City Museum is an

archaeology museum An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological Types Many archaeology museum are in the open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum. Others display artifacts inside buildings, such as ...

located on the archaeological site of

Gorkhatri Gorkhatri ( ps, ګورکټړۍ; Hindko and Urdu: گورکهٹڑی) (or Gor Khuttree; literally meaning "Warrior's Grave") is a public park in Peshawar, Pakistan, located within a Mughal-era caravanserai that was built at the site of ancient ruins. ...

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

in the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. The museum was inaugurated on 23 March 2006 by

Akram Khan Durrani Akram Khan Durrani ( ur, اکرم خان درانی, ps, اکرم خان دراني; born 2 March 1960) is a Pakistani politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in office since 2 Oc ...

, the then

Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( ur, وزیر اعلیٰ خیبر پختونخوا) is the head of government of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The chief minister leads the legislative branch of the provincial government ...

. The museum consists of three galleries: archaeological, ethnological, and antiquities. The latter is the most recent addition, exhibiting the antiquities of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

which provide detailed information about archaeological and ethnological profile of Peshawar.

History

Gorkhatri is the highest place in Peshawar and it is located at the heart of walled city of old Peshawar. The site having a huge deposit of the historical periods began from the

Indo-Greeks The Indo-Greek Kingdom, or Graeco-Indian Kingdom, also known historically as the Yavana Kingdom (Yavanarajya), was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of Afghanistan and the northwestern r ...

or even earlier. The current structure of the Gorkhatri complex was established by

Jahanara Begum Jahanara Begum (23 March 1614 – 16 September 1681) was a Mughal Empire, Mughal princess and later the Padshah Begum of the Mughal Empire from 1631 to 1658 and again from 1668 until her death. She was the second and the eldest surviving child o ...

, the daughter of the

Mughal emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Shah Jahan in 1640 A.D.

Excavation

The excavations took place at the site of Gorkhatri from 1994 to 1995 and from that time on a series of excavations took place in the subsequent years. The complex was established as caravanserai for the merchandiser who came to Peshawar from

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and other areas. It was originally consisting of two monumental entrance (gateways), a Jamia Masjid and Hamam and a sequential of small cells (rooms) on four sides. The area is now occupied by modern buildings and a Hindu temple only the gateways and some small cells are present. The archaeological gallery of this museum represents a continuous profile of the Peshawar Valley in the form of excavation material recovered from the site of Gorkhuttree. This was discovered by an excavation from 2002 to 2011 led by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The second gallery is of ethnological culture of Peshawar, where household objects, traditional dresses, armaments, ornaments, musical instruments, arts, and craft objects are exhibited.

References

External links

Directorate of Archaeology & Museums KP Pakistan
{{Museums in Pakistan 2006 establishments in Pakistan Art museums and galleries in Pakistan History museums in Pakistan Museums established in 2006 Museums in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourist attractions in Peshawar

History

Excavation

See also

References

External links