Religious environs in the Buddhist (?

) town of Taxila

Wannaporn Rienjang

Abstract

Situated across the northwest of Pakistan and south eastern Afghanistan, Gandhara held a
prominent position along the ancient trade routes between ancient Iran, central Asia, and
India. As such, Gandhara was a meeting point for traders, travellers, as well as itinerant
wanderers. Ruled by succession of foreign rulers (the Iranians, the Greeks, the central
Asians, and the Indians) Gandhara thus became a multicultural region. Extensive
archaeological remains found in Gandhara tell us much about the religious character of the
region. Most of these have been identified as Buddhist, which has led to the assertion that
Gandhara was at one time a region of Buddhist dominance. Making use of the extensive
‘religious’ archaeological data and epigraphic evidence, this paper explores the religious
environs in Gandhara, using Taxila, an old capital of Gandhara, as a case study. It will
show that Buddhism was not the predominant religion of everyday life for most of the
people of Gandhara. Rather, other pre-existing religions were dominant in the towns of this
region. The Buddhist monastic community however found their ways to adapt to such
religious environs in order to survive and flourish.

Apart from archaeological evidence, Asoka has been accredited with

contemporary knowledge of Buddhism
in Gandhara generally relies on literary
evidence: the Mahavamsa, a series of
chronicles composed in Sinhalese, and
the reports of the Chinese Buddhist
pilgrims Faxian (fifth century AD),
Xuan Zang (629-645AD) and Huizhao
(650-715AD). The Sinhalese chronicles
record the sending of a Buddhist
missionary, Majjhanjika, under Asoka’s
patronage to Kashmir and Gandhara
(Mahāvamsa, XII). Chinese Buddhist
pilgrims mention a number of Buddhist
establishments across Gandhara (Beal
1884; 1964). Further information on
Buddhism in Gandhara can also be
obtained from inscriptions which
provide evidence for the existence of
three Buddhist schools in Gandhara
during the time of the Kushans: the
Mahasanghikas, the Sarvastivadins and
the Dharmaguptakas (Salomon 1999).
Recently discovered manuscripts
thought to have been found in Hadda,
the so-called British Library Kharoshthi
scrolls, contain fragments of sūtra,
avadāna, abhidharma, commentaries
and verse texts, which may be attributed
to the Dharmaguptaka school (Salomon
1999).
patronage and the spread of Buddhism
across Gandhara. Apart from being
mentioned in the Mahāvamsa as sending
a missionary to Kashmir and Gandhara,
his edicts at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra
may also support his intention of
spreading of the Dharma. However, the
content of the ‘Dharma’ on the majority
of his edicts, including the ones in
Gandhara, generally pertains to the
practice of good moral conduct, without
any obvious religious affiliation. Two
more kings have been accredited with
the patronage of Buddhism: the Indo-
Greek king Menander I (c.155-130BC)
and the Kushan king Kanishka I
(c.AD127-50). Famous for his
Milindapañha, Menander was believed
to have become a Buddhist after a
discussion about the Buddhist beliefs
with the Buddhist sage Nagasena (Rhys
Davids 1992). As for Menander’s
cremation, ‘it was agreed to divide up
his ashes into equal shares and to set up
monuments of the man beside all the
cities’ (Lamotte 1988, 421). Although
this practice is not exclusively Buddhist,
the possibility of it being Buddhist
cannot be ruled out. According to Xuan
Zang, Kanishka I organised a Buddhist
Council in Kashmir (Beal 1884, 1964).

He is also accredited with building a
stupa at Peshawar by the Chinese
pilgrims (Beal 1884, 1964).
However, numismatic evidence in
archaeological excavations provides a
clearer picture of the periods of
expansion of Buddhism in Gandhara.
Coin evidence suggests that the earliest
Buddhist establishments in Gandhara
date from the second century BC during
a period of Indo-Greek rule, and not in
earlier as generally believed. (Errington
1999/2000). This earliest phase occurs in
Butkara I, in Swat, and Dharmarajika at
Taxila. At Butkara I, one so-called ‘local
Taxila’ coin was found in the core of the
Great Stupa, and one punchmarked coin
type GH305 was found sealed below F4
in the large tank (no.219) associated
with the first building phase of the Great
Stupa (Errington 1999/2000; Gupta &
Hardaker 1985). The local Taxila coin
found at Butkara is a small, circular, die-
struck coin with the three-arched hill and
crescent motif and a tree in railing or
taurine symbol on both sides (fig. 5).
This local coin with the three-arched hill
and crescent symbol is generally dated to
the late third century BC, i.e. the close of
the Mauryan period (Errington
1999/2000).
However, comparing this Butkara coin
to the most common type of the so-
called local Taxila coins, namely the
square ‘elephant-lion’ type (fig.6),
suggests it may be dated to the early
second century BC. The elephant-lion
square Taxila coin itself can be
compared with the coinage of the Indo-
Greeks king Agathocles (c.190-180BC)
and Pantaleon (c.190-185BC). The coins
of the Indo-Greeks clearly imitate those
of the local Taxila ones, as can be seen
from the square shape and the designs
(fig. 7 & 8), thereby suggesting that the
local Taxila coins were contemporary
with or slightly earlier than those of the
two Indo-Greeks kings (Errington
1999/2000). However, the die-struck
technique, a technique introduced by the
2
Greeks, employed by the local Taxila
coins, suggest the contemporary dates of
these local Taxila coins to the period of
the Indo-Greeks (Errington 1999/2000).
As for the silver punchmarked coin type
GH305, it was found in the earliest
building phase of Buddhist main stupa of
Butkara. Although its issue appears to
date to the third century BC, worn
examples found in later punchmarked
coin hoards show that it continued in
circulation to the end of the Mauryan
period or later. The extremely worn
condition of this Butkara example
therefore indicates a late later in the
Asokan period for the foundation of the
stupa (Errington 1999/2000).
Punchmarked coins of the last phase
were found with possibly contemporary
coins of the Indo-Greek king Agathocles
(c.190-180BC) (Errington 1999/2000).
From the evidence of the local Taxila
coin and the GH305 coin found at
Butkara, it can be surmised that the
founding of the main stupa in Butkara
dates from the end of third century BC,
or possibly at the beginning of the
second century BC. (Errington
1999/2000).
Local Taxila ‘elephant-lion’ square
shaped coins were also found in Taxila’s
Dharmarajika Buddhist site (fig.6),
which appears to have also started at the
onset of the second century BC. As
discussed above, the relative identities in
style and shape between these coins and
the Indo-Greek coins suggests a date of
around the time of Agathocles (c.190-
180BC). However, the actual earliest
Indo-Greek coins found on this site
belong to Menander I (c. 155-130BC),
some fifty years after Agathocles.
Moreover, the ‘local’ coinage could have
been continued to be struck for some
time after the Greeks arrived in the area,
as there are considerable local coins
found from all levels from settlement
site of Bhir Mound III to Sirkap I in
Taxila (Marshall 1951). According to
Erdosy (1987) all these levels run from
Muaryan to Kushan times. In sum,

judging firstly from the type of coins
found here which indicate the
contemporary to or slightly earlier than
Agathocles (c.190-180BC), secondly
from the fact that such local coins could
have been continued to be struck for
some time after the first issues, and
thirdly from the coin of Menander I
(c.155-130BC) found at the site, the
foundation of the Dharmarajika Buddhist
complex could be dated to around the
beginning of the second century BC, and
probably during the period of Menander
I (Errington 1999/2000).
Non-Buddhist practices in Taxila
This section explores the ‘religious’
archaeological remains of seemingly
non-Buddhist in nature, with an aim of
finding out the nature of the practices as
traces for identifying the religions. It
explores both urban and non-urban sites
of Taxila. The former includes the urban
settlements of Bhir Mound and Sirkap,
while the latter includes the Greek-style
temple of Jandial C. It also re-assesses
the burial mounds, generally identified
as Buddhist stupas, in Sirkap.
Urban settlements of Bhir Mound and
Sirkap
The urban settlement of Bhir Mounds
belongs to the time span of pre-
Mauryan, probably Achaemenid, to the
Indo-Greek rule of c. 150BC. (Erdosy
1987). The urban settlement of Sirkap
includes the period of Indo-Greek to
Kushan rule (Erdosy 1987).
 Pillared Hall in Bhir Mound
To date, no finds supporting the
existence of Buddhist establishments or
practices have been reported from Bhir
Mound. A numbers of mother-goddess
figurines and two votive tanks were
found, the latter only at the Mauryan
level. These finds will be discussed later.
The only building that caught Marshall’s
attention ostensibly as a place of worship
3
in this urban settlement is a place he
called ‘pillared hall or temple’ (Marshall
1951, 98). Situated alongside the street
and measuring 59 x 24 ft., the hall had
square piers down its middle (fig.2&3).
It was found at the Mauryan level. A
smaller structure opposite the west side
of the hall yielded a large number of
terra-cotta reliefs, some with moulds,
‘representing a male and female deity
standing side by side and holding hands’
(Marshall 1951) (fig. 9&10). The
presence of terracotta reliefs and their
moulds led Marshall (1951) to conclude
that this place was a workshop that made
and sold figurines for worshipers
worshiping at the pillared hall opposite.
This in turn led Marshall to argue that
the pillared hall was a ‘Hindu shrine’
(Marshall 1951, 98). Terracotta reliefs
similar to those found here, in the
Mauryan level, were also found in an
earlier pre-Mauryan (or early Mauryan)
level. This suggests that the making and
using of these types of reliefs, if they
were used for the purpose of worship,
had been practiced by the inhabitants of
Bhir Mound for some time.
 Mother-Goddess and
Votive/Ritual model tanks
In the urban settlement of Bhir Mound in
Taxila, a handful of terracotta figurines
of the ‘mother/Earth goddess’, ‘female
deity’ and ‘male and female figures
standing side by side’ types were found
at stratums III and II (Marshall 1951,
444-445). Both stratums belong to pre-
Mauryan and early Mauryan periods
respectively (Erdosy 1987). These
terracotta figurines continued to be
found in the urban settlement of Sirkap
from all stratums: from the Indo-Greek
to the Kushan period, with the exception
of stratum IV which belongs to the Indo-
Scythian period of Azes I to early reign
of Azes II (Marshall 1951; Erdosy
1987). It is not certain these figurines
were all found in residential areas.
‘Mother/Earth goddess’ type figurines
consist of nude females with wide hips,

