Peshawar
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Where is Peshawar located?
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northern Pakistan. The city is located just west of the Bara River, a tributary of the Kabul River, near the Khyber Pass. The fertile Vale of Peshawar extends northward along the Kabul River, and the city of Peshawar lies in the western portion of this vale. Peshawar is a historic center of trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia and is connected by highway, rail, and air to other cities in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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What is Peshawar known for?
Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northern Pakistan, is known as a historic center of transit-caravan trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia. The city connects by highway and rail with other major cities in Pakistan and by air with Rawalpindi, Chitral, and Kabul, Afghanistan. Peshawar was once the capital of the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhara. The city is also known for its industries, including textile and sugar mills, fruit canning, and the manufacture of various goods such as sandals, leatherwork, pottery, woodwork, and carpets.
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What is the historical significance of Peshawar?
Peshawar holds significant historical importance as a city with a lengthy association with Buddhism. Once the capital of the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhara, Peshawar has been known by many names, including Parasawara, Purusapura, and Begram.
The city’s modern name was given by Akbar, the Mughal emperor of India, meaning "frontier town." Peshawar served as a historic center for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia. Muslim rule came to the region in 988 CE. Sikh authority was established in 1834, followed by British control from 1849 to 1947, after which it became part of Pakistan.
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Which important cultures and empires have influenced Peshawar?
Peshawar has been influenced by various cultures and empires throughout its history. As the capital of the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhara, it was once known as Purusapura.
The city and surrounding area have been under the rule of the:
* Persian Achaemenian dynasty
* Greeks
* Indian empires
* Indo-Bactrians
* Sakans
* Parthians
* Kushan Empire
* Muslims, beginning in 988 CE
* Mughal Empire
* Sikhs
* British EmpireIn 1947, Peshawar became part of Pakistan.
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What languages are commonly spoken in Peshawar?
Peshawar, located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, is a linguistically diverse city. While Pashto is the main language of the province, other languages are also spoken in Peshawar.
Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, is taught in schools and is widely understood and spoken by educated individuals. Punjabi is another language spoken in some areas. Many English words are also used in local speech, and many Pakistanis with some education can understand the language.
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How has Peshawar’s location affected its role in trade and history?
Peshawar's location has significantly shaped its history and trade. Situated near the Khyber Pass, the city has been a historic center for transit-caravan trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia. This pass is the most easily negotiable route between Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent.
Peshawar, known as a frontier town, has been a gateway for invasions of the Indian subcontinent from the northwest. It has been traversed by Persians, Greeks, Mughals, Afghans, and the British. Today, Peshawar is connected by road, rail, and air to major cities in Pakistan and Kabul.
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Peshawar, city, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northern Pakistan. The city lies just west of the Bara River, a tributary of the Kabul River, near the Khyber Pass. The Shahji-ki Dheri mounds, situated to the east, cover ruins of the largest Buddhist stupa in the subcontinent (2nd century ce), which attest the lengthy association of the city with the Buddha and Buddhism. Once the capital of the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhara, the city was known variously as Parasawara and Purusapura (town, or abode, of Purusa); it was also called Begram. The present name, Peshawar (pesh awar, “frontier town”), is ascribed to Akbar, the Mughal emperor of India (1556–1605). A great historic centre of transit-caravan trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia, Peshawar is today connected by highway and rail with Lahore, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, and Karachi and by air with Rawalpindi, Chitral, and Kabul, Afghanistan.
Industries include textile and sugar mills, fruit canning, and the manufacture of chappals (sandals), shoes, leatherwork, glazed pottery, wax and embroidery work, copper utensils, lungis (a type of sarong), turbans, carpets, ornamental woodwork and furniture, ivory work, knives, and small arms. The ancient Qissah (Kissa) Khwani Bazar (“Street of Storytellers”) is the meeting place for foreign merchants who deal in dried fruits, woolen products, rugs, carpets, pustins (sheepskin coats), karakul (lambskin) caps, and Chitrali cloaks.
Peshawar’s historic buildings include Bala Hissar, a fort built by the Sikhs on the ruins of the state residence of the Durranis, which was destroyed by them after the battle of Nowshera; Gor Khatri, once a Buddhist monastery and later a sacred Hindu temple, which stands on an eminence in the east and affords a panoramic view of the entire city; the pure white mosque of Mahabat Khan (1630), a remarkable monument of Mughal architecture; Victoria memorial hall; and Government House. There are many parks, and the Chowk Yadgar and the town hall are other places of social and public assembly. Coffeehouses also are popular. Gardens and suburbs are outside the old city wall.
Constituted a municipality in 1867, the city has three hospitals, a museum (with a large collection of Gandharan Buddhist relics), an agricultural college, and the University of Peshawar (founded 1950), with several constituent and affiliated colleges.
The surrounding region consists of highly irrigated plains, part of a huge basin drained and irrigated by the Kabul River, and a tract covered by low hills at Cherat in the southeast. The chief crops are wheat, corn (maize), sugarcane, barley, cotton, and fruit (apples, pears, peaches, pomegranates, and quinces). The inhabitants are mostly Pashtun.
References to the Peshawar area occur in early Sanskrit literature and the writings of the classical historians Strabo and Arrian and the geographer Ptolemy. The Vale of Peshawar was annexed by the Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides (2nd century bce), and Kaniska made Purusapura the capital of his Kushan (Kusana) empire (1st century ce). Buddhism was still dominant in the 5th century ce when Faxian, the Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler, passed through the area. Captured by the Muslims in 988 ce, it was by the 16th century in the possession of the Afghans, who were nominally dependent on the Mughals. Sikh authority was firmly established by 1834, and the area was under British control from 1849 to 1947, when it became part of Pakistan.
In the early 21st century the activities of the Taliban spread into the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and then deeper into Pakistan. Peshawar increasingly became a target of Taliban attacks, which grew in frequency in 2009 as the Pakistani army confronted Taliban forces in the region. Among the most notable was the Peshawar school massacre in 2014. Pop. (2017) urban agglom., 1,970,042.
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