The Swat River (Pashto: د سوات سیند‎)(Urdu: دریائے سوات‎)is a perennial river in the northern region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The river commences in Swat Kohistan region of Kalam with the confluence of two main tributaries Ushu and Gabral and runs downstream in a narrow gorge up to Baghdheri.

Origin of the name & Route

The name is derived from an old Sanskrit term Suvastu which means crystal clear water like azure in colour. It is mentioned in Rig Veda 8.19.37 as the Suvastu river. With the passage of time, it was shortened to Swat by the people. Its source lies in the Hindukush Mountains, from where it is fed by the glacial waters throughout the year and flows through the Kalam Valley in a narrow gorge with a rushing speed up to Madyan and lower plain areas of Swat Valley up to Chakdara for 160 km. In the extreme south of the valley, once again the river enters to a narrow gorge and joins river panjkora at Qalangi and finally empties into Kabul river near Charsadda. It is diverted near Batkhela for irrigation and power generation purposes. The upper Swat canal flows under Malakand through Benton tunnel. Below Dargai the upper canal is divided into two branches, one supplying Charsadda and the other Swabi & Mardan. while the waters is also used for hydropower generation at Jabban & Dargai power stations.