Gandhara was an ancient region and kingdom in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent, in what is now northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, centred on the Peshawar valley and the area around Taxila. It was part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, then conquered by Alexander the Great, and later ruled by the Mauryas, Indo-Greeks, Scythians, Parthians and Kushans. Its position on trade routes made it a meeting point of Indian, Persian, Greek and Central Asian cultures. Under the Kushans, in particular, Gandharan Buddhist art flourished, with sculptures showing the Buddha in a style influenced by Greek and Roman art. Gandhara declined after invasions by the Hephthalites in the fifth and sixth centuries.
Before and after
- from c. 753 BCE to 476 CEAncient Rome
- from 753 BCE to 46 BCERoman calendar
- from c. 753 BCE to 509 BCERoman Kingdom
- 21 April 753 BCEFounding of Rome
- from c. 750s BCE to 530sGandhara
- c. 750s BCEThe Homeric epics are composed
- from 747 BCE to 656 BCETwenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt
- c. 729 BCEPiye of Kush conquers Egypt
- from 727 BCE to 715 BCETwenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- c. 2,560 BCEConstruction of Great Pyramid of Giza
- c. 1,200 BCEIron Age
- 6th century BCEConstruction of Parthenon
- from January 27 BCE to January 395 CERoman Empire
- 81 CEConstruction of Colosseum
- 11 May 330 CEConstantine dedicates Constantinople
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 8th century BCE.