ALEXANDER'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE ASSACANI AND QUEEN CLEOPHIS

 

Cleophis (Sanskrit: Kripa) was an Assacani queen and key figure in the war between the Assacani people and Alexander the Great. Cleophis was the mother of Assacanus, the Assacanis' war-leader at the time of Alexander's invasion in 326 BCE. After her son's death in battle, Cleophis assumed command and negotiated a settlement that allowed her to retain her status. Later accounts claim Cleophis had a son by Alexander, a notion dismissed by historians.

The Assacani (called Ashvakas in Sanskrit, from the word Ashva, meaning "horse") were an independent people who lived in parts of the Swat and Buner valleys in ancient Gandhara. These highlanders were rebellious, fiercely independent clans who resisted subjugation.

in the Major Rock Edicts of Ashoka, Asvakas are described as Gandhāras (Gandharians), who are recorded separately from Kambojas. Ancient Greek historians who documented the exploits of Alexander the Great referring to the Aspasioi and Assakenoi (Ἀσσακηνοί) tribes among his opponents. The historian RC Majumdar considers these words to be corruptions of Asvaka.  It is possible that the corruption of the names occurred due to regional differences in pronunciation. Rama Shankar Tripathi thinks it possible that the Assakenoi were either allied to or a branch of the Aspasioi. The Greeks recorded the two groups as inhabiting different areas, with the Aspasioi in either the Alishang or Kunar Valley and the Assakenoi in the Swat Valley. 

Alexander's war with the Assacani

In 326 BCE, Alexander's campaigns west of the Indus River brought him into conflict with the Assacani. In defense of their homeland, they assembled an army of 20,000 cavalry, 38,000 infantry, and 30 elephants, according to classical writer Quintus Curtius Rufus. Their army included a contingent of 7,000 Kamboj mercenaries recruited from Abhisara. 

After being defeated in the field, the Assacani fell back to the fortified city of Massaga, where the fighting continued for five days (or nine days, according to Curtius.) It was during this battle that Assacanus was killed. After her son's death, Cleophis assumed command, mustered the Assacani women to fight, and led the continued defense of the city. Rule of the Assacani fell to Cleophis.

Eventually, however, Cleophis judged that defeat was inevitable. She came to terms with the invaders and abandoned Massaga with her followers. Diodorus Siculus says: "Cleophis sent precious gifts to Alexander with a message in which she expressed her appreciation of Alexander's greatness and assured him that she would comply with the terms of the treaty." According to Curtius and Arrian, Cleophis was captured along with her young granddaughter. Alexander allowed Queen Cleophis to maintain her throne as his vassal.

Alexander's retaliation against the defeated Assaceni was severe. He had Massaga burned. Victor Hansen writes: "After promising the surrounded Assaceni their lives upon capitulation, he executed all their soldiers who had surrendered. Their strongholds at Ora and Aornus, were also similarly stormed. Garrisons were probably all slaughtered."

Additionally, Alexander pursued the Kamboj mercenaries, surrounded them on a hill, and killed them all. Diodorus describes the event in detail: "...The women, taking up the arms of the fallen, fought side by side with their men. Accordingly, some who had supplied themselves with arms did their best to cover their husbands with their shields, while others, who were without arms, did much to impede the enemy by shooting themselves upon them and catching hold of their shields."

Later classical writers, including Curtius and Justin, claim that Alexander fathered a child with Cleophis. Historians dismiss this notion as a much later romantic invention. On Alexander's relatively generous terms, which allowed Cleophis to retain her status, Curtius says, "...some believed that this indulgent treatment was granted rather to the charms of her person than to pity for her misfortunes. At all events, afterwards she gave birth to a son who received the name Alexander whoever his father may have been..." Earlier writers do not mention this.

The Asvayanas have been attested to be good cattle breeders and agriculturists by classical writers. Arrian said that, during the time of Alexander, there were a large number of bullocks - 230,000 - of a size and shape superior to what the Macedonians had known, which Alexander captured from them and decided to send to Macedonia for agriculture.

