This article is about the kingdom as described in the Hindu epics. For the historic kingdom, see Gandhāra (kingdom). For the historic region, see Gandhara. For other uses, see Gandhara (disambiguation).
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Gandhara among the kingdoms of Epic Indian history
Gandhāra (Sanskrit: गन्धार) was an ancient Indian kingdom mentioned in the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Gandhara prince Shakuni was the root of all the conspiracies of Duryodhana against the Pandavas, which finally resulted in the Kurukshetra War. Shakuni's sister was the wife of the Kuru king Dhritarashtra and was known as Gandhari after the area of Gandhāra (which is in modern Afghanistan and Pakistan). Puskalavati, Takshasila (Taxila) and Purushapura (Peshawar) were cities in this Gandhara kingdom. Takshasila was founded by Rama's brother Bharata. Bharata's descendants ruled this kingdom afterwards. During the epic's period, the kingdom was ruled by Shakuni's father Suvala, Shakuni and Shakuni's son. Arjuna defeated Shakuni's son during his post-war military campaign for Yudhishthira's Aswamedha Yajna.
Janamejaya, a Kuru king in Arjuna's line, conquered Takshasila, probably then ruled by the Naga Takshaka. He conducted a massacre called Sarpa Satra meaning the slaughter of the snakes, in which the Naga race was nearly exterminated. This massacre was stopped by a Brahmin named Astika, whose mother was a Naga. Nagas were considered as a super human tribe, in Puranas. Naga literally means a Serpent or a serpent-god. The Nagas could be a group of people who inhabited India during epic periods who worshiped snakes.
It is speculated that another super human tribe called the Gandharvas were originally inhabitants of the Gandhara kingdom[citation needed]. Gandharvas were well versed in music and art. This explains why there is much Gandhara influence in Indian Classical Music. Gandhara form of sculpturing is also famous (very close to Greek sculpturing) during the Kushan Era. The Yadava chief Bala Rama saw many Gandharva settlements on the banks of Saraswati River, not far from Gandhara, during his pilgrimage over Saraswati river basin. The Gandharva Kali and Dwapara, probably were princes from Gandhara. The last two Yugas (prehistoric periods) were named after them.[citation needed] Kuru King Dhritarashtra's wife was from Gandhara (a Gandharvi) and she was well known by the name Gandhari. There was a Gandhrava also by the name Chitrangada. (See Gandharva Kingdom).
The period ended c. 535 BCE, with the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley.
Gandhāra (Sanskrit: गन्धार) was an ancient Indian kingdom mentioned in the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Gandhara prince Shakuni was the root...
Gandhara (IAST: Gandhāra) was an ancient Indo-Aryan civilization centred in present-day north-west Pakistan and north-east Afghanistan. The core of the...
the southern kingdom of Kishkindha. Rama's brother Bharata, colonized the Gandharakingdom and founded the city of Takshasila. Gandhara lied close to...
frequent reference to sixteen great kingdoms and republics that had developed and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the...
local kingdoms rising and falling through the ages. Urbanization may have begun as early as 3000 BCE. Gandhara is the name of an ancient kingdom from the...
of Pundra Kingdom. Some sources state he was an ally of both Jarasandha, the king of Magadha and Shakuni, the king of the GandharaKingdom. He was a major...
the Buddhist Jatakas, Taxila is described as the capital of the kingdom of Gandhara and a great centre of learning with world-famous teachers. The Jatakas...
University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-4744-0031-2. Apart from Gandhara, however, a Kidarite kingdom may have survived in Sogdiana, possibly in the area of Ustrushana...
Kuru Kingdom & GandharaKingdom Puranic chronology Puru and Yadu Dynasties Indus Valley Civilisation Janapadas & Mahajanapadas Middle kingdoms of India...
Arjava Suka Kulinda Pushkarasakti (c. 535–518 BCE), last ruler of Gandharakingdom probably at time of Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley Kandik...
Purukutsa became the king. (a contemporary of Druhyu King Gandhara who founded the GandharaKingdom) Trasadasyu Sambhuta Anaranya(2) was killed by Ravana...
tribe were called the Kaikayas. The Kekayas were located between the Gāndhārakingdom and the Vipāśā river, more precisely on a tributary of the Irāvatī...
and Gandhara. In the 4th century, the Guptas, another Indian dynasty, also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were...
Dhritarashtra with Gandhari, the princess of GandharaKingdom. He also brought Madri for Pandu from Madra Kingdom and also got Vidura married to the daughter...
BCE) GandharaKingdom (c. 1500 – c. 545 BCE) Kuru Kingdom (c. 1200 – c. 345 BCE) Indian Iron Age kingdoms (c. 600 – c. 345 BCE) Pandyan Kingdom (c. 600...
stronghold of Buddhism, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the site of the ancient region of Gandhara, including the ruins of the Gandharan capital of Pushkalavati (located...
extensive collection of Buddhist art from the ancient Indo-Greek and Gandharakingdoms. It also has collections from the Indus Valley Civilisation, Mughal...
Indus Valley Civilisation 2200–1800 BC Oxus Civilization 2100–1800 BC GandharaKingdom 1500–535 BC Median Empire 728–550 BC Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BC Macedonian...
the Kekayas, Uśīnaras, and Sibis, fell under the suzerainty of the Gandhārakingdom, which was the principal imperial power in north-west Iron Age South...
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