Fwd: Recording and preserving Gandhara's cultural heritage

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Recording and preserving Gandhara's cultural heritage Ihsan Ali and Robin

Coningham IHSAN ALI

Chairman

Department of Archaeological Sciences

University of Peshawar

Peshawar

Pakistan ROBIN CONINGHAM

Department of Archaeological Sciences

University of Bradford

West Yorkshire

BD7 1DP

 

The term Gandhara refers to the ancient name of the region which stretches

from the Kabul valley in the west to the Indus valley in the east (Fig. 1). The

pivot of routes to southern, central, eastern and western Asia, its strategic

position is testified by its presence as the Achaemenid empire's most easterly

province in the sixth century BC and the southern edge of the expansionist USSR

in the 1980s (Allchin1992; Dupree 1980). Occupied historically by successive

dynasties of Seleucids, Mauryans and Indo-Greeks, by the second century AD the

region was absorbed into the Kushan empire. The Kushans, or Yuezhi as they were

first known, were apparently a nomadic central Asian tribe which settled and

established a small kingdom in Bactria in the second century BC (Allchin & Cribb

1992). By the rule of the emperor Kanishka in second century AD, they had

transformed this provincial holding into a massive empire which stretched from

Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. During its

ascendancy, from the first century BC to the third century AD, the Kushan

empire had an important impact on the region's urban planning and religious

patronage. In particular, the Kushans established a series of vast dynastic

urban foundations, such as the cities of Sirsukh in Pakistan, Dalverzin-tepe in

Uzbekistan and Begram in Afghanistan (Litvinsky 1994); whilst still developing

other established urban sites, even minor ones such as Tilaurakot and Bhita.

Although remnants of the Kushan dynasty still ruled parts of Kashmir and the

Punjab as late as the fifth century AD, the provinces of Bactria and the upper

Indus were annexed by the expansion of the Sasanian empire under its founder

Ardashir I (r. 224-240AD) (Allchin & Cribb 1992). The region continued to

flourish under successive rulers until its established socio-economic frameworks

were destroyed by the incursions of the Hephthalites or White Huns in the fifth

century AD (Allchin & Cribb 1992).

 

Figure 1: Map showing the region of Gandhara Return to text Gandhara is

also the term given to this region's sculptural and architectural koine between

the first and sixth centuries AD, first initiated by the Kushans (Harle 1992;

Pugachenkova et al. 1994; Zwalf 1996). In addition to the creation of major

dynastic cult centres, such as the monumental fire temple at Surkh Kotal in

Afghanistan, this period represents the renaissance of Buddhism within South

Asia, with the creation of new religious complexes, at sites such as Takht-i

Bahi, Hadda, Begram, Taxila, Peshawar, Swat and Mathura, or in the restoration

and expansion of the shrines of Lumbini, Ramgrama and Sanchi (Harmatta et al.

1994a). This development resulted in the spread of the Kushan's brand of

Mahayana Buddhism into central and eastern Asia along the silk route (Harmatta

et al. 1994a). Largely associated in Pakistan with Buddhist veneration, the

Gandharan style contains an eclectic variety of elements as

summarised by Pugachenkova: 'It absorbed the earlier Graeco-Bactrian

traditions current in the area and was also receptive to ideas and trends of the

contemporary West through international trade and commerce' (Harmatta et al.

1994a, 371). Mass-produced, it was, in Wheeler's view, an art of

mass-communication which was both devotional and instructive. Antiquarian

interest in South Asia began with European officials attempting to identify

topography with reference to classical sources, and it is therefore no surprise

that the discovery of Gandharan art in the nineteenth century sparked off great

interest: 'nostalgic Western expatriates ... attuned it uncritically to their

predominantly Classical educations' (Wheeler 1968, 150). Such a category of

art was clearly collectable and large public and private collections were

assembled. The Queen's Own Corps of Guides, for example, amassed a collection

to decorate their mess at Mardan which was later presented to the British

Museum.

Collecting Gandharan art was reduced by the subsequent establishment of the

Archaeological Survey of India, the Treasure Trove and various antiquities acts,

but has recently reached a new crescendo. This has resulted in the looting of

hundreds of sites in northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. Indeed, one scholar has

suggested that there was a positive correlation between the acceleration of

robbing in this area and the absorption of a number of smaller northern states

into federal Pakistan in 1969, stating that it had 'led to a significant

acceleration in the erosion of the cultural heritage of the valley (Swat), which

was no longer protected by the strict discipline imposed by the Wali of Swat and

the Nawabs of Dir' (Khan 1995a, 2).

