Introduction

● The Religion of Buddhism was founded by Gautama Buddha. It first arrivedin

modern-day Afghanistan through the conquests of Ashoka, the third emperorof
the MauryaEmpire.The geographical position of Afghanistan, between the
Middle East, SouthAsian, and Central Asian cultures, and the proximity to the
famous Silk Road have been major drivers for the spread of Buddhism.Many
prominent Buddhist monks were based in Afghanistan.

TIMELINE:
Noble Eightfold Path(8 Philosophies of Buddhism teaching)
● The Noble Eightfold Path is a summary of the path of Buddhist practices
leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth,]in the form
of nirvana.
● The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices:

right view
rightresolve,
right speech
right conduct,
right livelihood,
right effort,
right mindfulness,
and right samadhi('meditative absorption or union';).

● In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is represented by‘the

dharma wheel’(dharmachakra), in which its eight spokes
represent the eight practices
Bamiyan Buddhas

● Bamiyan’scentrallocationalongtheSilkRoutemadeitanideallocationfor
merchants and missionaries to stop during their travels. Many of the
missionariesandmerchantsinthisareawerepractitionersoftheBuddhist faith.

● The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th-century monumental statues

carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyanvalley of centralAfghanistan.
The smaller 38 m (125 ft) "Eastern Buddha" was built around 570 AD,and
the larger 55 m (180 ft) "Western Buddha" was built around 618 AD
Both were reliefs, as they merged into thecliff wall at their backs.

Construction Technique:
● The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs and
thedetails were modeled in mud; mixed with straw, coated withstucco.
The coating was painted to enhance the expressions of the faces,hands,
and folds of therobes. The upper parts of their faces were made
fromgreat woodenmasks. Rows of holes were used to hold wooden
pegsthat stabilized the outerstucco.The Buddhas were surrounded by
numerous caves andsurfaces decorated withpaintings
Tapa Shotor
● Tapa Shotor, also Tape Shotoror Tapa-e-shotor("Camel Hill"), was a large
Sarvastivadin monastery near Hadda,Afghanistan.The style of the objects
found at Tapa Shotor, particularly the clay figures are believed to be done by
theBactrian artists working for Buddhist monasteries, or by local artists who
had become "fully conversant" in Hellenistic art
With clay sculptures dated to the 2nd century CE, it represents the "missing
link" between the Hellenistic art of Bactria, and the later stucco sculptures
found at Hadda, usually dated to the 3rd-4th century CE.
Initial sculptures were made of clay, while later sculptures were molded in
stucco.
Many of the statues are three-dimensional representations, a rare instance in
the area of Hadda, which related the style of Tapa Shotor tothe
Hellenistic art of Bactria

Timeline: MAKE THIS A PROPER LINE WALA TIMELINE NOT POINTS

● Tapa Shotor I: Indo-Scythian king Azes II (35-12BCE)
● Tapa Shotor II: Kushan king Huvishka (155-187 CE). Vihara, and niches V1,
V2 and V3
● Tapa Shotor III: (187-191CE)
● Tapa ShotorIV: Vasudeva I (191-225CE)
● Tapa ShotorV: Last Kushans (225-350CE)
● Tapa Shotor VI: Kidarites(350-450CE)
● Tapa Shotor VII: 5thcentury
● Tapa Shotor VIII: 6th century. Corresponds to the 1st period of Tape Tope
Kalan.
● hiatus (6th-8th century)
● Tapa Shotor IX: mid 8th century-9thcentury.
● destroyed by arson and looted in 1992.
Topdara Stupa:
● the Topdara stupa is a dome-shaped ancient Buddhist shrine located to the north
of Kabul.
● The principal structure is the stone stupa and its drum, which measures 23
meters across and stands almost 30 meters high.
● The drum is ornamented with double ‘S’-shaped curves, which give it a
decorative band of 56 identical niches framed by rounded arches which are
supported by piers with projections of pointed ‘hoods’.
● Each niche has a small aperture in the center where figures can be fixed.
● Above this frieze is a tri-lobed arch niche facing east where three figures of the
Buddha are thought to have once been mounted.
● The drum stands on a square base, which measures 36 meters on each side.
● A narrow outer plinth or base surrounds the main platform on allsides.
● Traces of stone paving have been found around this outer plinth, indicating that this level
might also have been used by pilgrims for circumambulation.

Materials: schist, a mineral rock, the stupa would have been plastered and painted
Schist is a metamorphic rock made mostly of mica mineral, formed under the heat and
compression of tectonic forces.

Little is known about the history of the Topdara stupa regarding who commissioned it,
when it was built and how it was used.
Timeline:
 400CE stupa may have been commissioned
 1833 Charles Masson discovered the stupa.
 1926 DAFA began formal excavation of Afghanistan.
 1967 Stupa was photographed by Seichi Mizuho.
 2019 restoration and oreservation of the stupa are ongoing.
Reference links:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/west-and-central-asia-apahh/
central-asia/a/bamiyan-buddhas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Afghanistan

https://haddaarcheodb.com/site/tapa-e-shotor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapa_Shotor

https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/tag/topdara-stupa/

https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/context-culture/the-largest-standing-s
tupa-in-afghanistan-a-short-history-of-the-buddhist-site-at-topdara/