some adorned with incised lines and
rosettes (fig.11). The ‘female deity’ type
figurines are dressed, and some are
holding either a bird or a child in one
hand.
Terracotta ‘Mother/Earth goddess’ type
figurines were found both at Bhir Mound
and at Sirkap. The majority of those
found at Bhir Mound belong to the
Mauryan period. Those found at Sirkap
belong to the Indo-Parthian and Kushan
periods. Their wide hips and prominent
breasts suggest an association with
reproduction and fertility. It is not
absolutely clear whether these figurines
were objects of veneration. However,
similar figurines were found as part of
certain ‘votive or ritual tanks’ (fig. 12)
(Marshall 1951, 463).
Marshall (1951) classifies the votive or
ritual tanks into three main types. Type
one (fig.13) is round in shape with a
number of miniature ‘saucer-shaped
lamps’ gracing the rim (Marshall 1951,
463). Type 2 (fig.14) is a square in
shape. It has four lamps, one on each
corner of the rim, and four birds
perching between the lamps. Within the
tank is a descending flight of steps.
Aquatic creatures such as eels or water-
snakes, frogs and tortoise embellish the
bottom. Type 3 (fig.12) is more
elaborate and often square in shape.
Here figurines of the mother goddesses
embellished the tank, often in front of a
‘shrine’. Birds were also perched
between lamps around the rim of the
tank. Some also contained the images of
eels or water-snakes, frogs, and tortoise.
This association with the tanks and other
elements may indicate the figurines’
sacredness. As part of the votive tanks,
these goddess figurines were either
placed inside or in front of a structure
generally believed to be a shrine.
Two tanks of type 1 were found in Bhir
Mound at the level attributed to the
Mauryan period. One was found at
stratum V of Sirkap, which according to
4
Erdosy (1987) belongs to the beginning
of the Indo-Scythian period, i.e. the first
century BC. It is not certain in exactly
which spots these three tanks were
found. Six tanks of the type 2 were
found at stratum II of Sirkap, which is
ascribed to Indo-Parthian to Kushan
periods. All six of these tanks were
found inside a building generally
believed to be a palace or an
administrative quarter (Marshall 1951;
Coningham & Edwards 1997-8). Four of
them were found alongside the base of
the small ‘stupa-shrine’ inside the palace
(fig.15) (Marshall 1951, 173). Two other
tanks were also found nearby, inside the
palace. According to Marshall (1951,
173), this small ‘stupa-shrine’ was
attached immediately to the ‘women’s
quarter’. If the building is a palace or
administrative quarter and if they
actually belong to the Indo-Parthian and
Kushan periods, then the people who
lived and worked there would probably
have been the ruling elites. The meaning
and function of the so-called votive or
ritual tanks are not certain. However,
some attempts have been made to relate
the features found on them to the nature
elements, and thus fertility; lamps for
fire, birds for wind, aquatic animals for
water, and mother-goddesses for Earth
or the whole concept of fertility
(Marshall 1951). Six tanks found in the
so-called palace of Sirkap do not contain
mother-goddess figurines but still have
lamps, birds, and aquatic creatures. This
may fit well with the occupiers of the
building who might have been the
people with Iranian belief tradition, the
Indo-Parthian and the Kushan, where
nature elements, such as fire, water and
wind, were generally worshiped without
the use of idols (Rosenfield 1967).
It is not certain whether or not the
terracotta tanks found in Taxila had any
association with death and death rituals.
However, some of them were found near
or alongside ‘stupas’ that contained
bones. The structure Marshall called
‘stupa’ which, as described earlier,

contained four tanks along the base, was
inside a so-called palace. Nothing
remained of the stupa, apart from its
square plinth. There was, however, a
chamber at its centre and a casket was
found within this chamber. This casket
contained a minute relic bone, wrapped
in a thin covering of gold (Marshall
1951). Two other tanks were found in
the ‘stupa’ in court A at Sirkap. This
stupa also contains a relic bone which
was interred in a chamber in the centre
of the plinth about 3 ft. 3 in. below the
surface (Marshall 1951). The four tanks
alongside the stupa in the palace are of
type two, namely containing four lamps,
birds, aquatic animals, and a flight of
steps. The two tanks found in the stupa
court A belong to type three, namely,
having the features of type two together
with a shrine and a mother-goddess
figurine. All of the tanks were found in
contexts associated with death, i.e. with
relic bones. Two further tanks found
within the palace belonged to the same
type as those found alongside the stupa
base in the palace, namely without the
figurines of mother/Earth goddess and a
shrine. There were no relic bones or any
other objects associated with death near
these tanks. Rather, they may have been
associated with reproduction and
fertility, as discussed above.
Votive tanks similar to those found in
Taxila start to appear across the Indian
subcontinent from the Mauryan period,
and continue down to the medieval
period (Ghosh 1989). Their distribution
spread from Taxila in the northwest, to
Chirand in the east, and down to
Kolhapur in the south (Ghosh 1989). In
Sonkh, Härtel (1993) found 266
fragments of votive tanks, some of
which share features of those found in
Taxila (fig.16&17). Figurines of mother-
goddesses, some holding children, were
also present in some of the tanks in
Sonkh (fig. 18). There is no record of the
Sonkh tanks being found in contexts
associated with death. Some of them
were found in households (Härtel 1993).
5
Härtel (1993, 195) suggests that these
tanks were used for domestic worship,
possibly to a ‘water-god’ or for rituals
dedicated to Nāgas, the serpent deities
associated with water and agriculture.
The precise meaning and functions of
the votive tanks in India, including those
found in Taxila remain unclear. They
may have been used as objects of
worship, and may have been associated
with death as well as reproduction and
fertility. The form of the tanks and the
aquatic animals that adorned them may
also point to the significance of water
and therefore the Nāga cults.
 Apsidal temple in Sirkap
Still in the urban settlement of Sirkap, an
apsidal building was found at the Indo-
Parthian and Kushan stratum (Marshall
1951). Located in a residential area,
facing the main street, about 4 ft. 6 in.
above street level, it has a rectangular
court measuring approximately 228 ft.
from east to west, and 135 ft. from north
to south (fig. 19). It has two flights of
stairs leading up from the street level to
the building entrance. There are two
double rows of chambers on each side of
the entrance. A circular apse and a
rectangular nave in the middle of the
court measure 28 ft. 9 in. in diameter,
and 41 ft. in length and 28 ft. 9 in. in
width, respectively. Both the apse and
the nave stood on a raised plinth
surrounded by an ambulatory passage
(pradakshinā). Firmly believing this
building to be a Buddhist temple,
Marshall argues that there must once
have stood a stupa in the circular apse
(Marshall 1951, 151). However, he
failed to provide any supporting
evidence, apart from his conjectural
notes that such a stupa ‘appears to have
been destroyed, doubtless by any
treasure-seekers’ (Marsall 1951, 151).
Marshall further relates the two square
foundations that he found in the
courtyard by the entrance to the
Buddhist stupas. However, the

