SWAT: German scholar and linguistic expert Dr Stefan Baums has said that the new and ongoing epigraphical discoveries in Swat valley are dramatically expanding scholarly understanding of the ancient Gandhara Civilisation, reaffirming the region’s role as a vibrant centre of early Buddhism and revealing its deep linguistic connections to modern languages spoken in northern Pakistan.

Dr Baums, who teaches Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali at the Institute for Indian and Tibetan Studies of the University of Munich, told Dawn that the accelerating pace of discoveries in Swat had opened an extraordinary window into the linguistic and cultural history of South Asia.

He said researchers with the Italian Archaeological Mission, whose work in Swat recently marked its 70th anniversary, had documented around 100 ancient inscriptions from Swat alone, forming part of a wider corpus of over 1,000 Gandharan inscriptions across the region.

“In ancient Swat, two principal scripts were in use. The older, Kharosthi, was employed to write Gandhari, an Indo-Aryan language of exceptional linguistic value,” he said, adding that scholars consider Kharosthi to be among the earliest historical scripts in South Asia.

Says Italian Archaeological Mission has documented around 100 ancient inscriptions from Swat

He maintained that derived from the Aramaic script of the Achaemenid Empire, Kharosthi was adapted in Gandhara and Swat after the Persian withdrawal to record the local language, initially for administrative use and later for Buddhist and literary purposes.

“The Gandhari language holds unique importance for linguists because it preserves several phonetic features from Sanskrit that were lost in other Middle Indo-Aryan tongues,” he said.

He said that the linguistic distinctiveness linked ancient Gandhari directly to modern Dardic languages, including Kohistani, Gowi and Torwali, still spoken in the mountains of northern Pakistan.

“Many phonetic and grammatical elements of Gandhari have survived in these tongues. Scholars further suggest that centuries of interaction between Dardic communities and Pashtuns may have allowed traces of Gandhari or early Dardic vocabulary to be absorbed into Pashto, a hypothesis awaiting detailed academic investigation.”

Referring to the evolution of scripts and shifting faiths, the scholar said by the third or fourth century CE, both Kharosthi script and Gandhari language had been replaced by Sanskrit written in the Brahmi script.

“The earliest Brahmi inscriptions from Swat, three Buddhist verses, were discovered at Shakurai Jahanabad. Brahmi later evolved into Proto-Sharada and then Sharada, scripts often associated with the Hindu Shahi rulers who succeeded Buddhist dynasties,” he said.

Dr Bauns said a recently discovered Proto-Sharada inscription from Barikot, dating back to the 8th century CE, and another naming King Jaya Paladiva, who ruled the area in the 10th and early 11th century, had added crucial historical detail to this later era.

“These findings indicate that the evolution of scripts in Swat often mirrored broader religious and political shifts, marking the transition from Buddhist to Hindu rule,” he said.

He said the inscriptions illuminated early Buddhist history in the region.

“Epigraphic evidence from Swat continues to shed light on the spread and organisation of early Buddhism. One of the most remarkable discoveries is from Tirat, where a pair of carved footprints of the Buddha bears an inscription reading. These are the footprints of the Buddha Shakyamuni,” he said.

Dr Bauns said palaeographic analysis dated it to the 2nd century BC, identifying Tirat as one of the earliest Buddhist centres in the valley.

Another important inscription belonging to King Sinavarma of the Odi Rajas offers insights into royal patronage of the Buddhist monastic community. Researchers believe that the capital of the Oyo kingdom was located in Tirat, highlighting the close relationship between local rulers and Buddhist institutions.

“Many inscriptions found on pottery at Barikot are ownership marks that record the names of monks or monasteries, providing glimpses into the administrative life of Buddhist establishments. One such inscription preserves the name of a monastery known as Nanda Vihara, suggesting that Barikot was a thriving monastic hub,” he said.

The scholar said equally fascinating was a discovery from Butkara One, where archaeologists unearthed a tiny carved foot inscribed in Kharosthi with the phrase “My legs have arrived.”

He said scholars interpreted it as a pilgrim’s token or a souvenir commemorating the successful completion of a spiritual journey to the Bkarawan stupa.

“These discoveries confirm that Swat and the wider Gandhara region were not only spiritual and artistic hubs but also centres of linguistic innovation whose influence persists today,” he said.

Dr Baums said as excavations continued, experts believed that each newly uncovered inscription brings scholars a step closer to reconstructing the cultural, linguistic, and religious continuum that once made Swat a luminous heart of the ancient Buddhist world.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2025