Buddhism in Afghanistan
Encyclopedia
Buddhism in Afghanistan was one of the major religions during pre-Islamic era
. The religion was wide spread south of the Hindu Kush
mountains. Buddhism first arrived to Afghanistan
in 305 BCE when the Seleucid Empire
made an alliance with the Indian Maurya Empire
. The religion started fading with the arrival of Islam
in the 7th century but finally ended during the Ghaznavids in the 11th century.
(connecting East Asian and Mediterranean civilizations, and others in between), have been major drivers of local historical and cultural developments. One major influence was the conquest of the area by Alexander the Great, which incorporated the area for a time into the Hellenistic World, and resulted in a strong Hellenistic influence on Buddhist religious art. In 305 BCE, the Seleucid Empire
made an alliance with the Indian Maurya Empire
. The Mauryans brought Buddhism
from India and controlled the area south of the Hindu Kush until about 185 BCE when they were overthrown.
At the time of these developments, most of the area belonged to the kingdoms of Bactria
and Sogdiana
. Many of the Iranian forebearers of the Pashtuns
, including the Scythians, followed Buddhism
until the arrival of Islam.
Many monuments testify to the Buddhist culture in present-day Afghanistan. Greek cultural and artistic influence in the region can be researched under Buddhist art
and Greco-Buddhism
. Additional historical detail can be researched under Pre Islamic Hindu and Buddhist heritage of Afghanistan
and Hinduism in Afghanistan
.
The Buddhist religion survived the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan
by the Umayyad
s and rule by the Abbasid
Caliphate. Buddhism in Afghanistan was extinguished by the Saffarids
, Ghaznavids, and Ghurids.
Recent reports stated that about 42 Buddhist relics have been discovered in the Logar Province of Afghanistan, which is south of Kabul. Some of these items date back to the 2nd century according to Archaeologists. Some Buddhist sites were found in Ghazni
. The items in Logar include two Buddhist temples (Stupa
s), Buddha statues, frescos, silver and gold coins and precious beads.
Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan
Archaeological exploration of the pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan began in Afghanistan in earnest after World War II and proceeded until the late 1970s when the nation was invaded by the Soviet Union. Archaeologists and historians suggest that humans were living in Afghanistan at least 50,000...
. The religion was wide spread south of the Hindu Kush
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...
mountains. Buddhism first arrived to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
in 305 BCE when the Seleucid Empire
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...
made an alliance with the Indian Maurya Empire
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...
. The religion started fading with the arrival of Islam
Islamic conquest of Afghanistan
The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan began in the middle of the 7th century after the Islamic conquest of Persia was completed, when Arab Muslims defeated the Sassanid Empire at the battles of Walaja, al-Qādisiyyah and Nahavand. The Muslim Arabs then began to move towards the lands east of Persia...
in the 7th century but finally ended during the Ghaznavids in the 11th century.
History
The territory within the borders of Afghanistan has seen a lot of cultural and religious shifts over the centuries. The geographical position of the area between the Middle East and South Asian cultures, and the proximity to the famous Silk RoadSilk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
(connecting East Asian and Mediterranean civilizations, and others in between), have been major drivers of local historical and cultural developments. One major influence was the conquest of the area by Alexander the Great, which incorporated the area for a time into the Hellenistic World, and resulted in a strong Hellenistic influence on Buddhist religious art. In 305 BCE, the Seleucid Empire
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...
made an alliance with the Indian Maurya Empire
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...
. The Mauryans brought Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
from India and controlled the area south of the Hindu Kush until about 185 BCE when they were overthrown.
At the time of these developments, most of the area belonged to the kingdoms of Bactria
Bactria
Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...
and Sogdiana
Sogdiana
Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great . Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created...
. Many of the Iranian forebearers of the Pashtuns
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
, including the Scythians, followed Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
until the arrival of Islam.
Many monuments testify to the Buddhist culture in present-day Afghanistan. Greek cultural and artistic influence in the region can be researched under Buddhist art
Buddhist art
Buddhist art originated on the Indian subcontinent following the historical life of Siddhartha Gautama, 6th to 5th century BC, and thereafter evolved by contact with other cultures as it spread throughout Asia and the world....
and Greco-Buddhism
Greco-Buddhism
Greco-Buddhism, sometimes spelled Graeco-Buddhism, refers to the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century CE in the area covered by the Indian sub-continent, and modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-western...
. Additional historical detail can be researched under Pre Islamic Hindu and Buddhist heritage of Afghanistan
Pre Islamic Hindu and Buddhist heritage of Afghanistan
Up until the advent of Islam, some eastern portions of Afghanistan was ruled by the Hindu Kabul Shahi kings. When Xuanzang visited the region early in the 7th century CE, the Kabul valley region was ruled by a Kshatriya king who is identified as the Shahi Khingal and whose name has been found in an...
and Hinduism in Afghanistan
Hinduism in Afghanistan
Hinduism in Afghanistan has existed for almost as long as Hinduism itself. The religion was widespread in the region until the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan...
.
The Buddhist religion survived the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan
Islamic conquest of Afghanistan
The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan began in the middle of the 7th century after the Islamic conquest of Persia was completed, when Arab Muslims defeated the Sassanid Empire at the battles of Walaja, al-Qādisiyyah and Nahavand. The Muslim Arabs then began to move towards the lands east of Persia...
by the Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
s and rule by the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
Caliphate. Buddhism in Afghanistan was extinguished by the Saffarids
Saffarid dynasty
The Saffarids or the Saffarid dynasty was a Persian empire which ruled in Sistan , a historical region in southeastern Iran, southwestern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan...
, Ghaznavids, and Ghurids.
Recent reports stated that about 42 Buddhist relics have been discovered in the Logar Province of Afghanistan, which is south of Kabul. Some of these items date back to the 2nd century according to Archaeologists. Some Buddhist sites were found in Ghazni
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
. The items in Logar include two Buddhist temples (Stupa
Stupa
A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
s), Buddha statues, frescos, silver and gold coins and precious beads.
See also
- Pre-Islamic Hindu and Buddhist heritage of Afghanistan
- Buddhism in PakistanBuddhism in PakistanBuddhism has a long history in Pakistan.-Buddhism in antiquity:The region that is today known as Pakistan once had a large Buddhist population, with the majority of people in Gandhara being Buddhist. Gandhara was largely Mahayana Buddhist, and was also a stronghold of Vajrayana Buddhism...
- Silk Road transmission of BuddhismSilk Road transmission of BuddhismThe Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China is most commonly thought to have started in the late 2nd or the 1st century CE.The first documented translation efforts by Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE, possibly as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan Empire into the...
- Trapusa and BahalikaTrapusa and BahalikaTrapusa and Bahalika from Balkh in Afghanistan, are attributed to be the first two lay disciples of the Buddha. The era of Trapusa and Bahalika is related to the life period of the Historical Buddha .The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his...
External links
- http://web.singnet.com.sg/~sidneys/afghanitan.htm
- http://www.berzinarchives.com/islam/history_afghanistan_buddhism.html
- http://folk.uio.no/atleom/manuscripts.htm
- http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/artl/buddhism.shtml