Gandhara

Topic: Janapadas, Mahajanapadas and the Second Urbanisation · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 4 "New Beginnings: Cities and States"; Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns"

Meaning

Gandhara was one of the sixteen mahajanapadas of c. 600 BCE. It lay in the far northwest of the subcontinent, in parts of present-day Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. It marks the northwestern limit of the sixteen states. Its capital, Taxila, sat on the Uttarapatha, the great road that joined the northwest to the Ganga plains. Because of where it lay, Gandhara became a meeting point for Indian, Persian and Central Asian peoples.

Example

Taxila, the capital of Gandhara, was a famous centre of trade and learning. Centuries later, under Indo-Greek and Kushana rule, the region gave its name to the Gandhara school of art. In this style, Buddhist subjects were carved in a manner influenced by Greek art.

Don't confuse with

• Gandhara school of art: this is a later style of sculpture from around the start of the Common Era. The mahajanapada named Gandhara belongs to c. 600 BCE.

Related concepts

• Mahajanapada
• Kuru
• Kosala
• Prasenajit
• Vatsa
• Udayana of Vatsa
• Kaushambi
• Avanti
• Pradyota of Avanti
• Ashmaka

Read more

• The sixteen mahajanapadas