Glimpses of History in the Cemetery of Charsadda (Ancient Pushkalavati)

Abstract

Pushkalavati, the present Charsadda and the ancient capital of Gandhara, is situated in the Peshawar valley on the confluence of river Swat and Kabul (Conningham 2007: 12). In the words of Dani; "Throughout the centuries Gandhara evolved a culture of its own based on the economy of its main resource - the river Kabul and its tributaries. Pushkalavati embodies the first flowering of this culture. In the history of Pushkalavati alone can be traced those elements of the culture that underlie the very bases of the gandharan life" (Dani 1969: 204). The land was so significant to the Buddhists in the past that a number of jataka stories, previous lives of Buddha, have been associated with it. Here once stood stupa of the Eye Gift, which has been mentioned in detail by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, which, he narrates, was several hundred feet high and was decorated with carved wood and stones (Beal 1884: 110). It was in this country where according to the Buddhist traditions Lord Buddha gave his eyes as charity and converted Hariti, ''The Mother of the Demons" to the true faith (Foucher 1901: 28). The Syama Jataka is also said to have taken place in this country (Waters 1904: 217). In antiquated past the region was known for its abundance of lotus flowers, which later became the distinctive feature of the Pushkalavati area (Dani 1963: 8). Even a separate goddess was attributed to this city attested by the discovery of a gold coin of the Indo-Greek ruler Heliocles, in which the goddess is holding a lotus flower in her right hand and wearing a mural crown decorated with lotus flowers as well. Kharoshthi writing on the coins reads, Goddess of Pushkauroati (Mukherjee 1969: 71-74). But another distinctive feature of Charsadda is its old graveyard, abode of the departed ones from the olden times. There are several extensive Muslim graveyards in the Peshawar valley, but the one in Charsadda deserve special mention because of its historical significance (Mohammadzai 2006: 4-8).