Charikar (Kapisa) and the Panjshir Valley

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"Charikar (Persian: چاریکار‎, pronounced Chârikâr) is the main town of the Kohdaman Valley and the capital of Parwan Province in northern Afghanistan. The city lies on the road 69 km from Kabul to the northern provinces. Travelers would pass Charikar when traveling to Mazar-I-Sharif, Kunduz or Puli Khumri. Charikar is at the gateway to the Panjshir Valley, where the Shamali plains meet the foothills of the Hindu Kush. Charikar is known for its pottery and high-quality grapes....."

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"In 329 BC, Alexander the Great founded the settlement of Parwan as his Alexandria of the Caucasus...(medieval Kapisa) .....He founded the colony at an important junction of communications in the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains, in the country of the Paropamisade......In Classical times, the Hindu Kush were also designated as the "Caucasus" .......from the Scythian kroy-khasis (“ice-shining, white with snow”)."

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'Alexandreia under Kaukasos' was founded by Alexander the great at the foot of Paropanisos in 329 BC before he crossed into Bactria......Alexandreia was 50 miles march from Ortospanum (Kabul) ......Alexandria 'under Kaukasos' or 'of the Paropamisadai'......Location uncertain but try...the valley of the Koh-Daman, which is at the foot of great mountain....toward the northern edge of this valley lies the village of Charikar, where the three roads into Bactria diverge......in this area is a place called Opian or Houpian, where vast ruins discovered by Masson, indicate the former presence of an important town.....Alexandreia is described as 'a city in Opiane'......Houpian...Opiane.....large city in which the Vardaks resided....Hou-pi-na in Chinese)....Babar in his memirs speaks of Houpian as the name of the Pass which opens on the valley of the Ghorbund.....mentioned by Hardy as Alasadda or Alasanda.....(Hardy's Manual of Buddhism).....Alasanda was the birthplace of Menander."....Page 332.....Invasion of India-by Alexander the Great by T.W. McCrindle

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"On the 5th we reached Charekar, the largest town in Koh Daman, and situated at the mouth of the Ghorbund Valley....we should reach the River Parwan the next day....Late in the evening we arrived, very weary and somewhat disheartened, at the botton of a deep dell, along which was scattered a village named Sambala......we reached a shallow ravine, on the opposite bank of which stood a tower commanding the ascent on that side....an old woman stepped forward on the edge of the ravine and stayed the hand of her highly offended countrymen....Her garments hung in tatters, and her manner and gesticulations were fierce and wild...At length here elopeence was successful, and we were permitted to move on. .....we emerged a short time after sunset, into the Parwan valley, at the village of I-angheran. Next day we reached the head of the valley... we pitched our tent at the foot of the pass (to the north-west).....a place called Sir-i-lung.......(the pass of Ghorbund, several miles to the west of Parwan?)....from the foot of the pass to the village of I-angheran the Parwan valley is a narrow, rocky defile...but after passing that village it assumes a softer character..... (Chapter XII...Page 187-193....)......"A Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Source of the River Oxus by John Wood.......https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Personal_Narrative_of_a_Journey_to_the.html?id=aiAPAAAAYAAJ

The Panjshir Valley (also spelled Panjsheer or Panjsher; Persian: درهٔ پنجشير‎ - Dare-ye Panjšēr; literally Valley of the Five Lions) is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range. Located in the Panjshir Province it is divided by the Panjshir River.......The Shomali Plain, also called the Shomali Valley, is a plateau north of Kabul, Afghanistan. It is approximately 30 km wide and 80 km long. Once, it was an extremely fertile area, but it became a desert..... It is one of the relatively few prospering areas of Afghanistan....Shomali Plain is a plateau north of Kabul. It is approximately 30 km wide, and 80 km long.....The valley – fertile and rich with water – was once Kabul's garden: fruit and vegetables were cultivated here, and Kabul's residents picnicked here on weekends."

"Legend reports that Vasubandhu came from the "Kingdom of Shambhala' (approximately, modern Begram, otherwise known as the ancient kingdom of Kapisha, north of Kabul) located in the Afghanistan region, north-west of Peshawar....Bagram (بگرام Bagrám), founded as Alexandria on the Caucasus and known in medieval times as Kapisa, is a small town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul….in the old tradition of the 84 Mahasiddhas that the Kingdom of Uddiyana was divided between two countries, to the North and South. To the North, it bordered on the land of Shambhala (i.e., the Kingdom of Kapisa)…… Website of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje……….. ….http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/pramodavajra.htm"….

"The Kingdom of Uddiyana was divided between two countries.....to the North, it bordered on the land of Shambhala (i.e., the Kingdom of Kapisa)"……Website of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje

"BEGRĀM, the site of ancient Kāpiśa, is located 80.5 km north of Kabul overlooking the Panjšīr valley at the confluence of the Panjšīr and Ḡorband rivers. Its ruins were known in the 19th century and yielded large quantities of coins dating between the period of the Greco-Bactrians and that of the Kushans (cf. C. Masson, “Memoir on the Ancient Coins Found at Behgram, in the Kohistan of Kabul,” JASB 3, 1834, pp. 153-75; 5, 1836, pp. 1-29, 537-47). It was not until 1922, however, that the ruins were correctly recognized by Alfred Foucher as those of the important ancient city of Kāpiśa (A. Foucher, “Le vieille route de l’Inde de Bactres à Taxila,” MDAFA 1, 1942, pp. 138-45). It has been suggested that the town was originally Alexandria-­under-Caucasus, founded by Alexander the Great (cf. W. W. Tam, The Greeks in Bactria and India, 2nd ed., Cambridge, 1951, pp. 96ff., 460-62; H. Deydier, Contribution à l’étude de l’art du Gandhāra, Paris, 1950, pp. 94-97); but there can be no doubt that it was inhabited by the Indo-Greeks, since a coin reverse of Eukratides shows an enthroned deity between an elephant protome and a mountain symbol with the Kharoshthi inscription Kavisiye nagaradevata, i.e., “city god of Kāpiśa” (cf. A. K. Narain, The Indo-Greeks, Oxford, 1957, pp. 63­-64). According to the account of Hsüan-tsang, the city was the summer capital of the Kushan empire under Kanishka (cf. S. Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World I, London, 1884, pp. 54-58).".....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/begram-the-site-of-ancient-kapisa-is-located-80

Ahingaran....Wood mentions the village of I-anghera at the South end of the Parwan and Punjheer valleys.........A Journey to the Source of the River Oxus.....By John Wood

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September 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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The Pashto Language & Pashtun Origins

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"French Buddhist Alexandra David-Néel associated Shambhala with Balkh, also offering the Persian Sham-i-Bala, "elevated candle" as an etymology of its name. In a similar vein, the Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett published speculation that Shambalha was Shams-i-Balkh, a Bactrian sun temple.".....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkh

"Pashto first appeared in writing during the 16th century in the form of an account of Shekh Mali's (King Sardar Sheikh Milli ) Conquest of Swat. It is written with a version of the Arabic script. There are two standard written forms: one based on the dialect of Kandahar, the other on the dialect of Peshawar.......The name Pashto is thought to derive from the reconstructed proto-Iranian form, parsawā 'Persian language. In northen Afghanistan speakers of Pashto are called Pakhtūn; in sourthen Afghanistan they are known as Pashtūn, and as Pathān or Afghan in Pakistan. "......http://www.omniglot.com/writing/pashto.htm

"The Pashtun, or Pushtun, are a race of warriors who live primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They consist of about sixty tribes, each with its own territory. Although their origin is unclear, their legends say that they are the descendants of Afghana, grandson of King Saul. However, most believe they probably arose from ancient Aryans intermingling with subsequent invaders.".... http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/14256/AF

"The peaks of the Safed Koh, between Jalabad and Kabu, bear the names of Sita, Ram, etc....."

