Landi Kotal

Landi Kotal during the Second Anglo-Afghan War when it served as an encampment of the 12,000-strong Peshawar Valley Field Force under General Sir Samuel Browne who was crossing the Khyber Pass on the way towards Kabul at the start of the war. The small fort in the foreground guards the western end of the Khyber Pass. Photograph by John Burke

Landi Kotal لنڈی کوتل
Landi Kotal
Coordinates: 34°6′4″N 71°8′44″E / 34.10111°N 71.14556°ECoordinates: 34°6′4″N 71°8′44″E / 34.10111°N 71.14556°E
Country	Pakistan
Province	FATA
Government
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
Calling code	0924

Landi Kotal (Urdu: لنڈی کوتل ‎) is a small town of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Landi Kotal is at the western edge of the Khyber Pass that traditionally marks the entrance to Afghanistan. It is the highest point along the pass.^[1]

It is located at 34°6'4N 71°8'44E^[2] and lies on the Khyber Pass in the Khyber Agency. At 1,072 metres above sea level, it is the headquarters of the agency administration of Khyber and is on the route across the mountains to the city of Peshawar.^[3]

Landi Kotal is a tourist destination due to historic Kyber Pass. It is accessible by road from elsewhere in Pakistan, or from the Afghanistan border just five kilometers to the west.

Landi Kotal was the terminus railway station of Khyber Pass Railway. A tourist train, The Khyber train safari was run on this railway. It was closed in 2006 due to washing away of railway track and bridges by flood.

Landi Kotal is the main shopping centre for both the Shinwari and Afridi tribes.

History

Landi Kotal was the westernmost part of the Khyber held by the British during their rule of the subcontinent.^[4] In 1897 the Afridis attacked Landi Kotal and other posts in the Khyber Pass. Although the Khyber Rifles put up a stiff defence, Landi Kotal was overrun,^[5] as the Rifles lacked water.^[6] The British counter-attacked with a force of 34,500 men under Sir William Lockhart, defeating the Afridis, although the Afridis took the town again during the second Anglo-Afghan War.^[7]

The fort during the period of British rule was of the ordinary type, consisting of a keep and an outer fort with accommodation for 5 British officers and 500 native officers and men. From 1899, like the other posts in the Khyber, it had been garrisoned by the Khyber Rifles, an irregular corps of militia recruited from the tribes of the Khyber Agency.^[5] In 1925 the heavily engineered Khyber Pass Railway was opened linking Jamrud to the Landi Kotal.^[3]

References

1. Photo caption for Landi Kotal WDL11475.png, Library of Congress
2. Location of Landi Kotal – Falling Rain Genomics
3. Landi Kotal
4. Landi Kotal – Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 16, p. 134.
5. Landi Kotal – Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 16, p. 135.
6. Khyber – Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 15, p. 303.
7. Tīrāh – Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 23, p. 390.

External links