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Author : Dan S. Kennedy
ISBN : 9781613083222
Genre : Business & Economics
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To avoid grabbing every business owner he meets by the shoulders and shaking them, millionaire maker Dan S. Kennedy has joined with marketing strategist Kim Walsh-Phillips to help business owners, private practice professionals, and professional marketers start making dollars and cents of their social media marketing. Daring readers to stop accepting non-monetizable “likes” and “shares” for their investment of time, money, and energy, Kennedy and Walsh-Phillips urge readers to see their social platforms for what they are—another channel to reach customers and gain leads and sales for their efforts. Illustrated by case studies and examples, this No B.S. guide delivers practical strategies for applying the same direct- response marketing rules Kennedy has himself found effective in all other mediums. Covers: •How to stop being a wimp and make the switch from a passive content presence into an active conversion tool •How to become a lead magnet by setting up social media profiles that focus on the needs of ideal prospects (not the product or service) •Creating raving fans that create introductions to their networks •How to move cold social media traffic into customers •The role of paid media and how to leverage social media advertising to drive sales
ISBN : 9781613083222
Genre : Business & Economics
File Size : 80.86 MB
Format : PDF, Kindle
Download : 352
Read : 362
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A map outlining historical sites in Pakistan
The history of Pakistan—which for the period preceding the country's creation in 1947[1] is shared with those of Afghanistan, India, and Iran—traces back to the beginnings of human life in South Asia.[2] Spanning the western expanse of the Indian subcontinent and the eastern borderlands of the Iranian plateau, the region of present-day Pakistan served both as the fertile ground of some of South Asia's major civilizations and as the gateway to the Middle East and Central Asia.[3]
Pakistan is home to important sites of archaeology, including the earliest palaeolithichominid site in South Asia in the Soan River valley.[4] Situated on the first coastal migration route of anatomically modern Homo sapiens out of Africa, the region was inhabited early by modern humans.[5][6] The 9,000-year history of village life in South Asia traces back to the Neolithic (7000–4300 BCE) site of Mehrgarh in Pakistan,[7][8][9] and the 5,000-year history of urbancivilization in South Asia to the various sites of the Indus Valley Civilization, including Mohenjo Daro and Harappa.[10][11]
The ensuing millennia saw the region of present-day Pakistan absorb many influences—represented among others in the Vedic-Buddhist site of Taxila, the Greco-Buddhist site of Takht-i-Bahi, the 14th-century Islamic-Sindhi monuments of Thatta, and the 17th-century Mughal monuments of Lahore. From the late 18th century, the region was gradually appropriated by the East India Company—resulting in 90 years of direct British rule, and ending with the creation of Pakistan in 1947, through the efforts, among others, of its future national poet Allama Iqbal and its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Since then, the country has experienced both civilian-democratic and military rule, resulting in periods of significant economic and military growth as well those of instability; significant during the latter, was the secession, in 1971, of East Pakistan as the new nation of Bangladesh.
- 2Prehistory
-
3Early history – Iron Age
- 3.1Vedic period
- 4Classical period – Middle Kingdoms
-
5Medieval period
- 5.4Regional Kingdoms
- 6British Rule
- 10References
History by region[edit]
Prehistory[edit]
Paleolithic period[edit]
Riwat is a Paleolithic site in upper Punjab. Riwat Site 55, shows a later occupation dated to around 45,000 years ago. The Soanian is archaeological culture of the Lower Paleolithic, shazi and ali are brother Acheulean. It is named after the Soan Valley in the Sivalik Hills, near modern-day Islamabad/Rawalpindi. In Adiyala and Khasala, about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Rawalpindi, on the bend of the Soan River hundreds of edged pebble tools were discovered. No human skeletons of this age have yet been found.
Neolithic period[edit]
Mehrgarh is an important neolithic site discovered in 1974, which shows early evidence of farming and herding,[12] and dentistry.[13] The site dates back to 7000–5500 BCE) and is located on the Kachi Plain of Balochistan. The residents of Mehrgarh lived in mud brick houses, stored grain in granaries, fashioned tools with copper ore, cultivated barley, wheat, jujubes and dates, and herded sheep, goats and cattle. As the civilization progressed (5500–2600 BCE) residents began to engage in crafts, including flint knapping, tanning, bead production, and metalworking. The site was occupied continuously until 2600 BCE,[14] when climatic changes began to occur. Between 2600 and 2000 BCE, region became more arid and Mehrgarh was abandoned in favor of the Indus Valley,[15] where a new civilization was in the early stages of development.[16]
Indus Valley Civilisation[edit]
The 'Indus Priest King' sculpture is carved from steatite.
