Gandhara

Gandhara (IAST: Gandhāra) was an ancient Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending as far east as the Pothohar Plateau in Punjab, though the cultural influence of Greater Gandhara extended westwards into the Kabul valley in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the Karakoram range. The region was a central location for the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and East Asia with many Chinese Buddhist pilgrims visiting the region.

Between the third century BCE and third century CE, Gāndhārī, a Middle Indo-Aryan language written in the Kharosthi script and linked with the modern Dardic language family, acted as the lingua franca of the region and through Buddhism, the language spread as far as China based on Gandhāran Buddhist texts. Famed for its unique Gandharan style of art, the region attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century CE under the Kushan Empire which had their capital at Puruṣapura, ushering the period known as Pax Kushana.

The history of Gandhara originates with the archaeological Gandhara grave culture, characterized by a distinctive burial practice, and Gandhara's mentions in the Vedic period literature. According to post-Vedic legends of the Mahabharata, Gandhara played a role in the Kurukshetra War. By the 6th century BCE Gandhara gained recognition as one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas, or 'great realms', within South Asia. King Pukkusāti governed the region either before or after its conquest in the late 6th century BCE by the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. During its invasion by Alexander the Great in 327-326 BCE, the region was split into two factions with Taxiles, the king of Taxila, allying with Alexander, while the Western Gandharan tribes, exemplified by the Aśvaka around the Swat valley, resisted.

Following the disintegration of Alexander's Macedonian Empire, Gandhara became part of the Maurya Empire. The founder of the dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya, according to legends about his youth had received an education in Taxila under Chanakya and later assumed control with his support. Subsequently, Gandhara was successively annexed by the Indo-Greeks, Indo-Scythians, and Indo-Parthians though a regional Gandharan kingdom, known as the Apracharajas, retained governance during this period until the ascent of the Kushan Empire. The zenith of Gandhara's cultural and political influence transpired during Kushan rule, before succumbing to devastation during the Hunnic Invasions. However, the region experienced a resurgence under the Turk Shahis and Hindu Shahis.