Karkak Valley ( prs, درهٔ ککرک ) is a valley in central
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, located in
Bamyan province
Bamyan Province ( prs, ولایت بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan, Bāmīān or Bāmyān is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the central highlands of the Afghanistan.
The terrain in Bamyan is mountainous or semi-m ...
, 120 km west of
Kabul province
Kabul (Persian: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is also Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province is ...
.
The famous Buddhist mural named "The Hunter King" (7-8th centuries CE) shows a typically local royal figure seated on a throne, his bow and arrows on the side. He wears a triple-crescent crown which has been compared to the triple-crescent crowns on the coinage found in northeastern Afghanistan in the area of
Zabulistan
Zabulistan ( fa, زابلستان ''Zābulistān''/''Zābolistān''/''Zāwulistān'' or simply ''Zābul'', ps, زابل ''Zābəl''), was a historical region in southern Afghanistan roughly corresponding to the modern provinces of Zabul and G ...
, such as a coin found in
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
.
Late 7th to early 8th century CE.
Other authors have attributed the triple-crescent crown to
Hephthalite
The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...
influence.
The painting may be an allegory of a King abandoning violence, particularly the hunting of animals, and converting to Buddhism.
["According to Jäger's interpretation, the so-called "Hunter-King" was a symbolic representation of a royal person who converted to Buddhism and abandoned hunting and violence in general." in]
Murals from Kakrak
File:Kakrak Hunter King.jpg, The triple-crescent crown in the "Hunter King" mural from Kakrak (7th-8th century CE) has been compared to the triple-crown in some of the coinage of Afghanistan.Kabul Museum
The National Museum of Afghanistan (Dari: موزیم ملی افغانستان, ''Mūzīyam-e mellī-ye Afghānestān''; ps, د افغانستان ملی موزیم, ''Də Afghānistān Millī Mūzīyəm''), also known as the Kabul Museum, is a ...
.
See also
*
Bamyan Province
Bamyan Province ( prs, ولایت بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan, Bāmīān or Bāmyān is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the central highlands of the Afghanistan.
The terrain in Bamyan is mountainous or semi-m ...
*
Valleys of Afghanistan
As a mountainous country, Afghanistan contains countless notable valleys. The majority of the valleys are located in parts of northeastern, central, southern and southeastern Afghanistan. The southeastern areas are wetter and are covered by f ...
References
*
Valleys of Afghanistan
Landforms of Bamyan Province
Hazarajat
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