Misplaced Pages

#327672

142-679: The Turks initially occupied the area of north of the Oxus ( Transoxonia , Sogdiana ) following their destruction of the Hephthalites in 557–565 CE through an alliance with the Sasanian Empire . The Sasanians, on the other hand, took control of the area south of the Oxus, with Chaganiyan , Sind , Bust, Rukhkhaj , Zabulistan , Tokharistan , Turistan and Balistan being transformed into vassal kingdoms and principalities. After this time,

284-715: A tribe mentioned in the Rigveda , the Atharvaveda , and later Vedic texts. A Persian form of the name, Gandara , mentioned in the Behistun inscription of Emperor Darius I , was translated as Paruparaesanna ( Para-upari-sena , meaning "beyond the Hindu Kush") in Babylonian and Elamite in the same inscription. The geographical location of Gandhara has undergone alterations throughout history, with

426-643: A $ 720 million four-year investment deal with the Taliban government of Afghanistan for extraction on its side of the Amu Darya basin. The deal will see a 15% royalty given to the Afghan government over the course of its 25-year term. The Chinese see this basin as the third-largest potential gas field in the world. The clashing noise of battle reached the sky The blood of the Bengalees flowed like

568-412: 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

710-592: A bulwark against the expansion of the Persian 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

852-410: A figure of significance. Aspavarman, a preceding Apracharaja contemporaneous with Gondophares , was succeeded by Sasan , after having ascended from a subordinate governance role to a recognized position as one of Gondophares's successors. He assumed the position following Abdagases I . The Kushan ruler Vima Takto is known through numismatic evidence to have overstruck the coins of Sasan , whilst

994-715: 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

1136-661: A hostage. From 719 CE, Tegin Shah was the king of the Turk Shahis. He then abdicated in 739 CE in favour of his son Fromo Kesaro , probable phonetic transcription of "Caesar of Rome" in honor of "Caesar", the title of the then East Roman Emperor Leo III the Isaurian who had defeated their common enemy the Arabs in 717 CE, and sent an embassy through Central Asia in 719 CE. Fromo Kesaro appears to have fought vigorously against

1278-468: A league The shorn and parcelled Oxus strains along Through beds of sand and matted rushy isles — Oxus, forgetting the bright speed he had In his high mountain-cradle in Pamere , A foiled circuitous wanderer: — till at last The longed-for dash of waves is heard, and wide His luminous home of waters opens, bright And tranquil, from whose floor the new-bathed stars Emerge, and shine upon

1420-480: A mean discharge of around 97.4 cubic kilometres (23.4 cu mi) of water per year. The river is navigable for over 1,450 kilometres (900 mi). All of the water comes from the high mountains in the south where annual precipitation can be over 1,000 mm (39 in). Even before large-scale irrigation began, high summer evaporation meant that not all of this discharge reached the Aral Sea – though there

1562-770: A monk after becoming a disciple of the 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 Megasthenes Indica , states that the Achaemenids never conquered India and had only approached its borders after battling with the Massagetae , it further states that

SECTION 10

#1732765534328

1704-522: 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

1846-477: A palace scandal when Tardu's firstborn son Ishbara Tegin fallen in love with his new step-mother (also aunt) and poisoned Tardu in 630. Ishbara Yabgu ( Chinese : 阿史那沙钵罗 ; pinyin : Ashina Shaboluo ) was the son of Tardu Shad, and took over as Tokharistan Yabgu. He was the first Tokharistan Yabghu to mint coins. In these coins, in Sasanian style, his effigy represents him bearing a crown decorated with

1988-493: 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

2130-668: A role in the Kurukshetra War . In the 6th century BCE, King Pukkusāti governed the region and was most notable for defeating the Kingdom of Avanti though Gandhara eventually succumbed as a tributary to the Achaemenids. During the Wars of Alexander the Great , the region was split into two factions with Taxiles , the king of Taxila , allying with Alexander the Great , while the Western Gandharan tribes, exemplified by

2272-827: A sophistication and cosmopolitanism comparable to other works of art of the Silk Road such as those of Kizil , are attributable to the sponsorship of the Turks. Buddhism in Tokharistan is said to have enjoyed a revival under the Turks. Several monasteries of Tokharistan dated to the 7th–8th centuries display beautiful Buddhist works of art, such as Kalai Kafirnigan , Ajina Tepe , Khisht Tepe or Kafyr Kala , around which Turkic nobility and populations followed Hinayana Buddhism. The Turks were apparently quite tolerant of other religions. The mural paintings of Bamiyan display male devotees in double-lapel caftans, also attributable to

2414-595: A tense Turco-Persian border existed along the Oxus , which lasted several decades. The area south of the Oxus contained numerous Hephthalites principalities, remnants of the great Hephthalite Empire destroyed by the alliance of the Turks and the Sasanians. In 569–570, the Turks launched an offensive against the Sasanian Empire, and conquered the Hephthalite principalities south of the Oxus belonging to

2556-591: A vast area circa 718 CE, formed of the territories north and south of the Hindu Kush , including the areas of Kabul and Zabul. The territory of Guzgan was also mentioned among the territories controlled by the Yabghus. Part of the Chinese entry for this account by Puluo is: 六年十一月丁未阿史特勒僕羅上書訴曰：僕羅克吐火羅葉護部下管諸國王都督刺史總二百一十二人謝芄王統領兵馬二十萬眾潯齬王統領兵馬二十萬眾骨吐國王石汗那國王解蘇國王石匿國王悒達國王護密國王護時健國王範延國王久越德建國王勃特山王各領五萬眾。僕羅祖父已來並是上件諸國之王蕃望尊重。 On

2698-477: Is also noted by Kalhana that Brahmins of Gandhara accepted from Mihirakula gifts of Agraharams . Kalhana also noted in his Rajatarangini how Mihirakula oppressed local Brahmins of South Asia and imported Gandharan Brahmins into Kashmir and India and states that he had given thousands of villages to these Brahmins in Kashmir. The Turk Shahis ruled Gandhara until 843 CE when they were overthrown by

