History
Gandhara and the Kushans
Gandhara was a region centred on the Peshawar valley and Taxila in present-day Pakistan that became a major Buddhist centre between roughly the 1st and 5th centuries CE. Under Kushan rulers such as Kanishka, it produced the Greco-Buddhist sculptural style, the first widespread images of the Buddha in human form.
Quick facts
- Main period
- 1st to 5th centuries CE
- Key ruler
- Kanishka, 2nd century CE
- UNESCO sites
- Taxila and Takht-i-Bahi, both 1980
- Collections
- Peshawar, Lahore and Taxila museums
Background
The region sat at the meeting point of Indian, Iranian, Central Asian and Hellenistic influences, and its monasteries were described by Chinese pilgrims including Faxian and Xuanzang. Taxila, inscribed by UNESCO in 1980, contains city sites and monasteries spanning several centuries, while Takht-i-Bahi, inscribed in the same year, is the best-preserved monastic complex of the period.
Key entries
- Taxila
Bhir Mound, Sirkap, Sirsukh and the Dharmarajika stupa.
- Takht-i-Bahi
Hilltop monastery in Mardan district, 1st century CE onward.
- Swat (Uddiyana)
Butkara stupa and hundreds of recorded monastic sites.
- Gandhara sculpture
Schist reliefs and the Fasting Buddha in Lahore Museum.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Gandhara art?
- A sculptural style from north-west Pakistan that combined Hellenistic technique with Buddhist subjects, producing the earliest common human images of the Buddha.
- Where was Gandhara?
- Mainly the Peshawar valley, Swat and Taxila in present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Punjab.