A short notes on Gandhara from the web

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Gandhara shows an influx of southern Central Asian culture in the

Bronze Age with the Gandhara grave culture, likely corresponding to

the nucleus of Vedic civilization. The name of the Gandharis is

attested from the Rigveda. The Gandharis, along with the Mujavantas,

Angas and the Magadhas, are also mentioned in the Atharavaveda, but

apparently as a despised people. Gandharas are included in the

Uttarapatha division of Puranic and Buddhistic traditions. Aitareya

Brahmana refers to king Naganajit of Gandhara who was contemporary of

Shah Janaka of Videha.

 

Gandharas and their king figure prominently as strong allies of the

Kurus against the Pandavas in Mahabharata war. The Gandharas were a

furious people, well trained in the art of war. According to Puranic

traditions, this Janapada was founded by Gandhara, son of Aruddha, a

descendent of Yayati. The princes of this country are said to have

come from the line of Druhyu who was a famous king of Rigvedic

period. The river Indus watered the lands of Gandhara. Taxila and

Pushklavati, the two cities of this Mahajanapada, are said to have

been named after Taksa and Pushkara, the two sons of Bharata, a

prince of Ayodhya.

 

According to Vayu Purana (II.36.107), the Gandharas were destroyed by

Pramiti aka Kalika, at the end of Kalyuga. Panini has mentioned both

Vedic form Gandhari as well as the later form Gandhara in his

Ashtadhyayi.

 

The Gandhara kingdom sometimes also included Kashmira (Jataka No

406). Hecataeus of Miletus (549-468) refers to Kaspapyros (Kasyapura

i.e. Kashmira) as Gandaric city. According to Gandhara Jataka, at one

time, Gandhara formed a part of the kingdom of Kashmir. Jataka also

gives another name Chandahara for Gandhara. Buddhist texts like

Anguttara Nikaya refer to sixteen great nations (solas Mahajanapadas)

which flourished in Indian sub-continent during Buddha's time, only

two of which viz. the Gandhara and the Kamboja were located in the

Uttarapatha or the north-western division. The primary cities of

Gandhara country were Purushpura (now Peshawar) and Takshashila

(prikrit Taxila). Taxila, the capital of Gandhara, was a renowned

center of learning in ancient times, where scholars from all over the

world came to seek higher education. Panini, the Indian genius of

grammar and Kautiliya, the Indian Machiavelli are the world renowned

products of Taxila University. King Pukkusati or Pushkarasarin of

Gandhara in middle of sixth century BCE was the contemporary of king

Bimbisara of Magadha. At the time of Alexander's invasion, hyparchs

Kubhesha, Hastin (Astes) and Ambhi (Omphes) were ruling lower Kabul

valley, Puskalavati (modern Charasadda) and Taxila respectively,

while Ashvajit (chief of Aspasios or Ashvayanas) and Assakenos (chief

of Assakenois or Ashvakayanas) (both being sub-units of the Kambojas)

were ruling upper Kabol valley and Mazaga (Mashkavati) respectively.

 

 

Gandhara - Persian rule

Both Gandhara and Kamboja soon fell a prey to the Achaemenian Dynasty

of Persia during the reign of Achaemenid, Cyrus the Great (558-530

BCE), or in the first year of Darius I. The Gandhara and Kamboja had

constituted the seventh satrapys(upper Indus) of the Achaemenid

Empire.

 

Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II) is said to have destroyed the famous

Kamboja city, Capscene or Kapisi (modern Begram) in Paropamisadae. In

the eighth decade of fourth century BCE, the companions of Alexander

the Great did not record the names of Kamboja and Gandhara and rather

located a dozen small political units in their territories. This

rules out the possibility of rise of Gandhara and Kamboja as great

kingdoms in the second and third quarters of fourth century BCE. In

326 BC, most of these political units of the former Gandhara and

Kamboja Mahajanapadas were conquered by Alexander the Great.

 

According to some scholars, the people of Gandhara and Kamboja were

of same ethnic group.

 

 

Gandhara - Gandhara under the Mauryas

Gandhara was won back from the Greeks by Chandragupta Maurya. Having

defeated Seleucus Nicator (Alexander's successor in Asia) in 305 BCE,

the Mauryan Emperor extended his domains up to and including Southern

Afghanistan. With the completion of the Empire's Grand Trunk Road,

the region presumably prospered as a center of trade. Gandhara would

remain a part of the Mauryan Empire for close to a century and a

half. Mauryan control over northern frontagers including the Yonas,

Kambojas and the Gandharas is attested from the Rock Edicts left by

the third and greatest Emperor of the dynasty, Ashoka, who shows

special solicitude for these frontier highlanders. His successors,

however, failed to cast such imperial shadows throughout the sub-

continent.

