KUSHAN
Kushan Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushans
The Kushan Empire (Sanskrit: कुषाण राजवंश, Kuṣāṇ Rājavaṃśa) originally formed in the early 1st century AD under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus River or Amu Darya in what is now northern Afghanistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.[2]
During the 1st and early 2nd centuries AD the Kushans expanded rapidly across the northern part of the Indian subcontinent at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares) where inscriptions have been found dated to the first few years of era of the most famous KushanKanishka which apparently began about 127 AD.[3][4][5]
The Kushan kings were a branch of the Yuezhi confederation (possibly intermarried with local families) and they had diplomatic contacts with Rome, Persia and Han China. While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record we have of the empire's history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese.[6] The empire declined from the 3rd century and fell to the Sassanid and Gupta Empires.
Chinese sources describe the Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜), i.e. the "Kushans", as one of the five aristocratic tribes of the Yuezhi, Yueh-chi or Yüeh-chih in other transcriptions,[7] (Ch: 月氏), a loose confederation of Indo-European peoples.[8] The Yuezhi are also generally considered the easternmost speakers of Indo-European languages, who had been living in the arid grasslands of eastern Central Asia, in modern-day Xinjiang and Gansu, possibly speaking versions of the Tocharian language, until they were driven west by the Xiongnu in 176–160 BC. The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì (Ch: 休密), Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜), Shuangmi (Ch: 雙靡), Xidun (Ch: 肸頓), and Dūmì (Ch: 都密).
Historian John Keay contextualizes the movements of the Kushan within a larger setting of mass migrations taking place in the region:
Chinese sources tell of the construction of the Great Wall in the third century BC and the repulse of various marauding tribes. Forced to head west and eventually south, these tribes displaced others in an ethnic knock-on effect[clarification needed] which lasted many decades and spread right across Central Asia. The ParthiansIran and the Bactrian Greeks from Bactria had both been dislodged by the Shakas coming down from somewhere near the Aral Sea. But the Sakas had in turn been dislodged by the Yueh-chi who had themselves been driven west to Xinjiang by the Hiung-nu. The last, otherwise the Huns, would happily not reach India for a long time. But the Yueh-chi continued to press on the Shakas, and having forced them out of Bactria, it was sections or clans of these Yueh-chi who next began to move down into India in the second half of the first century AD."[9] The Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of Greco-Bactria, in the Bactrian territory (northernmost Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) around 135 BC. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the southeast in areas of the Hindu Kush and the Indus basin (in present day Pakistan), occupying the western part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom.
General Cunningham identified Kushans as Gurjars (or Gujjars).[10] Word Gusur is referred in Rabatak inscription of Kushan king Kanishka.According to some scholars the Word Gusur, which means Kulputra or man or woman born in high family, in this inscription stands for Gujar or Gurjaras.[11][12][13] Gurjars of Central Asia are termed as Gusur (Gujur) even today.
Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin, Surkh Kotal (a monumental temple), and in the palace of Khalchayan. Various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers,[14] and significantly men with artificially deformed skulls, such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan[15] (a practice well attested in nomadic Central Asia). The Chinese first referred to these people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire, although the relationship between the Yuezhi and the Kushans is still unclear. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses. The earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler was Heraios. He calls himself a "Tyrant" on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises.
The Chinese history, the Hou Hanshu, gives an account of the formation of the Kushan empire based on a report made by the Chinese general Ban Yong to the Chinese Emperor c. 125 AD:
"More than a hundred years later [than the conquest of Bactria by the Da Yuezhi], the prince [xihou] of Guishuang (Badakhshan) established himself as king, and his dynasty was called that of the Guishuang [Kushan] King. He invaded Anxi [Indo-Parthia], and took the Gaofu (Kabul) region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda (Paktiya) and Jibin (Kapisha and Gandhara). Qiujiuque (Kujula Kadphises) was more than eighty years old when he died. His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahk(tu) or, possibly, his brother Sadaṣkaṇa], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi."[16][17]
In the following century, the Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜) gained prominence over the other Yuezhi tribes, and welded them into a tight confederation under yabgu Kujula Kadphises. The name Guishuang was adopted in the West and modified into Kushan to designate the confederation, although the Chinese continued to call them Yuezhi.
Gradually wresting control of the area from the Scythian tribes, the Kushans expanded south into the region traditionally known as Gandhara (an area primarily in Pakistan's Pothowar and Northwest Frontier Provinces region but going in an arc to include the Kabul valley and part of Qandahar in Afghanistan) and established twin capitals near present-day Kabul and Peshawar then known as Kapisa and Pushklavati respectively.