Edited  from Wikipedia

ALEXANDER THE GREAT COMMEMORATIVE COLUMN ~ HUND MUSEUM ~ PAKISTAN

 Hund is the oldest city in the Swabi district, located on the right bank of the Indus River. It has a rich history and has experienced different eras such as the Gandhara civilization, the Hindu Shahi dynasty, and the Muslim period. Alexander the Great passed by this place in 327 BCE and spent a night in the village before entering the Indian plains. 

Arrian, the second century CE military historian, records in Anabasis that Alexander and his conquering army of 50,000 men and all their animals crossed the Indus at Hund on a bridge of boats specially built for them by Alexander's commander, Hephaestion, in 326 BCE. When he arrived at the river, Alexander made animal sacrifices and held athletic games and a horse show. The omens proved favourable, so the army crossed. More sacrifices of thanksgiving were made on the other side, where King Ambhi of Taxila was waiting to surrender to Alexander. And so Alexander entered India. A Corinthian column, an example of Greek architecture, was recently added to the Hund museum to symbolize the presence of Alexander the Great.

Today Hund is a humble, run-down village, beautifully situated on the bank of the Indus and the passage of Alexander the Great has never been forgotten there.

TAXILA - SIRKAP ~ THE GREEK METROPOLIS IN PUNJAB

 Taxila (Old Indian Takshaçila, Greek Ταξίλα): the ancient capital of the eastern Punjab, the country between the rivers Indus and Hydaspes. The site consists of several parts, which belong to the Achaemenid, Greek, and Kushan periods.

The second city at Taxila is called Sirkap, which means "severed head" and is the name of a mythological demon that is said to have lived on this site. It devoured human flesh and was killed by the hero Rasalu. Sirkap was founded by the Greek king Demetrius, who conquered this region in the 180s BCE. The city was rebuilt by king Menander.

The excavation of the old city was carried out under the supervision of Sir John Marshall by Hergrew from 1912–1930. In 1944 and 1945 further parts were excavated by Mortimer Wheeler and his colleagues. Most of the discoveries at Sirkap related to the Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian periods (1st-2nd century CE). Overall excavations to the Greek levels have been very limited, and probably much remains hidden underground: in Sirkap, only about one eighth of the excavations were made down to the Indo-Greek and early Indo-Scythian levels, and this only in an area far removed from the center of the ancient city, where few discoveries could be expected.

Greek city 

The site of Sirkap was built according to the "Hippodamian" grid-plan, characteristic of Greek cities. It is organized around one main avenue and fifteen perpendicular streets, covering a surface of around 1,200 by 400 meters (3,900 ft × 1,300 ft), with a surrounding wall 5–7 meters (16–23 ft) wide and 4.8 kilometers (3.0 mi) long. The ruins are Greek in character, similar to those of Olynthus in Macedonia.

Numerous Hellenistic artifacts have been found, in particular coins of Greco-Bactrian kings and stone palettes representing Greek mythological scenes. Some of them are purely Hellenistic, others indicate an evolution of the Greco-Bactrian styles found at Ai-Khanoum towards more indianized styles. For example, accessories such as Indian ankle bracelets can be found on some representations of Greek mythological figures such as Artemis.

Following its construction by the Greeks, the city was further rebuilt during the incursions of the Indo-Scythians, and later by the Indo-Parthians after an earthquake in 30 CE. Gondophares, the first king of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom, built parts of the city including the double -headed eagle stupa and the temple of the sun god. The city was overtaken by the Kushan kings who abandoned it and built a new city at Sirsukh, about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) to the north-east.

Religious buildings

Buddhist stupas with strong Hellenistic decorative elements can be found throughout the Sirkap site (Stupa of the two eagles  indicating a close interaction of religious cultures. A Greek religious temple of the Ionic order is also visible at the nearby site of Jandial (650 meters (2,130 ft) from Sirkap), but there is a possibility that it may have been dedicated to a Zoroastrian cult. A temple of Buddhist goddess Hariti with Hellenistic decoration was also found.

