History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

2022-12-13T21:56:02Z

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{{History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}
{{History of Pakistan}}
The '''History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa''' refers to the history of the modern-day Pakistani province of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]].

The earliest evidence from the region indicates that trade was common via the [[Khyber Pass]]; originating from the Indus Valley Civilization. The [[Vedic]] culture reached its peak between the 6th and 1st centuries B.C under the [[Gandhara|Gandharan Civilization]], and was identified as a center of Hindu and Buddhist learning and scholarship.<ref name=":1" />

Following [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|Alexander the Great's invasion]], the region became part of the [[Mauryan Empire]], followed by the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greeks]], [[Indo-Scythian Kingdom|Indo-Scythians]] and [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom|Indo-Parthians]].

The region of [[Gandhara civilization|Gandhara]] reached its height under [[Kushan Empire]] in 2nd and 3rd century AD. Over time the [[Turk Shahis]] managed to gain control of the region and ruled starting from around the sixth century, but were later overthrown by the [[Hindu Shahis]].<ref name="Wynbrandt2009" /> The Hindu Shahis were finally destroyed after the defeat of King [[Jayapala]] in A.D 1001 by the [[Ghaznavids]] led by [[Mahmud of Ghazni]]. After the Ghaznavids, various other [[Islamic]] rulers had managed to invade the region, with the most notable being the [[Delhi Sultanate]]s who had with respect to various dynasties ruled starting from A.D 1206. The [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] had taken control of the region, and managed to rule until the early 18th century when they were displaced by the rule of the [[Durrani Empire|Durranis]] and briefly by [[Barakzai Dynasty]] until early 19th century. After the end of Durrani rule, modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became part of the [[Sikh Empire|Sikh empire]], who later lost the territory to the [[British Empire]] around 1857, and had ruled until the Indo-Pakistani Independence of 1947. After the independence of Pakistan, the area was renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after widespread petitioning to the Pakistan government by the local Pashtuns. Today, the area is a key province in the war on terror; and aside from terrorism, the province continues to face many developmental challenges.

==Bronze age==
===Indus Valley Civilization===
During the times of [[Indus Valley civilisation]] (3300 BCE – 1700 BCE) the Khyber Pass through [[Hindu Kush]] provided a route to other neighbouring empires and was used by merchants on trade excursions.<ref>{{Harv|Princeton Roadmap to Regents|p=80}}</ref>

==Iron age==
===Vedic era===
The region of [[Gandhara]], which was primarily based in the area of modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa features prominently in the [[Rigveda]] ({{circa|1500|1200 BCE}}),<ref name="sacred-texts.com">{{cite web |title=Rigveda 1.126:7, English translation by Ralph TH Griffith |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv01126.htm}}</ref><ref name="Macdonell1997">{{cite book |author=Arthur Anthony Macdonell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wM-dNOa7fMC&pg=PA130 |title=A History of Sanskrit Literature |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1997 |isbn=978-81-208-0095-3 |pages=130–}}</ref> as well as the Zoroastrian [[Avesta]], which mentions it as ''Vaēkərəta'', the sixth most beautiful place on earth created by [[Ahura Mazda]]. It was one of the 16 [[Mahajanapadas]] of [[Vedic era]].<ref name="auto12">{{Cite book |last1=Kulke |first1=Professor of Asian History Hermann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPVq3ykHyH4C&pg=PA53 |title=A History of India |last2=Kulke |first2=Hermann |last3=Rothermund |first3=Dietmar |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-32919-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{Cite book |last=Warikoo |first=K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NsdvkRtAtusC&pg=PA73 |title=Bamiyan: Challenge to World Heritage |publisher=Third Eye |isbn=978-81-86505-66-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto22">{{Cite book |last=Hansen |first=Mogens Herman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8qvY8pxVxcwC&pg=PA377 |title=A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation |publisher=Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab |isbn=978-87-7876-177-4 |language=en}}</ref> It was the centre of [[Historical Vedic Religion|Vedic]] and later forms of [[Hinduism]]. Gandhara was frequently mentioned in Vedic epics, including [[Rig Veda]], [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]]. It was the home of [[Gandhari (Mahabharata)|Gandhari]], the princess of [[Gandhara Kingdom]].<ref name=":1">*Schmidt, Karl J. (1995). [https://books.google.com/books?id=BqdzCQAAQBAJ ''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 [https://books.google.com/books?id=lHBEAQAAIAAJ ''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). [https://books.google.com/books?id=xJ-lzU_nj_MC ''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)</ref>

==Ancient history==
===Alexander's conquests===
In the spring of 327 BC [[Alexander the Great]] crossed the Indian Caucasus (Hindu Kush) and advanced to [[Nicaea (Punjab)|Nicaea]], where Omphis, king of [[Taxila Tehsil|Taxila]] and other chiefs joined him. Alexander then dispatched part of his force through the valley of the Kabul River, while he himself advanced into Bajaur and Swat with his light troops.<ref name="IG148">{{Harv|Imperial Gazetteer|p=148}}</ref> [[Craterus]] was ordered to fortify and repopulate [[Arigaion]], probably in Bajaur, which its inhabitants had burnt and deserted. Having defeated the Aspasians, from whom he took 40,000 prisoners and 230,000 oxen, Alexander crossed the [[Gouraios]] ([[Panjkora]]) and entered the territory of the [[Assakenoi]] and laid siege to Massaga, which he took by storm. Ora and Bazira (possibly Bazar) soon fell. The people of Bazira fled to the rock Aornos, but Alexander made Embolima (possibly [[Amb State|Amb]]) his base, and attacked the rock from there, which was captured after a desperate resistance. Meanwhile, [[Peukelaotis]] (in [[Hashtnagar]], {{convert|17|mi|km}} north-west of [[Peshawar]]) had submitted, and Nicanor, a Macedonian, was appointed satrap of the country west of the Indus.<ref name= IG149>{{Harv|Imperial Gazetteer|p=149}}</ref>