 

 

Gandhara - Gandhara under Greek rule

The decline of the Empire left the sub-continent open to Greco-

Bactrian expansion. Southern Afghanistan was absorbed by Demetrius of

Bactria in 180 BCE, following his campaign against King Subhagasena.

This was eventually followed by gains made along, or possibly past,

the trans-Indus by Menander, apparently as far as Pataliputra (Patna

in Bihar). Under the Greeks, the region became famous for its hybrid

artistic styles of Greco-Buddhist art, which incorporated Greek,

Hindu and Buddhist motifs. Indeed, the Greeks appeared to have built

upon the rich legacy of Buddhism left by Emperor Ashoka through

patronage of the Sangha. Nevertheless, Indo-Greek rule was brought to

an end by one of the numerous central Asian tribes that were to

follow.

 

The next leaders of the kingdom were the Sakas or Indo-Scythians.

They were followed in the 1st century CE by the Indo-Parthians.

 

During this period Thomas the Apostle visited India, encountered the

Indo-Parthian king Gondophares, and introduced Christianity to parts

of India. Next came the Kushans, whose standard currency improved the

economy; in addition, Buddhism spread rapidly, eventually entering

China. The Gandharan kingdom weakened with the demise of the Romans

and the Han during the 3rd century, and finally disappeared with the

Indo-Hephthalites and Muslim invasions.

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Vedic Heritage of Northwest Pakistan

Written by Dr. Hussain Khan

Dr. Hussain Khan is the head of the TM (Transcendental Movement) in

Pakistan and a lawyer for the Supreme Court of the country. The

following talk was given at the Sai Baba International Center in

Delhi, after a talk by Dr. Frawley. Gandhara is the ancient name for

northwest Pakistan.)

 

Gandhara: The Nursery of the Vedas

 

I am most grateful to the Sri Sathya Sai International Centre

founded with the blessings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba for this

opportunity to speak to this distinguished audience. It is clear that

Sathya Sai's Divine vision includes pursuit of knowledge to achieve

global peace and harmony, a point made by the previous speaker. It is

important for all of us to not only revere Sathya Sai, but also

practice his teachings. It is in this spirit of bringing about better

understanding between our two countries that I am making this

presentation on Gandhara. Before I get to the main points of the

talk, let me at the outset dispel a widely held misconception

relating to Qandahar and Gandhara.

 

Gandhara refers to a region that at various times has included parts

of NWF (North West Frontier) Province of Pakistan and eastern

Afghanistan. The city of Qandahar in south-west Afghanistan however

is the modern name of the site founded by Alexender the Great, known

as Alexendria. Equating Qandahar to Gandhar would be historically and

geographically wrong.

 

Gandhara, meaning " the land of fragrance " , is the old name of roughly

the present Peshawar valley. The district of Gandhara is not

mentioned by Alexander's professed historians; but it is correctly

described by the classical writer Strabo, under the name of

Gandaritis, as lying along the river Kophes (Kabul), between the

Choaspes (Kunar) and the Indus. In the same position Ptolemy places

the Gandarae, whose country included both banks of the Kophes (Kabul)

above its junction with the Indus. This is the Kien-to-lo, or

Gandhara of all Chinese pilgrims, who are unanimous in placing it to

the west of the Indus.The capital which, they call Pu-lu-sha-pulo or

Parashapura is stated to be three or four days journey from the

Indus, and near the south bank of a large river. This is an exact

description of the position of Peshawar, which down to the time of

Akbar still bore its old name of Parashawar.

 

The actual boundaries of Gandhara, which apparently changed from time

to time depending upon its political strength, are not described

but its size as given by the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang is 1000 li or

166 miles, from east to west, and 800 Li or 133 miles from north to

south. Sir Alexender Cunningham suggests that the boundaries of

Gandhara as deduced from these measurements may be described as

having Lamghan and Jalalabad (in Afghanistan) on the west, the

hills of Swat and Buner on the north, the Indus on the east and hills

of Kalabag on the south. This however may be the picture in the 7th

century A.D. when Xuan Zang (A.D. 640) passed through this region.

Nor was the civilization of Gandhara, which primarily sprang from the

intellectual environment of Taxila, confined within these limits.