The site of Sirkap bears witness to the city-building activity of the Indo-Greeks during their occupation of the Indian territory for close to two centuries, as well as their integration of other faiths, especially Buddhism.

Round stupa

One round Stupa is present at Sirkap. It is one of the oldest Stupas in the Indian Subcontinent. It is assumed that this Stupa was uprooted and thrown to its present location by a strong earthquake in the 1st century CE. When the new city was built later, the Stupa was kept by building a protecting wall around it.

Apsidal Temple

The building that is known as the Apsidal Temple is the largest sanctuary of Sirkap, measuring about 70 by 40 meters (230 by 130 ft) (by contrast: the Parthenon in Athens is 70 by 31 meters (230 by 102 ft)). The Apsidal Temple consists of a square nave with several rooms, used by the Buddhist monks, and a circular room, which gives the building its apsidal shape. After the earthquake that destroyed the city in c. 30 CE, the Buddhist shrine was built in a spacious courtyard. The round part was probably in use for a small stupa, but no traces of it remain. Some carvings were probably done by an artist from Greece.

Double-Headed Eagle Stupa

A special Stupa at Sirkap is the so-called 'Double-Headed Eagle Stupa'. The pilasters here are of a Greek design, "Corinthian columns". In the middle arch, a Greek temple is shown; in the outer, a shrine of a Hindu design can be seen. On top of these sanctuaries, a Double-headed eagle is seated from which the name of the Stupa has been derived. This motif is rather odd, to say the least, as it is originally Babylonian. It seems to have spread to Scythia, and introduced in the Punjab by the Scythian rulers.

Dharmarajika Stupa

The nearby Dharmarajika Stupa, is a large stupa that dates from the 2nd century CE. The stupa was built to house relics of the Buddha, while several monastic buildings were built around the stupa.

Visit by Apollonius of Tyana

The Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana  visited ancient India, and specifically the city of Taxila in the 1st century CE. He describes constructions of the Greek type,  referring to Sirkap:

"Taxila, they tell us, is about as big as Nineveh, and was fortified fairly well after the manner of Greek cities".

"I have already described the way in which the city is walled, but they say that it was divided up into narrow streets in the same irregular manner as in Athens, and that the houses were built in such a way that if you look at them from outside they had only one story, while if you went into one of them, you at once found subterranean chambers extending as far below the level of the earth as did the chambers above."

UNANI TIBB ~ ANCIENT GREEK MEDICINE IN CENTRAL ASIA

Greco-Arabic Medicine

     Unani is the Arabic word for Ionian, or Greek.  Greece's Islamic neighbors call Greece Yunanistan, or the Land of the Unanis. 

     While Western Europe was in the Dark Ages, Greek Medicine and other branches of classical science and learning found a safe haven in Islamic lands.  But Greek Medicine didn't remain static or unchanging; it continued to grow and evelve as Muslim scholars and physicians continued to make important discoveries and contributions of their own. 

     In the process, Greek Medicine was "Islamicized" into Unani-Tibb, or Greco-Arabic Medicine.  This transformation proved that Greek Medicine was flexible, resilient and adaptable enough to absorb and incorporate new developments and influences. 

     Within a few short centuries after its birth, the Islamic world had expanded to stretch from the Atlantic ocean in the west to the Indian ocean in the east, from Moorish Spain to the plains of Hindustan.  Everywhere the Muslims went, their Unani physicians went with them, adapting themselves to the local conditions and resources.  In the words of Unani medical historians, Unani Tibb enriched itself by imbibing new medicines, techniques and treatments from the various cultures and medical systems with which it came into contact, which included Indian Ayurveda and Oriental Medicine.

     Around the time of the Crusades, the Islamic world produced a few very prominent and influential physicians and medical scholars.  Their names were Latinized, and their medical treatises were imported into Europe and translated into Latin, to serve as texts and reference manuals in the medical schools that were just starting to spring up in Medieval Europe. 

