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  Peshawar History

The Peshawar valley first appears in the history as part of the Gandhara kingdom. After invasion of Alexander the Great, the mists of obscurity began to clear up. The armies of Alexander reached the Indus valley by two separate routes, one direct through the Khyber Pass and the other led by Alexander himself through Kunar, Bajaur, Swat and Buner in 326 B.C. After Alexander's departure, the valley came under the rule of Chandragupta, who ruled the valley from 297 to 321 B.C. During the reign of the Buddhist emperor Asoka, the grand-son of Chandragupta, Buddhism was the religion of the Peshawar valley. The valley saw the revival of Brahmanism after the Greeks took over in the time of king Mehanda. The Seythians and Indians followed and retained control of the valley till the 7th century A. D.

Before the close of the 7th century, the Afghans appeared in the valley. At that time Peshawar valley was under the control of the rulers at Lahore. The Afghans joined the Gakkhars who held the country between the Indus and the Jhelum rivers and compelled the Lahore rulers to cede to them the hill country west of the Indus and south of the Kabul River. In the 10th century the area came under the control of Sultan Sabuktgin who defeated Raja Jaipal, the hindu ruler of Lahore. Sabuktgin's son, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni made this area as the rallying point for his numerous raids into the interior of India. In the 12 Sth century the Pathans of Ghor overthrew the Ghaznavis and the era of Ghaznavis came to an end. In 1505 the Mughal emperor Babar invaded the area through Khyber Pass. It remained under the rule of the Mughal emperors up to the time of Aurangzebs. During his regime the Pathan tribes revolted and Aurangzeb himself led his army to re-establish his authority but after a hard struggle which lasted for two years(1673-75) he was compelled to agree to the terms which left the Pathans practically independent. In 1738 came the surrender of Peshawar to Nadir Shah by which all the territory west of the Indus, which included present Mardan district was ceded by the Mughals to Nadir Shah.

Ranjit Singh took Attock in 1814 and Peshawar in 1818. He left Hari Singh in command and withdrew himself to Lahore. This valley remained under the :control of the Sikhs up to 1849. They were defeated by the British in the Second Sikh War. Major Lawrence was appointed as the first Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar. From that date Peshawar became an administrative district under the Punjab* Government. At that time the present Mardan district was a part of Peshawar district. In 1909 Frontier Province was constituted and in 1937, Peshawar district was bifurcated into Peshawar and Mardan districts.

Peshawar City Guide