superstructures of the buildings he
believed to be stupas had been
destroyed, and no traces of any relic
deposits have been recorded. Marshall
also belived that a number of stucco
pieces found around these two
foundations were used to adorn the
Buddhist stupa. However, none of these
sculptures bear traces clearly identifiable
as Buddhist. Some of them have strong
Hellenistic influences and may well have
been used to adorn any religious
establishment (fig.20). As for the
rectangular nave in the middle of the
courtyard, Marshall refers to a number
of colossal figures of burnt clay
discovered by Cunningham
(Cunningham 1871). Unfortunately,
Cunningham did not publish or preserve
any photographs of these pieces, but
only gave a brief description of some of
the sculptures: ‘the portions of statues
which I found were three heads, with the
eyes wide open, and two right hands,
one empty and the other holding
drapery’ (Cunningham 1871, 127). In his
description, Cunningham did not make
any remark about a Buddhist identity of
these pieces, nor did he mention any
recognisable Buddhist features.
Although some Buddhist images contain
faces with large eyes, wide open, they do
not generally occur on the images of the
Buddha. It has long been recognised that
apsidal plans occur on Buddhist as well
as Hindu temples (Ray 2004; Härtel
1993). Similarly, Hindu temples also
possess ambulatory passages, like the
ambulatory passage in the apsidal temple
in Sirkap. Thus, the sculptures found in
this apsidal building may have been
Buddhist or Hindu. It may only be
assumed that the apsidal building in
Sirkap served as a place for public
worship, given its sheer size and
entrance accessible from the main street.
It is not possible to say for certain
whether it was Buddhist, or Hindu, or of
some other tradition.
6
 ‘Stupas’ in Sirkap
Within many residential blocks in Sirkap
at stratum II, the stratum assigned to the
Indo-Parthian and Kushan periods,
Marshall (1951) found structures which
he believed were the foundations of
stupas, or burial mounds. There were
eight of them in total, each situated in
residential blocks, some facing the main
street. The measurements of the bases of
these stupas range from 5 x 10 square ft.
to 40 x 36 square ft. Five of them can be
accessible from the street. These are the
ones in blocks F, G, E’, C’ and the one
on the west end of block A (fig.19). The
remaining three were not accessible
from the street. Of these, Marshall
believed the stupa in block K was a
private shrine in the palace discussed
above. Three of the eight had relics
(including bones) inside. Another three
stupas had relic chambers which were
found empty. Marshall does not describe
the relic chambers of the remaining two
stupas.
The first stupa to contain relic deposits
(including bones) was the stupa at the
west end of block A (fig.19). The square
plinth of this stupa measures 32 ft. 9 in.
The chamber containing the relics was in
the centre of the plinth about 3 ft. 9 in.
below its upper surface. The relic
deposits consist of a relic bone, three
small pearls, two shell beads, one
cylindrical gold bead, eight small pieces
of gold, one coin of Apollodotus II, and
three coins of Azes (Marshall 1951). On
the south side of this stupa were three
small stupas, which Marshall called
‘votive stupas’ (Marshall 1951, 144).
One of them has a square plinth, and the
other two are little circular stupas. In the
courtyard of these stupas, two votive
tanks containing mother-goddess
figurines were found, as discussed
above. The second stupa containing relic
deposits was the stupa in block G. A
relic chamber was in the centre of the
stupa base, and within it was found a
casket of grey schist. Inside this casket

were a number of deposits, including a
small box of plain gold containing a few
pieces of calcined bones. The last stupa
containing relic deposits was the stupa
inside the palace in block K. The relic
chamber was in the centre of the plinth.
It contained a casket holding a minute
relic bone wrapped in a thin covering of
gold. As mentioned above, four votive
tanks were found alongside this stupa.
It is not certain whether the above three
stupas are Buddhist. While the
depositing of bone relics may resemble a
Buddhist practice, there is nothing to
indicate that they belong to the Buddhist
faith. No sculpture of the Buddha has
been found with them, nor was there any
inscription regarding their identity.
Marshall (1951) argues for a Jaina
affiliation with the votive tanks found in
the aforementioned stupas. However,
votive tanks were not affiliated as such
with Jaina practices (P. Flügel, per.
comm. 24th June, 2010), and the
depositing of bone relics did not appear
until after the medieval period (Flügel
2010). If the practice of depositing bone
relics in the stupas discussed here
belongs to the Buddhist faith, then the
use of votive tanks comes from other
traditions. As for the remaining ‘stupas’
which had no reports of relic deposits,
only the plinths survived in the
archaeological records of most of them.
For those that still bear superstructures,
some of them bear a strong Hellenistic
influence, e.g. stupa in block E (fig.22).
It is not clear exactly what these
buildings were for, or whether they
served the practices of Buddhist
tradition. No inscriptions associated with
the ‘stupas’ in this urban settlement.
Moreover, the bone relics found in some
of them may well have belonged to local
saints, heroes, or political elites. Some of
them may have been made for public
worship, namely the stupas block A and
G, others for private veneration, namely
the stupa in building in block K.
7
Of particular interest are the finds nearby
the stupa in block C’. The stupa itself
did not yield any find. Nor was there any
evidence of the relic chamber within it.
However, buried in the ground, under
the chamber of perhaps a house not far
from the stupa, was a miniature relic-
stupa, and beside it was a stone image of
a female holding a cornucopia
(fig.23&24) (Marshall 1951). This
miniature relic-stupa had features
recognisable as Buddhist, namely
harmikā and umbrellas. Inside it was a
small conical clay sealing (Marshall
1951). Marshall (1951) notes that the
stone image lying beside this miniature
stupa was a deity known throughout the
Graeco-Roman world under different
names: Tyche, Fortuna, and Demeter, as
well as the Indian deity of nature spirit,
yakshi, called Hāriti. Tyche is a Greek
goddess of fortune, whose attribute is
cornucopia, a symbol of food and
abundance. She often appears on coins
from the eastern Greek world (Cribb &
Bopearachchi 1992). A depiction of
Tyche appears on coins of an Indo-
Scythian satrap in Gandhara, called
Zeionises. Zeionises’ name also appears
on an inscription found in Taxila
(Konow 1929, 82). On his coin (fig.25),
Tyche, holding a cornucopia in one
hand, is standing facing Zeionises; a
composition suggesting a bestowal of
fortune and hence the satrap’s ability to
rule (Cribb & Bopearachchi 1992). The
same deity also appears on some of the
coins of the Kushan kings, but with
different name (Bracey, forthcoming).
On coins of Kanishka I and Huvishka, a
deity with a cornucopia is depicted on
the reverse of their coins with a Bactrian
inscription that reads ‘Ardochsho’
(Cribb & Bopearachchi 1992, 84).
Ardochsho is recognised as an Iranian
goddess of good fortune (Rosenfield
1967). Depictions of the yakshi Hāriti in
Gandharan art generally show this deity
holding a cornucopia in her hand
(fig.26). The stone image of a female
holding a cornucopia found here in
Sirkap was buried next to the miniature

relic-stupa. This may point to the
significance of the image as an object of
worship. As the image and the relic-
stupa were found in the Indo-Parthian to
Kushan level, we may be dealing with
the practice involving a cult of the
goddess of fortune. We cannot be sure
whether the goddess of fortune buried
here belongs to either the Greek tradition
or the Iranian tradition. Now can we be
sure whether the practice was done by
the indigenous people or the foreign
inhabitants. However, there is a co-
existence here of the apparent Buddhist
practice with a cult of such a deity.
Non-urban settlement
 The Jandial ‘C’ Temple
Situated some 700 yards north of the
gateway of the city of Sirkap is a Greek-
style temple, called Jandial ‘C’. It is also
dated to the Greek period of the second
century BC (Rapin 1995). The Greek
style of the architectural plan (fig.27)
has led many scholars to link this temple
with non-Buddhist religious/cult
practices. An absence of the sculptures
in and around this temple also led some
scholars to conclude that this Jandial ‘C’
temple served for the Iranian Zoroastrian
fire worship (Marshall 1951). However,
this temple is dated to the Greek period
(Rapin 1995). By its large dimension,
namely 158 ft. long and 85 ft. wide, and
its location, that is close to the city
gateway, it may have been built under
the royal commission, probably of the
Greeks, rather than the Iranian Parthians.
Rapin (1995) argues convincingly that
this building served as a temple for the
cult of Pañcavīra. He argues against it
being Zoroastrian temple in that it faces
south, rather than east, as Zoroastrian
temples always do. He also points to the
ambulatory passage in the temple, a
characteristic of both Buddhist and
Hindu temples. Rapin (1995, 288) denies
the possibility of it being a Buddhist
temple arguing that a podium found in
the naos, measuring 3 ft. 6 in. high and 8
8
ft. 2 in. wide, would have been used for
‘cult statues’. For Rapin (1995, 288-289)
this may suggest an ‘iconic religion’,
which excludes Zoroastrianism as well
as early Buddhism. Thus Greek and
‘Hindu’ religions seem more probable.
Furthermore, Rapin (1995) points out
that the cult of deified Greek hero
Heracles, and the Indian heroes of the
Vrsni clan, later developed into the
Bhāgavata cult. He notes the connection
of the two hero cults, between the
Greeks and the Indians, by pointing to
the iconography of a group of six Indo-
Greek coins of the king Agathocles
(c.190-180 BC), whereby the hero
Samkarsana is depicted holding a plough
and a club, the latter being also an
attribute of Heracles (fig.28). The link
the Greeks had with the Bhāgavata cult
is also attested on the so-called
Heliodorus pillar (Sircar 1965, 88), on
which the Greek ambassador of the king
Antialcidas (c.115-95 BC) is mentioned
as a ‘Bhāgavata’. This word ‘Bhāgavata’
is generally translated as ‘worshipper’
and commonly associated with the
Bhāgavata cult.
Four cults/religions can be traced from
the archaeological evidence discussed
above: 1) the cult of a tutelary couple as
evidenced near the pillared hall in Bhir
mound, 2) the cult of mother/Earth
goddess, 3) the cult of
Tyche/Hariti/Ardochsho, and 4) the cult
of heroes or Bhagavata religion. Fertility
is the dominant theme associated at least
to two of these cults (nos. 2 and 3). The
cults of mother/Earth goddess and of the
tutelary couple were practiced in Taxila
from the Mauryan period, whereas the
cult of Tyche/Hariti/Ardochsho seems to
have appeared in the Indo-
Parthian/Kushan period. This cult was
also practiced in association with
Buddhist tradition. The cult of heroes or
Bhagavata religion seems also to have
existed in Taxila during the Indo-Greek
period, and could have been practiced by
political elites. There were practices of

