Peshawar Museum.JPG

Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where it is the largest city. Peshawar is primarily populated by Pashtuns, who comprise the second-largest ethnic group in the country. Situated in the Valley of Peshawar, a broad area situated east of the historic Khyber Pass, Peshawar's recorded history dates back to at least 539 BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in South Asia. Peshawer is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities of the country.

The area encompassing modern-day Peshawar is mentioned in Vedic scriptures; it served as the capital of the Kushan Empire during the rule of Kanishka and was home to the Kanishka Stupa, which was among the tallest buildings in the ancient world. Peshawar was then ruled by the Hephthalites, followed by the Hindu Shahis, before the arrival of a variety of Muslim empires. The city was an important trading centre of the Mughal Empire before becoming part of the Durrani Empire in 1747, after which it served as the Durrani winter capital from 1776 until the capture of the city by the Sikh Empire in 1823. In 1849, the city was captured by the East India Company and subsequently became part of British Raj, under whose rule it remained until the partition of British India and subsequent independence of Pakistan in 1947.

Etymology

The modern name of the city "Peshawar" is possibly derived from the econstructedSanskrit word "Purushapura" ( ''Puruṣapura'', meaning "City of Men" or “City of Purusha"). It was named so by Mughal Emperor Akbar from its old name ''Parashawar'', the meaning of which Akbar didn't understand. The ruler of the city during its founding may have been a Hindu raja (king) named Purush; the word '' pur'' means "city" in Sanskrit. Sanskrit, written in the Kharosthi script, was the literary language employed by the Buddhist kingdoms which ruled over the area during its earliest recorded period. The city's name may also be derived from the Sanskrit name for "City of Flowers," ''Poshapura,'' a name found in an ancient Kharosthi inscription that may refer to Peshawar''.''

Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang's 7th century account of a city in Gandhara called the city ''Po-la-sha-pu-lo'' (Chinese: 布路沙布邏, ''bùlùshābùló'')'','' and an earlier 5th century account by Fa-Hien records the city's name as ''Fou-lou-sha'' (Chinese: 弗樓沙, ''fùlóshā'')'','' the Chinese equivalent of the Sanskrit name of the city, Purushapura. An ancient inscription from the Shapur era identifies a city in the Gandhara valley by the name ''pskbvr,'' which may be a reference to Peshawar.

The Arab historian and geographer Al-Masudi noted that by the mid 10th century, the city was known as ''Parashāwar''. The name was noted to be ''Purshawar'' and ''Purushavar'' by Al-Biruni.

The city began to be known as ''Peshāwar'' by the era of Emperor Akbar. The current name is said by some to have been based upon the Persian for "frontier town" or, more literally, "forward city," though transcription errors and linguistic shifts may account for the city's new name. One theory suggests that the city's name is derived from the Persian name "Pesh Awardan", meaning "place of first arrival" or "frontier city," as Peshawar was the first city in the Indian subcontinent after crossing the Khyber Pass. Akbar's bibliographer, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, lists the city's name as both ''Parashāwar'', transcribed in Persian as fa, پَرَشَاوَر, label=none, and ''Peshāwar'' ( fa, پشاور, label=none).

History

Ancient history

Peshawar alongside the modern day Ghandara region were found in the Vedic Scripture as Pushkalavati.

Foundation

Peshawar was founded as the city of ''Puruṣapura'', on the Gandhara Plains in the broad Valley of Peshawar in 100 CE. It may have been named after a Hindu raja who ruled the city who was known as Purush. The city likely first existed as a small village in the 5th century BCE, within the cultural sphere of ancient India. Puruṣapura was founded near the ancient Gandharan capital city of Pushkalavati, near present-day Charsadda.

Greek Rule

In the winter of 327–26 BCE, Alexander the Great subdued the Valley of Peshawar during his invasion of the Indus Valley, as well as the nearby Swat and Buner valleys. Following Alexander's conquest, the Valley of Peshawar came under the suzerainty of Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire. A locally-made vase fragment that was found in Peshawar depicts a scene from Sophocles' play ''Antigone''.

Mauryan empire

Following the Seleucid–Mauryan war, the region was ceded to the Mauryan Empire in 303 BCE. Around 300 BCE, the Greek diplomat and historian Megasthenes noted that Purushapura (ancient Peshawar) was the western terminus of a Mauryan road that connected the city to the empire's capital at ''Pataliputra'', near the city of Patna in the modern-day Indian state of Bihar.

