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Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan
civilisation in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan.Between the third century BCE and third century CE, Gāndhārī, a Middle Indo-Aryan language written in the Kharosthi script and linked with the modern Dardic languages,
acted as the lingua franca of the region and through Buddhism, the language spread as far as China based on Gandhāran Buddhist texts. GĀNDHĀRĪ LANGUAGE, Encyclopædia Iranica Famed for its unique Gandhara art, the region attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century CE under the Kushan Empire which had their capital at Puruṣapura, ushering the period known as Pax Kushana.The history of Gandhara originates with the archaeological Gandhara grave culture, characterised by a distinctive burial practice, and Gandhara's mentions in the Vedic period literature. According to post-Vedic legends of the Mahabharata, Gandhara played a role in the Kurukshetra War. By the 6th century BCE Gandhara gained recognition as one of the Mahajanapadas, or 'great realms', within South Asia. King Pushkarasarin governed the region either before or after its conquest in the late 6th century BCE by the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. During its invasion by Alexander the Great in 327-326 BCE, the region was split into two factions with Taxiles, the king of Taxila, allying with Alexander, while the Western Gandharan tribes, exemplified by the Aśvaka around the Swat valley, resisted.
Following the disintegration of Alexander's Macedonian Empire, Gandhara became part of the Maurya Empire. The founder of the dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya, according to legends about his youth had received an education in Taxila under Chanakya and later assumed control with his support. Subsequently, Gandhara was successively annexed by the Indo-Greeks, Indo-Scythians, and Indo-Parthians though a regional Gandharan kingdom, known as the Apracharajas, retained governance during this period until the ascent of the Kushan Empire. The zenith of Gandhara's cultural and political influence transpired during Kushan rule, before succumbing to devastation during the .
However, the region experienced a resurgence under the Turk Shahis and Hindu Shahis.
One proposed origin of the name is from the Sanskrit word ' (गन्धः]]), meaning "perfume" and "referring to the spices and aromatic herbs which they (the inhabitants) traded and with which they anointed themselves". At the Internet Archive.
At Google Books. The Gandhari people are a tribe mentioned in the Rigveda, the Atharvaveda, and later Vedic texts. From Google Books. This origin is also supported by the word Gandhara meaning “fragrance bringer” in the Pashayi language. A Persian language form of the name, Gandara, mentioned in the Behistun inscription of Emperor Darius I, At the Perseus Project. was translated as Paruparaesanna ( Para-upari-sena, meaning "beyond the Hindu Kush") in Babylonian and Elamite language in the same inscription.Perfrancesco Callieri, INDIA ii. Historical Geography, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 15 December 2004. In Ancient Greek, Gandhara was known as Paropamisadae.Herodotus Book III, 89–95'''
The term Greater Gandhara describes the cultural and linguistic extent of Gandhara and its language, Gandhari. In later historical contexts, Greater Gandhara encompassed the territories of Jibin and Oddiyana which had splintered from Gandhara proper and also extended into parts of Bactria and the Tarim Basin. Oddiyana was situated in the vicinity of the Swat valley, while Jibin corresponded to the region of Kapisa, south of the Hindu Kush. However during the 5th and 6th centuries CE, Jibin was often considered synonymous with Gandhara.
The Udichya region was another region mentioned in ancient texts and is noted by Pāṇini as comprising both the regions of Vahika and Gandhara.
The first mention of the Gandhārīs is attested once in the Rigveda as a tribe that has sheep with good wool. In the Atharvaveda, the Gandhārīs are mentioned alongside the Mūjavants, the Anga and the Māgadhīs in a hymn asking fever to leave the body of the sick man and instead go those aforementioned tribes. The tribes listed were the furthermost border tribes known to those in Madhyadesha, the Āṅgeyas and Māgadhīs in the east, and the Mūjavants and Gandhārīs in the north. The Gandhara tribe, after which it is named, is attested in the Rigveda (),
while the region is mentioned in the Zoroastrian Avesta as Vaēkərəta, the seventh most beautiful place on earth created by Ahura Mazda.The Gāndhārī king Nagnajit and his son Svarajit are mentioned in the Brahmana, according to which they received Brahmanic consecration, but their family's attitude towards ritual is mentioned negatively, with the royal family of Gandhāra during this period following non-Brahmanical religious traditions. According to the Jainism Uttaradhyayana, Nagnajit, or Naggaji, was a prominent king who had adopted Jainism and was comparable to Dvimukha of Pancala, Nimi of Videha, Karakaṇḍu of Kaliṅga, and Bhīma of Vidarbha; Buddhism sources instead claim that he had achieved .
