Pushkalavati (Pashto: پشکلاوتي; Urdu: پُشْكَلآوَتي; Sanskrit: Puṣkalāvatī; Prākrit: Pukkalāoti; Ancient Greek: ΠευκελαῶτιςPeukelaôtis) or Pushkaravati (Sanskrit: Puṣkarāvatī; Pāli: Pokkharavatī), and later Shaikhan Dheri (Pashto: شېخان ډېرۍ; Urdu: شیخان ڈھیری), was the capital of the Gandhara kingdom, situated in what is now Pakistan.[1] Its ruins are located on the outskirts of the modern city of Charsadda, in Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 28 kilometres (17 miles) northeast of Peshawar. Its ruins are located on the banks of Swat River, near its junction with Kabul River, with the earliest archaeological remains from 1400 to 800 BCE in Bala Hisar mound.[2][3] Pushkalavati became an Achaemenid regional capital around 600 BCE, and it remained an important city through to the 2nd century CE.
Pushkalāvatī
پشکلاوتي
The remains of the original mound, Bala Hisar
Swat river and Bala Hisar mound just beyond (center of the photograph).
Pushkalavati (Sanskrit: पुष्कलावती, IAST: Puṣkalāvatī) means "Lotus City" in Sanskrit. According to Hindu mythology as per the Ramayana, it was named Pushkalavati because it was founded by Pushkala, the son of Bharat.[citation needed]
The ruins of Pushkalavati consist of many stupas and the sites of two ancient cities.
Bala Hisar
Bala Hisar site (34°10′05″N71°44′10″E / 34.168°N 71.736°E / 34.168; 71.736) in this area was first inhabited in the 2nd-millennium BCE.[5][6] The C14 dating of early deposits in Bala Hisar, bearing "Soapy red"/red burnished ware, is 1420-1160 BCE, and this early phase lasted from 1400 to 800 BCE,[7] the second phase took place until around 500 BCE featuring bowls in typical "grooved" red burnished ware.[8]
In later 6th century BCE, Pushkalavati became the capital of the Achaemenid Gandhara satrapy following the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley.[9] The location was first excavated in 1902 by the archaeologist John Marshall. Sir Mortimer Wheeler conducted some excavations there in 1962, and identified an occupation from the Achaemenid period and various Achaemenid remains.[10]
According to Arrian, the city then surrendered in 327/326 BCE to Alexander the Great, who established a garrison in it.[11]
In 630 CE, Xuanzang visited the area and described a stupa built by Ashoka, which remains unidentified and undiscovered.
Two early Buddhist manuscripts recently found in the region, known as avadanas, written in Gandhari language around 1st century CE (now in the British Library Collection of Gandharan Scrolls)[15] mention the name of the city as Pokhaladi.[16][17][18]
Buddhist statues from Charsadda.
In the 2nd century CE, river changed its course and city was flooded. The town moved to the site of the modern village of Rajjar. The last reference to Pushkalavati as Po-shi-ki-lo-fa-ti[19] was recorded in the account of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang in 7th century C.E.,[20] and subsequently, after the region was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001 AD, the name Gandhara was not used anymore, and in all probability the following period is when Pushkalavati became known as Shaikhan Dheri, as deri means mound/hill in Pashto.[21]
The former city's ruins were partly excavated by Ahmad Hasan Dani in 1960s. There are still many mounds at Mir Ziarat, at Rajar and Shahr-i-Napursan which are still unexcavated.
Pushkalavati and Prang
Athenian "Owls" coin (Circa 500/490–485 BCE) discovered in the Shaikhan Dehri hoard in Pushkalavati. This coin is the earliest known example of its type to be found so far east.[22]
Achaemenid period silver ingot, circa 5th century BCE, Pushkalavati, Gandhara.[23][22]
The city of Pushkalavati was situated at the confluence of Swat and Kabul rivers. Three different branches of Kabul river meet there. That specific place is still called Prang and considered sacred. A grand graveyard is situated to the north of Prang where the local people bring their dead for burial. This graveyard is considered to be among the largest graveyards in the world.