As Mauryan power declined, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom based in modern Afghanistan declared its independence from the Seleucid Empire, and quickly seized ancient Peshawar around 190 BCE. The city was then captured by Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom. Gondophares established the nearby ''Takht-i-Bahi'' monastery in 46 CE.

Kushan empire

In the first century of the Common era, Purushapura came under control of Kujula Kadphises, founder of the Kushan Empire. The city was made the empire's winter capital. The Kushan's summer capital at ''Kapisi'' (modern Bagram, Afghanistan was seen as the secondary capital of the empire, while Puruṣapura was considered to be the empire's primary capital. Ancient Peshawar's population was estimated to be 120,000, which would make it the seventh-most populous city in the world at the time. As a devout Buddhist, the emperor built the grand ''Kanishka Mahavihara'' monastery. After his death, the magnificent Kanishka stupa was built in Peshawar to house Buddhist relics. The golden age of Kushan empire in Peshawar ended in 232 CE with the death of the last great Kushan king, Vasudeva I.

Around 260 CE, the armies of the Sasanid Emperor Shapur I launched an attack against Peshawar, and severely damage Buddhist monuments and monasteries throughout the Valley of Peshawar. Shapur's campaign also resulted in damage to the city's monumental stupa and monastery. The Kushans were made subordinate to the Sasanids and their power rapidly dwindled, as the Sasanids blocked lucrative trade routes westward out of the city.

Kushan Emperor Kanishka III was able to temporarily reestablish control over the entire Valley of Peshawar after Shapur's invasion, but the city was then captured by the Central Asian Kidarite kingdom in the early 400s CE.

White Huns

The White Huns devastated ancient Peshawar in the 460s CE, and ravaged the entire region of Gandhara, destroying its numerous monasteries. The Kanishka stupa was rebuilt during the White Hun era with the construction of a tall wooden superstructure, built atop a stone base, and crowned with a 13-layer copper- gilded ''chatra.'' In the 400s CE, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim ''Faxian'' visited the structure and described it as "the highest of all the towers" in the "terrestrial world", which ancient travelers claimed was up to tall, though modern estimates suggest a height of .

In 520 CE the Chinese monk Song Yun visited Gandhara and ancient Peshawar during the White Hun era, and noted that it was in conflict with nearby ''Kapisa''. The Chinese monk and traveler Xuanzang visited ancient Peshawar around 630 CE, after ''Kapisa'' victory, and expressed lament that the city and its great Buddhist monuments had decayed to ruin—although some monks studying Hinayana Buddhism continued to study at the monastery's ruins. Xuanzang estimated that only about 1,000 families continued in a small quarter among the ruins of the former grand capital.

Medieval history

Until the mid 7th century, the residents of ancient Peshawar had a ruling elite of Central Asian Scythian descent, who were then displaced by the Hindu Shahis of Kabul.

Islam is believed to have been first introduced to the Buddhist, Hindu and other indigenous inhabitants of Puruṣapura in the later 7th century.

As the first Pashtun tribe to settle the region, the Dilazak Pashtuns began settling in the Valley of Peshawar,"Taareekh-e-Hazara" (Urdu) by Dr. Sher Bahadur Khan Panni_first edition_1969 p 295-313,"Taareekh-e-Wadi-e-Chhachh and Aqwaam-e-Chhachh" (Urdu) by Manzoor Awan p 175-182, "Afghanistan and its inhabitants" translation of Muhammad Hayat Khan's book by Henry B Priestley_1874 (reproduced by Sang-e-Meel Publications_Pakistan_1981) p-55/56, p- 197/198, "Da Pasto Qabeelo Shajre o Mene" (Pashto) by Muhammad Umar Rond Miakhel_2001 p 346-347 and are believed to have settled regions up to the Indus River by the 11th century. The Arab historian and geographer Al-Masudi noted that by the mid 10th century, the city had become known as ''Parashāwar''.

Ghaznavid empire

In 986–87 CE, Peshawar's first encounter with Muslim armies occurred when Sabuktigin invaded the area and fought the Hindu Shahis under their king, Anandpal.

On 28 November 1001, Sabuktigin's son Mahmud Ghazni decisively defeated the army of Raja Jayapala, son of Anandpal, at the Battle of Peshawar, and established rule of the Ghaznavid Empire in the Peshawar region.

During the Ghaznavid era, Peshawar served as an important stop between the Afghan plateau, and the Ghaznavid garrison city of Lahore. During the 10th–12th century, Peshawar served as a headquarters for Hindu Nath

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