"The vast majority of Pashtuns are found in the traditional Pashtun homeland, located in an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and west of the Indus River in Pakistan, which includes Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and part of Balochistan. Additional Pashtun communities are located in western and northern Afghanistan, the Gilgit–Baltistan and Kashmir regions and northwestern Punjab province of Pakistan. Throughout the Indian subcontinent, they are often referred to as Pathans."

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"Pashto (پښتو)........ a member of the southeastern Iranian branch of Indo-Iranian languages spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. There are three main varieties of Pashto: Northern Pashto, spoken mainly in Pakistan; Southern Pashto, spoken mainly in Afghanistan; and Central Pashto, spoken mainly in Pakistan. "

"The three last-named clans are branches of the Yusufzais) Sheikh Mali, who acted as assistant and Counselor of Malik Ahmed, was a wise and learned man. The Yusufzais having completed their plan of settlement in a land of their choice, elected Malik Ahmed their sovereign chief and Sheikh Mali his Vazir. It was an organization within the tribe. Sheikh Mali, who was a revenue expert, wrote a book in Pashto on distribution of land, known as ‘Wesh’ among Pathans. The book not only set forth in detail the rules and regulations of ‘Wesh’ system and was used as a guide by the Yusufzais, but is also a valuable manuscript of Pashto literature in the fifteenth century. The great thinker and poet of Pashto, Khushal Khan Khattak, mentions Sheikh Mali with respect in his ‘Swat Nama’. Though the system of land distribution as introduced by Sheikh Mali was not very useful on the whole, it rather hampered the productivity of land and permanent settlement, it was nevertheless a system perfectly suitable to the political vicissitudes of the times and one upon which all the Yusufzais agreed. In Swat the system was in force as late as the twentieth century. After Malik Ahmed, Khan Kajju and Ali Asghar were two other brave and famous chiefs of the Yusufzais Zahir-ud-Din Babur usurped the throne of Kabul after the death of Ulugh Beg. Being ambitious, he soon out to conquer India as well. Partly owing to the instigation of the Dilazaks and partly believing Yusufzais to be naturally opposed to the Mughals, he thought it expedient to crush them before going any further. He, therefore, assumed the aggressive against them. Thousands of innocent men and women were ruthlessly slain, miles of cultivated fields were trampled and scores of villages were burnt to ashes. By now a monster of rage and vengeance, Babur struck camp at ‘Qatlang’ near Mardan and planned ways and means of totally eradicating the Yusufzai tribe. In the meantime a jirga of the chiefs of Yusufzais waited on him and pleaded for mercy. Babur himself appreciated the advantages of establishing amicable terms with them. He reached an agreement with the Yusufzai chiefs, ‘whom he rewarded with robes and presents. A nominal tribute of rupees one thousand was levied on them. To assure them of his good intentions he married the daughter of Shah Mansur, an important chief of the Yusufzais. He had to fight against the Sultan of India, Ibrahim Lodhi, and the successful attempt at winning the friendship of a powerful Pathan tribe was a clever move which greatly strengthened his hands.".......https://www.reddit.com/r/Swatvalley/comments/2atzgt/history_of_swat/

"Paṧtō is an Iranic language spoken in south and southeastern Afghanistan, by recent settlers in northern Afghanistan, in Pakistan (North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan), and on the eastern border of Iran..... Indo-Aryan Paṭhān must have been adopted from Paṧtō *Paṧtan-.......Paҳt’o denotes not only the Paštūn language, but also the national code of honor: Paҳtūn haγa na daγ či Paҳto wāyi, lekin haγa či Paҳto ləri “a Paṧtūn is not he who (only) speaks Paṧtō, but he who has Paṧtō. ” This expression symbolizes the strong feeling of Paṧtun national unity—unique among Iranic ethnic groups—in spite of the numerous tribes, subtribes, clans, and continuous inter-tribal fighting......http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-vi-pasto

"There are two major dialects of Pashto: Western Pashto spoken in Afghanistan and in the capital, Kabul, and Eastern Pashto spoken in northeastern Pakistan. Most speakers of Pashto speak these two dialects. Two other dialects are also distinguished: Southern Pashto, spoken in Baluchistan (western Pakistan and eastern Iran) and in Kandahar, Afghanistan......Pushto has been written in a variant of the Persian script (which in turn is a variant of Arabic script) since the late sixteenth century......The first written records of Pushto are believed to date from the sixteenth century and consist of an account of Shekh Mali's conquest of Swat......Traces of the history of Pushto are present in its vocabulary. While the majority of words can be traced to Pushto's roots as member of the Eastern Iranian language branch, it has also borrowed words from adjacent languages for over two thousand years. The oldest borrowed words are from Greek, and date from the Greek occupation of Bactria in third century BC. There are also a few traces of contact with Zoroastrians and Buddhists. Starting in the Islamic period, Pushto borrowed many words from Arabic and Persian. Due to its close geographic proximity to languages of the Indian sub-continent, Pushto has borrowed words from Indian languages for centuries.".....http://www.afghan-network.net/Ethnic-Groups/pashtu-history.html

"Not only the Pathans, but also the Afghan Royal Family has a very well known tradition placing its origin in ancient Israel, they came from the Tribe of Benjamin.......This tradition was first published in 1635 in a book called Mahsan-I-Afghani and has often been mentioned in the research literature. According to this tradition, King Saul had a son called Jeremiah who had a son called Afghana. Jeremiah died at about the time of King Saul's death and Afghana was raised by King David and remained in the royal court during King Solomon's reign.......About 400 years later in the time of disorder of Israel, the Afghana family fled to a land called Gur which is in central Afghanistan. They settled and traded with the people of the area and in the year 662, with the arrival of Islam, the sons of Israel in Gur converted to the prophet with 7 representatives of the Afghan. The leader of the sons of Israel was Kish like the name of Saul's father. "......http://www.moshiach.com/tribes/afghanistan.html

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September 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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Darius the Great and the Kabul River (515 BC)

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Achaemenid Provinces during the rule of Darius the Great ..... third Achaemenid king of kings (r. 522-October 486 B.C.)......Darius sent a naval reconnaissance mission down the Kabul river (aka Sita) to the Indus.....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/darius-iii

"Darius I (c. 550–486 BCE) was the third king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Also called Darius the Great, he ruled the empire at its peak, when it included much of West Asia, the Caucasus, parts of the Balkans (Thrace-Macedonia and Paeonia), most of the Black Sea coastal regions, parts of the North Caucasus, Central Asia, as far as the Indus Valley in the far east, and portions of north and northeast Africa including Egypt (Mudrâya), eastern Libya and coastal Sudan."

