the-south-asian.com                                              OCTOBER 2002

 

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OCTOBER 2002 Contents

 

 Lifestyle Feature

 Vegetarianism

 Vegetarianism demystified
 Vegetarianism vs Meat-foods
 Vegetarian Nutrient sources
 The Red List of 'No-Nos'
 Vegetarian icons

 

 Women's Issues

 Health empowerment


 Interview

 Robert Thurman on
 Need for global renaissance'

 

 Heritage

 Taxila 2002

 
 Neighbours

 Letter from Pakistan

 

 
 Architecture

 UNESCO 
 Heritage Awards 2002

 

 Viewpoint

 'Agenda for life'

 

 Around us

 Coffee break
 South Asian golfers reign  in
 Asian Games

 Salman Rushdie's wish list

 Ghana's Arya Samaj

 Easy steps to a flatter tummy

 
 

 the craft shop

 the print gallery

 Books

 Silk Road on Wheels

 The Road to Freedom

 
Enduring Spirit

 Parsis-Zoroastrians of
India

 
The Moonlight Garden

 
Contemporary Art in Bangladesh

 

 

 

 

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 Page  2  of  2

JU-Stupa-layers.jpg (34909 bytes)

TAXILA - 2002

(cntd.)

by

S. Alamgir

 

 

Brief History & Background

 

6th century B.C.

Birth of Buddha 563 B.C. Achaemenid or Persian Empire , under King Darius, and later Xerxes .[518 B.C] included Sindh and East Punjab. The language was Aramic and these inscriptions of mid –third century B.C. were found in Sirkup near Taxila.

5th Century B.C.

Buddha dies in 483 B.C.


3rd Century B.C.

Alexander the great came to Punjab in 326 B.C. At this time Raja Ambi [ Orphis ] was king of Taxila and was at war with the Paurava king Porus whose kingdom was beyond the Jhelum river . Raja Ambi allied himself with Alexander and joined hands with Ora in Swat [ the Udaygram ruins ] and Puskalavati [ today Charsadda near Peshawar]

After Alexander’s death in 323 B.C. Gandhara came under the Mauryan Emperors of India .

 

2nd Century B.C.

By 262 B.C. the Mauryan ruler Ashoka the Great, after committing horrific carnage in war, converted to Buddhism. Buddhist Art appears in Taxila and remains up to 800 A.D.

Ashoka founded the Dharma Dharmarajika Stupa near Taxila and the Chinese pilgrim Huein Tsang mentions about 1000 monasteries in Gandhara alone.

Around 250B.C. Greeks under Menander appear in the Gandhara area.

100 B.C.

Central Asian People and tribes called the Scythians and the Parthians in 103 B.C. in Persia and Gandhara ruled the areas at Takhti Bahi [ near Mardan city today .Kushanas were the main dynasty and their king Kanishka printed coins with Buddha’s image.

AD 100 

Vasudeva was the last Kanishka ruler. The Chinese pilgrim Huein Tsang mentions Purushpura (Peshawar) , and the Ashoka Stupa in Taxila . About 100 images of Buddha were found at Taxila / Gandhara area. In addition Pari- Nirvana stories of the Buddha’s after-death were engraved in stone in Taxila and the coffin, and disposal of his ashes are also recorded.

A.D. 300-500

The White Huns, a tribe from Central Asian invade and trample Taxila . Sung Yun a Chinese pilgrim mentions Taxila in AD 520 .

A.D. 700

Petty nobles fight for power. The area of Taxila and Gandhara is still Buddhist and priests still follow the " Greater Vehicle" of Buddha’s teachings

AD 1100 – 1200 

Ghazni kings invade this area. Conversion to Islam begins. Defacing of many sculptures. Invasions into Delhi, India. Babur, the first Mughal also enters the area with his armies

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