Footsteps among the Stone: Buddhist Heritage in Pakistan

Sumanapal Bhikkhu (Dr. Subhasis Barua)

 Abstract:

[Buddhism reached the area which is now Pakistan during the reign of Emperor Asoka who sent a monk named Majjhantika from Varanasi for carrying the message of the Buddha to Kashmir and Gandhar after the completion of the third Buddhist Council held in his capital Pataliputra. The rock edict of Manasehra and Shabaz Garhi written in Kharosthi in the middle of the 3rd Century BCE are considered to be those among those writings which have been deciphered so far.

The next prominent king related to Buddhism of this area was Milinda. After his discussion with the Buddhist monk Nagsena he converted to Buddhism in modern Sialkot which was called Sagala at that time. 

The erstwhile Gandhara region which is now a part of presentday Pakistan and Afghanistan is considered to be the cradle of Mahayana Buddhism which is one of the major schools of the religion. In this area Gandhara Art, a combination of Greek and Buddhist elements also flourished. The Kushana rulers like Emperor Kanishka embraced Buddhism and also the elements of Hellenistic culture of the Indo Greeks. Gandharian Buddhism reached its zenith during the reign of the Kusanas. 

The period between 5th to 8th centuries CE saw a decline in the Sangha at the north western part of India. We receive information about these events from the writing of the Chinese pilgrims such as Fa xian, Xuan zang and Yi jing. This was largely due to the invasion of Alcon Hun in the sixth century CE.

Xuan zang informs us that the Huns razed a number of Buddhist monasteries and other Buddhist establishments to the ground.

After that Buddhism never really recovered in that area and gradually almost disappeared. 

According to National Database and Registration Authority of Pakistan there were ,1492 Buddhists holding the national identity cards as against 1884 in 2017. 

Pakistan has some important places of Buddhist interest e. g. Taxila, Swat valley, Takht-i- Bahi and Peshwar Valley, etc.

Some famous Buddhist figures who are said to be associated with modern day Pakistan are:

Khema, wife of Bimbisara of Magadha 6th Century BCE (Sagala, now Sialkot).

Bhadda Kapilani 6th Century BCE (Sagala now Sialkot).

Asanga 4th Century CE (Peshawar).

Vasubandhu 4th Century, CE (Peshawar).

Padmasambha 8th Century CE (Swat valley).

Though Buddhism is no longer a potent and active force in Pakistan sensitive minds can still hear footsteps among its stones that want to tell us the saga which was played out for centuries.]

 

The emergence of Buddhism represents a new era in human culture. It stood for a divorce from the hairy tradition of the past, from the ignominy of the caste system that proved to be a black spot for humanity. The spirit of this emancipation of humanity spread as far as Japan in the east and Syria in the West and ushered in a new dawn of progress and prosperity. 

The first stage was Buddhism was one of monastic seclusion but finally it came to the foreground and gave birth to a brave new world to almost everything that the human mind can comprehend, philosophical, social, ethical, linguistic, literary and religious; and the entire known world was flooded by its benign influence. 

Buddhism left a strong and indelible mark for the area for the north western region of Pakistan. It reached the area during the reign of Asoka the Great who sent a monk named Majjhantika from Varanasi for carrying the message of the Buddha to Kashmir and Gandhar after the completion of the third Buddhist council held in his capital Pataliputra. 

Though the Buddha probably during his life time did not set his foot anywhere beyond the boundaries of Magadha and modern Uttar Pradesh tradition claims that he had been to other places elsewhere in North West. 

Buddha was different from other eminent personages of India like Rama and Krishna because unlike them he was a historical figure belonging to an identifiable epoch of the past. He walked over the stone and mud of India tirelessly delivering his sermons among the masses and when the end came the ashes of his mortal body became a relic on which temples were built and his remains like teeth, hair etc were preserved as valuable treasure. 

History tells that the north eastern portion of the Indian subcontinent had a different fate from the rest of the country. For centuries they had been a part of the Persian Achaemenian Empire and then after being annexed by Alexander it formed a part of the Hellenistic empire. For a period, they belonged to the Mauryas and then went under the control of Indo-Parthians, Scythians, Yavanas, Kushanas and Hunas respectively. This part of Asia had a mixed history, ranging from great social and political upheaval and periods of relative calm and prosperity which produced great advancements in the field of art and culture. This reached a new height when applied to Buddhist themes.