The Pashupati seal.
The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro.
Excavated ruins of the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro in Sindh.
The Bronze Age in the Indus Valley began around 3300 BCE with the Indus Valley Civilization.[17] Along with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilizations of the Old World, and of the three the most widespread,[18] covering an area of 1.25 million km2.[19] It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, in what is today the Pakistani provinces of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, and along a system of perennial, mostly monsoon-fed, rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the seasonal Ghaggar-Hakra River in parts of northwest India.[20][21][22][note 1] At its peak, the civilization hosted a population of approximately 5 million spread across hundreds of settlements extending as far as the Arabian Sea to present-day southern and eastern Afghanistan, and the Himalayas.[23] Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft (carneol products, seal carving), and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin.
The Mature Indus civilisation flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking the beginning of urban civilisation in the Indus Valley. The civilisation included urban centres such as Harappa, Ganeriwala and Mohenjo-daro as well as an offshoot called the Kulli culture (2500–2000 BCE) in southern Balochistan and was noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multi-storeyed houses. It is thought to have had some kind of municipal organisation as well.
During the late period of this civilisation, signs of a gradual decline began to emerge, and by around 1700 BCE, most of the cities were abandoned. However, the Indus Valley Civilisation did not disappear suddenly, and some elements of the Indus Civilisation may have survived. Aridification of this region during the 3rd millennium BCE may have been the initial spur for the urbanisation associated with the civilisation, but eventually also reduced the water supply enough to cause the civilisation's demise, and to scatter its population eastward.[24][25][22][26][note 2] The civilization collapsed around 1700 BCE, though the reasons behind its fall are still unknown. Through the excavation of the Indus cities and analysis of town planning and seals, it has been inferred that the Civilization had high level of sophistication in its town planning, arts, crafts, and trade.
Dates | Phase | Era | |
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7000–5500 BCE | Pre-Harappan | Mehrgarh I (aceramic Neolithic) | Early Food Producing Era |
5500–3300 BCE | Mehrgarh II-VI (ceramic Neolithic) | Regionalisation Era c.4000-2500/2300 BCE (Shaffer)[27] c.5000–3200 BCE (Coningham & Young)[28] |
|
3300–2800 BCE | Early Harappan | Harappan 1 (Ravi Phase; Hakra Ware) | |
2800–2600 BCE | Harappan 2 (Kot Diji Phase, Nausharo I, Mehrgarh VII) | ||
2600–2450 BCE | Mature Harappan (Indus Valley Civilisation) |
Harappan 3A (Nausharo II) | Integration Era |
2450–2200 BCE | Harappan 3B | ||
2200–1900 BCE | Harappan 3C | ||
1900–1700 BCE | Late Harappan (Cemetery H);Ochre Coloured Pottery |
Harappan 4 | Localisation Era |
1700–1300 BCE | Harappan 5 |
Early history – Iron Age[edit]
Vedic period[edit]
Archaeological cultures. The GGC, Cemetery H, Copper Hoard and PGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryans.
Indus Valley[edit]
The Vedic Period (c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE) is postulated to have formed during the Indo-Aryan migration between 1500 BCE to 800 BCE. As Indo-Aryans migrated and settled into the Indus Valley, along with them came their distinctive religious traditions and practices which fused with local culture.[29] The Indo-Aryans religious beliefs and practices from the Bactria–Margiana Culture and the native Harappan Indus beliefs of the former Indus Valley Civilisation eventually gave rise to Vedic culture and tribes.[30][note 3] The initial early Vedic culture was a tribal, pastoral society centered in the Indus Valley, of what is today Pakistan. During this period the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed.[note 4]
Several early tribes and kingdoms arose during this period and internecine military conflicts between these various tribes was common; as described in the Rig Veda, which was being composed at this time, the most notable of such conflicts was the Battle of Ten Kings. This battle took place on the banks of the River Ravi in the 14th century BC (1300 BCE). The battle was fought between the Bharatas tribe and a confederation of ten tribes:
- Abhira Kingdom, centered in the Cholistan-Thar region.[citation needed]
- Bahlika Kingdom, centered in Punjab.