By the later Vedic period, the situation had changed, and the Gāndhārī capital of Taxila had become an important centre of knowledge where the men of went to learn the three Vedas and the eighteen branches of knowledge, with the recording that Brahmin went north to study. According to the and the , the famous Vedic philosopher Uddālaka Āruṇi was among the famous students of Takṣaśila, and the claims that his son Śvetaketu also studied there. In the , Uddālaka Āruṇi himself favourably referred to Gāndhārī education to the Videha king Janaka. During the 6th century BCE, Gandhāra was an important imperial power in north-west Iron Age South Asia, with the Kashmir Valley being part of the kingdom. Due to this important position, Buddhist texts listed the Gandhāra kingdom as one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas ("great realms") of Iron Age South Asia. It was the home of Gandhari, the princess and her brother Shakuni the king of Gandhara Kingdom.
It is noted by R. C. Majumdar that Pukkusāti would have been contemporary to the Achamenid king Cyrus the Great and according to the scholar Buddha Prakash, Pukkusāti might have acted as a bulwark against the expansion of the Persians Achaemenid Empire into Gandhara. This hypothesis posits that the army which Nearchus claimed Cyrus had lost in Gedrosia had been defeated by Pukkusāti's Gāndhārī kingdom. Therefore, following Prakash's position, the Achaemenids would have been able to conquer Gandhāra only after a period of decline after the reign of Pukkusāti, combined with the growth of Achaemenid power under the kings Cambyses II and Darius I. However, the presence of Gandhāra among the list of Achaemenid provinces in Darius's Behistun Inscription confirms that his empire had inherited this region from Cyrus. Assuming that Pukkusāti lived during the 6th century BCE, is unknown whether he remained in power after the Achaemenid conquest as a Persian vassal or if he was replaced by a Persian satrap, although Buddhism sources claim that he renounced his throne and became a monk after becoming a disciple of the Gautama Buddha. The annexation under Cyrus was limited to the Western sphere of Gandhāra as only during the reign of Darius the Great did the region between the Indus River and the Jhelum River become annexed.
However, with alternative chronologies which date the Buddha's lifetime (and his contemporary kings) as much as a century later, it is alternatively possible that Pushkarasarin in fact lived as much as a century after the Achaemenid conquest. Among scholars who favour the latter chronology, it remains an open question for debate, what kind of relationship Pukkusāti historically had with the Persian Achaemenid rulers. Possible theories are: he "may belong to a period when the Achaemenids had already lost their hold over Indian provinces," or he may have been holding power in eastern parts of Gandhara such as Taxila (speculatively considered by some scholars to be outside the Achaemenid dominions), or may have been serving as a vassal of the Achaemenids but with autonomy to conduct warfare and diplomacy with independent Indian states, similar to the "active and often independent role the western satraps had in Greek politics". Thus it is considered that he may have been an important intermediary for cultural influence between Ancient Persia and India.
Megasthenes Indica, states that the Achaemenids never conquered India and had only approached its borders after battling with the Massagetae, it further states that the Persians summoned mercenaries specifically from the Oxydrakai tribe, who were previously known to have resisted the incursions of Alexander the Great, but they never entered their armies into the region of Gandhara. coin () discovered in Pushkalavati. This coin is the earliest known example of its type to be found so far east.O. Bopearachchi, "Premières frappes locales de l'Inde du Nord-Ouest: nouvelles données", in Trésors d'Orient: Mélanges offerts à Rika Gyselen, Fig. 1 CNG Coins Such coins were circulating in the area as currency, at least as far as the Indus, during the reign of the Achaemenids.