     Ibn Rushd, or Averroes (1120 - 1198) was a physician and Islamic scholar and philosopher in Moorish Spain.  He wrote a five volume treatise on medicine called Al-Culliyat (The Fundamentals), or Colliget. 

     Al-Razi, or Rhazes (865 - 924) was a Persian physician, chemist and alchemist.  He wrote a vast medical encyclopedia called Continens, with many excerpts from Hindu and Greek medical sources.

However, the greatest of these was undoubtedly Hakim Ibn Sina, or Avicenna.  He wrote a five volume treatise called The Canon of Medicine, which became a standard textbook in European medical schools.  Today, it serves as the basic handbook for all practitioners of Unani Medicine.

     Unani Medicine found fertile soil in India.  The Delhi Sultanate and later the Moghul emperors were great patrons of medicine.  Many eminent physicians from Persia and Central Asia came to India not only to seek fame and fortune, but also to find a safe haven from the wars and strife devastating their homelands. 

   

  Under British rule, all forms of healing except conventional allopathic medicine were discouraged.  But Unani Medicine survived, due to its popularity with the masses, and the safe, gentle yet effective nature of its treatments. 

     Hakim Ajmal Khan (1864 - 1927) was an Unani physician, and also an Indian patriot and freedom fighter in the struggle for independence.  He was also a great advocate and champion of the indigenous systems of Ayurvedic and Unani Medicine, and pioneered scientific research into their treatments.

     Today, the Indian government supports and subsidizes both Ayurvedic and Unani medical colleges and hospitals.  But whereas Ayurveda has enjoyed a phenomenal surge in popularity, Unani Medicine still lags behind in recognition, perhaps due to its minority Islamic associations.

http://www.greekmedicine.net/history/Unani_Medicine.html

GREEK INFLUENCE IN KASPERIA (KASHMIR )

 

Modern day Kashmir was called by the Ancient Greeks  Kasperia, which has also been identified with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus of Miletus (apud Stephanus of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44). Kashmir is also believed to be the country meant by Ptolemy's Kaspeiria.

Apart from being well-known for its cashmere pashmina shawls, which even Roman emperors favored, the beautiful region of Kashmir in India was once ruled by more than eleven Greek kings.

Kashmir

The Hellenic history of Kashmir ended with the fall of the Indo-Greek Kingdom but continued with substantially Hellenized Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthians, and the Kushan kingdoms that replaced the Indo-Greeks. The Indo-Greeks patronized Indo-Greek art, architecture, clothing, and the Greek language and script.

Greek inspired 1200 years old temple in Kashmir known as Martand temple.

A 1,200-year-old, Greek-inspired temple in Kashmir known as Martand Temple. Image source: Arunansh B. Goswami.

In total, there were about thirty-two known Greek kings who ruled the Indian sub-continent one after the other or sometimes as contemporaries.

In Kashmir, the rule of the Indo-Greek Kingdoms began in the second century BCE and continued until the early first century CE. Several Greek kings of Kashmir have been identified through the Kharosthti inscriptions and statues in the Lolab Valley.

These have been found by Mr. Iqbal Ahmad, a trained numismatist from Kashmir, and numerous Greek coins have been preserved in the Srinagar Museum.

Euthydemus, Eukratides, Menander, Demetrius, Appollodotus, and Hippostratus were some of the Greek Kings of Kashmir. Menander’s discussion with Nagasena, the Buddhist saint, recorded in the Milndaphana—a Buddhist book—is believed to have taken place in the laps of Zabarwan Hills near present-day Harwan, which is about 19 kilometers from Srinagar, the capital of Indian Kashmir. 

It is noted that before his return, Alexander the Great had permitted his people, who were mostly comprised of Greek garrisons, to settle in the land he conquered during his military campaigns.

