Peshawar

About Peshawar

Few cities in South Asia can match Peshawar's age: excavations at Gor Khuttree trace settlement back to at least the 3rd century BC, and the city later served as a capital of the Kushan Empire under Kanishka. Sitting near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, it has been a gateway between Central and South Asia for traders, armies and pilgrims for more than two thousand years.

Mahmud of Ghazni, the Mughals, the Afghan Durrani kings, the Sikhs and the British all left their mark, and the walled old city still hums with bazaars, Mughal mosques and the carved wooden mansions of merchant families. Today Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a city of around two million people and the heart of Pashtun culture.

Visitors come for the Gandharan Buddhist sculpture of the Peshawar Museum, the storytellers' bazaar of Qissa Khwani and some of Pakistan's most celebrated food, from chapli kebabs to Namak Mandi's lamb karahi. Check current travel advice first, dress conservatively, and consider a local guide for the old city.