Scholar urges Peshawarites to take pride in city’s rich history

PESHAWAR: Stressing the need for raising awareness about Peshawar’s ancient heritage, the noted United States-based writer and scholar Professor Dr Sayed Amjad Hussain on Thursday urged the locals to start taking pride in their rich history.

He was delivering a lecture titled, “Kanishka Vihara, An Ancient Peepal Tree and A Sacred Begging Bowl - Peshawar circa 2nd Century CE”.

The newly launched cultural body, ‘The Creative Co’ and Sehrai Travels had organised the special talk at the Peshawar Museum in collaboration with the Directorate of Archaeology & Museums KP.

Dr Amjad Hussain hails from the walled city of Peshawar. He has to his credit 16 books on subjects as varied as history, culture, religion and the linguistic and cultural legacy of Peshawar.

He has a passion for ancient history of Peshawar and the archaeology of Gandhara and the Indus Valley.His talk was based on decades of research by the author to reconstruct the image of the Peshawar city as it existed during Kanishka’s realm in the 2nd century CE.

A special conjectural painting of Peshawar has been commissioned by the author and created by a renowned American painter based on the archival and archaeological evidence. It shows the cityscape with the Peepal tree, the top of Kanishka’s Stupa and the hilltop monastery, present day Gorkhatri, where the Begging Bowl of Buddha was interred during Kanishka’s realm.

The talk discussed at length Kanishka’s Stupa that was excavated in 1908-9 by the American archaeologist and pioneer curator of Peshawar Museum Dr. D. B. Spooner. Some historians had even called Kanishka Vihara as the forgotten 8th wonder of the ancient world.

Dr Amjad Hussain in his lecture discussed the city of Peshawar and its important three landmarks in the backdrop of this fascinating painting.“Let’s start branding Kanishka Vihara as a neglected and forgotten 8thWonder of the Ancient World. Engaging UNESCO and seeking help of Buddhist countries like Japan, Korea and China is the way forward,” suggested the literatus who is currently an emeritus professor of cardio-thoracic surgery and emeritus professor of humanities at the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA.

He recommended placing a small replica of the stupa at the site and installing signs at the approach areas. Inculcating local history and geography in school curriculum was another suggestion.

Located a few furlongs outside the Gunj Gate of the old Walled City of Peshawar is a site where an imposing stupa had once stood. It was built during the reign of Kushan Emperor Kanishka in the 1st century AD.

It was described in detail by Chinese pilgrims in their memoirs. Hiuen Tsang (Xuan Zang) in particular visited it during his travels in 629AD-645AD and called it the “tallest architectural building” in this part of Asia.

It is estimated that the stupa was equivalent to present day 13 storey tall building. The adjoining monastery was associated with Buddhist divines of Vasubandhu and Parva. With the decline of Buddhism in the region the traces of the stupa and monastery faded away.

A French archaeologist Alfred Foucher, who was a professor at University of Paris, visited Peshawar towards the end of 19th century, and noticed two mounds southeast of Peshawar outside the Walled City. He attempted to relate them to Hiuen Tsang’s description of the place.

 In 1908, D. B. Spooner, the American archaeologist working for the British Archaeological Survey of India and the first curator of Peshawar Museum, undertook excavation work at a site then known as Shahji-ki-Dheri (Shahji’s Mound, since it was privately owned by a Syed family). Finding ruins of a stupa and monastery he was able to confirm Foucher’s hypothesis in the light of Chinese pilgrims’ accounts.

In March 1909, when digging had reached the centre of the base of stupa, Spooner made a sensational discovery that stirred the archaeological world.

A relic casket in guilt-bronze containing Buddha’s bone fragments and ashes was recovered. The casket was inscribed with Emperor Kanishka’s name and figure.

The British government later gifted the Buddha’s relics to Burma where they are enshrined in the main pagoda at Mandalay. The bronze casket is on display in Peshawar Museum, while its replica is kept in the British Museum.

Subsequent excavation work yielded priceless Gandharan statues and other objects which are on display in museums around the world.When excavation work stopped the significance of the area was forgotten. Starting out with a brick factory, the locality was gradually built up after creation of Pakistan.

Nowadays the locality goes by the name of Akhunabad (Ward 4) which is a maze of unplanned and densely populated urban settlements sprung up over the mounds in recent years. The area presents a sorry picture of a once renowned historic site which was one of its kinds in Asia and was mentioned in countless books and journals.