Editing Peshawar (section)

==== Kushan empire ====
[[File:KanishkaCasket.JPG|thumb|left|150px|Peshawar's [[Kanishka stupa]] once kept sacred [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] relics in the [[Kanishka casket]].]]

In the first century of the [[Common Era]], Purushapura came under control of [[Kujula Kadphises]], founder of the [[Kushan Empire]].<ref name="Abrams2000">{{cite book |last1=Abrams |first1=Harry N. |title=The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West |date=2000 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |isbn=978-0-87099-961-1 |pages=133 |language=en |quote=The late-first—early-second-century-A.D. rule of Kanishka, the third Kushan emperor, was administered from two capitals, Purushapura (Peshawar), near the Khyber Pass, and Mathura, in northern India.}}</ref> The city was made the empire's winter capital.<ref name="Le" /> The Kushan's summer capital at ''Kapisi'' (modern [[Bagram]], [[Afghanistan]])<ref name="Chandra">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDL4kA7SWkEC&dq=ancient+peshawar&pg=PA10 |title=Trade And Trade Routes In Ancient India |last1=Chandra |first1=Moti |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1977 |isbn=9788170170556 |access-date=24 March 2017 |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307070306/https://books.google.com/books?id=rDL4kA7SWkEC&dq=ancient+peshawar&pg=PA10 |url-status=live }}</ref> was seen as the secondary capital of the empire,<ref name="Le" /> while Puruṣapura was considered to be the empire's primary capital.<ref name="Le">{{cite book |last1=Le |first1=Huu Phuoc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&q=hephthalite+peshawar&pg=PA51 |title=Buddhist Architecture |date=2010 |publisher=Grafikol |isbn=978-0-9844043-0-8 |pages=51 |access-date=24 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307070259/https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&q=hephthalite+peshawar&pg=PA51 |archive-date=7 March 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Ancient Peshawar's population was estimated to be 120,000, which would make it the seventh-most populous city in the world at the time.<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 10 Cities of the Year 100 |url=http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201b.htm |work=Education > Geography (sourced from Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: An Historical Census by Tertius Chandler. 1987, St. David's University Press) |publisher=About.com |access-date=13 December 2012 |first=Matt |last=Rosenberg |author2=Tertius Chandler |year=2012 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005065844/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Grandeur" /> As a devout Buddhist, the emperor built the grand ''Kanishka [[Mahavihara]]'' monastery.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wink |first1=Andre |title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7th-11th Centuries |date=2002 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-0-391-04173-8}}</ref> After his death, the magnificent [[Kanishka stupa]] was built in Peshawar to house Buddhist relics. The golden age of Kushan empire in Peshawar ended in 232 CE with the death of the last great Kushan king, [[Vasudeva I]].

Around 260 CE, the armies of the [[Sasanid Empire|Sasanid]] Emperor [[Shapur I]] launched an attack against Peshawar,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Puri |first1=Baij Nath |title=Buddhism in Central Asia |date=1987 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120803725}}</ref> and severely damaged Buddhist monuments and monasteries throughout the Valley of Peshawar.<ref name="Grandeur" /> Shapur's campaign also resulted in damage to the city's monumental stupa and monastery.<ref name="Grandeur" /> The Kushans were made subordinate to the Sasanids and their power rapidly dwindled,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wink |first1=Andre |title=Al-Hind: The Slavic Kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th–13th centuries |date=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-0-391-04174-5}}</ref> as the Sasanids blocked lucrative trade routes westward out of the city.<ref name="Grandeur" />

Kushan Emperor [[Kanishka III]] was able to temporarily reestablish control over the entire Valley of Peshawar after Shapur's invasion,<ref name="Grandeur" /> but the city was then captured by the Central Asian [[Kidarites|Kidarite kingdom]] in the early 400s CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ahmad |first1=Hasan Dani |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750 |date=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ |isbn=9788120815407 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FcKtIPVQ6REC&q=Huna&pg=PA116 |access-date=29 March 2017 |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307070303/https://books.google.com/books?id=FcKtIPVQ6REC&q=Huna&pg=PA116 |url-status=live }}</ref>