Hund, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Hund (Pashto: هنډ), historically known as Udabhandapura (Udabhāṇḍa(pura) in Sanskrit), is a small village in Swabi District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located on the right bank of the Indus River, approximately 15 km north of Attock, 10.8 km southeast of Lahor (ancient Salatura), and 4.5 km southeast of Anbar, formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. Its geographical coordinates are 34.0173521°N, 72.4312554°E. Hund holds a prominent place in the political and cultural history of the Gandhāra region. According to ancient Greek sources such as Arrian, Alexander the Great is believed to have crossed the Indus River in 327 BCE near this location during his campaign toward Taxila, although no archaeological evidence has yet confirmed the exact crossing point. The earliest physical remains found at Hund date back to the Kushan period in the 1st century CE. From the 7th to 9th centuries, Hund served as the winter capital of the Turk Shahi dynasty, with Kabul as their summer capital. Following the Turk Shahis, the Hindu Shahi dynasty rose to power and made Hund their principal seat until the early 11th century, when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded the region between 999 and 1025 CE. These centuries marked the height of Hund's political and strategic importance. In 1586 CE, the Mughal emperor Akbar ordered the construction of a military fort at Hund, built using small bricks and stones. Though now in a state of disrepair, portions of the fort still exist and reflect the strategic significance Hund held in the Mughal military network. By the 19th century, Hund had become one of the three major ferry points on the Indus River in the region. British accounts from the 1880s considered it the most convenient crossing for travellers moving between Swat, Bajaur and Lahore. Hund's location along the Indus made it not only a vital military and trade junction but also a cultural crossroads for successive empires including the Achaemenids, Mauryas, Kushans, Ghaznavids, Mughals, Sikhs, and the British each of whom left their mark on the area’s history. Prior to the Partition of India in 1947, Hund was home to a mixed population of Hindus and Muslims. Following partition, most non-Muslim residents migrated to India, and today the village is predominantly inhabited by Pathans. Remnants of Hindu temples and traditional residential structures still remain, bearing witness to the area’s multi-religious past. In recent years, the site has gained renewed attention through archaeological efforts. Excavations by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums have unearthed structures from the Hindu Shahi period, including residential houses, coins, and what is believed to be part of a sophisticated drainage system, offering insight into the urban planning of the time. The modern village of Hund is also home to the Hund Museum, which was established to preserve and display the region’s archaeological heritage. The museum contains artifacts from the Gandhāran and Hindu Shahi periods, such as coins, Buddhist relics, and inscriptions. Hund’s transformation from a fortified ancient capital to a quiet rural village reflects centuries of political change, cultural integration, and demographic evolution. Despite the encroachment of time and the river, the memory of Hund lives on through ongoing conservation efforts, scholarly research, and its role as a symbol of the historical legacy of Gandhāra.