- Gandhara grave culture, also called Swat culture and centered in the Swat Valley of present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
- Kamboja Kingdom, centered in the Hindu Kush region.
- Kasmira Kingdom, centered in present-day Kashmir Valley.
- Madra Kingdom, centered in upper Punjab, with its capital at Sialkot
- Pauravas, a sub-clan of Kambojas
- Sindhu Kingdom, centered in present-day Sindh.
- Sudra Kingdom, centered in the Cholistan-Thar region.[citation needed]
Achaemenid Empire[edit]
Much of the area corresponding to modern-day Pakistan was subordinated to the Achaemenid Empire and forced to pay tributes to Persia
The main Vedic tribes remaining in the Indus Valley by 550 BC were the Kamboja, Sindhu, Taksas of Gandhara, the Madras and Kathas of the River Chenab, Mallas of the River Ravi and Tugras of the River Sutlej. These several tribes and principalities fought against one another to such an extent that the Indus Valley no longer had one powerful Vedic tribal kingdom to defend against outsiders and to wield the warring tribes into one organized kingdom. The area was wealthy and fertile, yet infighting led misery and despair. King Pushkarasakti of Gandhara was engaged in power struggles against his local rivals and as such the Khyber Pass remained poorly defended. King Darius I of the Achaemenid Empire took advantage of the opportunity and planned for an invasion. The Indus Valley was fabled in Persia for its gold and fertile soil and conquering it had been a major objective of his predecessor Cyrus The Great.[33] In 542 BC, Cyrus had led his army and conquered the Makran coast in southern Balochistan. However, he is known to have campaigned beyond Makran (in the regions of Kalat, Khuzdar and Panjgur) and lost most of his army in the Gedrosian Desert (speculated today as the Kharan Desert).
In 518 BC, Darius led his army through the Khyber Pass and southwards in stages, eventually reaching the Arabian Sea coast in Sindh by 516 BC. Under Persian rule, a system of centralized administration, with a bureaucratic system, was introduced into the Indus Valley for the first time. Provinces or 'satrapy' were established with provincial capitals:
- Gandhara satrapy, established 518 BC with its capital at Pushkalavati (Charsadda). Gandhara Satrapy was established in the general region of the old Gandhara grave culture, in what is today Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. During Achaemenid rule, the Kharosthi alphabet, derived from the one used for Aramaic (the official language of Achaemenids), developed here and remained the national script of Gandhara until 200 AD.
- Hindush satrapy, established in 518 BC with its capital at Taxila. The satrapy was established in upper Punjab (presumably in the Potohar plateau region).
- Arachosia satrapy, established in 517 BC with its capital at Kandahar. Arachosia was one of the larger provinces covering much of lower Punjab, southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of modern-day Pakistan and Helmand province of what is today Afghanistan. The inhabitants of Arachosia were referred to as Paktyans by ethnicity, and that name may have been in reference to the ethnic Pax̌tūn (Pashtun) tribes.
- Sattagydia satrapy, established in 516 BC in what is today Sindh. Sattagydia is mentioned for the first time in the Behistun inscription of Darius the Great as one of the provinces in revolt while the king was in Babylon. The revolt was presumably suppressed in 515 BC. The satrapy disappears from sources after 480 BC, possibly being mentioned by another name or included with other regions.[34]
- Gedrosia satrapy, established in 542 BC, covered much of the Makran region of southern Balochistan. It had been conquered much earlier by Cyrus The Great.[35]
Despite all this, there is no archaeological evidence of Achaemenid control over these region as not a single archaeological site that can be positively identified with the Achaemenid Empire has been found anywhere in Pakistan, including at Taxila. What is known about the easternmost satraps and borderlands of the Achaemenid Empire is alluded to in the Darius inscriptions and from Greek sources such as the Histories of Herodotus and the later Alexander Chronicles (Arrian, Strabo et al.). These sources list three Indus Valley tributaries or conquered territories that were subordinated to the Persian Empire and made to pay tributes to the Persian Kings: Gandhara, Sattagydia and Hindush.[34]
Ror dynasty[edit]
The Ror dynasty (Sindhi: روهڙا راڄ) was a SindhiBuddhist dynasty which ruled much of what is today Sindh, Punjab and northwest India in 450 BC.[36] The Rors ruled from Rori and was built by Dhaj, Ror Kumar, a Ror Kshatriya. BuddhistJataka stories talk about exchanges of gifts between King Rudrayan of Roruka and King Bimbisara of Magadha.[37]Divyavadana, the Buddhist chronicle has said that Rori historically competed with Pataliputra in terms of political influence.[38] Rori was wiped out in a major sand storm,[39] which was recorded in both the Buddhist Bhallatiya Jataka and Jain annals.