"Darius himself marched against “the rebellious Scythians” of Central Asia, who threatened the northern and eastern flanks of the empire; he crossed the Caspian Sea, defeated the group known as the Pointed-Hat Scythians (Sakā tigraxaudā), captured their “king,” Skunxa, and installed a loyal leader in his stead (DB 5.20-33; for detailed commentary, see Shahbazi, 1982, pp. 189-96). On his return he added the image of Skunxa and an account of the Elamite and Scythian campaigns to the reliefs at Bīsotūn. In autumn 517 he traveled to Egypt and succeeded in pacifying the rebellious Egyptians by showing respect for their religion and past glory and by ordering the codification of their laws; in turn he received their obeisance and reverence (Polyaenus, Strategemata 7.11.7; Diodorus, 1.95.4-5; for details, see Bresciani, pp. 507-09; Ray, pp. 262-64). After he returned to Persia Darius executed Intaphernes for treason (Herodotus, 3.118-19) and sent a naval reconnaissance mission down the Kabul river to the Indus; it explored the eastern borderlands, Sind, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea and arrived in Egypt near modern Suez thirty months later (Hinz, 1976, p. 198; Bivar, CAH2, pp. 202-04). Following this expedition “Darius conquered the Indians [of Sind], and made use of the sea in those parts” (Herodotus, 4.44)."......http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/darius-iii

"The Father of History, Herodotus of Halicarnassus refers to Scylax and his expedition in book 4, section 44........The greater part of Asia the greater part was explored by [the Persian king] Darius, who desired to know more about the river Indus, which is one of the two rivers in the world to produce crocodiles. He wanted to know where this river runs out into the sea, and sent with his ships [...] Scylax, a man of Caryanda.......They started from the city of Caspatyrus in the land of Pactyïke, sailed down the river towards the east and to the sea. Sailing westwards over the sea, they came in the thirtieth month to the place from whence the king of the Egyptians had sent out the Phoenicians of whom I spoke before [text], to sail round Africa.......Pactyïke was a part of ancient Gandara (eastern Afghanistan) and Caspatyrus, which is not mentioned in other sources, has to be somewhere along the river Kabul. Since Herodotus tells us in the next line that Scylax' expedition was a preliminary to Darius' conquest of the Indus valley, we can date this voyage after 519 -when Darius' rule was secure- and before 512, when India seems to have been part of the Persian empire......Scylax' voyage led him along the Indus, along the shores of the Indian ocean and those of the Persian gulf. We do not know the details of this expedition, but we have a later source, the Indikê by Arrian of Nicomedia, which contains an excerpt of the story of Nearchus, the admiral of Alexander the Great. He made the same voyage and mentions the tides, whales and the hard living conditions along the Gedrosian coast.".......http://www.livius.org/articles/person/scylax-of-caryanda/

"Western India was part of the Persian Empire during the reign of Darius the First, so almost certainly the answer is yes. He tried to develop the commerce of the empire, and sent an expedition down the Kabul and the Indus, led by the Carian captain Scylax of Caryanda, who explored the Indian Ocean from the mouth of the Indus to Suez.".....http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Darius_I_of_Persia#The_empire_under_Darius

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"Kabul River aka: Sita River..........In 672 an Arab governor of Sistan, Abbad ibn Ziyad, raided the frontier of Al-Hind and crossed the desert to Gandhara, but quickly retreated again. The marauder Obaidallah crossed the Sita River and made a raid on Kabul in 698 only to meet with defeat and humiliation. Vincent Smith, in Early History of India, states that the Turkishahiya dynasty continued to rule over Kabul and Gandhara up until the advent of the Saffarids in the ninth century. Forced by the inevitable advance of Islam on the west, they then moved their capital from Kapisa to Wahund on the Indus, whence they contin­ued as the Hindushahiya dynasty. This was in 870 A.D. and marks the first time that the Kingdom of Shambhala actually came under Moslem domination. The Hindushahis recaptured Kabul and the rest of their Kingdom after the death of the conqueror Yaqub but never again maintained Kapisa as their capital."......http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/lord-padmasambhava.htm#eightcentury

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"After he returned to Persia Darius executed Intaphernes for treason (Herodotus, 3.118-19) and sent a naval reconnaissance mission down the Kabul river to the Indus; it explored the eastern borderlands, Sind, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea and arrived in Egypt near modern Suez thirty months later (Hinz, 1976, p. 198; Bivar, CAH2, pp. 202-04). Following this expedition "Darius conquered the Indians [of Sind], and made use of the sea in those parts" (Herodotus, 4.44).".......http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/History/hakhamaneshian/darius_great.htm

"The Achaemenian records and Herodotus suggest that Massagetae and Haumavarga were one and the same and they inhabited the present-day region east of the Caspian Sea and west of the Aral Sea. This area that presently is watered by Gorganrud and Atrak in the south and the Oxus and Jaxartes in the north had a different look in the views of the ancient geographers. The Oxus and Jaxartes were deemed to empty into the Caspian Sea, thereby creating a milieu consisting of plains intersected by various rivers closer to the Iranian heartland.".....Atlas of Ancient and Classical Geography (London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1950), pp. 2-5.....http://www.romanianhistoryandculture.com/dariusiinthracia.htm

"Scylax of Caryanda was a renowned Greek explorer and writer of the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. His own writings are lost, though occasionally cited or quoted by later Greek and Roman authors...In about 515 BCE, Scylax was sent by King Darius I of Persia to follow the course of the Indus River and discover where it led.....Scylax and his companions set out from the city of Caspatyrus in Gandhara (which would mean he entered the Indus close to its confluence with the Kabul River, near to what is now Peshawar in Pakistan). Scylax sailed down the river until he found it reached the sea. He then sailed west across the Indian Ocean until he arrived at the Red Sea, which he also explored. He travelled as far as the Red Sea's western end at Suez, before returning to report to Darius I. His entire journey took thirty months.. ".....Lendering, Jona "Scylax of Caryanda".

