Hephthalites, Tibetans and White Huns (408 - 670 AD)

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"Central Asia and the neighbouring countries have a very old and rich history......A poorly studied and complex period of this region is the early medieval one (4th-6th century AD)...In the 5th - 6th centuries AD the Hephthalites founded a great empire on the later territory of the modern states of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China....Some researchers see descendants of the Yuezhi in the Hephthalites...others derive them from ancient Mongols or Huns assimilated by Central Asian people....Yet another theory considers an Iranian language of the Hephthalites and their Iranian origin.....V. de Saint-Martin was among the first to suppose that the Hephthalites were descendants of the Yuezhi and had a Tibetan origin....Enoki suggests that two centres of the Hephthalite Empire were on the Upper Amudarya..... Another centre was in Ghur (south of Kunduz) and is the Hua of Chinese sources and Gorgo of Procopius. According to Enoki, this argument also supports the theory that the origin of the Hephthalites was eastern Tokharistan on the upper Amudarya or in the Hindukush mountains and therefore it could explain why the Hephthalites did not establish their centre near the Altai mountains as noted in Chinese sources as their place of origin....Enoki in his later work (1959, 27-37) adds another two centres: Balkh and Warwaliz (to the north of Kunduz). ".......THE HEPHTHALITES: ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS Written by AYDOGDY KURBANOV.....PhD thesis submitted to the Department of History and Cultural Studies of the Free University, Berlin 2010.....http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_000000007165/01_Text.pdf

"Although the Hephthalites dominated much of Central Asia and Northern India at the height of their power (approximately 460 to 570), little information about their civilization is available to us. Their name derives from the Byzantine "Ephthalites," and they were alternatively known as Ye-Ta to the Wei dynasty and Hunas to the Gupta Empire. They are also referred to as "White Huns" in some histories, a term derived from a quotation from Procopius' History of the Wars, in which he writes, "The Ephthalites are of the stock of the Huns in fact as well as in name; however they do not mingle with any of the Huns known to us.... They are the only ones among the Huns who have white bodies and countenances which are not ugly." We do not know what name these people used to refer to themselves. "....https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/hephthalites/hephthalite.html

Hephthalite Empire.....408–670 AD
Capitals: Kunduz (Badian), Balkh (Baktra), Sialkot (Sakala)
Official language: Bactrian
Regional languages: Gandhari (Gandhara), Sogdian (Sogdiana), Chorasmian, Tocharian, Turkic, Saka dialects
Liturgical language: Sanskrit
Religion: Buddhism and Hinduism....Nestorianism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism
Political structure: Nomadic confederation

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Tridu Songtsen (Tibetan: ཁྲི་འདུས་སྲོང་བཙན་, Wylie: Khri 'dus-srong btsan), Tridu Songtsän or Dusong Mangban, (670–704; r. 676–704 AD) was an emperor of the Tibetan Empire from 676 to 704 AD.

"The stronghold of the Hephthalites was Tokharistan on the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush, in what is present-day northeastern Afghanistan. By 479 AD, the Hephthalites had conquered Sogdia and driven the Kidarites westwards, and by 493 AD they had captured parts of present-day Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin in what is now Northwest China.....Following the settlement of the Yuezhi (referred to by the Greeks as Tókharoi), the general area of Bactria came to be called Tokharistan. The territory of Tokharistan was identical with Kushan Bactria, including the areas of Surkhandarya, Southern Tajikistan and Northern Afghanistan."

"White Huns or Hephthalites , people of obscure origins, possibly of Tibetan or Turkish stock. They were called Ephthalites by the Greeks, and Hunas by the Indians. There is no definite evidence that they are related to the Huns. The White Huns were an agricultural people with a developed set of laws. They were first mentioned by the Chinese, who described them (A.D. 125) as living in Dzungaria. They displaced the Scythians and conquered Sogdiana and Khorasan before 425. They crossed (425) the Syr Darya (Jaxartes) River and invaded Persia. Held off at first by Bahram Gur, they later (483–85) succeeded in making Persia tributary. After a series of wars (503–13) they were driven out of Persia, permanently lost the offensive, and were finally (557) defeated by Khosru I. The White Huns also invaded India and succeeded in extending their domain to include the Ganges valley. They temporarily overthrew the Gupta empire but were eventually driven out of India in 528 by a Hindu coalition. Although in Persia they had little effect, in India the White Huns influenced society by altering the caste system and disrupting the hierarchy of the ruling families. Some of the White Huns remained in India as a distinct group.".....The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press.

"In Chinese chronicles, the Hephthalites are called Yanda or Ye-ti-i-li-do, while older Chinese sources of c. 125 AD call them Hoa or Hoa-tun and describe them as a tribe living beyond the Great Wall in Dzungaria. Elsewhere they were called the "White Huns", known to the Greeks as Ephthalite, Abdel or Avdel, to the Indians as Sveta Huna ("white Huns"), Chionite or Turushka, to the Armenians as Haital, and to the Persians and Arabs as Haytal or Hayatila, while their Bactrian name is ηβοδαλο (Ebodalo)..... According to most specialist scholars, the spoken language of the Hephthalites was an East Iranian language but different from the Bactrian language that was utilized as the "official language" and minted on coins..... They may be the eponymous ancestors of the modern Pashtun tribal union of the Abdali, the largest tribal union in Afghanistan."....http://www.self.gutenberg.org/articles/hephthalites

"The origin of the Gurjars is uncertain....The Gurjar clan appeared in northern India about the time of the Huna invasions of northern India (c 470 AD)..... Some scholars, such as V. A. Smith, believed that the Gurjars were foreign immigrants, possibly a branch of Hephthalites ("White Huns"). Mr. Devadatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar (D. B. Bhandarkar) (1875–1950) believed that Gurjars came into India with the Hunas, and their name "Gujar" was sanskritized to "Gurjara" or "Gūrjara".He also believed that several places in Central Asia, such as "Gurjistan", are named after the Gurjars and that the reminiscences of Gojar migration is preserved in these names. General Cunningham identified the Gurjars with Yuezhi or Tocharians.....General Cunningham and A. H. Bingley consider the Gurjars as descendants of Kushan/Yueh-chi or Tocharians of Indo-Scythian stock".....http://www.mapsofindia.com/history/battles/huna-invasions-of-india.html

