PESHAWAR: “Gandahara -- Da Pakthunkhwa Da Larghono Asaaro Nandara” is not just an ordinary history book. It is the first book in Pashto language about the antiquities and archaeology of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“The book tells the readers that a region, which has seen so much bloodshed in the name of religion, was once a land of peace,” says Daud Khattak, a journalist, who helped in compilation of the book. The book was launched here in Peshawar Museum on Tuesday afternoon.

The book is compiled by Khalid Khan Kheshgi, a journalist working for Mashal Radio. The book is a compilation of the radio programmes, titled “Tareekhpanry” (pages from history). It is consisted of 21 chapters with each chapter telling the story of one historical site in the province.

Not only the venue of the launch was significant as Peshawar Museum is a unique museum having rich and rare collection of Gandhara civilisation, the gathering was also a unique mix of writers, historians, researchers and journalists.

Each of 21 chapters of the books has information about one historical site of province

The journalists working for the radio delved deeper into the history and publish a detailed and well-researched Pashto language book on province’s antiquities including forts of Balahisar and Attock, old walls of the Peshawar city, Gor Khathree, historical places like Chowk Yadgar, Churchill’s Post (Picket), various old caves and old towns like Odigram or Barikot.

Daud Khattak writes in the preface of the book that the purpose publishing the book is to inform the young people about their own region, their ancestors and culture. The current scenario and problems in the region has kept the youth away from knowing about their own roots and history.

Mr Khattak writes that youth should know their history. The youth should know that this region, facing so much bloodshed in the name of religion, was once known in the world for religious tolerance and peace. He adds that reading about history should not mean living in the past and it should not stop them from finding new ways for a bright future on the basis of this knowledge.

Khalid Kheshgi says when he started working on the programmes he thought he would just consult one or two history books for the purpose but to his surprise there were not many books on the subject that could help him. He started meeting archaeologists and historians in the province to collect their views.

Mr Kheshgi says that directorate of archaeology and museums helped him in providing information and pointing out historians. The flow of valuable information led to the idea to publish it in a book form so that more people could read about it, he adds.

The book has views about Gandhara from experts like late Prof Fidaullah Sehrai, Prof Ihsan Ali and historians like Prof Javed Iqbal. Dr Naeem Qazi, a professor at University of Peshawar, has shared his views about Takht Bhai-- a world heritage site in Mardan whereas it also had views of Dr Naseemur Rehman on Kashmir cave, Dr waqar Ali on Chowk Yadgar and Prof Razia Sultana has shared information about Balahisar Fort.

Provincial Minister for Culture Mahmood Khan, who was chief guest on the occasion, lauded the publication on Gandhara sites. He called it a great effort to highlight the historical places of the province.

Dr Abdul Samad, director of museums, said that it was a unique book in the sense that it was not compiled by an archaeologist. It was written in a simple and colloquial language, he said, adding that it was a good contribution to the study of archaeology in the province.

Prof Abaseen Yousafzai said that the book was the best effort to compile knowledge about the historical places of the province in a precise and beautiful manner.

Dr Fazle Raheem Marwat was more concerned about the protection and preservations of the historical places. He mentioned destruction of historical sites and statues in Bamyan province of Afghanistan and Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2016