Several frontier tribes of the Kashmir region consisting of Gups and Dards are believed to be the descendants of soldiers of Alexander the Great. These people lived in the Gilgit, Hunza, Gurez, and Kargil areas of Kashmir. 

A Greek inspired 1200 years old temple in Kashmir called Martand.

 Ionian Greeks are said to have been the first to arrive in India. The term Yava which originated from Yavan, meaning Ionian—due to the Ionian inhabitants of the region—has been used in local Kashmiri folk literature, and it is still very popular in communication in the upper reaches of the Kashmir Valley, as per Mr. Iqbal Ahmad.

Similarly, when Kashmiris have to refer to a man or woman with a fair complexion, they say he or she is Yava. For them, Yava is one with a fair complexion and light-colored eyes. This was the characteristic feature of ancient Greek people.

Individuals of the Gupis and the Brokpas, famous tribes of Hunza, possess such a complexion. They are believed to be the descendants of Greeks.

There are several villages and places that are believed to possess the names of Hellenistic order to this day. These include, for example, Damudar, Nics in the Pulwama District, Munand in the Shopian District, and Memender and Harman. Others still include Mendar in the Poonch District and Lious in the Kulgam District. These places or villages represent the corrupt form of the names of the Indo-Greek princes, such as Demetrious, Nicias, Menander, and Lyasis.

Plenty of coins of Menander and Appolodotus have been in Southern Kashmir. Prior to its excavation, Semithan (Bijbehara) yielded several Indo-Greek coins. There are still reports arriving from the Semithan regarding the discovery of such coins, but, unfortunately, many such coins go into hands of antique dealers who are hardly concerned with the historic value. Other archeological evidence also throws some light on the presence of Indo-Greek rulers in the valley.

A deposit of forty cans consisting of several floor levels was revealed at Semithan. The pottery is distinguished by a thin fabric with bright red, orange, or light-colored slip. A clay seal depicted an Indo-Greek deity. A significant find was the discovery of a pot with the inscription consisting of five letters externally engraved below the rim portion of the pot. It reads as Dharmorai or Dharmo (Rajai). Menander was very familiar in the region, and there are several places which carry his name. Two such places are also identified in southwest Kashmir—one as Mendhar in Poonch District and another as Meander in the Pulwama District.

Hellenism in Post Indo-Greek Kashmir

The Kushan conquest of Kashmir took place around 50 CE. Apparently, the Kushan aristocracy attempted to adopt the royal ideology of the Greco-Bactrian Kings (the Greek Kings of Central Asia) and its religious implications. It is, therefore, no accident that in the sculptural decoration of the Kushan manor-house at Khalchayan, the enthroned ruler and his wife appear yet again with Nike, as per archeologist Galina Pugachenkova. 

At the time when Vima Kadphises became Kushan emperor, religious life came to be characterized by two interesting features. One was the adoption of the forms of Greek religious art and the other the Greek iconographic interpretation of Kushan divinities as mentioned in the research paper “Religions in the Kushan Empire,” by J. Harmatta, B. N. Puri, L. Lelekov, S. Humayun, and D. C. Sircar. 

Kashmir was a significant province of the Hellenized Kushan Empire from the first century CE to the fourth century CE. It was in the period of Kanishka that the Fourth Buddhist Council was held somewhere in this land. 

It is said that Greeks are everywhere . Then, how can they not be in the paradise of Kashmir! The Greek origins of several tribes in this region are an important topic for further research.

The Greek Kings of Kashmir  were been tolerant and enlightened rulers, even though archeological finds and the coinage of the GrecoBactrian, IndoGreek and Kushan kings attest to worship of the major Greek Gods and Goddesses. These divinities included Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Helios, Hercules, Dionysus, the Dioscuri, Athena, Artemis, Hecate, and Nike.

Nonetheless, the Greeks of Kashmir equally patronized the worship of Zoroastrian, Hindu, and Buddhist deities, and the spread of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism in the Indian sub-continent and the world has phenomenally been influenced by Greek contribution. Indeed, the Greeks left their timeless mark in Kashmir.