Clearly such claims are unsupported if one examines the reports of Sir Aurel

Stein who visited the Swat valley 70 years previously:

Much regrettable damage and loss have been caused ... in tribal territory

and elsewhere along the Peshawar border, by 'irresponsible' digging for remains

of that Hellenistic sculptural art which once adorned all Buddhist sanctuaries

of this region. How destructive such digging usually was and how often much of

the spoil, when sold to amateur collectors, was ultimately scattered or

destroyed, is a story too sad (Stein 1929, 17).

Recording that a large number of sites in the valley showed 'grievous signs of

such exploitation', Stein commented on the clear antiquity of some of the

damage, as well as noting that more recently recovered objects of value were

either melted down or transported to dealers in Rawalpindi or Peshawar (Stein

1929, 39). Wheeler, too, refers to the many 'Western expatriates who collected

it abundantly from the soils and bazaars of the busy frontier region' (Wheeler

1968, 150). These comments were echoed by Professor Dani of Peshawar University

who conducted a survey of the Chakdara region of the valley of Swat and Dir

between 1962 and 1965 (Dani 1971a). Surveying fourteen Buddhist sites, he noted

that six had 'been robbed of sculptural treasures' (Dani 1971a, 9) and that some

of these sites had 'been given to spoliation for more than a century' (Dani

1971a, 7). Such was the concern that 'antiquities were already pouring out of

these regions with astonishingly rapid speed' (Rehman

1971, 119) that the Political Agent to Dir State appointed an inspector 'to go

about in the State, detect the treasure hunters and find out the places where

they stealthily rob the art materials in the darkness of the night' (Dani 1971c,

65) as well as inviting the University of Peshawar to survey, record and

excavate threatened sites. Indeed, when Professor Dani arrived at one site to

start excavating in 1965 he commented that: 'I examined Andandheri, which for a

century had been robbed of its art treasures. Even on the day, when I went to

see the site, a local contractor was busy in removing the sculptures for sale in

the open market.' (Dani 1971b, 33). More recently, the Government of Pakistan

has again attempted to stem the looting through the creation of a collaborative

program of study, documentation and protection of monuments within the region

under the auspices of the Gandhara Archaeological Project. This resulted in the

Department of Archaeology of the University of

Peshawar and the Federal Department of Archaeology and Museums agreeing to

conduct an archaeological survey of the Vale of Peshawar and its adjacent areas.

As a result, Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan and Swabi districts were

surveyed, although to date the results of only two surveys, Charsadda and Swabi,

have been published (Ali 1994; Khan 1995b).

The survey in Charsadda District identified a total of 144 sites, of which 75

can be tentatively identified as sacred sites, that is Buddhist stupas, shrines

and monasteries (Ali 1994). Many of these sites, 35 in number, have been badly

damaged or completely destroyed by illegal excavations for antiquities (Fig. 2).

In addition to furnishing us with actual statistical data for the destruction of

sites, the reports of inhabitants and informants allow a better understanding of

the dynamics of looting (Fig. 3). The land was variously owned either by

individuals such as Maluk owner of Kanizaka (Ali 1994, 19); by tribes, such as

the Alim Zai ownership of Khar Bandai (Ali 1994, 8); by the government, such

as the school at Ibrahim Zai (Ali 1994, 17) or the Police station at Khan Mahi I

(Ali 1994, 20) and the Irrigation Department resthouse at Utmanzai (Ali 1994,

21); or might even be in collective village ownership, as at Hindu Kamar (Ali

1994, 44). Some sites had been excavated

by farmers or villagers living in the vicinity, as in the case of Bajuro Kili

(Ali 1994, 26) and Khar Bandai (Ali 1994, 39), but others appear to have

attracted individuals and groups from further afield. Sculptures from the site

of Spinawrai, for example, were first excavated in the mid-1980s by an

individual from Mardan but more were found as recently as 1992 by a group from

Peshawar and Charsadda (Ali 1994, 40). Groups from Peshawar were reported to

have worked at Jhara Sikandar Abad (Ali 1994, 45). whilst some excavators only

worked at night as at Utmanzai (Ali 1994, 43), informants reported that very

large groups of individuals were daily engaged in illegal excavation at other

sites. As many as 60 people were present at Mra Dherai (Ali 1994, 42). Whilst

some sites were worked by hand, others were robbed with the use of bulldozers

(e.g. Tai Dherai 1; Ali 1994, 16). It is increasingly reported that some

individuals are now using metal detectors. The Swabi District

survey has provided a similar picture and the surveyor stated that 'As

elsewhere in the province, the rich cultural heritage represented by Buddhist

stupas and monasteries has been severely disturbed by antiquity robbers' (Khan

1995b, 90). Of the 102 sites identified by the survey, 32 were classified as

sacred or Buddhist sites. Fifteen had been badly damaged by illegal excavators

seeking sculpture although one, Aziz Dheri (Ali 1994, 106) has since been the

focus of salvage excavations by the Provincial Department of Archaeology (Fig.

