AUTHOR'S NOTE

Khyber is not only the name of the historic pass but also that of the agency, created by the British in 1878. Besides the famous Grand Trunk Road and Khyber Railway passing through the Khyber Pass, the agency has two other important routes. One is the Warsak-Shilman route used by many old armies and races and the other is the Bara-Shin Kamar route to the famous Tirah area. The eastern portions of the pass, the Khajuri plains around Bara and Tirah, are inhabited by the Afridis while the western portion is the abode of the Shinwaris. The Shilmanis live along the older route, whereas the Mullagoris inhabit the hilly area near Warsak, which has gained considerable fame due to the existence of white marble mines.
While travelling through the Khyber Pass, one can see the Bab-e-Khyber, the Fatehgarh Fort of Jamrud, old bridges, British forts, pickets and cemetery, the prison of Amir Taimur (RA), the walls- of Akbar’s fort at Kafirkot and the Buddhist stupa, known as Sphola Stupa, besides many shrines of Muslim saints and martyrs of battles against the Mughals, Sikhs and the British.
Though there are many books on the Khyber and the Afridis, I have also been writing about the pass, forts, monuments, publications and people of the Khyber Agency from time to time. These articles were published in The Frontier Post, Peshawar. These articles are now being presented in a book form for the interest of historians and tourists. Repetition or overlapping of historical events was unavoidable. The same may kindly be overlooked because the articles were written independent of one another.

Major (Retired) Muhammad Nawaz Khan
Peshawar