Editing Peshawar (section)

==== Durrani Empire ====
[[File:Bala_Hisar_Fort.jpg|thumb|220px|Peshawar's [[Bala Hissar, Peshawar|Bala Hissar]] fort was once the royal residence of the Durrani Afghan kings.]]
In 1747, Peshawar was taken by [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], founder of the Afghan [[Durrani Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book |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 |access-date=29 December 2014 |isbn=978-1-4907-1441-7 |last1=Alikuzai |first1=Hamid Wahed |date=October 2013 |publisher=Trafford |archive-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127151423/https://books.google.com/books?id=YZJcAQAAQBAJ&q=peshawar+capture+durrani+empire&pg=PA204 |url-status=live }}</ref> Under the reign of his son [[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 |first=Shah |last=Hanifi |title=Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kh1hpPLSpcEC |access-date=13 December 2012 |date=11 February 2011 |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. |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815092453/https://books.google.com/books?id=kh1hpPLSpcEC |url-status=live }}</ref> with the practice maintained until the [[Sikh]] invasion.<ref name="Olaf">Caroe, Olaf (1957) The Pathans.</ref> Peshawar's [[Bala Hissar, Peshawar|Bala Hissar Fort]] served as the residence of Afghan kings during their winter stay in Peshawar, and it was noted to be the main centre of trade between [[Bukhara]] and India by British explorer [[William Moorcroft (explorer)|William Moorcroft]] during the late 1700s.<ref name=hopkins>{{cite book |last1=Hopkins |first1=B. |title=The Making of Modern Afghanistan |date=2008 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-22876-4}}</ref> Peshawar was at the centre of a productive agricultural region that provided much of north India's dried fruit.<ref name=hopkins />

Timur Shah's grandson, [[Mahmud Shah Durrani]], became king, and quickly seized Peshawar from his half-brother, [[Shah Shujah Durrani]].<ref name="UNESCO" /> 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" /> His half-brother Mahmud Shah then allied himself with the ''Barakzai'' Pashtuns, and captured Peshawar once again and reigned until the [[Battle of Nowshera]] in March 1823.<ref name="UNESCO" />