"The Gujars, who may represent the Gurjara tribe (Rose 1883, 2: 306), still practice their nomadic life, including vertical transhumance (nomadic pastoralism )...... Baines writes about the Gujars: Next to the Jat in rank, and probably akin in ongm, comes the Gujar … [which] … is now generally affliated to the Gurjara, a tribe which was settled in the neighborhood of the Caspian, and entered India either in company with or at the same time as, the Yetha or White Huna, of whom they are said to have been it branch. (Baines 1912, 44).".....https://aleximreh.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/excerpts-from-the-getes-by-sundeep-s-jhutti-2003/

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".... During the Buddhist period of the Gandhara Kingdom to which Takht-i-bahi belongs (c 2nd c AD to c 7th c AD), the area of what is now NW Pakistan and SW Afghanistan contained significant numbers (I have read of “thousands”) of such complexes....Among the complexes at Taxila, that of Jaulian is particularly similar to Takht-i-bahi in terms of its location and lay-out, being situated on a hill side. Apparently the larger Sangharamas were deliberately located a “convenient distance” away from urban centres in secluded locations with hills/forests and running water.....Regarding relative timescales, the Taxila complex of Dharamajika is the earliest, going back to Ashoka and the 3rd C BCE. Takht-i-bahi was founded from 1st C BCE - although it is said to have earlier Zoroastrian roots, there didn’t seem to be anything “on show” to demonstrate this. Jaulian dates from around the 2nd C CE. Both Dharamjika and Jaulian were destroyed by the “White Huns” in 455. Takht-i-bahi avoided this fate and “prayed on” for another 200 years or so and the last dated construction is from the 7th C CE – this avoidance of destruction was important for preserving the remains on view today. It is said that it escaped the depredations of the Huns because it was off the main road from Swat and “hidden”! The AB evaluation also says “if fell into disuse through the discontinuation of charitable endowments in modern times” without specifying what it meant by “modern times”. In fact it seems an inappropriate word - the Chinese traveller Xuanzang reported the decline of Buddhism in the area in 644. The remnants of Gandhara thereafter, under various conquests, reverted significantly to Hinduism and, in around 1020, became Islamic. .....http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/takhtibahi.html

"In AD 701-703 the Hephthalites, together with the Turks and Tibetans, took part in the siege of Termez, when its governor Musa ibn Abdallah ibn Khazim rebelled against the regent of Khorasan. The siege ended with the defeat of the attacking troops."......http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_000000007165/01_Text.pdf

"Professor Paul Harrison of Stanford University, deciphered a copper scroll from Afghanistan in 2007.... The scroll is dated from 492-93 AD and is from the period of the Hephthalites. It apparently mentions that they were Buddhists and had Iranian names and includes about a dozen names including that of their overlord or King. Where their general name is concerned, they have been variously known as Sveta Hunas or Khidaritas in Sanskrit, Ephtalites or Hephthalites in Greek, Haitals in Armenian, Heaitels in Arabic and Persian, Abdeles by the Byzantine historian Theophylactos Simocattes, while the Chinese name them the Ye-ta-li-to, after their first major ruler Ye-tha or Hephtal.".....http://www.ancient.eu/White_Huns_(Hephthalites)/

"...the various Hunnic tribes had long ago divided themselves into four groups along the cardinal points, each with a specific colour. The Northern Huns hence became the "Black" Huns, the "White" Huns were the western tribes, the "Green" or "Blue" were the southern and the "Red" Huns occupied the Eastern territories. So despite being identified as fair skinned, the name itself has less to do with physical appearance and more to do with their self-devised methods of tribal affiliation."....http://www.ancient.eu/White_Huns_(Hephthalites)/

"Procopius of Caesarea (6th cent CE) is quoted multiple times across publications as giving the first physical descriptions of these people and their society in the following words: “The Ephthalitae are of the stock of the Huns in fact as well as in name; however, they do not mingle with any of the Huns known to us, for they occupy a land neither adjoining nor even very near to them; but their territory lies immediately to the north of Persia; indeed their city, called Gorgo, is located over against the Persian frontier, and is consequently the centre of frequent contests concerning boundary lines between the two peoples. For they are not nomads like the other Hunnic peoples, but for a long time have been established in a goodly land. As a result of this they have never made any incursion into the Roman territory except in company with the Median army. They are the only ones among the Huns who have white bodies and countenances which are not ugly. It is also true that their manner of living is unlike that of their kinsmen, nor do they live a savage life as they do; but they are ruled by one king, and since they possess a lawful constitution, they observe right and justice in their dealings both with one another and with their neighbours, in no degree less than the Romans and the Persians.”......- Procopius of Caesarea (Book I. ch. 3)..........http://www.ancient.eu/White_Huns_(Hephthalites)/

"That the Ephthalites practiced sun worship has been suggested by Enoki, who says, “[That] the Ephthalites built their tents with their entrances facing to the east would also imply the practice of sun-worship among them (Enoki O.N.E. 1988, 175). He also adds, “We may also recall the practice of sun-worship among the Massagetae (Herodotus I, 212) and the Kushanians [Ta Yuezhi]” (Enoki O.N .E. 1998, 175). Now the implied practice of sun worship still exists today in the structure of the modem Panjabi villages. .....Further, Enoki suggests that the Yetha worshipped the Fire-god (Mithra) and the God of Heaven (Daeva-Worship), thereby remaining consistent with his idea of the Iranian origin of the Yetha (Enoki O.N.E. 1998, 177). Based on the coins of the Ephthalites, namely the coins of Khingila (father of Toramana Jauvla),."....https://aleximreh.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/excerpts-from-the-getes-by-sundeep-s-jhutti-2003/