===Mauryan rule===
[[File:Shiva and Parvati BM OA1939.01-19.17.jpg|thumb|left|An ancient statue of [[Shiva]] and [[Parvati]] found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dated to the Mauryan era.]]
Mauryan rule began with [[Chandragupta Maurya]] displacing the [[Nanda Empire]], establishing the Mauryan Empire. A while after, Alexander's general Seleucus had attempted to once again invade the subcontinent from the Khyber pass hoping to take lands that Alexander had conquered, but never fully absorbed into this empire. Seleucus was defeated and the lands of Aria, Arachosia, Gandhara, and Gedrosia were ceded to the Mauryans in exchange for a matrimonial alliance and 500 elephants. With the defeat of the Greeks, the land was once more under Hindu rule.<ref>{{Harv|Faber and Faber|pp=52–53}}</ref> Chandragupta's son [[Bindusara]] further expanded the empire. However, it was Chandragupta's grandson [[Ashoka]], who converted to [[Buddhism]] and made it the official state religion in [[Gandhara]] and also [[Pakhli]], the modern Hazara, as evidenced by rock-inscriptions at [[Shahbazgarhi]] and [[Mansehra]].<ref name= IG149/>

After Ashoka's death the [[Mauryan]] empire fell to pieces, just as in the west the [[Seleucid]] power was waning.

=== Indo-Greeks ===
[[File:Buddha-Vajrapani-Herakles.JPG|thumb|Greco-Buddhist representation of the Buddha, seated to the left of a depiction of [[Vajrapani]] in the guise of the Hellenic god [[Heracles]].<ref>"The Buddha accompanied by Vajrapani, who has the characteristics of the Greek Heracles" Description of the same image on the cover page in {{cite book |last1=Stoneman |first1=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mx4OEAAAQBAJ&pg=PR4 |title=The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-21747-5 |page=4 |language=en}} Also "Herakles found an independent life in India in the guise of Vajrapani, the bearded, club-wielding companion of the Buddha" in {{cite book |last1=Stoneman |first1=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mx4OEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 |title=The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-21747-5 |pages=88–89 |language=en}}</ref>]]
The Indo-Greek king [[Menander I]] (reigned 155–130 BCE) drove the Greco-Bactrians out of [[Gandhara]] and beyond the [[Hindu Kush]], becoming king shortly after his victory.

His empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last independent Greek king, [[Strato II]], disappeared around 10 CE. Around 125 BCE, the Greco-Bactrian king [[Heliocles]], son of Eucratides, fled from the [[Yuezhi]] invasion of Bactria and relocated to Gandhara, pushing the Indo-Greeks east of the [[Jhelum River]]. 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")).

It is during this period that the fusion of Hellenistic and South Asian mythological, artistic and religious elements becomes most apparent, especially in the region of Gandhara.<ref>{{Diff|en:Greco-Buddhist_art|diff=|oldid=878583324|label=en:Greco-Buddhist_art, oldid 878583324}}{{Circular reference}}</ref>

Local Greek rulers still exercised a feeble and precarious power along the borderland, but the last vestige of the Greco-Indian rulers were finished by a people known to the old Chinese as the Yeuh-Chi.<ref name="IG149" />

=== Indo-Scythian Kingdom ===
[[File:Buner reliefs Scythian bacchanalian cropped.jpg|left|thumb|One of the [[Buner reliefs]] showing Scythian soldiers dancing. [[Cleveland Museum of Art]].]]
The [[Indo-Scythians]] were descended from the [[Sakas]] (Scythians) who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. They displaced the Indo-Greeks and ruled a kingdom that stretched from Gandhara to [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]]. The first Indo-Scythian king [[Maues]] established [[Saka]] hegemony by conquering [[Indo-Greek]] territories.<ref>The Grandeur of Gandhara, Rafi-us Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011, p.64-67 [https://books.google.com/books?id=PMEd8Cqh-YQC&pg=PA66]</ref> The power of the Saka rulers declined after the defeat to [[Chandragupta II]] of the [[Gupta Empire]] in the 4th century.<ref>Ancient India by Ramesh Chandra Majumdar p. 234</ref>

=== Indo-Parthian Kingdom ===
[[File:Takht-e-bahi.jpg|thumb|Ancient [[Buddhist]] [[monastery]] [[Takht-i-Bahi]] (a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]) constructed by the Indo-Parthians.]]
The [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom]] was ruled by the Gondopharid dynasty, named after its first ruler [[Gondophares]]. For most of their history, the leading Gondopharid kings held [[Taxila]] (in the present [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] province of [[Pakistan]]) as their residence, but during their last few years of existence the capital shifted between [[Kabul]] and [[Peshawar]]. These kings have traditionally been referred to as Indo-Parthians, as their coinage was often inspired by the [[Arsacid dynasty of Parthia|Arsacid]] dynasty, but they probably belonged to a wider groups of [[Iranian peoples|Iranic]] tribes who lived east of [[Parthia]] proper, and there is no evidence that all the kings who assumed the title ''Gondophares'', which means "Holder of Glory", were even related.