Pushkalavati mint. Obverse: Zebu with greek ταυροϛ ('tauros' meaning 'bull) above, vaṣabha (cf. Sanskrit vṛṣabha = bull) in Kharosthi at the bottom. Reverse: Tyche of Pushkalavati, wearing mural crown, holding a flower. Pakhalavati [Devata] (cf. Sanskrit 'Puṣkalāvatī devatā' i.e. 'the goddess of Puṣkalāvatī city') in Kharosthi[24] up right, Drupasaya in Kharosthi down left. Time of Azes I, circa 58-12 BCE.[25]
In the concluding portion of the (Ramayana) Uttarakhanda or Supplemental Book, the descendants of Rama and his brothers are described as the founders of the great cities and kingdoms which flourished in Western India.[26]
Bharata the brother of Rama had two sons, Taksha and Pushkala. The former founded Taksha-sila or Taxila, to the east of the Indus,[citation needed] and known to Alexander and the Greeks as Taxila. The latter founded Pushkala-vati or Pushkalavati, to the west of the Indus,[citation needed] and known to Alexander and the Greeks as Peukelaotis.[citation needed] Thus according to Hindu legend, the sons of Bharat founded kingdoms that flourished on either side of the Indus river. [27]
^Sagar, Krishna Chandra (1992). Foreign Influence on Ancient India. Northern Book Centre. ISBN9788172110284.
^Petrie, Cameron, 2013. "Charsadda", in D.K. Chakrabarti and M. Lal (eds.), History of Ancient India III: The Texts, Political History and Administration til c. 200 BC, Vivekananda International Foundation, Aryan Books International, Delhi, p. 515.
^Coningham, R.A.E. and C. Batt, 2007. "Dating the Sequence", in R.A.E. Coningham and I. Ali (eds.), Charsadda: The British-Pakistani Excavations at the Bala Hisar, Society for South Asian Studies Monograph No. 5, BAR International Series 1709, Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 93-98
^Encyclopædia Britannica: Gandhara 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^Investigating ancient Pushkalavati Pushkalavati Archaeological Research Project
^Ali et al. 1998: 6–14; Young 2003: 37–40; Coningham 2004: 9.
^Petrie, Cameron, 2013. "Charsadda", in D.K. Chakrabarti and M. Lal (eds.), History of Ancient India III: The Texts, Political History and Administration til c. 200 BC, Vivekananda International Foundation, Aryan Books International, Delhi, p. 515.
^Petrie, Cameron, 2013. "Charsadda", in D.K. Chakrabarti and M. Lal (eds.), History of Ancient India III: The Texts, Political History and Administration til c. 200 BC, Vivekananda International Foundation, Aryan Books International, Delhi, p. 516.
^Rafi U. Samad, The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys. Algora Publishing, 2011, p. 32 ISBN0875868592
^Wheeler, Mortimer (1962). Charsada a metropolis of the North-West Frontier. p. Introduction.
^"From Bazaria Alexander marched against Peukelaotis, seated not far from the Indus, which being surrendered to him, he placed a garrison in it, and “proceeded,” according to Arrian, “to take many other small towns situated on that river"" in Archaeological Survey of India. Government central Press. 1871. p. 102.
^Dani, Ahmad Hasan, 1963. Pushkalavati: The Lotus City, Archaeological Guide Series No. 1, Peshawar University, Peshawar, p. 5.
^Khan, M. Nasim, 2005. "Terracotta Seal-Impressions from Bala Hisar, Charsadda", in Ancient Pakistan, Vol XVI, p. 13.
^Litvinsky, B.A., 1999. "Cities and Urban Life in the Kushan Kingdom", in (eds.) Janos Harmatta, B.N. Puri, and G.F. Etemadi, History of Civilizations of Central Asia Vol. II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, p. 292.
^Baums, Stefan, (2019). "A survey of place names in Gandhari inscriptions and a new oil lamp from Malakand", in (eds.) Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart, The Geography of Gandharan Art: Proceedings of the Second International Workshop of the Gandhara Connections Project, University of Oxford, 22nd - 23rd March 2018, Archaeopress, Archaeopress, Oxford, p. 169.
