kingdom of Gandhara
Kingdom of Gandhara about the same time, the semi-independent Kingdom of Gandhara, roughly located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan centred in the region of Peshawar, stood between the
expanding kingdoms of the Ganges Valley to the east and the Achaemenid Empire of Persia to the west. Its main cities were Purushapura (modern Peshawar) and Takshashila (modern Taxila).
The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the early first millennium BC to the 11th century AD. Gandhara probably came under the influence of Persia during the reign of Cyrus the Great (559-530 BC). The Persian Empire fell to Alexander the Great in 330 BC, and he continued his march eastward through Afghanistan and into India. Alexander defeated Porus, the Gandharan ruler of Taxila in 326 BC and marched on to the Ravi River before turning back. The return march through Sindh and Balochistan ended with Alexander's death at Babylon in 323 BC.
Greek rule did not survive in northwestern India, although a school of art known as Indo-Greek developed and influenced art as far as Central Asia. With the fall of Greek rule in northwestern India Alexander's successors founded the Indo-Greek kingdom of Bactria based in what is today's Afghanistan and extending to Peshawar. At times they controlled the northwestern of region present-day Pakistan and even Punjab after Maurya power waned in the region.
The region of Gandhara was conquered by Chandragupta (rca. 321-ca. 297 BC), the founder of the Mauryan Empire, the first universal state of northern India, with its capital at present-day
Patna in Bihar. His grandson, Ashoka (r. ca. 274-ca. 236 BC), became a Buddhist. Taxila became a leading centre of Buddhist learning. Successors to Alexander at times controlled the northwestern of region present-day Pakistan and even Punjab after Maurya power waned in the region.
The discovery of the Gandhara grave culture in Dir and Swat will go a long way in throwing light on the period of Pakistans cultural history between the end of the Indus culture in 1500 BC and the beginning of the historic period under the Achaemenians in the sixth century BC Hindu mythology and Sanskrit literary traditions seem to attribute the destruction of the Indus civilization to the Aryans, but what really happened, remains a mystery.
The Gandhara grave culture has opened up two periods in the cultural heritage of Pakistan: one of the Bronze Age and the other o the Iron Age. It is so named because it presents a peculiar pattern of living in hilly zones of the Gandhara region as evidenced in the graves. This culture is different from the Indus culture and has little relations with the village culture of Balochistan. Stratigraphy as well as the artifacts discovered from this area suggests that the Aryans moved into this part of the world between 1,500 and 600 BC.
Gandhara Art, one of the most prized possessions of Pakistan, flourished for a period of 500 years (from the first to the fifth century AD) in the present valley of Peshawar and the adjacent hilly regions of Swat, Buner and Bajaur. This art represents a separate phase of the cultural renaissance of the region. It was the product of a blending of Indian, Buddhist and Greco-Roman sculpture. Gandhara Art in its early stages received the patronage of Kanishka, the great Kushan ruler, during whose reign the Silk Route ran through Peshawar and the Indus Valley, bringing great prosperity to the whole area. 14 After it was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1021 CE, the name Gandhara disappeared. During the Muslim period, the area was administered from Lahore or from Kabul. During Mughal times the area was part of Kabul province.
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