Edited from Wikipedia and The Greek Reporter

GREEK CAMPAIGNS IN INDIA

 

In ancient times, trade between the Indian subcontinent and Greece flourished with silk, spices and gold being traded. The Greeks invaded South Asia several times, starting with the conquest of Alexander the Great and later with the Indo-Greek Kingdom.Yet,prior to mortal men,a Greek God had marched through India.

 The expedition of Greek God Dionysus in Ancient India

One of the beloved children of Zeus, God Dionysus,is the first who discovered the cultivation of the vine and the mode of extracting its precious juice;but Hera struck Him with madness, and drove Him forth a wanderer through various parts of the earth. In Phrygia the Goddess Cybele, better known to the Greeks as Rhea, cured Him and taught Him Her religious rites, and He set out on a progress through Asia teaching the people the cultivation of the vine. The most famous part of His wanderings is His expedition to the Indian subcontinent, which is said to have lasted several years. When Alexander the Great reached a city called Nysa near the Indus river, the locals said that their city was founded by Dionysus in the distant past and their city was dedicated to the God Himself. These travels took something of the form of military conquests; according to Diodorus Siculus,he conquered the whole world except for Britain and Ethiopia.Returning in triumph ( Dionysus is considered the founder of the triumphal procession) He undertook to introduce His worship into Greece, but was opposed by some princes who dreaded its introduction on account of the ecstasy, and the liberating madness it brought with it (e.g. Pentheus or Lycurgus).

Conquests of Alexander the Great (327–326 BCE)

In 327 BCE, Alexander the Great began his foray into Punjab. King Ambhi, ruler of Taxila, surrendered the city to Alexander. Many people had fled to a high fortress/rock called Aornos. Alexander took Aornos by storm after a successful siege. Alexander fought an epic battle against the ancient Indian monarch Porus in the Battle of Hydaspes (326).

East of Porus' kingdom, near the Ganges River, was the powerful kingdom of Magadha, under the Nanda Dynasty.

According to Plutarch, at the time of Alexander's Battle of the Hydaspes River, Magadha's army further east numbered 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots, and 6,000 war elephants, which was discouraging for Alexander's men and stayed their further progress into the Indian subcontinent:

As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was •thirty-two furlongs, its depth •a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at‑arms and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants. And there was no boasting in these reports. For Androcottus, who reigned there not long afterwards, made a present to Seleucus of five hundred elephants, and with an army of six hundred thousand men overran and subdued all India.

--Plutarch, Parallel Lives, "Life of Alexander"

Seleucid (305 BCE)

Alexander's army mutinied along the Hyphasis, as Alexander died before he could make a conquest in fighting the Nanda Empire, making the Beas River the eastern extant of the Macedonian Empire.

Following Alexander's death, Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid dynasty and former Diadochi, gained control over Mesopotamia and the eastern satraps of the former Macedonian Empire. Seleucus unsuccessfully tried to campaign in India by invading what is now Punjab in northern India and Pakistan in 305 BCE.

Meanwhile, in India, Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire with the help of Chanakya his guru and political advisor, rose to power by overthrowing the Nanda Empire in Pataliputra. His next course of action was to lead his armies into the Indus to battle with the Seleucid Empire and annex the satraps. The Seleucid-Mauryan War waged on for over two years, resulting in significant territorial and political change in the region. To resolve the conflict both parties finally settled upon a marriage alliance. Chandragupta annexed the Greek satraps, while also gaining Seleucid's daughter in marriage. In exchange, Basileus Seleucus received 500 prized war elephants from the Indian Emperor, an asset which was used to decisively win the Battle of Ipsus.

Seleucus also sent an ambassador named Megasthenes to Chandragupta's court, who repeatedly visited Chandragupta's capital of Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state). Megasthenes wrote detailed descriptions of India and Chandragupta's reign.