Macedonian Empire[edit]
1854 Spruner Map of the Empire of Alexander the Great - Geographicus - AlexandriMagni-spruner-1854
In 328 BC, Alexander The Great of Macedonia and now the king of Persia, had conquered much of the former Satraps of the Achaemenid Empire up to Bactria. The remaining satraps lay in the Indus Valley, but Alexander ruled off invading the Indus until his forces were in complete control of the newly acquired satraps. In 327 BC, Alexander married Roxana (a princess of the former Bactria satrapy) to cement his relations with his new territories. Now firmly under Macedonian rule, Alexander was free to turn his attention to the Indus Valley. The rationale for the Indus campaign is usually said to be Alexander's desire to conquer the entire known world, which the Greeks thought ended around the vicinity of the River Indus.
In the winter of 327 BC, Alexander invited all the chieftains in the remaining five Achaemenid satraps to submit to his authority. Ambhi, then ruler of Taxila in the former Hindush satrapy complied, but the remaining tribes and clans in the former satraps of Gandhara, Arachosia, Sattagydia and Gedrosia rejected Alexander's offer. By spring of 326 BC, Alexander began on his Indus expedition from Bactira, leaving behind 3500 horses and 10,000 soldiers. He divided his army into two groups. The larger force would enter the Indus Valley through the Khyber pass, just as Darius had done 200 years earlier, while a smaller force under the personal command of Alexander entered through a northern route, possibly through Broghol or Dorah Pass near Chitral. Alexander was commanding a group of shield-bearing guards, foot-companions, archers, Agrianians, and horse-javelin-men and led them against the tribes of the former Gandhara satrapy.
The first tribe they encountered were the Aspasioi tribe of the Kunar Valley, who initiated a fierce battle against Alexander, in which he himself was wounded in the shoulder by a dart. However, the Aspasioi eventually lost and 40,000 people were enslaved. Alexander then continued in a southwestern direction where he encountered the Assakenoi tribe of the Swat & Buner valleys in April 326 BC. The Assakenoi fought bravely and offered stubborn resistance to Alexander and his army in the cities of Ora, Bazira (Barikot) and Massaga. So enraged was Alexander about the resistance put up by the Assakenoi that he killed the entire population of Massaga and reduced its buildings to rubble – similar slaughters followed in Ora.[40] A similar slaughter then followed at Ora, another stronghold of the Assakenoi. The stories of these slaughters reached numerous Assakenians, who began fleeing to Aornos, a hill-fort located between Shangla and Kohistan. Alexander followed close behind their heels and besieged the strategic hill-fort, eventually capturing and destroying the fort and killing everyone inside. The remaining smaller tribes either surrendered or like the Astanenoi tribe of Pushkalavati(Charsadda) were quickly neutralized where 38,000 soldiers and 230,000 oxen were captured by Alexander.[41] Eventually Alexander's smaller force would meet with the larger force which had come through the Khyber Pass met at Attock. With the conquest of Gandhara complete, Alexander switched to strengthening his military supply line, which by now stretched dangerously vulnerable over the Hindu Kush back to Balkh in Bactria.
After conquering Gandhara and solidifying his supply line back to Bactria, Alexander combined his forces with the King Ambhi of Taxila and crossed the River Indus in July 326 BC to begin the Archosia (Punjab) campaign. His first resistance would come at the River Jhelum near Bhera against King Porus of the Paurava tribe. The famous Battle of the Hydaspes (Jhelum) between Alexander (with Ambhi) and Porus would be the last major battle fought by him. After defeating King Porus, his battle weary troops refused to advance into India[42] to engage the army of Nanda Dynasty and its vanguard of trampling elephants. Alexander, therefore proceeded southwest along the Indus Valley.[43] Along the way, he engaged in several battles with smaller kingdoms in Multan and Sindh, before marching his army westward across the Makran desert towards what is now Iran. In crossing the desert, Alexander's army took enormous casualties from hunger and thirst, but fought no human enemy. They encountered the 'Fish Eaters', or Ichthyophagi, primitive people who lived on the Makran coast, who had matted hair, no fire, no metal, no clothes, lived in huts made of whale bones, and ate raw seafood.