The Kushan writing system used the Greek alphabet, with the addition of the letter Sho. The Kushans adopted elements of the Hellenistic culture of Bactria. They adopted the Greek alphabet (often corrupted) to suit their own language (with the additional development of the letter Þ "sh", as in "Kushan") and soon began minting coinage on the Greek model. On their coins they used Greek language legends combined with Pali legends (in the Kharoshthi script), until the first few years of the reign of Kanishka. After that date, they used Kushan language legends (in an adapted Greek script), combined with legends in Greek (Greek script) and legends in Pali (Kharoshthi script).
The Kushans are believed to have been predominantly Zoroastrian. However, from the time of Wima Takto, many Kushans started adopting aspects of BuddhistHellenised. The great Kushan emperor Wima Kadphises may have embraced Saivism, as surmised by coins minted during the period. The following Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of faiths including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and possibly Saivism (a sect of Hinduism).
The rule of the Kushans linked the seagoing trade of the Indian Ocean with the commerce of the Silk Road through the long-civilized Indus Valley. At the height of the dynasty, the Kushans loosely oversaw a territory that extended to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan into northern India.
The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to Rome, and created strings of flourishing urban centers.
Direct archaeological evidence of a Kushan rule of long duration is basically available in an area stretching from Surkh Kotal, Begram, the summer capital of the Kushans, Peshawar the capital under Kanishka I, Taxila and Mathura, the winter capital of the Kushans.[18]
Other areas of probable rule include Khwarezm (Russian archaeological findings)[18] Kausambi (excavations of the Allahabad University),[18] Sanchi and Sarnath[18][19] Orissa (imitation of Kushan coins, and large Kushan hoards).[18]
The recently discovered Rabatak inscription confirms the account of the 3rd century Chinese history, the Weilüe, and inscriptions dated early in the Kanishka era (incept probably 127 CE), that large Kushan dominions expanded into in the heartland of northern India in the early 2nd century CE. The lines 4 to 7 of the inscription[20] describe the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka, among which six names are identifiable: Ujjain, Kundina, Saketa, Kausambi, Pataliputra, and Champa (although the text is not clear whether Champa was a possession of Kanishka or just beyond it).[21][22][23]
In the 2nd century CE, the Kushans under Kanishka made various forays into the Tarim Basin, seemingly the original ground of their ancestors the Yuezhi, where they had various contacts with the Chinese. Both archaeological findings and literary evidence suggest Kushan rule, in Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan.[18]
As late as the 3rd century AD, decorated coins of Huvishka were dedicated at Bodh Gaya together with other gold offerings under the "Enlightenment Throne" of the Buddha, suggesting direct Kushan influence in the area during that period.[24]
The Kushan religious pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins and their seals, on which more than 30 different gods appear, belonging to the Hellenistic, the Iranian, and to a lesser extent the Indian world. Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on early coins. During Kanishka's reign, the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian (though it remained in Greek script for all kings). After Huvishka, only two divinities appear on the coins: Ardoxsho and Oesho.
Representation of entities from Greek mythology and Hellenistic syncretism are:
Malwa and Maharashtra,
- Ηλιος (Helios), Ηφαηστος (Hephaistos), Σαληνη (Selene), Ανημος (Anemos). Further, the coins of Huvishka also portray two demi-gods: erakilo Heracles, and sarapo Sarapis.
- Βοδδο (boddo, Buddha)
- Μετραγο Βοδδο (metrago boddo, bodhisattava Maitreya)
- Mαασηνo (maaseno, Mahasena)
- Σκανδo koμαρo (skando komaro, Skanda Kumara)
- þακαμανο Βοδδο (shakamano boddho, Shakyamuni Buddha)
- Αρδοχþο (ardoxsho, Ashi Vanghuhi)
- Aþαειχþo (ashaeixsho, Asha Vahishta)
- Αθþο (athsho, Atar)
- Φαρρο (pharro, Khwarenah)
- Λροοασπο (lrooaspa, Drvaspa)
- Μαναοβαγο, (manaobago, Vohu Manah)
- Μαο (mao, Mah)
- Μιθρο, Μιιρο, Μιορο, Μιυρο (mithro and variants, Mithra)
- Μοζδοοανο (mozdooano, Mazda *vana "Mazda the victorious?")
