A look back while climbing uphill at Ranigat 1

The Valley of Peshawar (; ) is a broad area situated in the central part of the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The valley is in area, and is traversed by the Kabul River. It has a mean elevation of . The valley takes its name from the city of

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, which is situated at the western part of the valley close to Warsak Dam. To the west of the valley lies the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...

. The five most populous cities in the valley are Peshawar, Mardan,

Swabi Swabi (; ) is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located near the bank of the Indus River. It is the 73rd largest city of Pakistan and eighth largest in the province in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Swabi is also a major city in ...

, Charsadda, and Nowshera.

Districts located in the valley

These districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are completely located in the Valley of Peshawar: * Charsadda District (population: 1,616,198) * Mardan District (population: 2,373,061) * Peshawar District (population: 4,269,079) In addition, most of Nowshera District, most of Swabi District, and smaller portions of Khyber (including Jamrud), Mohmand, Malakand, and Frontier Region Peshawar are also located in the Valley of Peshawar.

Historic references

In 630 CE,

Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...

visited the Valley of Peshawar, and mentioned two stupas built by

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

, one of them around (20 li) 6.4 km northeast of (Pa-lu-sha) Sahri Bahlol, which he said was located on "Mount Tan-to-lo-ka," Takht-i-Bāhi hill.Errington, Elizabeth, (1993)
"In search of Pa-lu-sha, a city of the central Gandhara plain"
in: Bulletin of the Asia Institute, New Series, Volume 7, p. 63: " garding the Tan-to-lo-ka mountain visited by Xuanzang 'above twenty li' (4 miles/6.4 km) to the northeast of Pa-lu-sha .. for if the latter is identified as Sahri Bahlol, it seems that the former must be equated with the Takht-i-Bāhi hill."

References

{{Reflist, 30em Indus basin Peshawar District