burying minute bones in the burial
mounds within residential area. The
burying of minute bones in the burial
mounds resembles Buddhist stupa
practices. It cannot be assumed,
however, that these burial mounds were
exclusively Buddhist, as none of them
yield any inscriptions recording their
identity, or any obvious decorations that
might relate them to Buddhist affiliation.
Moreover, the practice of burying
minute bones in those burial mounds
was also occasionally carried out
together with the votive/ritual tanks:
practices which do not occur with the
Buddhist stupas. The votive tanks start
to appear from the Mauryan period and
are associated with the cult of
mother/Earth goddess, hence carrying
the notion of fertility. They also may
have served as the object for the worship
of nature elements as well as the ‘water-
god’.
Buddhist practices in Taxila
Its location on a main trade route makes
Taxila a site frequented by itinerant
traders, generally travelling in numbers
in caravans. The political unification
ensured stability during the Kushan
period. This stability enhanced the
international trade throughout the
Kushan empire and Buddhist
establishments flourished. Thus there
existed a close reciprocal relationship
between Buddhism, trade and empire
during this period of prosperity
(Heitzman 1984). In view of
relationships seen between monks,
traders and political elites, the following
three themes will be discussed in this
section: Buddhism and trade; relic cult
worship and the seven jewels; donors,
devotees and their aims in the
engagement in Buddhism.
Buddhism and Trade
Buddhist monks and nuns who have
renounced the world are expected to
reject all worldly possessions. They
9
therefore have to depend on the support
of the lay community to supply for the
‘four requisites’ of food, clothing,
shelter and medicine (Lamotte 1988,
58). This may explain why most early
Buddhist establishments existed in
relatively close proximity to urban
settlements, a fact also reflected in the
Patimokka rules (Vinaya III, 155).
Buddhist establishments have also been
found clustered near trade routes since
ancient times (Neelis 2001). Liu (1988,
122) notes that ‘the close relation
between trade routes and the distribution
of monasteries also suggested that the
Buddhist sangha provided valuable
services for the traders’. It is possible to
trace this relationship in literary
evidence dating ostensibly back to the
time of the Buddha. One Buddhist text,
the Mahāvastu, purports that forty-nine
days after the enlightenment of the
Buddha, two merchants brothers,
Bhallika and Trapuśa, were the first to
offer the Buddha the gift of food, thus
gaining their title as the first lay
devotees. In return, the Buddha
bestowed upon the two merchants a
benediction for good fortune and luck.
Rosenfield (1967, 220) notes that the
name Bhallika means ‘a man from
Balkh’, thereby suggesting a Central
Asian origin of these merchants.
Moreover, the Buddha has the epithet
‘Great caravan leader’, as seen in an
inscription ascribed to King Senavarman
of Odi, written in the Kharosthī script,
which was dominant in the northwestern
region of the Indian subcontinent
between the third centuries BC and AD
(Salomon 1986). The metaphor of the
Buddha to a caravan leader also occurs
in a Buddhist text called Milindapañha,
in which the Buddhist sage Nāgasena
explains to the Indo-Greek king Milinda
(Menander) that the Buddha ‘is like a
caravan owner [Pāli: Satthavāha] to men
in that he brings them beyond the sandy
desert of rebirths’ (Davis 1992, 274). Liu
(1988, 114-15) also argues that the use
of Buddha and bodhisattva images
served the need of the itinerant traders in

that they use the images as a ‘guide’ or a
protector during their journey. Neelis
(2001, 500) also notes that ‘in jātakas,
avadānas, and in canonical Pāli and
Mahāyāna literature the Buddha and
bodhisattvas are often depicted as
rescuers of merchants in danger during
long-distance overland and maritime
journey (sic.)’. The clustering of
Buddhist establishments along trade
routes is a manifestation of this symbolic
relationship between the Buddha, the
sangha, and traders (Neelis 2001).
This portrayal of the Buddha and
bodhisattvas as ‘rescuers of merchants in
danger’ may fit the role of the Buddhist
sangha as the spiritual as well as
physical provider of ‘valuable services’
(Liu 1988, 122) to the itinerant traders.
Devotees of the Buddha and
bodhisattavas are believed to gain
spiritual protection against the dangers
they faced during their trade journeys
through such perilous terrain as the
mountain valleys of Pakistan (Neelis
2001). Moreover, hostile invasion is
common in the northwest and in all
probability the Buddhist establishments
also provided physical protection, as
places of refuge for itinerant traders
(Neelis 2001). Two Buddhist sites in
Taxila seem to have served as places of
refuge to itinerant traders. Firstly, the
Buddhist establishment of Bhamala is
naturally fortified, situated in a steep
valley between hills, and protected on
three sides by a river (fig.29). Unlike the
majority of the Buddhist sites in Taxila,
Bhamala only has one main stupa with
nineteen subsidiary stupas (fig.30): a
small number in contrast to other sites.
Conversely, the Bhamala monastery
contains twenty-eight cells, ostensibly
serving as monks’ quarters: a figure
disproportionate to the majority of
Buddhist sites in Taxila. Secondly, the
Buddhist site of Giri appears protected in
a secluded glen surrounded on all sides
by hills ranging from 500 to 1,500 feet
in height (fig.31). A nearby eleventh-
century Ghaznavid fortress, where
10
Masud of Ghazhi was murdered and his
body thrown down a well, adds further
to the defensive character of the Giri site
(Errington 1987). Comprising of two
separate blocks of buildings, each
containing only one main stupa, the Giri
monastery, like the Bhamala monastery,
also contained a disproportionately large
number of ‘monk cells’ (fig.32). The
defensive nature of their surroundings
suggests that they were places of refuge.
An unusually small number of stupas
and the large number of the monastic
cells likewise suggest that these
establishments were strongholds against
the dangers that itinerant traders and
local monks certainly must have faced.
Relic cults and the seven jewels
Three types of Buddha relics are
acknowledged in Buddhist tradition: 1)
corporeal relics (saririka dhatu),
consisting of physical remains of the
Buddha and considered as the most
powerful and holy, 2) relics of use
(paribhogika dhatu), consisting of
objects used by the Buddha or of places
associated to the Buddha’s presence, and
3) relics of commemoration (uddesika
dhatu), consisting of images of Buddha
and artistic representations regarding
him (Willis 2000). According to
Buddhist tradition, the establishment of
relics is an act of merit. Buddhist
donative inscriptions associated
specifically with relics of the Buddha are
quite rare in Gandhara in comparison to
other sites in India (Konow 1929). The
language used in inscriptions from
Gandhara was Gandhārī, a Prakrit
dialect, written in the Kharos thī script
(Salomon 1986). As for the dedication of
the first type of relics in Gandhāra, the
corporeal relics, all Gandharan reliquary
inscriptions record the dedication of the
relics of the historical Buddha
Śakyamuni, none referring to the
previous Buddha or to other Buddhist
saints (Salomon, forthcoming). These