"Skylaks of Karyanda (Greek: Σκύλαξ; Latin and English: Scylax) was a famous explorer and writer from Karyanda in Karia in the late 500's and early 400 BC His own writings have been lost, but has been occasionally quoted or mentioned by later Greek and Roman writers. He was in the Persian service, sailed down Kabul, made ​​a reconnaissance along the coast of the Indian Ocean until the Red Sea of 13 months around the time 515 BC ......The periplous ("Circumnavigation") which is preserved under his name, however, is not of him, but one geographic study (rather than a travel description) which was written early in 330 BC by an unknown author who worked in or by Aristotle 'peripatetic school in Athens. This work is known as the Periplus of Pseudo-Skylaks. "......https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylaks

"The Kabul River (Persian/Urdu: دریای کابل‎; Pashto: کابل سیند‎, Sanskrit: कुभा ), the classical Cophes /ˈkoʊfiːz/, is a 700-kilometre (430 mi) long river that starts in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and ends in the Indus River near Attock, Pakistan. It is the main river in eastern Afghanistan and is separated from the watershed of the Helmand by the Unai Pass. The Kabul River passes through the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad in Afghanistan before flowing into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan some 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of the Durand Line border crossing at Torkham. The major tributaries of the Kabul River are the Logar, Panjshir, Kunar, Alingar, Bara and Swat rivers.....The Kabul River is little more than a trickle for most of the year, but swells in summer due to melting snows in the Hindu Kush Range. Its largest tributary is the Kunar River, which starts out as the Mastuj River, flowing from the Chiantar glacier in Chitral, Pakistan and after flowing south into Afghanistan it is met by the Bashgal river flowing from Nurestan. The Kunar meets the Kabul near Jalalabad. In spite of the Kunar carrying more water than the Kabul, the river continues as the Kabul River after this confluence, mainly for the political and historical significance of the name."

"John Wood (1812 – 14 November 1871) was a Scottish naval officer, surveyor, cartographer and explorer, principally remembered for his exploration of central Asia.....Many of the maps of southern Asia which he compiled remained standard for the rest of the 19th century......In 1835, aged twenty-two, he commanded the first steamboat to paddle up the Indus River and surveyed the river as he went. Four years later, he led an expedition that found one of the River Oxus' sources in central Asia. The Royal Geographical Society recognised his work by awarding him their Patron's Medal in 1841.....John Wood..... A Narrative of a Journey to the Source of the River Oxus, London: John Murray, 1841.

Natural Mind Meditation.......Page 275......By Rodney Devenish

"Within the territory of Olmo Lung-ring..... there are eight great rivers in different directions and in the valleys along these rivers the peoples speak different languages and dialects. Whereas the language in the inner lands is that of the Swastika Gods, here in the twelve middle lands the people mainly speak and write the eight transformed languages (bsgyur-ba'i skad), each of which is associated with one of the eight great rivers as follows: 1. "gTsang-ma lha skad" along the Na-ra-dza-ra river in the east, 2. "Dag-pa lha skad" along the Pakshu river in the the north, 3. "Samskri lha skad" (i.e., Sanskrit) along the Ma-shang river in the west, 4. "Khri-wer lha skad" along the Sindhu river in the south, 5. "Hor ci 'phrul skad" along the Ganga river in the south east, 6. "sPos ci 'phrul skad" along the SITA river in the southwest, 7. "Ci gung 'phrul skad" along the Seng-ga river in the northwest, and 8. "Cung tshe 'phrul skad" along the Serdan (gser-ldan) river in the northeast. .....http://www.surajamrita.com/bon/Shambala.html

"Panchenko, D. V., ‘Scylax’ circumnavigation of India and its interpretation in early Greek geography, ethnography and cosmography, I’, Hyperboreus, 4. 2 (1998), 211–42; id., ‘Scylax in Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana’, Hyperboreus, 8. 1 (2002), 5–12; id., ‘Scylax’ circumnavigation of India and its interpretation in early Greek geography, ethnography and cosmography, II’, Hyperboreus, 9. 2 (2003), 274–94."

W. Hinz, “Zur Behistun-Inschrift des Dareios,” ZDMG 96, 1942, pp. 326-49.

R. W. Macan, Herodotus. The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Books II, London, 1895.

Page 188....The Village of Sambala.......A personal narrative of a journey to the source of the river Oxus : by the route of the Indus, Kabul, and Badakhshan, performed under the sanction of the supreme government of India, in the years 1836, 1837, and 1838......by Wood, John, 1811-1871

"The Choaspes (also called Zuastus and Guræus) is a river that rises in the ancient Paropamise range (now the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan), eventually falling into the Indus river near its confluence with the Cophes river (which is usually identified with the Kabul river).......The Kabul River (Persian/Urdu: دریای کابل‎; Pashto: کابل سیند‎, Sanskrit: कुभा ), the classical Cophes /ˈkoʊfiːz/, is a 700-kilometre (430 mi) long river that emerges in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and empties into the Indus River near Attock, Pakistan."

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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Sogd to Bactria Migration (4500 BC)

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"ARIA, Herat, -also called Heri, and the river which it stands is called Heri-rud. ... According to Ch. Bunsen, the migration from Sogd to Bactria, took place about 5000 BC...When the climate was altered by some vast disturbance of nature, the Arians migrated....Sogdiana in Samarkand......home of the Fire Worshippers......the River Sogd.....The second settlement was in Margiana (Merv)....the River Margus.....Third settlement was Bokhdi (Bactria/Balkh).....Bactria of the lofty banners was the seat of the Empire...The fourth settlement was Nisaya on the upper Oxus...."......Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia....by Edward Balfour - 1871 - ‎India....https://books.google.com/books?id=i39RAAAAcAAJ

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The homeland of the Aryans, or Aryan lands was called Airyana Vaeja or Airyanam Dakhyunam in the Avesta and Arya Varta in the Vedas.......http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/images/maps/vendidadnations.jpg

"Balk is named Amu-I-Balad.....the mother of cities. It is said to have been built by Kaismurz of Persia. It was conquered by Alexander....Shams are said to worship the Sun (Shams) Pers..."...(Page 139).....Rivers: Amu (A Mu) or River Oxus, Sir or Jaxartes, Kohik or Zar-Afshatn, and the river of Kurshi and Balkh...."....Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia...by Edward Balfour - 1871 - ‎India

3102 BC - Beginning of Kali Yuga as per the Vedas....Human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga,which is referred to as the Dark Age......Towards the end of this yuga, Kalki will return riding on a white horse .........In the Kalachakra tradition, Kalki is brandishing a brilliant sword in his left hand, eradicating the decadence of Kali Yuga. Lord Kalki will remove the darkness of kali yuga and establish a new yuga (age) called Satya yuga (Age of Truth) on the earth...Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brahmana of Shambhala village......"