Alexander founded several new settlements in Gandhara, Punjab and Sindh.[44] and nominated officers as Satraps of the new provinces:
- In Gandhara, Oxyartes was nominated to the position of Satrap by Alexander in 326 BC.
- In Sindh, Alexander nominated his officer Peithon as Satrap in 325 BC, a position he would hold for the next ten years.
- In Punjab, Alexander initially nominated Philip as Satrap from 327 BC to 326 BC. In 326 BC, he nominated Eudemus and Taxiles as joint-Satraps until 323 BC when Eudemus resigned leaving Taxiles as Satrap until 321 BC. Porus of Jhelum then became Satrap of Punjab.
- In Gedrosia, Sibyrtius was nominated as Satrap in 323 BC and remained so until 303 BC.
When Alexander died in 323 BCE, he left behind an expansive empire stretching from Greece to the Indus River. The empire was put under the authority of Perdiccas, and the territories were divided among Alexander's generals (the Diadochi), who thereby became satraps of the new provinces. However, the Satraps of the Indus Valley largely remained under the same leaders while conflicts were brewing in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Mauryan Empire[edit]
Mauryan Empire under Ashoka the Great
Due to the internal conflicts of Alexanders generals, Chandragupta and his Brahmin counselor Chanakya saw an opportunity to expand the Mauryan Empire from its Ganges Plain heartland in Bihar towards the Indus Valley between 325 BCE to 303 BCE. At the same time, Seleucus I now ruler much of the Macedonian Empire was advancing from Babylon in order to establish his writ in the former Persian and Indus Valley provinces of Alexander. During this period, Chandragupta's mercenaries may have assassinated Satrap of Punjab Philip. They presumably also fought Eudemus, Porus and Taxiles of Punjab and Peithon of Sindh. In 316 BCE, both Eudemus and Peithon left Punjab and Sindh for Babylon, thus ending Macedonian rule. The Mauryan Empire now controlled Punjab and Sindh. As the Seleucid Empire expanded eastwards towards the Indus, it was becoming more difficult for Seleucus to assert control over the vast eastern domains. Seleucus invaded Punjab in 305 BC, confronting Chandragupta Maurya. It is said that Chandragupta fielded an army of 600,000 men and 9000 war elephants. After two years of war, Seleucus reached an agreement with Chandragupta, in which he gave his daughter in marriage to Chandragupta and exchanged his eastern provinces for a considerable force of 500 war elephants, which would play a decisive role at The Battle of Ipsus (301 BCE). Strabo, in his Geographica, wrote:
'He [Seleucus] crossed the Indus and waged war with Maurya who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship.'
Alexander took these away from the Indo-Aryans and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus (Chandragupta), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.[45]
— Strabo, 64 BC–24 AD
Thus Chandragupta was given Gedrosia (Balochistan) and much of what is now Afghanistan, including the modern Herat[46] and Kandahar provinces, thereby ending Macedonian control in the Indus Valley by 303 BC.
Under Chandragupta and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture and commercial activities all thrived and expanded across the Indian subcontinent due to the establishment of a cohesive system of finance, administration, and security. The empire was divided into four provinces, the imperial capital being at Pataliputra. From Asokan edicts, the names of the four provincial capitals were Tosali (in the eastern Ganges plain), Ujjain (in the western Ganges plain), Suvarnagiri (in the Deccan), and Taxila (in the northern Indus Valley). The head of the provincial administration was the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the provinces as king's representative and was assisted by Mahamatyas and a council of ministers. The empire also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge.
A Rock Edict of Ashoka in Shahbazgarhi, Pakistan.
Members of the Maurya dynasty were primarily adherents of Buddhism and Hinduism. Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of Jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism has been said to have been the foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across the empire.[46] Proselytization of Buddhism was extended even to the Indo-Iranian and Greek peoples in the western frontiers and dominions of the empire, as mentioned by the Edicts of Asoka:
Locations of the Edicts of Ashoka.
Now they work among all religions for the establishment of Dhamma, for the promotion of Dhamma, and for the welfare and happiness of all who are devoted to Dhamma. They work among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Gandharas, the Rastrikas, the Pitinikas and other peoples on the western borders. (Edicts of Asoka, 5th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika)
By the time Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka had become emperor, Buddhism was flourishing through the Indus Valley and much of the eastern Seleucid Empire. Many of the Greek and Indo-Iranian peoples in the western domains also converted to Buddhism during this period, according to the Edicts of Asoka:
Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dharma. (Edicts of Ashoka, 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika).
