Jayapala was the last king of Gandhara. Ghazni destroyed it. Al Biruni says: Fire and sword havoc and destruction, marked his course everywhere. Gandhar which was styled the Garden of the North was left at his death a weird and desolate waste. Its rich fields and fruitful gardens, together with the canal which watered them (the course of which is still partially traceable in the western part of the plain), had all disappeared. Its numerous stone built cities, monasteries, and topes with their valuable and revered monuments and sculptures, were sacked, fired, razed to the ground, and utterly destroyed as habitations. ..... God be merciful to both father and son ! Maḥmûd utterly ruined the prosperity of the country, and performed there wonderful exploits, by which the Hindus became like atoms of dust scattered in all directions, and like a tale of old in the mouth of the people. Their scattered remains cherish, of course, the most inveterate aversion towards all Muslims. This is the reason, too, why Hindu sciences have retired far away from those parts of the country conquered by us, and have fled to places which our hand cannot yet reach, to Kashmir, Benares, and other places. And there the antagonism between them and all foreigners receives more and more nourishment both from political and religious sources. ,,,,, This explains what happened to all the kingdoms intellectuals. They fled carrying their precious knowledge and that region was an educational powerhouse no more,
well Gandhara was rampaged by Huns, Kushans, and countless other invaders at different points of time.
I don't know about the language, I don't think it has been deciphered. The taxila ruins clearly depict Greek, mauryans and indo Greek periods.
you didn't visit taxila museum?
I heard locals living nearby ruins have stories about haunting of such places. They believe that if you take something from ruins, souls living there will follow you. Heard that in Chokandi's graveyard's case. did you come across such stories in Taxila?
I heard locals living nearby ruins have stories about haunting of such places. They believe that if you take something from ruins, souls living there will follow you. Heard that in Chokandi's graveyard's case. did you come across such stories in Taxila?
I have visited taxila museum in the past, but not in this visit. In any case I don't think they'd allow me to photograph the items at display there.
well Gandhara was rampaged by Huns, Kushans, and countless other invaders at different points of time.
I am sure it was. I am referring to the wanton destruction of centers of learning for which Takshashila was famous for by barbarians as recorded by Al biruni.
I don't know about the language, I don't think it has been deciphered. The taxila ruins clearly depict influences of Greek, mauryans and indo Greek periods.
I think Indus script is the only one in the subcontinent that is not properly deciphered yet. It must be one of the following: 1. Greek incluenced script since Greek was also widely taught at the University. 2. Pali- The language in which Ashoka ruled. 3. Sharada script - which was widely used in and around the Kashmir region. 4. Gupta script which was popular in Punjab. 5. Old Devnagari which was used all over North India including Sindh before Islamization and the adoption of Persian script. 6. The most obvious choice is Brahmi which was used between 3 BC and 5AD all over present day India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This is not Gupta script for sure, as the stupas date to around 3 century bc. So it would be mauryan script, Greeks or maybe even Persian. I'll see if I can find out.
^ yes around the museum & I have seen quite a few remains around but there are many more which I have not seen myself. We have got a treasure of history which needs to be protected and propagated.
^ could be I am not sure (too many invasions), in most of these areas we have Pashtuns and punjabis. Most of punjabis themselves are from Central Asia (like jatts who are scythians).
my personal gut feeling is that Pashtuns could have some relationship to Greeks, as the ruins of taxila clearly depict Greek, mauryan and indo Greek influences.
Most likely they were the Pashtuns or the early ancestors of them.
According to DNA studies, Pasthuns are a hybrid mix of Tajiks, North Indian, West Indian and other central asian populations.
I think the Pashtuns have always existed in some form or the other. Rigveda mentions a tribe called "Pakta" inhabiting eastern Afghanistan . Herodetus calls them Pactyans. Successive intermingling over the ages have occurred so their DNA implies that they are a mix of ethnicities.
^ could be I am not sure (too many invasions), in most of these areas we have Pashtuns and punjabis. Most of punjabis themselves are from Central Asia (like jatts who are scythians).
my personal gut feeling is that Pashtuns could have some relationship to Greeks, as the ruins of taxila clearly depict Greek, mauryan and indo Greek influences.
Greek civilization did impact local people. But Greeks did not have any significant impact on ethnicity of the area. Besides it is difficult to believe that Greeks could have effected the large area where Pashtuns reside (which includes all Afghanistan).
Gandhara people may be part-ancestors of present day Pashtuns. Pashtuns are a branch of Iranian people, and Gandhara civilization already existed at the time when Iranian people had started migration to present day Iran and Afghanistan.
Nope, the hindkowans and various "hamsayas" of Pashtuns might be the descendents of Gandharians. Pashtun migration to Peshawer valley , Swat valley and plain areas of KPK is only a millennium old. That being said , Karlanri hill tribes of FATA are very old, mentioned even by Greek Historian. The original abode of Pashtuns was Koh Sulieman range in Baluchistan from where they spread to other areas. Dilazaks (a karlanri tribe like afridis and khattaks) were first Pashtuns to colonize KPK during mahmud ghazavi times but they got decimated by other Afghan/Pashtun tribes from west.
1- The yousafzais and ghoria khel tribes of upper KPK and peshawer valley migrated from present day Afghanistan in early 16th century, i.e about 500 years ago.
2- Khattaks migrated from shawal valley of waziristan to their present day abode in Karak (KPK) in 14th century i.e about 700 years ago.
3- Lohani tribes of DI Khan and Lakki migrated from present day Afghanistan in late 16th century i.e about 400 years ago.