"Bernshtam, in one of his article, wrote that the Hephthalites continued the work of the Kushans and supported Buddhism, but in another study he states that the Hephtalites were shamanists..... Such contradictions are also found in the work by Gafurov. In his opinion, amongst a certain part of the Hephthalites Christianity was a wide-spread, and priests were directed in the 6th century AD by the ruler of the Hephthalites to the Sasanian capital by Mar Aba I (patriarch of Christian-Nestorians in the Sasanian Empire) with a request to put this bishop above all Hephthalite Christians. Later Gafurov says the Hephthalites did not believe in Buddhism (though he adds that under influence of subordinated population, which confessed the Buddhism, in the Hephthalite context adherents of this religion appeared), but honoured their own god. “Each morning they came out of their own tents and prayed. Possibly, they honoured the sun”.......Page 233.....http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_000000007165/01_Text.pdf

"In 1959, Japanese researcher Kazuo Enoki proposed that the Hephthalites were probably Indo-European (East) Iranians as some sources indicated that they were originally from Bactria, which is known to have been inhabited by Indo-Iranian people in antiquity. Richard Frye is cautiously accepting of Enoki's hypothesis, while at the same time stressing that the Hephthalites "were probably a mixed horde". More recently Xavier Tremblay's detailed examination of surviving Hephthalite personal names has indicated that Enoki's hypothesis that they were East Iranian may well be correct, but the matter remains unresolved in academic circles.".....http://www.self.gutenberg.org/articles/hephthalites

"Another source which shows that the Hephthalites did not persecute the followers of Buddism is the copper inscription in the Schøyen collection and which was inscribed to mark the consecration of a stupa, a Buddhist sanctuary in the region around modern Talaqan, situated east of Kunduz (north-east Afghanistan). In the list of donors are the name of Hephthalite kings.".....Page 234....http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_000000007165/01_Text.pdf

"According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica and Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Hephthalites possibly originated in what is today eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They apparently had no direct connection with the European Huns, but may have been causally related with their movement. It is noteworthy that the tribes in question deliberately called themselves Huns in order to frighten their enemies."....http://www.self.gutenberg.org/articles/hephthalites

"The last Hephthalite King, Yudhishthira, ruled until about 670 AD, when he was replaced by the Kabul Shahi dynasty."

"In their religious beliefs, the Ephthalites are said to have worshipped fire and sun gods. While either one is not unusual in any early culture around the world, both together is likely to indicate a Persian origin. In Persia, such beliefs were later to culminate in Zoroastrianism.".....http://rick-heli.info/silkroad/eph.html

"The Bahman yašt is the most important apocalyptic work in Zoroastrian literature…Chapters 4 and 5 tell how calamities which will befall Iran at the end of the tenth millennium when enemy nations—Arabs, Byzantines, Turks, Chionites, Hephthalites(?), Tibetans, Chinese (see H. W. Bailey, “Iranian Studies,” BSOS 6, 1932, pp. 945-53), and others, will push almost as far as Padašxwārgar and conquer Iran, causing decay of religion, breakdown of social order, debasement of law and morality, and degeneration of nature"...http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bahman-yast-middle-persian-apocalyptical-text

"One of the coins included in this exhibit was found along with thirteen other Hephthalite examples among the relics found in the Tope Kulan stupa, located in what is now Hadda, Afghanistan.. If the Hephthalite rulers were hostile to Buddhism, it seems doubtful that believers would have interred coins bearing portraits of their rulers. It is more probably that, once their power base had been secured, they at least tolerated Buddhist practice within their realm. They may even have offered the religion a degree of royal patronage; one inscription records donations to a Buddhist monastery in the name of the Hephthalite ruler Toramana. "......https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/hephthalites/hephthalite.html

"Mihirakula (Chinese: 大族王) was one of the most important Hephthalite emperors, whose empire was in the present-day territories of Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern and central India. Mihirakula was a son of Toramana who was a tegin (secondary prince) of the Indian part of the Hephthalite Empire. Mihirakula ruled his empire from 502 to 530.....The "Mihirakula" was a Central Asian Huna origin and may have the meaning "Mithra's Begotten", as translated by Janos Harmatta. Cognates are also known from Sanskrit sources, though these are most likely borrowed from the neighbouring East Iranian languages. Mihira in Sanskrit is Sun and Kula is Clan. He was thus a Syryavanshi and followed Lord Shiva....The 6th-century Alexandrian traveler Cosmas Indicopleustes states that the Hephthalites in India reached the zenith of its power under Mihirakula."......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihirakula

Enoki, Kazuo, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko, 1955, No. 18, "On the Nationality of the Ephthalites"
Hambly, Gavin, Central Asia, 1966, Chapter 3: "Sassanians and Turks in Central Asia"
McGovern, William, The Early Empires of Central Asia, 1939, Chap. 18: "The Huns in Persia and India,"
Procopius, History of the Wars, Books I and II, Loeb Classical Library,

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

November 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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Chinese Travelers in Bactria, Kapisa and Oḍḍiyāna (400 - 675 AD)

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"Xuanzang reports that at the time of his visit to Balkh in 630 AD there were about a hundred viharas and 30,000 monks, a large number of stupas and other religious monuments, and that Buddhism was flourishing in Bactria"

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"Faxian...Fa-Hien and Fa-hsien.... (337 – c. 422 AD) ...... a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled by foot from China to India, visiting many sacred Buddhist sites in what are now Xinjiang, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka between 399-412 to acquire Buddhist texts. His journey is described in his important travelogue, A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms, Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Xian of his Travels in India and Ceylon in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline.....Faxian's visit occurred during the reign of Chandragupta II, one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta empire.... Faxian (Fa-hsien) reached the banks of the Indus river from Kashgar traveling through the province of Gandahara, Peshawar, Banu and saw the temples of present day Jalalabad. He saw Suhuto (Swat), Gandahara, Chuhashilo (Taxila), Folusha (Peshawar).......He describes the famous monasteries and Buddhist centers of these places and from Banu travels to the banks of the Indus river."

"Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th c. AD..... He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch....Chinese sources vary on their account of Bodhidharma's origins, giving either an origin from India or Central Asia......He is referred as "The Blue-Eyed Barbarian"...a Persian Central Asian. .....One early account claiming that he arrived during the Liu Song dynasty (420–479 AD) and later accounts dating his arrival to the Liang dynasty (502–557). Bodhidharma was primarily active in the territory of the Northern Wei (386–534). Modern scholarship dates him to about the early 5th century.....Bodhidharma's teachings and practice centered on meditation and the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra."

