Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, commonly abbreviated KP or KPK and formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a province of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the fourth largest province of Pakistan by land area and the third-largest province by population. It is bordered by Balochistan to the south; Punjab, Islamabad Capital Territory, and Azad Kashmir to the east; and Gilgit-Baltistan to the north and northeast. It shares an international border with Afghanistan to the west. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a varied geography of rugged mountain ranges, valleys, rolling foothills, and dense agricultural farms.
The history of the present province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is characterized by frequent invasions by various empires, largely due to its geographical proximity to the historically important Khyber Pass.Rafi U. Samad, The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul, and Indus Valleys . Algora Publishing, 2011. It was the site of the ancient Gandhara, and was historically a stronghold of Buddhism. Islam became dominant in the region after the 11th-century conquest of the Hindu Shahi kingdom by the Ghaznavids. The predecessor of the present province was constituted in 1901, under the British Raj, when the North-West Frontier Province was created by bifurcating the northwestern districts of the erstwhile Punjab Province. In 1969, the princely states of Chitral, Swat and Dir were merged into the province, while on 24 May 2018, the FATA as well as the PATA were merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the 25th Constitutional Amendment.
Although it is colloquially known by a variety of other names, the present name was brought into effect for the North-West Frontier Province in April 2010, following the enactment of the 18th Constitutional Amendment. While it is the third-largest Pakistani province in terms of both its population and its economy, it is geographically the smallest. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a multiethnic province that makes up 16.9% of Pakistan's total population. Numerous ethnolinguistic and ethnic groups reside across different parts of the province.
Etymology The present name Khyber Pakhtunkhwa means the "Khyber side of the land of the Pashtuns", where the word Pakhtunkhwa is variously translated as the "land of Pashtuns", or "Pashtun culture and society". For over a hundred years after its creation as a province of British Raj in 1901, it was known as the North-West Frontier Province until 2010 due to its relative location being in the northwest of the nation. After the independence of Pakistan, it continued with the name but a Pashtun political party, Awami National Party based in the province demanded that the province name be changed to "Pakhtunkhwa". They reasoned that names of other provinces, namely Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan denoted their dominant ethnicities but that was not the case for Pashtun people.Riaz Khan. "ANP jubilant as Pakhtunkhwa echoes in UNGA." 27 September 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
Although Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PMLN) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the largest political parties in the 1990s, supported the name amendment proposed by ANP, Pakistan Muslim League wanted a neutral name which did not carry an exclusively Pashtun identity in it, as it argued that there were other ethnic communities living in the province, such as the Hazarewals of the Hazara region, which opposed the proposed name."ANP asks opponents not to raise Pakhtunkhwa issue." 5 November 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2010.PML-N may oppose NWFP renaming as Pakhtunkhwa – The News The NWFP chief minister, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, called for a referendum on the issue as a way of determining the name in 1997, but this was rejected by ANP who threatened to withdraw from national politics.Abdus Sattar Ghazali. "Pakhtoonkhwa: Renaming of the NWFP." Islamic Pakistan: Illusions & Reality.
In early 2010, the process of renaming proceeded and the Pakistani Senate confirmed the name change to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 18th amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan with unanimous voting on 15 April 2010. The name change was met with protests by other ethnic minorities, who feared increased dominance by Pashtuns. On 10 April 2010, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police acting on the direction of ANP government opened fire at unarmed protesters, killing seven and injuring dozens, and protests against the name change and for a separate province were suppressed through police violence.Karin Brulliard. "Tensions over renamed Pakistan province overshadow government reforms." Washington Post. 17 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
The word Khyber was introduced in the name as it is the name of a major pass which connects Pakistan to Afghanistan. The province has had various names throughout history. The name Gandhāra, of an ancient civilization centered in the present-day province, was also proposed by PMLN, as a neutral name for the province. Other names used or proposed for the province include Sarhad, Afghania, Pashtunistan, Pathanistan, Sarhad, Abaseen, Khyber, or a combination of these names, such as Hazara-Pakhtunkhwa and Gandhara-Pakhtunkhwa.
History
Ancient history The Indus Valley Civilisation (3300 BCE – 1700 BCE) was one of the earliest human civilisations to emerge in the region. Considered a cradle of civilisation, its decline was followed by migration of Indo-Iranian peoples from Central Asia, which gave rise to Gandhara grave culture, later developing into the Gandhara civilisation. Gandhara features prominently in the Vedic mythology, and was known for its art and sculptures, as well as Buddhist culture. The people of Gandhara spoke Gandhari language.*Schmidt, Karl J. (1995). An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History, p.120: "In addition to being a center of religion for Buddhists, as well as Hindus, Taxila was a thriving center for art, culture, and learning." Srinivasan, Doris Meth (2008). "Hindu Deities in Gandharan art," in Gandhara, The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Legends, Monasteries, and Paradise, pp.130–143: "Gandhara was not cut off from the heartland of early Hinduism in the Gangetic Valley. The two regions shared cultural and political connections and trade relations and this facilitated the adoption and exchange of religious ideas. [...] It is during the Kushan Era that flowering of religious imagery occurred. [...] Gandhara often introduced its own idiosyncratic expression upon the Buddhist and Hindu imagery it had initially come in contact with." Blurton, T. Richard (1993). Hindu Art , Harvard University Press: "The earliest figures of Shiva which show him in purely human form come from the area of ancient Gandhara" (p.84) and "Coins from Gandhara of the first century BC show Lakshmi [...] four-armed, on a lotus." (p.176) Gandhara was conquered by Alexander the Great, who crossed the Hindu Kush in the spring of 327 BCE and defeated the tribes of Assakenoi and Gouraios.