===Kushan Empire===
[[File:KanishkaCasket.JPG|left|thumb|225x225px|[[Peshawar]]'s [[Kanishka stupa]] once kept sacred [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] relics in the [[Kanishka casket]].]]
The [[Yuezhi]] nomads had driven the [[Sakas]] from the highlands of [[Central Asia]], and were themselves forced southwards by the nomadic [[Xiongnu]]. One group, known as the Kushan, took the lead, and its chief, [[Kujula Kadphises|Kadphises I]], seized vast territories extending south to the [[Kabul]] valley. His son Kadphises II conquered North-Western India, which he governed through his generals. His immediate successors were the fabled Buddhist kings: Kanishka, Huvishka, and Vasushka or Vasudeva, of whom the first reigned over a territory which extended as far east as Benares, far south as Malwa, and also including [[Bactria]] and the Kabul valley.<ref name="IG149" /><ref name="IG150">{{Harv|Imperial Gazetteer|p=150}}</ref> Their dates are still a matter of dispute, but it is beyond question that they reigned early in the Christian era. To this period may be ascribed the fine statues and bas-reliefs found in [[Gandhara]] and Udyana. Under Huvishka's successor, [[Vāsishka|Vasushka]], the dominions of the Kushan kings shrank.<ref name="IG150" />

===Turk and Hindu Shahis===
[[File:Horseman_on_Hindu_Shahi_coinage.jpg|thumb|Horseman on a coin of Spalapati, i.e. the "War-lord" of the [[Hindu Shahis]]. The headgear has been interpreted as a [[turban]].{{sfn|Rehman|1976|p=187 and Pl. V B.|loc="the horseman is shown wearing a turban-like head-gear with a small globule on the top"}}]]
The [[Turk Shahis]] ruled Gandhara until 870, when they were overthrown by the [[Hindu Shahis]]. The Hindu Shahis are believed to belong to the Uḍi/Oḍi tribe, namely the people of [[Oddiyana]] in Gandhara.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rahman |first=Abdul |title=New Light on the Khingal, Turk and the Hindu Sahis |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v15_37to42.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XV |pages=37–42 |quote=The Hindu Śāhis were therefore neither Bhattis, or Janjuas, nor Brahmans. They were simply Uḍis/Oḍis. It can now be seen that the term Hindu Śāhi is a misnomer and, based as it is merely upon religious discrimination, should be discarded and forgotten. The correct name is Uḍi or Oḍi Śāhi dynasty.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meister |first=Michael W. |title=The Problem of Platform Extensions at Kafirkot North |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v16_41to48.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XVI |pages=41–48 |quote=Rehman (2002: 41) makes a good case for calling the Hindu Śāhis by a more accurate name, "Uḍi Śāhis".}}</ref>

The first king Kallar had moved the capital into Udabandhapura from Kabul, in the modern village of [[Hund (village)|Hund]] for its new capital.<ref>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.</ref><ref>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.</ref><ref>India, A History, 2001, p 203, John Keay.</ref><ref>Sehrai, Fidaullah (1979). Hund: ''The Forgotten City of Gandhara'', p. 2. Peshawar Museum Publications New Series, Peshawar.</ref> At its zenith, the kingdom stretched over the [[Kabul Valley]], [[Gandhara]] and western [[Punjab region|Punjab]] under [[Jayapala]].<ref name="Wynbrandt2009">{{Harv|Wynbrandt|2009|pp=52–54}}</ref> Jayapala saw a danger in the consolidation of the Ghaznavids and invaded their capital city of [[Ghazni]] both in the reign of [[Sebuktigin]] and in that of his son [[Mahmud of Ghazni|Mahmud]], which initiated the [[Muslim]] Ghaznavid and Hindu Shahi struggles.<ref name="Lewis2">{{Citation |title=The Cambridge history of Islam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ccI0u5XDR0C |page=3 |year=1977 |editor=P. M. Holt |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29137-8 |quote=... Jaypala of Waihind saw danger in the consolidation of the kingdom of Ghazna and decided to destroy it. He therefore invaded Ghazna, but was defeated ... |editor2=Ann K. S. Lambton |editor3=[[Bernard Lewis]]}}</ref> Sebuk Tigin, however, defeated him, and he was forced to pay an indemnity.<ref name="Lewis2" /> Jayapala defaulted on the payment and took to the battlefield once more.<ref name="Lewis2" /> Jayapala however, lost control of the entire region between the [[Kabul|Kabul Valley]] and [[Indus River]].<ref name="Ferishta">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ferishtashistory01firi |title=Ferishta's History of Dekkan from the first Mahummedan conquests(etc) |work=Internet Archive |publisher=Shrewsbury [Eng.] : Printed for the editor by J. and W. Eddowes |year=1794}}</ref>

However, the army was defeated in battle against the western forces, particularly against the Mahmud of Ghazni.<ref name="Ferishta" /> In the year 1001, soon after Sultan Mahmud came to power and was occupied with the [[Qarakhanid]]s north of the [[Hindu Kush]], Jaipal [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|attacked Ghazni]] once more and upon suffering yet another defeat by the powerful Ghaznavid forces, near present-day [[Peshawar]]. After the [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|Battle of Peshawar]], he died because of regretting as his subjects brought disaster and disgrace to the Shahi dynasty.<ref name="Lewis2" /><ref name="Ferishta" />

Jayapala was succeeded by his son [[Anandapala]],<ref name="Lewis2" /> who along with other succeeding generations of the Shahiya dynasty took part in various unsuccessful campaigns against the advancing Ghaznvids but were unsuccessful. The Hindu rulers eventually exiled themselves to the [[Kashmir]] [[Siwalik]] Hills.<ref name="Ferishta" />

==Medieval period==
===Ghaznavids===
In 977, [[Sebük Tigin|Sabuktagin]] founded the dynasty of the [[Ghaznavids]]. In 986 he raided the Indian frontier, and in 988 defeated Jaipal with his allies at Laghman. Soon afterwards he took control of the country as far as the Indus, placing a governor of his own at Peshawar. [[Mahmud of Ghazni]], Sabuktagin's son, having secured the throne of Ghazni, again defeated [[Jayapala]] in his first raid into India (1001), [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|Battle of Peshawar]], and in a second expedition defeated Anandpal (1006), both near Peshawar. He also (1024 and 1025) raided the [[Pashtuns]].<ref name=IG150/> Over time, Mahmud of Ghazni had pushed further into the subcontinent, as far as east as modern day [[Agra]]. During his campaigns, many Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries had been looted and destroyed, as well as many people being forcibly converted into Islam.<ref>{{Harv|Wynbrandt|2009|pp=52–55}}</ref> Local Pashtun and Dardic tribes converted to Islam, while retaining some of the pre-Islamic Hindu-Buddhist and Animist local traditions such as [[Pashtunwali]].<ref>{{Harv | Tomsen | 2013 | p=56}}</ref> In 1179, [[Muhammad of Ghor]] took Peshawar, capturing [[Lahore]] from Khusru Malik two years later.