2840-513: Is mentioned negatively, with the royal family of Gandhāra during this period following non-Brahmanical religious traditions. According to the Jain Uttarādhyayana-sūtra , Nagnajit, or Naggaji, was a prominent king who had adopted Jainism and was comparable to Dvimukha of Pāñcāla , Nimi of Videha , Karakaṇḍu of Kaliṅga , and Bhīma of Vidarbha ; Buddhist sources instead claim that he had achieved paccekabuddhayāna . By

2982-541: Is named, is attested in the Rigveda ( c.  1500  – c.  1200 BCE ), 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 Brāhmaṇa s , according to which they received Brahmanic consecration, but their family's attitude towards ritual

SECTION 20

#1732765534328

3124-454: Is presumed to have gained the throne in c. 2 BCE after succeeding Visnuvarma, with a reign of three decades lasting til c. 32 CE before being succeeded by his son Indravasu and then further by Indravasu's grandson Indravarma II in c. 50 CE. The Indo-Scythians were descended from the Sakas (Scythians) who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to

3266-463: Is said to have come from the medieval city of Āmul (later Chahar Joy/Charjunow, and now known as Türkmenabat ) in modern Turkmenistan , with Daryā being the Persian word for 'lake' or 'sea'. Medieval Arabic and Islamic sources call the river Jeyhoun ( Arabic : جَـيْـحُـوْن , romanized :  Jayḥūn ), which is derived from Gihon , the biblical name for one of the four rivers of

3408-662: Is some evidence the large Pamir glaciers provided enough meltwater for the Aral to overflow during the 13th and 14th centuries. Since the end of the 19th century, there have been four different claimants as the true source of the Oxus: A glacier turns into the Wakhan River and joins the Pamir River about 50 kilometres (31 mi) downstream. Bill Colegrave's expedition to Wakhan in 2007 found that both claimants 2 and 3 had

3550-682: The Atharvaveda , the Gandhārīs are mentioned alongside the Mūjavants, the Āṅgeyas 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 Madhyadeśa , the Āṅgeyas and Māgadhīs in the east, and the Mūjavants and Gandhārīs in the north. The Gandhara tribe , after which it

3692-825: 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 Hunnic Invasions . However, the region experienced a resurgence under the Turk Shahis and Hindu Shahis . Gandhara was known in Sanskrit as Gandhāraḥ ( गन्धारः ) and in Avestan as ' Vaēkərəta . In Old Persian , Gandhara

3834-622: The Aral Sea . ~ Matthew Arnold , Sohrab and Rustum Gandhara Gandhara ( IAST : Gandhāra ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan civilization centred in present-day north-west Pakistan and north-east Afghanistan . The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar and Swat valleys extending as far east as the Pothohar Plateau in Punjab , though the cultural influence of Greater Gandhara extended westwards into

3976-740: The Aśvaka around the Swat valley , resisted. Following the Macedonian downfall, Gandhara became part of the Mauryan Empire with Chandragupta Maurya receiving 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

4118-596: The Bactrians . Herodotus states that during the battle they were led by the Achamenid general Artyphius . Under Persian rule, a system of centralized 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 ). It

4260-717: The Basmachi movement and killed Ibrahim Bek . A large refugee population of Central Asians, including Turkmen, Tajiks, and Uzbeks, fled to northern Afghanistan. In the 1960s and 1970s the Soviets started using the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya to irrigate extensive cotton fields in the Central Asian plain. Before this time, water from the rivers was already being used for agriculture, but not on this massive scale. The Qaraqum Canal , Karshi Canal, and Bukhara Canal were among

4402-633: The Garden of Eden . The Amu Darya passes through one of the world's highest deserts. Western travelers in the 19th century mentioned that one of the names by which the river was known in Afghanistan was Gozan , and that this name was used by Greek, Mongol, Chinese, Persian, Jewish, and Afghan historians. However, this name is no longer used. The river's total length is 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) and its drainage basin totals 534,739 square kilometres (206,464 sq mi) in area, providing

Tokhara Yabghus - Misplaced Pages Continue

4544-634: The Hephthalite ruler of Badghis and the Arab rebel Musa ibn Abd Allah ibn Khazim, son of the Zubayrid governor of Khurasan Abd Allah ibn Khazim al-Sulami , allied against the forces of the Umayyad Caliphate . The Hepthalites and their allies captured Termez in 689, repelled the Arabs, and occupied the whole region of Khorasan for a brief period, with Termez as they capital, described by

4686-745: The Hindu Shahis . The Hindu Shahis are believed to belong to the Uḍi/Oḍi tribe, namely the people of Oddiyana in Gandhara. The history of the Hindu Shahis begins in 843 CE with Kallar deposing the last Turk Shahi 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

4828-605: 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 Brahmins upon request to the king and married the daughter of the Hydaspian king, whilst having one son who

4970-417: The Jhelum River based on arachaeological Gandharan art discoveries however further evidence is needed to support this, though during the rule of Alexander the Great the kingdom of Taxila stretched to the Hydaspes (Jhelum river). The term Greater Gandhara describes the cultural and linguistic extent of Gandhara and its language, Gandhari . In later historical contexts, Greater Gandhara encompassed

5112-453: 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

5254-495: The Kabul valley in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the Karakoram range. The region was a central location for the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and East Asia with many Chinese Buddhist pilgrims visiting the region. Gāndhārī , an Indo-Aryan language written in the Kharosthi script , acted as the lingua franca of the region and through Buddhism , the language spread as far as China based on Gandhāran Buddhist texts . Famed for its unique Gandharan style of art ,

5396-400: The Levant through Persia to Afghanistan , with the Oxus as his stated goal, "to see certain famous monuments, chiefly the Gonbad-e Qabus , a tower built as a mausoleum for an ancient king." George MacDonald Fraser 's Flashman at the Charge (1973), places Flashman on the Amu Darya and the Aral Sea during the (fictitious) Russian advance on India during The Great Game period. But

