Peshawar: a short history of an ancient city

An ancient city at the Khyber

Peshawar (Pashto: پېښور, Pēxawar) has been known by several names, including Purushapura and Kanishkapura. It lies near the entrance to the Khyber Pass, which Current World Archaeology calls the gateway through which invaders have poured into the subcontinent. [1]

Over the centuries the city passed through many hands. A Dawn report on the Gor Khuttree findings notes that Peshawar was a province of the Persian Achaemenid empire, and lists later rule by Greeks, Buddhist dynasties, Huns, Brahmin rulers, the Ghaznavids, the Mughals, the Sikhs and the British. The same report describes Peshawar as having once been the capital of the Gandhara region. [5]

Archaeologists working at Gor Khuttree in the old city have described Peshawar as the earliest living city of the subcontinent with an excavated history from the 4th century BC. Officials have dated its documented history back to about 539 BC, though they have also noted that the full archaeological profile is still incomplete. [1] [5]

Purushapura and the Kushans

Under the Kushans, Peshawar served as the capital of a large empire, roughly between AD 60 and 225. The Chinese Buddhist pilgrims Faxian in the 5th century and Xuanzang in the 7th century both described a great stupa built by the Kushan king Kanishka near the city. [1] [2]

In 1909 D. B. Spooner excavated the mound of Shah-ji-ki Dheri, on the outskirts of Peshawar, believing he had found Kanishka's stupa. He recovered a gilded bronze reliquary casket with an inscription in Gandhari. The casket is now in the Peshawar Museum, and the relics it held were sent to Mandalay in Burma. Later scholars have suggested the casket may date from the reign of a later Kushan ruler, Huvishka, though the inscription mentions Kanishkapura and a Kanishka monastery. [2]

Gor Khuttree

Gor Khuttree lies in the old city. In 1641 Jahan Ara Begum, daughter of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, built a large caravanserai here covering nearly three hectares, with a mosque, baths and two wells. During Sikh rule the Italian general Avitabile, governor of Peshawar from 1838 to 1842, converted the mosque at the site into a temple dedicated to Shiva. [1]

Excavations began in the 1990s under Professor Farzand Ali Durrani and were expanded from 2002 by Professor Ihsan Ali. The trenches reached a depth of 8.5 metres, with more deposits still below, and revealed some 20 layers representing successive periods of the city's life. A museum at the site now displays the finds. [1] [5]

Mughal Peshawar and the Mahabat Khan Mosque

The best-known Mughal monument in the city is the Mahabat Khan Mosque, in the Andar Shehr bazaar. It was built by Mahabat Khan, a Mughal general and governor of Peshawar. There is no inscription dating it, but experts believe it was completed around 1670 in the reign of Aurangzeb. [3]

The rectangular building has a prayer hall with five arched compartments, three fluted domes with gilded finials, two minarets and painted panels decorated with floral patterns and Quranic verses. It suffered damage during Sikh rule and again in June 1895, when fire damaged its minarets, and it has been restored several times since. [3]

Bala Hisar fort

The Bala Hisar fort rises over the old city. A 2006 report in Current World Archaeology describes it as a large red-brick stronghold with rounded towers, founded by the Mughal emperor Akbar and later rebuilt by the British in baked brick. [1]

The Qissa Khwani Bazaar

The Qissa Khwani Bazaar, or storytellers' bazaar, is among the most famous streets in the old city. Silk Road caravans once stopped here, and merchants often stayed overnight after the city's 16 gates were closed at dusk. In the evenings they gathered to hear professional storytellers tell tales of the road, news of wars and local lore. [4]

Knowledge was passed on mostly by word of mouth, and these storytellers were an important source of news and learning. One researcher quoted by AFP described them as "the communication tools of that time" and "the messengers" of their age. [4]

Modern transport ended the caravan trade, and by the 1960s caravans had become rare. Radio and television later replaced the storytellers, but the bazaar keeps its name and its place in the city's memory. [4]