charsadda

Charsadda (Pashto: چارسدہ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.^[1] It is located at 34°8'43N 71°43'51E with an altitude of 276 metres (908 feet) and lies 29 kilometres from the provincial capital -Peshawar.^[2]

History

The earliest archaeological deposits recovered at Charsadda are dated to ca. 1400 BCE, constituting a series of post holes in association with ceramic sherds and ash. Subsequent periods indicate that more permanent structures were built at Charsadda, including stone-lined pits. Between the 14th century BCE and the 6th century BCE, when an Achaemenid presence is represented at the site (see below), the inhabitants of Charsadda developed an iron-working industry and used ceramics that are typical for this period in the Vale of Peshawar, Swat and Dir.

The later history of Charsadda can be traced back to the 6th century BCE. It was the capital of Gandhara from the 6th century BCE to the 2nd century CE. The ancient name of Charsadda was Pushkalavati, which means "Lotus City". It was the administrative centre of the Gandhara kingdom. Many invaders have ruled over this region during different times of history. These include the Persians,Alexander the Great's Greeks, the Mauryas, the Greco-Bactrians, the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Scythians, the Indo-Parthians, theKushans, the Huns, the Turks and the Hindus.

Charsadda is contiguous to the town of Prang;(city of jaguars) and these two places were identified by Alexander Cunningham with the ancient Pushkalāvati, capital of the region at the time of Alexander's invasion, and transliterated as Peukelaus or Peukelaotis by the Greek historians. Its chieftain (Astes), according to Arrian, was killed in defence of one of his strongholds after a prolonged siege byHephaistion. Ptolemy fixes its site upon the eastern bank of the Suastene or Swat. In the seventh century CE Hiuen Tsiang visited the city, which he describes as being 100 li (16⅔ miles) north-east of Peshawar. A stupa, erected over the spot where Buddha made an alms-offering of his eyes, formed the great attraction for the Buddhist pilgrim and his co-religionists. The city, however, had even then been abandoned as a political capital in favour of Purushapura, Parashāwara, or Peshawar.^[3]

It probably extended over a large area, and the entire neighbourhood is covered with vast ruins. Excavation was carried out in the neighbourhood of Charsadda for about two months in the spring of 1902-3. Some interesting finds of coins and pottery ornaments, including an engraved amethyst, were made, and the remains of the ancient Bala Hisar (Acropolis) were mapped.^[3]

On February 9, 2008, a suicide bomber killed over 20 people at a political rally for the Awami National Party.^[4]