Peshawar, Major Cities
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Peshawar
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Founded over 2,000 years ago by the Kushan Kimgs of Gandhara, Peshawar has had almost as many names as rulers. Moghal emperor Akbar, formally gave the city the name Peshawar which means "The Place at the Frontier". Earlier it had been known as the "City of Flowers" and the "City of Grains".
Until the mid-fifties Peshawar was enclosed witin a city wall and sixteen gates. Of the old city gates the most famous was the Kabuli Gate but only the name remains now. It leads out of the Khyber and on to Kabul.
One of the main attractions of Peshawar is Qissa Khwani Bazaar. Here perhaps visiting travellers or the relaxing townesmen were regaled with stories by professional story-tellers, in the evening, in the many tea-shops. Hence the name Qissa Khwani (story telling). The tea-shops still adorn the bazaar front with their large brass samovars and numerous hanging teapots and tea-cups, though the legendary story-tellers are nowhere to be seen.
Handicrafts such as engraved and embossed jars, bowls, ewers, plates and jewelry etc., can be found at other famous bazaars of Peshawar which include: The Khyber Bazaar, Bird Bazaar, Fruit Bazaar, Basket Bazaar, Andershehr Bazaar, Jewelry Bazaar, Meena Bazaar for women and Mochilara (Shoemakers' Bazaar.)
In fact, the variety of craft in which Peshawar excells even today is amazing and this is a part of the city's character often eclipsed by it's martial tradition. Remember that it was in this valley of Peshawar that there flourished that remarkable school of Gandhara Sculpture (roughly from from the first century B.C. to the fifth century A.D.), which is one of the glories of Pakistan's heritage. The prime attraction in this region is the Khyber Pass (shown above) situated in the Sulaiman Hills which form the Western barrier of Pakistan. The hills dip down here, leaving a passage sometimes as broad as one mile and sometimes as narrow as fifty-two feet. The pass begins near Jamrud Fort, eleven miles from Peshawar and extends beyoiund the border of Pakistan at Torkham, thirty six miles away.
