Khyber << KY buhr >> Pass is a famous and strategic mountain pass that links Pakistan and Afghanistan. The pass is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) long and rises to altitudes of over 3,500 feet (1,070 meters). At its narrowest point, the pass is only about 50 feet (15 meters) wide.
The Khyber Pass cuts through the Safed Koh mountains, which are part of the Hindu Kush range. A narrow asphalt road and an unpaved caravan path run the length of the pass. The Afridi, a Pashtun tribe, have lived in the region of the pass for hundreds of years.
The Khyber Pass occupies an extremely strategic location. It lies along the easiest route through the mountains and deserts that form a barrier between Southwest Asia and South Asia. Over the centuries, many travelers, traders, and invaders have followed this route. The armies of the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great probably traveled through the Khyber Pass when they invaded the Indus Valley in the 320’s B.C. Many other invaders, including the central Asian leaders Timur in the A.D. 1300’s and Babur in the 1500’s, also crossed the Khyber Pass on their way into South Asia.
During the 1800’s, the pass played an important role in the struggle between the United Kingdom and Russia for control of Afghanistan. At that time, forces from British India used the pass to enter Afghanistan. During the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919), the Afghan and British armies fought in the pass. Millions of Afghan refugees fled to Pakistan through the Khyber Pass when Afghanistan was torn by war during the 1980’s, 1990’s, and early 2000’s.
