Peshawar District (, , ) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in the

Peshawar Division Peshawar Division is an administrative division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. It was abolished in the reforms of 2000, like all divisions, but reinstated in 2008. At independence in 1947, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (then North-West Fron ...

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# ...

. It is located about 160 km west of the Pakistan's capital

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

. The district headquarter is 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 also the capital of Khyber Paktunkhwa.

History

This district and the city has seen the rise and fall of many civilizations. It was once the center of

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

and has subsequently been ruled by

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

Kushans The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Kus ...

Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

, Marathas,

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

and the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. Peshawar district was annexed by the British from its former

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

rulers after the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...

of 1848–1849. The original district of Peshawar was a district of the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the old Peshawar District became

comprising the current districts of Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera. In July 1988, the former Charsadda tehsil was separated and attained the status of a separate district. In 1990, the Nowshera tehsil also was upgraded to the status of a district. Under the latest revision of Pakistan's administrative structure, promulgated in 2001, Peshawar was also given the status of a city district.

Demographics

Population

As of the 2023 census, Peshawar district has 690,976 households and a population of 4,758,762. The district has a sex ratio of 103.99 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 53.28%: 64.91% for males and 41.09% for females. 1,355,625 (28.54% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 1,905,975 (40.05%) live in urban areas.

Language

At the time of the 2023, 93.07% of the district’s population spoke

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 ...

, 3.79%

Hindko Hindko (, , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Pun ...

, 1.8%

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and 0.55%

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

as their first language. Due to the settlement of Afghan refugees and language shift Pashto has gained ground at the expense of Hindko. According to linguists, the nearly-extinct

Tirahi language Tirahi is a nearly extinct if not already extinct Indo-Aryan language spoken in a few villages in the southeast of Jalalabad in the Nangarhar Province of eastern Afghanistan. It is spoken by older adults, who are likewise fluent in Pashto. The ...

was likely spoken in the region before the arrival of the Afghans.

Religion

Muslims make up the majority in Peshawar. Peshawar once had significant minorities of Hindus and Sikhs living in the small towns and Peshawar city, but most fled during Partition. 1,800 Hindus and 1,400 Sikhs remain in the district. Christians however have continued to grow.

1897 gazetteer

According to the 1897 district gazetteer, published during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, most people living in Peshawar valley were

Pathans 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 ...

and belonged to an agricultural community but there was also large number of

and

Hindkowan Hindkowans, also known as the Hindki, is a contemporary designation for speakers of Indo-Aryan languages who live among the neighbouring Pashtuns, particularly the speakers of various Hindko dialects of Western Punjabi (Lahnda). The origins ...

communities living in the valley; all three ethnolinguistic groups religiously belonged to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

and

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

. Most people in the

city spoke and understood

, while economic elites from small towns such as big feudal

Khan Khan may refer to: * Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name * Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by various ethnicities Art and entertainment * Khan (band), an English progressiv ...

families, traders, alongside many

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

also spoke

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

was also spoken by elites of the

city and by traders from

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, despite a majority of the district population – especially the agriculturists and Pathans – only spoke

. At the time, during the late 19th century, approximately 92–93 percent of the total population of Peshawar Valley followed Islam, while the remaining 7–8 percent followed

and other religions. Persons adhering to minority religions primarily lived in major urban centres, cities, towns, and cantonments such as

Charsadda Chārsadda (; ; ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.Charsadda District) and Hoti (now in the

Mardan District Mardan District (, ) is a district in the Mardan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The district is named after Mardan city, which is also the headquarters of the district. The district is famous for its agriculture indust ...

). 97 percent of the population living in rural towns practiced Islam.

Education

Peshawar District has many universities for various disciplines starting from

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

General Sciences A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Ma ...

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

Engineering Science Engineering physics (EP), sometimes engineering science, is the field of study combining pure science disciplines (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology) and engineering disciplines (computer, nuclear, electrical, aerospace, medica ...

s to

Medical Sciences Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

, Agriculture Sciences and

Management Sciences Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...

. Currently, there are nine medical colleges of which two are in the public sector, including

Khyber Medical University Khyber Medical University (, , abbreviated as KMU) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

, and seven in the private sector, which all are recognised and approved by Pakistan Medical and Dental Association. The first public sector university was the

University of Peshawar The University of Peshawar (; ; ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The university is one of the oldest universities in the provi ...

which was established in 1950. The

University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar The University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar (UET Peshawar), formerly known as NWFP University of Engineering and Technology, is a public university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Formerly known as ''NWFP University ...

and the

University of Agriculture, Peshawar The University of Agriculture, Peshawar (UAP; ; ), is a research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries a ...

were also established in 1980 and 1981 respectively. The first private sector university

CECOS University of IT and Emerging Sciences CECOS University of IT and Emerging Sciences is a private university in Peshawar, Pakistan. It was established in 1986 by Engr. Muhammad Tanveer Javed as a small private sector institute named CECOS Data Institute with limited resources. Currentl ...