===Delhi sultanate===
Following the invasion by the Ghurids, five unrelated heterogeneous dynasties ruled over the Delhi Sultanate sequentially: the [[Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)|Mamluk dynasty]] (1206–1290), the [[Khalji dynasty]] (1290–1320), the [[Tughlaq dynasty]] (1320–1414), the [[Sayyid dynasty]] (1414–1451), and the [[Lodi dynasty]] (1451–1526).<ref name="sen2">{{cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=68–102}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the [[Pashtuns]] now appeared as a political factor. At the close of the fourteenth century they were firmly established in their present-day demographics south of Kohat, and in 1451 Bahlol Lodi's accession to the throne of Delhi gave them a dominant position in [[Northern India]]. [[Yusufzai]] tribes from the Kabul and Jalalabad valleys began migrating to the [[Valley of Peshawar]] beginning in the 15th century,<ref name="bosworth"/> and displaced the [[Swati (Pashtun tribe)|Swatis]] of the [[Bhittani]] confederation and [[Dilazak]] Pashtun tribes across the [[Indus River]] to [[Hazara Division]].<ref name="bosworth" />

==Early modern history==
===Mughal empire===
[[File:Masjid_Muhabat_Khan.jpg|thumb|Bestowed by [[Ali Mardan Khan|Mohabbat Khan bin Ali Mardan Khan]] in 1630, the white-marble façade of the [[Mohabbat Khan Mosque]] is one of [[Peshawar]]'s most iconic sights.]]
Mughal suzerainty over the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region was partially established after Babar, the founder of the Mughal Empire, invaded the region in 1505 CE via the [[Khyber Pass]]. The Mughal Empire noted the importance of the region as a weak point in their empire's defenses,<ref name="Richards">{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=John F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&q=peshawar&pg=PA50 |title=The Mughal Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521566032 |access-date=24 March 2017}}</ref> and determined to hold Peshawar and Kabul at all cost against any threats from the [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] ''[[Shaybanid]]s''.<ref name="Richards" />

He was forced to retreat westwards to [[Kabul]] but returned to defeat the Lodis in July 1526, when he captured Peshawar from [[Daulat Khan Lodi]],<ref name="Miers">{{cite book |last1=Henry Miers |first1=Elliot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2AGBNfe8ZQC&q=peshawar&pg=PA25 |title=The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108055871 |orig-year=1867}}</ref> though the region was never considered to be fully subjugated to the Mughals.<ref name="bosworth">{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=Clifford Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UB4uSVt3ulUC&q=ancient+peshawar |title=Historic Cities of the Islamic World |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004153882 |access-date=24 March 2017}}</ref>

Under the reign of Babar's son, [[Humayun]], a direct Mughal rule was briefly challenged with the rise of the Pashtun Emperor, [[Sher Shah Suri]], who began construction of the famous [[Grand Trunk Road]] – which links Kabul, Afghanistan with [[Chittagong]], [[Bangladesh]] over 2000 miles to the east. Later, local rulers once again pledged loyalty to the Mughal emperor.{{citation needed}}

[[Yusufzai]] tribes rose against Mughals during the Yusufzai Revolt of 1667,<ref name="Richards" /> and engaged in pitched-battles with Mughal battalions in Peshawar and [[Attock]].<ref name="Richards" /> [[Afridi]] tribes resisted Aurangzeb rule during the Afridi Revolt of the 1670s.<ref name="Richards" /> The Afridis massacred a Mughal battalion in the [[Khyber Pass]] in 1672 and shut the pass to lucrative trade routes.<ref name="richards">{{citation |last=Richards |first=John F. |title=The Mughal Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrdiVPsFRYIC |volume=5 |pages=170–171 |year=1996 |series=New Cambridge history of India: The Mughals and their contemporaries |chapter=Imperial expansion under Aurangzeb 1658–1869. Testing the limits of the empire: the Northwest. |edition=illustrated, reprint |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2 |author-link=John F. Richards}}</ref> Following another massacre in the winter of 1673, Mughal armies led by Emperor [[Aurangzeb]] himself regained control of the entire area in 1674,<ref name="Richards" /> and enticed tribal leaders with various awards in order to end the rebellion.<ref name="Richards" />

Referred to as the "Father of Pashto Literature" and hailing from the city of [[Akora Khattak]], the warrior-poet [[Khushal Khan Khattak]] actively participated in the revolt against the Mughals and became renowned for his poems that celebrated the rebellious Pashtun warriors.<ref name="Richards" />

On 18 November 1738, Peshawar was captured from the Mughal governor Nawab Nasir Khan by the [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid]] armies during the [[Nader Shah's invasion of the Mughal Empire|Persian invasion of the Mughal Empire]] under [[Nader Shah]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=S.R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4j_VLlGqVSoC&q=peshawar+mughal&pg=PA728 |title=Mughal Empire in India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material, Volume 3 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |year=1999 |isbn=9788171568192 |access-date=24 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nadiem |first1=Ihsan H. |title=Peshawar: heritage, history, monuments |publisher=Sang-e-Meel |isbn=9789693519716}}</ref>