Continued diplomatic exchanges and good relations between the Seleucids and the Mauryan emperors are then documented throughout the duration of the Mauryan empire.

Indo-Greek rule

In 180 BCE, the Indo-Greeks, invaded parts of northwest and northern India and ruled in the Punjab region. They are an extension of the Greco-Bactrian dynasty of Greek kings (the Euthydemids) located in neighbouring Bactria.

The invasion of northern India followed the destruction of the Mauryan dynasty by the general Pushyamitra Shunga, who then founded the new Indian Shunga dynasty (185 BCE-78 BCE). The Indo-Greek king Menander may have campaigned as far as the capital Pataliputra in eastern India (today Patna): "Those who came after Alexander went to the Ganges and Pataliputra" (Strabo, XV.698).

The Indo-Greeks ruled various parts of north-western South Asia until the end of the 1st century BCE, when the Scythians and Kushans started rising into power.

Legacy

Buddhism flourished under the Indo-Greeks, leading to the Greco-Buddhist cultural syncretism. The arts of the Indian sub-continent were also quite affected by Hellenistic art during and after these interactions.

Editet from Wikipedia

JANDIAL ~ AN ANCIENT GREEK TEMPLE IN PAKISTAN

Jandial is located near the city of Taxila in Pakistan, and it is the site of an ancient temple, well known for its Ionic columns. The temple is located 630 meters north of the northern gate of Sirkap and it was excavated in 1912–1913 by the Archaeological Survey of India under John Marshall. It has been called the most Hellenic structure yet found on Pakistani soil.

Temple structure

The Temple is considered as a semi-Classical temple. Its design is essentially that of a Greek Temple, with a naos, pronaos and an opisthodomos at the back. Two Ionic columns at the front are framed by two anta walls as in a Greek distyle in antis layout. It seems that the temple had an outside wall with windows or doorways, in a layout similar to that of a Greek encircling row of columns (peripteral design). The dimensions of the Temple were around 45 x 30 meters.

However, inside the Temple, between the naos and the opisthodomos, there is a heavy wall with stairs, which has led some authors to consider that it was designed to support a ziggurat as in a Zoroastrian or Magian temple.

Besides the Pataliputra capital (3rd century BCE), the Ionic style is a rare occurrence in the Indian subcontinent, and it almost disappeared afterwards, apart from a pillar in Ahin Posh, which seems to be more Parthian than truly Hellenistic. It seems to have disappeared with the weakening of direct Greek presence in India, to be exclusively replaced by the numerous instances of Corinthian art that can be found in the Indo-Corinthian capitals of Gandhara.

The Ionic capitals of the Jandial temple seem to be a rather provincial and dry version of the Ionic Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. However, the design of the bases is quite pure, as are the wall moldings. Also the drums are finely joined with dowels. All this suggests work which was done under Greek supervision, or maybe by Greeks directly.

Dating

The Temple may have been built in the 2nd century BCE under the Greeks in India (Indo-Greeks). The exact alignment of the Temple with Sirkap leads some authors to think that it may have been built during the main occupation period of the Greek city, and that it may have been the work of an architect from Asia Minor, or from Greece or an architect trained in Greek techniques.

Alternatively, it may have been built under the Indo-Parthians in the 1st century BCE in order to practice the Zoroastrian faith, possibly right after their invasion of Hellenistic lands, using Greek manpower and expertise. Alternatively, it may be the construction of a Greek devotee of Zoroastriasm, at it is known that in India the Greeks practised alternative religions, as examplified by the dedication to Garuda made by a Greek envoy on the Heliodorus pillar in Besnagar.

The Jandial Temple may have been the one visited by Apollonius of Tyana during his visit of the subcontinent in the 1st century CE.

"Taxila, they tell us, is about as big as Nineveh, and was fortified fairly well after the manner of Greek cities; and here was the royal residence of the personage who then ruled the empire of Porus. And they saw a Temple, in front of the wall, which was not far short of 100 feet in size, made of stone covered with stucco, and there was constructed within it a shrine, somewhat small as compared with the great size of the Temple which is surrounded with columns, but deserving of notice. For bronze tablets were nailed into each of its walls on which were engraved the exploits of Porus and Alexander."