 

The Puranas in fact give a somewhat different picture. The Druhyus

the Vedic Tribe, who were once counted amongst the five prinicpal

tribes of the Punjab i.e. Purus, Panchala, Anu and Yadu, we are told,

were driven out of their habitat and pushed into the north western

corner of the punjab, between Rawalpindi and Attock. Their king named

Angara was killed in the turmoil and was succeeded by his son

Gandhara, after whose name the Druhyu settlements in the Panjab came

to be known as such. This is how, as the traditional history says,

the term Gandhara came into vogue as the name of a territory. After

some time the Druhyus crossed the Indus and founded many

principalities in the territories to the north.

 

 

 

 

Takshashila or Taxila, as the Greeks pronounced it, which was

destined to grow into a great cultural and educational centre, and in

fact the greatest city between the Indus and the Jhelam, was, on this

account, originally a Druhyu settlement which, in the course of time,

gained tremendous importance because of its strategic position on the

highway linking the Indus region with Persepolis, the Achaemenian

capital,through Afghanistan.

 

Gandhara is first mentioned in the Rig veda, the earliest vedic

literature in south Asia. The geographical area recognized in the

Samhita is large, which is habitated by vedic people called Aryan in

the text books, compiled by the British rulers and which waged a war

with dark-skinned enemies known as Dasa. This is no longer accepted

by modern scholars. Of the names in the Rig Veda those of the rivers

alone permit of easy and certain identification. Gandhara the home of

vedic tribe is proved by the mention of the Kubha (Kabul), and

Suvastu (Swat) with its " Fair dwellings " , the Krumu (Kurram) and

Gomati (Gomal). But far more important were the habitats on the

Sindhu (Indus), the river par excellence from which India has derived

its name. The five streams which give the panjab its name and which

after uniting flow into the Indus are all mentioned in the Rig Veda;

the Vitasta is the modern Jhelam, the Asikni the Chenab, the

Parushni, later called Iravati, " the refreshing " , the modern Ravi,

the Vipas the Beas, and the Sutudri the sutlej. But of these only the

Parushni plays a considerable part in the history of the time, for it

was on this river that the famous battle of the 'Ten King's', the

most important contest of the Vedic times, was fought. Another

important river was the Sarasvati, midway between the Sutlej and the

Yamuna.

 

These northern areas are generally considered to be the region of the

Rig Vedic people, some evidence in this respect may be found in the

ancient cemeteries of Swat, Dir and

Peshawar indicating a widespread distinct burial practice. This

Gandhara grave culure, as it is usually termed is amongst the

earliest to possess the horse; this animal is also prominent in the

Rig Veda. Inhumation in the graves is the predominant mode of

disposal of the dead, but cenotaphs and cremation ritual also appear

for the first time in south Asia : both methods are known from the

Rig Veda.

 

The spread of the Gandhara grave culture to the panjab in the

sixteenth century B.C. and its mixing up with the cemetery H culutre

(which prevailed in the Panjab from late Harappan times, (c.1900 B.C)

agrees with the textual evidence from the Rig Veda, which speaks of

battles in the plains.

 

In the period of the Brahmanas which follow the Rig Veda, the centre

of religious activity was transferred to the adjacent country on the

south -east, i.e. the upper portion of the Doab between the Jumna and

Gangas. This was Brahmarshidesa, i.e. " The country of the Holy

sages " . As the earlier vedic tribes moved away from Gandhara, their

angle of vision regarding Gandhara also changed correspondingly. Thus

the Gandharis mentioned in the Atharvaveda and also in the Srauta

Sutras appear as despised people to whom fever as an illness was

wished to be relegated.

 

The tribes of Ghandhara figure more prominently in the 'Battle of the

Ten King's mentioned in the Rig veda. The battle was assisted by two

priest of King Suda named Vasishta and Vishwa Mitra leading to their

mutual jealousy and was fought on the bank of the river Ravi. Among

the frontier tribes who took part in this battle were Alina,Paktha,

Bhalanas, Siva, and Vishanin.

 

Isolated references to Gandharas are also found in post Vedic

literature. Thus a certain king Sakuni of Gandhara, along with Kekaya

and Kamboja princes, s mentioned to have taken part in the Bharat

war. The scene of the battle has not been mentioned in the

Mahabharata or in the Puranic texts. In another reference we are told

that after the Bharat war, the king Janamejays

whose kingdom correspond to modern Thanesar, Delhi and upper Doab,

routed the Naga ruler of Taxila and also brought Gandhara under his

control. The story of Mahabharat was cited to Janamejaya at Taxila by

a sage known as Vaisampayena.