5538-451: The Pamir Mountains , north of the Hindu Kush , the Amu Darya is formed by the confluence of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers, in the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve on the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan , and flows from there north-westwards into the southern remnants of the Aral Sea . In its upper course, the river forms part of Afghanistan's northern border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan , and Turkmenistan . In ancient history ,

5680-464: The Pamirs passing the Tajikistan–Afghanistan Friendship Bridge . It subsequently forms the border of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan for about 200 kilometres (120 mi), passing Termez and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge . It delineates the border of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan for another 100 kilometres (62 mi) before it flows into Turkmenistan at Atamurat . It flows across Turkmenistan south to north, passing Türkmenabat , and forms

5822-475: The Seleucid Greeks . 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. The Indo-Greek king Menander I (reigned 155–130 BCE) drove the Greco-Bactrians out of Gandhara and beyond the Hindu Kush , becoming king shortly after his victory. His empire survived him in

Tokhara Yabghus - Misplaced Pages Continue

5964-420: The Transcaspian Canal . The 534,769 square kilometres (206,475 sq mi) of the Amu Darya drainage basin include most of Tajikistan, the southwest corner of Kyrgyzstan , the northeast corner of Afghanistan, a narrow portion of eastern Turkmenistan and the western half of Uzbekistan. Part of the Amu Darya basin divide in Tajikistan forms that country's border with China (in the east) and Pakistan (to

6106-449: The Turk Shahi (665–850 CE), a probable political extension and vassals of the neighbouring Yabghus of Tokharistan, remained an obstacle to the eastward expansion of the Abbasid Caliphate . c.  650 CE , the Arabs attacked Shahi territory from the west, and captured Kabul . But the Turk Shahi were able to mount a counter-offensive and repulsed the Arabs, taking back the areas of Kabul and Zabulistan (around Ghazni ), as well as

6248-550: The valley of Kaśmīra being part of the kingdom. Due to this important position, Buddhist texts listed the Gandhāra kingdom as one of the sixteen Mahājanapada s ("great realms") of Iron Age South Asia. It was the home of Gandhari , the princess and her brother Shakuni the king of Gandhara Kingdom . During the 6th century BCE, Gandhara was governed under the reign of King Pukkusāti . According to Buddhist accounts, he had forged diplomatic ties with Magadha and achieved victories over neighbouring kingdoms such as that of

6390-427: The 1st century BCE. They displaced the Indo-Greeks and ruled a kingdom that stretched from Gandhara to Mathura . The first Indo-Scythian king Maues established Saka hegemony by conquering Indo-Greek territories. Some Aprachas are documented on the Silver Reliquary discovered at Sirkap, near Taxila , designating the title "Stratega," denoting a position equivalent to Senapati , such as that of Indravarma who

6532-408: The 1st century CE, Pliny the Elder notes a list of tribes in the Vahika and Gandhara regions spanning from the lower Indus to the mountain tribes near the Hindu Kush . After passing this island, the other side of the Indus is occupied, as we know by clear and undoubted proofs, by the Athoae, the Bolingae, the Gallitalutae, the Dimuri, the Megari, the Ardabae, the Mesae, and after them, the Uri and

6674-422: The Amu Darya basin. During the Soviet era, a resource-sharing system was instated in which Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan shared water originating from the Amu and Syr Daryas with Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan in summer. In return, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan received Kazakh, Turkmen, and Uzbek coal, gas, and electricity in winter. After the fall of the Soviet Union this system disintegrated and

6816-409: The Amu Darya would not exist—because it rarely rains in the lowlands through which most of the river flows. Of the total drainage area, only about 200,000 square kilometres (77,000 sq mi) actively contribute water to the river. This is because many of the river's major tributaries (especially the Zeravshan River ) have been diverted, and much of the river's drainage is arid. Throughout most of

6958-454: The Anixeni, and the Taxilae, with a famous city, which lies on a low but level plain, the general name of the district being Amenda: there are four nations here, the Peucolaitae, the Arsagalitae, the Geretae, and the Assoi. The Kushans conquered Bactria after having been defeated by the Xiongnu and forced to retreat from the Central Asian steppes. The Yuezhi fragmented the region of Bactria into five distinct territories, with each tribe of

7100-475: The Arabs as "the headquarters of the Hephthalites" ( dār mamlakat al-Hayāṭela ). The Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate under Yazid ibn al-Muhallab re-captured Termez in 704. Nezak Tarkan , the ruler of the Hephthalites of Badghis, led a new revolt in 709 with the support of other principalities as well as his nominal ruler, the Yabghu of Tokharistan. In 710, Qutaiba ibn Muslim was able to re-establish Muslim control over Tokharistan and captured Nizak Tarkan who

7242-408: The Arabs, and his victories may have forged the Tibetan epic legend of King Phrom Ge-sar . The Turk Shahis eventually weakened against the Arabs in the late 9th century CE. Kandahar , Kabul and Zabul were lost to the Arabs, while in Gandhara the Hindu Shahi took over. The last Shahi ruler of Kabul, Lagaturman, was deposed by a Brahmin minister, possibly named Vakkadeva, in c. 850, signaling

SECTION 50

#1732765534328

7384-408: The Asini, a people who dwell in three cities, their capital being Bucephala, which was founded around the tomb of the horse belonging to king Alexander, which bore that name. Above these peoples there are some mountain tribes, which lie at the foot of Caucasus, the Soseadae and the Sondrae, and, after passing the Indus and going down its stream, the Samarabriae, the Sambraceni, the Bisambritae, the Orsi,

