Emperor Kanishka’s era stupa rediscovered in Peshawar Building was said to be 13-storey tall

THE FRONTIER POST
A joint initiative of Directorate of Museums & Archaeology Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Tourism Corporation of the province (TCKP) met with success here when a team comprising members of both departments and a revenue official managed to identify and re-ascertain near exact location of the famous Shahji-ki-Dheri Gandharan Buddhist site which had passed into oblivion after it was discovered and excavated by archaeologists more than a century agoLocated a few furlongs outside the Gunj Gate of the old Walled City of Peshawar is a site of extraordinary archaeological importance where an imposing stupa had once stood, said a press release issued here on Wednesday.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 a 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 south east of Peshawar outside the walled city. He attempted to relate them to Hiuen Tsang’s description of the place.In 1908, D. Brainerd Spooner, an 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 was recovered containing Buddha’s bone fragments and ashes. 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 kind in Asia and mentioned in countless books and journals.In order to ascertain and pin-point the exact location of the Shahji-ki-Dheri site of yore, a team comprising Director Museums and Archaeology/Curator Peshawar Museum Nidaullah Sehrai, Zahoor Durrani of Sehrai Tours, Ali Jan of TCKP and Muhammad Humayun Akhund of Revenue Department visited Akhunabad.Employing satellite imagery and using old revenue land maps and archival records the team was able to survey the locality and narrow it down to a 24 Kanal stretch of land (Khasra No 853) where the stupa and monastery once stood.Archaeologist Nidaullah Sehrai who has recently assumed charge as Director Museums said that in a province boasting thousands of historic sites, the department had so far notified only 5 in the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which was a pity.His department, he said was working on a comprehensive plan to grant legal protection to several cultural and heritage sites under the Antiquity Act. Zahoor Durrani who assisted British historian/presenter Michael Wood on a recently concluded documentary project that featured Shahji-ki-Dheri site said he was delighted that TCKP and Directorate of Museums and Archaeology had joined hands in preservation and promotion of province’s historical sites.He lauded upcoming initiatives by TCKP which include launching of awareness programs with community participation and installation of standardised signboards and plaques in the vicinity of historical and tourist spots to convince public to look after their priceless national assets.”By adopting these measures we can instill a sense of pride and identity in our people who have remained ignorant about these matters so far”, said the TCKP official.