PUBLISHED
October 14, 2025
Known for its guns and graciousness, Sakhakot or Skhakot is a small town located on the Main Road, which leads to Dargai and Malakand. Shahi Baba, an elder of the Yousafzai tribe, proclaimed that nobody dares touch the people who have once been given protection. Shahi Baba of Shalman Rais Branch was also known for his guerrilla war against the British. The people of Sakhakot may excel at crafting handmade guns, but they are also known for their generosity and hospitality.
Fifty-year-old Jumma Syed has been a gunsmith in Sakhakot Bazaar of Malakand district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, for the past 30 years. He recalls how the bazaar was once a bustling hub for locally crafted guns, but not anymore, as the trade of locally made guns fades away.
“The material and technology used in modern manufacturing of guns are not available to us,” says Syed. “The manufacturing technology for gun-making has become really advanced. These are the reasons our gun market has failed to develop and move with the times as it did earlier. Currently, 30-bore, seven-shot pistols are being manufactured, and different kinds of guns are repaired in the market, while modern weapons such as 9mm pistols and other firearms are legally transported from Peshawar to meet the demand.”
The area is not only known for its firearms market, but history reveals that it is also remembered for the locals’ battles with the British army. Situated on the main Mardan–Malakand road, about 80 kilometres north of Peshawar, Sakhakot Bazaar once had more than 500 gun manufacturing and repairing workshops where a number of craftsmen from different parts of the country worked. However, because of the decline in the arms trade, most of these shops are now closed, and there are only a few craftsmen who still work in their ancestral profession.
“From 1857 to 1897, when the British army attacked the Sakhakot area several times, the locals fought fierce battles against them,” shares Amjad Ali Utmankhel, a local historian from Dargai, Malakand. “In 1895, the British government occupied this region and established the Malakand Agency.”
Riaz Muhammad, 54, whose forefathers were gunsmiths in Sakhakot Bazaar, has worked in the craft for nearly 40 years since 1980. “Our ancestors were the first to start manufacturing arms in the market,” he says. “For 150 to 200 years, being a gunsmith has been passed down in our family. Later, other craftsmen also adopted the skill, which helped the market grow.”
In the early days of the Sakhakot gun market, 12-bore single and double-barrel shotguns and five-shot rifles were produced, mostly purchased by people from Mardan, Charsadda, Swat, and Dir areas, he recalled.
Riaz Muhammad said that later, manufacturing of copies of Italian-made revolvers and 30-bore pistols from Russia and China had also begun.
Local craftsmen revealed that before General Zia-ul-Haq’s regime, only a small number of skilled workers were associated with the profession. But during heightened tensions between Pakistan and India, particularly the 1986–87 crisis, the firearms business in Sakhakot received a boost.
“I remember that during the reign of Gen Zia, when tensions with India arose, guns were manufactured here in large quantities and transported to border areas with a good profit margin,” recalls Riaz Muhammad.
He mentioned that the Soviet–Afghan war was also a reason for the increase in the number of weapon dealers and skilled workers, as at the time modern arms brought from Afghanistan were repaired and sold in large quantities in the market.
“After the arrival of modern weapons, local craftsmen were introduced to automatic firearms, including the Avtomat Kalashnikova (AK-47), and they began manufacturing them locally. Some spare parts for these guns were brought from Lahore and Dara Adamkhel, another historic gun market in K-P,” says Muhammad.
“Before the 1970s, the bazaar was known as Baarra Market, where mostly goods from Russia, Japan, and other countries were transported through Afghanistan and were sold. Later, the gun-crafting business gained momentum,” says Muhammad Abbas Khan, a local gun dealer.
He added that until 2008, the business was at its peak and local workers and traders earned a handsome income, but the military operation launched in Swat in 2009 affected the firearms business. He said that another reason for the decline in business was the construction of the Swat Expressway, which bypassed visitors from Peshawar, Punjab, and Sindh, as most travellers preferred that route instead of the historical Mardan–Malakand road through Sakhakot.
“In the past, those coming to Kalam, Malam Jabba, and other tourist spots in the Swat district used to visit here, and some even ordered guns, but now their route has changed, which has left an adverse impact on the market,” Khan points out. “The market was not only a source of income for local workers, but a large number of craftsmen also came from other parts of the province to earn a living for their families; however, the decline in business forced many either to migrate to Peshawar and Dara Adamkhel gun market or to change their profession.”
He added that the complicated online arms licensing policy for traders has also damaged the firearms business in Sakhakot.
“Many traders associated with the business are illiterate and cannot maintain daily records in the database as required by the government; that is why many veteran businessmen decided to quit the profession,” Khan says.
He added that if the arms licensing process were made easier for dealers and the government extended support to the business community, the market could grow into an industry where many skilled workers would find employment.
Today, the clang of hammers and the rusty scent of metal filings that once filled Sakhakot Bazaar have faded into memory. What remains are ageing craftsmen guarding the last remnants of a vanishing tradition, their hands still steady but their trade outpaced by technology, regulation, and neglect. For them, every handmade pistol or repaired rifle is more than a product — it is a relic of skill, defiance, and history. Whether the craft survives another generation will depend not only on nostalgia but on whether the state recognises Sakhakot’s artisans as part of Pakistan’s industrial heritage rather than a forgotten trade of the past.
Abdur Razzaq is a Peshawar-based multimedia journalist. He tweets @TheAbdurRazzaq
All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the writer
