Preservation work on colonial era building of Peshawar Museum has been expedited by provincial government where 1,000 artifacts, antiques and statues of Gandhara civilization were put on display for attraction of foreign and domestic tourists. 

Latifur Rehman, Spokesman of Tourism, sports and Archeology Department told APP on Monday that preservation work on the historical building of Peshawar Museum has been accelerated to restore its original ancient architecture being a home of the Gandhara civilization in Pakistan.  Converted into full fledged museum in 1906, Peshawar Museum is an oldest museum of Pakistan and the world of Gandhara art where over 30,000 precious antiques, sculpture, coins, statues and art work was kept preserved for around one and half century, he said. 

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KP govt has constructed a state-of-the-art museum at Hund Swabi district from where Alexander the Great had crossed Indus River in 327 BC. Hund is also famous for Mehmood Ghaznavi's invasion in 998, which marked the beginning of Islamic era and end of Gandhara period.  Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) has recently approved a project of six million Euro funded by Italian Government to promote heritage and archeology tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 

Under the project, Heritage Field Schools (HFS) and conservation laboratories would be set up in Haripur, Swat and Chitral12. 

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Both these historical sites had been declared as Protected Monuments under an Ancient Preservation Act (1904) of the colonial era and Antiquity Act (1975) of the Government of Pakistan. The KP Government3 has declared the entire mountain area of 445 hectares at Sahri e Bhalol as "Archaeological Reserve"4. 

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  • 1.

    Takht Bhai monastery was in continuous use till 7th century (CE) composed of an assemblage of buildings constructed of stone on Gandhara patterns in diaper style using local dressed and semi-dressed stone blocks set in a lime and mud mortar.

  • 2. The Neighbouring City Remains at Sahr-i-Bahlol located in a five kilometers distance from Takht Bhai's monastery, was a small ancient fortified town of Kushan period that was constructed on an elongated mound of nine meters height on 9.7 hectares surrounded by portions of a defensive wall in diaper-style characteristic dates back to first two or three centuries (BC). The boundaries of Sahr-i-Bahlol are well defined with a part of fortification walls still intact.
  • 3.

    First ever KP Antique Act 2016 has been passed by the former PTI Govt, empowering the Archaeology Department to protect and conserve historical buildings besides countering the menace of smuggling of antiques and artifacts.

  • 4. About 1868 ancient houses, monuments and religious places were placed in the protected list including Amlokdara, Barikot, Stupa in Saidu Sharif, Bhudkada, Godara and Panar in Swat besides a monument at Chacha Younas Park in Peshawar.