MEDIEVAL PESHAWAR (1000—1526 AD) By SYED WAQAR ALI SHAH AREA STUDY CENTER (RUSSIA, CHINA & CENTRAL ASIA) UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN 2013 1 MEDIEVAL PESHAWAR (1000—1526 AD) A dissertation submitted to the University of Peshawar in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2013 2 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is the outcome of my individual research and that it has not been submitted to any other University for the grant of a degree. March, 2013 Syed Waqar Ali Shah 3 Area Study Centre University of Peshawar Peshawar 28 March 2013 Final Approval This is to certify that we have read the dissertation submitted by Syed Waqar Ali Shah and it is our judgement that this is of sufficient standard to warrant its acceptance by the University of Peshawar, for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. Supervisor _________________________________ Examiner ___________________________ Director, Area Study Centre ___________________ 4 Dedicated to my wife and children for their support and sacrifice for the successful completion of this dissertation 5 CONTENTS Chapter Page No. Introduction i-ix Acknowledgement x-xi 1. Peshawar before Muslim Rule 1-37 2. Ghaznavids in Peshawar 986—1179 AD. 38-96 3. Ghorids and Peshawar 97-126 4. Era of Tajuddin Yalduz and Jalaluddin Khvarzam Shah 127-174 5. Mongols and Peshawar 175-244 6. Pukhtoons and Peshawar 245-281 Conclusions 282-286 Bibliography 287-298 Annexure A: Maps of Peshawar 299-307 Annexure B: Maps of Archaeological Sites of Peshawar 308-315 Annexure C: Ruling Dynasties of Gandhara 316-318 Annexure D: Numismatics 319-328 Annexure E: Miscellaneous 329-332 6 ABSTRACT MEDIEVAL PESHAWAR (1000—1526 AD) March 2013 Peshawar is located at a geographical fault line of Asia; any sort of political or cultural jerks or tremors in Central Asia, subcontinent, Middle East or sometimes even Europe never fail to express itself over here. From the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the 6th Century BC till the advent of the Ghaznavids tell us a recorded story of life that Peshawar shared with its different rulers. For some of them it was important enough to serve as the capital of their empires. Actually its location at the confluence of Central Asia and India gave it a unique politico-military position in the area. India being known for its riches and wealth did attract fortune seekers from far and near both as a halting or striking ground. For individuals as well as armies, both peace and plenty were always available here. All the fortune seekers passing through Khyber Pass had to trade through Peshawar that provided multiple facilitations to the travelers and their transportation beasts alike. For the invading armies it was essential to secure control of Peshawar in the first place as it was an excellent military base and a launching pad for the furtherance of their military and geographical designs. This central status of Peshawar was also proved right and acknowledged for the transportation of Buddhist and Islamic philosophies in their respective ages. It played reckonable role for the growth and promotion of Buddhism. After its birth in 520 BC Buddhism reached Peshawar (then Gandhara) somewhere around the 3rd century BC during Ashoka's reign. Second round of popularization of Buddhism at Peshawar came under the Kushan king Kanishka (128-151 AD) who not only patronized the religion but 7 the valley of Peshawar (then Gandhara) as well. Peshawar became the capital of a great and strong empire stretching from Bengal to Central Asia. Besides Buddhiusm, Peshawar also happened to be an important launching base for the promotion of Islam in India. Though Islam was introduced earlier in India but the Muslim rulers and generals who passed through Peshawar to India turned out to be more effective and lasting for the Islamic change in India. This role of Peshawar for Islam would be highlighted in the present study from different new directions. The political and military cover provided by the Ghaznavids and Ghorids further cemented the chances of success of the case of Islam forwarded through Peshawar. The Pukhtoons also played an undeniable role, who not only joined the ranks of Muslim generals but also by en-block conversion to Islam made it a case of their own. The situation was so that it carried promises of success for them in this material world along with the life after death. It was this win-win attraction that helped them migrate to Peshawar in big numbers. The coming of Mongols not only deprived Peshawar of its central, important and attractive status but also drew a dark curtain of anonymity and pain. No news of any law or prosperity at Peshawar till the coming of Babur is reported. In the power struggle between the Sultans of Delhi, the Mongols of Central Asia and some petty chieftains in the region, Peshawar and its inhabitants had to undergo some unimaginable hard times and miseries. Once the bride and darling of rulers, politicians and thinkers; was lying bruised, hungry and weak with no one to notice. However, history and time has proved it repeatedly that in regional as well as international politics Peshawar had remained and remains even today as one fulcrum with capacity to make things revolve around and attend to its dictates. 