— "Life of Appolonius of Tyana", Philostratus 2.16-20

Jandial D

On another mound (Mound D),a little to the west of Jandial, foundations of another temple (Jandial D) which may have been built in the 2nd century BCE under the Greeks as well, were excavated in 1863-64.The temple which has a plan very similar to Jandial had a large front porch measuring 58 feet. Between Jandial and Jandial D ran most probably the ancient high-road to Gandhara.

Edited from: Wikipedia 

LAYERS OF INDO~GREEK CITY DISCOVERED IN SWAT VALLEY, PAKISTAN

Large layers associated with both the Indo-Greek city and the pre-Greek Mauryan settlement, together with a large number of everyday objects, have been discovered at the archaeological site of Bazira, around 1.5 kilometers from the city of Barikot in the southern end of the Swat Valley in Pakistan. One of Pakistan’s most important archaeological sites, Bazira rivals Taxila (in Rawalpindi District in Punjab Province) in significance.

In 326 BCE, the area was besieged by Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE) during his invasion of Central Asia and India. The Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius (r. c. 205–171 BCE) later invaded areas of modern Pakistan and Afghanistan, creating a Hellenistic kingdom of Indo-Greeks that was in fact a number of various dynastic polities. Collectively, the Indo-Greeks left an important mark on the culture and art of early Buddhism, with a fascinating exchange of art and culture between the Greeks and the Buddhists.The Indo-Greeks disappeared as a political entity around 10 CE. Bazira was founded as a small town and developed into a city during the rule of the Kushan empire (30–375 CE).

Dr. Luca Maria Olivieri, head of the visiting Italian Archaeological Mission (which has been excavating Bazira since 1984), told the Pakistan news website Dawn: “I foresee that in the future, Barikot will become one of the largest and long-lasting excavation projects in Pakistan (30 years so far) if not in the entire sub-continent. It already represents the only Indo-Greek city excavated at that scale, and one of the few examples of a Kushan urban settlement scientifically excavated in South Asia.”

The team that discovered the city layers comprised both Italian and Pakistani archaeologists, including Elisa Iori of Bologna University, Cristiano Moscatelli of Naples University, and Amanullah Afridi and Syed Niaz Ali Shah of the KP Directorate of Archaeology And Museums

Olivieri also told Dawn that a large late-Kushan temple with four pillars had recently been discovered on the northern part of the excavated area (3rd century CE). “This is the third coeval public cultic space found in the late city, and it is confirming the existence of Buddhist architecture, which has nothing to do with the mainstream stupa-cum-viharas layout of the contemporary Buddhist complexes. Vice-versa, these new architecture have more in common with Central Asian coeval [contemporary] examples and antecedents,” he said.

A Gandharan double-dome vihara built during Kushan rule in the 2nd century CE, considered one of the most important finds in Pakistan’s Buddhist history, was found just five kilometers from Bazira. Dr. Olivieri told Dawn on 10 July, “The site is featured by the landmark monument of the Great Shrine, the oldest example of double-dome Gandharan architecture. Chronology of the site is supported by radiocarbon dating one wooden beam of the shrine (palosa wood or acacia modesta) back to the end of first century or the middle of second century CE. The shrine with its cella, corridor and double dome is astonishingly well preserved for the standards of Gandharan architecture.”

According to Olivieri, the vihara is the only double-dome structure of the ancient Buddhist era left in South Asia. Dawn reported that this site was first visited by Hungarian-British archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein in 1926 and then hastily excavated by Burger and Wright in 1938. Smugglers, treasure hunters, and vandals looted it for more than a century before it became a protected site. The monastery is now part of a 12-kilometer tourist trail, which crosses two valleys and passes several rock painting and carving sites.

Source : https://www.buddhistdoor.net/