Century-old underground house discovered in Peshawar

An ancient two-storey building has been discovered in Peshawar, the 24News TV channel reported on Friday. 

The building is believed to be erected during the era of  British rule over the subcontinent.  

Inside Sarki Gate of the walled city area, an old home in Mohalla Khan was demolished and while digging its ground for constructing a basement, a two-story haveli was discovered. 

Soon after the discovery of the ancient underground building, a team from the Department of Archaeology, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa rushed to the home and took it under its control while halting the ongoing work on the premises.

پشاور شہر کا عجوبہ: اندرون شہر ایک گھر کے نیچے سے دوسرا دو منزلہ گھر نکل آیا، محکمہ آثار قدیمہ نے حفاظت میں لے لیا،#Peshawar pic.twitter.com/3fxPJz3ZHb

— Adil Khan Imranist (@AdillKhanPTI) April 12, 2023

The discovery has been hailed as a wonder of the historic city of Peshawar. The Department of Archaeology has sealed the house in order to preserve the historical structure.

The authorities said that the owner of the building should not have demolished it since buildings older than 100 years cannot be demolished or even repaired without the consent of the authorities as per the KP Antiquities Act. 

Most of the underground building is made of wood and iron. The locals said that no one knew about the underground ancient infrastructure till the people started digging the ground during the reconstruction work of the house. 

The Directorate of Archaeology said that the underground building was from the era of British rule in the subcontinent and that the house owner must have consulted the directorate before demolishing the house. 

It is believed that the newly discovered structure might be one of the havelis of Sethi family of Peshawar who are known to have had such houses in the provincial capital for a long time.