Swabi

Swabai (Urdu: صوابی) lies between the Indus and Kabul rivers, in the NWFP of Pakistan. Its residents are referred to as 'swabwaals'. Swabai is the fourth most populous district of NWFP with Esapzay clan of Pukhtoons as the predominant clan of this district.

The history and culture of Swabai is very rich. The late historian Roshan Khan Baba from this region wrote about the history of this great tribe in his book 'History of Yousafzai tribe'. A drive to Swabai from Jehangiray or Mardan is scenic and a beautiful experience. Lush green fields and shady trees line the road on either side.

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Swabai is proud of its illustrious sons like Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan founder of Islamia College (Peshawar) and the brave martyr of Kargil war Captain Karnal Sher Khanrecipient of the highest military award Nishan-e-Haider. People of Swabai are well educated, skilled, hard working and enterprising. Many of them are expatriates working all over the globe for their living.

Swabwals are modern and liberal in their outlook to life yet devout Muslims. They are well known for their hospitality, are polite and good looking in appearance.

Tobacco is a popular cash crop of Swabai along withvegetables, wheat, sugar cane and maize.It's climate is ideally suited for citrus in particular while many other fruits like water melon, peach and apricot are also grown there. Swabi is also rich with mineral resources and its white marble is very popular throughout the country.

Swabai is home to the largest earth filled dam of the world, the Tarbela Dam. It also boasts of one of the most prestigious institution of the country, The GIK institute of Engineering Sciences and technology located in village Topi.

A six lane motorway connecting Islamabad with Peshawar passes through Swabai District with an access interchange at Lahor.

Swabi is important from the archaeological point of view. It was the part of Gandhara civilization. Alexander The Great crossed river Indus at a point on the right bank where now lies village Hund. Hund is an archaeological treasure and has remained capital of Hindu Shahi and Turk Shahi for nearly three hundred years. Archaeological sites are found peppered all over Swabai and is a great tourist attraction.

Maini is a most popular village in Swabi it is near Tarbela Dam In Maini Utmanzai(Yousafzai) are living, the people of Maini are well educated.

People

Before partition, Hindus also lived here and most of the businesses were owned by them. Specially there were more Hindus in bamkhel before partition. Both Muslims and Hindus lived peacefully. After partition, the Hindus left for India and now the whole population is Pakhtun and belongs to the Yousafzai tribe of Pakhtuns. Even today Hindus and Sikhs are found in some areas of Swabi. Tehsils of district Swabi are Swabai(aka: Swabi), Lahor and Topai. The great love story of Yousaf Khan and Sher bano also belongs to Swabi. The other important villages of Swabi are Zaida, Marghuz and Zarobi. There are many religious scholars in Swabi.

Popular Games

The popular games played in swabi are Cricket, Vollyball, Gulli Danda and Kabbadi. The famous player of Vollyball and the captain of the National Vollyball team Rahim Khan was from Zaida.

The Hub of Streams and Rivers

Swabi is home to dozens of streams and two great rivers - Indus and the Kabul river. Both the rivers meet at a place called Kund, another major tourist attraction. The Indus river with its spectacular blue color and the Kabul river's muddy brown water go side by side without blending. It is a treat to watch these two rivers hug each other quietly for thousands of years in its own special way.

34°07′N 72°28′E