The Macedonian rule did not remain for long, as soon Chandragupta Maurya entered into conflict with Seleucus I Nicator, the successor of Alexander in Persia. A short war between the two emperors was followed by a peace treaty in 302 BCE; Seleucus ceded the lands of Aria, Arachosia, Gandhara, and Gedrosia to Chandragupta in exchange for a matrimonial alliance and 500 elephants. Ashoka the Great, the grandson of Chandragupta, spent his youth as viceroy in the region. He converted to Buddhism and made it the official religion of the empire. His rock-inscriptions are found at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra.
The decline of Mauryas allowed Greco-Bactrians to expand into Gandhara under Demetrius I. Menander I (reigned 155–130 BCE), the greatest of the Indo-Greeks, drove the Greco-Bactrians out of Gandhara and beyond the Hindu Kush, becoming king shortly after his victory.
The last known Indo-Greek ruler was Theodamas, from the Bajaur area of Gandhara, mentioned on a 1st-century CE signet ring, bearing the Kharoṣṭhī inscription "Su Theodamasa" (Su was the Greek transliteration of the Kushan royal title Shau "Shah" or "King"). The migrating Indo-Scythian tribes from Central Asia displaced the Indo-Greeks and ruled a kingdom that stretched from Gandhara to Mathura from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE.The Grandeur of Gandhara, Rafi-us Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011, p.64-67 Ancient India by Ramesh Chandra Majumdar p. 234 They were replaced by yet another group of central Asian origins, the Indo-Parthians, who built the Buddhist monastery of Takht-i-Bahi. They had Taxila in Punjab as their residence, but during their last few years of existence the capital shifted between Kabul and Peshawar.
In the first century CE, the Yuezhi nomads were forced southwards by the nomadic Xiongnu. One group, known as the Kushan, took the lead, and its chief Kadphises I seized vast territories extending south to the Kabul valley. Their greatest ruler was Kanishka the Great, who had his capital at Peshawar and like Ashoka patronised Buddhism.
Kushans were followed by various groups of Huna people. The reign of Alchon Hun ruler Mihirakula in the 6th century was particularly disastrous for the Buddhism, as he prosecuted Buddhists and destroyed their monasteries, resulting in the rise of Hinduism in Gandhara.
Medieval history
The Turk Shahis ruled Gandhara until 870, when they were overthrown by the Hindu Shahis. Of Brahman or Kshatriya origins, the Hindu Shahis are suggested by some scholars to have originated from Oddiyana (Swat). Their capital was at Udabandhapura, near the modern village of Hund.The Shahi Afghanistan and Punjab, 1973, pp 1, 45–46, 48, 80, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians; Country, Culture and Political life in early and medieval India, 2004, p 34, Daud Ali.Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1954, pp 112 ff; The Shahis of Afghanistan and Punjab, 1973, p 46, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians.India, A History, 2001, p 203, John Keay.Sehrai, Fidaullah (1979). Hund: The Forgotten City of Gandhara, p. 2. Peshawar Museum Publications New Series, Peshawar. At its zenith, the kingdom stretched from Kabul and Gandhara to western Punjab under Jayapala (r. 9641001). Jayapala fought a series of battles against the invading Ghaznavids; Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud finally annexed Gandhara by defeating Jayapala at the battle of Peshawar in 1001. Hindu Shahis continued their struggle for independence but were unsuccessful. They eventually exiled themselves to the Kashmir Siwalik hills.
Dilazak was the first Pashtun tribe to migrate to Peshawar Valley during the Ghaznavid period. Mahmud of Ghazni and his descendants reigned till 1179, when Muhammad of Ghor took Peshawar, making it part of his expanding Ghurid Empire.
Following the disintegration of the Ghurid Empire, the Delhi Sultanate rose in the subcontinent. Throughout 13th and 14th centuries Peshawar and surrounding areas remained the scene of battles between Delhi sultans and numerous invading Mongol armies. In the 15th century Yousafzais migrated to Peshawar and Swat, displacing Dilazaks and Swatis.
Modern period
In the early 16th-century, Peshawar, Kohat and surrounding areas were annexed by the Mughal emperor Babur. Babur married Bibi Mubarika, the daughter of Yousafzai chief. He noted the town of Peshawar as Bagram. His grandson, Akbar the Great carried out administrative reforms in the region in 1580. During the Mughal period, Hazara was a part of Punjab while much of rest of the present-day province was a part of Kabul Subah, which had provincial capitals at Peshawar and Kabul."An Atlas of the Mughal Empire: Political and Economic Maps", By Irfan Habib, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1982.