"Song Yun of Dunhuang (518 AD)......went with a monk Huisheng on a mission sent by the Empress Dowager to obtain Buddhist scriptures in India in 518 A.D. He traveled through the Taklamakan desert via the southern route passing Shanshan, Charkhlik, Khutan, then further west into the Hindu Kush, Kabul, and Peshawar. The most interesting account is his visit is to the Hepthalites (the White Hun) kingdom, which centered in eastern Afghanistan and controlled much of Central Asia during the 5th and 6th centuries. As a result of this journey Song Yun managed to collect 170 books dealing with the Greater Vehicle (Mahayana) and took them to China.....Song Yun followed the route taken by Faxien from Khutan to the eastern parts of Afghanistan. At this time the Hepthalites kings ruled over the land. Gulas, the Hepthalite king, (most likely Mehrakula), ruled harshly over the land with a force of 1000 warring elephants and cavalry.... the Hepthalite administrators appointed a satrap to rule over Gandahara, whose name was Lai-Lih or he was a person who belonged to this lineage. When the Hepthalites conquered Gandahara they appointed Lai-Lih as its king. During the time of the visit of Song Yun (520 A.D.) the second king of this family was ruling over the region.....Song Yun provides accurate accounts of the people, their clothing, the empresses and court procedures and traditions of the people and he states the Hepthalites did not recognize the Buddhist religion and they preached pseudo gods, and killed animals for their meat."..... Chinese Travelers in Afghanistan by Abdul Hai Habibi ....http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/E-Chinese_Travelers.htm

Xuanzang (玄奘....Hsüan-tsang)...(c. 602 – 664 AD)..... a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang dynasty. ...He became famous for his seventeen-year overland journey to India, which is recorded in detail in the classic Chinese text Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which in turn provided the inspiration for the novel Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming dynasty, around nine centuries after Xuanzang's death.... the third Chinese traveler who has written his observations about Afghanistan....While Hsuan Tsang was traveling though Afghanistan the effects of Islamic conquests had not reached Afghanistan and Buddhism prevailed over all of the northern and eastern provinces of the country. Monasteries existed in all the major centers and thousands of monks were engaged in the learning of this religion..".

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Yijing (義淨....Yìjìng.....I Ching).... (635–713 AD)...... was a Tang Chinese Buddhist monk originally named Zhang Wenming.... The written records of his 25-year travels provided information about the kingdoms lying on the route between China and the Nālandā Buddhist university in India. He was also responsible for the translation of a large number of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese.... He walked to Nālandā, a large Buddhist monastery in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India, where he stayed for 11 years."

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Samarkand.....
Xuanzang.....630 AD...."In Samarkand, which was under Persian influence, the party came across some abandoned Buddhist temples and Xuanzang impressed the local king with his preaching. Setting out again to the south, Xuanzang crossed a spur of the Pamirs and passed through the famous Iron Gates. Continuing southward, he reached the Amu Darya and Termez, where he encountered a community of more than a thousand Buddhist monks."

Kunduz.....
"Further east, in 630 AD.....Xuanzang passed through Kunduz, where he stayed for some time to witness the funeral rites of Prince Tardu, who had been poisoned. Here he met the monk Dharmasimha....In the third century AD, Kunduz had become a great center for Buddhist learning....Hsuan Tsang went from Takharistan to Holu (Kunduz) and met the elder son of the Hepthanlite chief. This prince was married to the sister of Kao Chang. Hsuan Tsang was in possession of letters of references from that prince. He considers 27 provinces south of the Oxus river to be the domain of the Hepthalite chiefs. Different chiefs ruled under the Huns. Their language was slightly different from that of other countries and its alphabet contained 25 letters which was written horizontally from left to right."

Balkh......
"Xuanzang, on the advice of the late Prince Tardu made the trip westward to Balkh, Afghanistan, to see the Buddhist sites and relics, especially the Nava Vihara, which he described as the westernmost vihara in the world. Here Xuanzang also found over 3,000 non-Mahayana monks, including Prajnakara (般若羯羅 or 慧性), a monk with whom Xuanzang studied early Buddhist scriptures."

"Nava Vihāra also housed a tooth relic of Gautama Buddha, making it one of the main centers of Buddhist pilgrimage along the Silk Road from China to India.....In the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, Xuanzang reports that at the time of his visit to Balkh in 630 AD there were about a hundred viharas and 30,000 monks, a large number of stupas and other religious monuments, and that Buddhism was flourishing in the Bactrian portion of the Western Turkic Khaganate. He also described it as having strong links with the Kingdom of Khotan in the Tarim Basin. The temple was led by Kashmiris called Pramukha, Sanskrit for "leader, administrator", who, under the Arabized name of Barmak, came to be known as the Barmakids)."....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nava_Vihara

"The Han Chinese pilgrim Yijing visited Nava Vihāra in the 680 AD and reported it flourishing as a Sarvāstivādin center of study."......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nava_Vihara

"Balkh...Balkh (Persian/Pashto: بلخ Balkh; Bactrian: βαχλο, Pakhlo) was an ancient city and centre of Buddhism, Sufism and Zoroastrianism ......it is considered one of the oldest cities in the world....This was the place where Zoroaster had first preached and it was the place where he died...... By 400 AD, Hinayana Buddhism was widely practiced in Balkh. According to oral traditions, Buddhism had been originally brought into the region by the monk Bhalika, a disciple of the Buddha. Trapusa and Bhalika had offered the Buddha his first meal after enlightenment and had become his first disciples. When Xuanzang visited Balkh in 630 it was a flourishing center of Hinayana Buddhism. At this time there were about a hundred Buddhist convents in the area, as well as 30,000 monks and a number of religious monuments... In the temple of Nawasingara (Nawbahar) of Balkh, there was a vase, tooth, broom and statue of Buddha which were all adorned with jewels. This temple contained precious ornaments and the son of Shahu Khan (Hepthalite) attacked Balkh to loot the precious bounty.."

