Dasht-e Yahudi
Dasht-e Yahudi is a historic name for a region in what is now Pakistan, covering parts of western Peshawar, Charsadda, Malakand and Mardan near the Khyber and Mohmand areas. It is not a real desert; the area has a semi-arid climate, and today much of it is cultivated with canals and rivers.
The name comes from Persian and Mughal historians who used Dasht-e Yahudi to refer to Pashtun tribes living there—Afridi, Khattak, and Yusufzai (and Mohmand in the northwest). The word Yahudi hinted at a supposed Jewish origin of the Pashtuns, and the Mughals often found it hard to control these tribes.
The term is old and is not used today.
Qila Yahudiya (Jewish citadel) is a closely related name that appears with Dasht-e Yahudi. The area described by these terms is associated with the region now called Khyber, in present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the famous Khyber Pass.
The main tribes in the area were: Afridi in the west, Yusufzai in the north and northeast, and Khattak in the center; Mohmand is in the northwest. The Khattak and Yusufzai were known for raiding Mughal supply routes, which led the Mughals to build Attock Fort for defense.
Ashoka the Mauryan emperor left stone edicts in this region, with inscriptions found in Shahbaz Garhi, Mardan, and Swabi in Greek and Aramaic.
Qila Yahudiya also refers to the area around the Khyber Pass, through which many armies entered India. The Afridi are notably linked to holding the Khyber Pass and the surrounding mountain ranges, including the Sulaiman Mountains and the Hindu Kush.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:20 (CET).