Peshawar or Pekhawar

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.

Reference: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/union/paksa/www/html/pakistan/peshawar.html

Okay so that was the formal stuff. It’s a conservative city i guess with double standards. It’s small..more like a town so it’s easy to go anywhere in a short time. It’s a close knitted community and you get to know almost everyone in a little while. The teenage hangouts are FEW and the thrill of the evening for a gang is screeching the car around. Duh.
Arts and culture is almost non-existent. So no art displays or theatre.
It’s great for shopping. We’ve the nation wide famous Bara Market (smuggled maal). We also have Saddar bazar. And ofcourse..one of the biggest drug markets in Pakistan. It’s cheap here y’know.
Loads of restrictions for females (which is good in a way).
Don’t think it’s boring people. Everything happens here but very secretly. Know what I mean?
Idher ka paani bohat meetha hai waise. The water is really sweet.
The unofficial symbol is Naswar.

I’ll be back with more stuff :wink:


Beauty Lies In The Eyes Of The BeerHolder

Arts and culture is almost non-existent. So no art displays or theatre.<<
Like rest of the Pak :)Waise I’ve always pictured Peshawar as a very cultured and artistic place, don’t know where I got this – I’ve also always imagined Peshawar with a lot old matti ke ghar, and cute pink kids in very colorful long dresses and topis (You do wear topis hai na (plz say yes)) and dancing with talwar (sword). And Your girls are tall slim pink with very light Braun hair with pearls in hair and lots of pearl jewelry. Your men (young ones) always carry around with them an arbab (it is your instrument hai na) and sing those wala wai songs. :)
Aren’t you guys excellent in sword making and ‘dangerous’ yet beautiful stuff like that too? What about you folk music and cuisine. The colors you wear I believe they are different then Punjabi colors, as the climate is different.

Oye I had almost forgotten your Peshawar film industry, well the only peshawari actor I know is Badr Munir, wasn’t Sonya peshawri too, the one with ‘yaar dadi aatish ishq lai e’ or something. Bagi aap khud batao :)

And your city is also known for its ‘dandasa’ desi toothbrush, remember the song ‘Peshawar se meri khatir dandasah laana’

Now tell us more :)

Dear Hum Sa…

Yes, your city is a beautiful place. I loved it. Visited there many times. Qisa Khuwani Bazar, as you mentioned, is the center of not only commerce but also of other attributes that makes Peshawar what it is. The same KhayRee (shoe) that sells for 1200 Rupees in Lahore is sold for 70 Rupees in QKBazar. I brought back 4 pairs to New York last year when I visited Peshawar.

There is a Museum that displays ancient gandhara art. It is on the airport road, about 4 minutes walk from the PC Hotel. The collection there is excellent.

The fort is now closed to the public, but one can arrange to see it. Tours to Khayber Pass are nice and the surrounding places of Peshawar are beautiful.

And don’t forget Islamiya College of Peshawar.

I like Peshawar.

from art and culture, i remember, the 'gandharvas' in ancient sanskrit literature are great singers. something to do with 'gandhar' perhaps. Gandhari was the mother of kauravas in mahabharat. supposed to be great pativrata. was so dedicated to her huband that she refused to see the world with her eyes after she found that her husband was blind. she was definitely from gandhar.

a lot of great singers have been 'khan's . bade ghulam ali khan, amir khan, manji khan and of course NFAK. wonder how many of them were from pehavar. bade ghulam ali khan was from punjab, though.

in films, dilip kumar and prithwiraj kapoor come from peshavar. i am not sure but perhaps pran too.

[This message has been edited by ZZ (edited February 07, 2000).]

sabah: hehe. Maybe Peshawar was like that 100 years ago. To see that scene, you'll have to go to some tribal area. Peshawar is a metropolitan of Pakistan :)
As for the girls being tall and slim..nah. Pathan women are more on the chubby side. Not exactly tall either...average height I suppose. And some of them are special cases like me ;) (people think i'm from Spain!)
Yes. Swords and weapons are great here. Every kid knows how to shoot including yours truly (I once shot a needle!!)
Hehe. You got that right about our Philum Industry as well ;)

NYA: Yeah the museum is great except that it's not being publicised properly. This city can be a great tourists spot if the local government bothers about it.
And yes good ol' PC (my house is quite near it infact).

ZZ: Thanks for the info! I'll need it in my culture class ;) Where can i get more info on this?


Beauty Lies In The Eyes Of The BeerHolder

Nationalist,

Hum Sa was giving her opinion, you can give yours without putting her down. By attacking her you made this into a mud sling match. She has right to her opinions and views.

I have deleted a few posts incase you were wondering.

Please keep the discussion positive and informative. I have no problem with deleting posts when they start affecting the quality, content and spirit of the thread.

Regards

Rani :)
Fraudia...ditto ;) I'll make sure I don't reply to such pathetic posts in future.


