Buddhist Afghanistan’s amazing past

Nikola Budanovic (The Vintage News, 7/6/18); A. Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Golden face of the Buddha, Saving Mes Aynak, gold-copper mine temple (Brent E. Huffman)

One of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan (UNESCO/A Lezine, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Afghanistan today is majority Muslim. But before the arrival of Islam in the 7th century, Afghanistan [Shakya Land, Scythia] was a thriving Buddhist country that left magnificent monuments -- many still buried -- as testimony of a long-gone era.

Modern Afghanistan and India

[Buddhism co-arose with the Buddha teaching in neighboring "India" (it was not yet India but a independent kingdoms/janapadas that were later united by Buddhist Emperor Ashoka). This happened because the Prince Siddhartha was born in Scythia/Afghanistan and traveled East to gain enlightenment and begin teaching, and he had Scythian followers from the beginning of his dispensation/ministry. The enormous Buddhist temple complex of Mes Aynak is 2,600 years old, the same age as Buddhism (ranajitpal.com).]

NW India with Pakistan, Kashmir

[Buddhism died out, and the Scythians were scattered.] Then in the 1st century AD Buddhism is thought to have arrived in Afghanistan with merchants on the Silk Road. [Afghanistan knew of Buddhism as it arose because their future king, Prince Siddhartha, set it in motion and brought it back to ordain many family members and others. It was slow to catch on in future-India compared to how it took off in Afghanistan. For the Buddha's family, Shakyian/Scythian royalty (warriors, settled nomads) adopted its doctrines and practices. The Scythians/Shakyians were rich because of trade along the Silk Road, so they created the first human depictions of the Buddha in the Greco-Buddhist Gandharan style, a fusion of East and West.]

But it is thought that Buddhism was originally brought by pilgrims of the Kushan Empire ― a realm at the foot of the Himalayas [the Hindu Kush, which is part of the larger Himalayan range], which existed from the early 1st to 3rd century.

Kanishka the Great, Kushan’s most famous and celebrated emperor, was also a great patron of Buddhism. The religion flourished in Central Asia ("the Stans") during his reign. Buddhist monastic complexes and colossal statues were built, and meditation caves were dug deep into sandstone, to attract various pilgrims from the East and wandering ascetics dedicated to a life of meditation.

An ancient Buddhist cave in Jalalabad, Afghanistan (Todd Huffman, CC by 2.0)

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But Kanishka’s affection toward Buddhism came secondary to diplomatic attempts to extend the then-developing Silk Road ― a complex trading network running through the whole of Asia ― which facilitated the spread of Buddhism across the Karakoram range to India, China, and other Asian countries.

Nevertheless, Buddhist architects and craftsmen created some of the most astounding sculptures and buildings in the region. In the town of Bamiyan, for example, there were two magnificent statues, more than 175 feet tall, carved into Himalayan foothill cliffs, as well as caves intended for meditation and ascetic practices and about ten monasteries for monks, nuns, and lay practitioners.

Members of a French archeological team walk on top of a giant 4th century Buddhist burial mound (stupa) cut into a mountain, on October 11, 2006 in Samangan Province, Afghanistan.

Burial mound reliquary stupa carved into mountain, Samangan province (John Moore/Getty)

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The artifacts were saved from the looting of the Afghan National Museum during the civil war of the 1990s and then the [CIA/ISI-created] Taliban regime, which destroyed many pieces.

Formerly covered in gold and gems, Bamiyan

According to a testimonial written by a 7th-century Buddhist monk, the statues were decorated in “dazzling golden color and adorned with brilliant gems.”

Considered by many to be the most important cultural landmarks of the region, the enormous statues attracted countless pilgrims throughout the ages. Unfortunately, even though the Buddha statues built in the 6th century survived the test of time, they were destroyed by the CIA/ISI/Taliban in 2001.

