Karkhano () is a market area on the western side 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 ...

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 ...

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# ...

. Located in the

Hayatabad Hayatabad is a suburb on the western outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It borders the now defunct Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Tribal Areas and is close to Torkham, Pakistan, Torkham, which ...

suburb of the city, it is located near the

Khyber District Khyber District (, ) is a district in the Peshawar Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in ...

, which in turn borders

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. It is considered to be the largest business hub in Peshawar. Established in 1985, it had around 22 shopping plazas containing 5,000 to 7,000 shops in its heyday, owned by

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

traders. The name ''Kārkhānō'' means "industries" in the

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

language.

History

Since its inception, the market has been infamous for the availability of smuggled goods and a variety of drugs. As it is situated close to

Jamrud Tehsil Jamrud Tehsil is a subdivision located in Khyber District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 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-m ...

of Khyber District, the Karkhano is prone to illegal trade of drugs, weapons, and goods, and the proliferation of terrorist activities. In April 2015, the district administration conducted a clean-up operation against encroachments in the market, dismantling two-decade old structures consisting of about 760 shops, some cattle and vegetable markets, and illegal

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

stands. It was the third such operation in the area. In tax year of 2018, the Karkhano market emerged as the fourth-highest tax contributor in the country, with 10,417 filers paying a total of Rs. 5.27 billion in taxes. After the Fall of Kabul that led to the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

control of Afghanistan in 2021, the market has experienced a drastic decrease in the footfall of visiting customers. As a result, about half of the shops have been abandoned by their owners. Fear of the Taliban, an increase in the transportation costs of goods, a decrease in the purchasing power of the customers, increased

border control Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

measures, and a drying up of the supply of contraband are some of the reasons attributed to this decline in business activity in the Karkhano market.

Goods

On the right side of the market are many industries that are located in the

industrial estate. As the industries emerged in this area, so did these markets. The locals from Peshawar usually visit these markets because the prices are lower than those in other commercial parts of Peshawar. The Karkhano has also seen customers from the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, who buy cheaper goods and sell them back in their province. The market includes a large amount of

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

from smugglers. Many types of items are available, including electronics, shoes and clothing, household goods, luxury vehicles, cosmetics, toys, watches, cigarettes, and video games. The rising

price of oil The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a barrel () of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crude, OPEC ...

affected the amount of cheaper smuggled petrol sold in the market.

Main markets of Karkhano

*United Plaza *Shah Shopping Centre *G.B Market *Shaheen Market *Ameen Market * Sitara Market *Al-Haj Market *Kabul Shopping Plaza *National Market *Peerano Market *Kabul Market *Malak Taj Market *Awami Market *Khyber Market *Shinwari Market *S.S Plaza *Royal Plaza *Bejli Market *Palace Market *Khalid Market *Afghan Market *Hussain Market *Makkah Market *S.G Plaza *Jan Plaza *Afridi Plaza *M.S Market *Haroon Market

References

Economy of Peshawar {{Peshawar-stub