Gandhara is also an ancient name for Peshawar, Pakistan.

Gandhāra (, , , Avestan: Vaēkərəta, Old Persian Para-upari-sena, Bactrian Paropamisadae [Hellenization: Paropamisus], Greek Caspatyrus) is the ancient term for the city and old kingdom of Peshawar, which encompassed the Swat valley and the Potohar Plateau regions of Pakistan, as well as the Jalalabad district of modern-day Afghanistan. During the Hellenistic period, its capital city was Charsadda, but later the capital city was shifted to Peshawar by the Kushan emperor Kanishka the Great in about 127. It is mentioned in the Zend Avesta as Vaēkərəta, the sixth most beautiful place on earth created by Ahura Mazda. It was known in Sanskrit as Puruṣapura, literally meaning "city of men". It was known as the "crown jewel" of Bactria and also held sway over Takṣaśilā (modern Taxila).