Though Fa-xien found Buddhism in a somewhat decadent condition in rest of India with both Lumbini and Kapilavatthu deserted and desolate in the North Western portion the country the scenario was totally different. There hundreds of monks were still active. The area which now constitutes West Pakistan was traditionally advanced in art and craft. The area reached a very high degree of expertise in trades like carpentry, ivory work, weaving, confectionery, jewellery, pottery, garland making and head dressing. Trade and commerce were highly developed in this area. Trade caravans frequently moved to east and west and also crossed deserts and the journeys took days. The desert route started from Magadha through Rajputana to Sindh and then further north to Gandhara. The path had many dangers like drought famine, wild beasts and robbers. 

Some desert roots passed through Rajputana to ancient port of Bharukacha from which goods were transmitted to Babylon. In those days Sindh was famous for its pedigree horses which used to be exported everywhere of the known world. In the North of Sindh lay the great highway that connected India with west and central Asia. There was another highway connecting Magadha with Taxila, Peshwar and Gandhar. The Jatakas have declared this route comparatively safe. Here we find many instances of sons belonging to noble families making a solo journey to Taxila for higher education. 

Since its inception until the arrival of Asoka the religion of the Buddha was mainly monastic and confined to the recluse who sought for salvation by joining the order and giving up all those things that bound them to earthly life. It was Asoke the Great who elevated the religion to the status of a popular religion which he propagated all over the known world. In the 19th or according to some historians 21st years of his reign the emperor convened the third Buddhist Council to ratify the order and purge it of heretics. It was Asoka's dream to convert the whole of the then known world to his beloved faith and for this he gave the responsibility to the monks who formed the missionary force. Kashmir and Gandhar were under the Mauryan Empire and he sent the monk Madhyantika to preach Buddhism there. It is said that the monk successfully converted the whole of the area to Buddhism constituting of the present-day North-West Frontier, North Punjab and the lower Indus Valley and the whole of Kashmir. In this way the base was built upon which an elaborate system of art and sculpture was built which came to be known as Gandhara Art. Gandhara was the place where Hellenism in its eastward and Buddhism in its westward journey ultimately converged and the result of this meeting was this artistic blend.

It was the Mauryan Empire which brought region of Gandhara within the boundary of India for the first time. Before Alexander's arrival it had been a part of the Persian Empire of the Achaemenians. Alexander was believed to have been driven by the desire of subjugating the whole of Persian Empire. After the death of Alexander Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan dynasty incorporated this area for the first and the last time within the boundaries of India. After the death of Asoka the Great this area being situated at a great distance from the capital asserted its independence but was subjugated by the Bacterian Greek who hailed from central Asia. In 190 B C Kabul valley and Gandhara were annexed by the Bactrians who were a dynasty of Hellenistic rulers. The Bactrians changed the cultural life of Gandhara and their most notable ruler was Milinda or Menander. He extended his Kingdom farther east than Alexander had done. 

He was the main character of the famous Buddhist book Milindapanha or the Questions of Milinda. His capital is said to be Sagala or modern Sialkot. From Milindapanha we come to know that Milinda was a disciple of the Buddhist monk Nagasena. Then political control of the area gradually passed to the Sakas and Pallavas and then to the Kushanas. Gradually the Kushanas conquered the whole of Indo Gangetic plain. The empire of Kanishka the greatest ruler of this dynasty stretched from frontiers of China to the frontiers of Gujarat. Like Asoka Kanishka embraced Buddhism and he took the help of Buddhist scriptures to solve the problems related to the state. He was confused when he saw the great difference in the opinion of various Buddhist teachers. Parsha one of the leading Buddhist monks of the time said to him that since the Buddha had died long ago his followers were forgetting what he actually taught. So Kanishka convened the Fourth Buddhist Council presided over by Vasumitra. After a long discussion the commentaries on the Pitakas were composed and these constituted of 300000 verses. Then these commentaries were engraved on copper plates which in turn was placed inside a stone chest and was deposited in a stupa for safe keeping. Though Kanishka tried to remove the differences in the thoughts of various schools of Buddhism it was almost at this time a great schism occurred in Buddhism which divided the religion into two main sects namely Hinayana or the Little Vehicle and Mahayana or the Great Vehicle. 

