Khyber Pass

Traversing the Safēd Kōh (“White Mountains”) along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Khyber Pass has historically been viewed as a link between Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent, having been used as both a major trading route and a means of waging war. In the twenty-first century, the pass served as a major route for transporting military supplies to US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops fighting in Afghanistan.

The Khyber Pass stretches for approximately 33 miles (53 kilometers), reaching an altitude of 3,518 feet (1,070 meters) at Landi Kotal Fort, its highest point. Controlled by Pakistan, the contemporary Khyber Pass consists of both an asphalt road and the caravan path used by ancient travelers from Persia, China, and Central Asia. In the 1920s, the British built a railroad through the Khyber Pass that passes through thirty-four tunnels and spans ninety-two bridges and culverts.

Brief History

Historically, the Indian subcontinent has been isolated by geography. The second-highest mountain in the world, Mount Godwin-Austen (K2), lies to the north; the jungles of Myanmar (Burma) lie to the east; and the deserts of southern Iran lie to the west. Trade between Central Asia and northern India was thus only possible via the Khyber Pass. For centuries, the Khyber Pass was also used by would-be conquerors intent on claiming the riches of India, among them Darius I of Persia (550–486 BCE), Alexander the Great (356–23 BCE), Mahmūd of Ghazna (971–1030), Timur (1336–1405), Bābur (1483–1530), Nādir Shāh (1688–1747), and Ahmad Shah Durrānī (1722–72), the founder of modern Afghanistan.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan border stretches for 1,510 miles (2,430 kilometers). The Khyber Pass is located in northwestern Pakistan, with initial entry beginning near Jamrud, Pakistan, and continuing for 33 miles (53.1 kilometers). The initial section of the pass is bounded on either side by cliffs that rise from 600 to 1,000 feet (183 to 305 meters) high. At its narrowest point at the Khyber River, the pass is only 600 feet (183 meters) wide, but it is still surrounded by high walls. The pass merges into a valley at Zintara before descending into Landi Khana and then into Afghanistan.

For thousands of years, expansionists saw the Khyber Pass as a means of accessing the rich resources of India through Afghanistan and Pakistan. Throughout history, invasions followed this pattern of movement from the west to the east. The British changed the pattern, moving from the east to the west in an attempt to prevent Russia from gaining control of Afghanistan.

The Pashtun Afrīdīs resisted imperialist efforts, dealing major damage to British forces during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42). In January 1842, only one out of about sixteen thousand British-aligned soldiers and civilians survived the retreat from Kabul. While traversing the Khyber Pass, thousands died from exposure and in attacks by and attacks by Indigenous peoples. The Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80) saw the signing of the Treaty of Gandamak in 1879, which gave the British control over the Khyber tribes. The Afrīdīs eventually revolted and seized control of the pass in 1897. After a few months, the Tirāh Campaign allowed the British to regain control.

Khyber Pass Today

In 1947, British India was partitioned into the two nations of India and Pakistan, and the Khyber tribes signed treaties making the area one of Pakistan’s tribal agencies. The pass again assumed military importance in 1979 during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1990 and civil war in Afghanistan, the pass became the route for refugees fleeing to Pakistan. During that period, the Khyber Pass also became an established route for transporting illegal drugs and weapons into and out of Afghanistan.

The Khyber Pass assumed new strategic importance early in the twenty-first century when the United States retaliated against Afghanistan and the Taliban following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Taliban militants repeatedly attacked in the Khyber Pass area, forcing the Pakistani government to close access to American and NATO supply vehicles on a number of occasions.

In 2008, around 75 percent of all NATO supplies were being channeled from the port at Karachi through the Khyber Pass. On any given day, around three hundred trucks carrying arms and other supplies traveled the Khyber Pass. In December of that year, militants attacked a transportation depot in Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan, destroying two hundred flatbed trucks and six supply containers. A separate attack two days later destroyed an additional fifty vehicles. In all, five hundred trucks and containers were destroyed in 2008. While the Khyber Pass subsequently remained the most practical route for channeling supplies to coalition troops, alternate routes began to be used as well.

In 2009, Taliban forces blew up a key bridge in the Khyber Pass, ensuring that supply passage would be blocked for several days. The following year, a United States drone strike in North Waziristan resulted in the death of eight German Muslims, and Pakistani authorities temporarily closed the Khyber Pass, citing fears of militant retaliation. Militants did respond, killing three coalition drivers and destroying thirty trucks. However, a transportation deal between NATO and Kazakhstan made earlier that year had lessened coalition reliance on the Khyber Pass.

In the twenty-first century, the Khyber Pass is a blend of ancient and contemporary. The area is still peopled by the Pashtun peoples, which constitute around 52 percent of the Afghani population and around 18 percent of the Pakistani population. Along the pass, tribespeoples have been known to carry AK-47 assault weapons while on their daily strolls. Fines for shooting across the pass have been in place since the British occupation, but Pakistani authorities are not always able to enforce laws on local tribal lands. Nearby homes contain holes through which rifles can be aimed to keep intruders away or target enemies. Professional tunnellers called dushmani can be hired to tunnel under buildings and place dynamite that will not be detected until it explodes. Other signs of modern times include roadside cafés equipped with televisions and the presence of Japanese motorbikes along the asphalt road that traverses the pass. As the region increases in safety, tourists increasingly visit the historical route and tourist destination. In addition to the historical importance of the Khyber Pass, the region is known for its beauty, with flowers, greenery, and waterfalls.

Bibliography

Arnold, Guy. World Strategic Highways. 2000. Routledge, 2013.

Burton, Antoinette, editor. The First Anglo-Afghan Wars: A Reader. Duke UP, 2014.

Docherty, Paddy. The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion. Faber, 2007.

Gardner, Lloyd C. The Long Road to Baghdad: A History of US Foreign Policy from the 1970s to the Present. New, 2008.

Johnson, Thomas H., and Barry Scott Zellen, editors. Culture, Conflict, and Counterinsurgency. Stanford UP, 2014.

Martin, Thomas R., and Christopher W. Blackwell. Alexander the Great: The Story of an Ancient Life. Cambridge UP, 2012.

Scott, F. Peter. Crossing the Khyber Pass: A Personal Account of Military Service at the Staff College Quetta 1958 and Australian Defence Attaché in Pakistan and Afghanistan during 1973-1975. Francis Peter Scott, 2021.

Stewart, Jules. “A Passage to Pakistan.” Geographical June 2005: 30–36.

Themnér, Lotta, and Peter Wallensteen. “Armed Conflicts, 1946–2012.” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 50, no. 4, 2013, pp. 509–21, doi.org/10.1177/0022343313494396. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.