- Νανα, Ναναια, Ναναϸαο (variations of pan-Asiatic nana, Sogdian nny, in a Zoroastrian context Aredvi Sura Anahita)
- Οαδο (oado Vata)
- Oαxþo (oaxsho, "Oxus")
- Ooρoμoζδο (ooromozdo, Ahura Mazda)
- Οραλαγνο (orlagno, Verethragna)
- Τιερο (tiero, Tir)
Additionally,
- Οηϸο (oesho), long considered to represent Indic Shiva,[27] but more recently identified as Avestan Vayu conflated with Shiva.[28][29]
- Two copper coins of Huvishka bear a 'Ganesa' legend, but instead of depicting the typical theriomorphic figure of Ganesha, have a figure of an archer holding a full-length bow with string inwards and an arrow. This is typically a depiction of Rudra, but in the case of these two coins is generally assumed to represent Shiva.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushans
http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta2/tft/article.php?issue=20110715&page=16
Kanishka was a ruler who, according to Arnold Toynbee, established a 'universal empire.' This was a culmination of 'abolishing the Hindu Kush', a wonderful feat performed by the Kushans. The Punjab became, writes Dr. Buddha Prakash, a scholar of Indian History, part of a central Asian Empire, 'with no dividing line or frontier.' The area became a 'universal state' in which various racial and social elements were amalgamated in a common humanity. What a utopia that must have been!
The Central Asian Empire, which included the Punjab, became a melting pot in which various racial and social elements were amalgamated in a common humanityThe advent and long rule of a variegated kind of people was an enriching factor beyond compare for the Punjab. Greeks, Parthians of north-eastern Iran, the Central Asian Sakas or Scythians, imbibers of the divine Soma liquor, the drink of the gods, who according to the Mahabharata were mysteriously connected with the Apsaras, the beautiful supernatural women who lived around crystal clear lakes, and the warrior Kushans, the Yeuzhis from Mongolia, all swarmed into the Punjab in vast numbers and dominated her culture. Chinese, Scythian, Iranian and Graeco-Roman ideas influenced the manners, morals, literature, art, religion and philosophy of a land which is today muffled and choking in a desperate struggle unto the death against the forces of darkness. Uth tak apna Punjab, Kanishka. Punjab in the Kushan era was cut adrift from the sphere of conservative Indo-Aryan culture, and thus breathed in a liberal ether, existing in the upper regions, way beyond the clouds. There was a liquidation of privilege and an establishment of equality in the land of the five rivers at that time.
Inlaid gold pendant from Tilya Tepe, 1st century ADAs the Kushan empire became a melting pot of Chinese, Roman, Iranian and Indian cultures, its emperors adopted the titles characteristic of these diverse societies: Devaputra, Shahenshah, Kaiser and Maharaja. The central palace at Begram (today's infamous Bagram), which was the summer capital for the Kushans, held the unique Begram Treasure, containing varied exquisite artifacts from these different civilizations. The objects were excavated by DAFA, the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan, in 1937 and 1939, and they included rare lacquer and bronze bowls, glass vessels, porphyry vases, statues, silverware, and coffers and plaques of carved bone and ivory, items of dazzling superlative beauty. These artifacts were housed in the Kabul Museum for a long while, after which smuggling, venality, intrigue and international art fraud took over. The country's history was swallowed up by the Afghan war, and this unique collection which reflected Afghanistan's rich history and its strategic position on the Silk Road, was almost all gone, at least for a while. The story behind this disappearance and subsequent recovery is fraught with mystery, adventure and heroism, and it reads like a nail-biting thriller.
The story of the disappearance and subsequent recovery of the Begram Treasure is fraught with mystery, adventure and heroism, and it reads like a nail-biting thrillerPerhaps the most breathtaking of all these treasures are the Begram Indian Ivories, which disappeared almost twenty years ago from the Kabul Museum. 'They have an unearthly beauty which has never been duplicated,' said one awed admirer. As I write, the British Museum's conservation laboratory is busy with, among other fragile masterpieces, putting together a collection of carved ivory fragments small enough to fit into your palm. All these were inlays once set into furniture dating from the 1st century. They were left, along with countless other treasures, in a bricked-up palace storehouse for safe keeping many centuries ago, and were later discovered by two distinguished and gallant French archaeologists, Joseph and Marie-Alice (Ria) Hackin. Joseph Hackin was Curator of the Musee Guimet in Paris, and conducted thirty excavations in Bamiyan, Kakarak and Begram. In February 1941 this brave couple were lost at sea while fighting for the Free French Forces, when their vessel, the Jonathan Holt, was torpedoed by a German U-97 off the coast of the Shetland Islands, leaving their interpretations of the excavated objects incomplete. They were reportedly departing on a mission to Asia. Could it have been in any way connected to Afghanistan, in order to complete their unfinished research? This is all conjecture, of course.
