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Oral history with Abdul Mateen, 2016 April 7

Abdul Mateen is of 95 years old. Born in 1922 Abdul Mateen spent most of his life in Habib Abad (Laambat) near Bahrain in the Swat valley in Pakistan. His clan, Chamot, is of the main tribes of Torwali, the Nared tribe. He has a large extended family. He had three wives from whom he got a large family. In his childhood he used to rear cattle such as cows, buffalos and goats. He used to spend his summer in the summer pasture with his cattle and family. He remembers the days when Swat was ruled by Badshah-e-Swat and later by his son Wali-e-Swat named Miangul Jahanzeb. Abdul Mateen also served in the Wali’s army in Swat. When Pakistan and India were divided in 1947 there happened a famine—which was mainly due to the confusion created in Swat whether it had to join Pakistan or not. The then traders of food exploited the opportunity and made a famine so that their stock might sell expensive. The famine was, however, short lived. People of upper Swat had to walk miles to the plains of Swat in order to bring food items. When Abdul Mateem was a child there were no roads in Swat. Tracks in lower Swat existed on which Tonga—horse driven chariots—were used for travel. The affluent in upper Swat—Bahrain and Kalam—also used horses for travel. He mentions that Jinnah and Gandhi fought a case with the British government to free India (and Pakistan) from them. He did not see Jinnah but remembers his stories from the newspapers available then. He saw Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan aka Bacha Khan when he came to Bahrain Swat. He fled the torture of the then Pakistani government and took an asylum in Swat as the Swat State was autonomous enough to resist any pressure from the then Pakistani government. As for the origin of his people—Torwali—Mateen is of the view that they are Quriesh of the Arabs. Their ancestors fled the advent of Islam and came to this area. Here they were converted by a Pushtun mullah named Mian Qasim who is known among the Torwali people as Mian Qasim Bawa. Abdul Mateen also served in the army of the Swat State for 17 years. They were sent to Kashmir to fight the Indian army during the war of 1965. Mateen says he spent 40 days in Kashmir but did not experience any killing or casualties. 3500 soldiers were sent to Kashmir from Swat state and same number was also sent from the Dir state. When he was a child there used to be heavy snowfall in Bahrain and in his home village. It used to be six or seven feet one time. Now there is hardly half a foot snow in this area during winter. When he was a child main food was barley and maize. People used to stock these for winter. Bread was made of either barley or maize. Justice by Wali of Swat was fast and speedy. Government was strict. No woman or cattle was allowed to go out of Swat. After marriage Mateen says he went to Hyderabad and Karachi for earning a livelihood. There he could not make any progress and wasted ten years. He then came back and started his won shop in Bahrain which he had previously abandoned. In his youth Mateen used to run a shop where he used to collect ghee and grains; and sell these items later on. --Note: Qureish were the tribe the prophet of Islam, Muhammad (PBUH) belonged to. It was in Saudi Arabia about 1500 years ago. Mian Qasim was the grandson of Pir Baba. Mian Qasim came to Torwal—the areas of the Torwali people—about 400 years ago. The Torwali people do not know their history exactly. They relate themselves with Arabs or Pushtuns but researchers say that the Torwali people were among the ancient tribes of Swat even before the Buddhist period here. The researchers trace the origin of the Torwali people back 5,000 years.