WEEK-2

10/10/2024
The Indus civilization was the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent—
one of the world’s three earliest civilizations, along with Mesopotamia and ancient
Egypt.

Time and Space

Indus Valley civilization (known also as Harappan culture) appeared around 2500
B.C. along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh. This civilization was the
1920s. Yet the site was damaged in the latter part of the nineteenth century when
engineers constructing the Lahore-Multan railroad used brick from the ancient city
for ballast. Fortunately, the site at Mohenjo-daro has been less disturbed in modern
times and shows a well-planned and well-constructed city of brick.

Smaller Sites

A number of other small sites stretching from the Himalayan foothills in Indian
Punjab to Gujarat east of the Indus River and to Balochistan to the west have also
been discovered. How closely these places were connected to Mohenjo-daro and
Harappa is not clearly known, but evidence indicates that there was some link and
that the people inhabiting these places were probably related.

Major Features

Discovered in it had a writing system, urban centers, and a diversified social and
economic system, at its two most important sites: Mohenjo-daro, in Sindh near
Sukkur, and Harappa, in Punjab south of Lahore (see fig. 2).

Work
Indus Valley civilization was essentially a city culture sustained by surplus
agricultural produce and extensive commerce, which included trade with Sumer in
southern Mesopotamia in what, is today modern Iraq. Copper and bronze were in
use, but not iron. Mohenjo-daro and Harappa were cities built on similar plans of
well-laid-out streets, elaborate drainage systems, public baths, differentiated
residential areas, flat-roofed brick houses and fortified administrative and religious
centers enclosing meeting halls and granaries. Weights and measures were
standardized. Distinctive engraved stamp seals were used, perhaps to identify
property.
 Cotton was spun, woven, and dyed for clothing. Wheat, rice, and other food
crops were cultivated, and a variety of animals were domesticated.

Art

An abundance of artifacts have been found at Harappa. Wheel-made pottery—

some of it adorned with animal and geometric motifs—has been found in
abundance at all the major Indus sites. A centralized administration has been
inferred from the cultural uniformity revealed, but it remains uncertain whether
authority lay with a priestly or a commercial oligarchy.

By far the most attractive but most obscure artifacts discovered to date are
the small, square steatite seals engraved with human or animal motifs. Large
numbers of the seals have been found at Mohenjo-daro, many bearing pictorial
inscriptions generally thought to be a kind of writing. Despite the efforts of
philologists from all parts of the world, however, and despite the use of computers,
the script remains un-translated.

End of the Indus valley Civilization

Although historians agree that the civilization ceased abruptly, at least in Mohenjo-
daro and Harappa there is disagreement on the possible causes for its end. Invaders
from central and western Asia are considered by some historians to have been
“destroyers” of Indus Valley civilization, but this view is open to reinterpretation.
More plausible explanations are persistent floods caused by tectonic earth
movement, soil salinity, and desertification.

Indo-Aryans

Pakistan was later the entryway for the migrating pastoral tribes known as Indo-
Aryans, or simply Aryans, who brought with them and developed the rudiments of
the religion-philosophical system of what later evolved into Hinduism. They also
brought an early version of Sanskrit, the base of Urdu, Punjabi, and Sindhi
languages that are spoken in much of Pakistan today.

TOWN PLANNING OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION: SALIENT

FEATURES

Town planning is the unique feature of Indus valley civilization. Their town
planning proves that they lived a highly civilized and developed life. Indus people
were the first to build planned cities with scientific drainage system. The Indus
cities were built on an uniform plan. Town planning was amazing in nature. A few
cities have forts to the West built on higher platform and to the east of which is the
hub of residential area. Both of them are surrounded by a massive brick wall. The
cities without citadel are found on high mounds.
Town Planning of Indus Valley Civilization

Streets

The streets were straight and cut each other at right angles. They were 13 to
34 feet wide and were well lined. The streets and roads divided the city into
rectangular blocks. Archaeologists have discovered the lamp posts at intervals.
This suggests the existence of street lights. Dustbins were also provided on the
streets. These prove the presence of good municipal administration.