Two Pashtun Muslim women walk by the cavity of "Father Buddha," the larger of one of two massive Buddha statues that formerly stood in Bamiyan, Afghanistan (Dvidshub CC by 2.0)

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However, Bamiyan wasn’t the only sacred place for Afghan Buddhists. On the banks of the Khulm River, the ancient town Samangan was once home to hundreds of monks and nuns who dwelled in and around the rock-cut cave monastery complex with a giant dome, a traditional Buddhist and Central Asian stupa or “burial mound reliquary.”

According to one myth this was in this exact spot marked by this stupa that the Persian King Rostam married his bride Tamina. Built between the 4th and 5th century, the mound now bears the name Takht-e-Rostam, “the Throne of Rostam,” as a reference to that king’s lavish wedding.

Standing Buddhas of Bamiyan

Buddhist burial mounds are usually built above ground level. But what makes the Takht-e-Rostam special is that it was carved into the mountain rock from the bottom up.

Since it was built during the great turmoil and eventual fall of the Kushan Empire, it is presumed that the monastic complex was built in the cliffs as a means of camouflaging it from unwanted guests, like the Hephthalites, the Huns, and the emerging Gupta Empire, whose power was growing while the Kushans were in the sunset of their reign.

Together with the ruins of Samangan, another Buddhist archeological site of great historical importance, it sits just 25 miles from Kabul [a word that echoes the famous Scythian/Shakyian seasonal capital of Kapilavastu, Kapil, Kabil, where the Buddha was raised as a prince].

The ancient settlement of Mes Aynak was known both for its multi-story monastic complexes, surrounded by walls and watchtowers, and its copper and gold production dating back to antiquity.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan

Kakrak Buddha, Bamiyan (Mirko Rizzotto)

Zemaryalai Tarzi, an Afghan archeologist stated in a 2015 interview for National Geographic regarding the Mes Aynak:

“I do not know of any other site where monasteries coexisted in perfect [symbiosis] with production or industrial centers. These kinds of tight relationships between Buddhist monasteries and the industrial or commercial exploiters of natural resources have no precedent.”

Afghan cemetery of Bamiyan, Afghanistan today, with green growing over dusty clay soil.

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Within the site, archaeologists have found many artifacts including statues, cups, and gold jewelry, confirming that this particular Buddhist colony was inhabited by wealthy monastics who controlled or in some other way participated in the copper mining operations.

The site is today a target of Chinese mining investors who struck a deal with the Afghan government in 2007 to assume mining rights to extract 12.5 million tons of copper and rare earth minerals worth tens of billions of dollars. Of course, such actions would surely jeopardize the archeological site.

The international community has urged the investors to postpone their plan until the site is thoroughly examined, documented, and as many Buddhist artifacts as possible are extracted.

Journey to Bamiyan: The cliff of the 6 meter tall Kakrak Buddha statue in 1996 located in the Kakrak Valley, 2 kms south of the giant Bamiyan Buddha in the cliffs of the Bamiyan Valley. This specimen in its niche was discovered in 1930 surrounded by caves. But those paintings were painstakingly removed by French archeologists. Some scholars consider the mystic diagrams from Kakrak to be the earliest examples of the cosmic mandala (diagram of the cosmos) found today in Nepal and Tibet (Swen Conrad/YumeVision).

Hazara Afghans, Kakrak (Swen Conrad/YumeVision)

Since the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul is in bad shape due to decades of conflict which have plagued the country, the capacity for storing artifacts is also an issue. Due to a great number of findings, only the most important ones can be stored.

Caught in the crossfire between lucrative foreign investments and the consequences of long-term conflicts, the Afghan government finds it difficult to handle archeological operations. So this part of the world’s cultural heritage might be lost forever, as the last traces of Afghanistan’s Buddhist community are disappearing before our very eyes. Source (unedited)

Original author Nikola Budanovic is a freelance journalist who has worked for various media outlets such as Vice, War History Online, The Vintage News, and Taste of Cinema. His main areas of interest are history, particularly military history, literature, and film.