Bamiyan....
"Prajñakara then accompanied Xuanzang southward to Bamyan, Afghanistan (“the place of the shining light”) where Xuanzang met the king. They visited a number of monasteries and the two large Bamyan Buddhas carved out of the rockface. This area marked the western-most point of Buddhist expansion., Xuanzang saw tens of non-Mahayana monasteries....From the provinces south of the Oxus, Hsuan Tsang arrived at Fan-yen-na (Bamian) where a separate king ruled. His kingdom from east to west extended 2000 li (600 miles) and from north to south it was 100 miles wide. He describes the two great statues of Buddha and a sleeping Buddha and other sacred relics. In ten monasteries about 1000 monks lived. They were all senior monks and were followers of the Lesser Vehicle (Theravada). "

Kapisa....
"Xuanzang then resumed this travel eastward, crossing the Shibar Pass and descending to the regional capital of Kapisi (about 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of modern Kabul, Afghanistan), which sported over 100 monasteries and 6000 monks, mostly Mahayana. This was part of the fabled old land of Gandhara. Xuanzang took part in a religious debate here, and demonstrated his knowledge of many Buddhist schools. Here he also met the first Jains and Hindu of his journey....From Bamian he went to Kia-pi-shi (Kapisa) which was 1300 miles in size and its people wore woolen clothes. Its king was from the Kashttriya people and he was considered a wise and brave man who conquered the adjacent lands and ruled over 10 other provinces too. He was a faithful follower of Buddism and every year erected a 17 feet tall silver statue of Buddha and held the religious conference of Moksha-maha-prishad. In his country there were about 100 temples with 6000 disciples who were followers of the Lesser Vehicle. Beside this followers of other faiths also had 1000 temples in the land. According to Hui Li, the emperor of Kapisa accompanied Hsuan Tsang a distance of three miles as he left the place."

Taxila....
"Xuanzang travelled into India where he found that Buddhism was in decline in many areas. He finally arrived at Taxila (呾叉始羅), a Mahayana Buddhist kingdom, where he found 100 monasteries with 5,000 Buddhist monks. Taxila was a major center of learning and it was here that the Mahayana branch of Buddhism had developed.......Xuanzangthen travelled to Adinapur (later named Jalalabad) and Laghman, where he considered himself to have reached India. The year was 630 AD.... As explained by the traveler Lan Po (Laghman), Na-ki-loho (Nangarhar), and Kien-to-lo (Gandahara) and the lands from Peshawar to the banks of the Indus river were under the domain of the Kapisa emperor and earlier Ta-cha-shi-lo (Taxila) was also associated with Kapisa but later it became a part of Kia-shi-mo-lo (Kashmir)."

Peshawar...
"Xuanzang left Adinapur, which had few Buddhist monks, but many stupas and monasteries. His travels included, passing through Hunza and the Khyber Pass to the east, reaching the former capital of Gandhara, Purushapura (Peshawar), on the other side. Peshawar was nothing compared to its former glory, and Buddhism was declining in the region. Xuanzang visited a number of stupas around Peshawar, notably the Kanishka Stupa."
"Song Yun visited Peshawar and Nangarhar also and he provides interesting accounts of the monasteries of the land. "

Swat Valley.....
"Xuanzang left Peshawar and travelled northeast to the Swat Valley.....Reaching Oḍḍiyāna, he found 1,400-year-old monasteries, that had previously supported 18,000 monks. The remnant monks were of the Mahayana school."

Chinese Travelers in Afghanistan by Abdul Hai Habibi ....http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/E-Chinese_Travelers.htm

I-Tsing, Chinese Monks in India, Biography of Eminent Monks Who Went to the Western World in Search of the Law During the Great tang Dynasty, Translated by Latika Lahiri, Delhi, etc.: Motilal Banarsidass, 1986

Sen, T. (2006). The Travel Records of Chinese Pilgrims Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing, Education About Asia 11 (3), 24-33

Faxian (1886). A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms; being an account by the Chinese monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon, A.D. 399-414, in search of the Buddhist books of discipline. James Legge (trans.). The Clarendon Press, Oxford.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

November 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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The Takht Bahi Monastery & Early Tantric Buddhism (520 AD)

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"The ruins of Takht-i-Bahi and neighbouring Sahr-i-Bahlol, in their setting, architectural form, design and construction techniques are most characteristic examples of the development of monastic and urban communities in the Gandharan region between the 1st to 7th century AD.....Due to the location of on the Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi on high hills, it escaped successive invasions and is exceptionally well preserved."....http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/140

"The Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi and Neighbouring City Remains at Sahr-i-Bahlol are one of the most imposing relics of Buddhism in the Gandhara region of Pakistan. The inscribed property is composed of two distinct components both dating from the same era.....The Buddhist Ruins of Takhi-i-Bahi (Throne of Origins) are a monastic complex, founded in the early 1st century A.D., is spectacularly positioned on various hilltops ranging from 36.6 metres to 152.4 metres in height, typical for Buddhist sites. The complexes cover an area of around 33ha.....The Buddhist monastery was in continual use until the 7th century AD. It is composed of an assemblage of buildings and is the most complete Buddhist monastery in Pakistan. The buildings were constructed of stone in Gandhara patterns (diaper style) using local dressed and semi-dressed stone blocks set in a lime and mud mortar.....Today the ruins comprise a main stupa court, votive stupas court, a group of three stupas, the monastic quadrangle with meditation cells, conference hall, covered stepped passageways and other secular buildings......The second component, the Neighbouring City Remains at Sahr-i-Bahlol, is located approximately 5 km away in a fertile plain. The Sahr-i-Bahlol ruins are the remnants of a small ancient fortified town of the Kushan period. The town is set on an elongated mound up to 9 metres high and surrounded by portions of the defensive walls in “diaper” style characteristic of the first two or three centuries A.D. The area covered is 9.7 hectares.".....http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/140

"Takht Bhai (or Takht Bahi)......is a Parthian archaeological site in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was first a Zoroastrian complex which, after the later arrival of Buddhism, was then converted into a Buddhist monastic complex. It is dated to the 1st century BC..... The complex is regarded by archaeologists as being particularly representative of the architecture of Buddhist monastic centers from its era.... It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.....The ruins are located about 15 kilometers from Mardan in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province.....A small fortified city, dating from the same era, sits nearby.".....UNESCO Advisory Body Evaluation of Takht Bhai

