Mardan, town, northern Pakistan, in the Peshawar Basin, on a branch of the Swat Canal, near Peshawar. A road junction on a spur railroad, the town has one of the largest sugar mills in Asia and also has textile-weaving and sawmilling industries. It is the market center for a region in which wheat, sugarcane, barley, and corn are grown; sugar beets have been introduced. The noted rock of Shahbazgarhi, with one of the inscriptions of Ashoka, a king of the 3rd century BC, is nearby. Population (1981) 147,977.