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"Sogdiana (/ˌsɔːɡdiˈænə, ˌsɒɡ-/) or Sogdia (/ˈsɔːɡdiə, ˈsɒɡ-/; Old Persian: Suguda-; Ancient Greek: Σογδιανή, Sogdianē; Persian: سغد‎ Soġd; Tajik: Суғд, سغد Suġd; Uzbek: Sugʻd; Chinese: 粟特, Mandarin: Sùtè)......the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great (i. 16). Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created. This region is listed second after Airyanem Vaejah, "homeland of the Aryans", in the Zoroastrian book of Vendidad, indicating the importance of this region from ancient times.......The Sogdian states, although never politically united, were centered on the main city of Samarkand. Sogdiana lay north of Bactria, east of Khwarezm, and southeast of Kangju between the Oxus (Amu Darya) and the Jaxartes (Syr Darya), embracing the fertile valley of the Zeravshan (ancient Polytimetus). ".....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sogdia

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Achaemenid Provinces during the rule of Darius the Great ..... third Achaemenid king of kings (r. 522-October 486 B.C.)......Darius sent a naval reconnaissance mission down the Kabul river (aka Sita) to the Indus.....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/darius-iii

"The Iron Gate is a defile between Balkh and Samarkand. It breaks up the mountains which extend from the Hisar range south towards the Amu Darya. In ancient times it was used as the passage between Bactria and Sogdia and was likely of great importance to any power in the region. Its name comes from the belief that an actual gate, reinforced with Iron, stood in the defile. It is located to west from Boysun, Surxondaryo Province."...... Alexey V. Arapov. "Boysun. Masterpieces of Central Asia". Retrieved 2014-03-25. "The Iron Gates were located on the old road in the canyon of Dara-i Buzgala-khana 3 km to northwest from Shurob kishlak."

"The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC, also known as the "Oxus civilization") is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age culture of Central Asia, dated to ca. 2200–1700 BC...About 1800 BC, the walled BMAC centres decreased sharply in size."

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"The early Greek historian Ctesias, c. 400 BC (followed by Diodorus Siculus), alleged that the legendary Assyrian king Ninus (2189 BC) had defeated a Bactrian king named Oxyartes in c. 2140 BC, or some 1000 years before the Trojan War. ( 1194–1184 BC).....Known as Bactra to the ancient Greeks, Balkh is found in northern Afghanistan and is descibed as the 'Mother of Cities' by Arabs. It reached its peak between 2,500 BC and 1,900 BC prior to the rise of the Persian and Median empires. "

"The Avesta's Farvardin Yasht - the five nations mentioned are Airyana Vaeja (called Airyanam Dakhyunam in the Yasht) as well as four neighbouring lands. These four lands neighbouring Airyana Vaeja are Tuirya, Sairima, Saini and Dahi. Since -nam is a usual ending for many Avestan nouns, the nations are also named as Airyanam, Tuiryanam, Dahinam, Sairimanam and Saininam....Kava Vishtasp, Kava being a title of the Kayanian kings of Bakhdhi / Balkh, is mentioned in the Farvardin Yasht....Bakhdi is listed as a nation in the Vendidad but not in the Farvardin Yasht. These later texts also tell us that Zarathushtra died in Bakhdi/Balkh, killed by a Turanian.......Balkh is directly south of Samarkand over an eastern spur of the Pamir mountains. The predecessors of present day Samarkand and Balkh are among the first nations listed in another (and later) book of the Avesta - the Vendidad. ...".....http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/aryans/airyanavaeja.htm

"Migration of the Aryans.....Before the era of legendary King Jamshid, see (Aryan Prehistory and Location of Aryan Homeland), the original Aryan homeland in the Avesta, Airyana Vaeja, could not have been very large. However, starting in the Jamshidi era and continuing up to the establishment of the Achaemenian Persian empire under Darius the Great, the Aryan lands did grow considerably in size.....The Zoroastrian Avesta, the Hindu Vedas and other texts tell us that the Aryans migrated out of Airyana Vaeja and that the lands associated with the Aryans increased in size for the following reasons:
1. An increase in population during the Jamshidi era.
2. Climate change to severe winters and short summers.
3. Trading with neighbouring lands and settlement of significant populations in these lands.
4. Establishment of kingdoms through settlement or conquest. A federation of these kingdoms during the Feridoon Era / Pishdadian dynasty. 5. Inter-Aryan wars. The schism between the Aryan religious groups, the Mazda-Asura worshippers and the deva worshippers...... cf. reign of King Vishtasp and life of Zarathushtra.
6. Establishment of the Persian empire that included the original federation of kingdoms as well as additional lands. "....
http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/aryans/airyanavaeja.htm

"Hara Berezaiti, the Hara Mountains.....The Mehr Yasht at 10.13 and 14 states that the Aryan abode (airyo-shayanem) was "where the high mountains (garayo berezanto), rich in pastures and waters, yield plenty to the cattle", and that when the Sun rises above the taro (peaks - see further discussion below) of the Hara, it casts its golden rays down on the abode of the Aryans......."Hara Berezaiti". The modern word Alburz is said to be derived from Hara Berezaiti....the Alburz (Hara) mountains......The one mountain range that fits this description very well is the Hindu Kush....."As recently as the 19th century, a peak in the northernmost range in the Hindu Kush system, just south of Balkh, was recorded as Mount Elburz in British army maps (i.e. the western arm of the Hindu Kush (Sanskrit as Pāriyātra Parvata and in Ancient Greek as the Caucasus Indicus)." The same mountains are also called the Aparsen (likely Gk. Paropamisus) in the Bundahishn. We are also given to understand that the highest peak of the Caucasus is also called "Elbrus". The poet Ferdowsi's references to the Alburz in his epic, the Shahnameh, lead us to the environs of Hind, perhaps meaning the mountains of the Upper Indus, the Hindu Kush, Pamirs, Karakorum and Himalayas - the Alburz or Hara Berezaiti of old. Strabo would call the Hara Berezaiti the Taurus Mountains, a string of mountains that ran from Turkey to the boundaries of China...Mary Boyce informs us that when the Khotanese Saka became Buddhists, they referred to Mt. Sumeru of Buddhist legends as Ttaira Haraysa, the peak of Hara. ."....... http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/aryans/location.htm#mountains

"Pre-Achaemenid period. Before the arrival of Iranian peoples in Central Asia, Sogdiana had already experienced at least two urban phases. The first was at Sarazm (4th-3rd m. BC), a town of some 100 hectares has been excavated, where both irrigation agriculture and metallurgy were practiced (Isakov). It has been possible to demonstrate the magnitude of links with the civilization of the Oxus as well as with more distant regions, such as Baluchistan. The second phase began in at least the 15th century BCE at Kök Tepe, on the Bulungur canal north of the Zarafšān River, where the earliest archeological material appears to go back to the Bronze Age, and which persisted throughout the Iron Age, until the arrival from the north of the Iranian-speaking populations that were to become the Sogdian group. It declined with the rise of Samarkand (Rapin, 2007). Pre-Achaemenid Sogdiana is recalled in the Younger Avesta (chap. 1 of the Vidēvdād, q.v.) under the name Gava and said to be inhabited by the Sogdians.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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The Palola Shahi Dynasty (6–8th C. AD)

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"In the 6th–8th C. AD, the Patola (Palola) Shahis ruled the country of Bolor, in what today is Northern Pakistan. (Balawaristan (Urdu:بلاورستان) is an historical name of Gilgit-Baltistan that has regained some prevalence in recent years. The archaic English spelling for the name was Boloristan).....There are a number of Buddhist artworks and texts that can be attributed through inscriptions to this royal family. Although the dynasty's visual record is clearly Buddhist, no comprehensive art historical scholarship has been conducted on it .........The Patola Shahi Dynasty: A Buddhological Study of their Patronage, Devotion and Politics by Rebecca L. Twist

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"The people of this region have historically been referred to as Balawars (or highlanders), which is said to have come from the term BALA, which means high......An alternative theory links the name to a 'mythic' ancient king called Bolor Shah, who had first united the region and from whom local rulers in turn often claimed descent. Yet a third theory was proposed by the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research of Pakistan that "the name is most probably derived from the title Patola, the Buddhist royal dynasty which was powerful in the region from to 8th centuries AD."

Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World....(Page 234).....By André Wink

"The most famous of the Gilgit manuscripts, the Gilgit Lotus Sutra is preserved in the National Archives of India in Delhi. Known as the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra – or the teachings of the white lotus and sun – the sutra is the basis of the Tiantai and Nichiren schools of Buddhism.....In August 1938, seven years after the discovery of the texts, the archaeologist Madhusudan Kaul Shastri led a systematic excavation of the Naupur site near Gilgit and discovered another larger chamber at the base of the structure. The chamber contained another set of the Gilgit Manuscripts along with votive objects and probably Buddhist cult bronzes......According to renowned scholar Karl Jettmar, inscriptions on these bronzes “reveal that they were produced and dedicated due to the generosity and the religious zeal of a Patola Shahi”. The Patola Shahis, also known as Palola Shahis, were the rulers of Gilgit and Baltistan from the late sixth to the early eighth centuries AD."....... Jeremy Norman ....http://www.historyofinformation.com.....The Oldest Manuscript Collection Surviving in Pakistan and India (Circa 400 CE – 600)

"Enthroned Buddha Granting Boon (Merit).....Period: Patola Shahi period.....Date: dated by inscription to ca. 600....Culture: Pakistan (Gilgit Kingdom)....This Buddha is one of the three earliest datable sculptures associated with the kingdom of Gilgit in northern Pakistan. All were commissioned by Queen Mangalahamsika, known from Gilgit manuscripts to have been the senior queen to King Vajraditayanandi (reigned ca. 600). ...Mangalahamsika and her king were members of the Patola Shahi dynasty...The Sanskrit donor inscription engraved on the front cartouche states: “Om. This is a pious gift. This pious gift was ordered to be made by the Shri Paramadevi [Highest Queen] Mangalahamsika” (trans. O. von Hinueber)."....http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/76445

"Although the full evidence cannot be given in this paper, I believe the chronology of the westward advance of the Tibetan empire into these regions (7th-9th centuries AD), with the subsequent ethnic Tibetanisation of parts of them, can now be outlined with a much higher degree of confidence. Against this background the paper will consider the range, iconography, stylistics and epigraphy of these rock reliefs using published and unpublished material. It will also briefly review the sculptural and other art of the Patola Shahi dynasty of Gilgit in relation to historical developments. The paper will conclude that while the new Tibetan rulers brought the art of the Patola Shahis to an end, they encouraged and sponsored the production of most or all of the rock carvings under consideration."......Recent discoveries of rock-carvings and rock- artefacts from Swat valley (Pakistan) Luca Maria Olivieri: IsIAO, Romehttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/southasianarchaeology/Tibetan.pdf

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The Journal of Asian Studies / Volume 65 / Issue 02 / May 2006, pp 454-455

"Before the invasion of Tibetans in 727, the official language of both the Palola Shahis and the clergy was Brahmi, brought into the area after the 4th legendary Buddhist Conference in Jalandhar. ...The best-known Brahmi inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to 250–232 BC......The Balti language (Urdu: بلتی‎; Wylie: sbal ti skad, THL: Beltiké ) is a Tibetic language spoken in Baltistan division of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, and adjoining parts of Ladakh, India. It is quite different from Standard Tibetan. Many sounds of Old Tibetan that were lost in Standard Tibetan are retained in the Balti language. The Balti ethnicity is primarily Tibetan in origin, with some Dardic admixture. However people migrated to this area in different periods of ancient times for different reasons, and after merging in the prevailing Tibetan society, gave birth to a new civilization."

"Balurin Shah regarded himself as the son of the Sun God."......First King of the Palola Shahis was Surendra ditya nandi........ King Vajra ditaya nandi...http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=856900

A Grammar of the Shina Language of Indus Kohistan......By Ruth Laila Schmidt, Razwal Kohistani

"The Kabul Shahi also called Shahiya dynasties ruled .....which included portions of the Kabulistan and the old province of Gandhara (now in northern Pakistan), from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century. The kingdom was known as Kabul Shahi (Kabul-shāhān or Ratbél-shāhān in Persian کابلشاهان یا رتبیل شاهان) between 565 and 879 when they had Kapisa and Kabul as their capitals, and later as Hindu Shahi......The Shahis of Kabul/Gandhara are generally divided into the two eras of the "Buddhist Shahis" and the "Hindu Shahis", with the change-over thought to have occurred sometime around 870 AD......"In 672 an Arab governor of Sistan, Abbad ibn Ziyad, raided the frontier of Al-Hind and crossed the desert to Gandhara, but quickly retreated again. The marauder Obaidallah crossed the Sita (Kabul) River and made a raid on Kabul in 698 AD only to meet with defeat and humiliation. Vincent Smith, in Early History of India, states that the Turki Shahiya dynasty continued to rule over Kabul and Gandhara up until the advent of the Saffarids in the ninth century. Forced by the inevitable advance of Islam on the west, they then moved their capital from Kapisa to Wahund on the Indus, whence they contin­ued as the Hindu Shahiya dynasty. This was in 870 A.D. and marks the first time that the Kingdom of Shambhala actually came under Moslem domination. The Hindu Shahis recaptured Kabul and the rest of their Kingdom after the death of the conqueror Yaqub but never again maintained Kapisa as their capital."....http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/lord-padmasambhava.htm#eightcentury

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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The Vidyādharas of Uddiyana & Kashmir

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"Vidyadhara (Skt. vidyādhara; Tib. རིག་འཛིན་, rigdzin; Wyl. rig 'dzin) — rig-pa 'dzin-pa - vidyadhara, knowledge-holder .....literally ‘awareness holder’. According to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, it indicates someone who constantly abides in the state of pure awareness of 'rigpa’. ".....Eight vidyadharas (Tib. རིག་འཛིན་བརྒྱད་, rigdzin gyé; Wyl. rig 'dzin brgyad) — eight masters of awareness (vidyadhara) who were entrusted with the Kagyé teachings:
....http://www.rigpawiki.org

