Peshawar Museum was built in 1906-07 in the memory of Queen
Victoria. Of the Rs. 60,000 cost, Rs. 45,000 was donated by
the public of the NWFP while Rs. 15,000 were contributed by
the Director General of Archaeology, India. The first object
(Punched Mark Coins) was registered on November 2, 1906.
After completion of the building, the museum was organized
in November 1907 to house the Gandharan sculptures excavated
from the major Gandharan sites of Shah-ji-ki-Dheri Peshawar,
Sahri Bahlol, and Takht-i-Bahi in the Mardan District.
Later, antiquity from Jamal Garhi and other Gandharan sites
excavated by the British scholars was also added to the
collection.
The main collection of Peshawar Museum (15156 in total till
date) includes Gandharan sculptures, coins, manuscripts,
copies of Holy Qurans, inscriptions, weapons, dresses,
Jewelry, Kalash effigies, Mughals and later period
paintings, household objects and local and Persian
handicrafts. The collection is divided into five main
sections:
Gandharan
Coins
Islamic
Ethnological
Iranian sections
The Peshawar Museum has one of the best collections of
Gandharan Art in the world, consisting of 5498 (954 on
display and 4544 in stores) antiquities of Buddhist stone
sculptures and panels, architectural elements, stucco
sculptures, terracotta figurines, relic caskets and toiletry
objects. The selected collection is exhibited in the main
hail, eastern and western galleries on the ground floor and
western aisle on the lst floor of the museum. The subject
matter of Gandhara art in the main hail includes Buddha’s
pre-birth and life stories, miracles, worship of symbols,
relic caskets and individual standing Buddha sculptures.
Brochures and booklets on the museum are available at the
Museum counter.
Collection of Gandhara in Peshawar Museum:
Buddhist collection on display
954
Buddhist collection in store
4544
Total Buddhist Collection
5498
The documentation of antiquities of the museum started in
2003 and a system for database has been initiated through a
training of the staff at Harappa under the American
Expedition comprising Prof. J M. Kenoyer and Dr. Richard
Meadow from the Universities of Wisconsin and Harvard.