===Durrani Empire===
[[File:Bala Hisar Fort.jpg|thumb|[[Bala Hissar, Peshawar|Bala Hissar fort]] in Peshawar. The fort was used as a royal residence for the [[Durrani Empire]].]]
The area fell subsequently under the rule of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], founder of the [[Durrani Empire]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alikuzai |first1=Hamid Wahed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZJcAQAAQBAJ&q=peshawar+capture+durrani+empire&pg=PA204 |title=A Concise History of Afghanistan in 25 Volumes, Volume 14 |isbn=9781490714417 |access-date=29 December 2014}}</ref> following a grand nine-day long assembly of leaders, known as the ''[[loya jirga]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Siddique |first1=Abubakar |title=The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan |publisher=Hurst |isbn=9781849044998}}</ref> In 1749, the Mughal ruler was induced to cede [[Sindh Province|Sindh]], the [[Punjab region]] and the important trans [[Indus River]] to Ahmad Shah in order to save his capital from the Durrani attack.<ref>Meredith L. Runion [https://books.google.com/books?id=aZk9XzqCFGUC&dq=ahmad+shah+durrani+1749+sindh+and+punjab&pg=PA69 ''The History of Afghanistan''] pp 69 Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 {{ISBN|0313337985}}</ref> Ahmad Shah invaded the remnants of the Mughal Empire a third time, and then a fourth, consolidating control over the Kashmir and Punjab regions. In 1757, he captured Delhi and sacked Mathura,<ref>"Rivalries in India", C.C. Davies, ''The New Cambridge Modern History'', Vol. VII The Old Regime 1713–63, ed. J.O. Lindsay, (Cambridge University Press, 1988), 564.</ref> but permitted the Mughal dynasty to remain in nominal control of the city as long as the ruler acknowledged Ahmad Shah's suzerainty over Punjab, Sindh, and Kashmir. Leaving his second son [[Timur Shah Durrani|Timur Shah]] to safeguard his interests, Ahmad Shah left India to return to Afghanistan.

Their rule was interrupted by a brief invasion of the Hindu [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], who ruled over the region following the [[Battle of Peshawar (1758)|1758 Battle of Peshawar]] for eleven months till early 1759 when the Durrani rule was re-established.<ref name="Schofield, Victoria 2003 page 47">Schofield, Victoria, "Afghan Frontier: Feuding and Fighting in Central Asia", London: Tauris Parke Paperbacks (2003), page 47</ref>

Under the reign of [[Timur Shah Durrani|Timur Shah]], the Mughal practice of using Kabul as a summer capital and Peshawar as a winter capital was reintroduced,<ref name="bosworth" /><ref name="Hanifi2011">{{cite book |last=Hanifi |first=Shah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kh1hpPLSpcEC |title=Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-7777-3 |quote=Timur Shah transferred the Durrani capital from Qandahar during the period of 1775 and 1776. Kabul and Peshawar then shared time as the dual capital cities of Durrani, the former during the summer and the latter during the winter season. |access-date=13 December 2012}}</ref> Peshawar's [[Bala Hissar, Peshawar|Bala Hissar Fort]] served as the residence of Durrani kings during their winter stay in Peshawar.

[[Mahmud Shah Durrani]] became king, and quickly sought to seize Peshawar from his half-brother, [[Shah Shujah Durrani]].<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=9789231038761}}</ref> Shah Shujah was then himself proclaimed king in 1803, and recaptured Peshawar while Mahmud Shah was imprisoned at Bala Hissar fort until his eventual escape.<ref name="UNESCO" /> In 1809, the British sent an emissary to the court of Shah Shujah in Peshawar, marking the first diplomatic meeting between the British and Afghans.<ref name="UNESCO" /> Mahmud Shah allied himself with the ''Barakzai'' Pashtuns, and amassed an army in 1809, and captured Peshawar from his half-brother, Shah Shujah, establishing Mahmud Shah's second reign,<ref name="UNESCO" /> which lasted under 1818.

===Sikh Empire===
[[Ranjit Singh]] invaded Peshawar in 1818 and captured it from the Durrani Empire. The [[Sikh Empire]] based in Lahore did not immediately secure direct control of the Peshawar region, but rather paid nominal [[tribute]] to Jehandad Khan of Khattak, who was nominated by Ranjit Singh to be ruler of the region.

After Ranjit Singh's departure from the region, Khattak's rule was undermined and power seized by Yar Muhammad Khan. In 1823, Ranjit Singh returned to capture Peshawar, and was met by the armies of [[Azim Khan]] at [[Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]]. Following the Sikh victory at the [[Battle of Nowshera]], Ranjit Singh re-captured Peshawar. Rather than re-appointing Jehandad Khan of Khattak, Ranjit Singh selected Yar Muhammad Khan to once again rule the region.

The Sikh Empire annexed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region following advances from the armies of [[Hari Singh Nalwa]]. An 1835 attempt by [[Dost Mohammad Khan|Dost Muhammad Khan]] to re-occupy Peshawar failed when his army declined to engage in combat with the [[Dal Khalsa (Sikh Empire)|Dal Khalsa]]. Dost Muhammad Khan's son, [[Wazir Akbar Khan|Mohammad Akbar Khan]] engaged with Sikh forces the [[Battle of Jamrud]] of 1837, and failed to recapture it.

During Sikh rule, an Italian named [[Paolo Avitabile]] was appointed an administrator of Peshawar, and is remembered for having unleashed a reign of fear there. The city's famous Mahabat Khan, built in 1630 in the Jeweler's Bazaar, was badly damaged and desecrated by the Sikhs, who also rebuilt the Bala Hissar fort during their occupation of Peshawar.

