Peshawar
Peshawar (پشاور), known as Purushapura in the old days of
Indian history, is a city in Northern
Pakistan (pop. ca. 570,000) situated at the Eastern end of the
Khyber Pass. Being among the ancient cities of the country, it has for centuries been a centre of
trade between the
Indian subcontinent,
Afghanistan, and central
Asia. Industries include
textiles, shoes, and
pottery. A
university is also located there.
Peshawar's inhabitants consists mainly of Pashtuns, an ethnic group found mostly in Afghanistan, during whose civil war Peshawar served as a political center for anti-Soviet mujahideen.