Beauty Lies In The Eyes Of The BeerHolder

Hamsa does this mean that you don’t sing walla wai songs or wear topis….to phir mahiN wahan kya dekhne aaooN?

Swords and weapons are great here. Every kid knows how to shoot including yours truly (I once shot a needle!!)<<
By needle you mean that tiny winy balke skiny thing na? Nishane bazi should be recognized as one of our national sports hai na. :)

Tell us more about your city plz. Especially chaplee kebab, that’s peshawari na. Oye peshawri chapal are very famous too :)

What does ’staRe Mushy’ mean, there is this comedy drama on primeTV called stary mushy, I don’t understand much, but they are good actors. Hmmm…and you don’t wanna tell us about your philmi indi haiN – kioN ;)

[This message has been edited by sabah (edited February 10, 2000).]

sabah we do sing wala wai songs..only at wedding though :)
And nope. Hardly anybody wears a topi..except for lil kids on Eid!
Yeah i guess nishanebazi and hunting and polo can be our official sports!
Chapli kabab and Kabuli Pulao are the best things you can get around here especially at the Namak Mandi. We also have one of the best returaunts in Pakistan i.e. Khans Club (it was rated one of the best by critics actually) but if you ever come here i'll tell you...don't go to Khans Club, just go to any Namak Mandi tikka shop. You'll get better, cheaper food there :)
Philum Industry 'used' to be quite decent but God knows what happened!!! They can be easily rated X these days.


Beauty Lies In The Eyes Of The BeerHolder

HamSaa now you’re talkin’ haiN khaana…

Kabuli pulaao??

And Namak Mandi?? Details kiddy, I don’t wanna end up in some KheewRa kinda place, not that KheewRa isn’t a nice place :)

Are you telling us that Peshawar only has two specialties in food? Agar koi food court hota na to aap ke khilaaf ‘repat’ darj karwai jaati – hatk-e-izzat ke ilzaam meiN!!!

Namak mandi: It's located in the "Sheher" or the "City" area. It's the oldest part of Peshawar infact the orginal settlers settled here. Namak Mandi has loads of tikka shop with "takka tak" stuff and some have separate hujars (guest rooms) for ladies so that they can eat in privacy. It's really crowded and is open till late hours. Garam garam tikkas with fresh tandoori roti (massive sized I tell you!) is the best meal one can expereince in cold months.
Noo..these two aren't the only things! I mean we have "karahi" both chicken and tikka karahi, seekh kababs, barbequed meat (Pathans are strictly non-veg ;) ).
The common drink is green tea or qahwah. The bazari green tea is really good!


Beauty Lies In The Eyes Of The BeerHolder

I’m sure you have a lot more details to tell us, so I’m not going to say shukriya to you yet (did anyone say chipku :))

Very nice.

I like the people, I like the place, …land of rich culture and heritage.

Can I add something? I am afraid you will start cursing me.

http://www.pak.org/gupshup/frown.gif

Well I would like to tell you the origin of the word Peshawar.

As I mentioned in my reply to another post that the Pakhtun/Pashtun nation is of Hebrew origin. People still over there call them selves the decedents of Bani-Israel or “children of Israel” and there are enough historical evidences available to prove their origin.

As we explore the history of Peshawar and the nearby area, we find lots of tribes and places named after the Biblical terminology. For example, the word Peshawar is derived from Peshur which in Hebrew is pronounced as Pakhaur. With the passage of time the city has been named officially from “Pakhaur”(Peshur) to Peshawar. (Biblical reference: Ezra, II: 38)

Pekhaur → Pekhawar
Peshur → Peshawar

does it make any sense??

[This message has been edited by Zalim (edited February 14, 2000).]

Pushto language is not hebrew origin. look at any linguistic book. It is indo-european language.

Whoooo cares!!!


Beauty Lies In The Eyes Of The BeerHolder

we thought u do.

ZZ says; “Pushto language is not hebrew origin. look at any linguistic book. It is indo-european language”

2 Questions;

How many linguistic books have you browsed? Please refer some so that I can look into it?.
Secondly what exactly do you mean by the word indo-european iranian language?

Suggestion:
Just read the same encyclopedia which you have referred earlier.
Pakhtuns / Pushtuns [encyclopedia Britannica]
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/idxref/8/0,5716,306608,00.html

thankyou for your time and effort.

[This message has been edited by Zalim (edited February 15, 2000).]

No ZZ i don't care where Pushto originated from ;)


Beauty Lies In The Eyes Of The BeerHolder

Re: Peshawar or Pekhawar

TH are you all smoking? I don't know anything about origing of Paktun language but the capital of Ghandhara was Purushapura which mutated to Peshawar.

I also read another account which makes a lot of sense - that Taxila and Peshawar were named after princes Dhaksha and Pushkara. Dhakshasheela became Taxila and Pushkarapura became Peshawar