==British Raj==
[[File:The Khyber Pass with the fortress of Alimusjid - lithograph by James Rattray - 1848 (1).jpg|thumb|left|A colonial era lithograph of the Khyber Pass, made in 1848 by James Rattray.]]
[[British East India Company]] defeated the Sikhs during the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] in 1849, and incorporated small parts of the region into the [[Punjab Province (British India)|Province of Punjab]]. While Peshawar was the site of a small revolt against British during the [[Mutiny of 1857]], local Pashtun tribes throughout the region generally remained neutral or supportive of the British as they detested the Sikhs,<ref name="humshehri.org">{{cite web |title=KP Historical Overview |url=http://humshehri.org/history/kpk-historical-overview/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150311194150/http://humshehri.org/history/kpk-historical-overview/ |archive-date=11 March 2015 |access-date=22 April 2015 |work=Humshehri}}</ref> in contrast to other parts of [[British India]] which rose up in revolt against the British. However, British control of parts of the region was routinely challenged by [[Wazir (Pashtun tribe)|Wazir]] tribesmen in [[Waziristan]] and other Pashtun tribes, who resisted any foreign occupation until Pakistan was created. By the late 19th century, the official boundaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region still had not been defined as the region was still claimed by the Kingdom of Afghanistan. It was only in 1893 The British demarcated the [[Durand Line|boundary with Afghanistan]] under a treaty agreed to by the Afghan king, [[Abdur Rahman Khan]], following the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]].<ref name="LoC">{{cite web |title=Country Profile: Afghanistan |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Afghanistan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408085103/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Afghanistan.pdf |archive-date=8 April 2014 |access-date=30 January 2014 |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]]}}</ref> Several princely states within the boundaries of the region were allowed to maintain their autonomy under the terms of maintaining friendly ties with the British. As the British war effort during [[World War One]] demanded the reallocation of resources from British India to the European war fronts, some tribesmen from Afghanistan crossed the Durand Line in 1917 to attack British posts in an attempt to gain territory and weaken the legitimacy of the border. The validity of the Durand Line, however, was re-affirmed in 1919 by the Afghan government with the signing of the [[Treaty of Rawalpindi]],<ref>Robson, ''Crisis on the Frontier'' pp. 136–7</ref> which ended the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] – a war in which Waziri tribesmen allied themselves with the forces of Afghanistan's King [[Amanullah]] in their resistance to British rule. The Wazirs and other tribes, taking advantage of instability on the frontier, [[Waziristan campaign (1919–20)|continued to resist British occupation until 1920]] – even after Afghanistan had signed a peace treaty with the British.

British campaigns to subdue tribesmen along the Durand Line, as well as three Anglo-Afghan wars, made travel between Afghanistan and the densely populated heartlands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa increasingly difficult. The two regions were largely isolated from one another from the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878 until the start of [[World War II]] in 1939 when conflict along the Afghan frontier largely dissipated. Concurrently, the British continued their large public works projects in the region, and extended the [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway]] into the region, which connected the modern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region to the plains of India to the east. Other projects, such as the [[Attock Bridge]], [[Islamia College University]], [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]], and establishment of [[cantonments]] in [[Peshawar]], [[Kohat]], [[Mardan]], and [[Nowshera Cantonment|Nowshera]] further cemented British rule in the region. In 1901, the British carved out the northwest portions of Punjab Province to create the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), which was renamed "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |url=http://blog.travel-culture.com/2018/05/15/from-nwfp-to-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-an-overview/ |access-date=14 May 2018 |website=Blog.travel-culture.com}}</ref>

During this period, North-West Frontier Province was a "scene of repeated outrages on Hindus."<ref>Elst, Koenraad (2018). {{cite book |title=Why I killed the Mahatma: Uncovering Godse's defence |section=70 (b)}} New Delhi : Rupa, 2018.</ref> During the independence period there was a [[Congress party of India|Congress]]-led ministry in the province, which was led by secular [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] leaders, including Bacha Khan, who preferred joining [[India]] instead of Pakistan. The [[secular]] Pashtun leadership was also of the view that if joining India was not an option then they should espouse the cause of an independent ethnic Pashtun state rather than Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pande |first=Aparna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ceg-kSmft94C&dq=congress+party+united+india+north+west+frontier+province&pg=PA66 |title=Explaining Pakistan's Foreign Policy: Escaping India |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2011 |isbn=9781136818943 |location= |page=66 |quote=At Independence there was a Congress-led ministry in the North West Frontier...The Congress-supported government of the North West Frontier led by the secular Pashtun leaders, the Khan brothers, wanted to join India and not Pakistan. If joining India was not an option, then the secular Pashtun leaders espoused the cause of [[Pashtunistan]]: an ethnic state for Pashtuns. }}</ref> In June 1947, [[Mirzali Khan]], [[Bacha Khan]], and other [[Khudai Khidmatgars]] declared the [[Bannu Resolution]], demanding that the Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of Pashtunistan composing all Pashtun majority territories of British India, instead of being made to join the new state of [[Pakistan]]. However, the [[British Raj]] refused to comply with the demand of this resolution, as their departure from the region required regions under their control to choose either to join India or Pakistan, with no third option.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ali Shah |first=Sayyid Vaqar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c05uAAAAMAAJ |title=Afghanistan and the Frontier |publisher=Emjay Books International |editor1-last=Marwat |editor1-first=Fazal-ur-Rahim Khan |location=[[University of Michigan]] |page=256}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=H Johnson |first1=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9ZZAgAAQBAJ |title=Culture, Conflict, and Counterinsurgency |last2=Zellen |first2=Barry |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=9780804789219 |page=154 |author-link1=Thomas Howard Johnson}}</ref> By 1947 Pashtun nationalists were advocating for a united India, and no prominent voices advocated for a union with Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |last=Harrison |first=Selig S. |title=Pakistan: The State of the Union |url=http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/pakistan_the_state_of_the_union.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203710/http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/pakistan_the_state_of_the_union.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |access-date=24 January 2014 |publisher=Center for International Policy |pages=13–14}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Vipul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wsiXwh_tIGkC&q=north-west+frontier+province+referendum |title=The Pearson Indian History Manual for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination |publisher=Pearson |year=2008 |isbn=9788131717530 |page=65}}</ref>

The secular stance of Bacha Khan had driven a wedge between the [[ulama]] of the otherwise pro-[[Congress party of India|Congress]] (and pro-Indian unity) [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind|Jamiat Ulema Hind]] (JUH) and Bacha Khan's [[Khudai Khidmatgar]]s.

