Peshawar - Definition and Overview

Peshāwar (known as Purushapura in the old days of south asian history) is a city in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (pop. ca. 570,000) near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass.

Peshawar used to be the capital of the Gandhara empire by Kaniska I reigning from 127CE, where he built the tallest building in the world at the time, which was seen and described by Faxian in the early 5th century and many legends relating to it recorded by Xuanzang in the 7th century. From the ruined base of this magnificent stupa which which a jewelled casket containing relics of the Buddha and an inscription identifying Kanishka as the donor was excavated in 1912.

Being among the ancient cities of the country, it has for centuries been a centre of trade between the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, and central Asia. Industries include textiles, shoes, and pottery. The main postgraduate educational center of Peshawar is "university Campus" of Peshawar which consist of University of Peshawar, NWFP Agricultural University Peshawar and University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar. In recent years many private universities have also started operating in the city. Peshawar's inhabitants consist mainly of two groups: minority Pishoris (native Peshawar people speaking Hindko) and majority Pashtuns, an ethnic group found mostly in Afghanistan. During the Afghan civil war Peshawar served as a political center for anti-Soviet mujahideen.

References

• Dobbins, K. Walton. 1971. The Stūpa and Vihāra of Kanishka I. The Asiatic Society of Bengal Monograph Series, Vol. XVIII. Calcutta.
• Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu." 2nd Draft Edition.[1] (http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html)
• Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation. [2] (http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html)
• Moorcroft, William and Trebeck, George. 1841. Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Panjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara... from 1819 to 1825, Vol. II. Reprint: New Delhi, Sagar Publications, 1971.

See also

• Gandhara

External links

• PeshawarCity (http://www.peshawarcity.com)
• University Of Peshawar (http://www.upesh.edu/)
• Hindko Language (http://www.ksafe.com/profiles/clusters/8098.html)
• PeshawarJobs (http://www.peshawarjobs.com)
• About Peshawar on itsPakistan (http://www.itspakistan.net/pakistan/peshawar.aspx)