inscriptions frequently contain a phrase,
connecting to the location of the relic
deposit, saying ‘in a previously
unestablished place’ (apratitha<*vi>da
provami pradeśami) or similar phases
(Salomon, forthcoming). Salomon
(forthcoming) suggests that this refers to
the belief that ‘a donor could produce
extra merit, a karmic ‘bonus’ as it were,
by establishing relics of the Buddha in
locations where this had not previously
been done’. This belief undoubtedly
promoted the spread of Buddhism into
new lands. In Taxila, we find a copper-
plate inscription (appendix 4, no. 2),
which records that a man with an Indo-
Scythian name ‘Patika’ ‘establishes a
(formerly) not established relic of the
lord Śakyamuni…’ (apratithavita
bhagavata Śakyamun
i sa śariram
[pra]tithaveti ) (Konow 1929, 29).
According to the Kharos thī inscriptions
collection edited by Konow (1929), there
are only three donative inscriptions in
Taxila which record dedications of the
corporeal relics of the Buddha (appendix
4, nos. 2, 3, 4). Within these three, only
one (no.3) was found relic bones with it.
This inscription was found in chamber
G5 to the west of Dharmarajika main
stupa. Marshall (1951, 256) records that
‘in the room G5, near the back wall
opposite the entrance which faces the
main stupa and a foot below the floor, I
found a deposit consisting of a steatite
vessel with a silver vase inside, and in
the vase an inscribed scroll and a small
gold casket containing some minute
bone relics’. There is no prior record of
relic bones or a relic chamber in the
Dharmarajika main stupa. According to
Marshall (1951), no relic deposit was
found in any of the main stupas in
Taxila. In fact, relic chambers were
reported from only two main stupas of
the Buddhist sites of Kalawan and
Jandial B. Marshall (1951) nevertheless
remarks that after the forth and fifth
centuries relic chambers of large stupas
were built higher up the dome, instead of
down low in the foundation. No traces of
the upper domes of the majority of the
11
main stupas in Taxila remain. This may
explain the absence of relic chambers.
On numismatic grounds, however, the
foundation of all Buddhist sites in Taxila
predates the forth century (appendix 3).
It is therefore very unlikely that any of
the main stupas of these Buddhist sites
were founded after the fourth century.
As in other parts of India, all the main
stupas in Taxila are surrounded by
subsidiary stupas, the best example
being found at Dharmarajika (fig.33).
Minor stupas in Taxila generally
contained relic deposits, often including
relic bones. It is surprising that no
inscriptions referring to corporeal relics
were found in any of these subsidiary
stupas (Marshall 1951; Konow 1929).
As mentioned above, only three
inscriptions mentioning corporeal relics
were found in Taxila, and all record the
relic of Buddha Śakyamuni (appendix
4). One of them (no.3) was found in a
chamber outside the stupa. There are no
reports of the find spots of the other two
(nos. 2 and 4). It is therefore difficult to
determine precisely whose were the
bones found in minor stupas. It is
equally difficult to determine precisely
the purpose(s) for building these small
stupas. However, Schopen (1997)
convincingly shows that the main
Buddhist stupas functioned as the
containers for relics of the Buddha, or of
senior monks, and that these relics were
thought of as a ‘living presence’
(Schopen 1997, 126). Both the lay and
monastic communities endeavoured to
bury their corpses near the main stupas
in the hope that they might reborn in
heaven: a practice which Schopen
compares to the Roman ‘deposito ad
santos’ (Schopen 1997, 135). There are
no reports of any of the main stupas in
Taxila containing any corporeal relics.
To argue that a practice like ‘deposito ad
santos’ occurred in Taxila, we must
assume that the populace considered the
main stupas functioned as the second
type of relics, namely those associated
with places the Buddha had been.

Alternatively, they may have considered
the main stupas as a symbolic
representation of the Buddha.
A quantity of images and coins greater
than found in other parts of the Indian
subcontinent is characteristic of the
northwest. Accordingly, Taxila’s
Buddhist sites contained numerous
images of Buddha and bodhisattvas,
found both in situ and scattered around
the Buddhist establishments. Numerous
coins were also found within the
monastic area. These images and coins
started to appear in large numbers on the
Buddhist sites of the northwest from the
Indo-Scythian period onwards. They
seem to have become most abundant
during the Kushan period (Errington
1999/2000). Images of the Buddha,
being relics of the third type (uddesika
dhatu), may have served the purpose of
relic worship: the first two types of relics
were more difficult to acquire. However,
Schopen (2004) interestingly proposes
that the practice of image worship on
Buddhist sites was initiated by monastic
people with the possible intention of
attracting donations from the lay
community. From the Buddhist site of
Julian in Taxila, seven donative
inscriptions (appendix 4, no. 8) were
found on the pedestals of seated Buddha
images attached to stupa plinths, each
mentioning a donation from monks.
Schopen (2004) notes that these images,
by embellishing stupas, can attract
attention from the lay community. He
argues that the more attractive the setting
is, the more donations from the lay
people are likely to be made (Schopen
2004). He further quotes an eleventh-
century Christian saint who disregards
elaborate monastic architecture,
remarking on human psychology: ‘In
this way wealth is derived from wealth,
in this way money attracts money,
because by I know not what law,
wherever the more riches are seen, there
the more willingly are offerings made’
(Rudolph 1990, 280-281). The owners of
the ‘riches’ in the northwest seem to
12
have included the merchants, who were
also mentioned in a Buddhist scripture
Vibhanga (Derge Cha 184a. 1) as
‘merchants from the North Country’. A
passage from this scripture, which
narrates how the merchants who see a
beautiful monastery, may sum up the
reason for the abundance images and
coin finds in the monastic establishments
in the Northwest. The elaborate
monastery, as noted by Schopen (2004,
31), ‘captivated both the heart and the
eye’. The two merchants say to the
monks of this beautiful monastery that:
‘Noble Ones, here is alms for three
months for sixty monks. Here is alms for
the festival
of the eight day, and for the
fourteenth day, and the fifteenth day.
Here are the requisites
for medicines for the sick, a
general donation, the price for
robes…When the rainy sea –
son is over, we will return and
provide for the needs of a hundred
monks.’ (Vibhanga,
Derge Cha 184a. 1)
Relationships between the Buddhist
monastic community in the Northwest
and merchants can be further traced in
what has been called ‘the seven jewels’
(saptaratna). These are precious
materials that were high in value but low
in number such as gold, silver, crystal,
lapis lazuli, carnelian, coral and pearls.
For Buddhists, the seven jewels
symbolise the best substances in this and
other worlds: stupas and other offerings
composed of the seven jewels represent
the ‘perfect body of the Buddha’, and
therefore became a standard formula in
Buddhist worship (Liu 1988, 94). Many
of the precious materials composing the
seven jewels had their origin in, or were
transported through, the mountains of
northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, and
Kashmir (Neelis 2001). Lapis lazuli, for
example, could be found in northeast
 13

Afghanistan which was linked to the
trade route network through northern
Pakistan via Chitral (Neelis 2001). It is
therefore possible to say that the
Buddhist value of, and hence the
demand for, the seven jewels perhaps
helped to stimulate long-distance trade
between South Asia, Central Asia and
China (Liu 1988). In the Buddhist sites
of Taxila, most of the stupas relic
deposits contained objects made of the
seven jewels (table 1). These objects
varied in form, the most popular being
beads. Gold was used in making relic
caskets or more often included in the
form of jewellery fragments. The seven
jewels therefore appear to be part of the
relic cults in the Northwest, providing
mutual benefit between monastic
communities and commercial
constituencies. The following reference
table shows the distribution of the seven
jewels as parts of relic deposits found in
stupa relic chambers excavated in
Taxila:

Sites

Carnelian
Crystal

Lazuli
Silver

Lapis

Coral

Pearl
Gold

Stone
Types
Dharmarajika
Stupa S8 √ √ √ √
Dharmarajika
Stupa U1 √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Jaulian
Stupa A11 √ √ √ √ √
Kalawan
Stupa A1 √ √ √ √

Table 1 : Examples of relic chambers containing Saptaratna as part of relic deposits

(after Marshall 1951)