Enameled glass goblet from Begran, 1st century ADSo what happened to the entire Begram Treasure after the 1930s? The collection was housed in the Kabul Museum and looked after with great care by the curators, but then came the Soviet invasion in 1979. The Soviets, to their credit, did not touch the Treasure. In fact they repainted some of the exhibition rooms. However, in 1992, three years after the Soviets left, the museum was in the line of fire. Rival Afghan Mujaheddin fought for control of the city. The museum changed hands among different groups, who rampaged through the rooms, plundering as they went. Most of the collection was looted in the early days of the fighting. By late 1994 everything had disappeared. Evidently a series of vans drove up to a side door of the museum one night and took away everything, including the two-tonne Buddhist reliefs which were lifted off their hooks and according to Luke Harding in the Guardian of November 17, 2000, were piled in the back and hidden under a series of mattresses. The rule of the jungle prevailed at that time, and the vans were driven across the border into Peshawar. The star exhibits of the Kabul Museum, the exquisite 2000 years old Indian ivory panels, were gone. They were then sold in the city's antique bazaars, to Japanese collectors, Afghan war lords and to one of the most important of Pakistan's ministers during Benazir Bhutto's regime. The said minister reportedly bought a Begram ivory for $100,000. It was in 'safe keeping', he declared. Many of these treasures were floated on the international market, but a significant number were subsequently returned to the Musee Guimet by magnanimous collectors.
Mohammed Najibullah However, a large portion of the contents of the Museum was safeguarded in 1988 by General Mohammad Najibullah while he was President of Afghanistan after the Soviets left. In 1991 he showed the exquisite objects to a delegation of diplomats and journalists to prove that the Soviets had not removed them from the country. Then, as in a fable, he had the treasure sealed in seven trunks and hid them in a vault carved out of rock underneath the Presidential Palace. The vault belonged to the Afghan Central Bank, and was protected by a steel gate bolted shut by seven locks with keys held by seven people. Two of the key holders, including the valiant Najibullah have since died. All five of the remaining trusted officials had to be present for the safe to be opened.
The contents of the Museum were safeguarded in 1988 by General Mohammad Najibullah while he was President of Afghanistan after the Soviets leftThe Museum staff knew of the whereabouts of the funerary golden horde of Tillya Tepe in ancient Bactria, Begram's varied artefacts and the treasure trove of Ai Khanum, which was the possible Alexandria on the Amu Darya, but of course they did not reveal them to the vandals who ran amok through their exhibition halls. These Taliban tried to blow up the steel gate but were prevented at the last moment by the arrival of the cavalry in the form of the US troops who landed at the entrance. After the fall of the Taliban regime, President Karzai issued a decree to the effect that the treasure should be taken out of the vault. However, until the key holders were assembled together this could not be done. Eventually all was well, at least temporarily, and since then the treasure has been exhibited in various parts of the world to amazed viewers. It was on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York two years ago, and now has been on view at the British Museum since March 3rd, and will go on other tours after this.
But what about this unique Emperor who surrounded himself with and inspired such fabulous beauty? He was a great conqueror and an even greater administrator, a man who ruled over a vast region of North India as well as parts of Central Asia. His generosity of spirit, and the graceful personality of one of his opponents, can best be illustrated in the following account of his battle for the kingdom of Pataliputra. He rode out of the northwest across central India, conquering everything in his path, in the pursuit of a new Indian unity. When he came to the gates of the beautiful capital city, the king resisted furiously, but the citadel fell. Kanishka demanded nine hundred million gold pieces as indemnity for the war. The king did not possess even a small fraction of the sum, but he appeared before the emperor like a defeated monarch, much in the manner that King Porus confronted Alexander in Eastern Punjab, preparing to come to dignified terms. He offered Kanishka three symbolic treasures, each one worth a third of the sum demanded. The first was a fowl which symbolized compassion, and the second was a begging bowl which had belonged to the Buddha. The third offering was Ashvaghosha, the great playwright, poet and master of Buddhist philosophy. Kanishka magnanimously accepted the three offerings as full payment, and took the sage back with him to Purushapura/Peshawar, where he was appointed the court's spiritual counsellor. Kanishka then became a devout student of Ashvaghosha's teachings.
The Emperor became a devoted follower of Mahayana Buddhism under the guidance of his mentor. During his reign, the famous Fourth Buddhist Council was convened at Kundalavana Vihara in Kashmir. A select body of five hundred scholars participated in this council, including Ashvaghosha, as well as Vasumitra of the Sarvastivadin sect. The main fruit of this Council was the vast commentary, the Mahavibhasha, which was an extensive compendium and reference work on a portion of the above-mentioned sect. The language used for these texts was mainly Sanskrit.
