Preliminary Report of Archaeological Excavations at Maṭkanai (Malakand)

Abstract

To curtail clandestine activities of illegal diggers, the Department of Archaeology, University of Peshawar (hereafter the Department), planned a preemptive strategy for rescuing and preserving Buddhist cultural heritage by rigorous archaeological excavations in ancient Oḍḍiyāna (also Uḍḍiyāna) and Gandhāra, i.e., respectively the present Malakand Division and the Peshawar Valley of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. In the Initial phase, the sites of Maṭkanai and Baghrajai were excavated during 1980. A little later (1981-82), the Gandhara Archaeological Project (GAP) was launched for the same purpose. The project continued till early 1990s, during which time a number of sites, such as, Charg Paṭē in the Dir District and Butkaṛa-III, Gilbān Sērai, Gumbatkay, Gaṛasa, Loē Baṇṛ, Shnaisha and Tirath in District Swat, while others in the Peshawar Valley were scientifically excavated. Most of them were found
ruthlessly plundered long ago, however, the leftover cultural material, mainly sculptures wrought in schist stone were collected from them (Fig. 1).¹ Study of sculptures from the intact site Butkaṛa-III, and partly Charg Paṭē, Shanaisha and others significantly advanced our knowledge about the genesis and growth of Gandhāra art.² The cultural material retrieved is preserved in the Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of Peshawar (hereafter University Museum). While that from the
sites of Maṭkanai and Baghrajai was mutually shared by the Dir and the University Museums.
This preliminary report of the Buddhist remains at Maṭkanai, in the Ranizai Valley of District Malakand, is the outcome of brief salvage excavation conducted from October 25 to November 15, 1980. It was a joint venture of the Department and the Dir Museum at Chakdara. The fieldwork was directed by Prof. Abdur Rahman and the site was supervised by Prof. Muhammad Farooq Swati (then MA student), while the Dir Museum was represented by the then Director Mr. Aurangzeb Khan. Long after (13 July 2002), when the second co-author and Mr. Muhammad Naeem, surveyer of the Department, visited the site, they found it completely wrecked and levelled for cultivation leaving no apparent signs of identification. While studying the cultural material excavated from the said site for her MPhil studies,³ the principal author occasionally consulted the excavators, who had already been retired from University service, that ensued in writing this preliminary report.