Peshawar Amazing city in the world

Peshawar Amazing city in the world 
 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peshawar (Pashto: پېښور‎ Pex̌awar; Hindko: پيشور Pishōr; Urdu: پشاور‎ Pishāwar Urdu pronunciation  (help·info)), also known as Pekhawar, is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province),and the administrative centre and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.Peshawar is situated in a large valley near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, close to the Pak-Afghan border. Known as "City on the Frontier", Peshawar's strategic location on the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia has made it one of the most culturally vibrant and lively cities in the greater region. Peshawar is irrigated by various canals of the Kabul River and by its right tributary, the Bara River.

Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities. In the last three decades, there has been a significant increase in urban population, in part due to internal migration of people in search of better employment opportunities, education, and services, and in part because of the influx of Afghans and other people displaced by military operations and civil unrest in neighboring regions. Peshawar is the major educational, political and business center of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

 

History

Ancient Peshawar

Main article: History of Peshawar

Being among the most ancient cities of the region between Central, South, and West Asia, Peshawar has for centuries been a centre of trade between Afghanistan, South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. As an ancient centre of learning, the 2nd century BC. Bakhshali Manuscript used in the Bakhshali approximation was found nearby.

Vedic mythology refers to an ancient settlement called Pushkalavati in the area, after Pushkal, the son of King Bharata in the epic Ramayana;[citation needed] but this settlement's existence remains speculative and unverifiable.In recorded history, the earliest major city established in the general area of Peshawar was called Purushapura (Sanskrit for City of Men), from which the current name "Peshawar" is likely derived;the city was invaded and made capital of the Kushans, a Central Asian tribe of Tocharian origin, during their brief rule in the 2nd century AD.

The area that Peshawar occupies was then seized by the Greco-Bactrian king, Eucratides (170 – 159 BC), and was controlled by a series of Greco-Bactrian, and later, Indo-Greek kings, who ruled an empire that geographically spanned from the area of present-day Pakistan to North India. According to the historian, Tertius Chandler, Peshawar consisted of a population of 120,000 in the year 100 AD, making it the seventh most populous city in the world at the time.Later, the city was ruled by several Parthian and Indo-Parthian kings, another group of Iranian peoples germane to the region, the most famous of whom, Gondophares (Gandapur in Pashto), ruled the city and its environs, starting in circa 46 AD; the period of rule by Gondophares was briefly followed by two or three of his descendants, before they were displaced by the first of the "Great Kushans", Kujula Kadphises, around the middle of the 1st century AD.

 

 

Peshawar under the British Raj

Following the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, Peshawar was incorporated into British India. During the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, the 4,000 members of the native garrison were disarmed without bloodshed;the absence of brutality meant that Peshawar was not affected by the widespread devastation that was experienced throughout the rest of British India and local chieftains sided with the British after the incident. The mountainous areas outside of the city were mapped out in 1893 by Sir Mortimer Durand, foreign secretary of the British Indian government, who collaboratively demarcated the boundary of British-controlled areas with the Afghan ruler at the time, Abdur Rahman Khan.

The British laid out the vast Peshawar Cantonment to the west of the city in 1868, and made the city its frontier headquarters.Additionally, several projects were initiated in Peshawar, including linkage of the city by railway to the rest of British India and renovation of the Mohabbat Khan mosque that had been desecrated by the Sikhs.The British also constructed Cunningham clock tower, in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and, in 1906, constructed Victoria Hall (now home of the Peshawar Museum) in memory of Queen Victoria.The British greatly contributed to the establishment of Western-style education in Peshawar with the establishment of Edwardes College and Islamia College in 1901 and 1913, respectively—these were established in addition to numerous other schools, many of which are run by the Anglican Church.

 

 

Gandharan Peshawar

The Kushan king, Kanishka, who ruled from at least 127 AD, moved the capital from Pushkalavati (now called Charsadda, in the Peshawar valley), to Purushapura (Peshawar) in the 2nd century AD,Buddhist missionaries arrived at Zoroastrian, Hindu and animist Peshawar, seeking counsel with the Zoroastrian Kushan rulers. Their teachings were embraced by the Zoroastrian Kushans, who converted to Buddhism, assigning the religion with an official status in the city. Following this move by the Kushans, Peshawar became a great centre of Buddhist learning; although, the majority of the population, particularly in rural areas, continued to embrace.However, Kanishka, who became an ardent follower of Buddhism, built what may have been the tallest building in the world at the time — a giant stupa, to house the Buddhist relics, that was located just outside the Ganj Gate of the old city of Peshawar. The Kanishka stupa was said to be an imposing structure, as one travelled down from the mountains of Afghanistan onto the Gandharan plains. The earliest account of the famous building was documented by Faxian, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, who was also a monk, who visited the structure in 400 AD and described it as being over 40 chang in height (approximately 120 metres (390  ft)) and adorned "with all precious substances". Faxian continued: "Of all the stûpas and temples seen by the travellers, none can compare with this for beauty of form and strength."[citation needed] The stupa was eventually destroyed by lightning, but was repaired several times; it was still in existence at the time of Xuanzang's visit in 634 AD. A jewelled casket containing relics of the Buddha, and an inscription identifying Kanishka as the donor, existed at the ruined base of this giant stupa — the casket was excavated, by a team supervised by Dr D.B. Spooner in 1909, from a chamber under the very centre of the stupa's base.

 

Mshafiq,1/11/2022