[[Image:Badshah Khan.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Peshawar and the surrounding areas were active in the Indian Independence movement. Pictured above, the Pashtun leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Mohandas Gandhi rally their supporters in the Northwest frontier to join the new secular state of India.]]
There were other tensions in the area as well, particularly those that involved agitations by Pashtun tribesmen against the Imperial government. For example, in 1936, a British Indian court ruled against the marriage of a Hindu girl allegedly converted to Islam in Bannu, after the girl's family filed a case of abduction and forced conversion.<ref name="Yousef Aboul-Enein">{{cite book |author=Yousef Aboul-Enein |title=The Secret War for the Middle East |author2=Basil Aboul-Enein |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1612513096 |page=153}}</ref> The ruling was based on the fact that the girl was a minor and was asked to make her decision of conversion and marriage after she reaches the age of majority, till then she was asked to live with a third party.<ref name="Yousef Aboul-Enein" /> After the girl's family filed a case, the court ruled in the family's favor, angering the local Muslims who had later gone on to lead attacks against the [[Bannu Brigade]].<ref name="Yousef Aboul-Enein" />

Such controversies stirred up anti-Hindu sentiments amongst the province's Muslim population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haroon |first=Sana |year=2008 |title=The Rise of Deobandi Islam in the North-West Frontier Province and Its Implications in Colonial India and Pakistan 1914–1996 |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=18 |issue=1 |page=55 |jstor=27755911 |quote=The stance of the central JUH was pro-Congress, and accordingly the JUS supported the Congressite Khudai Khidmatgars through to the elections of 1937. However the secular stance of Ghaffar Khan, leader of the Khudai Khidmatgars, disparaging the role of religion in government and social leadership, was driving a wedge between the ulama of the JUS and the Khudai Khidmatgars, irrespective of the commitments of mutual support between the JUH and Congress leaderships. In trying to highlight the separateness and vulnerability of Muslims in a religiously diverse public space, the directives of the NWFP ulama began to veer away from simple religious injunctions to take on a communalist tone. The ulama highlighted 'threats' posed by Hindus to Muslims in the province. Accusations of improper behaviour and molestation of Muslim women were levelled against 'Hindu shopkeepers' in Nowshera. Sermons given by two JUS-connected maulvis in Nowshera declared the Hindus the 'enemies' of Islam and Muslims. Posters were distributed in the city warning Muslims not to buy or consume food prepared and sold by Hindus in the bazaars. In 1936, a Hindu girl was abducted by a Muslim in Bannu and then married to him. The government demanded the girl's return, But popular Muslim opinion, supported by a resolution passed by the Jamiyatul Ulama Bannu, demanded that she stay, stating that she had come of her free will, had converted to Islam, and was now lawfully married and had to remain with her husband. Government efforts to retrieve the girl led to accusations of the government being anti-Muslim and of encouraging apostasy, and so stirred up strong anti-Hindu sentiment across the majority Muslim NWFP.}}</ref> By 1947 the majority of the ulama in the province began supporting the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]]'s idea of Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haroon |first=Sana |year=2008 |title=The Rise of Deobandi Islam in the North-West Frontier Province and Its Implications in Colonial India and Pakistan 1914–1996 |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=57–58 |jstor=27755911 |quote=By 1947 the majority of NWFP ulama supported the Muslim League idea of Pakistan. Because of the now long-standing relations between JUS ulama and the Muslim League, and the strong communalist tone in the NWFP, the move away from the pro-Congress and anti-Pakistan party line of the central JUH to interest and participation in the creation of Pakistan by the NWFP Deobandis was not a dramatic one.}}</ref>

Immediately prior to 1947 [[Partition of India]], the British held a [[1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum|referendum in the NWFP]] to allow voters to choose between joining India or Pakistan. The polling began on 6 July 1947 and the referendum results were made public on 20 July 1947. According to the official results, there were 572,798 registered voters, out of which 289,244 (99.02%) votes were cast in favor of Pakistan, while 2,874 (0.98%) were cast in favor of India. The Muslim League declared the results as valid since over half of all eligible voters backed the merger with Pakistan.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |author=Jeffrey J. Roberts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pj8DIT_bva0C&q=nwfp+referendum&pg=PA108 |title=The Origins of Conflict in Afghanistan |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2003 |isbn=9780275978785 |pages=108–109 |access-date=18 April 2015}}</ref>

The then [[List of Chief Ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Chief Minister]] [[Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan|Dr. Khan Sahib]], along with his brother [[Bacha Khan]] and the [[Khudai Khidmatgar]]s, boycotted the referendum, citing that it did not have the options of the NWFP becoming independent or joining Afghanistan.<ref name="Dust of Empire">{{cite book |author=Karl E. Meyer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M9iwFmvKTwcC |title=The Dust of Empire: The Race For Mastery In The Asian Heartland |isbn=9780786724819 |access-date=25 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Was Jinnah democratic? — II |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/110699/was-jinnah-democratic-ii/ |access-date=24 February 2019 |website=Daily Times}}</ref>