4) and another, Dalurai, is now protected by the Federal Department of

Archaeology and Museums (Ali 1994, 109). The site of Hund on the banks of the

Indus has also been the subject of rescue excavations conducted by the

University of Peshawar in 1996.

Figure 2.

Damaged site at Rajar Dheri, Charsadda

Return to text Figure 3.

Members of the Provincial Department of Archaeology, Government of NWFP, halting

illegal digging at Shaikhan Dheri, Charsadda

Return to text Figure 4.

Damaged monastic complex at Aziz Dheri, Swabi.

Return to text The picture within the northern valley of Buner, Chitral, Dir

and Swat is less clear and the results of the 1980 surveys of these areas by Dr

Abdur Rehman and Mr Farid Khan are keenly awaited. under the auspices of the

Gandhara Archaeological Project, a number of the threatened survey sites,

Butkara III, Shnaisha and Marjanai, were excavated by the University of Peshawar

(Rehman 1993; Khan 1995a). The excavator of Shnaisah, professor Abdur Rehman,

stated that it 'has been well known to art robbers in Swat as a rich source of

sculptures. Consequently it was plundered several times in the past ... Some

people in the neighbourhood who had actively participated in these plunderings

as hired labour are still alive' (Fig. 5) (1993, 12). Such was the reputation

of the site that during the excavation, five looters were arrested by the police

after 'a gang of armed robbers raided the site, tied up the watchman and started

digging for themselves' (Rehman 1993, 14). Even

in the absence of the survey reports of Rehman and Khan, it is possible to

refer to the survey of Dr M. Ashraf Khan of the Federal Department of

Archaeology (1993). He studied 17 of the best preserved Buddhist monuments in

the Swat valley and recorded that a total of 11 (Shnaisha, Malam Jaba (Fig. 6),

Gumbatuna, Sisaka Kandaro Patay Dadahara, Shingardar stupa, Barikot, Tokardara,

Abba Sahib China and Topedara) had been disturbed and damaged by sculpture

robbers and clandestine diggers (Khan 1993). Whilst a number of the sites had

been excavated in antiquity, Khan relates that the recent scale of illegal

digging has forced the Federal Department, the University of Peshawar and the

Italian Mission to mount emergency salvage excavations and summarises the

situation:

Unfortunately the treasure hunters, who are actively busy in the clandestine

dealing of antiquities, have robbed these sites for many years and have taken

out unique antiquities to foreign countries in their lust for money. These

antiquities hunters have destroyed the sites to such an extent that now it

becomes impossible to reconstruct their sequence and chronology (Khan 1993, 17).

Figure 5

Damaged stupa dome at Shnaisha, Swat

Return to text Figure 6

Damaged stupa at malam Jaba, Swat

Return to text Whilst some illicit excavators have used the sculpture for

utilitarian purposes, such as a pillar support at Mani Khela (Ali 1992, 41), or

have destroyed it, as at Sandasar II Chena (Ali 1992, 48), much has been sold.

Some has been disposed of locally as recorded from Ghazgi Spinawari Dherai (Ali

1992, 44), but much material is recorded to have been sold in Peshawar as in the

case of sculpture from Ghazgi Spinawari Dherai (Ali 1992, 44) and Pappu Dherai

(Ali 1992, 47). Indeed, an informant from the latter site reported that his

main profession for decades has been the illegal excavation of materials and

that most of this material was then sold in Peshawar (Ali 1992, 47). Less

information is available on the dispersal of antiquities from the Swabi survey

region, but Shah Nazar Khan states that the sculpture from one site, the Tarbela

Dam Pump House, now in Japan, had been published by the collector, Kurita (Khan

1995b, 108) and that informants at Bruj stated that

'stucco images of the Buddha were recovered and smuggled out of the country'

(Khan 1995b, 106). The availability of a fake sculpture from kalu Khan and a

fake inscription from Charbagh illustrate the quantities of imitation sculpture

and artefacts which have been manufactured in an attempt to meet the market

demand (Khan 1995b, 168). Khan comments that quantities of sculpture from one

particularly rich site, Naranji, has 'led to a sharp increase in the price of

land on and around the site' (Khan 1995b, 107). It is also interesting to note

that at one site, Khrakhpa, the survey team recovered two headless Buddha

torsoes (Khan 1995b, 105), perhaps indicative of the practice noted in Buner by

Professor F. A. Durrani, Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of Peshawar University, where

dealers 'unable to take the whole sculpture, detach the head with the help of a

sharp steel saw' (Durrani undated, 4).

