November 6, 2004

I have always had an interest in history, though, despite pursuing writing as a profession, I am nowhere near being a historian which is a field of specialization and research and scholarship. If I were I would make the Gandhara period my particular field of study. Whatever has come to us from historians about the Gandhara empire and its magnificent civilization, the consensus seems to be that it was confined to eastern and northern Afghanistan, our North-West Frontier Province and parts of western Punjab.

Since written records are not available about the exact extent of the empire, it is not improbable that parts of Kashmir, as we know it today, were also under its dominion. There are no signs by way of stone edifices, or stupas or excavated material to indicate that our Azad Kashmir was included in it. However, now latest discoveries show that the empire and its cultural influence also extended to some portions of Pakistan’s Northern Areas, which were subservient to the state of Jammu and Kashmir before they revolted against the Dogra regime.

This is the inference reached by members of the Italian archaeological mission that has been working in the Northern Areas for the last many years. By habit, archaeologists are silent workers and do not rush to the press with their findings because these findings cannot lead to immediate conclusions and have to be studied and analyzed for quite some time before they become truly conclusive. Whatever discoveries the Italians made were presented to the public during a lecture in Karachi about a year ago.

This lecture was arranged at the Mohatta Palace, the repaired, restored and renovated property allotted to Miss Fatima Jinnah, which is now a museum devoted to promoting art and culture, especially of Sindh. The speaker was Dr Anna Filigenzi, an archaeologist who is now in Pakistan for the sixth time since she first came here in the mid-eighties. The subject of her lecture was “Important aspects of Gandhara art.”

Dr Filigenzi’s contention was that the Northern Areas were replete with rich treasures of the Gandhara period and needed to be explored extensively. Many sites had been excavated by the Italian expedition but the experts were sure that there were many more which could be fruitfully prospected. She said these could serve to provide missing links in the history of that glorious empire.

The audience was reported to have been highly impressed by Dr Filigenzi’s talk especially when she made the observation that formerly archaeology simply meant digging and collecting remnants of bygone civilizations for display in museums, but now the concept was a little different. The archaeologist was now keen to establish historical continuity and discover missing links so that a fuller picture could be obtained of the way of life of a particular period, as also its history and culture, and then to connect these with what preceded and what followed.

Dr Filigenzi illustrated her lecture with slides made at a number of excavation sites in different parts of the Northern Areas. This was in addition to the numerous treasures of Gandhara art that had been placed around the venue of the talk which was actually arranged to coincide with an exhibition entitled “Visions of divinity: the art of Gandhara” laid out in the hall of the Mohatta Palace Museum.

Commenting on the style and scope of the samples of Gandhara art unearthed in the Northern Areas, Dr Filigenzi stated that a majority of the sculptures replicated scenes from the mundane and spiritual life of the Buddha just as those that have been found in Gandhara territory over the last so many decades. She told the audience that, in the opinion of the Italian expedition, the remnants of Gandhara art showed that Saidu Sharif in Swat had probably been one of the most sacred places in the empire.

Basing her remarks on her experience and expertise, Dr Filigenzi said that evidence had shown that people at that time first made small models of intended sculptures and then re-created them on the desired large scale. This served to minimize the cost and the losses.

Responding to a question from the audience, she explained why the statues and sculptures of the Buddha found in the subcontinent had features different from those prevailing in the Far East. In the subcontinent he was depicted as slender in his person while in Japan and China and other far eastern countries not only did he have Mongolian features but his body was also shown as well-filled.

She said the explanation was simple. Local artists and artisans tended to copy the features of the local population while producing images of the Buddha and other gods and deities. While many styles of sculpture had been adopted in the case of the Buddha, experts were united in their opinion that the subcontinental style was the most ancient. And of course there is also the fact that some of the Buddha heads found in Pakistan have a sure imprint of the Greek style of sculpture, for which the only explanation can be that many artists in Alexander’s army opted to stay on in this region.

Talking of the Northern Areas it would be pertinent to mention that a number of Buddha statues have long been found engraved on rocks in Gilgit and Skardu regions. More recently a newspaper report revealed that three ancient villages have been discovered near Bargo village in Gilgit when excavation was being made for the construction of a road. According to the report, a score of young men were busy digging for the road in collaboration with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme when they came upon the ruins of some underground habitation.

Before I tell you what was found under the stone and rubble, let me point out that the story nowhere mentions any activity on the part of the authorities to take over the site on behalf of the archaeology department, to date them and to protect them from being vandalised. The inhabitants of nearby villages have started looting, while, as the newspaper avers, “antique dealers have made a beeline for the place and are buying up precious relics at throw-away prices.”

Among the relics are utensils, precious stones, sculptures, household goods, as also the remains of human bodies, many of them buried in standing position. I suppose the relevant officials will reach there when they have made sure that everything of value has been carried away. So much for the interest that the government takes in these matters. Various aspects of life in the Northern Areas certainly need more attention, or is everything is to be left to the NGOs?