

Gandhara symbol representing 6 weapons with one point between two weapons at the bottom of the point, a hollow moon. It was after this final conquest that the name of Gandhara itself was lost.Ī monetary silver coin of the satrapy of Gandhara. Subsequently, various groups, including the Sakas, the Parthians, and finally the Muslims under Mahmud of Ghazni, occupied Gandhara. Graeco-Bactrian rule in Gandhara ended when the Kushans from Central Asia invaded the region. Around 185 BC, Demetrius I, a Graeco-Bactrian ruler, conquered Gandhara. Tradition also states that Gandhara served as Chandragupta Maurya’s base when he launched his campaign against Magadha, a dominant power in northern India at that time.įollowing the decline of the Mauryan Empire, its western frontier was open to invasion once more. According to tradition, Chandragupta Maurya lived in Taxila, the capital of Gandhara, when it was captured. Macedonian rule in Gandhara did not last for long and was conquered once more, this time by Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire. These states, however, were short-lived, as Gandhara would be conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 BC. (Avantiputra7 / CC BY-SA 3.0 ) New Conquerors of Gandhara Around 380 BC, the Persians began to lose their grip on Gandhara, and a number of smaller kingdoms began to emerge in the region.Įastern border of the Achaemenid Empire and ancient kingdoms and cities of India. On the inscription of Darius’ tomb at Naqsh-e Rustam, near Persepolis, Gandhara is listed as one of the satrapies (governed province) under the Achaemenid Empire. The Gandharans lost their independence after they were conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC, either during the reign of Cyrus the Great or in the first year of Darius I. Under the Control of the Achaemenid Empire The Gandharans are also recorded to have been highly skilled in the art of war. According to the former, for instance, the Gandharans were supporters of the Kauravas, who fought against the Pandavas. The kingdom is mentioned in both of the great Hindu epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. one of the 16 important kingdoms / republics of ancient India. Fast forward to the Vedic period, Gandhara was a mahajanapada, i.e. Evidence of this human presence is seen in artifacts such as stone tools and burnt bones that have been dated to about 15,000 years old. The Gandhara region was occupied by human beings as early as the Stone Age. Occupation of the Region Since the Stone Age Nevertheless, it was also due to this factor that its greatest legacy, i.e. at the crossroads between India, Central Asia, and the Middle East, that it was targeted by so many conquerors. It was due to Gandhara’s central geographical location, i.e. Subsequently, it was conquered by various powers, including the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, and the Mauryan Empire. The history Gandhara can be traced all the way back to the Vedic period, when it was an independent kingdom. Gandhara was an ancient kingdom located in what is the region that is today northwestern Pakistan and northeastern Afghanistan.
