Gandhara

Gandhara art at Tokyo Museum.

Gandhara was an ancient region on the fringes of the northwestern Indian subcontinent in what is now northwest Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara stretched from the Indus river (Taxila) in the east to the Jalalabad valley in the west, and included the Peshawar and Swat valleys.

Fasting Buddha, one of the masterpieces of Gandhara in Lahore Museum, Pakistan.
Takht-i-Bahi monastery is one of the best preserved Gandhara site.

Gandhara had a significant impact on the development of Tibetan and Han Buddhism, playing a important role in spreading Buddhism to China, Korea, and Japan.

It was conquered by Cyrus I and Alexander the Great. Gandhara went through different rulers, including the Maurya Empire and the Indo-Greek Kingdom. It thrived as a center for Greco-Buddhism which later formed Gandharan Buddhism, influencing regions like Central Asia and East Asia.

References

  1. ↑ "Gandhara | Buddhist Art, Greco-Buddhist, Taxila | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-11-23. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  2. ↑ Khaliq, Fazal (2023-12-18). "Discovery of pre-Buddhist monument sheds new light on Swat's history". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  3. ↑ Ali, Kalbe (2023-07-11). "Monks, scholars reach Islamabad to attend Gandhara symposium". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  4. ↑ "Buddhist Channel | Pakistan". buddhistchannel.tv. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  5. ↑ Eggermont, Pierre Herman Leonard (1975). Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan and the Siege of the Brahmin Town of Harmatelia. Peeters Publishers. ISBN 978-90-6186-037-2.
  6. ↑ "University of Washington Press". University of Washington Press. Retrieved 2023-12-20.