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
Although Buddhism was flourishing, Brahminism was resisting Buddhist advances in the Ganges Plain and when Ashoka himself converted to Buddhism, he directed his efforts towards expanding the faith in the Indo-Iranian and Hellenistic worlds. According to the stone-inscribed Edicts of Ashoka -- some in bilingual Greek and Aramaic inscriptions -- he sent Buddhist emissaries to Graeco-Asiatic kingdoms, as far away as the eastern Mediterranean. The edicts name each of the rulers of the Hellenistic world at the time, indicating the intimacy between Hellenistic and Buddhistic peoples in the region.
The conquest by Dharma has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred yojanas (4,000 miles) away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni. (Edicts of Ashoka, 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika).
Furthermore, according to Pali sources, some of Ashoka's emissaries were Greek-Buddhist monks, indicating close religious exchanges between the two cultures:
When the thera (elder) Moggaliputta, the illuminator of the religion of the Conqueror (Ashoka), had brought the (third) council to an end… he sent forth theras, one here and one there: …and to Aparantaka (the 'Western countries' corresponding to Gujarat and Sindh) he sent the Greek (Yona) named Dhammarakkhita.. and the thera Maharakkhita he sent into the country of the Yona. (Mahavamsa, XII).
When Ashoka died in 232 BC, Mauryan hold on the Indus began weakening as Brahminism was attempting to retake control of the Ganges heartland though the Shunga revolt. As such, the Mauryans began retreating out of the Indus back east towards Pataliputra (Patna) to protect the imperial capital. This left most of the Indus Valley unguarded and most importantly left the Khyber Pass open to invasion. In 250 BC, the eastern part of the Seleucid Empire broke away to form the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom by Diodotus of Bactria. In 230 BC, Euthydemus overthrew Diodotus to establish himself as king, firmly establishing a Hellenistic kingdom in northern Afghanistan and Tajikistan, distinct from the neighboring Seleucid Empire. The Greco-Bactrians were allied with the Mauryans and had kept close relations with Ashoka.
Following the collapse of the Mauryans, the first Brahmin emperor of the Shunga Empire (Pushyamitra Shunga) is believed to have persecuted Buddhists and contributed to a resurgence of Brahmanism that forced Buddhism outwards to Kashmir, Gandhara and Bactria.[47] Buddhist scripture such as the Asokavadana account of the Divyavadana and ancient Tibetan historian Taranatha have written about persecution of Buddhists. Pushyamitra is said to have burned down Buddhist monasteries, destroyed stupas, massacred Buddhist monks and put rewards on their heads, but some consider these stories as probable exaggerations.[47][48] The Shunga revolt was viewed as a persecution of Buddhists by Euthydemus.[49]Demetrius, the son of Euthydemus, 'invaded' the Indus Valley in 180 BC. Historians now suggest that the invasion was intended to show their support for the Mauryans and thus, the Indo-Greek Kingdom was established in 170 BC, in order to prevent the Shunga Dynasty from advancing into the Indus Valley.
Classical period – Middle Kingdoms[edit]
Indo-Greek Kingdom[edit]
Indo-Greek Kingdoms in 100 BC.
An intricate Greek Bacchanalian scene from the Peshawar Valley of Pakistan, within the ancient region of Gandhara
Greco-Buddhist representation of the Buddha, seated to the left of a depiction of the Hellenic god Heracles
The Indo-Greek Menander I (reigned 155–130 BCE) drove the Greco-Bactrians out of Gandhara and beyond the Hindu Kush, becoming king shortly after his victory. His territories covered Panjshir and Kapisa in modern Afghanistan and extended to the Punjab region, with many tributaries to the south and east, possibly as far as Mathura. The capital Sagala (modern Sialkot) prospered greatly under Menander's rule and Menander is one of the few Bactrian kings mentioned by Greek authors.[50]
The classical Buddhist textMilinda Pañha praises Menander, saying there was 'none equal to Milinda in all India'.[51] His empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last independent Greek king, Strato II, disappeared around 10 CE. Around 125 BCE, the Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles, son of Eucratides, fled from the Yuezhi invasion of Bactria and relocated to Gandhara, pushing the Indo-Greeks east of the Jhelum River. The last known Indo-Greek ruler was Theodamas, from the Bajaur area of Gandhara, mentioned on a 1st-century CE signet ring, bearing the Kharoṣṭhī inscription 'Su Theodamasa' ('Su' was the Greek transliteration of the Kushan royal title 'Shau' ('Shah' or 'King')). Various petty kings ruled into the early 1st century CE, until the conquests by the Scythians, Parthians and the Yuezhi, who founded the Kushan dynasty.