During the reign of Kanishka the plastic art of Gandhara reached its zenith. During the reign of the Maurya dynasty and that of the Sunga dynasty that succeeded it very few monuments were built. At that time the contribution of the Buddhist school of art was confined to the construction of the stupas of Bharhut and Sanchi. The pre-Gandhara Buddhist art was conspicuous in the absence of Buddha the Man whose life and former existences the artists were endeavouring to capture on stones and colour paintings. They believed that the image of the Buddha could not be represented in human form because he had moved beyond all forms and attributes.  With the advent of Mahayana the Buddha came to be regarded as a Celestial Entity and the devotees who were no longer satisfied with the symbol like a throne left vacant that represented the invisible presence of the Master were craving for a glimpse of Him or at least of His image. The Buddhist canon did not forbid such representation it was withheld only by custom. Mahayana which stood for a completely new outlook and philosophy soon divorced itself from tradition and the only problem which stood in the way of the artist was finding a model which would provide him with the form and feature of the Buddha. The problem was solved by the Hellenistic tradition which had already been firmly established in Gandhara and its adjoining areas. During that time the people were considerably influenced by the Hellenistic tradition of art and that led to the personification of the Buddha with Olympian characteristics. Gradually Buddha images created in this way could be seen in the temples and shrines all over the Buddhist world including Cambodia, Thailand and Burma and later to China, Japan and Tibet. In all probability it was the reign of Menander in which a combination of eastern and western tradition of art blended themselves into a perfect synthesis that ultimately gave rise to the Gandhara art. Buddhism received ample patronage from the Greek kings and the Kushanas who succeeded them the area around Gandhara came to be known as a stronghold of Buddhism. It was even claimed that Buddha "came there to save the country from several catastrophies" According to legend the Buddha came there in person to subdue the Nagraja of Swatriver who inundated the entire surrounding area once a year. According to another legend he subdued the ogress of small pox. 

In this way being strengthened with legend and the patronage of the Buddhist kings Gandhara became the holy land of Buddhism. Its fame rose to such an extent that some Chinese pilgrims satisfied themselves with a visit to Gandhara without venturing towards the Magadha region. 

The Kushanas Empire declined after the death of Vaudeva in 225 AD and from then on the history of Gandhara became obscure. But the remaining glory of Gandhara is described by Fa Hien who visited the subcontinent around 400 AD. According to him there were still 700 monks serving the Patrachditya at Purushpur or Peshawar. Around the time of Fa-xien's visit to India the bad time for Buddhism had set in in India due to religious persecution. However, in the region of Gandhara Buddhism enjoyed a safe existence. During that period Buddhist art in Gandhara reached a new height but it received a cruel blow when the white Huns ravaged the area. Son-Yun who visited the Indian subcontinent in 520 A.D found Gandhara.

In a state of absolute desolation. However, he gave a description of the glory of Poly Sha (Shebaz Garhi) with its beautiful and dazzling images of gold. But fifteen years later Mihirgula the Hun destroyed sixteen hundred Buddhist religious institution of the area, killed two thirds of his inhabitants and the rest were reduced to slavery. 

Though almost all the vestiges of Gandhara art were destroyed as a result of persecution mainly by the Huns under Mihirkula some of its specimens can still be seen in the museums of Pakistan, India, Germany, France and the United States of America. 

Now we may discuss some of the important Buddhist sites in modern Pakistan:

Charsada and Puskalavati:

Among the Buddhist sites discovered in Pakistan the following are the most important. These sites bear mute witness to rich cultural heritage of Ashoka and of Gandhara.

They are:

(I) Taxila: An ancient city studded with innumerable Buddhist stupas, monasteries and artifacts. Most of the archaeological sites of this place is situated around Taxila museum. For more than a millennia Taxila retained its glory as a centre of Buddhist art, architecture and education. Taxila possess more than 50 Buddhist sites. Among them we may mention Dharmarajika Stupa and monastery (300 B.C.-- 200 A.D) Bhir Mound (600B.C-- 200B.C), Sirkap (200BC-- 600 A D.), Jandial Temples (c 250 B.C.), and Jaulian monastery (200-600A.D). There is a museum close to the site in which the rich archaeological finds of Taxila have been kept in chronological order and with proper label. According to Hiuen Tsang there were four great stupas in Gandhara. The first was the stupa of Elapatra or the dragon king (Nag Raja), the second was the stupa that marked the place which according to the Buddha would yield four great treasures at the time of the arrival of Buddha as Maitreya. The third stupa marked the place of the sacrifice of head and the fourth was built on the place where Prince Kunala 's (son of emperor Asoka) were pulled out by the order of Asoka's queen Tishya- Rakshita. 

