The Peshawar Museum

The Peshawar Museum is a Museum situated in the historic city of Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan.

Introduction

Situated between the old Deans Hotel and the Old city, about five minutes walk from Jail Bridge and the Railway station.The museum currently has 14,101 items in the museum which range from Gandhara sculptures, coins, manuscripts and copies of the Quran, inscriptions, weapons, dresses, jewellery, Kalash effigies, paintings of the Mughal era and later periods, household objects and local and Persian handicrafts.
Historical background

The main hall of the museum was built in 1906-07 in memory of Queen Victoria at a cost of Rs 60,000; Rs 45,000 was donated by the public and the rest by the Indian Director General of Archaeology. The Museum was originally called Victoria Memorial Hall.

Layout

The two-story building, an amalgamation of British and Mughal architectural styles, originally consisted of a main hall and two side aisles on the ground and first floor. The side aisles were surmounted by four elegant cupolas and small pinnacles on all corners. Another two halls were added in the eastern and western side of the building in 1969-70. Four years later, a second floor was added to the side halls. In 2004-2005 construction was completed of an Islamic Block with two galleries, a conservation laboratory, two halls for the reserve collection, offices for the provincial directorate of archaeology and a cafeteria. As well as a remodelling of the existing building by replacing the show cases, lighting, labelling and displays in all the galleries of the main building, as well as the revamping of the floor and ceiling.

Gandhara art

Peshawar Museum has the largest collection of Gandhara Greco-Buddhist art in the world.In total, there are 4247 Gandahara pieces including Buddhist stone sculptures and panels, stucco sculptures, terracotta figurines, relic caskets and toiletry objects. The subject matter of Gandhara Art in the main hall includes Buddha’s life stories, miracles, worship of symbols, relic caskets and individual standing Buddha sculptures.

Islamic art

The gallery exhibits wooden façades of mosques, Arabic and Persian inscriptions, Multani tiles and ceramics, and the dresses and weapons of Syed Ahmad Shaheed Barailvi. Some of the best works are the Islamic metal artefacts in bronze and silver and calligraphic specimens as well as scrolls from as far back as 1224.

Ethnological section

This section exhibits the culture and life of the major tribes of the NWFP and the Kalasha of Chitral. It presently exhibits 348 items including twelve commemorative effigies of world famous Kalasha figures. Swords, daggers, spears, bows, arrows, shields, muzzle loaded guns, revolvers, pistols and gunpowder boxes are also exhibited.