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PESHAWAR

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 283 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PESHAWAR , a See also:

city of See also:British See also:India, the See also:capital of the See also:North-See also:West Frontier See also:Province, giving its name to a See also:district. The city is situated near the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:river Bara, 11 m. from See also:Jamrud at the entrance of the Khyber Pass, the railway station being 1588 m. north-west of See also:Calcutta; pop. (1901), 95,147. Two See also:miles west of the native city are the cantonments, forming the See also:principal military station of the North-West Frontier Province. Peshawar lies within a horseshoe See also:ring of hills on the edge of the See also:mountain barrier which separates India from See also:Afghanistan, and through it have passed nearly all the invaders from the north. The native See also:quarter is a huddle of fiat-roofed houses within mud walls, crowded along narrow, crooked alleys; there is but one fairly wide See also:street of shops. Here for many centuries the Povindahs, or Afghan travelling merchants, have brought their caravans from See also:Kabul, See also:Bokhara and See also:Samarkand every autumn. They bring horses, See also:wool, woollen stuffs, silks, dyes, See also:gold-See also:thread, fruits, See also:precious stones, carpets and poshtins (sheepskin clothing), fighting and buying their way to the British border where, leaving their arms, they are See also:free to wander at will to See also:Delhi, See also:Agra and Calcutta. The See also:chief speciality of Peshawar consists of See also:bright-coloured scarves called lungis; See also:wax-See also:cloth and ornamental See also:needle-See also:work are also See also:local products, as well as knives and small arms. The district of PESHAWAR has an See also:area of 2611 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 788,707, showing an increase of ro•8% in the See also:decade. Except on the See also:south-See also:east, where the See also:Indus flows, it is encircled by mountains which are inhabited by the See also:Mohmand, Utman Khel and See also:Afridi tribes.

The See also:

plain consists of alluvial deposits of silt and See also:gravel. The district is naturally fertile and well watered, and is irrigated by the See also:Swat River See also:Canal. The principal crops are See also:wheat, See also:barley, See also:maize, millets and oil-seeds, with a little See also:cotton and See also:sugar-See also:cane. Peshawar also produces a See also:fine variety of See also:rice, known as " Bara rice," after the river which irrigates it. The North-Western railway crosses the district from See also:Attock, and has been extended from Peshawar city to Jamrud for military purposes. The district is chiefly inhabited by Pathans; there are some See also:Hindus engaged in See also:trade as bankers, merchants and See also:shop-keepers. In See also:early times the district of Peshawar seems to have had an essentially See also:Indian See also:population, for it was not till the 15th See also:century that its See also:present See also:Pathan inhabitants occupied it. Under the name of Gandhara it was a centre of See also:Buddhism, and especially Graeco-Buddhism. See also:Rock-edicts of See also:Asoka still exist at two places; and a stupa excavated in 19o9 was found to contain an inscription of See also:Kanishka, as well as See also:relics believed to be those of See also:Buddha himself. The last of the Indian Buddhist See also:kings was conquered by Mahmud of See also:Ghazni in 1009. The See also:Mogul emperors always found difficulty in maintaining their authority over the Afghan border tribes, who finally established their See also:independence during the reign of See also:Aurangzeb. Peshawar was a favourite See also:residence of the Afghan See also:dynasty founded by Ahmed Shah Durrani, and here Mountstuart See also:Elphinstone came as See also:ambassador to Shah Shujah in 1809.

A few years later Ranj)t Singh crossed the Indus, and after much hard fighting See also:

Sikh authority was firmly established under See also:General Avitabile in 1834.. In 1848 the whole of the See also:Punjab passed to the British. During the See also:Mutiny, after the See also:sepoy regiments had been disarmed, Peshawar was a source of strength rather than of danger, though See also:Sir See also:John See also:Lawrence did at one See also:time contemplate the See also:necessity of surrendering it to the Afghans, in See also:order to preserve the See also:rest of See also:Northern India.

End of Article: PESHAWAR

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