Prabhahasti... འོད་ཀྱི་གླང་པོ་……received and practised the Vajrakilaya tantra from the Kagyé cycle….The Vidyadhara Prabhahasti was born in the royal house of Kashmir. He received ordination from the Master Santiprabha of Citavara and studied the Vinaya Discipline from Punyakirti of Maru. Then he went to Nalanda University. Later he received teachings in Mahayoga tantra from Vidyadhara Humkara. After winning accomplishment he extracted the Vajrakilaya doctrines from the Shankarakuta Stupa located in the Sitavana cremation ground, and practicing the same, eventually acquired Enlightenment. ….Prahasti (glang po'i od), Skt. Prabhahasti). 'Radiant Elephant.' Among the Eight Vidyadharas the receiver of the transmission of the tantras of Kilaya Activity. Born to a royal family Kashmir and named Shakyaprabha when ordained as monk, Prahasti became extremely well-versed in the Tripitaka and studied Secret Mantra with Vajrahasya (rdo rje bzhad pa) and numerous other masters. He achieved supreme accomplishment and had, together with his disciple Shakyamitra, a tremendous impact on the Dharma in Kashmir.

Dhanasamskrita, ནོར་གྱི་ལེགས་སྦྱར་…… he received and practised the Mamo Bötong tantra from the Kagyé cycle….nor gyi legs sbyar - Dhana Sanskrita. One of the Eight Vidyadharas, the receiver of the transmissions of Liberating Sorcery of Mother Deities, Mamo Bötong. Not much is available about his life besides him being born in the Thogar area of Uddiyana

Rambuguhya-Devachandra, ལྷའི་ཟླ་བ་… (lha'i zla ba). One of the Eight Vidyadharas, receiver of the transmission of Mundane Worship .......born in Uddiyana.....he received and practised the Jikten Chötö tantra from the Kagyé cycle.

Shantigarbha, ཞི་བའི་སྙིང་པོ་……(zhi ba'i snying po). One of the Eight Vidyadharas, receiver of the transmission of Maledictory Fierce Mantra. Born in Uddiyana........he received and practised the Möpa Drakngak tantra from the Kagyé cycle...Shintamgarbha

"... the Eight Vidyadharas (Tib. Rigdzin), or Eight Great Acharyas: Manjushrimitra, Nagarjuna, Vajrahumkara, Vimalamitra, Prabhahasti, Dhanasamskrita, Shintamgarbha and Guhyachandra."....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayoga

The Dark Red Amulet: Oral Instructions on the Practice of Vajrakilaya.....By Khenchen Palden Rinpoche

"Kagyé (Wyl. bka' brgyad) or Drubpa Kagyé (Wyl. sgrub pa bka' brgyad; Eng. 'the Eight Great Sadhana Teachings') — the term Kagyé refers to the eight (Tib. gyé) sets of Mahayoga teachings or transmissions (Tib. ka) entrusted to the eight vidyadharas of India."

"The Shankarakuta stupa (Skt. Śaṅkarakūuṭa caitya; Wyl. mchod rten bde byed brtsegs pa, Chöten Deché Tsekpa) is located in the Shitavana charnel ground. This is place of the revelation of the Kagyé. ...Archaeology has shown that the great stupa of Andan Dheri stood 80 feet high (24 metres) and was surrounded by 14 votive stupas. This must have been the location of the famous Shankarakuta Stupa cited by early Buddhist historians in the Dzogchen tradition, the dazzling monument mentioned by Huen Tsiang and which was said to have graced the shore of sacred Dhanakosha lake."......http://www.dharmafellowship.org/library/essays/uddiyana.htm

"Vidyadhara(s) (Sanskrit Vidyādhara, literally "wisdom-holders") are a group of supernatural beings in who possess magical powers.....they attend Shiva, who dwells on Mount Kailas. They are considered as Upadevas, semi-gods....Vidyadharas and Vidyadharis appear in Buddhist sources as well."....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidyadhara

"In the Hindu epics, Vidyadharas are described as essentially spirits of the air. They are described as doing different activities in the epics like gazing at human prowess with astonishment, strewing flowers watching a combat, rejoicing with music and laughter, crowned with wreaths and fleeing with their wives from danger. They possess great magical powers like the ability to diminish their size. They are endowed with epithets describing them as "doers of good and devoted to joy". They also live in Gandhamandhana mountain and other Himalayan mountains with Kinnaras. They are also described residing on Mount Krauncha, on Citrakuta where Rama saw Vidyadhara women playing, in the hills of Malabar and in the Khandava forest. They are also seen in Kubera's court, headed by their leader Chakradharman and in Indra's palace under Vipracitti."......

"In the epics, the women of the Vidyadharas, called Vidyadharis are described to possess great beauty..."...Hopkins, Edward Washburn (1915). Epic Mythology

"Gunadhya is said to have composed seven massive stories about Vidyadharas, then to have destroyed the first six stories when the king rejected them, retaining only the seventh story — of Naravahanadatta — which became the Brihatkatha written in Paishachi language. This work is not extant, but three adaptations exist in Sanskrit: Brhatkathamanjari by Kshemendra, Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva, and Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha by Budhasvamin. Kathasaritsagara presents some stories about Vidyadharas like Devadatta (a Brahmin boy who acquired Vidyadhara-hood), Jimutavahana, Muktaphalaketu and Naravahanadatta (who became an emperor of the Vidyadharas).".....

"Guṇāḍhya is the Sanskrit name of the sixth-century Indian author of the Brihatkatha, a large collection of tales attested by Daṇḍin....He wrote the Brihatkatha in the little-known Prakrit called Paiśācī, the language of common people of the border regions of Northwest India..... the loss of this text is one of the greatest losses of Indian literature."

The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India......By David Gordon White

"Vidyadhara-Yantra.....The word yantra is used in a plethora of ways.......the use of the term as it applies to physical yogas preserved in Tibet (ie 'phrul 'khor / 'khrul 'khor)......relevant to the specific Indo-Tibetan yogic traditions being discussed. The vidyadhara-yantra of Indian alchemy is used in a process which is heavily analogous to the physical yoga practices involved. The fiery bottom is the fiery candali (kundalini) originating in the lower torso. The cool chamber at the top is the cool chamber of the cranial vault. The mercury which drips and rises between these two is the bindu/amrta that drips and rises through the central channel.....Thus yantra yoga is a type of inner alchemy and the body is the alchemical device (yantra) in which these processes occur. "......http://allyoga.tribe.net/thread/a987eec2-a12f-49cb-a2a6-9b2bcc8115d6

"Since awareness cannot be reified, it is empty....... rig pa 'dzin pa med pas stong."...Lungi Terdzö by Longchenpa (1308 – 1364 AD)

The Golden Letters: The Tibetan Teachings of Garab Dorje, First Dzogchen Master......(page 349)....By John Myrdhin Reynolds