^ ab. www.cngcoins.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
^"CNG: Printed Auction Triton XV. INDIA, Pre-Mauryan (Gandhara). Period of Achaemenid Rule. Circa 5th century BC. Cast AR Cake Ingot". www.cngcoins.com.
^"Catalog of Gāndhārī Texts". gandhari.org. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
^Castro, Andrea (Angelo Andrea) A. A. Di (January 2017). Crowns, Horns and Goddesses Appropriation of Symbols in Gandhāra and Beyond. p. 39.
^ Gandhara and Its Art Tradition, Ajit Ghose, Mahua Publishing Company, 1978, p. 14
^Dwaraka Prasad Sharma. "Shrimad Valmiki Ramayan - Sanskrit Text with Hindi Translation- DP Sharma 10 volumes" – via Internet Archive.
External links
Investigating ancient Pushkalavati Pushkalavati Archaeological Research Project
January 06, 2023
pushkalavati, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, available, assi. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as Reflinks documentation reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Pushkalavati Pashto پشکلاوتي Urdu پ ش ك لآو تي Sanskrit Puṣkalavati Prakrit Pukkalaoti Ancient Greek Peykelaῶtis Peukelaotis or Pushkaravati Sanskrit Puṣkaravati Pali Pokkharavati and later Shaikhan Dheri Pashto شېخان ډېرۍ Urdu شیخان ڈھیری was the capital of the Gandhara kingdom situated in what is now Pakistan 1 Its ruins are located on the outskirts of the modern city of Charsadda in Charsadda District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 28 kilometres 17 miles northeast of Peshawar Its ruins are located on the banks of Swat River near its junction with Kabul River with the earliest archaeological remains from 1400 to 800 BCE in Bala Hisar mound 2 3 Pushkalavati became an Achaemenid regional capital around 600 BCE and it remained an important city through to the 2nd century CE PushkalavatiپشکلاوتيThe remains of the original mound Bala HisarSwat river and Bala Hisar mound just beyond center of the photograph PushkalavatiShown within PakistanShow map of PakistanPushkalavatiPushkalavati Gandhara Show map of GandharaPushkalavatiPushkalavati Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Show map of Khyber PakhtunkhwaAlternative namePushkalavatiLocationOutskirts of Charsadda Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PakistanCoordinates34 10 05 N 71 44 10 E 34 168 N 71 736 E 34 168 71 736 Coordinates 34 10 05 N 71 44 10 E 34 168 N 71 736 E 34 168 71 736TypeAncient capital cityHistoryFoundedc 1400 BCEPeriodsGandharaSite notesExcavation dates1902ArchaeologistsSir John MarshallSir Mortimer Wheeler Contents 1 Etymology 2 Ruins 2 1 Bala Hisar 2 2 Peucela and Shaikhan Dheri 3 Pushkalavati and Prang 4 Pushkalavati in the Ramayana 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksEtymology EditPushkalavati Sanskrit प ष कल वत IAST Puṣkalavati means Lotus City in Sanskrit According to Hindu mythology as per the Ramayana it was named Pushkalavati because it was founded by Pushkala the son of Bharat citation needed The region around ancient Pushkulavati was recorded in the Zoroastrian Zend Avesta as Vaekereta or the seventh most beautiful place on earth created by Ahura Mazda It was known as the crown jewel of Bactria and held sway over nearby ancient Taxila 4 Ruins EditThe ruins of Pushkalavati consist of many stupas and the sites of two ancient cities Bala Hisar Edit Bala Hisar site 34 10 05 N 71 44 10 E 34 168 N 71 736 E 34 168 71 736 in this area was first inhabited in the 2nd millennium BCE 5 6 The C14 dating of early deposits in Bala Hisar bearing Soapy red red burnished ware is 1420 1160 BCE and this early phase lasted from 1400 to 800 BCE 7 the second phase took place until around 500 BCE featuring bowls in typical grooved red burnished ware 8 In later 6th century BCE Pushkalavati became the capital of the Achaemenid Gandhara satrapy following the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley 9 The location was first excavated in 1902 by the archaeologist John Marshall Sir Mortimer Wheeler conducted some excavations there in 1962 and identified an