Cultural Alignment of Prehistoric Gandhara with Central Asia
The northwestern regions of Pakistan, watered by the Kabul, Swat and Indus Rivers, were known in ancient times as Gandhara. This region was influenced by Indus Civilization in 3rd milennium BC. After demise of Indus Civilization a regional culture developed in Gandhara in the period 1600-600 BC, which was closely aligned to the cultures in the Central Asian region.
These increased interactions between North-eastern Iran, South Turkmenistan, North Afghanistan and Gandhara are reflected in the artifacts belonging to this period found from the settlements in these regions. The large number of ceramics and statues of mother-goddesses found from the Gandhara cemeteries belonging to the period 1600-600 BC, provide evidence not only of increased interactions but also of increased migrations from Central Asia to Gandhara in this period.
Gandhara Grave Culture
The burial practices and the artifacts recovered from more than a hundred graves belonging to the period 1600-600 BC in Greater Gandhara, point to the existence of a unified cultural group in this region during this period. The graves were located over a fairly extensive area, which includes Swat, Dir, Chitral and the Peshawar Valley.
The people belonging to the Gandhara Grave Culture had, over a long period of time, developed similar cultural traits, which governed all aspects of their social behavior. These traits were determined by the physical environment of a region of fertile river valleys interspersed by hilly terrains and protected against major incursions by high mountain walls in the north. However, individuals and small tribal groups in search of green pastures regularly entered this region through the mountain passes. The bulb-shaped grey pottery, relatively plain designs of sparsely adorned female figurines, and circular dot patterns on some of the beads and ornaments found from the graves indicate influence of contemporary culture of North-eastern Iran and Central Asia.
The people of Gandhara Grave Culture lived in agricultural villages, on the banks of perennial rivers such as Kabul and Swat. They were skilled farmers, who dug irrigation channels to bring vast areas under cultivation, as was the case with similar agricultural communities in Southern Bactria and other neighboring regions. The quality of the grave goods indicates that they enjoyed a fairly good standard of living.
The technologies employed by the people of the Gandhara Grave Culture for making various artifacts were also very similar to those employed in this period in North-eastern Iran and in Central Asia. The people of the Gandhara Grave Culture possessed basic metallurgical skills, which they used to produce articles of iron, copper and bronze. The articles recovered from the graves include iron knives and spears and copper pins.
The people belonging to Gandhara Grave Culture produced a large variety of wheel-turned pottery. The bowls, plates, bulb-shaped jars and cooking pots in various sizes, were mostly in grey ware and bore striking resemblances to pottery produced in various region of Central Asia during this period.
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