Rock edicts of the ancient Indian King Ashoka in the nearby Shahbaz Garhi, written in the right-to-left Kharosthi script, date from the Mauryan period (mid-200s BCE) and represent the earliest irrefutable evidence of writing in South Asia.

[9] The nearby Takht-i-Bahi which has remains of an ancient Buddhist monastery was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

In 1962, the Sanghao Caves were discovered outside of Mardan, which yielded artefacts from the Middle Paleolithic period,[12] over 30,000 years ago.

The Gandharan grave culture appears to have been a Central Asian group that may represent part of the Indo-Aryan invasion into the subcontinent.

Rock edicts of Ashoka in nearby Shahbaz Garhi date from the Mauryan period in the mid-200s BCE, and are written in the ancient Kharosthi script.

The Bakhshali manuscript, which contains the earliest record of the use of the number 0 in the Indian subcontinent,[14] was found near Mardan in 1891, and dates from the third or fourth century CE.

The nearby Kashmir Smast caves served Buddhist hermit monks, and dates from the fourth to ninth century CE.

During the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, Mardan was not a scene of heavy fighting as many of the native troops had been disarmed by British forces.

[15] Mardan's famous Guides' Memorial was established in 1892 to honour fallen soldiers who fought during the 1879 Siege of the British Residency in Kabul.

[18] During the Viceroy's visit in 1946, large numbers of Mardan residents travelled to Peshawar to participate in a Muslim League rally in favour of Pakistan's establishment.

The swimming pool facility was built in 2011[56] while an international standard hockey turf was constructed at the sports complex at the cost Rs.

Prominent international cricketers born in Mardan include Younis Khan and Fakhar Zaman Naseem shah.