Kanishka personally embraced both Buddhism and the Persian cult of the sun god Mithra. As for the tradition of Mahayana, the Great Vehicle, which originated in India, its ultimate goal is complete enlightenment for the benefit of all. This tradition spread from India to various other Asian countries, along Tibet and Nepal through Mongolia to China. The term Mahayana was formed as a synonym for the path and the teachings of the Bodhisatwas, those beings who were working towards the goal of complete enlightenment. This doctrine can be best described as a loosely bound collection of many teachings, with large and expansive beliefs that are able to coexist simultaneously. So this is an inclusive tradition of plurality, and it believes in the possibility of universal liberation from suffering for all beings, and the attainment of Nirvana.
Stupa at Shahji ki DheriIt should be remembered, however, that Kanishka personally embraced both Buddhism and the Persian cult of the sun god Mithra, which simply pinpoints the universality of his personality. His age is said to prefigure the Indian Renaissance of the Gupta Age, as an introduction to it. Sanskrit was restored to its former glory, having disappeared after the Maurya Age, for Kanishka gave his royal patronage to the language. Great scholars adorned his court apart from Ashvaghosha and Vasumitra. There was Nagarjuna the philosopher, regarded as a second Buddha, Samarghaksha the chaplain, Charaka the physician, Mathara the politician, and Matrichetra the writer of hymns.
Kanishka built the monumental stupa, 700 feet tall, outside Peshawar, at Shah Ji Ki Dheri, the remains of which still stand today.
Another of Kanishka's noteworthy contributions towards Buddhist culture was his building of the monumental stupa, 700 feet tall, outside Peshawar, at Shah Ji Ki Dheri, the remains of which still stand today. This was, even in the 7th century AD, described as being the tallest stupa in all India, intended to preserve relics of the Buddha, and was built of ornamental wood. It was discovered and excavated in 1909 by a British archaelogical mission, and in its base there was a deposit chamber containing the superlatively beautiful Kanishka casket, a six-sided gilded copper reliquary containing three small fragments of bone, relics of the Buddha. These were transferred by the British in 1910 to Mandalay, Myanmar, where they still are.
The casket had a dedication to Kanishka in Kharoshti, the 3rd century BC Gandharvi script: 'For the acceptance of the Saravastivadin teachers, this perfume box is the meritorious gift of Maharaja Kanishka... may it be for the welfare and happiness of all beings.' The casket is today in the Peshawar Museum, and a copy is in the British Museum. The lid shows the Buddha on a lotus pedestal, worshipped by Brahma and Indra. The edge of the lid is decorated with a frieze of flying geese, symbolizing the travel of departing souls. The body of the casket represents a Kushan monarch, probably Kanishka in person, with the Iranian Sun god and Moon god at his side. On the sides are two images of a seated Buddha. A monastery was also built by Kanishka here, of which nothing can now be seen.
His reign was above all a landmark in the realm of art and architecture, as four eminent schools received great impetus during this period. These were the Sarnath school, commemorating the site of the Buddha's first sermon, the Mathura school with its seductive feminine sculptures, the Amaravati school, which once again recorded aspects of the Buddha's life, and finally the great Gandhara school, which was a culmination of Graeco-Roman art applied to the Buddhist subjects of North India, exhibiting the life story of the Buddha. Charismatic images carved in stone, bronze and terra cotta were enshrined in stupas and monasteries throughout the Gandhara region, displaying splendid architectural and artistic achievements.
There is no doubt that the Kushan era was the Golden Age of Buddhist art, and under Kanishka, Gandhara became a holy land, a jewel of Buddhist civilization. Its art included the earliest known oil paintings, and the first sculptural depictions of Bodhisatwas and the Buddha himself. Gandhara artists sculpted and painted the Buddha in realistic detail, with a serene face, hands posed in symbolic gestures. His hair was short, curled and knotted at the top, and his robes were gracefully draped and folded. His smile is unforgettable in its hypnotic beauty. Another aspect of his personality can be observed in the unique statue of the Fasting Buddha which is a part of the Lahore Museum's collection of Gandharan art. This school of Kushan art is superior in every way to the Mathura school, although this contains the only sculpted depiction of Kanishka, giant-size, sword in hand, with its head missing.
To describe the beautiful coinage of Kanishka is a story unto itself, and many of these coins carry images of the ruler. The jewellery and other artifacts of his time were fabulous in their exquisite variety. I am fortunate to possess a black stone carved ring of Kanishka's era which my husband was able to purchase from an antique dealer in Europe.
