Pushkalavati

Pushkalavati

Pushkalavati is an ancient site situated in Peshawar valley in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. It is located on the banks of Swat River, near its junction with Kabul River, now it is known as Charsadda. Pushkalavati meaning "Lotus City" was the capital of ancient kingdom Gandhara from the 6th century BC to 2nd century AD.

The ruins of Pushkalavati consist of many stupas and sites of two old cities.

Bala Hisar

This is the oldest settlement of the Pushkalavati occupied from 6th century BC. Ashoka built a stupa there which was described by Xuan Zang when he visited in 630 AD, which is still not found. This site was first excavated in 1902 by Marshal and then by Mortimer Wheeler in 1958.

haikhan Dheri

The Bactrian Greeks built a new city at this site which lies one kilometre from Bala Hissar on the other side of the branch of River Jinde. This city was occupied by Parthian, Sakas and Kushans. In 2nd AD, river changed its course and city was flooded. Town moved to the site of modern village of Rajar.

The city was partly excavated by Ahmad Hasan Dani in 1960’s. There are still many mounds at Mir Ziarat, at Rajar and Shahr-i-Napursan which are still unexcavated.

Pushkalavati & Prayag

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. The local people still bring their dead for burial. Aryan found similar geographical characteristics at the confluence of Ganges and Jumna and founded sacred city by the name of Pryayag near Benares, which is one of the ancient pilgrim centres of India.

Pushkalavati in the Ramayana.

In the concluding portion of the (Ramayana) Uttara 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

Bharata the brother of Rama had two sons, Taksha and Pushkala. The former founded Taksha-sila or Taxila, to the east of the Indus, and known to Alexander and the Greeks as Taxila. The latter founded Pushkala-vati or Pushkalavati [ [http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Peshawar_-_History/id/1841703 Peshawar - History] ] [ [http://www.world66.com/asia/southasia/pakistan/peshawar/history Overview of Peshawar History] ] , to the west of the Indus, and known to Alexander and the Greeks as Peukelaotis. Thus the sons of Bharat are said to have founded kingdoms which flourished on either side of the Indus river .

References

* [http://www.brad.ac.uk/archsci/depart/resgrp/southasia/charsadda/ Charsadda]

ee also

History of Peshawar

ite Map

* [http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/maps/gandh.html Map of Gandhara archaeological sites, from the Huntington Collection, Ohio State University (large file)]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pushkalavati — („Lotusstadt“, griechisch Kaspaturos) war eine antike Stadt im heutigen Pakistan, in der Nordwestprovinz ca. 27 km von Peschawar entfernt. Ihre Ruinenfelder liegen am Fluss Swat in der Umgebung von Charsadda. Sie war einer der Hauptorte in der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gandhara — Gandhāra (Sanskrit: गन्धार, Urdu: گندھارا Gandḥārā ; also known as Waihind in Persian) [ [http://www.takeourword.com/TOW137/page1.html Take Our Word For It: Spotlight on Topical Terms] ] is the name of an ancient kingdom (Mahajanapada), located… …   Wikipedia

  • Dvaravati-Kamboja route — Part of a series on Trade routes Amber Road · Hærvejen . Incense Route Kamboja Dvaravati Route . King s Highway . Northern Arc Roman India routes . Royal Road Silk Road · Spice Route . Tea route …   Wikipedia

  • Maha Kapphina — (Kappina, Kaphina, Kapphina, Kampilla, Kaphila or Kashphila, or Maha Kappina),[1] also called Maha Kapphina Thera, was an eminent Arahant from Uttarapatha and is considered foremost among those who taught the monks.[2] Maha Kapphina was his… …   Wikipedia

  • Peshawar — Urdu: پشاور Pashto: پېښور Hindko: پِشور   City District   …   Wikipedia

  • Indo-Greek Kingdom — Infobox Former Country native name = conventional long name = Indo Greek Kingdom common name = Indo Greek Kingdom continent = Asia region = country = era = Antiquity status = event start = year start = 180 BC date start = event1 = date event1 =… …   Wikipedia

  • Charsadda — For other uses, see Charsadda (disambiguation). Charsadda, Khyber Pukhtonkhawa, Pakistan Charsadda as highlighted Red within Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Coordinates …   Wikipedia

  • Pāṇini — For other uses, see Panini (disambiguation). Pāṇini (Sanskrit: पाणिनि, IPA: [pɑːɳin̪i]; a patronymic meaning descendant of Paṇi ) was an ancient Indian Sanskrit grammarian from Pushkalavati, Gandhara (fl. 4th century BC[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Peukolaos — war ein indo griechischer König, der im ersten vorchristlichen Jahrhundert regierte. Er wird meist um 90 v. Chr. angesetzt und regierte anscheinend in der Region von Gandhara und Arachosien. Peukolaos ist nur von wenigen Münzen bekannt, so dass… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Menander I — Indo Greek king Silver coin of Menander. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (BASILEOS SOTEROS MENANDROU) lit. Of Saviour King Menander . British Museum. Reign …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”