Peshawar
Capital of North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, 18 km/11 mi east of the Khyber Pass and 72 km/107 mi west of Islamabad, on the Bara River; population (1998) 982,800, (2007 calc) 1,288,500. The Khyber Pass provides the easiest route between the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan, and the city grew to importance as the long-established terminus, first for camel caravan trade and later for paved motor road trade, from Kabul in Afghanistan. Industries include textiles, sugar milling, fruit canning, leatherwork, pottery, and handicrafts such as copper goods, carpets, embroidery, and ornamental woodwork.
History
Strategically placed, it has been an important city since the 2nd century
AD. It was once a Buddhist centre with a huge stupa (dome built to house to relic), now in ruins. Under Muslim occupation since about
AD 1000, it was taken by the Sikhs in 1833, and by the British in 1849. During the British period, it became a military base for operations against Pathan tribesmen. In the 1980s during the civil war in Afghanistan, it was used as a base by Mujahedin rebels.
| buildings include Balahisar fort and the Mosque of Mahabat. Other notable landmarks include the Qissa Khawani bazaar and the Peshawar Museum, with its collections of ancient Gandhara sculpture. The Islamic College, instituted in 1915, became the Peshawar University in 1950, which is now one of the largest universities in Pakistan. |