"There are four main areas of the Takht Bahi complex:
The Stupa Court, a cluster of stupas located in a central courtyard.
The monastic chambers, consisting of individual cells arranged around a courtyard, assembly halls, and a dining area.
A temple complex, consisting of stupas and similar to the Stupa Court, but of later construction.
The Tantric monastic complex, which consists of small, dark cells with low openings, which may have been used for certain forms of Tantric meditation."
UNESCO Advisory Body Evaluation of Takht Bhai

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"The monastic complex was likely founded in the early 1st Century BC.... Despite numerous invasions into the area, Takht Bhai's hilltop location seems to have protected it from destruction, unlike many comparable early Buddhist monastic complexes..... The complex was occupied continuously until the modern era, when charitable funding for the site ended.....Archaeologists have divided the history of the complex at Takht Bhai into four periods, beginning in the 1st Century BC..... This first era continued until the 2nd Century CE, and is associated with the Kushan king Kanishka, as well as early Parthian and later Kushana king..... The second construction period, which included the creation of the Stupa Court and assembly hall, took place during the 3rd and 4th Centuries CE. A third construction period, associated with the later Kushan dynasty and the Kidara Kushana rulers, occurred during the 4th and 5th centuries. The final construction period, which saw the creation of the so-called Tantric complex, took place in the 6th and 7th Centuries CE, and was overseen by invading Hun rulers."

"The first modern historical reference to these ruins was made in 1836 by General Court, the French officer of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1836. ....the Buddhist remains are in a village named Mazdoorabad..... Explorations and excavations on this site began in 1864..... A significant number of objects from the site can be found in the British Museum..... The site underwent a major restoration in the 1920s."....

"Trisong Detsen, Emperor of Tibet, ruled from 755 until 804 AD.......he invited Padmasambhava, Śāntarakṣita, Vimalamitra, and various other Indian teachers to come to Tibet to spread the latest understanding of the teaching. ... the Tantric complex at Takht Bahi was constructed as early as 520 AD. "

"The reign of one king calling himself Gondophares has been established at 20 AD by the rock inscription he set up at Takht-i Bahi (also known as Takht Bahi) in Mardan, western Pakistan, in 46 AD......and he has also been connected with the third-century Acts of Thomas. Recent research has however shown unambiguously that "Gondophares" was a title held by many kings.....

"The Vinaya text throws light on the architecture of the monastery. The village is built on the ruins of the ancient town, the foundation walls of which are still in a tolerably good formation......As a proof, that it was in the past occupied by the Buddhists and Hindu races, coins of those periods are still found at the site. the monks constructed it for their convenience. Spring water was supplied to them on hill tops; living quarters for ventilators for light and alcoves for oil lamps were made in the walls. From the description of Song Yun, a Chinese pilgrim, it appears that it was on one of the four great cities lying along the important commercial route to India. It was a well-fortified town with four gates outside the northern one, on the mound known as Chajaka Dehri which was a magnificent temple containing beautiful stone images covered in gold leaves. Not far from the rocky defile of Khaperdra did Ashoka build the eastern gate of the town outside of which existed a stupa and a sangharama. ".....http://www.travel.web.pk/destinations/archaeological_sites/takht_i_bahi.asp

"The group of buildings unearthed after archeological excavations at Takht-i-Bahi may include; the court of many Stupas, the monastery, the main stupa, the assembly hall, the low-level chambers, the courtyard, the court of three stupas, the wall of colossi and the secular building. ......In 1871, Sergeant Wilcher found innumerable sculptures at Takht-i-Bahi. Some depicted stories from the life of Buddha, while others more devotional in nature included the Buddha and Bodhisattava. The Court of Stupas is surrounded on three sides by open alcoves or chapels. The excavators were of the view that originally they contained single plaster statues of Buddha either sitting or standing, dedicated in memory of holy men or donated by rich pilgrims. The monastery on the north, was probably a double storied structure consisting of an open court, ringed with cells, kitchens and a refactory."........http://www.travel.web.pk/destinations/archaeological_sites/takht_i_bahi.asp

"The actual Road to Swat bifurcates from the great Grand Trunk Road near Nowshera. About a kilometre below the highest point on the Road to Swat, the commuters can see the view of Takht-i-Bahi Mountains in the middle distance standing from the road. The ruins of one of the grand monastery of the past are situated on the top of a 152-meter high hill, about 80 kilometres from Peshawar and 16 kilometres northwest of the city of Mardan......Takht-i-Bahi - a Buddhist monastery developed between 1st and 7th centuries AD.....village of Sahr-i-Bahlol, which occupies an extensive mound containing the remains of an ancient city, dating back to the same period. The site is located on the northern flanks of a rocky spur gradually rising above the idyllic plains and well tended fields......Of all the Buddhist monasteries built through the length and breadth of Gandhara, Takht-i-Bahi is renowned as the most splendid. This reputation is based partly on its state of preservation, its careful restoration, and partly on its location. The monastery of Takht-i-Bahi was first discovered in 1852 by European Lieutenants Lumsden and Stokes. The remains were earlier mentioned by General Court, the French officer of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1836. In 1871, Sergeant Wilcher found innumerable sculptures at Takht-i-Bahi - some depicted stories from the life of Buddha, while others more devotional in nature included the Buddha and Bodhisattava. The first scientific excavations on the site were carried out between 1907 and 1911 and than in 1913. Unfortunately the results were never properly coordinated and recorded and so no sequence has ever been established for the site of intrinsic value. The extensive remains of the Buddhist monastic establishment or Sangharama were placed on the World Heritage List in 1980. These remains are sometime known as the "throne of origins"......Gandhara, an ancient region of northern Pakistan containing Swat Valley, Peshawar area, and the north Indus Plain, was a heartland of early Buddhist development. According to the lore, the Buddha's came to this part of the world stopping at Taxila and Peshawar. While Buddhism has left this area, signs of Gandhara are still spread all around.....The Takht-i-Bahi Complex, a gigantic Buddhist establishment comprises several well-knit units: Court of Many Stupas, Monastery, Main Stupa, Assembly Hall, Low Level Chambers, Courtyard, Court of Three Stupas, Wall of Colossi and some secular buildings. All these structures are built in grey-coloured limestone, in mud mortar. The excavations at Takht-i-Bahi and Shar-i-Bahlol have yielded a large number of fine sculptures of Buddha, Boddisattavas and other deities, both in stone and stucco. Other valuable antiquities have also been found in the vicinity."......http://www.contactpakistan.com/ExplorePakistan/Takht-i-Bahi.html