occupation from the Achaemenid period and various Achaemenid remains 10 According to Arrian the city then surrendered in 327 326 BCE to Alexander the Great who established a garrison in it 11 In 630 CE Xuanzang visited the area and described a stupa built by Ashoka which remains unidentified and undiscovered Peucela and Shaikhan Dheri Edit Buddhist statuary from Charsadda The Bactrian Greeks built a new city Peucela Greek Peykela or Peucelaitis Greek Peykelawtis at the mound currently known as Shaikhan Dheri 34 10 41 N 71 44 35 E 34 178 N 71 743 E 34 178 71 743 which lies one kilometre north from Bala Hissar on the other side of Sambor River the branch of River Jinde 12 13 This city was established in the second century BCE until the second century CE 14 occupied by Parthian Sakas and Kushans Two early Buddhist manuscripts recently found in the region known as avadanas written in Gandhari language around 1st century CE now in the British Library Collection of Gandharan Scrolls 15 mention the name of the city as Pokhaladi 16 17 18 Buddhist statues from Charsadda In the 2nd century CE river changed its course and city was flooded The town moved to the site of the modern village of Rajjar The last reference to Pushkalavati as Po shi ki lo fa ti 19 was recorded in the account of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang in 7th century C E 20 and subsequently after the region was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001 AD the name Gandhara was not used anymore and in all probability the following period is when Pushkalavati became known as Shaikhan Dheri as deri means mound hill in Pashto 21 The former city s ruins were partly excavated by Ahmad Hasan Dani in 1960s There are still many mounds at Mir Ziarat at Rajar and Shahr i Napursan which are still unexcavated Pushkalavati and Prang Edit Athenian Owls coin Circa 500 490 485 BCE discovered in the Shaikhan Dehri hoard in Pushkalavati This coin is the earliest known example of its type to be found so far east 22 Achaemenid period silver ingot circa 5th century BCE Pushkalavati Gandhara 23 22 The city of Pushkalavati was situated at the confluence of Swat and Kabul rivers Three different branches of Kabul river meet there That specific place is still called Prang and considered sacred A grand graveyard is situated to the north of Prang where the local people bring their dead for burial This graveyard is considered to be among the largest graveyards in the world Pushkalavati in the Ramayana EditThis article uncritically uses texts from within a religion or faith system without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them Please help improve this article by adding references to reliable secondary sources with multiple points of view November 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Pushkalavati mint Obverse Zebu with greek tayroϛ tauros meaning bull above vaṣabha cf Sanskrit vṛṣabha bull in Kharosthi at the bottom Reverse Tyche of Pushkalavati wearing mural crown holding a flower Pakhalavati Devata cf Sanskrit Puṣkalavati devata i e the goddess of Puṣkalavati city in Kharosthi 24 up right Drupasaya in Kharosthi down left Time of Azes I circa 58 12 BCE 25 In the concluding portion of the Ramayana Uttarakhanda or Supplemental Book the descendants of Rama and his brothers are described as the founders of the great cities and kingdoms which flourished in Western India 26 Bharata the brother of Rama had two sons Taksha and Pushkala The former founded Taksha sila or Taxila to the east of the Indus citation needed and known to Alexander and the Greeks as Taxila The latter founded Pushkala vati or Pushkalavati to the west of the Indus citation needed and known to Alexander and the Greeks as Peukelaotis citation needed Thus according to Hindu legend the sons of Bharat founded kingdoms that flourished on either side of the Indus river 27 See also EditHistory of Peshawar Pushkalavati MuseumReferences Edit Sagar Krishna Chandra 1992 Foreign Influence on Ancient India Northern Book Centre ISBN 