buddhism in gandhra 51
bilingual legends in Greek and Gndhr.^12 Taxila (Skt. Takail, Pli
Takkasil), the capital of this region, was one of the great cultural
centres of India. Alexander’s historians mention the great number of
brahmans, ascetics and gymnosophists living around Taxila.^13
The Gandhran formative in uence on Greater Gandhra is attested
by the adoption of the Gandhran style of art and the use of the
Gndhr^14 language which preceded Sanskrit and remained the mis-
sionary language of the Buddhists in Central Asia for a considerable
time.^15
In the subsequent paragraphs an overview of the transmission and
development of Buddhism in Gandhra will be presented. In addition,
we will offer a sketch of the general history of Buddhism in Central Asia,
its culmination as well as its decline, imbedded in the description of the
Indo-Greek activities in the area. Then follows a more detailed survey
of the situation of Buddhism in Gandhra, as it can be reconstructed
due to the Buddhist schools whose presence in the area of Greater
Gandhra is attested for the time period in question. This account will
be supplemented by a comprehensive presentation of recent research,
including a discussion of newly discovered Gndhr manuscripts.
- Gndhr and the Kharoh Script
Apparently all^16 Gndhr documents were written in the Kharo h
script^17 which rst appeared in the Aoka inscriptions of Shhbzga h
and Mnsehr in the middle of the third century BC. At that time
the script was already fully developed. It seems to have been derived
from the Aramaic. During the Achaemenid era Aramaic served as
the lingua franca of the Persian Empire. Therefore it is assumed, that
(^12) These legends contain the name of the ruler and his titles in the genitive case in
Greek and Gndhr in Kharo h script. Cf. Renou & Filliozat 1947–1949, p. 329.
(^13) Lauffer 1993, pp. 145f.; Fussman 1994, pp. 17f.
(^14) The name Gndhr for this Middle Indian dialect of Northwest India was sug-
gested by Sir Harold Bailey and immediately accepted. Cf. Bailey 1946, pp. 764–765.
For a description of this language, see Konow 1929, pp. xcv–cxviii; Brough 1962, pp.
48–118; Fussman 1989, pp. 432–501; von Hinüber 2001, pp. 93–97. For Gndhr as
a spoken language, see Fussman 1989, pp. 440ff.
(^15) Bernhard 1970, p. 57; von Hinüber 1983, p. 27; von Hinüber 2001, p. 29.
(^16) Fussman 1989, p. 439, remarks that the Kharo h script is not necessarily con-
nected with G 17 ndhr. Cf. Boucher 2000, p. 6.
Salomon 1998a, pp. 42–64.