Besham
City
Besham, Pakistan
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
District	Shangla
Elevation	613 m (2,011 ft)
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)

Besham is a city to stay for tourist who want to head to Hunza or Gilgit.

Map of the Karakorum Highway

Besham (Urdu, Pashto: بشام; also known as Besham Qila) is a city in the Shangla District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located on the right bank of the Indus River (locally known as Abasin), Besham serves as a major junction on the Karakoram Highway, that connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab with Gilgit-Baltistan, and crosses over into China's Xinjiang. Besham is also the eastern terminus of the under-construction E90 expressway, which will connect the city westward with Khwazakhela in Swat District. Besham is located around 60 kilometres (40 mi) east of Swat, 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of Rawalpindi-Islamabad, and 270 kilometres (170 mi) northeast of the provincial capital, Peshawar, Pakistan.

Historically, the place has been home to many Buddhist hermits, as well as a Hindu community. Besham was previously a part of the State of Swat and then Swat District, until the creation of Shangla District on 10 July 1995.

The inhabitants of this area belong to Azi Khel, the major Pashtun tribe, Ttribes and sects, traditionally called hujras and the sects residing therein are Kamal khel, Khodo khel, Mullah khel, and Umer khel

Kamal khel is the sub tribe Azi khel Akuzai yousafzai tribe of pashtun peoples

Tourism

Tourists pass through Besham if they are taking Karakoram Highway route for Hunza and Gilgit, as the alternative route through the Kaghan Valley is often blocked due to heavy snowfall. A rest house, located on the bank of the Indus River, is provided by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation.^[1]

BESHAM TRIBE,

Azi khel is one of the Yousafzai clans and Azi khel is settled in the shangla and khwazakhela the ancestors of Kamal khel tribe was Azi khel who settled in Butyal Besham chakisar shangla from khwazakhela and from Azikhel many branches emerged which are Khado khel, Begam khel, Bara Khel and Khan khel these tribe are now present in Butyal Besham Chakisar shang Opal and katoor are living their lifes in these places mentioned above Azi khel is the sub tribe of the Akuzai Yusufzai tribe of pashtun people

Climate

With a mild and generally warm and temperate climate, Besham features a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) under the Köppen climate classification. The average temperature in Besham is 20.7 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 842 mm. Even in the driest months, there is a lot of precipitation. November is the driest month with 18 mm of precipitation, while August, the wettest month, has an average precipitation of 138 mm.

June is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 30.6 °C. The coldest month January has an average temperature of 8.9 °C.

References

34°56′15″N 72°52′45″E / 34.93750°N 72.87917°E / 34.93750; 72.87917