History of Most Significant Buddhist Archaeological Sites in Gandhāra (Pakistan) Discovered During the 20th Century

Gandhāra is an ancient name of the region which presently comprises on the surrounding area of Peshāwar Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The spread of Buddhism in ancient times followed the path of the Silk Road and one of the main routes of the Great Silk Route passed through the Karakorum linking Kashgar with Kashmir and Gandhāra. About 1,000 years, countless people travelled along this Silk Route. Their evidences are depicted on the rocky cliffs on the way sides and on rough boulders, strewn in the upper valley of the Indus River and its tributaries. The region of Gandhāra, due to its prime position, therefore served as a gateway to Silk Route giving access to Central Asia and to the countries of East and West. While Magadha was known as the first holy land of Buddhism, whereas Gandhāra served as second holy land of Buddhism, which was a centre of Buddhist religious practices. The Buddhist sanctuaries generally have statutes of the Buddha or Bodhisattvas to shrine. A large number of antiquities which were discovered during the 20th century by the course of excavations from the different archaeological sites in Gandhāra are now pride procession of Museums both at home and abroad. This paper presents an investigation about the history and sterling discovery of the some outstanding and remarkable archaeological sites in Gandhāra region (Pakistan) during the 20th century carried out mainly by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which was established in 1860 by the British Government in India.