|left]] During the reign of Xerxes I, Gandharan troops were noted by Herodotus to have taken part in the Second Persian invasion of Greece and were described as clothed similar to that of the . Herodotus states that during the battle they were led by the Achamenid general Artyphius.Under Persian rule, a system of centralised administration, with a bureaucratic system, was introduced into the Indus Valley for the first time. Provinces or "satrapy" were established with provincial capitals. The Gandhara satrapy, established 518 BCE with its capital at Pushkalavati (Charsadda).Rafi U. Samad, The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys. Algora Publishing, 2011, p. 32 It was also during the Achaemenid Empire rule of Gandhara that the Kharosthi script, the script of Gandhari prakrit, was born through the Aramaic alphabet.
The sovereign of Taxila, Omphis, formed an alliance with Alexander, motivated by a longstanding animosity towards Porus, who governed the region encompassed by the Chenab River and Jhelum River. Omphis, in a gesture of goodwill, presented Alexander the great with significant gifts, esteemed among the Indian populace, and subsequently accompanied him on the expedition crossing the Indus River.
In 327 BCE, Alexander the Great's military campaign progressed to Arigaum, situated in present-day Nawagai, marking the initial encounter with the Aspasians. Arrian documented their implementation of a scorched earth strategy, evidenced by the city ablaze upon Alexander's arrival, with its inhabitants already fleeing. The Aspasians fiercely contested Alexander's forces, resulting in their eventual defeat. Subsequently, Alexander traversed the River Guraeus in the contemporary Dir District, engaging with the Asvakas, as chronicled in Sanskrit literature. The primary stronghold among the Asvakas, Massaga, characterised as strongly fortified by Quintus Curtius Rufus, became a focal point. Despite an initial standoff which led to Alexander being struck in the leg by an Asvaka arrow, peace terms were negotiated between the Queen of Massaga and Alexander. However, when the defenders had vacated the fort, a fierce battle ensued when Alexander broke the treaty. According to Diodorus Siculus, the Asvakas, including women fighting alongside their husbands, valiantly resisted Alexander's army but were ultimately defeated.
Plutarch accounts suggest that Alexander the Great encountered a young Chandragupta Maurya in the Punjab region, possibly during his time at the university. Subsequent to Alexander's death, Chanakya and Chandragupta allied with Trigarta Kingdom king Parvataka to conquer the Nanda Empire. This alliance resulted in the formation of a composite army, comprising Gandharans and Kambojas, as documented in the Mudrarakshasa.
reign witnessed a rebellion among the locals of Taxila to which according to the Ashokavadana, he dispatched Ashoka to quell the uprising. Upon entering the city, the populace conveyed that their rebellion was not against Ashoka or Bindusara but rather against oppressive ministers.
In Ashoka's subsequent tenure as emperor, he appointed his son as the new governor of Taxila. During this time, Ashoka erected numerous rock edicts in the region in the Kharosthi script and commissioned the construction of a monumental stupa in Pushkalavati, Western Gandhara, the location of which remains undiscovered to date.According to the Taranatha, following the death of Ashoka, the northwestern region seceded from the Maurya Empire, and Virasena emerged as its king. Noteworthy for his diplomatic endeavours, Virasena's successor, Subhagasena, maintained relations with the Seleucid Empire. This engagement is corroborated by Polybius, who records an instance where Antiochus III the Great descended into India to renew his ties with King Subhagasena in 206 BCE, subsequently receiving a substantial gift of 150 elephants from the monarch.
His empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last independent Greek king, Strato II, disappeared around 10 CE. Around 125 BCE, the Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles, son of Eucratides, fled from the Yuezhi invasion of Bactria and relocated to Gandhara, pushing the Indo-Greeks east of the Jhelum River. The last known Indo-Greek ruler was Theodamas, from the Bajaur area of Gandhara, mentioned on a 1st-century CE signet ring, bearing the Kharoṣṭhī inscription "Su Theodamasa" ( "Su" was the Greek transliteration of the Kushan Empire royal title "Shau" ("Shah" or "King")).
It is during this period that the fusion of Hellenistic and South Asian mythological, artistic and religious elements becomes most apparent, especially in the region of Gandhara.
