industry of the region. Ayub Bridge is one of the attractions for visitors. The scenery attracts many tourists from all over Pakistan during the summer.

There are two main hydro-electric power projects on canals from the Swat River which generate electricity for local usage.

The Lower Swat Valley

Lower Swat Valley

The Lower Swat Valley in Swat and Lower Dir Districts in Pakistan is an area of important archeological sites.The lower valley of the Swat River has been occupied for the last 3000 years. The area between Chakdara Bridge and Saidu Sharif is littered with the remains of pre historic Aryan's Gandhara...

 is rich in archaeological sites.

The Swat River is mentioned in Rig Veda 8

Mandala 8

The eighth Mandala of the Rigveda has 103 hymns. Other than the "family books" and RV 1 and RV 10 , Mandala 8 cannot straightforwardly be dated as a whole relative to the other books, and its hymns may include both ancient and late...

.19.37 as the Suvastu river. It is said that Alexander the Great crossed the Swat River with part of his army before turning south to subdue the locals at what are now Barikoot and Odegram.

See also

• Rigvedic rivers
  Rigvedic rivers
  Rivers, such as the Sapta Sindhu , play a prominent part in the hymns of the Rigveda, and consequently in early Vedic religion...
  
  
• Swat, Pakistan

It is also a place of origin of the Shrivastavas,(river Shrivastu) a sub clan of Kayastha, Indo-Aryan group.

External links

• Swat Valley website