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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Gilgit Manuscript (5th C. AD)

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"The Gilgit Manuscript contains the texts on Vinay Vastu, the treatise on monastic discipline. There are texts on Ayurvedic medicines like Anna Panna Vidhi and Bhaisajya Guru Sutra. There are references to iconometry, folk tales, philosophy and culinary skills. It also has a chronological list of the various Buddhist Shahi kings of Gilgit."........http://www.the-south-asian.com/Aug2004/Gilgit_manuscript.htm

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"Opinions vary about the date of this manuscript. One branch of scholars says it was written in the second century AD., while another puts the date at somewhere between the sixth and seventh centuries. .....the Gilgit Manuscript has references of the three Buddhist Synods [meeting of religious heads]. This suggests a date sometime around or after the time of Emperor Kanishka. According to the Sanskrit texts, the third Synod was held during Kanishka's reign".............http://www.the-south-asian.com/Aug2004/Gilgit_manuscript.htm

"Gilgit manuscripts.....This corpus of manuscripts was discovered in 1931 in Gilgit, containing many Buddhist texts such as four sutras from the Buddhist canon, including the famous Lotus Sutra. The manuscripts were written on birch bark in the Buddhist form of Sanskrit in the Sharada script. They cover a wide range of themes such as iconometry, folk tales, philosophy, medicine and several related areas of life and general knowledge.....The Gilgit manuscripts are among the oldest manuscripts in the world, and the oldest manuscript collection surviving in Pakistan, having major significance in the areas of Buddhist studies and the evolution of Asian and Sanskrit literature. The manuscripts are believed to have been written in the 5th to 6th centuries AD, though some more manuscripts were discovered in the succeeding centuries, which were also classified as Gilgit manuscripts."......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgit#Gilgit_manuscripts

"Discovered in a wooden box in a circular chamber inside a Buddhist stupa by cattle grazers in 1931, the Gilgit manuscripts may be the earliest surviving Buddhist documents. They were named after the city of Gilgit......including the famous Lotus Sutra, the manuscripts survived because they were written on the bark of the bhoj (birch) tree which does not decay, and were kept in the freezing sub-zero temperatures of the Gilgit region. They were were written the Buddhist form of Sanskrit in the Śāradā or Sharada script.....In August 1938, seven years after the discovery of the texts, the archaeologist Madhusudan Kaul Shastri led a systematic excavation of the Naupur site and discovered another larger chamber at the base of the structure. The chamber contained another set of the Gilgit Manuscripts.....inscriptions on these bronzes “reveal that they were produced and dedicated due to the generosity and the religious zeal of a Patola Shahi”. The Patola Shahis, also known as Palola Shahis, were the rulers of Gilgit and Baltistan from the late sixth to the early eighth centuries AD......These are the oldest surviving collection of religious texts in the subcontinent. Based on the paleographical evidence, scholars agree that local Buddhist devotees compiled these texts between the fifth and sixth century AD. With the exception of only a few scripts, all the manuscripts were written on birch bark in Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit language in the Gupta Brahmi and post-Gupta Brahmi script.....The Gilgit Manuscripts deciphered thus far cover a wide range of subjects such as religion, religious rituals, philosophy, iconometry, monastic discipline, folk tales, medicine and culinary art....."....http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=4678

"The Gilgit Manuscript...an important historical link......The almost seventeen centuries old Gilgit Manuscript has been giving historians a hard time, as no one has yet been able to fully decipher it. The lamination of the manuscript by the National Archives of India sometime ago has once again put the limelight back on this all-important literature concerning India, Tibet, China, Japan and other neighbouring countries....... in 1897 - 34 years before it was discovered - the Buddhist Text Society of Calcutta had published references to the Gilgit Manuscript saying that if it were ever to be found it would unravel the ancient history of several communities as it is considered to be the oldest Buddhist manuscript......The story began some sixty years ago when a group of cattle grazers unearthed a box in the region of Gilgit [now part of Pakistan occupied Kashmir] in the then undivided Jammu & Kashmir state. Little did they realize that the box contained one of the world's oldest manuscripts which could hold the key to the exact evolution of Sanskrit, Buddhist, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Tibetan literatures. Gilgit was then the major trade centre on the Silk Route.....Leading Buddhist scholars from all parts of the world also rushed to Gilgit to unravel the mysteries locked up in the box."....... http://www.the-south-asian.com/aug2004/Gilgit_manuscript.htm

"Originally written in Pali text, the Gilgit Manuscript contains four sutras, with each leaf between ten and twelve feet in length and five feet in width. The main scripture is the Lotus Sutra which even today is an important scripture in Japan and deeply influences the cultural and political life of the country. Several researchers and scholars have attempted to transcribe the text but till date the manuscript has not been deciphered in its entirety. ...... Regarding the dialectical peculiarities of the text, Dutt says that though the language of the prose portion is Sanskrit it bristles with Buddhist religious and philosophical terms and uses Prakrit language quite liberally......Prof. Dutt also suggests that the text's versified portion is extremely confusing as it disregards the elementary canons of grammar, meter, and even vocabulary. A sweet melody seems to be its chief aim and for this it sacrifices every essential condition of a language. It doesn't use convenient forms of verbs or singulars or plurals or masculine or feminine genders - all of which makes Prof. Dutt suspect that the author of the original text was a versatile linguist and could play around with languages and blend them together."..... ..... http://www.the-south-asian.com/aug2004/Gilgit_manuscript.htm

"Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क; Bactrian: Κανηϸκι, Kaneshki; Middle Chinese: 迦腻色伽 (Ka-ni-sak-ka > New Chinese: Jianisejia)), or Kanishka the Great, was the emperor of the Kushan dynasty in 127–151 famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kushan empire founder Kujula Kadphises, Kanishka came to rule an empire in Bactria extending from Turfan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain during the Golden Age of the Kushanas. The main capital of his empire was located at Puruṣapura in Gandhara (Peshawar in present Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan), with two other major capitals at ancient Kapisa (present Bagram, Afghanistan) and Mathura, India. His conquests and patronage of Buddhism played an important role in the development of the Silk Road, and the transmission of Mahayana Buddhism from Gandhara across the Karakoram range to China."

"Kanishka was a Kushan of probable Yuezhi ethnicity. He used an Eastern Iranian, Indo-European language known as Bactrian (called "αρια," i. e. "Aryan" in the Rabatak inscription), which appears in Greek script in his inscriptions, though it is not certain what language the Kushans originally spoke; possibly some form of Tocharian – a "centum" Indo-European language. The "Aryan" language of the inscription was a "satem" language of the Middle Iranian period, possibly the one spoken in "Arya" or "Ariana" (the region around modern Afghanistan) and was, therefore, quite possibly unrelated to the original language of the Kushans (or the Yuezhi), but adopted by them to facilitate communication with local people."

Territories of the Kushans under Kaniska according to the Rabatak inscription.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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