Gor Khuttree: Peshawar's Layered Archaeological Complex

Gor Khuttree is a walled archaeological complex at the eastern end of Peshawar's old city, where excavations have traced continuous settlement back to at least the 3rd century BC, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in South Asia. Within the same walls stand a Mughal-era gateway, a Sikh-period temple and a small site museum, and it is open to the public daily, with Friday the usual closure.

This guide sets out what Gor Khuttree actually is, the layers of history inside it, the museum, and how to visit.

What is Gor Khuttree?

The name is usually translated as something close to "warrior's grave," though the site's real significance has nothing to do with a single grave. It is a large walled square, roughly 160 metres on each side, that has been continuously built on, demolished and rebuilt for more than two thousand years, which makes it as much a cross-section of Peshawar's history as a single monument.

Archaeological excavations carried out from the 1990s into the 2000s dug down through the layers inside the walls and found evidence of occupation reaching back to at least the 3rd century BC, through the Indo-Greek, Kushan and later periods. Some historians connect the site with a description left by the 7th-century Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang, who wrote of a place in Peshawar associated with a relic of the Buddha, though this identification is not settled.

The layers inside the walls

What makes Gor Khuttree worth visiting is that its different periods are still visible side by side rather than buried under a single later structure.

• Mughal period: the current gateway and much of the compound's present form date to 1641, when Jahan Ara Begum, daughter of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, built a caravanserai here for travelling merchants, a role the site had likely played informally for centuries before.
• Sikh period: after the Sikh conquest of Peshawar, the compound became the residence of Paolo Avitabile, the Italian general who governed the city under Sikh rule. The Gorakhnath temple that still stands near the centre of the complex dates from this period, and gives the site its modern name.
• British and Pakistani period: from 1917 to 2002 the compound served as a police station and fire brigade headquarters, and a few old fire engines from that era are preserved on site.

Parts of the compound have been under renovation at different times, so which buildings and courtyards are open to walk through can vary between visits.

The museum

A small museum inside the complex displays finds from the excavations: pottery, coins, beads, seals and everyday tools spanning the site's long occupation, reportedly numbering in the low thousands of objects. It gives context to walking around the compound itself, and is worth doing before or after rather than skipping.

Visiting: hours and getting there

Gor Khuttree has generally kept the same hours as the other Peshawar sites run by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums: roughly 9 am to 5 pm, closed on Fridays. As with any public heritage site in Pakistan, hours can change without much notice, so confirm locally on the day rather than planning tightly around a fixed time.

The site sits at the eastern end of the restored heritage trail that begins at Ghanta Ghar, the clock tower, and runs through Bazaar-e-Kalan and Mohallah Sethian past Sethi House. It is walking distance only; the lanes of the old city do not take cars. The nearest BRT stations are Khyber Bazaar and Hashtnagri, from where it is a walk or a short rickshaw ride into the old city.

Making it part of a visit

Gor Khuttree works best as the last stop on a walk through the old city rather than a destination on its own. Our old Peshawar walking tour ends here after Qissa Khwani, the Mahabat Khan Mosque, the clock tower and Sethi House, and our guide to places to visit in Peshawar sets it in the context of a fuller day, including the Peshawar Museum on the other side of town.

Give it 45 minutes to an hour, more if the museum and every open courtyard interest you.

Is it worth the visit?

Yes, particularly for anyone who wants Peshawar's history explained rather than just walked past. The bazaars and mosques of the old city give a feel for the living city; Gor Khuttree is where that history is laid out in a single walled compound, from a caravanserai to a police headquarters.

It suits visitors with some patience for reading a site rather than simply photographing it, since much of the value is in understanding what you are looking at rather than a single striking view. Pairing it with the rest of the heritage trail, ending here after Sethi House, gets the most out of it.

Frequently asked questions