PESHAWAR, Jan 17: Archaeologists are still grappling with the assumption that a casket relic carrying a small bone may be Buddha’s tooth, which is said to have gone missing in Gandhara.

Archaeologists found the casket back in 2003 during excavation of a stupa at Shalkandi area of tehsil Munda in Lower Dir.

Dr Zainul Wahab, who has been curator of the Chakdara Museum for about nine years, says that a team of archaeologists under the supervision of former DG archaeology and museums Dr Ihsan Ali found the casket during an excavation at Shalkandi stupa. The relic casket, which can invite worldwide attention, is lying in the store of the Chakdara Museum of Lower Dir for security reasons.

“The casket had a small piece of tooth-like bone. We assume it is Buddha’s tooth which had gone missing in Gandhara,” said Dr Wahab. The other tooth, which is sacred to the followers of Buddhism, is in Nepal. The casket’s cover is made of stone and has a bone like material in it. The cover does not fit the box. We can assume that the casket, more than 2,000 years old, was brought here from somewhere else, archaeological experts say.

Another archaeologist, Dost Mohammad Khan, who also took part in the excavation, said that the relic casket was very valuable. Monks from different Buddhist countries who had come here a few years back had also agreed that this relic casket may be the one carrying the Buddha’s tooth.

The Gandhara civilisation stretches between Bamiyan (Afghanistan) and Taxila and most parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are rich with archaeological sites.

Experts are of the view that the casket may be the one among those relics which comprised either ash or bone of Buddha which were distributed among 90,000 stupas by Ashoka in 261B.C. most probably after war of Kalinga. Buddhists worshipped ashes or bones of Buddha kept in such caskets.

“Since this area is replete with stupas and other sites of Gandhara, we can assume that this particular casket may be the one carrying Buddha’s tooth,” said Dost Mohammad Khan rationalising how the tooth of Buddha might have ended up in Dir.

There is need to bring such relics in the limelight for further research and recognition but unfortunately security situation and lack of government attention to this historical wealth has often overshadowed such successes, he says.

Dost Mohammad Khan, who has also set up Museum Defence Council (MDC), says that relics found in an area are often not displayed in the museums of these areas, which is unfair.

Stark example of such government behaviour is when the previous Mutahidda Majli-i-Amal government tried to convert the Chakdara Museum, set up almost 40 years back, into a government college. The attempt was foiled by the MDC.

“We should have done research on this relic, but unfortunately it was not encouraged by the government,” says an expert.

The Chakdara Museum has around 2,400 objects and 1,200 of these are relics of Gandhara period.

If proven through proper research that the relic casket carries the tooth of Buddha, it could bring international attention as well as Buddhists tourists and pilgrims to this region. Archaeologists lament that instead of displaying such relics and statues, they are lying in stores.