Drainage System

One of the most remarkable features of the Indus valley civilization is that
the city was provided with an excellent closed drainage system. Each house had its
own drainage and soak pit which was connected to the public drainage. Brick laid
channels flowed through every street. They were covered and had manholes at
intervals for cleaning and clearing purposes. Large brick mains with corbelled
roofs were constructed on the outskirts of the city to carry excess water. Thus
Indus people had a perfect underground drainage system. No other contemporary
civilization gave so much attention to cleanliness.

The Great Bath

The most striking feature in Mohenjodaro is the Great Bath. It consists of a

large quadrangle. In the centre, there is a huge swimming pool (approximately 39
ft long, 23 ft wide and 8ft deep) with the remains of galleries and rooms on all four
sides. It has a flight of steps at either end and is fed by a well, situated in one of the
adjoining rooms. The water was discharged by a huge drain with corbelled roof
more than 6 ft in depth. The Great bath had 8 ft thick outer walls. This solid
construction has successfully withstood the natural ravages for 5000 years. There
were arrangements for hot water bath in some rooms.
 Granaries

The largest building in Mohenjodaro is granary which is 45.71 mtrs long and
15.23 mtrs wide. In Harappa there are a series of brick platforms which formed the
base for two rows of 6 granaries each. In the Southern part of Kalibangan brick
platforms have also been found. These granaries safely stored the grains, which
were probably collected as revenue or store houses to be used in emergencies.

Buildings

People of Indus valley civilization built houses and other buildings by the
side of roads. They built terraced houses of burnt bricks. Every house had two or
more rooms. There were also more than one storied houses. The houses were
designed around an inner courtyard and contained pillared halls, bath rooms, paved
floors, kitchen, well etc. Besides residential quarters, elaborate structures have also
been found. One of these buildings has got the biggest hall measuring 80 ft long
and 80 ft wide. It might have been a palace, or temple or hall for holding meetings.
The workmen quarters are also found. There was an excellent system of water
supply. There were public wells by the side of streets. Every big house had its own
well. They also built a dockyard at Lothal.

The Indus Valley Civilization, Map, Seals, Town Planning, Great Bath

Indus Valley Civilization also known as Bronze Age civilisation in the

northwestern regions of South Asia. Complete detail of Indus Valley Civilization
Seals, Town Planning, Drainage System, UPSC.

The Indus Valley Civilization thrived from 3300 to 1300 BCE in its early
years and from 2600 to 1900 BCE in its prime years. This civilization’s domain
stretched from what is now northeast Afghanistan through Pakistan and northwest
India along the Indus River.

Of the three early civilizations of the ancient world—Ancient Egypt,

Mesopotamia, and the Indus—the Indus Civilization was the most extensive.
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were regarded as the two biggest towns of the Indus
Valley Civilization when it initially emerged around 2600 BCE along the Indus
River Valley in the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. Important
archaeological information on ancient cultures was obtained via their discovery
and excavation in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Indus Valley Civilization Cities and Sites

The urban centres of the Indus Valley Civilization had well-designed and
organized infrastructure, architecture, and governmental structures.

The little Early Harappan villages had grown into huge cities by 2600 BCE.
In modern Pakistan, these cities are Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-Daro; in
contemporary India, these cities are Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Rupar,
and Lothal. In total, more than 1,052 cities and settlements have been found,
primarily near the Indus River and its tributaries. There may have once been five
million people living in the Indus Valley Civilization.

The Indus Valley Civilization left behind towns with exceptional

organization; there were public granaries and baths, as well as well-organized
systems for collecting rubbish and sewerage. Most city people were craftsmen and
merchants, who tended to congregate in specific neighborhoods. Urban planning’s
high standard reflects effective municipal administrations that gave religious
observance and hygiene a high priority.
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION PHASES

• Early Harappan Phasefrom 3300 to 2600 BCE

• Mature Harappan Phasefrom 2600 to 1900 BCE

• Late Harappan Phasefrom 1900 to 1300 BCE.

Indus Valley Civilization Town Planning

Town planning was a distinctive feature of the Harappan society. Both

Mohenjodaro and Harappa had their own acropolis or fort, which may have been
inhabited by members of the governing elite. Each city had a lower town with
brick homes where the common people lived beneath the citadel. The grid system
was followed in the city housing arrangements, which is exceptional.