In every possible way this mesmerizing ruler was a man who brought mystic beauty and a generous humanity to Northern India, but he left no viable successor, and after his death the empire broke up and became fragmented. That syncretic world vanished with his departure.
Salma Mahmud lives in Lahore
Kanishka was a ruler who, according to Arnold Toynbee, established a 'universal empire.' This was a culmination of 'abolishing the Hindu Kush', a wonderful feat performed by the Kushans. The Punjab became, writes Dr. Buddha Prakash, a scholar of Indian History, part of a central Asian Empire, 'with no dividing line or frontier.' The area became a 'universal state' in which various racial and social elements were amalgamated in a common humanity. What a utopia that must have been!
The Central Asian Empire, which included the Punjab, became a melting pot in which various racial and social elements were amalgamated in a common humanityThe advent and long rule of a variegated kind of people was an enriching factor beyond compare for the Punjab. Greeks, Parthians of north-eastern Iran, the Central Asian Sakas or Scythians, imbibers of the divine Soma liquor, the drink of the gods, who according to the Mahabharata were mysteriously connected with the Apsaras, the beautiful supernatural women who lived around crystal clear lakes, and the warrior Kushans, the Yeuzhis from Mongolia, all swarmed into the Punjab in vast numbers and dominated her culture. Chinese, Scythian, Iranian and Graeco-Roman ideas influenced the manners, morals, literature, art, religion and philosophy of a land which is today muffled and choking in a desperate struggle unto the death against the forces of darkness. Uth tak apna Punjab, Kanishka. Punjab in the Kushan era was cut adrift from the sphere of conservative Indo-Aryan culture, and thus breathed in a liberal ether, existing in the upper regions, way beyond the clouds. There was a liquidation of privilege and an establishment of equality in the land of the five rivers at that time.
Inlaid gold pendant from Tilya Tepe, 1st century ADAs the Kushan empire became a melting pot of Chinese, Roman, Iranian and Indian cultures, its emperors adopted the titles characteristic of these diverse societies: Devaputra, Shahenshah, Kaiser and Maharaja. The central palace at Begram (today's infamous Bagram), which was the summer capital for the Kushans, held the unique Begram Treasure, containing varied exquisite artifacts from these different civilizations. The objects were excavated by DAFA, the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan, in 1937 and 1939, and they included rare lacquer and bronze bowls, glass vessels, porphyry vases, statues, silverware, and coffers and plaques of carved bone and ivory, items of dazzling superlative beauty. These artifacts were housed in the Kabul Museum for a long while, after which smuggling, venality, intrigue and international art fraud took over. The country's history was swallowed up by the Afghan war, and this unique collection which reflected Afghanistan's rich history and its strategic position on the Silk Road, was almost all gone, at least for a while. The story behind this disappearance and subsequent recovery is fraught with mystery, adventure and heroism, and it reads like a nail-biting thriller.
The story of the disappearance and subsequent recovery of the Begram Treasure is fraught with mystery, adventure and heroism, and it reads like a nail-biting thrillerPerhaps the most breathtaking of all these treasures are the Begram Indian Ivories, which disappeared almost twenty years ago from the Kabul Museum. 'They have an unearthly beauty which has never been duplicated,' said one awed admirer. As I write, the British Museum's conservation laboratory is busy with, among other fragile masterpieces, putting together a collection of carved ivory fragments small enough to fit into your palm. All these were inlays once set into furniture dating from the 1st century. They were left, along with countless other treasures, in a bricked-up palace storehouse for safe keeping many centuries ago, and were later discovered by two distinguished and gallant French archaeologists, Joseph and Marie-Alice (Ria) Hackin. Joseph Hackin was Curator of the Musee Guimet in Paris, and conducted thirty excavations in Bamiyan, Kakarak and Begram. In February 1941 this brave couple were lost at sea while fighting for the Free French Forces, when their vessel, the Jonathan Holt, was torpedoed by a German U-97 off the coast of the Shetland Islands, leaving their interpretations of the excavated objects incomplete. They were reportedly departing on a mission to Asia. Could it have been in any way connected to Afghanistan, in order to complete their unfinished research? This is all conjecture, of course.
