Sikh[edit]
Ranjit Singh invaded Peshawar in 1818 but soon lost it to the Afghans.
[79] Following the Sikh victory against
Azim Khan at the
Battle of Nowshera in March 1823, Ranjit Singh captured Peshawar.
[79] By 1830, Peshawar's economy was noted by Scottish explorer
Alexander Burnes to have sharply declined,
[77] with Ranjit Singh's forces having destroyed the city's palace and agricultural fields.
[77]
Much of Peshawar's caravan trade from
Kabul ceased on account of skirmishes between Afghan and Sikh forces,
[77] as well as a punitive tax levied on merchants by Ranjit Singh's forces.
[77] Singh's government also required Peshawar to forfeit much of its leftover agricultural output to the Sikhs as tribute,
[77] while agriculture was further decimated by a collapse of the dried fruit market in north India.
[77] Singh appointed Neapolitan mercenary
Paolo Avitabile as administrator of Peshawar, who is remembered for having unleashed a reign of terror. His time in Peshawar is known as a time of "gallows and gibbets." The city's famous Mahabat Khan, built in 1630 in the Jeweler's Bazaar, was badly damaged and desecrated by the Sikh conquerors.
[80]
The Sikh Empire formally annexed Peshawar in 1834 following advances from the armies of
Hari Singh Nalwa[79]—bringing the city under direct control of the Sikh Empire's
Lahore Durbar.
[79] An 1835 attempt by
Dost Muhammad Khan to re-occupy the city failed when his army refused to engage in combat with the
Dal Khalsa.
[79] Sikh settlers from Punjab were settled in the city during Sikh rule. The city's only remaining
Gurdwaras were built by
Hari Singh Nalwa to accommodate the newly-settle Sikhs.
[81] The Sikhs also rebuilt the Bala Hissar fort during their occupation of the city.
[78]
