Along the Elephant’s Road: The Takht of Zalamkot

The monument simply known as “Takht”, which commonly takes its name from Zalamkot—a nondescript, small village—should henceforth be more correctly referred to as Hati-dara (Site 3) due to its topographical position in the valley of the same name that cuts through the northern slopes of the mountain range of the same name.2 This is one of the highest peaks of an almost continuous mountain ridge that leads through a series of passes—from the east , cut the easternmost passes— including the Hati-kandao. The site stands guard over the ancient highway known as Hati-lar or the Elephant Walk/Road. The latter connected eastern Gandhara (Swabi, Mardan) with Swat (and then Bajaur, and Kunar and Nangarhar [Nagarahara] in Afghanistan), and it was part of the great road, or Uttarapatha, of which the magnificent remains of Hati-lar represent the only surviving traces. Although the monument has been variously described as a “watchtower” or a stupa until recently, there is no doubt, as stated since 2006, that it is the monumental podium of a Shahi-era Brahmanical temple in size and orientation to Temple 6 in Barikot. The Short note present an overview on this important monument after the end of the 2025 excavation campaign led by the Author of the note in close collaboration with the Directorate-general of Archaeology and Museums, Govt. of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.