Gandhara

Gandhara (IAST: Gandhāra) was an ancient Indo-Aryan culture and historical region located in present-day northwestern Pakistan and northeastern Afghanistan. Situated at the crossroads of Central and South Asia, it was known for being an influential Buddhist civilisation and its absorption of diverse influences from neighbouring areas. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Valley of Peshawar, though the cultural influence of "Greater Gandhara" extended across the Indus River to Taxila and westwards into the Kabul Valley as far as Bamyan, and northwards up to the Karakoram range, including Swat, Panjkora and other valleys.

Gandhara is named after the Gandhāra tribe of the Vedic period, who are attested in the Rigveda (c. 1500–c. 1200 BCE). Indo-Aryans migrated into the region sometimes between 1900 and 1500 BCE, and mixed with the local population. The Gandhara grave culture (c. 1400–800 BCE) has sometimes been taken as a representative of Indo-Aryan migrations, although it has also been regarded as a local development or a combination of the two.

Gandhara was one of the sixteen mahajanapadas ("great realms") during the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. It was annexed by the Achaemenid Empire in the late 6th century BCE as the satrapy of Gandāra. During its invasion by Alexander the Great in 327–326 BCE, Gandhara was divided among various polities, notably that of Taxila under king Omphis and the tribe of Aśvaka.

Gandhara became a part of the Maurya Empire in 321 BCE. In the succeeding centuries it was ruled by the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Scythians, and the Indo-Parthians; local Gandharan dynasties of Oḍirājas and Apracharajas remained autonomous in some parts until the ascent of the Kushan Empire, which saw the zenith of region's cultural and political influence. Gandhara was devastated during the Hunnic invasions, but survived as a core region under Turk Shahis and Hindu Shahis. After the Ghaznavid conquest in 11th century, Gandhara as a geographical term largely faded away, although the name continued to be used for the region in the Kashmiri Sanskrit historiography until 15th century.

Gandhara was a major centre for Greco-Buddhism (4th century BCE–5th century CE) under the Indo-Greeks and Gandharan Buddhism under later dynasties; it was also the central location for the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to Central and East Asia. Hinduism experienced a significant revival between the seventh and eleventh centuries under the Shahis. It was famed for its unique Gandharan style of art influenced by the classical Hellenistic styles. Gandhārī, an Indo-Aryan language written in the Kharosthi script, acted as a lingua franca of the region.