Local Greek rulers still exercised a feeble and precarious power along the borderland, but the last vestige of the Greco-Indian rulers was finished by a people known to the old Chinese as the Yuezhi.
Some Aprachas are documented on the Silver Reliquary discovered at Sirkap, designating the title "Stratega," denoting a position equivalent to Senapati, such as that of Indravarma who was a general during the reign of the Apracharaja Vijayamitra.
Indravarma is additionally noteworthy for receiving the above-mentioned Silver Reliquary from the Indo-Scythians monarch Kharahostes, which he subsequently re-dedicated as a Buddhism reliquary, indicating was a gift in exchange for tribute or assistance. According to another reliquary inscription Indravarma is noted as the Lord of Gandhara and general during the reign of Vijayamitra. According to Apracha chronology, Indravarma was the son of Visnuvarma, an Aprachraja preceding Vijayamitra.son Aspavarma is situated between 20 and 50 CE, during which numismatic evidence overlaps him with the Indo-Scythians ruler Azes II and Gondophares of the Indo-Parthians whilst also describing him as 'Stratega' or general of the Aprachas.
In accordance with a Buddhist Avadana, Aspavarma and a Saka noble, Jhadamitra, engaged in discussions concerning the establishment of accommodation for monks during the rainy seasons, displaying that he was a patron of Buddhism. A reliquary inscription dedicated to 50 CE, by a woman named Ariasrava, describes that her donation was made during the reign of Gondophares nephew, Abdagases I, and Aspavarma, describing the joint rule by the Aprachas and the Indo-parthians.
During the dominion of the Indo-Parthians, Apracharajas Sases, as described on numismatic evidence identifying him as the nephew of Aspavarma, emerged as a figure of significance. Aspavarman, a preceding Apracharaja contemporaneous with Gondophares, was succeeded by Sases, after having ascended from a subordinate governance role to a recognised position as one of Gondophares's successors. He assumed the position following Abdagases I.
The Kushan Empire ruler Vima Takto is known through numismatic evidence to have overstruck the coins of Sases, whilst a numismatic hoard had found coins of Sasan together with smaller coins of Kujula Kadphises It has also been discovered that Sasan overstruck the coins of Nahapana of the Western Satraps, this line of coinage dating between 40 and 78 CE.It was noted by Philostratus and Apollonius of Tyana upon their visit with Phraotes in 46 AD, that during this time the Gandharans living between the Kabul River and Taxila had coinage of Orichalcum and Black brass, and their houses appearing as single-story structures from the outside, but upon entering, underground rooms were also present.
They describe Taxila as being the same size as Nineveh, being walled like a Greek city whilst also being shaped with Narrow roads, and further describe Phraotes kingdom as containing the old territory of Porus. Following an exchange with the king, Phraotes is reported to have subsidised both barbarians and neighbouring states, to avert incursions into his kingdom. Phraotes also recounts that his father, being the son of a king, had become an orphan from a young age. In accordance with Indian customs, two of his relatives assumed responsibility for his upbringing until they were killed by rebellious nobles during a ritualistic ceremony along the Indus River. This event led to the usurpation of the throne, compelling Phraotes' father to seek refuge with the king situated beyond the Hydaspes River, in modern-day Punjab, a ruler esteemed greater than Phraotes' father. Moreover, Phraotes states that his father received an education facilitated by the upon request to the king and married the daughter of the Hydaspes king, whilst having one son who was Phraotes himself. Phraotes proceeds to narrate the opportune moment he seized to reclaim his ancestral kingdom, sparked by a rebellion of the citizens of Taxila against the usurpers. With fervent support from the populace, Phraotes led a triumphant entry into the residence of the usurpers, whilst the citizens brandished torches, swords, and bows in a display of unified resistance.
According to the Xiyu Zhuan, the inhabitants residing in the upper reaches of the Kabul River were extremely wealthy and excelled in commerce, with their cultural practices bearing resemblance to those observed in Tianzhu (India). However, the text also characterises them as weak and easily conquered with their political allegiance never being constant.