The donors
Several sculptures adorning Buddhist
stupas and monasteries in Taxila bear
depictions of devotees and donors. Some
are worshipping the Buddha. Others are
making offering of different kinds. Many
of these devotees and donors are
depicted wearing ‘foreign’ costumes,
ostensibly of Central Asian origin
(Rosenfield 1967). A number of
inscriptions provide names of donors,
titles and wishes of the donors.
According to the collections of
Kharoshthi inscriptions by S. Konow
(1929; 1932), there are twenty- one
Kharoshthi donative inscriptions from
Buddhist sites in Taxila; seven major
inscriptions (appendix 4, nos. 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 9) and fourteen minor inscriptions
(appendix 4, nos. 7.1-7.2 and 8.1-8.12).
In this section, these inscriptions will be
used to assess the nature, and purposes
of donations made in the Buddhist
establishments.
In Taxila, donative inscriptions almost
always contain names of the donors. A
common formula was used consisting of
1) the subject, i.e. the name(s) of the
donor(s); 2) the verb; and 3) the objects
donated (Salomon, forthcoming). Verb
forms derived from the root sthā with
the prefixes prati- and pari- in the sense
of ‘to permanently establish’ are found
in the inscription formulas associated
with stupa and/or relic donative
inscriptions. Here, the objects are the
śarira or dhatu, ‘bodily relic’, or
thuba/thuva ‘stupa’ (Salomon,
forthcoming). Dates, locations, honorees
and beneficiaries, reference to Buddhist
schools, and wishes of the donors are
sometimes also given. While Kharoshthi
inscriptions rarely record the
occupations of the donors, apart from
monks, the titles of the donors are
sometimes preserved (Konow 1929).
The twenty-one donative inscriptions
from Taxila can be divided into three
main groups according to the donors: 1)
14
donative inscriptions of monastic
community, 2) donative inscriptions of
lay people associated with ‘foreign’
names/titles, and 3) donative inscriptions
of lay people without any ‘foreign’
association.
There are twelve donative inscriptions
associated with the donations of the
Buddha images (8.1-8.12). Seven of
them explicitly state that donations had
been made by monks (bhikshu) (nos. 8.1,
8.2, 8.4-8.8). These inscriptions were
inscribed on pedestals of the Buddha
images, stating that each image is a ‘gift
of monk’ (bhikshusa danamukho). One
(no. 8.3) states the name of the donor
which implies a monastic association
(Śramanamitra = ‘friends of monks’).
The remaining four (nos. 8.9-8.12) do
not state the names of the donors. The
formula used for donations from monks
contains only the name of the donor and
sometimes the place where the donor is
from (no. 8.5). It never states the donors’
wishes. The omission of donor’s name
on donative inscriptions in Taxila is rare.
Given that the donative inscriptions of
the monks generally used short formula,
the donative inscriptions without donor’s
names (nos. 8.9-8.12) may have
belonged to the monks, rather than the
laity. Of the twenty-one inscriptions
here, none record relic, stupa, and
monastery donations from the monastic
community.
Donations of relics, stupas and
monasteries are found in donative
inscriptions listing donors from the lay
community. Four inscriptions list donors
from the lay community with ‘foreign
names/titles’ (nos. 1, 2, 3, 7.2). It is not
certain whether the donors were actually
foreign. However, at least three of these
‘foreign’ donors appear to belong to
social/political elite. The first inscription
(no.1) records a donation of a stupa by a
Meridarkh, a Greek official title for a
civil governor of a province (Konow
1929). The second inscription (no. 2)
records a donation of a Buddha relic

(bhagavata Śakamunisa śariram ) and a
monastery (samghārāma) by a man with
an Indo-Scythian name ‘Patika’, whose
father was a satrap (Konow 1929). The
third inscription (no. 3) records a
donation of Buddha relics by a Bactrian
man (Bahaliena). The inscription does
not state that he also donated the chapel
in which the relics were kept. It does
state, however, that the relics were kept
in ‘his own bodhisattva chapel’ (tanuvae
bosi[dhi]satvaghami), implying that the
chapel was donated either by him or by
his family. No title was given for this
Bactrian donor and his social rank
remains uncertain but personal
ownership of a private chapel indicates
an elite status, like the other two
‘foreign’ donors. The last inscription
(no. 7.2) records a donation of a
sculpture by a man called Hodreas, the
name of probable Greek origins (Konow
1929).
Inscriptions listing ‘foreign’ donors also
list the donors’ wishes. Only one of
these donors wishes for Nirvana (no. 3).
Another donor wishes for a specific
power (no. 2). Three donors include
good health among their wishes (nos. 2,
3, 7.2). Meridarhk’s inscription (no. 1)
does not mention the Buddha or
Nirvana. Rather, he simply states his
wish that the stupa donation serve ‘for
the presentation of a respectful offering’
(aghadaksho[i] nayae). Patika’s
inscription (no. 2) states his wish ‘for the
increase of the life and power of the
kshatrapa’ ([kshatra]pasa saputradarasa
ayubalavardhi[e]). Another inscription
(no. 3) gives the donor’s wish for ‘the
bestowal [of health] on the Great
king,…and for the bestowal [of health]
upon himself’, and ‘for the bestowal of
health on his relatives, friends and
blood-relations’ (no. 7.2). Considering
the substantial nature of these donations
to the Buddhist community (i.e. stupas, a
chapel, and a monastery), it would
appear that at least three of these
ostensibly ‘foreign’ donors (nos. 1, 2, 3)
15
belonged to a socio-political, elite class,
desirous of good health and power.
Four inscriptions list lay-people without
‘foreign’ associations (nos. 4, 5, 6, 9).
One of these records the donation of a
stupa (no. 5). Two (nos. 4 & 9) record
donations of Buddha relics and one (no.
6) records the donation of a ladle. Unlike
the ‘foreign’ donors, these donors do not
list good health among their wishes. One
inscription lists a donor’s wish to attain
Nirvana (no. 9). Another (no. 4) implies
the donor’s wish for a parent to be
reborn as a Buddha (Konow 1929). Two
other (nos. 5 & 6) do not state any
specific wish.
Three inscriptions (nos. 2, 3, 9) list
donation dates with an apparent
‘bureaucratic’ format, in which the
names of the kings were also included.
All three inscriptions are on thin metal
plates recording the donation of Buddha
relics. These three plates, one in silver
and two in copper, are kept together in
scrolls with the relics in reliquaries.
Salomon (forthcoming) interestingly
proposes that the reliquaries possessing
‘bureaucratic’ inscription may have been
displayed and paraded in front of the
worshippers ‘before and after
ceremonies celebrating their internment’.
He also proposes that these inscriptions
could have been read aloud during these
festivities, thus proclaiming their social
status and their patronage of Buddhism
(Salomon, forthcoming). Such
ceremonies are seen on an early
Buddhist sculpture from Bharhut: a well-
dressed man is depicted riding an
elephant and holding a reliquary (Deheja
1997). As discussed above the donors of
these inscriptions ostensibly to belong to
an elite class: two of them (nos. 2,3)
have ‘foreign’ names, the other with an
Indian name.
It appears that three main groups of
people took part in Buddhism: monks,
social elites and merchants. On
epigraphic evidence, in Taxila as

elsewhere in Gandhara, monks took part
in image cult, constituting the majority
of donors of Buddha images. As
discussed above, this practice may have
helped generate donations from
merchants, most of whom were itinerant,
using the Buddhist establishments as
places offering protection during their
long journey, or as places of refuge in
times of need. Buddhist value placed on
the seven jewels also helped stimulate
trade in the Northwest, where these
precious stones were found. The
Buddhist concept of bodhisattvas was
also adopted by the itinerant traders as
their ‘saviours’ during their journey
through the mountainous valley of the
Northwest (Neelis 2001). The wishes
expressed on the majority of the
donative inscriptions concern the issue
of worldly well-being, namely good
health, or even power. Few inscriptions
record the wishes of the donors as to
attain Nirvana, or enlightenment. The
appearance of ‘foreign’ names on some
donative inscriptions may reflect the
participation of ‘foreign’ people.
Although these people may have simply
been the local people who adopted
foreign names, their names include
Greek, Indo-Scythian as well as Kushan
affiliation. These people, as discussed
above, show traces of their belonging to
the elite class. The participation of
political/social elites in the Buddhist
compounds of Taxila may have resulted
from their faith in the religion. However,
it may also be possible that these elites
used Buddhist compounds, the place
which welcome people from different
grounds hence the ideal places, to
promote their social status and glory.
A case study of the absorption of
local cults in Gandharan
Buddhism
Introduction
As discussed above, evidence suggests
Taxila may have been home to at least
16
four distinct cults/religions: that of a
tutelary couple, a mother/Earth goddess,
Tyche/Hariti/Ardochsho, and the
Bhagavata. The deities of these
cults/religions share features with deities
of nature spirits called yakshas and their
female counterparts, yakshis. Although
the worship of yakshas and yakshis in
the Indian subcontinent dates back to
pre-Aryan times (and it has inevitably
changed in form and meaning over the
course of time), the earliest sculptural
representation of a yaksha is dated to the
Mauryan period. The most prominent
yaksha and yakshi in Gandhara are the
tutelary couple called Pancika and
Hariti. This section looks at the
iconography of Pancika and Hariti and
will argue that the existence of images of
Pancika and Hariti in the Buddhist
establishments of Gandhara may reflect
the way Buddhist monastic people drew
attention from the lay people, as well as
how the lay people engaged in the
Buddhist community.
Pancika and Hariti
Images of Pancika and Hariti incorporate
the features of the prevalent
cults/religions practiced in the town of
Taxila. In Buddhist tradition, Pancika is
the lord of the yakshas who possesses
the immortal drink (Agrawala 1970).
Hariti was once a malevolent yakshi,
who was later converted by the Buddha
and became a giver of children and a
deity of smallpox. In Gandharan art, a
male figure depicted as holding a spear,
a cup and a money bag, hence
association with power, money and
wealth, is generally assigned to Pancika.
A female figure depicted as holding a
cornucopia, holding a child or
surrounded with children, hence
association with reproduction and
fertility, is generally assigned to Hariti.
Images of Pancika and Hariti appear
often in Gandhara Buddhist
establishments, both as statues as well as
parts of stupas reliefs (fig. 26).