8 Introduction Just like its present Peshawar has almost always remained an important political and military post with regard to North-Western border of India. Number of world known conqueror and rulers, recognized for their tyranny, oppression, bravery and statesmanship were related and linked to Peshawar in one way or the other. In their respective times they contributed both positively and negatively to the socio-political outlook of Peshawar. The types of their contributions were directly related to the area under control and mind set of the invader. In case of paramount strength and calmness of thoughts their impacts on Peshawar were quite friendly and healthy. In any other wise scenario like i) competitive strength or ii) short term objectives, a dark black curtain of oppression and anonymity was drawn over Peshawar. The strategic location of Peshawar, guarding one border of a prosperous India, chartered an all times important post for it. Even the velley of Peshawar, at large, was a great source of attraction for the invaders due to some of its distinctions. It was a well protected and well productive fertile region capable to feed and accommodate a huge amount of soldiers accompanying the invaders. In this way it was no less than an important key that could have conveniently opened the locked doors of a rich India. In the period under discussion, most of the time, Peshawar remained or was forced to remain un-utilized as according to its potentials. Despite its historically proven worth of a Kanishkan capital that successfully controlled huge territories on both its Indian and Central Asian sides preference was given to other Central locations. Its comprehendible reason might be that in the presence of more than one aspirant of authority in the surroundings of Peshawar the risks involved for all the political stake holders were so strong that they considered it 9 wise not to be too much close to each other. In that atmosphere of fear and insecurity the strategic location of Peshawar turned out to be its strongest demerit. The politician generals, in order to deprive advantage to the opponents at such an important location, preferred to loot and devastate all the human and economic resources of Peshawar as and when possible. Sometimes the distant location of the political contestants, like the Sultans of Delhi or the Mongols of Central Asia, from Peshawar and their excessive entanglement in local and dynastic issues further pushed the case of Peshawar into background, despite the extra ordinary military and economic status that it enjoyed. The result was that for a long time to come it was lost somewhere deep into the thickets of history. All the works done earlier about the history of Peshawar find it convenient simply to skip this part due to the paucity of references. In this research an attempt would be made to rebuild those missing parts of the history of Peshawar. We would start our study with a brief survey of the history of Peshawar, before our subject time i.e. before the coming of Ghaznavids, to see what value it enjoyed in its ancient period and what it lacked in the medieval missing past. As part of Gandhara and its civilization, Peshawar was one center of both politics and culture. This status of Peshawar, though elevated enough, was soon to undergo a threatening phase of silence and neglect. A curtain of obscurity was raised with minimum references in the documents of the time. No one could imagine that a country with such a rich political and cultural history will be side lined in that fashion. Here one needs to be a bit cautious about the distance between these two distinct and contrasting phases of the history of Peshawar. Peshawar witnessed its unparalleled political and cultural glory during the reign of Kanishka, the Kushan, (128—151 AD). It was the seat of Government and centre of activity, with all eyes in the surrounding 10 fixed towards it for their commands. The culture that evolved over here, particularly the Gandhara Culture, obtained recognition far and wide in almost all directions. Keeping in mind that exalted picture of Peshawar we find it as an important military post for almost a millennium on ward. From that Peshawar, as a center of government, politics and culture, we head forward through different phases of its history which were comparatively less pompous towards an era of nothingness and anarchy.