7526-707: The Byzantine Empire. In 625, Tong Yabgu invaded Tokharistan and forced the Hephtalite principalities to submit. He went as far as the Indus river and took control of all the intervening principalities, replacing Hepthalite rulers by Turk ones. The Turks were victorious, partly because the Sasanian Empire was into a difficult war with the Byzantine Empire , the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 . According to Cefu Yuangui , these principalities were Zabulistan , Kapisa - Gandhara , Khuttal , Chaghaniyan , Shignan , Shuman , Badhgis , Wakhan , Guzgan , Bamiyan , Kobadiyan and Badakhshan . The areas of Khuttal and Kapisa - Gandhara had remained independent kingdoms under

7668-430: The Central Asian nations have failed to reinstate it. Inadequate infrastructure, poor water management, and outdated irrigation methods all exacerbate the issue. The Caspian tiger used to occur along the river's banks. After its extirpation, the Darya's delta was suggested as a potential site for the introduction of its closest surviving relative, the Siberian tiger . A feasibility study was initiated to investigate if

7810-415: The Dingwei day of the eleventh month in the sixth year [of the Kaiyuan era (713–741 CE)], Ashi Tegin Puluo writes to the emperor: the Kings of States, Commander-in-chiefs (都督 Dudu ) and Regional Inspectors (刺史 Cishi ) under the Yabghu of Tokharistan, the elder brother of Puluo, number two hundred and twelve, in all. The king of Zabul is in charge of infantry and cavalry numbering two hundred thousand, and

7952-407: The Empire of Russia, which at the time wielded great influence over the Oxus area, would overcome these obstacles and find a suitable route through which to invade British India – but this never came to pass. The area was taken over by Russia during the Russian conquest of Turkestan . The Soviet Union became the ruling power in the early 1920s and expelled Mohammed Alim Khan . It later put down

8094-419: 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 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 . Bindusaras reign witnessed

8236-551: The Indian populace, and subsequently accompanied him on the expedition crossing the Indus . 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

8378-416: The Kharoṣṭhī inscription "Su Theodamasa" ( "Su" was the Greek transliteration of the Kushan 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

8520-472: The Kidarites into northern India. Their last ruler in Gandhara was Kandik, c.  500 CE . Around 430 King Khingila , the most notable Alchon ruler, emerged and took control of the routes across the Hindu Kush from the Kidarites. Coins of the Alchons rulers Khingila and Mehama were found at the Buddhist monastery of Mes Aynak , southeast of Kabul , confirming the Alchon presence in this area around 450–500 CE. The numismatic evidence as well as

8662-431: The Kushans with Kujula Kadphises son Vima Takto succeeding the Apracharaja Sases in Taxila and further conquering Tianzhu (India) before installing a general as a satrap. 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,

SECTION 60

#1732765534328

8804-431: The Mongols came to the area, they used the water of the Amu Darya to flood Konye-Urgench . One southern route of the Silk Road ran along part of the Amu Darya northwestward from Termez before going westwards to the Caspian Sea . According to the Quaternary International, it is possible that the Amu Darya's course across the Karakum Desert has gone through several major shifts in the past few thousand years. Much of

8946-413: The North West. Chanakya , a prominent figure in the establishment of the Mauryan Empire , played a key role by adopting Chandragupta Maurya , the initial Mauryan emperor. Under Chanakya's tutelage, Chandragupta received a comprehensive education at Taxila, encompassing various arts of the time, including military training, for a duration spanning 7–8 years. Plutarch's accounts suggest that Alexander

9088-440: The Oxus, where they attacked and routed the Sasanian soldiers stationed in Balkh , and then proceeded to conquer the city along with Talaqan , Badghis , and Herat . But the Turks were defeated by the Sasanians under Bahram Chobin , who entered the area north of the Oxus and killed the Turkish Khagan. A war broke out between the Sassanians and the Hephthalites in 606–607 or 616–617 CE, the Second Perso-Turkic War . At that time,

9230-410: 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. 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

9372-445: The River Guraeus in the contemporary Dir District , engaging with the Asvakas , as chronicled in Sanskrit literature. The primary stronghold among the Asvakas, Massaga , characterized 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

9514-404: The Sasanian Empire. At that time the Sasanian Empire was embroiled in a war in the west, with the Byzantine Empire . It seems the Turks reached the Kabul – Gandhara area in 570. The principalities of the Hephthalites, formerly vassals of the Sasanian Empire, accepted Turk supremacy and became vassals of the Western Turk qaghan, and the Alchon Huns continued to rule in Kabul and Gandhara , but

9656-411: The Silae; beyond which last there are desert tracts, extending a distance of two hundred and fifty miles. After passing these nations, we come to the Organagae, the Abortae, the Bassuertae, and, after these last, deserts similar to those previously 'mentioned. We then come to the peoples of the Sorofages, the Arbae, the Marogomatrae, the Umbrittae, of whom there are twelve nations, each with two cities, and

9798-456: The Tang Empire, and organized into regional commanderies. Kunduz became the site of the Yuezhi Commandery (月氏都督府, Yuèzhī Dūdùfû ) under administration of the Anxi Protectorate . During the rule of the Umayyad caliph Ali (656–661), the Arabs were expulsed from eastern Iran, as far as Nishapur and the Sasanian Peroz III was able to establish some level of control with the help of the yabghu of Tokharistan in Seistan . In 705, P’an-tu-ni-li,

9940-416: The Tibetans in 749 CE, and received this help from the Chinese, and in 758 CE Wu-na-to (Udita?) visited in person the Chinese court and participated in the fight against the rebel An Lu-shan . In the Nestorian Stele of Xi'an , erected in 781 CE, the Nestorian monk Jingjing mentioned in Syriac that his grandfather was a missionary-priest from Balkh in Tokharistan. In the area of Kapisa - Gandhara ,

