• ISBN13: 9788121238366
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: N/A
• Publisher: Gyan Publishing House
• Publisher Imprint: Gyan Publishing House
• Publication Date: January 1, 2020
• Pages: 53
• Original Price: INR 240.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 318 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): N/A

The subject of this rare and valuable book is to give learned notes on the geography of Gandhara (in the district of Peshawar Region), as described by the Chinese pilgrim Huang Xang (Hiuantsang) over 1200 years ago. The exceptional interest both from the historical and archaeological point of view presented by the high road of all the old conquerors of India and by the inexhaustible mine of the best Greeco-Buddhist sculptures known, would be, if such were necessary, the ancient geography of the country of Gandhara, famous for the Greco-Bactrian school of the Buddhist sculpture. We were, therefore, able to verify on the very spot, the accuracy of his account and to acquire some familiarity both with his methods of travel and the topography of the country. If it be allowed that the best way of identifying the itinerary of Hiuan-tsang in this country is to follow his wanderings it will then, we believe, be admitted that we are perhaps qualified to offer on this subject some notes which will at the same time throw some light upon the ancient geography of Gandhara. There are numerous illustrations in this book that show sculptures, railings, ground plans, natural features, architectural remains, etc. There is a map of the Gandhara region at the end of this book, which was first published in 1915.

Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher (1865–1952), a French scholar, identified the Buddha image as having Greek origins. He has been called the "father of Gandhara studies", and is a much cited scholar on ancient Buddhism in northwest Indian sub-continent and the Hindu Kush region. He made his first trip to northeastern India in 1895. In 1922 he was asked by the governments of France and Afghanistan to organize an archeological co-operative which became the Délégation archéologique française en Afghanistan.