Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a province of Pakistan, located in the north-western part of the country where it borders Afghanistan. Internally, it has provincial borders with Balochistan, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad Capital Territory, and Azad Kashmir. A largely mountainous region, it is geographically the smallest Pakistani province but has the third-largest population and has been economically successful. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is ethnically diverse; its population mostly comprises Pashtuns, Hindkowans, Saraikis, and Chitralis.

The province was formerly known as North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) until April 2010 when it was reconstituted. It was enlarged in May 2018 when the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) were merged into it.

The region has a long history beginning with the Indus Valley Civilisation in the Bronze Age. It was conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 BC and was subsequently incorporated into other empires and regimes including the Maurya Empire, the Indo-Parthian Kingdom, the Kushan Empire, the Mughal Empire, and the Sikh Empire.

In 1849, forces of the British East India Company defeated the Sikhs in the Second Anglo-Sikh War and parts of the region came under Brotish Raj control within its Punjab province. The Pashtun tribes had hated the Sikhs and consequently supported the British during the Indian Mutiny when, apart from some minor disturbances in Peshawar, the region was quiet.