ACCOMPANIED by a French friend, I was on the way to the ruins I had visited some 35 years ago, as a schoolboy along with other mates, on a picnic trip to a nearby dak bungalow along the Indus River. I well remembered that a student, familiar with the area, got us interested in a visit a site on the top of the hill. The place was once the abode of a mighty civilization but had turned to ruins, inhabited by witches. The site then, as it is now, was not protected by the archeological department. Know as the ruins of Kafir Kot, it was once regarded as the core of civilization of the Indus Valley, around which numerous dynasties/rulers during the past thousand years flourished and perished.

The city of Kafir Kot, as an archaeological analysis says, was built somewhere 300BC. A tentative year of its establishment, according to the Peshawar Museum achieves, is 223BC. Its ancient name was Bil Kot. It was named after a Hindu ruler, Raja Bil. According to the analysis, Raja Bil was also the founder of Bil dynasty. He and his successor ruled over the area for more than hundred years. Bil’s supremacy was challenged by many other rulers, including his brother, Raja Til, who reigned on the other side of the Indus. They all were unsuccessful against the insurmountable forces of Raja Bil, particularly at the fort. The ruins of Kafir Kot are actually on the left of his palace/fort, constructed on the top of hill as a defence against foreign invaders.

The Bil dynasty was succeeded by the Ashoka dynasty and Ashoka Muria. Muria, as King, is believed to have rebuilt the fort and its surroundings. “Other families might have survived until the advent of Islam, however, no record exists. Islam was introduced in the area in 1201AD,” says an anthropologist.

A town, a mile off down the old town of Bil Kot, nonetheless, had been inhabited by people before the advent of Islam. The town, whose population now exceeds 6,000, is known as Bilot”. “The word Bilot is the perversion of Bil Kot,” said a member of the Mukhdum family of Bilot, Ghulam Jaffar Shah, an educated middle-aged man who knew much about Kafir Kot. He believes that the town of Bil Kot was built by the Raja Bill, but it was a ruin when their forefather and founder of the family, Shah Jalal-u-Din reached the area. The town was rebuilt and remnants of the old town were changed.

“Some portions of the town that Raja Bil built were destroyed by floods,” said Mukhdum. In his analysis, the remains of the Kafir Kot are of the fort Raja Bil built for his family. Since they were on the top of mountain, therefore, they were saved from vanishing.

Shah Jalal-u-Din induced majority of the people in the surrounding areas to embrace Islam. At that time, it was under the rule of governor Fateh Khan Lodhi, whose letters and medals are still preserved by his family. The Mughal emperor Babar invaded India during that time. Babar, was believed to have stayed few nights near the Indus and hunted rhinoceros.

Fateh Khan Lodhi continued as the governor even after Babar had defeated Ibrahim Lodhi. His rule was followed by Sher Alam Khan, and during the Sikhs’ rule over Punjab, the ruins of the Kafir Kot were declared as a holy shrine and Muslims were prohibited from visiting them.

The ruins of Kafir Kot stand on a mountain, spread over the peak and ridge area. According to an archaeologist, it seems to have existed over a much larger area with more buildings below in saddles, which no longer exist. It had a long boundary wall which was common in those days as the rulers built them for their own protection. Chunks of stones, with carvings of birds, statues and scripts are, were used to built the fort. Though the meaning of many of the drawings and scripts are not understood, they still attract a lot of visitors.

The access to the ruins of Kafir Kot is through a steep ascent from the town of Bilote. There are plans of digging and further exploration, provided funds and government assistance is received. The ruins of Kafir Kot are archaeologically significant as are the remains of a lost civilizations, and the government needs to show interest to preserve it. If no necessary efforts are made, like in the past where many important ruins were razed to the ground, they may vanish.