Gandhara

Gandhāra (Sanskrit: पुरुषपुर or गंधार, Pashto: ګندارا‎, Urdu: گندھارا‎, Avestan: Vaēkərəta, Old Persian Para-upari-sena, Bactrian Paropamisadae [Hellenization: Paropamisus], Greek Caspatyrus) is the ancient term for the city and old kingdom of Peshawar, which encompassed the Swat valley and the Potohar Plateau regions of Pakistan, as well as the Jalalabad district of modern-day Afghanistan. During the Hellenistic period, its capital city was Charsadda, but later the capital city was shifted to Peshawar by the Kushan emperor Kanishka the Great in about 127. It is mentioned in the Zend Avesta as Vaēkərəta, the sixth most beautiful place on earth created by Ahura Mazda. It was known in Sanskrit as Puruṣapura, literally meaning "city of men". It was known as the "crown jewel" of Bactria and also held sway over Takṣaśilā (modern Taxila).

The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the Vedic period (c. 1500-500 BC). As a center of Greco-Buddhism, Bactrian Zoroastrianism and Animism, Gandhara attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Kushan Kings. The Persian term Shahi is used by history writer Al-Biruni to refer to the ruling dynasty that took over from the Kabul Shahi and ruled the region during the period prior to Muslim conquests of the 10th and 11th centuries. After it was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001 AD, the name Gandhara disappeared. During the Muslim period, the area was administered from Lahore or from Kabul. During Mughal times, it was an independent district which included the Kabul province.