The area constituting Mardan district is a part of the Peshawar
valley, which first appears in history as part of the Gandhara kingdom. The
armies of Alexander The Great reached the Indus Valley by two separate routes,
one through the Khyber Pass and the other personally led by Alexander through
Kunar, Bajaur, Swat, and Buner in 326 BC. After Alexander's departure, the
valley came under the rule of Chandragupta, who ruled the valley from 321 to
297 BC. During the reign of the Buddhist emperor Asoka, the grandson of
Chandragupta, Buddhism was the religion of the Peshawar Valley. The valley saw
the revival of