Over time, the region underwent successive annexations by Tianzhu, Jibin, and Parthia during periods of their respective strength, only to be lost when these powers experienced a decline. The Xiyu Zhuan describes Tianzhu's customs as bearing similarities to that of the Yuezhi and the inhabitants riding on elephants in warfare.The Kushan period is considered the Golden Period of Gandhara. Peshawar Valley and Taxila are littered with ruins of stupas and monasteries of this period. Gandharan art flourished and produced some of the best pieces of sculpture from the Indian subcontinent. Gandhara's culture peaked during the reign of the great Kushan king Kanishka the Great (127 CE – 150 CE). The cities of Taxila (Takṣaśilā) at Sirsukh and Purushapura (modern-day Peshawar) reached new heights. Purushapura along with Mathura became the capital of the great empire stretching from Central Asia to Northern India with Gandhara being in the midst of it. Emperor Kanishka was a great patron of the Buddhist faith; Buddhism spread from India to Central Asia and the Far East across Bactria and Sogdia, where his empire met the Han dynasty of China. Buddhist art spread from Gandhara to other parts of Asia. In Gandhara, Mahayana Buddhism flourished and Buddha was represented in human form. Under the Kushans new Buddhist stupas were built and old ones were enlarged. Huge statues of the Buddha were erected in monasteries and carved into the hillsides. Kanishka also built the 400-foot Kanishka Stupa at Peshawar. This tower was reported by Chinese monks Faxian, Song Yun, and Xuanzang who visited the country. The stupa was built during the Kushan era to house Buddhist relics and was among the tallest buildings in the ancient world.
Marshall, John H. (1909): "Archaeological Exploration in India, 1908–9." (Section on: "The stūpa of Kanishka and relics of the Buddha"). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1909, pp. 1056–1061.
The Alchons undertook the mass destruction of Buddhist monasteries and stupas at Taxila, a high centre of learning, which never recovered from the destruction.
Virtually all of the Alchon coins found in the area of Taxila were found in the ruins of burned down monasteries, where some of the invaders died alongside local defenders during the wave of destructions. It is thought that the Kanishka stupa, one of the most famous and tallest buildings in antiquity, was destroyed by them during their invasion of the area in the 460s CE. The Mankiala stupa was also vandalised during their invasions.Mihirakula in particular is remembered by Buddhist sources to have been a "terrible persecutor of their religion" in Gandhara.
During the reign of Mihirakula, over one thousand Buddhist monasteries throughout Gandhara are said to have been destroyed.
The history of the Hindu Shahis begins in 843 CE with Kallar deposing the last Turk Shahis ruler, Lagaturman. Samanta succeeded him, and it was during his reign that the region of Kabul was lost to the Persianate Saffarid empire. Lalliya replaced Samanta soon after and re-conquered Kabul whilst also subduing the region of Zabulistan. He is additionally noteworthy for coming into conflict with Sankaravarman of the Utpala dynasty, resulting in his victory and the latter's death in Hazara region and was the first Shahi noted by Kalhana. He is depicted as a great ruler with strength to the standard where kings of other regions would seek shelter in his capital of Udabhanda, a change from the previous capital of Kabul. Bhimadeva, the next most notable ruler, is most significant for vanquishing the Samanid Empire in Ghazni and Kabul in response to their conquests, his grand-daughter Didda was also the last ruler of the Lohara dynasty. Jayapala then gained control and was brought into conflict with the newly formed Ghaznavid Empire, however, he was eventually defeated. During his rule and that of his son and successor, Anandapala, the kingdom of Lahore was conquered. The following Shahi rulers all resisted the Ghaznavids but were ultimately unsuccessful, resulting in the downfall of the empire in 1026 CE.
In the 19th century, British soldiers and administrators started taking an interest in the ancient history of the Indian Subcontinent. In the 1830s coins of the post-Ashoka period were discovered, and in the same period, Chinese travelogues were translated. Charles Masson, James Prinsep, and Alexander Cunningham deciphered the Kharosthi script in 1838. Chinese records provided locations and site plans for Buddhist shrines. Along with the discovery of coins, these records provided clues necessary to piece together the history of Gandhara. In 1848 Cunningham found Gandhara sculptures north of Peshawar. He also identified the site of Taxila in the 1860s. From then on a large number of Buddhist statues were discovered in the Peshawar valley.
