The beauty of Swat

Swat District (Pashto: سوات ولسوالۍ‎, pronounced [ˈswaːt̪]) is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Centred upon the upper portions of the Swat River, the modern-day district was a major centre of early Buddhism under the ancie

nt kingdom of Gandhara, due to which a strong presence of Buddhist cultural influence exists in the region. Swat was home to Hinduism and later Gandharan Buddhism until the 10th century, after which the area predominantly came under Muslim control and Islamic influence.^[4][5]Until 1969, Swat was part of the Yusafzai State of Swat, a self-governing princely state that was inherited by Pakistan following its independence from British rule. The region was seized by the Tehrik-i-Taliban in late-2007,^[6] and its highly-popular tourist industry was subsequently decimated until Pakistani control was re-established in mid-2009.[7]