 

There is a reference to king Pukkusati or Pushkarasarin, the ruler of

Gandhara in the middle of the sixth century BC. He was a contemporary

of king Bimbisara of Magadha. He is said to have sent anembassy and a

letter to his Magadhan contemporary and inflected a crushing defeat

on king Pradyota of Avanti (present Malwa on the border of Bhopal,

Madhya Pradesh).

 

In the Rig Veda, the good wool of Gandhara is mentioned. Gandhara

became a center of culture and education in the period of the

Brahmanas and Upanishads. We learn from Kaushitaki Brahmana that

Brahmin's used to go to the north for purposes of study. The Satapatha

Brahmana informs us that Uddalaka Aruni was among the people who went

to the northern country. According to the Uddalaka Jataka, this

scholar journeyed to Taxila in quest of knowledge. Uddalak compares a

man, who has strayed away from Gandhara, to a blind-folded man, who

clamors for light and finds it neither in the north or south nor in

the west and east and at last, when the fold is removed from his

eyes, proceeds from village to village, enquires the way and reaches

Gandhara. In his view the career of a man up to Gandhara is analogous

to the ascent of a seeker to spiritual liberation. Later on Kautilya

prescribed a fine for a person, who slandered or vilified Gandhara.

 

A significant result of the rise of Gandhara was the growth of her

capital Takshashila as a seat of learning and education, and a center

of culture and commerce. The age of the Buddha saw spread of the fame

of this city through out northern India. Students from Magadha

traversed vast distances to join the schools and colleges of Taxila.

Some of the Pali texts mention Khattiya princes and sons of Sethis

and Brahmin youths from Rajagarha, Kasi, Kosala and other places who

went to Taxila for learning the Vedas and eighteen sciences and arts.

Jotipala, son of the Purohita of the king of Benares returned from

Taxila with great proficiency in military science and was appointed

commander- in- chief of Benares. Jivaka, the famous physician of

Bimbisara and Buddha received his medical education at Taxila.

Another illustrious product of Taxila was Prasenajit, the enlightened

ruler of Kosala. Panini and Kautilya, two masterminds of ancient

times, were also brought up in the academic atmosphere of Taxila.

Chandergupta Maurya whose empire touched south India on one side

and Hindu Kush on the other, was educated at Taxila.

 

Though there was no organized University at Taxila, there was a

cluster of schools and colleges managed and maintained by eminent

teachers. Most of these schools were centers of higher studies. There

was a special academy for the princes which had on its rolls 101

scholars.

Another center which also attracted mainly princes was the Institute

of military science. Besides these institutions there were many

other colleges which taught Law, political economy, elephant lore,

humanities and sciences. As a result of its fame for education Taxila

grew into a cosmopolitan city. Pushkolavati (present Charsadda)

meaning ' the lotus city' was contemporaneous with Taxila and must

have developed similar institutions though nothing is recorded about

them.

 

Taxila and Pushkalavati were succeeded by Peshawar which kept the

torch of education burning till about the tenth century AD. The

monastery built by Kanishka, the best known Kushan emperor, in about

the first century AD, became a great seat of Buddhist learning in the

subsequent centuries. It was still flourishing as a place of Buddhist

education in the 9th or 10th century AD when Viradeva of Magadha was

sent to the " Great Vihara of Kanishka where the best of teachers were

to be found, and which was famous for the quietism of its

frequenters. " It is interesting to note that while Pali became the

primary language for teaching in the heartland of Buddhism, the

northern Buddhist adopted Sanskrit for their canon. As an

illustration we may note that Ashvaghosha, in the court of Kanishka

wrote his Buddacharita or Life of Buddha in Sanskrit.

 

Mahavakya means great sayings. At the end I quote two Mahavakya, one

from Muslim and one from Hindu tradition. Hazrat Ali (R.T.A) the

cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad

(PBUH) has it: man arafa nafsuhu faqad arafa rubbuhu. In free

translation " Self-knowing is God-knowing " UPANISHADS: Shivam Shantam

Advaitam Chaturtam Manyante, Sa Atma Sa Vigneya. In free translation:

The peaceful, the Blissful, the Non-dual is known to be the fourth,

that is the Self that is to be known.

 

Thank you for your attention…Subhan Allah......SHUKRIYA