The Harappan cities included granaries as a significant component. The

usage of burnt bricks in the Harappan cities is unusual considering that dried bricks
were primarily employed in Egyptian constructions at the time. Mohenjodaro has a
highly effective drainage system. Each large or modest residence in practically all
cities had its own patio and bathroom. There were wells in several homes in
Kalibangan. At places like Dholavira and Lothal (Gujarat), the town’s entire
settlement was fortified, and walls also divided different parts of the town.

Indus Valley Civilization Great Bath

The “first public water tank in the ancient world” is another name for
Mohenjo-Great Daro’s Bath. Mostly and exclusively utilised for religious rituals,
the Great Bath was also occasionally used for bathing. There is no indication of a
temple around, therefore they may have utilized this for religious rituals. Due to
their poverty or perceived lack of purity, some people were not even permitted to
attend the Great Bath.

The Great Bath, one of the most important Indus cultural centres, is a part of
a massive citadel complex that was unearthed at Mohenjo-Daro during excavations
in the 1920s. A thick layer of natural tar, also known as bitumen, which is utilized
to hold water, and fine baked waterproof mud bricks are used to construct the huge
bath. A large, rectangular tank encircled on all sides by hallways, with flights of
stairs leading into the tank on the north and south.

Indus Valley Civilization Society & Political System

Regarding a centre of power or representations of the powerful in Harappan

civilization, archaeological evidence do not immediately offer any answers.
Pottery, seals, weights, and bricks with regulated sizes and weights are among the
artefacts of the Harappan culture that exhibit an amazing degree of consistency,
indicating some kind of authority or system of government. Regarding the
Harappan system of rule or governance, three significant hypotheses have emerged
over time.

The first is that, given the uniformity of the artefacts, the indication of
planned colonies, the standardization of brick size, and the apparent placement of
towns close to raw material sources, there was a single state that included all the
communities of the civilization.
 According to the second theory, each of the urban centres, including
Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, and other settlements, had a number of rulers who
represented them.

Finally, researchers have proposed that there were no rulers in the Indus
Valley Civilization in the traditional sense of the word; instead, everyone lived in
equality..

Indus Valley Civilization Agriculture

Food grain production was adequate in the Harappan communities, which

were primarily located close to the river plains. It was possible to grow wheat,
barley, rai, peas, sesame, lentil, chickpea, and mustard. Additionally, Gujarati
places have millets. While rice was only occasionally used. Cotton was first
produced by the Indus civilization. Grain findings suggest the presence of
agriculture, but it is more challenging to recreate actual agricultural operations.

Bulls have been depicted on seals and in clay art and extrapolation by
archaeologists suggest that oxen were also utilized for ploughing. The majority of
Harappan sites are found in semi-arid regions, where irrigation was probably
necessary for farming. Canal remnants have been discovered at the Afghani
Harappan site at Shortughai, but not in Punjab or Sindh. Despite engaging in
agriculture, the Harappans also raised animals on a massive scale.

Mohenjodaro’s surface level and a dubious ceramic statue from Lothal both
include evidence of the horse. In any event, horses were not central to the
Harappan civilization.

Indus Valley Civilization Craft

The largest of the four ancient civilizations—which also included Egypt,
Mesopotamia, and China—the Indus Valley Civilization is the earliest known
example of the type of culture on the Indian subcontinent that is generally referred
to as “urban” (or focused on large communities). It has been determined that the
Indus River Valley’s civilization existed during the Bronze Age, or roughly 3300–
1300 BCE. It was situated in what is now Pakistan and India, and it encompassed a
region the size of Western Europe.

The two most important towns of the Indus Valley Civilization, Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro, appeared in the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan
approximately 2600 BCE along the Indus River Valley. Important archaeological
information about the civilization’s technology, art, trade, transportation, writing,
and religion was uncovered and uncovered during their discovery and excavation
in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Indus Valley Civilization Technology

The Indus Valley inhabitants made numerous important technological

advancements, including very accurate systems and tools for measuring length and
mass.

One of the first civilizations to create a system of standard weights and

measurements that followed a scale was Harappa. On an ivory scale that was
discovered at Lothal, a significant Indus Valley city in the contemporary Indian
state of Gujarat, the smallest division, measuring roughly 1.6 mm, was written. It is
the tiniest division of a Bronze Age scale that has ever been identified. The regular
size of the bricks used to construct the Indus towns is another sign of an advanced
measurement system.

Dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms, and defense walls built

by the Harappans served as examples of sophisticated building. The sewer and
drainage systems utilized in ancient Indus cities were far more sophisticated and
effective than any seen in modern-day Middle Eastern cities, and they are being
used in many parts of Pakistan and India today.

It was thought that the Harappans were skilled carvers of patterns into the
underside of seals. To mark their properties and impress clay on trade products,
they used several seals. A seal decorated with elephant, tiger, and water buffalo
patterns has been one of the objects discovered in Indus Valley towns the most
frequently.

The Harappans also executed elaborate handicrafts employing items made of

the semi-precious gemstone, Carnelian, and created new methods for working with
metallurgy, the science of working with copper, bronze, lead, and tin.

Indus Valley Civilization Art

Many different works of art from the Indus Valley culture have been
discovered at excavation sites, including sculptures, seals, ceramics, gold
jewellery, and anatomically accurate figurines made of terracotta, bronze, and
soapstone.

One of the many figurines made of gold, terracotta, and stone depicted a
“Priest-King” with a beard and patterned robe. Another bronze figurine, the
“Dancing Girl,” stands just 11 cm tall and depicts a female figure in a stance that
might indicate the existence of a choreographed dance style that was practiced by
people in the civilization. There were also terracotta works of cows, bears,
monkeys, and dogs. In addition to figurines, it is thought that the inhabitants of the
Indus River Valley also produced necklaces, bangles, and other decorations.

Indus Valley Civilization Script

The Harappans are thought to have spoken a language made out of symbols
called Indus Script. At Harappa, written texts on clay and stone tablets with trident
shaped, plant-like patterns were discovered. These texts have been carbon-dated to
between 3300 and 3200 BCE. This Indus Script implies that the Indus River Valley
Civilization developed writing independently from the script used in Mesopotamia
and Ancient Egypt.

Indus symbols have been discovered on seals, tiny tablets, pottery pots, and
more than a dozen more objects, numbering up to 600 different symbols. The
majority of the typically short Indus inscriptions have no more than four or five
characters. The longest sign on a single surface is 17 signs long and less than 1
inch (or 2.54 cm) square. Although the figures are mostly illustrated, there are
numerous abstract signs that don’t seem to have aged well.

Although it is believed that the inscriptions were largely written from right
to left, it is not apparent whether this script represents a full language. Linguists
and archaeologists have not been able to decode the symbols because there is no
“Rosetta Stone” to compare it to other writing systems.

Indus Valley Civilization Religion

The religion of Harappa is still up for debate. There is widespread

speculation that the Harappans revered a mother deity who represented fertility.
Indus Valley Civilization appears to have lacked any temples or palaces that would
have provided indisputable proof of religious rites or particular deities, in contrast
to Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. A swastika emblem, used in later
Indian religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, is depicted on some
Indus Valley seals.

Numerous Indus Valley seals also feature animal forms; some represent
animals being carried in processions, while others show chimaera creations. This
has led academics to theories about the significance of animals in Indus Valley
religions. One Mohenjo-Daro seal depicts a tiger being attacked by a half-human,
half-buffalo creature. It’s possible that this is a reference to the Sumerian narrative
about a monster that Aruru—the goddess of the ground and fertility in that
culture—created to battle Gilgamesh, the protagonist of an old Mesopotamian epic
poem. This is yet another indication of Harappan culture being traded
internationally.

Indus Valley Civilization Trade & Economy

Harappan city workshops utilized raw materials imported from Iran and
Afghanistan, as well as lead and copper from other regions of India, jade from
China, and cedar wood that had been carried down rivers from the Himalayas and
Kashmir. Trade was centered on acquiring these resources. Terracotta pots, gold,
silver, metals, beads, flints for creating tools, seashells, pearls, and colored
gemstones like lapis lazuli and turquoise were among the additional trade items.

The Harappan and Mesopotamian civilizations had a robust maritime trading

network in place. At archaeological sites in Mesopotamia, which covers the
majority of contemporary Iraq, Kuwait, and parts of Syria, Harappan seals and
jewellery have been discovered. The creation of plank boats with a single central
mast bearing a sail made of woven rushes or fabric may have made long-distance
sea trade over waterways like the Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf possible.