Pancika can be related to the cult of
heroes, or Pañcavīras of the Bhagavata
religion. Agrawala (1970) argues that the
names of the five heroes (Pañcavīras) of
the Vrsni clan were modelled after the
five names of the Pañcav īras yakshas,
mentioned in the text called
Vishnudharmottara Purana (III.222.13-
5). These five names of yakshas include
Manibhadra. Manibhadra is regarded as
a giver of riches and the deity presiding
over merchants and travellers (Misra
1981). The centre for his worship was in
Pawaya, Gwalior district and his
devotees were a guild of merchants
(Agrawala 1970). An image of a
Manibhadra yaksha from Pawaya, dated
to second century AD, shows
Manibhadra depicted with a money bag
in his left hand, as did Pancika in
Gandhara. Thus the worship of yaksha
shows an association between the deity
and traders, and the concern for money
and wealth.
Like Pancika, images of Hariti also
incorporate the features of the
cults/religions practiced in Taxila. As
already mentioned, in Gandhara Hariti is
generally depicted as a female holding a
child or surrounded with children. She
also holds a cornocupia in one hand
(fig.26). Her association with children
relates her to the mother/Earth goddess,
who was sometimes depicted holding a
child. In Buddhist tradition, Hariti was
once a malevolent yakshi who devoured
children by causing them death from
smallpox. But the Buddha converted her
and she became a giver of children and a
deity of smallpox, thus echoing the
mother/Earth goddess’ association with
reproduction and fertility. Hariti’s shrine
also resembles mother/Earth goddess’
shrine in the ritual/votive tanks
recovered from Taxila. Her shrine at
Nagarjunakonda in India was in an
enclosure accessible via a flight of steps,
similar in composition to that of the
ritual/votive tanks (Misra 1970). The
cornocupia in Gandharan Hariti’s hand
is an attribute of the Greek and Iranian
17
deities of good fortune, Tyche and
Ardochsho, respectively. As discussed in
section three, a figurine of a female deity
holding a cornucopia was found buried
together with a miniature stupa
containing bones in the city of Sirkap at
the Indo-Parthian/Kushan level.
The link between Buddhist monastic
and lay people
The existence of images of a male figure
holding a staff/spear, a cup, and a money
bag, assigned to Pancika, and a female
holding a child and a cornocupia,
assigned to Hariti, in Gandhara Buddhist
establishments may reflect the way the
Gandharan Buddhist monastic people
adapted themselves to this multicultural
region. It appears that a number of
images of Pancika and Hariti occurred in
Gandharan Buddhist establishments
during the Kushan period. It is also in
this period that Buddhism flourished in
Gandhara. As discussed in the previous
section, the majority of images used in
Buddhist establishments were donated
by Buddhist monks. Although the
donative inscriptions from Taxila tell us
that images donated by the Buddhist
monks were of the Buddha, we cannot
assume that the monks only donated
images of this kind. Rather the monks
may as well have donated or
commissioned other types of images but
without donative inscriptions. The
practice of inscribing one’s name as the
donor of a Buddha image may be due to
the fact that the Buddha images are a
type of relics, namely the uddesika
dhatu. As such they generate merit for
the donor. Donors or commissioners of
other types of images may have had
objectives other than gaining the merit of
relic donation.
As mentioned above, the images of
Pancika and Hariti are not restricted to
stupa decoration. Reliefs and statues of
Pancika and Hariti were also found
within the precincts of the Buddhist
establishments. As the images of

Pancika and Hariti incorporate features
of the prevalent cults/religions practiced
by multicultural populations, it is
possible that the Gandharan Buddhist
monastic people used the images of
these two deities to draw attention from
the populace, either by commissioning
such images to be produced or allowing
these images to exist in the Buddhist
establishments. The choice reflects the
fact that these images carry the notions
of good heath, wealth, and good fortune:
the general concerns of most of the lay
people. These concerns may have served
as the ‘selling’ points to meet the
expectations of the majority of the laity.
As seen from the wishes expressed on
the donative inscriptions from Taxila,
only a few expressed their wishes as to
attain the nirvana, while almost all stated
their wish as gaining good health.
Notions of good health, wealth, and
good fortune would have been the
primary concerns for merchants, who, as
discussed above, maintained close
relation with the Buddhist community.
By establishing or allowing the images
of Pancika and Hariti in the Buddhist
establishments, the Buddhist monastic
people could thus draw attention of the
laity of different religions as well as the
merchants, for the purpose of receiving
donations. As a result, the engagements
with lay people contributed to the
security of the Buddhist monastic
community.
In order to survive, the Buddhist
monastic community needed the support
of the laity. The Buddhist ideal of
attaining nirvana may have attracted
some people but not the majority, who
were engaged in worldly affairs. In order
to gain much support from the laity, the
Buddhist monastic people thus needed to
find ways to draw attention from the
majority of the laity. Images of Pancika
and Hariti embodied concepts of wealth,
good fortune, reproduction and fertility:
the concerns of the majority of the laity
as evidenced by the local cults/religions
practiced in the town of Taxila. Through
18
commissioning or by allowing these
images to exist in the Buddhist
establishments, the monastic people
could draw attention from the majority
of the laity. On seeing the objects of
their concerns, lay people engaged in the
Buddhist community. This aborption of
local cults/religions in Gandharan
Buddhism thus reflects a way the
Buddhist monks adapt themselves in
order to survive and flourish, and how
the laity embraced Buddhism into their
lives.
Conclusion
Owing to its topography and political
history, Taxila is a town of diverse
populations and religions. By the time
the first Buddhist establishment was
founded there, Taxila had already been
governed by foreign rulers: the Iranians,
the Greeks, and the Indians. Some
evidence of the religions of these
peoples can be traced within the towns
of Taxila, namely Bhir Mound and
Sirkap. They include the primitive
mother/Earth goddess associated with
universal concept of reproduction and
fertility. This cult was practiced before
Mauryan period. During the Mauryan
period, cults of votive/ritual tanks and
the tutelary couple started to appear. The
cult of votive/ritual tanks appears to be
associated with the cult of mother/Earth
goddess, and may have been practiced
both by the local Taxilan people as well
as the foreign ruling elites. The placing
of votive/ritual tanks near the burial
mounds containing minute bones implies
that the tanks had an association with
death. The placing of a stone image of a
deity holding a cornucopia with a
miniature Buddhist stupa shows a fusion
between the Buddhist stupa/relic cult
with the cult of such deity. The cult of
deified heroes or Bhagavata religion
could have been practised by the
political elite during the Indo-Greek
period.

The expansion of Buddhism into Taxila
did not deter the populations of Taxila
from practicing their own religions.
Although settling outside the town,
Buddhist monastic people found thier
ways to adapt themselves in the
multicultural environments. With the
concept of pūnya or religious merit, the
Buddhist monastic people shared
reciprocal relationship with the people of
Taxila, the merchants, and the politico-
social elite. By engaging in the relic
cults, lay-people gained merit. The more
engagement from the lay community, the
more security was ensured to the
Buddhist monastic community.
Strategies were brought up and practiced
by the Buddhist monks to draw the
attention of lay-people; the worship of
Buddha images was initiated; the
concept of seven jewels was
incorporated into the Buddhist relic
cults; the images of religious syncretism
and the embodiments of health, wealth
and good fortune, like Pancika and
Hariti, that were familiar to the populace
of Taxila, became part of the Buddhist
repertoire. On engaging in the relic cults,
lay-people of different religious and
social background can gain merit of
health, wealth and good fortune: the
concepts so embedded in daily lives of
the people of Taxila since the time
19
before Buddhist monks were part of this
town.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr.
Julia Shaw, for providing me with
valuable guidance, advice and comments
throughout the research. Particular
thanks to Joe Cribb, Elisabeth Errington,
and Robert Bracey from the Department
of Coins and Medals, the British
Museum, who have taught me
numismatic methods, spent time
answering my questions, as well as
provided me with piles of books. I am
indebted to David Jongeward, author of
the forthcoming Gandhāran Buddhist
Reliquaries and Robert Harding, author
of the forthcoming ‘Cunningham,
Marshall and the Monks: An Early
Historic City as Buddhist Landscape’,
for kindly allowing me to read their
unpublished manuscripts. Grateful
thanks to Michael Willis of the
Department of Asia, the British
Museum, for providing me with
knowledge of Indian terracotta figurines,
and to Peter Flügel for discussing Jaina
stupa cult with me. I would also like to
thank Chris Gibbons for spending time
reading and commenting on my work.