10082-477: The Turk Empire. Tong Yabghu Qaghan then installed his son Tardush Shad ( Chinese : 達頭设 ; pinyin : Dátóu Shè ), as the first yabgu (sub-king) of Tokharistan , controlling all the new Turk realm south of the Oxus, from his capital at Kunduz . Tardush Shad ( Chinese : 達頭设 ; pinyin : Dátóu Shè ) was installed in Tokharistan, and ruled in Kunduz with title of Tokharistan Yabgu ( Chinese : 吐火羅葉護 ; pinyin : Tǔhuǒluó Yèhù ). He

10224-566: The Turkic Khagan sent an army to help the Hephthalites, and was able to bring a great defeat upon the Sasanians, advancing his troops as far as Ray and Isfahan , but Sheguy Kaghan recalled his armies without pressing his advantage. The Turks definitely intended to take control of the territories south of the Oxus, but were only ready sometime later, and took the opportunity when the Sasanian Empire again entered into conflict with

10366-560: The Turks apparently did not permanently occupy the territory south of the Oxus. The Hephthalites aspired to independence from the Turks, and in 581 or 582 CE, they revolted in alliance with the Sasanians against the Turk Kaghan Tardu . In 588–589, the Turks under Bagha Qaghan entered into a direct conflict with the Sasanians, in the First Perso-Turkic War . The Turks invaded the Sasanian territories south of

10508-625: The Valleys of Dir , Kunar , Chitral , and Peshawar . It has been regarded as a token of the Indo-Aryan migrations but has also been explained by local cultural continuity. Backwards projections, based on ancient DNA analyses, suggest ancestors of Swat culture people mixed with a population coming from Inner Asia Mountain Corridor , which carried Steppe ancestry, sometime between 1900 and 1500 BCE. According to Rigvedic tradition , Yayati

10650-630: The Yuezhi assuming dominion over a separate kingdom. However, a century after this division, Kujula Kadphises of the Kushan tribe emerged victorious by destroying the other four Yuezhi tribes and consolidating his reign as king. Kujula then invaded Parthia and annexed the upper reaches of the Kabul River before further conquering Jibin . In 78 CE the Indo-Parthians seceded Gandhara to

10792-408: The area is suitable and if such an initiative would receive support from relevant decision makers. A viable tiger population of about 100 animals would require at least 5,000 km (1,900 sq mi) of large tracts of contiguous habitat with rich prey populations. Such habitat is not available at this stage and cannot be provided in the short term. The proposed region is therefore unsuitable for

10934-534: The border of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan from Halkabat. It is then split by the Tuyamuyun Hydro Complex into many waterways that used to form the river delta joining the Aral Sea, passing Urgench , Daşoguz , and other cities, but it does not reach what is left of the sea any more and is lost in the desert. Use of water from the Amu Darya for irrigation has been a major contributing factor to

11076-526: The bull's head and two wings. In one of the issues, the legend is: šb’lk’ yyp MLK’ ( Išbara Jeb ˇ [= yabghu] šah , on the obverse) and pnˇcdh. h. wsp’ ("[minted in his] 15th [regnal year at] Khusp", on the reverse). This would date the coin to 645 CE, with a location for the mint at Khusp , Kuhistan . Other known mints are Herat and Shuburgan . After 650 however, the power of the Yabghus of Tokharistan fragmented, as they came, as least partially, under Tang suzerainty. A Türk yabghu of Tokharistan recorded under

11218-548: The canal with the Taliban. The Taliban has made the canal a priority, with images supplied by Planet Labs demonstrate that from April 2022 to February 2023, more than 100 km of canal was excavated. According to the Taliban, the initiative is expected to convert 550,000 hectares of desert into farmland. In January 2023, the Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Company (aka CAPEIC) signed

11360-607: 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 Empire of China. Buddhist art spread from Gandhara to other parts of Asia. In Gandhara, Mahayana Buddhism flourished and Buddha

11502-526: The communities of "the vassal Khanates of Maimene, Khulm, Kunduz, and even the Badakshan and Wahkran." An Englishman, William Moorcroft , visited the Oxus around 1824 during the Great Game period. Another Englishman, a naval officer called John Wood , came with an expedition to find the source of the river in 1839. He found modern-day Lake Zorkul , called it Lake Victoria, and proclaimed he had found

11644-515: 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. During the Mauryan era, Gandhara held a pivotal position as a core territory within the empire, with Taxila serving as the provincial capital of

11786-684: The east and lives in Badakhshan . Now Balkh belongs to the Arabs' domain. (...) The King, the nobles and the people revere the Three Jewels (Buddhism). There are many monasteries and monks; they practice the Hinayana teachings. Chinese sources mention a few years later yabghus who sent missions to the Tang court: Ku-tu-lu Tun Ta-tu (Qutluγ Ton Tardu) asked for help against the Arabs in 729 CE, Shih-li-mang-kia-lo (Sri Mangala) asked for help against

11928-475: The easternmost "Hephthalites" (actually Alchon Hun ) under kings such as Narendra , before being taken over as vassals by the Western Turks. The appearance of the "crown with a bull's head" on the coin portraits of the last rulers of Kapisa-Gandhara Narendra II, can be considered as a sign of recognition of Turk sovereignty, since the title buqa (bull) had been in use from 599, when Khagan Tardu united

12070-540: The end of the Buddhist Turk Shahi dynasty, and the beginning of the Hindu Shahi dynasty of Kabul. These was a relatively high level of artistic activity in the areas controlled by the Yabghus of Tokharistan during 7th–8th centuries CE, either as a result of the Sasanian cultural heritage, or as a result of the continued development of Buddhist art . The works of art of this period in Afghanistan, with

12212-575: The famous Vedic philosopher Uddālaka Āruṇi was among the famous students of Takṣaśila, and the Setaketu Jātaka claims that his son Śvetaketu also studied there. In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad , Uddālaka Āruṇi himself favourably referred to Gāndhārī education to the Vaideha king Janaka . During the 6th century BCE, Gandhāra was an important imperial power in north-west Iron Age South Asia, with

