Beginning with details of its nomenclature and geography, the book continues with covering and thoroughly examining and discussing the prehistory and protohistoric periods of Swat, different aspects of Alexander of Macedonia’s invasion, the period from the Mauryas to the Hindu Shahis, religious perspective of Swat, Muslims’ occupation and pre-Yusufzi’s period, the Yusufzi’s occupation, their social system and mode of ruling, the Mughals and Swat, Khushal Khan Khattak and Swat, the period from 1707 till 1915 ce, and the Kuhistan. There is very little about Swat, from the said perspectives, that cannot be learned from reading this book. The book is comprehensive, and systematic. Written in an analytical but simple style, and presented methodologically, it is rich in factual information. It is heavily based on primary source material; but the respected secondary sources are also utilized. A sister volume of the title Swat State (1915–1969), the present volume details the above topics and themes in the regional, international, geopolitical and strategic contexts of the periods concerned. It enables the reader to gain the kind of knowledge that might have required the reading of a number of separate books. Each topic and theme discussed has been fully researched and presented with a knowledgeable and learned commentary. The scholarship is exceptional, and the author is regarded as one of the top scholars of the country in the discipline of history.