"Gandhara art and architecture displays considerable Greek influence which may have been due to its interactions with Bactria in the 4th century BC.....Colonial historians have gone so far as to suggest that it was the Greek influence in Gandhara that may have led to the widespread use of idols in India, and even to say that Indian epics bear in them traces of Greek and early Christian culture. It is undeniable that Gandharan Buddha images bear traces of the Greek influence, especially in the so-called ‘wet drapery’ style of the graven images of the Buddha. But it is difficult to believe that this influence could have been only in one direction: indeed, as the transfer of the decimal system from India to Europe via the early Arabian civilization has shown, the most probable conclusion is that the Greek invasion, and subsequent rule of the Gandharan region by the Kushan kings, led to a far greater mixing of cultures than normal geography would allow, and was a change from the later insularity of India under the Gupta Empire.....Much of the Gandharan heritage has been lost: the early Islamic settlers in this region were assiduous in wiping out images that they felt represented human beings, and in modern times the giant statues of the Buddha at Bamiyan in Afghanistan were destroyed too. However, this region is a vital link to India’s past and its interaction – and influence of – the Western world via the Bactrian Greeks and the Kushan Empire.".... Gandhara: Greek Influence and Buddhist Monasteries.....by Ashish Nangia

"The Buddhist Monastery Takht-i-Bhai (Throne of Origins) is an archaeological wonder, considered to be significant because of its unique design. "The site is extremely important for its integrity and unique state of conservation; important also for its antiquity, being built certainly during the 1st century CE, as proven by the important inscriptions bearing the name of Gondophares (20-46 CE)," says the Director of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan, Dr Luca Maria Olivieri......He says Gondophares was a Parthian King of the Suren House, from Sakastan, or Sistan...."Soon after Gondophares, Takht-i-Bahi was under the control of Kujula Kadphises, the first Kushan King. The site remained in use certainly until Late Antiquity (7th CE).....the site is a symbol of architectural complexity of a Buddhist monastic complex, and it should be considered a wonderful introduction to Gandharan Buddhist architecture, a must stop for tourist heading towards Swat.".....http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2015/06/14/spe-her-01.asp

"Takht Bhai (or Takht Bahi)......was first a Zoroastrian complex which, after the later arrival of Buddhism, was then converted into a Buddhist monastic complex."

"The Hephthalite Huns captured Gandhara around 451, and did not adopt Buddhism.....Mihirakula became a "terrible persecutor" of the religion. During their rule, Hinduism revived itself and the Buddhist Gandharan civilization declined. The Sassanids, aided by Turks from Central Asia, destroyed the Huns' power base in Central Asia, and Gandhara once again came under Persian suzerainty in 568.....The travel records of many Chinese Buddhists pilgrims record that Gandhara was going through a transformation during these centuries. Buddhism was declining and Hinduism was rising. Fa-Xian travelled around 400, when Prakrit was the language of the people and Buddhism was flourishing. 100 years later, when Song-Yun visited in 520 AD, a different picture was described: the area had been destroyed by the White Huns and was ruled by Lae-Lih, who did not practice the laws of the Buddha. Xuan-Zang visited India around 644 and found Buddhism on the wane in Gandhara and Hinduism in the ascendant. Gandhara was ruled by a king from Kabul, who respected Buddha's law, but Taxila was in ruins and Buddhist monasteries were deserted. Instead, Hindu temples were numerous and Hinduism was popular."

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

October 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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King Gondophares & the St Thomas Legend (52 AD)

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King Gondophares ....."The Acts of Thomas (Ch. 17) describes Saint Thomas' visit to King Gondophares .....When Acts was being composed, there was no reason to suppose that a king named "Gondophares" had ever really existed. However, the discovery of his coins in the region of Kabul and the Punjab, and the finding of a votive inscription of his 26th regal year that was unknown until 1872, provided evidence that his reign commenced in 21 C.E. until c. 47 C.E.".....http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org

"Saint Thomas the Apostle (also known as Judas Thomas or Didymus, meaning "Twin") ......Thomas was said to have taken Christianity eastwards as far as India. The churches of Malankara in India trace their roots back to St. Thomas who, according to local tradition, arrived along the Malabar Coast in the year 52 AD....."

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"The reign of one king calling himself Gondophares has been established at 20 AD by the rock inscription he set up at Takht-i Bahi (also known as Takht Bahi) in Mardan, western Pakistan, in 46 AD., and he has also been connected with the third-century Acts of Thomas. Recent research has however shown unambiguously that "Gondophares" was a title held by many kings.....Takht Bhai (or Takht Bahi) is a Parthian archaeological site in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was first a Zoroastrian complex which, after the later arrival of Buddhism, was then converted into a Buddhist monastic complex. It is dated to the 1st century BC."

"Takht Bhai is a Parthian archaeological site in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was first a Zoroastrian complex which, after the later arrival of Buddhism, was then converted into a Buddhist monastic complex. It is dated to the 1st century BC.....The Takht Bahi complex includes The Tantric monastic complex, which consists of small, dark cells with low openings, which may have been used for certain forms of Tantric meditation, which took place in the 6th and 7th Centuries AD, and was overseen by invading Hun rulers......Nearby are the ruins of Sahr-i-Bahlol, a small fortified city dating from the same period.....Sahr-i-Bahlol, is located approximately 5 km away in a fertile plain. The Sahr-i-Bahlol ruins are the remnants of a small ancient fortified town of the Kushan period. ....The Buddhist monastery was in continual use until the 7th century AD.....Due to the location of on the Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi on high hills, it escaped successive invasions and is exceptionally well preserved.....

In this Greek-Kharoshthi tetrodrachm coin Gondophares honors Shiva.....Indo Parthian Kings Gondophares AE Tetradrachm. Date: 30-50 AD. Obverse: King on horseback right. Reverse: Siva facing holding trident.