Enameled glass goblet from Begran, 1st century ADSo what happened to the entire Begram Treasure after the 1930s? The collection was housed in the Kabul Museum and looked after with great care by the curators, but then came the Soviet invasion in 1979. The Soviets, to their credit, did not touch the Treasure. In fact they repainted some of the exhibition rooms. However, in 1992, three years after the Soviets left, the museum was in the line of fire. Rival Afghan Mujaheddin fought for control of the city. The museum changed hands among different groups, who rampaged through the rooms, plundering as they went. Most of the collection was looted in the early days of the fighting. By late 1994 everything had disappeared. Evidently a series of vans drove up to a side door of the museum one night and took away everything, including the two-tonne Buddhist reliefs which were lifted off their hooks and according to Luke Harding in the Guardian of November 17, 2000, were piled in the back and hidden under a series of mattresses. The rule of the jungle prevailed at that time, and the vans were driven across the border into Peshawar. The star exhibits of the Kabul Museum, the exquisite 2000 years old Indian ivory panels, were gone. They were then sold in the city's antique bazaars, to Japanese collectors, Afghan war lords and to one of the most important of Pakistan's ministers during Benazir Bhutto's regime. The said minister reportedly bought a Begram ivory for $100,000. It was in 'safe keeping', he declared. Many of these treasures were floated on the international market, but a significant number were subsequently returned to the Musee Guimet by magnanimous collectors.
Mohammed Najibullah However, a large portion of the contents of the Museum was safeguarded in 1988 by General Mohammad Najibullah while he was President of Afghanistan after the Soviets left. In 1991 he showed the exquisite objects to a delegation of diplomats and journalists to prove that the Soviets had not removed them from the country. Then, as in a fable, he had the treasure sealed in seven trunks and hid them in a vault carved out of rock underneath the Presidential Palace. The vault belonged to the Afghan Central Bank, and was protected by a steel gate bolted shut by seven locks with keys held by seven people. Two of the key holders, including the valiant Najibullah have since died. All five of the remaining trusted officials had to be present for the safe to be opened.
The contents of the Museum were safeguarded in 1988 by General Mohammad Najibullah while he was President of Afghanistan after the Soviets leftThe Museum staff knew of the whereabouts of the funerary golden horde of Tillya Tepe in ancient Bactria, Begram's varied artefacts and the treasure trove of Ai Khanum, which was the possible Alexandria on the Amu Darya, but of course they did not reveal them to the vandals who ran amok through their exhibition halls. These Taliban tried to blow up the steel gate but were prevented at the last moment by the arrival of the cavalry in the form of the US troops who landed at the entrance. After the fall of the Taliban regime, President Karzai issued a decree to the effect that the treasure should be taken out of the vault. However, until the key holders were assembled together this could not be done. Eventually all was well, at least temporarily, and since then the treasure has been exhibited in various parts of the world to amazed viewers. It was on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York two years ago, and now has been on view at the British Museum since March 3rd, and will go on other tours after this.
But what about this unique Emperor who surrounded himself with and inspired such fabulous beauty? He was a great conqueror and an even greater administrator, a man who ruled over a vast region of North India as well as parts of Central Asia. His generosity of spirit, and the graceful personality of one of his opponents, can best be illustrated in the following account of his battle for the kingdom of Pataliputra. He rode out of the northwest across central India, conquering everything in his path, in the pursuit of a new Indian unity. When he came to the gates of the beautiful capital city, the king resisted furiously, but the citadel fell. Kanishka demanded nine hundred million gold pieces as indemnity for the war. The king did not possess even a small fraction of the sum, but he appeared before the emperor like a defeated monarch, much in the manner that King Porus confronted Alexander in Eastern Punjab, preparing to come to dignified terms. He offered Kanishka three symbolic treasures, each one worth a third of the sum demanded. The first was a fowl which symbolized compassion, and the second was a begging bowl which had belonged to the Buddha. The third offering was Ashvaghosha, the great playwright, poet and master of Buddhist philosophy. Kanishka magnanimously accepted the three offerings as full payment, and took the sage back with him to Purushapura/Peshawar, where he was appointed the court's spiritual counsellor. Kanishka then became a devout student of Ashvaghosha's teachings.
The Emperor became a devoted follower of Mahayana Buddhism under the guidance of his mentor. During his reign, the famous Fourth Buddhist Council was convened at Kundalavana Vihara in Kashmir. A select body of five hundred scholars participated in this council, including Ashvaghosha, as well as Vasumitra of the Sarvastivadin sect. The main fruit of this Council was the vast commentary, the Mahavibhasha, which was an extensive compendium and reference work on a portion of the above-mentioned sect. The language used for these texts was mainly Sanskrit.