Their appeal for boycott had an effect, as according to an estimate, the total turnout for the referendum was 15% lower than the total turnout in the 1946 elections,<ref>{{cite web |title=Electoral History of NWFP |url=http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/1159S-3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810052331/http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/1159S-3.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2013 |access-date=28 December 2013}}</ref> although over half of all eligible voters backed merger with Pakistan.<ref name=":2" />

Bacha Khan pledged allegiance to the new state of Pakistan in 1947, and thereafter abandoned his goals of an independent Pashtunistan and a united India in favor of supporting increased autonomy for the NWFP within Pakistan.<ref name="humshehri.org" /> He was subsequently arrested several times for his opposition to the strong centralized rule.<ref>Abdul Ghaffar Khan(1958) Pashtun Aw Yoo Unit. Peshawar.</ref> He later claimed that "Pashtunistan was never a reality". The idea of Pashtunistan never helped Pashtuns and it only caused suffering for them. He further claimed that the "successive governments of Afghanistan only exploited the idea for their own political goals".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Everything in Afghanistan is done in the name of religion: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/neighbours/story/19800331-everything-in-afghanistan-is-done-in-the-name-of-religion-khan-abdul-ghaffar-khan-806546-2014-01-31 |url-status=live |magazine=India Today |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108203154/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/neighbours/story/19800331-everything-in-afghanistan-is-done-in-the-name-of-religion-khan-abdul-ghaffar-khan-806546-2014-01-31 |archive-date=8 January 2019 |access-date=13 January 2014}}</ref>

==Post-independence==
There had been tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan ever since Afghanistan voted against Pakistan's inclusion in the United Nations in 1948.<ref>{{Harv|Kiessling|2016|p=8}}</ref> After the creation of [[Pakistan]] in 1947, Afghanistan was the sole member of the [[United Nations]] to vote against Pakistan's accession to the UN because of Kabul's claim to the Pashtun territories on the Pakistani side of the [[Durand Line]].<ref name=pakafgh>{{cite web |title=Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations in the Post-9/11 Era |author=Frédéric Grare |url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cp72_grare_final.pdf |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref> Afghanistan's [[loya jirga]] of 1949 declared the Durand Line invalid. This led to border tensions with Pakistan. Afghanistan's governments have periodically refused to recognize Pakistan's inheritance of British treaties regarding the region.<ref name=pakafgh/> As had been agreed to by the Afghan governments following the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barthorp |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bRxQgAACAAJ |title=Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier, 1839–1947 |publisher=Cassell |isbn=978-0-304-36294-3 |pages=85–90 |language=en}}</ref> and after the treaty ending [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barthorp |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bRxQgAACAAJ |title=Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier, 1839–1947 |publisher=Cassell |isbn=978-0-304-36294-3 |pages=157 |language=en}}</ref> no option was available to cede the territory to the Afghans, even though Afghanistan continued to claim the entire region as it was part of the Durrani Empire prior the conquest of the region by the Sikhs in 1818.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hyman |first=Anthony |title=Nationalism in Afghanistan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3879829 |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=299–315 |jstor=3879829 |issn=0020-7438 |quote="Greater Afghanistan," an irredentist vision based on the extensive empire conquered by Ahmad Shah Durrani.}}</ref>

During the 1950s, Afghanistan supported the [[Pushtunistan]] Movement, a secessionist movement that failed to gain substantial support amongst the tribes of the North-West Frontier Province. Afghanistan's refusal to recognize the Durrand Line, and its subsequent support for the Pashtunistan Movement has been cited as the main cause of tensions between the two countries that have existed since Pakistan's independence.<ref>{{cite web|title='Pashtunistan' Issues Linger Behind Row|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1067048.html|website=Radio Free Europe|access-date=20 January 2018}}</ref>

After the Afghan-Soviet War, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become one of the areas of top focus for the [[War on terror|War against Terror]]. The province has been reported to struggle with the issues of crumbling schools, non-existent healthcare, and lack of any sound infrastructure while areas such as Islamabad and Rawalpindi receive priority funding.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Underhill|first1=Natasha|title=Countering Global Terrorism and Insurgency: Calculating the Risk of State Failure in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq|publisher=Macmillan Publishers|isbn=978-1-349-48064-7|pages=195–121}}</ref>

In 2010 the name of the province changed to "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa". Protests arose among the locals of the Hazara division due to this name change, as they began to demand their own province.<ref name=":0" /> Seven people were killed and 100 injured in protests on 11 April 2011.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Anti-Pakhtunkhwa protest claims 7 lives in Abbottabad |url=http://www.thestatesmen.net/news/anti-pakhtunkhwa-protest-claims-seven-lives-in-abbottabad |newspaper=The Statesmen |access-date=8 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124091840/http://www.thestatesmen.net/news/anti-pakhtunkhwa-protest-claims-seven-lives-in-abbottabad/ |archive-date=24 November 2011 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of cultural heritage sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Archaeological sites and monuments]]
*[[History of Pakistan]]
*[[History of Afghanistan]]
*[[Pashtuns|Pashtun]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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*{{cite book|last1=Bhandarkar|first1=D.R|title=Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.80587 }}
*{{cite book|title=The Secret War for the Middle East|year=2013|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1612513096|first1=Yousef |last1=Aboul-Enein|first2=Basil |last2=Aboul-Enein}}
* {{cite book | last=Tomsen | first=P. | title=The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers | publisher=PublicAffairs | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-61039-412-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kdfIAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT56 | access-date=2018-05-06}}
* {{Cite thesis |title=The Last Two Dynasties of the Sahis: An analysis of their history, archaeology, coinage and palaeography |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/11229 |publisher=Australian National University |language=en |first=Abdur |last=Rehman}}

{{Khyber Pakhtunkhwa topics}}
{{History of Pakistan by province}}
{{Pakistan topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}
[[Category:History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa| ]]
[[Category:History of Pakistan]]

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History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa