Adventure Through Khyber

The laying down of railway tracks in the treacherous terrain of Khyber was considered incredible and impossible till the then Railway engineers, prodded by the Governor, took up the challenge. Thus began the high adventure through the Khyber. Not only the mountains with steep slopes, gorges, valleys, creeks and rocks presented insurmountable engineering difficulties, the railway lines had to pass through the inhospitable and formidable tribal territories. Proud and fierce, the earthy Pathan tribesmen fought with tooth and nail to prevent what they thought to be an encroachment on their sacred ancestral land. How the human resistance was overcome is in itself an absorbing and delightful human story. The engineering marvel of laying the lines on the high hills through tunnels and rifts to reach the top of the mountains remains so even after so many decades of its completion. The inherent adventure of human spirit finds best expression in this work. The author, himself having been an engineer participant of the project, has used his facile pen to describe the events with wit and warmth. To this day the Khyber Adventure remains a memorable account of discovery of the land and people of the Afghan borderland.