Kanishka personally embraced both Buddhism and the Persian cult of the sun god Mithra. As for the tradition of Mahayana, the Great Vehicle, which originated in India, its ultimate goal is complete enlightenment for the benefit of all. This tradition spread from India to various other Asian countries, along Tibet and Nepal through Mongolia to China. The term Mahayana was formed as a synonym for the path and the teachings of the Bodhisatwas, those beings who were working towards the goal of complete enlightenment. This doctrine can be best described as a loosely bound collection of many teachings, with large and expansive beliefs that are able to coexist simultaneously. So this is an inclusive tradition of plurality, and it believes in the possibility of universal liberation from suffering for all beings, and the attainment of Nirvana.
Stupa at Shahji ki DheriIt should be remembered, however, that Kanishka personally embraced both Buddhism and the Persian cult of the sun god Mithra, which simply pinpoints the universality of his personality. His age is said to prefigure the Indian Renaissance of the Gupta Age, as an introduction to it. Sanskrit was restored to its former glory, having disappeared after the Maurya Age, for Kanishka gave his royal patronage to the language. Great scholars adorned his court apart from Ashvaghosha and Vasumitra. There was Nagarjuna the philosopher, regarded as a second Buddha, Samarghaksha the chaplain, Charaka the physician, Mathara the politician, and Matrichetra the writer of hymns.
Kanishka built the monumental stupa, 700 feet tall, outside Peshawar, at Shah Ji Ki Dheri, the remains of which still stand today.
Another of Kanishka's noteworthy contributions towards Buddhist culture was his building of the monumental stupa, 700 feet tall, outside Peshawar, at Shah Ji Ki Dheri, the remains of which still stand today. This was, even in the 7th century AD, described as being the tallest stupa in all India, intended to preserve relics of the Buddha, and was built of ornamental wood. It was discovered and excavated in 1909 by a British archaelogical mission, and in its base there was a deposit chamber containing the superlatively beautiful Kanishka casket, a six-sided gilded copper reliquary containing three small fragments of bone, relics of the Buddha. These were transferred by the British in 1910 to Mandalay, Myanmar, where they still are.
The casket had a dedication to Kanishka in Kharoshti, the 3rd century BC Gandharvi script: 'For the acceptance of the Saravastivadin teachers, this perfume box is the meritorious gift of Maharaja Kanishka... may it be for the welfare and happiness of all beings.' The casket is today in the Peshawar Museum, and a copy is in the British Museum. The lid shows the Buddha on a lotus pedestal, worshipped by Brahma and Indra. The edge of the lid is decorated with a frieze of flying geese, symbolizing the travel of departing souls. The body of the casket represents a Kushan monarch, probably Kanishka in person, with the Iranian Sun god and Moon god at his side. On the sides are two images of a seated Buddha. A monastery was also built by Kanishka here, of which nothing can now be seen.
His reign was above all a landmark in the realm of art and architecture, as four eminent schools received great impetus during this period. These were the Sarnath school, commemorating the site of the Buddha's first sermon, the Mathura school with its seductive feminine sculptures, the Amaravati school, which once again recorded aspects of the Buddha's life, and finally the great Gandhara school, which was a culmination of Graeco-Roman art applied to the Buddhist subjects of North India, exhibiting the life story of the Buddha. Charismatic images carved in stone, bronze and terra cotta were enshrined in stupas and monasteries throughout the Gandhara region, displaying splendid architectural and artistic achievements.
There is no doubt that the Kushan era was the Golden Age of Buddhist art, and under Kanishka, Gandhara became a holy land, a jewel of Buddhist civilization. Its art included the earliest known oil paintings, and the first sculptural depictions of Bodhisatwas and the Buddha himself. Gandhara artists sculpted and painted the Buddha in realistic detail, with a serene face, hands posed in symbolic gestures. His hair was short, curled and knotted at the top, and his robes were gracefully draped and folded. His smile is unforgettable in its hypnotic beauty. Another aspect of his personality can be observed in the unique statue of the Fasting Buddha which is a part of the Lahore Museum's collection of Gandharan art. This school of Kushan art is superior in every way to the Mathura school, although this contains the only sculpted depiction of Kanishka, giant-size, sword in hand, with its head missing.
To describe the beautiful coinage of Kanishka is a story unto itself, and many of these coins carry images of the ruler. The jewellery and other artifacts of his time were fabulous in their exquisite variety. I am fortunate to possess a black stone carved ring of Kanishka's era which my husband was able to purchase from an antique dealer in Europe.
In every possible way this mesmerizing ruler was a man who brought mystic beauty and a generous humanity to Northern India, but he left no viable successor, and after his death the empire broke up and became fragmented. That syncretic world vanished with his departure.
Salma Mahmud lives in Lahore