Et in Uddiyana ego. Tucci’s first two expeditions to Swat in the Archives of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan (1955-1956)

Drawing on a recently rediscovered folder from Domenico Faccenna’s archive, this paper reconstructs the early formation of Giuseppe Tucci’s Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat during 1955–1956. The photostatic documents trace the convoluted diplomatic and legal path leading to the first reconnaissance and excavation campaigns, foregrounding the persistent problem of Swat’s autonomy as a princely state outside Pakistan’s Ancient Monument Preservation Act and the consequent deadlock over Article 12, which governed the partition of finds. Through dense correspondence with Pakistan’s Director-General of Archaeology Raul Curiel, commercial attaché Edmondo Anderlini, embassy officials, and the Wali of Swat, the study illuminates Tucci’s reliance on “book diplomacy,” patient legal manoeuvring, and carefully cultivated local relationships to secure a five-year excavation licence and establish a permanent mission house. The article also incorporates Tucci’s unpublished 1956 political report, revealing his strategic vision of archaeology as an instrument of cultural prestige and his keen awareness of the need for press engagement and international visibility, thereby laying the organisational and ideological foundations for four decades of Italian fieldwork in Swat.