Mardan,Khyber Pukhtunhwa,pakistan 5.93

Mardan (Pashto: مردان), known as The city of hospitality, is a city and headquarters of Mardan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. It is the de facto headquarters of the Yousafzai tribe and the second most populous city in the province, located at 34°12'0N 72°1'60E and an altitude of 283 metres (928 ft) in the south west of the district. Mardan is a federation of a number of small towns coming together to form a large city.

Mardan valley was part of the ancient Gandhara civilization but at that time the name Mardan and Mardan City was not constructed, instead Gandhara civilization consisted of small sub-kingdoms at the hill tops of Jamal Garhi, Shahbaz Garhi and Thakhat Bahi. The ruins of these cities still exist. Mardan City foundation was laid down by Saint Ali Mardan Shah (nickname Madai-Baba) in about in 11th - 12th century A.D. His shrine is at Jalala. His son Zamin Shah Baba was also a saint, buried in Mardan Cantt. Most of its land is agricultural. It has one of the world's best irrigation systems, which was laid down in 1934 from the Swat River through Jabban Hydel Power Station, during the British Raj between 1857 and 1947. There are still remains of the Gandhara civilization, scattered in different areas of Mardan.

History
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 Brahmanism after the Greeks took over in the time of King Mehanda. The Scythians followed and retained control of the valley till the 7th century AD.