, started functioning in 1986. Soon after, another university by the name o
BrainsInstitute and post graduate college
was established. In 1995, a public sector management institute named as Institute of Management Sciences was established, which became degree awarding institute in 2005. In 2001, four (4) new private sector universities started working in Peshawar. The name of these universities are Qurtuba University, Sarhad University of Science and IT, Fast University, Peshawar Campus and City University of Science and IT.

Gandhara University The Gandhara University is a private university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is chartered by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Gandhara University was the first private medical university of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It prov ...

was established in 2002 while

Abasyn University The Abasyn University is a private university located in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was founded in 2007. Overview Abasyn university is chartered by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and recognized by the Higher Education Com ...

was created in 2007. City University Peshawar

In 2007,

Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ), is the provincial government of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1 ...

established first public sector medical university,

Khyber Medical University Khyber Medical University (, , abbreviated as KMU) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

and the district also has 2 public sector medical colleges, one is

Khyber Medical College Khyber Medical College (, abbreviated as KMC) is a public sector medical college located in Peshawar. Khyber Medical College is the oldest medical college of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was established in 1954. It is considered as a mo ...

and one for girls named as Khyber Girls Medical College. The first women university was established in 2012, when

Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, previously known as the Frontier Women University, is located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was formed as result of an order from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in 2004 and the university ...

started working while private sector

IQRA National University Iqra National University (INU) (Urdu: اقراء نیشنل یونیورسٹی; Pashto: اقرا ملي پوهنتون), is a private university in Peshawar, KPK, Pakistan. It is chartered by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is recogniz ...

was also established in 2012. Apart from excellent range of universities, Peshawar district also has huge numbers of

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

(Post School) institutes both in public and private sectors. The most renowned are Islamia College Peshawar, which was established in 1913 and was upgraded to become university in 2008 and

Edwardes College Peshawar Edwardes College Peshawar (Urdu: ایڈورڈز کالج پشاور, Pashto: اېډوارډز کالج پېښور) is a semi-government degree college which is the oldest higher education institution in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkh ...

, which is the oldest of all institutions in the district started functioning in 1900.

State of Education in Peshawar

According to Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017 published by

Alif Ailaan Alif Ailaan () was a nonprofit organization working in the field of education in Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. Launched by a team of media and communications specialists, the program aimed to highlight education on priority basis in Pakistan and ...

, Peshawar ranks 4th in Pakistan in terms of primary school infrastructure while it ranks 52nd in Pakistan for middle school infrastructure. In terms of education score, Peshawar ranks 64th in Pakistan with having a relatively low retention score. Beyond Primary Readiness in Peshawar is on the lower side as it ranks 62nd in Pakistan. The main issues reported i
Taleem Do! App
for district Peshawar are overcrowded class rooms and lack of class rooms in schools. Girls’ education is also one of the most reported issues in the app, with main focus on lesser number of Girls schools and also schools located at long distances. Issues of lack of teachers, non-availability of science labs and lack of High Schools were also reported. Issues regarding the high fee collections in private schools was also reported on multiple occasions.

Administration

The district Peshawar is administrated by Deputy commissioner who is chief administrative, land revenue officer and the representative of government in district. DC is assisted by Additional Deputy commissioner and Assistant commissioner. Peshawar is divided into seven tehsil which are further divided into village council (rural areas) and neighbourhood council (urban areas). There are total 357 councils in peshawar district out of which 130 are neighbourhood councils and 227 are village councils. Each tehsil has its own government known as tehsil municipal administration having an elected tehsil council and tehsil chairman except Peshawar city tehsil which is administrated by a city local government which is composed of an elected city council and an elected mayor.

Tehsils of Peshawar District

Neighbourhood and Village Councils of Peshawar District

1. Peshawar City Tehsil Village Councils = 9 Neighbourhood Councils =121 Total Councils = 130. 2. Badhaber tehsil Village Councils = 37 Neighbourhood Councils = 0 Total Councils = 37. 3. Chamkani tehsil Village Councils = 42 Neighbourhood Councils = 4 Total Councils = 46. 4. Shah Alam tehsil Village Councils = 41 Neighbourhood Councils = 2 Total Councils = 43. 5. Pishtakhara tehsil Village Councils = 34 Neighbourhood Councils = 2 Total Councils = 36. 6. Mathra tehsil Village Councils = 53 Neighbourhood Councils = 1 Total Councils = 54. 7. Hassan Khel Village Councils = 11 Neighbourhood Councils = 0 Total Councils = 11. Each Village and Neighborhood Council is composed of 7 Members which are as given below 1. Chairman of VC or NC 2. Vice Chairman of VC or NC 3. General Councilor 4. Women Councilor 5. Youth Councilor 6. Worker and Peasant Councilor 7. Minority Councilor These members are elected by voter directly through local elections

Provincial Assembly Seats

According to new delimitation list made by election commission of Pakistan the district Peshawar is represented in provincial assembly through 14 constituencies. Currently all seats are empty because assembly is dissolved and new elections are going to happen soon.

National Assembly Seats

The district is represented in the Pakistan National Assembly by five (5) members.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

{{coord, 34, 00, N, 71, 45, E, region:PK_type:adm3rd_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa