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Peshawar


About 172 kms west of Rawalpindi/Islamabad by road about half an hour by air lies the last major town of Pakistan, the ancient and legendary Peshawar, city of proud Pathans. Peshawar the capital city of North-West Frontier Province, is a frontier town, the meeting place of the sub-continent and Central Asia. It is also a place where ancient traditions jostle with those of today, where the bazaar in the old city has changed little in the past hundred years except to become the neighbor of a modern university, some modern hotels, several international banks and one of the best museums in Pakistan. No other city is quite like old Peshawar. The bazaar within the walls is like an American Wild movie costumed as a Bible epic. Pathan tribesmen stroll down the street with their hands hidden within their shawls, their faces half obscured by the loose ends of their turbans. (With his piercing eyes and finely chiseled nose, the Pathan must be the handsomest man on earth). The fortunes of Peshawar at inextricable linked to the Khyber Pass,the eastern end of which it guards. The pass seems to have been little used in prehistoric times, and even in early historic times it was generally shunned as too narrow and thus too prone to ambush. Not until the powerful Kushans invaded Gandhara and pacified the area in the first century AD did the Khyber become a popular trade route. Peshawar owes its founding 2,000 years ago to those same Kushans. In the second century AD, Kanishka, the greatest of the Kushan kings, moved his winter capital here from Pushkalavati, 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the north. His summer capital was north of Kabul at Kapisa, and the Kushans moved freely back and forth through the Khyber Pass between the two cities, from which they ruled their enormous and prosperous empire for the next 400 years. After the Kushan era, Peshawar declined into an obscurity not broken until the 16th century, following the Mughal emperor Babar's decision to rebuild the fort here in 1530. Sher Shah Suri, has successor (or, rather, the usurper of his son's throne), turned Peshawar's renaissance into a boom when he ran his Delhi-to-Kabul Shahi Road through the Khyber Pass. The Mughals turned Peshawar into a 'city of flowers' (one of the meanings of its name) by planting trees and laying our gardens. In 1818, Ranjit Singh captured Peshawar for his Sikh Empire. He burned a large part of the city and felled the trees shading its many gardens for firewood. The following 30 years of Sikh rule saw the destruction of Peshawar's own Shalimar Gardens and of Baba's magnificent fort, not to mention the dwindling of the city's population by almost half. The British caused the Sikhs and occupied Peshawar in 1849 but, as much as Sikh rule had been hated, its British replacement aroused little enthusiasm. More or less continuous warfare between the British and the Pathans necessitated a huge British garrison. When the British built a paved road through the Khyber Pass, they needed to build numerous forts and pickets to guard it. Afghan traders, many of them in Peshawar to sell drugs and buy arms, stride proudly past in their huge black and white turbans. Smuggling, drug trading and arms dealing are all in a day's work - as they have been in these narrow and crowded streets for centuries. Overlooking all is the massive Bala Hisar Fort - still a military installation - and the elegant Mahabat Khan Mosque - still a place of prayer. On the other side of the railway line is the cantonment, its tree-lined streets wide and straight as they pass gracious gardens. Clubs, churches, schools, The Mall, Sadder Bazaar and the airport round out the British contribution to the modernization of Peshawar. Further west is University Town, Peshawar's newest section and the site of Peshawar University. Karkhana Market Anybody who loves shopping and lives in any nook or cranny of Pakistan is familiar with one name - Peshawar's Karkhana Market. Some 20 years back, the market was located on the outskirts of Peshawar city, where shoppers indulged in purchasing sprees to their hearts' content. However, after relocation, it is now situated in the suburbs of NWFP's capital. Known to local folk as Bara Market, Hayatabad or Karkhana Market, pronounced in Pushto as Karkhanay, it has everything one can possibly wish for in a shopping place. Located over a very large area, it is next to impossible to scour the whole market at one go. The Karkhana Market is easily accessible by public transport, located near the mouth of the azad kabaili illaqa (tribal area). So if you're in the mood to buy imported quilts or bed linen; shoes, utensils, glassware and hardware tools; you'll find it all at Bara.Once you find yourself among the consumer goods, the real flavor of the market hits you with full force. Shops upon shops displaying exquisite merchandise sap your and pocket, leaving you drained but still wanting to explore more. And the good part is that every shopkeeper is extremely flexible when it comes to bargains, making you think you landed a splendid deal. So expect huge discounts, overlooking the few rigid-looking shopkeepers who refuse to bargain. The Karkhana Market is a one-stop shopping spree where you can get toiletries, electrical goods, crystal ware, cut-glass decoration items, perfumes, cloth, readymade garments, cutlery, chinaware, clocks, watches, telephone instruments, electronic items, artificial and gold jewellery, chocolates and everything that is imported and in large variety. In fact, no trip to Peshawar would be complete without a visit to the Karkhana Market where wishes come true. The only negative factor is that the area is not well maintained. The markets' surrounding area presents an ugly picture of filth and dirt. The heavy rush of public transport has also made the area congested, which leaves a bad impression on foreigners.