[9] However, it has been criticized on weak chronologigal ground, as it traces back the advent of Islam in Chitral around the 7th century, and sought to legitimize the Kator rule by anticipating its beginning.

[9] It describes the arrival of Islam in Chitral in the 7th century by an Arab army that defeated a local king named Bahman Kohistani.

[10][9] The Kafir period came to an end in 1320 accordingly, when a foreign chief named Shah Nadir Rais, presumably from Turkestan, arrived and founded the Raisa rule, which lasted from 1531 to 1574.

The defeat of Shah Mahmud by Mohtaram’s son Sangin Ali II in 1660 marks the final establishment of the Kator dynasty, which lasted until modern times.

[9] Wolfgang Holzwarth conducted a recent investigation that challenges the account's reconstruction of the Rais period, claiming that it fails to acknowledge the spread of Islam in Chitral and Gilgit.

[9] According to Holzwarth, the Chagatai Khanate brought Islam to the region in the early 16th century, establishing subcenters in Mastuj and Yasin.

He cites the successful military expeditions led by Mirza Haidar from Yarkand into the Hindu Kush between 1520 and 1550 as evidence.

[9] The battle of Danin is likely the same event reported in the Manchu annals and the Oirat Mongol invasion of Chitral mentioned by Biddulph.

[9] The investigation by Wolfgang Holzwarth indicates that Kator rule may not have been established in Chitral until the mid-18th century, as documented in the Manchu annals.

[9] The last three rulers are likely historical, and conflicts between the Kator and Khushwaqte branches of the same dynasty are described in more detail in the NTCH after the defeat of the Rais.

His bearing was royal, his courtesy simple and perfect, he had naturally the courtly Spanish grace of a great heredity noble Chitral, in fact, had its parliament and democratic constitution.

For just as the British House of Commons is an assembly, so in Chitral, the Mehtar, seated on a platform and hedged about with a certain dignity, dispensed justice or law in sight of some hundreds of his subjects, who heard the arguments, watched the process of debate, and by their attitude in the main decided the issue.

Justice compels me to add that the speeches in the Mahraka were less long and the general demeanour more decorous than in some western assemblies.For forty years his was the chief personality on the frontier.

The approach of the Chitral Expedition, a strong military force composed of British and Kashmiri troops prompted Amir to eventually surrender, his patron, the Umra Khan fled to Jandul.

After installing the young Mehtar, British and Kashmiri forces endured the famous defence against a seven-week siege by Sher Afzal and the Umra Khan of Jandul.

The princes travelled to far-off places such as Aligarh and Dehradun accompanied by the sons of notables who were schooled at state expense.

[17] He supported the British during the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, during which four of his sons and the Chitral State Bodyguard served in several actions guarding the border against invasion.

The unexpected early death of Muzaffar ul-Mulk saw the succession pass to his relatively inexperienced eldest son, Saif-ur-Rahman, in 1948.

They appointed a board of administration composed of officials from Chitral and the rest of Pakistan to govern the state in his absence.

In order to reduce the Mehtar's influence, he, like so many other princes in neighbouring India, was invited to represent his country abroad.

He served in various diplomatic posts in Pakistan's Foreign Office and prematurely retired from the service as Consul-General in Hong Kong in 1989.

[18] At the time of the Partition of India on 15 August 1947, the then-Mehtar of Chitral, Muzaffar ul-Mulk (1901–1949), stated his intention to accede to Pakistan.

The word Khonza (meaning princess in the Khowar language) was reserved for female members of the Mehtar’s family.

The Mehtar was an influential player in the power politics of the region as he acted as an intermediary between the rulers of Badakhshan, the Yousafzai pashtuns, the Maharaja of Kashmir and later the Amir of Afghanistan.

[17] Tribes in Upper Swat, Dir, Kohistan and Kafiristan (present day Nuristan), paid tribute to the Mehtar of Chitral.

From the Chitral fort, which housed the extended royal family, the Mehtar presided over an elaborate administrative hierarchy.

[39] Shahzada Mohiuddin also served as chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas (KANA).

[47] He was a philanthropist and helped the Brooke Hospital for Animals, the British-based equine charity, to set up a centre in Pakistan.