In another Greek-Kharoshthi tetradrachm, Gondophares honors Zeus...."Indo Parthian, Gondophares: AD 30-55, AE Tetradrachm, 24mm. King on horseback right / Zeus walking right."

"King Gondophares I took over the Kabul valley and the Punjab and Sindh region area from the Scythian King Azes.....Gondophares declared independence from the Arsacids (aka: Parthian Empire) to become the first Indo-Parthian king ....His empire was vast, but was only a loose framework, which fragmented soon after his death. His capital was the Gandharan city of Taxila, to the west of the present Islamabad. Ernst Herzfeld claims his name is perpetuated in the name of the Afghan city Kandahar, which he founded under the name Gundopharron....Ancient Taxila was situated at the pivotal junction of South Asia and Central Asia. Some of the earliest ruins in this area date to the time of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th c. BC."......Ernst Herzfeld, Archaeological History of Iran, London, Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1935, p.63.

"The Saint Thomas Christians refer to themselves in this way because their tradition holds that their ancestors, who all came from the high castes of Hindu society, were converted by the Apostle Saint Thomas, who landed in India in the year 52 AD. At present there is no way to scientifically prove or disprove this tradition. One thing is certain: ever since the discovery of the monsoon winds in 45 AD by Hippalos, an Alexandrian ship-captain, the land and sea routes were open from the Mediterranean via the Persian Gulf to India, and there were indeed intense contacts between these areas. One after the other, Roman coins of the first century AD are being unearthed in southern India.".....Project for Preserving the Manuscripts of the Syrian Christians in India

"Azes I (57 BC – c. 35 BC)...... an Indo-Scythian ruler who completed the domination of the Scythians in Gandhara.....Indo-Scythians is a term used to refer to Scythians (Sakas), who migrated into parts of central and northern South Asia (Sogdiana, Bactria, Arachosia, Gandhara, Sindh, Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and Bihar.), from the middle of the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD..... It is believed that the Greek era may have begun in 173 BC, exactly 300 years before the first year of the Era of Kanishka. If that is the case then the Azes era would begin in about 45 BC."....Bracey, R. (2005) 'The Azes Era'

"The Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bhai (Throne of Origins) is an archaeological wonder, considered to be significant because of its unique design. "The site is extremely important for its integrity and unique state of conservation; important also for its antiquity, being built certainly during the 1st century CE, as proven by the important inscriptions bearing the name of Gondophares (20-46 CE)," says the Director of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan, Dr Luca Maria Olivieri......He says Gondophares was a Parthian King of the Suren House, from Sakastan, or Sistan...."Soon after Gondophares, Takht-i-Bahi was under the control of Kujula Kadphises, the first Kushan King. The site remained in use certainly until Late Antiquity (7th CE).....the site is a symbol of architectural complexity of a Buddhist monastic complex, and it should be considered a wonderful introduction to Gandharan Buddhist architecture, a must stop for tourist heading towards Swat.".....http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2015/06/14/spe-her-01.asp

"The early 3rd-century text called Acts of Thomas is one of the New Testament apocrypha......Acts of Thomas is a series of episodic Acts (Latin passio) that occurred during the evangelistic mission of Judas Thomas ("Judas the Twin") to India......Though Gregory of Tours made a version, mainstream Christian tradition rejects the Acts of Thomas as pseudepigraphical and apocryphal, and for its part, the Roman Catholic Church finally confirmed the Acts as heretical at the Council of Trent. ....The Acts of Thomas connects Thomas, the apostle's Indian ministry with two kings, one in the north and the other in the south. According to one of the legends in the Acts, Thomas was forced to accompany an Indian merchant, Abbanes, to his native place in northwest India, where he found himself in the service of the Indo-Parthian king Gondophares."

" Song Yun, a Chinese pilgrim.....was a Chinese Buddhist monk who was sent by the devout Buddhist Empress Hu (胡, ?-528 CE) of the Northern Wei Dynasty with some companions including the monk Hui Zheng, Fa Li and Zheng (or Wang) Fouze, to northwestern India to search for Buddhist texts.....They left the Wei capital Luoyang, on foot in 518 and returned in the winter of 522 with 170 Mahayana Buddhist texts....Song Yun and his companions then travelled through Chitral and met the kings of the Swat Valley or Udyana..... Song Yun: Takht-i-Bhai & Sahr-i-Bahlol ... From the description of Song Yun, a Chinese pilgrim, it appears that it was on one of the four great cities lying along the important commercial route to India."

"The Hephthalite Huns captured Gandhara around 451, and did not adopt Buddhism, but in fact "perpetrated frightful massacres". Mihirakula became a "terrible persecutor" of the religion.....During their rule, Hinduism revived itself and the Buddhist Gandharan civilization declined. The Sassanids, aided by Turks from Central Asia, destroyed the Huns' power base in Central Asia, and Gandhara once again came under Persian suzerainty in 568......The travel records of many Chinese Buddhists pilgrims record that Gandhara was going through a transformation during these centuries. Buddhism was declining and Hinduism was rising. Fa-Xian travelled around 400, when Prakrit was the language of the people and Buddhism was flourishing. 100 years later, when Song-Yun visited in 520, a different picture was described: the area had been destroyed by the White Huns and was ruled by Lae-Lih, who did not practice the laws of the Buddha. After the fall of the Sassanid Empire to the Arabs in 644, today's Afghanistan region and Gandhara came under pressure from Muslims. But they failed to extend their empire to Gandhara. Gandhara was first ruled from Kabul and then from Udabhandapura (Hind).....Gandhara was ruled from Kabul by Kabulshahi for next 200 years. Sometime in the 9th century the Kabulshahi replaced the shahi. Based on various Muslim records the estimated date for this is 870. According to Al-Biruni (973–1048), Kallar, a Brahmin minister of the Kabulshahi, founded the Shahi dynasty in 843. The dynasty ruled from Kabul, later moved their capital to Udabhandapura. They built great temples all over their kingdoms."

"The tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle in Mylapore, India.....According to tradition, St. Thomas was killed at Mylapore, near Chennai, in 72 and his body was interred there....A few relics are still kept at San Thome Basilica in Mylapore, India. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller and author of Description of the World, popularly known as Il Milione, is reputed to have visited Southern India in 1288 and 1292. "

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

October 2015

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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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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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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