The presence of large quantities of Gandharan scupture on the art market in

East Asia, Europe and the United States is unsurprising. Recent material

advertised in London within the British Museum Magazine, the journal of the

British Museum Society, has included a 29cm high stucco Buddha head with a

provenance of Afghanistan (British Museum Society 1997a, 1998), a 1.25m high

standing Bodhisattva from Pakistan (British Museum Society 1996; 1997b, c) and a

female deity holding a lotus from Sahri Bahlol in Pakistan (British Museum

Society 1994.) A further 29 lots of Gandhara sculpture were advertised for

Sotheby's New York September 1998 auction, demonstrating again the wide scale

availability of material. Examples ranged from detached Buddha heads (lot 49)

to monumental Bodhisattva figures (lot 11)

(http://www.sothebys.com/search/index.html). Also advertised on the web are a

schist panel from northeastern Pakistan

(http://www.asianart.com/eskenazi/image18.html) and a silver

reliquary from Pakistan (http://www.asianart.com/jsinger/stupa.html).

Whilst looting represents a major threat to the cultural heritage of Pakistan,

it is also clear from the surveys that a number of other factors should also be

taken into account. These factors are fuelled by populations expansion and

include the demand for building materials, more land for cultivation, more land

for housing and more land for graveyards! The data from the Charsadda survey

demonstrated that although 89 of its 144 surveys sites had been badly damaged or

destroyed, illegal looting only accounted for 26 of these (Ali 1994). The

balance included sites, such as Ghrumbak (Ali 1994), which are now used as

graveyards; one site which had been leveled for cultivation; and a further 27

sites such as Kula Dhand (Ali 1994, 8), which had been covered by modern housing

- a phenomenon made worse by the presence of large numbers of Afghan refugees

(Ali 1994). This pattern is repeated in the data from Swabi, where just under

half of the 31 sacred sites and a further 5 non-sacred

sites had been destroyed by illegal excavations. The number of sites destroyed

by illicit excavation (20) is, however, put into perspective by the count of

sites destroyed by other activities. Of the 102 surveyed sites one, Burjo

Kanai, had been used as a source for brick-making (khan 1995b, 92), 17 had been

leveled in order to provide cultivable land (eg. Rasuli: Khan 1995b), three had

been destroyed in order to sell the stone for building materials (eg. Panjpir

Dherai: Khan 1995b, 94) (Fig. 7), seven had been converted into graveyards

(eg. Ittam Dherai: Khan 1995b, 93), two had been badly damaged by the

construction of new canals (eg. Putraki Dherai: Khan 1995b, 94) and six had

been built over (eg. Qadami Dherai: Khan 1995b, 95). Some had even been used

as sites for new villages for people displaced by the Tarbela Dam project in

1971 (eg. Nakra Dherai: Khan 1995b, 96; and Kaya: Khan 1995b, 99). Again

this is not necessarily a new type of threat. Stein recorded

that a large number of sites in Swat had been destroyed for building stone

(1929, 31) as did Dani some forty years later (1971). Wheeler noted a similar

phenomenon at the city site of Shaikhan Dheri in 1058 (1962, 16) as well as the

damage caused to the Bala Hisar of Charsadda by local villagers cutting into the

mound for top-dressing for their fields in 1944 (Wheeler 1962, 10). The

Government of Pakistan, through the Federal and Provincial Departments of

Archaeology and the Universities, and a number of NGOs, such as the National

Heritage Foundation, is rapidly and positively responding to these threats to

its cultural heritage - a response which should be more widely recognised and

applauded. However, as noted by Professor Durrani, these efforts are limited

by scarcities of material resources. Assistance is needed in both the national

and international arenas and it has been suggested that whilst the UNIDROIT

Convention may address some of the international aspects, the

underlying local factors may be best addressed at grass-roots level by the

establishment of local museums in order to raise the awareness of local cultural

heritage (Ali 1994, 6). The attrition caused by well over a century of

collecting must be slowed down or stopped. If it is not, we should heed

Professor Taj Ali's words:

If we do not act promptly, even the few remaining vestiges of the Gandharan

civilisation which have survived the depredations of illegal excavation, will

disappear from the face of the earth (Ali 1995, i).

Figure 7

Robbed-out masonry at Shaikhan Dheri, Charsadda

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