Panjkora Valley

The Panjkora Valley is the valley of the Panjkora River in Lower Dir District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Archaeology

The Panjkora Valley contains important sites of the Gandhara grave culture.

The Talash Valley, 13 km from Chakdara, is full of Buddhist remains. Buddhist stupas and monasteries which have not been excavated are on both sides of the road towards Dir. At the west end of the valley is the Kat Kala Pass. Olaf Caroe identified this place with Massaga which was captured by Alexander the Great in 327BC. There are also crumbling remains of a massive Hindu Shahi fort of the 8th to 10th centuries.

Timergara (or Timargarha), 40 km from Chakdara is the site of excavated graves of Indo-Aryans, dating from 1500 to 600 BC.

On the west side of the Panjkora River is the excavated site of Balambat. The site has been occupied continuously since the time of the Aryans in 1500 BC. Houses dating from 500 BC have been discovered here. Fire altars were also discovered, evidence of fire worshippers.

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