12354-586: The first month of the seventh year of the period Kaiyuan [719 CE] their Lord [拂菻王, "the King of Fulin "] sent the Ta-shou-ling [an officer of high rank] of T'u-huo-lo [吐火羅, Tokhara] (...) to offer lions and ling-yang [antelopes], two of each. A few months after, he further sent Ta-te-seng ["priests of great virtue"] to our court with tribute." Turk ( "T’u-chüeh" ) kingdoms were in the territories of Gandhara, Kapisa and Zabulistan around 723–729 CE, according to

12496-509: The general understanding being the region situating between Pothohar in contemporary Punjab , the Swat valley , and the Khyber Pass also extending along the Kabul River . The prominent urban centres within this geographical scope were Taxila and Pushkalavati . According to a specific Jataka , Gandhara's territorial extent at a certain period encompassed the region of Kashmir . The Eastern border of Gandhara has been proposed to be

12638-582: 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. It is unknown whether Pukkusāti remained in power after the Achaemenid conquest as a Persian vassal or if he was replaced by a Persian satrap , although Buddhist sources claim that he renounced his throne and became

12780-685: 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

12922-668: The joint rule by the Aprachas and the Indo-parthians. The Indo-Parthian Kingdom was ruled by the Gondopharid dynasty, named after its first ruler Gondophares . For most of their history, the leading Gondopharid kings held Taxila (in the present Punjab province of Pakistan ) as their residence, but during their last few years of existence, the capital shifted between Kabul and Peshawar . These kings have traditionally been referred to as Indo-Parthians, as their coinage

13064-569: The king of Kabul is also in charge of two hundred thousand infantry and cavalry. The Kings of the States of Khuttal , Chaghanian , Jiesu , Shughnan , Yeda , Humi , Guzganan , Bamiyan , Quwādhiyān , and Badakhshan each lead fifty thousand troops. Since the grandfather of Puluo, the Yehu Tuhuolo [Yabghu of Tokharistan] has become king of the above-mentioned states: he is greatly respected." Puluo, writing in 718 CE, finally reaffirmed

13206-415: The king, Phraotes is reported to have subsidized 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

13348-570: The largest of the irrigation diversions built. However, the Main Turkmen Canal , which would have diverted water along the dry Uzboy River bed into central Turkmenistan, was never built. In the course of the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1970s, Soviet forces used the valley to invade Afghanistan through Termez . The Soviet Union fell in the 1990s and Central Asia split up into the many smaller countries that lie within or partially within

13490-751: The last vestige of the Greco-Indian rulers was finished by a people known to the old Chinese as the Yeuh-Chi. The Apracharajas were a historical dynasty situated in the region of Gandhara, extending from the governance of Menander II within the Indo-Greek Kingdom to the era of the early Kushans . Renowned for their significant support of Buddhism , this assertion is supported by swathes of discovered donations within their principal domain, between Taxila and Bajaur . Archaeological evidence also establishes dynastic affiliations between them and

13632-562: The later Vedic period , the situation had changed, and the Gāndhārī capital of Takṣaśila had become an important centre of knowledge where the men of Madhya-desa went to learn the three Vedas and the eighteen branches of knowledge, with the Kauśītaki Brāhmaṇa recording that brāhmaṇa s went north to study. According to the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa and the Uddālaka Jātaka ,

13774-525: The local sponsorship of the Western Turks. Seleucid Empire : Seleucus I Antiochus I Antiochus II Oxus The Amu Darya ( / ˌ ɑː m uː ˈ d ɑːr j ə / AH-moo DAR-yə ), ( Persian : آمو دریا ) also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( / ˈ ɒ k s ə s / OK -səss ), is a major river in Central Asia , which flows through Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan and Afghanistan . Rising in

13916-612: The loyalty of the Tokhara Yabghus towards the Tang dynasty, probably since the time of the fall of the Western Turks to China (657), confirming at least nominal control of the Chinese administration over the region for the last sixty years: 然火羅葉護積代已來，於大唐忠赤，朝貢不絕。 The Yabghus of Tokharistan, for several generations until now, have been sincerely devoted to the great Tang dynasty , they have without interruption paid their respects and brought tribute. c.  689 CE ,

14058-514: The main stem and the Uzboy. But in the 18th century, the river again turned north, flowing into the Aral Sea, a path it has taken since. Less and less water flowed down the Uzboy. When Russian explorer Bekovich-Cherkasski surveyed the region in 1720, the Amu Darya did not flow into the Caspian Sea anymore. By the 1800s, the ethnographic makeup of the region was described by Peter Kropotkin as

14200-445: The majestic River floated on, Out of the mist and hum of that low land, Into the frosty starlight, and there moved, Rejoicing, through the hushed Chorasmian waste, Under the solitary moon: — he flowed Right for the polar star, past Orgunjè, Brimming, and bright, and large: then sands begin To hem his watery march, and dam his streams, And split his currents; that for many

14342-557: 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,

14484-587: The military forces in the Tokharistan region. Puluo described the power of "the Kings of Tokharistan", explaining that "Two hundred and twelve kingdoms, governors and prefects" recognize the authority of the Yabghus, and that it has been so since the time of his grandfather, that is, probably since the time of the establishment of the Yabghus of Tokharistan. This account also shows that the Yabghu of Tokharistan ruled

14626-645: The name of "Wu-shih-po of the A-shih-na dynasty" was the first yabghu to be confirmed by the Chinese Emperor. In 652–653 CE, the Arabs under Abdallah ibn Amir conquered the whole of Tokharistan and captured the city of Balkh , as part of the Muslim conquests of Afghanistan . The Western Turkic Khaganate itself was destroyed by the Tang dynasty in 657 CE, and most of his territories became protectorates of

14768-583: 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,

14910-407: The realm of Avanti . Pukkusāti 's kingdom was described as being 100 Yojanas in width, approximately 500 to 800 miles wide, with his capital at Taxila in modern day Punjab as stated in early Jatakas 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

