Buddhist art of Gandhāra: a catalogue of newly documented sites in Malakand District

In respect to Gandhāra civilization, antiquarians and archaeologists have made many discoveries in ancient Uḍḍiyāna (Swat) and the present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan. Historically and geographically, ancient Uḍḍiyāna (Swat) occupies an important position in South and Central Asia. From the nineteenth century, archaeological explorations have entailed surveys and excavations of many sites within the confines of Uḍḍiyāna (Faccenna 1980; Stacul 1989; Callieri 2005). These sites included structural remains and cultural artefacts, consisting of pottery, coins, Buddhist sculptures, decorated stone fragments, and jewelry. The region remains rich in archaeological evidence for the explanation of the Buddhist period. The district of Malakand is one of the most important valleys among the archaeological sites of the Gandhāra region. Many examples of Buddhist-period rock art have also been reported there and their relevance to Gandhāran art has been discussed in previously published survey results (Naz 2020; Naz and Sardar 2021). The present paper will summarize Buddhist art recorded from different sites in Malakand District (Map 1). A newly documented Muslim-period graveyard with abundant, reused Buddhist sculptural fragments is also included in this article. The Gandhāran art collections in Swat, Peshawar and Chakdara Museums are not included in this paper.