Coordinates: 34.168°N 71.

736°E

Pushkalavati
َْ
Pushkalavati (Pashto and Urdu: َ ٓ ُ ; IAST: Puṣkalāvatī) was Pushkalāvatī
َْ
the capital of the Gandhara kingdom.[1] Its ruins are located on the
outskirts of the modern city of Charsadda, in the Khyber َٓ ُ
Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Its ruins are located on the
banks of Swat River, near its junction with Kabul River, with the
earliest archaeological remains from 1400 to 800 BCE in Bala
Hisar mound.[2][3] Pushkalavati was the capital of the ancient
Gandhara kingdom before the 6th century BCE, when it became an
Achaemenid regional capital, and it remained an important city
until the 2nd century CE.

The region around ancient Pushkulavati was recorded in the

Zoroastrian Zend Avesta as Vaēkərəta, or the seventh most
beautiful place on earth created by Ahura Mazda. It was known as The remains of Pushkalavati's Bala Hisar
the "crown jewel" of Bactria, and held sway over nearby ancient
Taxila'.[4]

Contents
Etymology
Ruins
Bala Hisar
Peucela and Shaikhan Dheri
Pushkalavati and Prang
Pushkalavati in the Ramayana
Shown within Pakistan
See also
References
External links

Etymology
Pushkalavati (Sanskrit: पु कलावती, IAST: Puṣkalāvatī) means
Lotus City in Sanskrit. According to the Ramayana, it was named
Pushkalavati because it was founded by Pushkala, the son of
Bharat (and hence nephew of Hindu deity Rama).

Ruins
The ruins of Pushkalavati consist of many stupas and the sites of
two ancient cities.
Bala Hisar
Bala Hisar site in this area was first occupied in the 2nd
millennium BCE.[5][6] The C14 dating of early deposits in Bala
Hisar, bearing "Soapy red"/red burnished ware, is 1420-1160 BCE,
and this early phase lasted from 1400 to 800 BCE,[7] the second
phase took place until around 500 BCE featuring bowls in typical
"grooved" red burnished ware.[8]

In later 6th century BCE, Pushkalavati became the capital of the

Achaemenid Gandhara satrapy.[9] The location was first excavated
in 1902 by the archaeologist John Marshall. Sir Mortimer Wheeler
conducted some excavations there in 1962, and identified various
Achaemenid remains.

Later in the regions historical chronology, King Ashoka built a

stupa there which was described by Xuanzang when he visited in
630 CE, which to this day remains unidentified and undiscovered.

Peucela and Shaikhan Dheri

The Bactrian Greeks built a new city (Peucela (Greek: Πευκέλα)
or Peucelaitis (Greek: Πευκελαώτις)) at the mound currently
known as Shaikhan Dheri, which lies one kilometre north-east
Pushkalavati (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
from Bala Hissar on the other side of Sambor River, the branch of
River Jinde.[10][11] This city was established in second century Alternative name Pushkalavati
BCE until the second century CE,[12] occupied by Parthian, Sakas Location Outskirts of Charsadda
and Kushans. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Pakistan
Two early Buddhist manuscripts recently found in the region,
Coordinates 34.168°N 71.736°E
known as avadanas, written in Gandhari language around 1st
century CE (now in the British Library Collection of Gandharan Type Ancient capital city
Scrolls)[13] mention the name of the city as Pokhaladi.[14][15][16] History

In the 2nd century CE, river changed its course and city was Founded c. 1400 BCE
flooded. The town moved to the site of the modern village of Periods Gandhara
Rajjar. The last reference to Pushkalavati as Po-shi-ki-lo-fa-ti[17] Site notes
was recorded in the account of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang in
Excavation dates 1902
7th century C.E.,[18] and subsequently, after the region was
conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001 AD, the name Gandhara
Archaeologists Sir John Marshall
was not used anymore, and in all probability the following period
Sir Mortimer Wheeler
is when Pushkalavati became known as Shaikhan Dheri, as Dheri
means mound/hill in Pashto[19], which is related to Persian language.

The former city's ruins were partly excavated by Ahmad Hasan Dani in 1960s. There are still many mounds at Mir Ziarat, at
Rajar and Shahr-i-Napursan which are still unexcavated.

Pushkalavati and Prang

 The city of Pushkalavati was
situated at the confluence of
Swat and Kabul rivers. Three
different branches of Kabul
river meet there. That specific
place is still called Prang and
considered sacred. A grand
graveyard is situated to the
north of Prang where the local Buddhist statuary from Charsadda.
people bring their dead for
burial. This graveyard is
considered to be among the
largest graveyards in the world.

Buddhist statues from Charsadda.

