Ethnological

It also contains antique jewelry, utensils and pots, and common household items of the past. This section has some engraved gems, pottery, ivory shells and metal objects. This section also contains mannequins wearing traditional outfits from various regions within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. One can also find life-size effigies that people of Kalash (a part up in the north of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) used to carve out of wood in honor of the deceased, showing their life achievements. The clothes and equipment used by warriors during the sword wars have also been preserved in the museum, which show the intensity and ferocity of the wars fought at the time.

Gandharan

The Peshawar Museum is one of the most popular museums in south East Asia especially for its Buddhist sculptures from Gandhara Period (2nd century BC to 6th century). The ground floor of the museum is dedicated to Gandharan art and history. Buddha statues of various sizes welcome the visitors. From small to large to enormous, the entire floor is adorned with these statues. British historians and antiquity hunters dug out places where the history of Buddha was buried, and carried the evidence in the form of statues and stone-carved panels to be stored here. Buddha’s whole life story has been told through these stone panels, as carving pictures on stone was among the most effective ways to preserve history in that age. Each carved stone panel is briefly described in Urdu and English on a plaque nailed beside it.

Islamic Collection

The Islamic history section of Peshawar Museum has preserved ancient handwritten scripts of the Qur’an. Among the most fascinating scripts is Khat-e-Ghubar, written in such a way that an entire verse or page of the Qur’an fits within the script. The sealed handwritten royal messages of the Mughal emperors have also been preserved.

Ancient Coins

The coins collection of Peshawar Museum, 8625 items out of which 200 are on display. These punch marked coins are from the

1. Kushans (1st to 5th  century CE),

2. White Huns (5th century CE),

3. Indus Greeks (250-190 BCE),

4. Scythians (~2nd century to 1st  century BCE),

5. Parthians (1st century BC to 1st century CE),

6. Hindu Shahis (~9th to 10th century CE).

The coins section also includes Islamic coins of the Ghaznavids, Ghaurids, Slave Dynasties, Tughlaqs, Lodhis, Mughals, Durranis, Sikh and British periods. The coins are in Silver, Gold, Copper and Billon. These coins have round, square and rectangular shapes.

Ancient Coins

The hallway on either side of museum has the rich history of Peshawar preserved in the form of framed pictures. This includes major historical events, such as Quaid-e-Azam’s visit to Peshawar and the unfortunate Qissa Khawani shooting in the 1930s. Also on display are paintings of Sikhs who once ruled this region. One more important sculpture is of Sir George Olaf Roos-Keppel, the Chief Commissioner of NWFP (former name of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) from 1908 till 1919, who is also considered as one of the founders present at the foundation stone ceremony of the renowned Islamia College Peshawar.