15052-611: 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 Gandhara grave culture , characterized by a distinctive burial practice. During the Vedic period Gandhara gained recognition as one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas , or 'great realms', within South Asia playing

15194-678: 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 endeavors, Virasena's successor, Subhagasena , maintained relations with

15336-475: The region of Arachosia as far as Kandahar . The Arabs again failed to capture Kabul and Zabulistan in 697–698 CE, and their general Yazid ibn Ziyad was killed in the action. A few years later however the Arabs defeated and killed the Kabul Shah and conquered Kabul under Umayyad general Qutayba ibn Muslim . Nezak Tarkhan, the ruler of the Hephthalites of Badghis, led a revolt against the Arabs in 709 with

15478-539: The region of Zabulistan . He is additionally noteworthy for coming into conflict with Samkaravarman of the Utpala dynasty , resulting in his victory and the latter's death in Hazara 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,

15620-484: The reign of Vijayamitra. According to Apracha chronology, Indravarma was the son of Visnuvarma, an Aprachraja preceding Vijayamitra . Indravarmas son Aspavarma is situated between 20 and 50 CE, during which numismatic evidence overlaps him with the Indo-Scythian ruler Azes II and Gondophares of the Indo-Parthians whilst also describing him as 'Stratega' or general of the Aprachas. In accordance with

15762-402: The reintroduction, at least at this stage. Since March 2022, the building of the 285 km Qosh Tepa Canal has been underway in northern Afghanistan to divert water from the Amu Darya. Uzbekistan has expressed concern that the canal will have an adverse effect on its agriculture. The canal is also expected to make the Aral Sea disaster worse, and in 2023 Uzbek officials held talks on

15904-655: The river Jaihun . ~ Mirza Nathan describing a battle between the Mughals and Musa Khan of Bengal (translated by M. I. Borah) The Oxus river, and Arnold's poem, fire the imaginations of the children who adventure with ponies over the moors of the West Country in the 1930s children's book The Far-Distant Oxus . There were two sequels, Escape to Persia and Oxus in Summer . Robert Byron 's 1937 travelogue, The Road to Oxiana , describes its author's journey from

16046-536: The river is also referred to as Vakṣu ( वक्षु ). The Brahmanda Purana refers to the river as Chaksu which means 'an eye'. The Avestan texts too refer to the river as Yakhsha/Vakhsha (and Yakhsha Arta ('Upper Yakhsha'), referring to the Jaxartes / Syr Darya twin river to Amu Darya). In Middle Persian sources of the Sasanian period the river is known as Wehrōd (lit. 'good river'). The name Amu

16188-521: The river was regarded as the boundary of Greater Iran with Turan , which roughly corresponded to present-day Central Asia. The Amu Darya has a flow of about 70 cubic kilometres per year on average. In classical antiquity , the river was known as the Ōxus in Latin and Ὦξος ( Ôxos ) in Greek — a clear derivative of Vakhsh , the name of the largest tributary of the river. In Sanskrit texts ,

16330-472: The rulers of Oddiyana in modern-day Swat. The dynasty is argued to have been founded by Vijayakamitra, identified as a vassal to Menander II , according to the Shinkot casket . This epigraphic source further articulates that King Vijayamitra , a descendant of Vijayakamitra, approximately half a century subsequent to the initial inscription, is credited with its restoration following inflicted damage. He

16472-630: The same source, the Chelab stream, which bifurcates on the watershed of the Little Pamir, half flowing into Lake Chamaktin and half into the parent stream of the Little Pamir/Sarhad River. Therefore, the Chelab stream may be properly considered the true source or parent stream of the Oxus. The Panj River forms the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan . It flows west to Ishkashim where it turns north and then north-west through

16614-586: The shrinking of the Aral Sea since the late 1950s. Historical records state that in different periods, the river flowed into the Aral Sea (from the south), into the Caspian Sea (from the east), or both, similar to the Syr Darya (Jaxartes, in Ancient Greek ). Partly based on such records, first Tsarist and later Soviet engineers proposed to divert the Amu Darya to the Caspian Sea by constructing

16756-601: The so-called " Hephthalite bowl " from Gandhara, now in the British Museum , suggests a period of peaceful coexistence between the Kidarites and the Alchons, as it features two Kidarite noble hunters, together with two Alchon hunters and one of the Alchons inside a medallion. At one point, the Kidarites withdrew from Gandhara, and the Alchons took over their mints from the time of Khingila . The Alchons undertook

16898-510: The source. Then, the French explorer and geographer Thibaut Viné collected a lot of information about this area during five expeditions between 1856 and 1862. The question of finding a route between the Oxus valley and India has been of concern historically. A direct route crosses extremely high mountain passes in the Hindu Kush and isolated areas like Kafiristan . Some in Britain feared that

17040-411: The south). About 61% of the drainage lies within Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, while 39% is in Afghanistan. The abundant water flowing in the Amu Darya comes almost entirely from glaciers in the Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan , which, standing above the surrounding arid plain, collect atmospheric moisture which otherwise would probably escape elsewhere. Without its mountain water sources,

17182-408: The steppe, the annual rainfall is about 300 millimetres (12 in). The ancient Greeks called the Amu Darya the Oxus . In ancient times, the river was regarded as the boundary between Greater Iran and Ṫūrān ( Persian : تُوران ). The river's drainage lies in the area between the former empires of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great , although they occurred at very different times. When

17324-405: The support of other principalities as well as his nominal ruler, the Yabghu of Tokharistan . In 710, the Umayyad general Qutayba ibn Muslim was able to re-establish Muslim control over Tokharistan and captured Nizak Tarkhan, who was executed on the orders of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf , while the Yabghus, who had ruled parts of Tokharistan as well as Badakhshan, was exiled to Damascus and kept there as

17466-411: 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

17608-405: The testimony the Korean pilgrim Hui Chao . Huei-chao also mentioned that in 726 CE, the Arabs occupied Balkh , and the Turks were forced to flee to Badakshan : I arrived in Tokharistan (吐火羅國 Tuhuoluo-guo ). The home city of the king is called Balkh (縛底那). At this time the troops of the Arabs (大寔國) are there and they occupy it. Its King, Wives and Court was forced to flee one month's journey to