Appendix 4 : Lists of Kharoshthi donative inscriptions found in the Buddhist sites in
Taxila, as based on S. Konow (1929; 1932)
Number and name of inscriptions Contents in Prakrit
1)Taxila copper plate inscription of ...meri[da]khena sabhayakena thubo
a Meridarkh pra[ti]stavito matapitu puyae
Site: Shapur aghadaksho(i)nayae.
2) Taxila copper plate of Patika L. 1. [samva]tśaraye athasatatimae 20 20
Site: Unknown 20
10 4 4 maharayasa mahamtasa
Mogasa
Pa[ne]masa masasa divase
pamchame 4
1 etaye purvaye kshaha[ra]ta[sa]
2. [Chukhsa]sa cha kshatrapasa Liako
Kusuluko nama tasa [pu]tro Pati[ko]
Takhaśilaye magare utarena prachu
deśo
Kshema nama atra
3. [de]śe Patiko apratithavita
bhagavata
Śakamunisa śariram [pra]tithaveti
[samgha]ramam cha sarvabuddhana
Puyae matapitaram puyayamt[o]
4. [kshatra]pasa saputradarasa
ayubalavardhi[e] bhratara sarva cha
[ñatigabamdha]vasa cha puyayamto
mahadanapati Patikasa jauvañae
5. Rohinimitrena ya ima[mi]
samgharame
Navakamika
Reverse: Patikasa kshatrapa Liaka
3) Taxila silver scroll inscription of L. 1 Sa 1 100 20 10 4 1 1 ayasa ashadasa
the year 136 Masasa divase 10 4 1 iśa diva[se
Site: Dharmarajika pradi]s-
Tavita bhagavato dhatu[o] Ura[sa]-
2 kena [Im]tavhriaputrana Bahaliena
Noachae nagare vastavena Tena
ime
Pradistavita bhagavato dhatuo
dhamara-
3 ie Takshaśi[la]e tanuvae
bosi(dhi)satvagahami maharajasa
rajatirajasa devaputrasa
Khushanasa
arogadakshinae
4 sarva[bu]dhana puyae
prach[e]gabudhana puyae
araha[ta]na
pu[ya]e sarvasa[tva]na puyae
matapitu
puyae mitramachañatisa-
5 lohi[ta]na [pu]yae atvano
arogadakshinae Nivanae hotu a[ya]
de
samaparichago.
4) Taxila Gold plate inscription L. 1 Śirae bhagavato dhat[u]
Site: Babar-Khana prethav[e]tiye
matu
2 hasisa (hasasi) pitu hasase(-si)
Loo tasa
siati yo ha
3 dehajati.
20
Translations by S. Konow
By…, the Meridarkh, together with
his wife, the stupa was established, in
honour of (his) mother and father, for
the presentation of a respectful
offering.
In the seventy-eight, 78., year (during
the reign) of the Great King the Great
Moga, on the fifth, 5., day of the
month Panemos, on the first (tithi), of
the Kshaharāta and kshatrapa of
Chukhsa by name – his son Patika- in
the town of Takshaśila, to the north,
the eastern region, Kshema by name –
in this place Patika establishes a
(formerly) not established relic of the
Lord Śakyamuni and a samghārāma
(through Rohinimitra who (is) the
overseer of work in this samghārāma,
1.5), for the worship of all Buddhas,
worshipping his mother and father,
for the increase of the life and power
of the kshatrapa, together with his son
and wife, worshipping all his brothers
and his blood-relations and kinsmen.
At the jauva-order of the great gift-
lord Patika
To Patika the kshatrapa Liaka.
Anno 136, on the 15. day of the first
month Āshādha, on this day were
established relics of the Lord by
Urasaka, of the Imtavhria boys, the
Bactrian, the resident of the town of
Noacha. By him these relics of the
Lord were established in his own
bodhisattva chapel, in the
Dharmarājikā compound of
Takshaśila, for the bestowal of health
on the great King, the King of Kings,
the Son of Heaven, the Kushāna, in
honour of all Buddhas, in honour of
the Pratyekabuddhas, in honour of the
Arhats, in honour of all beings, in
honour of mother and father, in
honour of friends, ministers, kinsmen,
and blood-relations, for the bestowal
of health upon himself.
May this thy right munificence lead
to Nirvāna.
(Gift) of Śira, depositing a relic of the
Lord in the hamsa of her mother, the
hamsa of her father. Might it become
its place when a corporeal birth
comes.
 21

5) Taxila vase inscription
Site: Chir tope
6) Taxila Copper Laddle inscription
Site: Mahal
7) Dharmarājikā inscriptions
Site: Dharmarajika
Sihilena Siharakshitena cha bhratarehi
Takhaśilae ayam thuvo pratithavito
savabudhana puyae.
Iśparakasa danamukho samghe chatudiśe
Utararame Takshaśilae Kaśaviana
parigra[he].
7.1
Taksha[ś]ilaami dhamarai[e
Dhamadasabhikshun]o [esha]saputrasa
danamukhe(o)
By Sihila and Siharakshita, the
brothers, this stūpa was established in
honour of all Buddhas, in Takshaśilā.
Gift of Īśvaraka to the congregation
of the four quarters in the Uttarārāma
of Takshaśilā, in the acceptance of the
Kāśyapīyas.
7.1
In the Dharmarājikā compound of
Takshaśilā this is the gift of the friar
Dharmadāsa.

7.2
…e puyae at[va]nasa ñatimitrasalohidana 7.2
arogadakshinae Hodreana . o … in honour of …., for the bestowal of
health on his relatives, friends and
blood relations, …of the Hodreas.
8) Jaulian inscriptions 8.1 8.1
Site: Jaulian Dharmanadisa Budhamitra[sa bhikshusa Gift of the friar Buddhamitra
danamukho] Dharmanandin
8.2
Saghamitrasa Budhadevasa bhiksh[u]sa 8.2
danamukh(e)o. Gift of the friar Buddhadeva
8.3 Samghamitra (the friend of the order).
Shamanamitrasa 8.3
8.4 (Gift) of Śramanamitra.
Budharakshi[dasa] bhi[kshusa] 8.4
da[namu]kho. Gift of the friar Buddharakshita.
8.5 8.5
Dharmamitrasa bhiksh[usa na]garaka[sa] Gift of Dharmamitra, the friar from
danamukho. Nagara.
8.6
Dharma[bhutisa] [bhi]kshusa 8.6
[danamu]kho. Gift of the friar Dharmabhūti.
8.7 8.7
Ra[hu]lasa v[e]nae(i)asa bhikshusa Gift of Rāhula, the friar versed in the
danamukho. Vinaya.
8.8
[Dharma][m]i[t]ra[sa bhi][kshusa] 8.8
dana[mu]kho. Gift of the friar Dharmamitra.
8.9
[Kaśav]o tathagato s…..hasa śa… 8.9
Kāśyapa the Tathāgata….
8.10
[Kaśavasa da]namu[kho] 8.10
8.11 Gift of Kāśyapa
Kaśavo tathagato. 8.11
8.12 Kāśyapa, the Tathāgata.
Śakamu[ni] tathagato ji(?)na(?)eśa(?) 8.12
da(?)namukho(?) Śākyamuni, the Tathāgata, lord of
Jinas, a gift.

9) Taxila Copper-plate of year 134
of Azes
L. 1 Samvatśaraye 1 100 20 10 4 ajasa
śravanasa masasa divase treviśe 20
111
imena ksunena Camdrabhi uasia
L. 2 Dhrammasa grahavatisa dhita
Bhadrava-
lasa bhaya Chadaśilae śarira
praistaveti
gahathu
L. 3 bami sadha bhraduna
Namdivadhanena
grahavatina sadha putrehi Śamena
Saitena ca dhituna ca
L. 4 Dhramae sadha snusaehi Rajae Idrae
ya
In the year 134 of Azes, on the
twenty-third – 23- day of the month
Śrāvana, on this date Candrābhī, the
female worshipper, daughter of
Dharma, the householder, wife of
Bhadrapāla, establishes relics in
Chadaśilā, in the stupa shrine,
together with her brother
Nandivardhana, the householder,
together with her sons Śama and
Sacitta and her daughter Dharmā,
together with her daughters-in-law
Rajā and Indra, together with
Jīvanandin, the son of Śama, and her
teacher, in acceptance of the

Sadha Jivanamdina Śamaputrena
ayariena ya sawvasti
L. 5 vaana parigrahe rathanikamo puyaita
sarvasvatvana puyae nivanasa
pratiae
hotu.
22
Sarvāstivādas, having venerated the
country-town; for the veneration of
all beings; may it be for the
obtainment of Nirvāna.
 1

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