The stupa of Naga Raja has now been identified as the tank of Hasan Abdal which is now known as the tank of Panja Shah. The second and third stupas have been identified with the ruins on the ridge of the Baoti Pind, and the Bhallar Stupa crowning the western ridge of the Sarda hill. Archaeologists initially were unable to identify the location of Kunala stupa but after prolonged research Marshal identified it over the ridge of Hathial which commands the whole of the Hare valley. 

The monastery and Stupa of Jaulian present us with a specimen of decadent Buddhism. The remains are the plinth of a large Stupa surrounded by a small wall. The upper story is almost utterly in ruins. Alongside the big assembly hall, we can find other large rooms and dining hall which provided space for kitchen and dining hall which signify a break with the old tradition which required the monks to live austere life and collect food through begging. 

(ii) Takht-i-bari: A large Buddhist monastery located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was excavated in the beginning of the twentieth century and in 1989 UNESCO included it in the list of its World Heritage site. Apart from that there is Seri Bahlol urban remains belonging to the same era situated about a kilometre south. 

(iii) Swat Valley: Swat Valley is famous for its Buddhist towers, monasteries and as the place of origin of the famous Gandhara Buddhist art. It is said to be the cradle Vajrayana Buddhism because it was the birth place of Guru Padmasambhava the Eighth century Buddhist monk who is given the credit of the dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet. 

(iv) Gilgit-Baltistan: Here we find the Manthala Buddhist rock with eighth century engravings and the Second Rock of Hunza. The former sites of Buddhist shelters can also be seen nearby Balochistan.

(v) Balochistan: Hiuen Tsang or Xuan Zang the Chinese Buddhist traveller reported found many Buddhist sites in coastal region of Makran, Balochistan. Godrani caves or the remnants of the Buddhist cave city exists even today. 

(vi) Sindh: Though there are many Buddhist sites in Sindh they are not properly preserved. Among the sites of Brahmanabad (Mansura) we may mention the Buddhist stupa at Mahenjodaro, Sirah- ji- takri near Rohri sukkur. Many terracotta from Kaho-jo-daro and Buddha statues are exhibited in Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum of Mumbai.

Famous Buddhist Personalities of Pakistan:

Many eminent personalities associated with Buddhism are connected with Pakistan. Among them we can mention the following:

(I) Asanga: (4th century CE): He was born in Peshawar and was the founder of Yogacara School of Mahayana Buddhism. 

(ii) Vasubandhu: (4th-5th Century CE): He was a famous Buddhist scholar and philosopher and also the brother of Asanga. 

(iii) Padmasambhava: He was born in Swat Valley (Uddiyana) He spread Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet and there he is regarded as the second Buddha. 

Kumarlata: He was a famous Buddhist philosopher and author who originated in the 3rd century CE. 

Khema and Bhadda Kapilani: They were early Buddhist personalities associated with Gandhara region. 

Inspite of its rich heritage Buddhism is very nominally practice in Pakistan. Only a small indigenous community called the Baori Buddhists (roughly 650 families) resides in rural South and south Punjab. 

Pakistan contains a very large unexplored potential for promoting Buddhist tourism if adequate security is provided to the foreign tourists. The UNESCO had declared six places of Pakistan as World Heritage sites and twenty-six others appear in the tentative list.  However, Pakistan is unable to take advantage of this situation because of bureaucratic red tape, law and order issues, religious extremism and denigration of religious minority ceremonies and sites.  Various Governments of the country have not showed any interest or regard for their Buddhist heritage and tradition. To compensate these drawbacks Pakistan has to adopt a more tourism friendly attitude. It is the duty of the Government in Pakistan to develop a blue print for this purpose. However, the Government of Pakistan has taken steps to preserve various Buddhist sites like the Landi Kotal Stupa and Jamal Garhi in Gandhara. 

Though Buddhism is no longer a potent and active force in Pakistan sensitive minds can still hear the footsteps of the Buddha among its stones   that want to tell us the saga that was played out for centuries.

 

 

 

 

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