Chuha Gujar Bridge, also known as the Bara Bridge, Speen Bridge, and sometimes Sethian Bridge, is a historic bridge over Bara River located southeast of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It lies approximately 30 minutes from the city center and is flanked by ancient, deep-rooted Bodhi trees. It is the oldest surviving bridge in the province.
History Scholarly opinion on the commissioning of the bridge is divided. Some sources attribute its construction to Sher Shah Suri of the Suri dynasty (r. 1540–1545). However, archaeological evidence more strongly supports a Mughal origin. A marble slab recovered during the excavation of a mosque in Qissakhwani Bazaar bears Persian inscriptions naming the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1627–1658), the provincial governor Lashkar Khan, and the project’s engineer, Abdul Lateef Khan, which suggests that the bridge was constructed in 1629.
The bridge is also referred to as the Sethian Bridge, a name derived from oral traditions that attribute its construction to Haji Karim Bakhsh Sethi, a merchant of the Mughal period.
Architecture The bridge was constructed in the Mughal architectural tradition using small, traditional Waziri red bricks. It rests on 26 pillars of varying dimensions, incorporating twelve spillways designed to regulate water flow during periods of high discharge. Above these spillways are thirteen arched supports, each crowned with a decorative dome. The bridge measures approximately 290 feet (88 meters) in length and 33 feet (10 meters) in width.
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