It is during this period that the fusion of Hellenistic and Asiatic mythological, artistic and religious elements becomes most apparent, especially in the region of Gandhara, straddling western Pakistan and southern Afghanistan. Detailed, humanistic representations of the Buddha begin to emerge, depicting the figure with a close resemblance to the Hellenic god Apollo; Greek mythological motifs such as centaurs, Bacchanalian scenes, Nereids and deities such as Tyche and Heracles are prominent in the Buddhistic art of ancient Pakistan and Afghanistan.[52]
Indo-Scythian Kingdom[edit]
The Bimaran casket, representing the Buddha surrounded by Brahma (left) and Śakra (right) was found inside a stupa with coins of Azes inside. British Museum.
The Indo-Scythians were descended from the Sakas (Scythians) who migrated from southern Central Asia into Pakistan and Arachosia from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. Larrivee serial number. They displaced the Indo-Greeks and ruled a kingdom that stretched from Gandhara to Mathura. The power of the Saka rulers started to decline in the 2nd century CE after the Scythians were defeated by the south Indian Emperor Gautamiputra Satakarni of the Satavahana dynasty.[53][54] Later the Saka kingdom was completely destroyed by Chandragupta II of the Gupta Empire from eastern India in the 4th century.[55]
Indo-Parthian Kingdom[edit]
Gandhara Buddhist reliquary with content, including Indo-Parthian coins. 1st century CE.
The Indo-Parthian Kingdom was ruled by the Gondopharid dynasty, named after its eponymous first ruler Gondophares. They ruled parts of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan,[56] and northwestern India, during or slightly before the 1st century AD. For most of their history, the leading Gondopharid kings held Taxila (in the present Punjab province of Pakistan) as their residence, but during their last few years of existence the capital shifted between Kabul and Peshawar. These kings have traditionally been referred to as Indo-Parthians, as their coinage was often inspired by the Arsacid dynasty, but they probably belonged to a wider groups of Iranic tribes who lived east of Parthia proper, and there is no evidence that all the kings who assumed the title Gondophares, which means 'Holder of Glory', were even related. Christian writings claim that the Apostle Saint Thomas – an architect and skilled carpenter – had a long sojourn in the court of king Gondophares, had built a palace for the king at Taxila and had also ordained leaders for the Church before leaving for Indus Valley in a chariot, for sailing out to eventually reach Malabar Coast.
Kushan Empire[edit]
Kushan territories (full line) and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under Kanishka (dotted line), according to the Rabatak inscription.
Early Mahayana Buddhist triad. From left to right, a Kushan devotee, Maitreya, the Buddha, Avalokitesvara, and a Buddhist monk. 2nd–3rd century, Gandhara.
The Kushan Empire expanded out of what is now Afghanistan into the northwest of the subcontinent under the leadership of their first emperor, Kujula Kadphises, about the middle of the 1st century CE. They were descended from an Indo-European, Central Asian people called the Yuezhi,[57][58] a branch of which was known as the Kushans. By the time of his grandson, Kanishka the Great, the empire spread to encompass much of Afghanistan[59] and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares).[60]
Emperor Kanishka was a great patron of Buddhism; however, as Kushans expanded southward, the deities[61] of their later coinage came to reflect its new Hindu majority.[62] The monumental Kanishka stupa is believed to have been established by the king near the outskirts of modern-day Peshawar, Pakistan.
The Kushan dynasty played an important role in the establishment of Buddhism in India and its spread to Central Asia and China. Historian Vincent Smith said about Kanishka in particular:
He played the part of a second Ashoka in the history of Buddhism.[63]
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The empire linked the Indian Ocean maritime trade with the commerce of the Silk Road through the Indus valley, encouraging long-distance trade, particularly between China and Rome. The Kushans brought new trends to the budding and blossoming Gandharan Art, which reached its peak during Kushan Rule.
H.G. Rowlinson commented:
The Kushan period is a