9788172110284 Petrie Cameron 2013 Charsadda in D K Chakrabarti and M Lal eds History of Ancient India III The Texts Political History and Administration til c 200 BC Vivekananda International Foundation Aryan Books International Delhi p 515 Coningham R A E and C Batt 2007 Dating the Sequence in R A E Coningham and I Ali eds Charsadda The British Pakistani Excavations at the Bala Hisar Society for South Asian Studies Monograph No 5 BAR International Series 1709 Archaeopress Oxford pp 93 98 Encyclopaedia Britannica Gandhara Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Investigating ancient Pushkalavati Pushkalavati Archaeological Research Project Ali et al 1998 6 14 Young 2003 37 40 Coningham 2004 9 Petrie Cameron 2013 Charsadda in D K Chakrabarti and M Lal eds History of Ancient India III The Texts Political History and Administration til c 200 BC Vivekananda International Foundation Aryan Books International Delhi p 515 Petrie Cameron 2013 Charsadda in D K Chakrabarti and M Lal eds History of Ancient India III The Texts Political History and Administration til c 200 BC Vivekananda International Foundation Aryan Books International Delhi p 516 Rafi U Samad The Grandeur of Gandhara The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat Peshawar Kabul and Indus Valleys Algora Publishing 2011 p 32 ISBN 0875868592 Wheeler Mortimer 1962 Charsada a metropolis of the North West Frontier p Introduction From Bazaria Alexander marched against Peukelaotis seated not far from the Indus which being surrendered to him he placed a garrison in it and proceeded according to Arrian to take many other small towns situated on that river in Archaeological Survey of India Government central Press 1871 p 102 Dani Ahmad Hasan 1963 Pushkalavati The Lotus City Archaeological Guide Series No 1 Peshawar University Peshawar p 5 Khan M Nasim 2005 Terracotta Seal Impressions from Bala Hisar Charsadda in Ancient Pakistan Vol XVI p 13 Litvinsky B A 1999 Cities and Urban Life in the Kushan Kingdom in eds Janos Harmatta B N Puri and G F Etemadi History of Civilizations of Central Asia Vol II The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations 700 B C to A D 250 Motilal Banarsidass Delhi p 292 British Library Collection of Gandharan Scrolls Baums Stefan 2019 A survey of place names in Gandhari inscriptions and a new oil lamp from Malakand in eds Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart The Geography of Gandharan Art Proceedings of the Second International Workshop of the Gandhara Connections Project University of Oxford 22nd 23rd March 2018 Archaeopress Archaeopress Oxford p 169 Manuscript CKM 2 British Library Collection Manuscript CKM 14 British Library Collection Beal Samuel ed amp trans 1884 Si yu ki Buddhist Records of the Western World Volume 2 Author Hiuen Tsang London Dani Ahmad Hasan 1963 Pushkalavati The Lotus City Archaeological Guide Series No 1 Peshawar University Peshawar p 1 https glosbe com ps en D8 BA D9 88 D9 86 DA 89 DB 8D a b CNG Printed Auction Triton XV ATTICA Athens Circa 500 490 485 0 BC AR Tetradrachm 21mm 16 75 g 11h www cngcoins com Archived from the original on 25 December 2019 Retrieved 29 July 2018 CNG Printed Auction Triton XV INDIA Pre Mauryan Gandhara Period of Achaemenid Rule Circa 5th century BC Cast AR Cake Ingot www cngcoins com Catalog of Gandhari Texts gandhari org Retrieved 19 March 2021 Castro Andrea Angelo Andrea A A Di January 2017 Crowns Horns and Goddesses Appropriation of Symbols in Gandhara and Beyond p 39 Gandhara and Its Art Tradition Ajit Ghose Mahua Publishing Company 1978 p 14 Dwaraka Prasad Sharma Shrimad Valmiki Ramayan Sanskrit Text with Hindi Translation DP Sharma 10 volumes via Internet Archive External links EditInvestigating ancient Pushkalavati Pushkalavati Archaeological Research Project Map of Gandhara archaeological sites from the Huntington Collection Ohio State University large file Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pushkalavati amp oldid 1108538874, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
