Peshawar Museum

The present main hall of the Peshawar Museum was built in 1906-07 in the memory of Queen Victoria at the cost of Rs.60000, out of which Rs.45000 were donated by the public of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Rs.15000 by the Director General of Archaeology, India. After completion of the building, the museum was set up in November 1907 to house the Gandharan Sculptures excavated from the major Gandharan sites of Shah-Ji-Ki-Dheri Peshawar, Sahri Bahlol, Takht-i-Bahi in the Mardan District and later from Jamal Garhi and other Gandharan sites excavated by British scholars. The two storey building, an amalgamation of the British and Mughal architectures, originally consisted of a main hall and two side aisles on the ground and first floor, surmounted by four elegant cupolas and small pinnacles on all the corners. On the eastern and western side of the building, two halls were added in similar fashion in 1969-70 (one on each side). In 1974-75, the second storey was added to these side halls.

After its inception in 1907 the Peshawar Museum was run by the Peshawar Municipality. The superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of India, Frontier Circle was Curator of the Museum. In 1927, when the Frontier Circle office was shifted to Lahore, a full time Curator was appointed under the Provincial Govt. After independence the Museum remained under the direct control of the Director of Public Instructions, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar In 1971, an autonomous body, Board of Governors, was constituted to run the affairs of the Museum, headed first by the Governor and later by the Chief Secretary, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In 1992, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa established its own Directorate of Archaeology and Museums to ensure the better protection and preservation of the archaeological heritage of the Province and thus the Peshawar Museum became part of the Provincial Directorate.