The presence of multiple seals, standardized writing, and standardized

weights and measures throughout a large area attests to the significance of trade in
the lives of the Indus people. The Harappans engaged in extensive trading in goods
including shells, metal, and stone. Trade was conducted using the barter system
rather than metal money. On the Arabian Sea’s coast, they practised navigation. In
the north of Afghanistan, they had established a commercial colony that,
presumably, enabled trade with Central Asia.

Additionally, they conducted business with people living in the Tigris and
Euphrates region. The long-distance lapis lazuli trade that the Harappans engaged
in may have boosted the social standing of the governing class.

Indus Valley Civilization Decline

Although the precise causes of the Indus Valley Civilization’s decline are
still up for debate, it happened approximately 1800 BCE. According to one
version, the Indus Valley Civilization was invaded and subjugated by the Indo-
European tribe known as the Aryans. Different pieces of the Indus Valley
Civilization have been discovered in later societies, suggesting that civilization did
not abruptly end owing to an invasion.
 On the other side, a lot of academics think that the fall of the Indus Valley
Civilization was caused by natural reasons:

• Geological and climatic elements may constitute the natural factors.

• It is thought that the Indus Valley region had a number of tectonic

disturbances that resulted in earthquakes and altered the paths of rivers or
caused them to dry up.

• Changes in rainfall patterns could be another natural cause.

There could be also dramatic shifts in the river courses, which might have
brought floods to the food producing areas. Due to combination of these natural
causes there was a slow but inevitable collapse of Indus Valley Civilization.

Indus Valley Civilization UPSC

• The phrase “Indus Valley Civilization” was coined by researcher John

Marshall.

• Radio-carbon dating indicates that the Indus Valley Civilization existed from
the year 2500 to the year 1750 BC.

• The urbanization of the Harappan Civilization was its most defining

characteristic.

• Additionally, the Indus Valley Civilization domesticated elephants, humped

cattle, dogs, sheep, and goats.

• Mohenjodaro and Harappa are the two capital cities.

• Sutkagendor, Balakot, Lothal, Allahdino, and Kuntasi are the harbor cities.

• The inhabitants of the Indus Valley were familiar with the use of both cotton
and wool..

Indus Valley Civilization FAQs

Q What is Indus Valley Civilization known for?

Q Who is the founder of Indus Valley Civilization?

Q What killed the Indus Valley Civilization?

 Q What is the Indus Valley Civilization called today?.

Q Which is the oldest civilization?

GANDHARA CIVILIZATION
One of the two major ancient civilizations of the area, which is now
Pakistan, was the Gandhara Civilization. The record of Gandhara civilization was
discovered in the 20th century. The rock statues along the ancient Silk Road
(Karakoram Highway) also provide fascinating record of the history of Gandhara.

Time: 500 BC to 10 AD

Regions

Gandhara is the region that now comprise of Peshawar valley, Mardan, Swat, Dir,
Malakand, and Bajuaur agencies in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP),
Taxila in the Punjab, and up to Jalalabad in Afghanistan. It is in this region that the
Gandhara civilization emerged and became the cradle of Buddhism. It was from
here that Buddhism spread towards east as far away as Japan and Korea.

Taxila is the residence of many splendid Buddhist establishments. Taxila,

the main centre of Gandhara, is over 3,000 years old. Taxila had attracted
Alexander the great from Macedonia in 326 BC, with whom the influence of Greek
culture came to this part of the world. Taxila later came under the Mauryan
dynasty and reached a remarkable matured level of development under the great
Ashoka. During the year 2 BC, Buddhism was adopted as the state religion, which
flourished and prevailed for over 1,000 years, until the year 10 AD. During this
time Taxila, Swat and Charsadda (old Pushkalavati) became three important
centers for culture, trade and learning. Hundreds of monasteries and stupas were
built together with Greek and Kushan towns such as Sirkap and Sirsukh, both in
Taxila.

The Gandhara civilization was not only the centre of spiritual influence but
also the cradle of the world famous Gandhara culture, art and learning. It was from
these centers that a unique art of sculpture originated which is known as Gandhara
Art all over the world. Today the Gandhara sculptures occupy a prominent place in
the museums of England, France, Germany, USA, Japan, Korea, China, India and
Afghanistan, together with many private collections world over, as well as a vast
collection in the museums of Pakistan. Buddhism left a monumental and rich
legacy of art and architecture in Pakistan. Despite the passing of centuries, the
Gandhara region preserved a lot of the heritage in craft and art. Much of this
legacy is visible even today in Pakistan.