Pushkalavati in
the Ramayana Athens coin (Circa 500/490-485
In the concluding portion of the (Ramayana) Uttarakhanda or Supplemental BCE) discovered in the Shaikhan
Dehri hoard in Pushkalavati. This
Book (chaps. 101, 113-41, 200), the descendants of Rama and his brothers are
coin is the earliest known example of
described as the founders of the great cities and kingdoms which flourished in
its type to be found so far east.[20]
Western India.[22]

Bharata the brother of Rama had two sons, Taksha and Pushkala. The former
founded Taksha-sila or Taxila, to the east of the Indus, and known to Alexander
and the Greeks as Taxila. The latter founded Pushkala-vati or Pushkalavati, to
the west of the Indus, and known to Alexander and the Greeks as Peukelaotis.
Thus the sons of Bharat are said to have founded kingdoms which flourished on
either side of the Indus river. [23]
Achaemenid period silver ingot, circa
5th century BCE, Pushkalavati,
See also Gandhara.[21][20]

History of Peshawar
Pushkalavati Museum

References
1. Sagar, Krishna Chandra (1992). Foreign Influence on Ancient India. Northern Book Centre.
ISBN 9788172110284.
2. Petrie, Cameron, 2013. "Charsadda", in D.K. Chakrabarti and M. Lal (eds.), History of Ancient India III: The
Texts, Political History and Administration til c. 200 BC, Vivekananda International Foundation, Aryan Books
International, Delhi, p. 515.
3. Coningham, R.A.E. and C. Batt, 2007. "Dating the Sequence", in R.A.E. Coningham and I. Ali (eds.), Charsadda:
The British-Pakistani Excavations at the Bala Hisar, Society for South Asian Studies Monograph No. 5, BAR
International Series 1709, Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 93-98
4. Encyclopædia Britannica: Gandhara (http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9035986/Gandhara) Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20070929225502/http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9035986/Gandhara) 29
September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
 5. Investigating ancient Pushkalavati (http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/balar-hisar/bh-home)
Pushkalavati Archaeological Research Project
6. Ali et al. 1998: 6–14; Young 2003: 37–40; Coningham 2004: 9.
7. Petrie, Cameron, 2013. "Charsadda", in D.K. Chakrabarti and M. Lal (eds.), History of Ancient India III: The
Texts, Political History and Administration til c. 200 BC, Vivekananda International Foundation, Aryan Books
International, Delhi, p. 515.
8. Petrie, Cameron, 2013. "Charsadda", in D.K. Chakrabarti and M. Lal (eds.), History of Ancient India III: The
Texts, Political History and Administration til c. 200 BC, Vivekananda International Foundation, Aryan Books
International, Delhi, p. 516.
9. Rafi U. Samad, The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and
Indus Valleys. (https://books.google.com/books?id=pNUwBYGYgxsC&pg=PA33) Algora Publishing, 2011, p. 32
ISBN 0875868592
10. Dani, Ahmad Hasan, 1963. Pushkalavati: The Lotus City, Archaeological Guide Series No. 1, Peshawar
University, Peshawar, p. 5.
11. Khan, M. Nasim, 2005. "Terracotta Seal-Impressions from Bala Hisar, Charsadda", in Ancient Pakistan, Vol XVI,
p. 13.
12. Litvinsky, B.A., 1999. "Cities and Urban Life in the Kushan Kingdom", in (eds.) Janos Harmatta, B.N. Puri, and
G.F. Etemadi, History of Civilizations of Central Asia Vol. II. The development of sedentary and nomadic
civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, p. 292.
13. British Library Collection of Gandharan Scrolls (https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/gandharan-scrolls)
14. Baums, Stefan, (2019). "A survey of place names in Gandhari inscriptions and a new oil lamp from Malakand", in
(eds.) Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart, The Geography of Gandharan Art: Proceedings of the Second
International Workshop of the Gandhara Connections Project, University of Oxford, 22nd - 23rd March 2018,
Archaeopress, Archaeopress, Oxford, p. 169.
15. Manuscript CKM 2 British Library Collection (https://gandhari.org/a_manuscript.php?catid=CKM0002)
16. Manuscript CKM 14 British Library Collection (https://gandhari.org/a_manuscript.php?catid=CKM0014)
17. Beal, Samuel, (ed. & trans.), 1884. Si-yu-ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, Volume 2, Author: Hiuen
Tsang, London.
18. Dani, Ahmad Hasan, 1963. "Pushkalavati: The Lotus City", Archaeological Guide Series No. 1, Peshawar
University, Peshawar, p. 1.
19. https://glosbe.com/ps/en/%D8%BA%D9%88%D9%86%DA%89%DB%8D
20. "CNG: Printed Auction Triton XV. ATTICA, Athens. Circa 500/490-485/0 BC. AR Tetradrachm (21mm, 16.75 g,
11h)" (https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=199773). www.cngcoins.com.
21. "CNG: Printed Auction Triton XV. INDIA, Pre-Mauryan (Gandhara). Period of Achaemenid Rule. Circa 5th century
BC. Cast AR Cake Ingot" (https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=199976). www.cngcoins.com.
22. Gandhara and Its Art Tradition, Ajit Ghose, Mahua Publishing Company, 1978, p. 14 (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=k8kGAAAAMAAJ&dq=Pushkalavati+uttarakhanda&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Pushkalavati+uttarak
handa)
23. Dwaraka Prasad Sharma. "Shrimad Valmiki Ramayan - Sanskrit Text with Hindi Translation- DP Sharma 10
volumes" (https://archive.org/details/ShrimadValmikiRamayan-SanskritTextWithHindiTranslation-DpSharma10) –
via Internet Archive.

External links
Investigating ancient Pushkalavati (http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/balar-hisar/bh-home)
Pushkalavati Archaeological Research Project
Map of Gandhara archaeological sites, from the Huntington Collection, Ohio State University (large file) (https://w
eb.archive.org/web/20051231191035/http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/maps/gandh.html)

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