Hashmi Museum Jandari Jehaz Banda
Preserving the culture and civilization of Dir Kohistan and
passing them down to future generations is an urgent and critical matter.
However, despite the significance of this need, many educated and prominent
figures have failed to understand and recognize it.
A glance into Dir's past reveals an event where the ruler of
Dir State, Shah Jehan, refused to merge his state with Pakistan. As a result, a
covert operation was launched to capture him, leading to his arrest by the
Pakistani Army in 1963 and his subsequent transfer to Islamabad. During this
time, there were various valuable assets, including local currency, weapons,
gold, and other ancient treasures in Dir state that were transferred to the
national treasury. Despite the presence of Prince Shah Khisro, he was unable to
prevent the transfer of these assets, causing Dir to lose its historical and
cultural riches forever.
In order to ensure that the culture and civilization of the
Kohistani Nation is passed down to future generations, a local figure named
Malak Taj Muhammad Khan, also known as Raja Taj Muhammad, established a museum
in his village Jandari, called "Hashmi Museum". Although collecting
historical artifacts was no easy task, he was dedicated and committed to his
work, working tirelessly day and night to collect old items. He started by
gathering items from his village-Lamoti, then went on to Village Thall, Kalkot,
Biyar, Barikot, and Patrak to collect common / ancient and unique objects of
daily use for the Hashmi Museum. Many people also willingly contributed old items
to the museum. The opening ceremony took place in 2003, with only a few
everyday items as ancient weapons, agricultural tools, the skull of a hunted
animal, small wooden chairs, and wooden shoes, among other things. From then
until now, the work of collecting old and precious artifacts continues.