Archaeologist John Marshall excavated at Taxila between 1912 and 1934. He discovered separate Greek, Parthian, and Kushan cities and a large number of stupas and monasteries. These discoveries helped to piece together much more of the chronology of the history of Gandhara and its art.
After 1947 Ahmed Hassan Dani and the Archaeology Department at the University of Peshawar made several discoveries in the Peshawar and Swat Valley. Excavation of many of the sites of the Gandhara Civilization is being done by researchers from Peshawar and several universities around the world.
Linguistic evidence links some groups of the Dardic languages with Gandhari.
The Kohistani languages, now all being displaced from their original homelands, were once more widespread in the region and most likely descend from the ancient dialects of the region of Gandhara. The last to disappear was Tirahi language, still spoken some years ago in a few villages in the vicinity of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, by descendants of migrants expelled from Tirah by the Afridi Pashtuns in the 19th century. Georg Morgenstierne claimed that Tirahi is "probably the remnant of a dialect group extending from Tirah through the Peshawar district into Swat District and Dir District". Nowadays, it must be entirely extinct and the region is now dominated by Iranian languages brought in by later Settler, such as Pashto. Among the modern day Indo-Aryan languages still spoken today, Torwali language shows the closest linguistic affinity possible to Niya, a dialect of Gāndhārī.
Mahāyāna Pure Land sutras were brought from the Gandhāra region to China as early as 147 CE, when the Kushan Empire monk Lokakṣema began translating some of the first Buddhist sutras into Chinese. The earliest of these translations show evidence of having been translated from the Gāndhārī language.Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath. India in Early Central Asia. 1996. p. 15 Lokakṣema translated important Mahayana sutras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, as well as rare, early Mahāyāna sūtras on topics such as samādhi, and meditation on the Buddha Akshobhya. Lokaksema's translations continue to provide insight into the early period of Mahāyāna Buddhism. This corpus of texts often includes and emphasises ascetic practices forest dwelling, and absorption in states of meditative concentration:Williams, Paul. Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. 2008. p. 30
Some scholars believe that the Mahāyāna Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra was compiled in the age of the Kushan Empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, by order of Mahisasaka bhikkhu which flourished in the Gandhāra region.Nakamura, Hajime. Indian Buddhism: A Survey With Biographical Notes. 1999. p. 205Williams, Paul. Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. 2008. p. 239 However, it is likely that the longer Sukhāvatīvyūha owes greatly to the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravāda sect as well for its compilation, and in this sutra, there are many elements in common with the Lokottaravādin Mahavastu. There are also images of Amitābha Buddha with the Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta which were made in Gandhāra during the Kushan era.
The Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa records that Kaniṣka of the Kushan Empire presided over the establishment of the Mahāyāna Prajnaparamita teachings in the northwest.Ray, Reginald. Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations. 1999. p. 410 Taranatha wrote that in this region, 500 attended the council at Jālandhra monastery during the time of Kaniṣka, suggesting some institutional strength for Mahāyāna in the north-west during this period. Edward Conze goes further to say that Prajñāpāramitā had great success in the north-west during the Kushan period, and may have been the "fortress and hearth" of early Mahāyāna, but not its origin, which he associates with the Mahāsāṃghika branch of Buddhism.Ray, Reginald. Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations. 1999. p. 426
Gandhara, especially Taxila, during Kushan times also played an influential role in the development of arts and culture of the Hindu synthesis,
as the region's artistic traditions were influential to some of the early depictions of deities in Hindu art.
Siddhārtha shown as a bejewelled prince (before Siddhārtha renounces palace life) is a common motif. Stucco, as well as stone, were widely used by sculptors in Gandhara for the decoration of monastic and cult buildings. Buddhist imagery combined with some artistic elements from the cultures of the Hellenistic world. An example is the youthful Buddha, his hair in wavy curls, similar to statutes of Apollo. Sacred artworks and architectural decorations used limestone for stucco composed by a mixture of local crushed rocks (i.e. schist and granite) which resulted compatible with the outcrops located in the mountains northwest of Islamabad. on DOAJ
The artistic traditions of Gandhara art can be divided into the following phases:
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