Valley of Peshawar


The Valley of Peshawar is a broad area situated in the central part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The valley is in area, and is traversed by the Kabul River. It has a mean elevation of. The valley takes its name from the city of Peshawar, which is situated at the western part of the valley close to Warsak Dam. To the west of the valley lies the Khyber Pass. The five most populous cities in the valley are Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera].

Districts located in the valley

These districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are completely located in the Valley of Peshawar:
In addition, most of Nowshera District, most of Swabi District, and smaller portions of Khyber, Mohmand, Malakand, and Frontier [Region Peshawar] are also located in the Valley of Peshawar.

Historic references

In 630 CE, Xuanzang visited the Valley of Peshawar, and mentioned two stupas built by Ashoka, one of them around 6.4 km northeast of Sahri Bahlol, which he said was located on "Mount Tan-to-lo-ka," Takht-i-Bāhi hill.