17750-406: The text also characterizes 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

17892-401: The time – most recently from the 13th century to the late 16th century – the Amu Darya emptied into both the Aral and the Caspian Seas, reaching the latter via a large distributary called the Uzboy River . The Uzboy splits off from the main channel just south of the river's delta. Sometimes the flow through the two branches was more or less equal, but often most of the Amu Darya's flow split to

18034-417: The two great cities of Massaga located around the Swat valley and Pushkalavati in modern day Peshawar. 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 and Jhelum River . Omphis, in a gesture of goodwill, presented Alexander the great with significant gifts, esteemed among

18176-437: The west and flowed into the Caspian. People began to settle along the lower Amu Darya and the Uzboy in the 5th century, establishing a thriving chain of agricultural lands, towns, and cities. In about AD 985, the massive Gurganj Dam at the bifurcation of the forks started to divert water to the Aral. Genghis Khan 's troops destroyed the dam in 1221, and the Amu Darya shifted to distributing its flow more or less equally between

18318-445: The writings of Chinese monk Xuanzang from 630 CE explained that Mihirakula ordered the destruction of Buddhism and the expulsion of monks. The Buddhist art of Gandhara, in particular Greco-Buddhist art , became extinct around this period. When Xuanzang visited Gandhara in c.  630 CE , he reported that Buddhism had drastically declined in favour of Shaivism and that most of the monasteries were deserted and left in ruins. It

18460-436: The yabghu of Tokharistan, is recorded as having sent a mission to the Chinese court. He ruled from Badakshan , as the area of Balkh and the central areas of his territory were occupied by the Arabs, including Shuburgan, Khusp and Herat. According to the chronicles of the Chinese Cefu Yuangui , a young brother of Pantu Nili named Puluo (僕羅 púluó in Chinese sources) again visited the Tang court in 718 and gave an account of

18602-416: 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. During this period in

18744-436: Was a general during the reign of the Apracharaja Vijayamitra . Indravarma is additionally noteworthy for receiving the above-mentioned Silver Reliquary from the Indo-Scythian monarch Kharahostes , which he subsequently re-dedicated as a Buddhist 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

18886-400: Was also during the Achaemenid Empire rule of Gandhara that the Kharosthi script, the script of Gandhari prakrit , was born through the Aramaic alphabet. According to Arrian 's Indica , the area corresponding to Gandhara situated between the Kabul River and the Indus River was inhabited by two tribes noted as the Assakenoi and Astakanoi whom he describes as 'Indian' and occupying

19028-422: Was among the tallest buildings in the ancient world. The Kidarites conquered Peshawar and parts of the northwest Indian subcontinent including Gandhara probably sometime between 390 and 410 from Kushan empire, around the end of the rule of Gupta Emperor Chandragupta II or beginning of the rule of Kumaragupta I . It is probably the rise of the Hephthalites and the defeats against the Sasanians which pushed

19170-411: Was another region mentioned in ancient texts and is noted by Pāṇini as comprising both the regions of Vahika and Gandhara. Gandhara's first recorded culture was the Grave Culture that emerged c.  1200 BCE and lasted until 800 BCE, and named for their distinct funerary practices. It was found along the Middle Swat River course, even though earlier research considered it to be expanded to

19312-411: Was destroyed by them during their invasion of the area in the 460s CE. The Mankiala stupa was also vandalized 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. In particular,

19454-556: Was executed on al-Hajjaj 's orders, despite promises of pardon, while the Yabghu was exiled to Damascus and kept there as a hostage. The Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian who had defeated their common enemy the Arabs in 717 CE, sent an embassy to China through Central Asia in 719 CE which probably met with the Tokhara Yabghus and the Turk Shahis , who in honour of the Byzantine Emperor even named one of their own rulers "Caesar of Rome" (which they rendered phonetically as King " Fromo Kesaro "). The Chinese annals record that "In

19596-526: Was known as Gadāra ( 𐎥𐎭𐎠𐎼 , also transliterated as Ga dāra since the nasal "n" before consonants were omitted in Old Persian). In Chinese , Gandhara was known as Jiāntuóluó, kɨɐndala, Jìbīn , and Kipin. In Greek , Gandhara was known as Paropamisadae One proposed origin of the name is from the Sanskrit word gandhaḥ ( गन्धः ), meaning "perfume" and "referring to the spices and aromatic herbs which they (the inhabitants) traded and with which they anointed themselves". The Gandhari people are

19738-409: Was married two times – both a daughter of Qu Boya (麴伯雅) – ruler of Qocho . When Xuanzang visited Kunduz , he also brought a letter from his brother-in-law and ruler of Qocho Qu Wentai (麴文泰) to Tardu. Yabgu received him despite being in ill condition. It was Tardu to advise him to make a trip westward to Balkh (modern Afghanistan ), to see the Buddhist sites and relics. Xuanzang also witnessed

19880-436: Was often inspired by the Arsacid dynasty, but they probably belonged to wider groups of Iranic tribes who lived east of Parthia proper, and there is no evidence that all the kings who assumed the title Gondophares , which means "Holder of Glory", were even related. During the dominion of the Indo-Parthians , Apracharaja Sasan , as described on numismatic evidence identifying him as the nephew of Aspavarma , emerged as

20022-432: 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

20164-412: Was the progenitor of the prominent Udichya (Gandhara and Vahika tribes) and had numerous sons, including Anu, Puru, and Druhyu. The lineage of Anu gave rise to the Madra , Kekaya , Sivi and Uśīnara kingdoms, while the Druhyu tribe has been associated with the Gandhara kingdom. The first mention of the Gandhārīs is attested once in the Ṛigveda as a tribe that has sheep with good wool. In

#327672