Peshawar
(1998 est. pop. 998,000). Peshawar is an ancient city in Pakistan. It was established more than two thousand years ago by the Kushan kings of Gandhara. Since that time, it has changed names as often as it has rulers. Once known as the Lotus Land, City of Flowers, and the City of Grains, it was finally named Peshawar (the Place at the Frontier) by the Mughal emperor Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
During the Kushan kings' rule in Peshawar, the city was an important Buddhist center and served as a pilgrimage site. After the worldwide decline of Buddhism, however, Peshawar lost its prestige and had little significance until the Mughal emperor Zahir-ud-din Muhammad (Babur) conquered South Asia in 1526 and built a fort there in 1530. His grandson not only renamed the city but also enhanced the existing bazaars and urban structures. The city received a further boost during the succeeding reign of Sher Shah (reigned 1540–1545), who decided to construct the Delhi-to-Kabul Shahi Road through the Khyber Pass. The latter serves as the western border of Pakistan. This road facilitated trade to Peshawar and its vicinity.
Today the city is well known for its extensive bazaars, which offer all types of handicrafts. One of the most famous bazaars is the Qissa Khwani (Storytelling) Bazaar, which still has many teahouses that honor the traditional profession of storytelling. In these teahouses, both tourists and the local people enjoy the artistic performance of storytellers recounting a variety of stories from epic sagas to romantic tales.
In the international scene, Peshawar's artistic merits have often been overshadowed by its military significance and affairs. As the city is a bridge between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it consequently provides Islamabad with economic, political, and security challenges as well as opportunities in relation to Afghan affairs. During the 1980s, it was the home base for the mujahideen, the Afghan guerrilla group that challenged the Russian-backed Afghan government and Soviet troops.
Further Reading
Albrecht, Herbert. (1974) Living Conditions of Rural Families in Pakistan: A Classification of Rural Households as a Basis for Development Policies Using as Models Six Villages in the Peshawar District, edited by Frithjof Kuhnen and translated by V. June Hager. Islamabad, Pakistan: Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in cooperation with USAID, Pakistan.
Dani, Ahmad Hasan. (1969) Peshawar: Historic City of the Frontier. Peshawar, Pakistan: Khyber Mail Press.
Nichols, Robert. (2001) Settling the Frontier: Land, Law, and Society in the Peshawar Valley, 1500–1900. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.
Sehrai, Fidaullah. (1980) A Brief Guide to Peshawar Museum. Peshawar, Pakistan: Peshawar Museum.
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