The very earliest examples of Buddhist Art were popular in the Sub-
continent even after the death of the Buddha. This is because the Buddha himself
did not sanction personal worship or the making of images. As Siddhatha Guatama
was a Buddha, a self-perfected, self-enlightened human being, he was a human role
model to be followed but not idolized. Of himself he said, ‘Buddha’s only point the
way’. This is why the earliest artistic tributes to the Buddha were abstract symbols
indicative of major events and achievements in his last life, and in some cases his
previous lives. Some of these early representations of the Buddha include the
footprints of the Buddha, which were often created at a place where he was known
to have walked. Among the aniconic images, the footprints of the Buddha were
found in the Swat valley and, now can be seen in the Swat museum.

When the Buddha passed away, His relics (or ashes) were distributed to
seven kings who built stupas over them for worship. The emperor Ashoka was
later said to have dug them out, and distributed the ashes over a wider area, and
built 84,000 stupas. With the stupas in place, to dedicate veneration, disciples then
initiated ‘stupa pujas’. With the proliferation of Buddhist stupas, stupa pujas
evolved into a ritual act. Harmarajika stupa (Taxila) and Butkarha (Swat) stupa at
Jamal Garha were among the earliest stupas of Gandhara. These had been erected
on the orders of king Ashoka and contained the real relics of the Buddha.

At first, the object of veneration was the stupa itself. In time, this symbol
was replaced by a more sensitive human image. The Gandhara schools is probably
credited with the first representation of the Buddha in human form, the portrayal of
Buddha in his human shape, rather than shown as a symbol.

As Buddhist art developed and spread outside India, the styles developed
here were imitated. For example, in China the Gandhara style was imitated in
images made of bronze, with a gradual change in the features of these images.

Swat, the land of beauty, is celebrated throughout the world as the holy land
of Buddhist learning and piety. Swat acquired fame as a place of Buddhist
pilgrimage. Buddhist tradition holds that the Buddha himself came to Swat during
his last reincarnation as the Guatama Buddha and preached to the people here. It is
said that the Swat was filled with fourteen hundred imposing and beautiful stupas
and monasteries, which housed as many as 6,000 gold images of the Buddhist
pantheon for worship and education. There are now more than 400 Buddhist sites
covering and area of 160 Km in Swat valley only. Among the important Buddhist
excavation in swat an important one is Butkarha-I, containing the original relics of
the Buddha.

Among the numerous Buddhist monuments present in Pakistan a few

important ones, from historical and religious point of view, are:

Dharamarajika Stupa: Dhararaja, a title of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, in

the middle of the 3rd century, erected the Dharamarajika Stupa, the oldest
Buddhist monument in Taxila. The Dharamarajika Stupa contained the sacred
relics of the Buddha and the silver scroll commemorating the relics. A wealth of
gold and silver coins, gems, jewellery and other antiques were discovered here and
are housed in the Taxila museum.

Takht-i-Bhai: Takht-i-Bhai is another well-known and preserved monument,

a Buddhist monastery located on a rocky ridge about 10 miles northeast of Mardan.
This structure dates back to two to five century AD and stands 600 feet above the
plane. The feature, which distinguishes this site from others, is its architectural
diversity and its romantic mountain setting. The uphill approach has helped in the
preservation of the monument.

The exposed buildings here include the main stupa and two courtyards in
different terraces surrounded by votive stupa and shrines, the monastic quadrangles
surrounded by cells for the monks, and a large hall of assembly. In one of the stupa
courtyard is a line of colossal Buddhas, which were originally 16 to 20 feet high.

The site’s fragmentary sculptures in stone and stucco are a considerable

wealth but its most remarkable feature is the peculiar design and arrangement of
the small shrines, which surround the main stupa. These shrines stood upon a
continuous sculptured podium and were crowned alternately with stupa-like finials
forming an ensemble.The beauty and grandeur provided by the entire composition
is unparallel in the Buddhist world.

Takht-i-Bhai had a wealth of ancient Buddhist remains. A long range of

different sized Buddha and Buddhistavvas from Takht-i-Bhai fill many museums.
Some of the best pieces of Gandhara sculpture, now to be found in the museums of
Europe, were originally recovered from Takht-i-Bhai.