EARLY HISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY IN KASHMIR: AN APPRAISAL OF THE KUSHAN PERIOD

This paper intends to study the cultural material from Kushan period in Kashmir valley through archaeological findings from last 100 years. These archaeological discoveries have provided a substantial amount of evidence which help us to understand the socio-cultural setting in which Kushan empire flourished in Kashmir valley. It was the first phase of Kashmir history which has witnessed the urban development by the efforts of Kushan kings who founded many cities as proved by literary and archaeological evidence. The number of settlements increased dramatically around the peripheries of the Jehlum basin provided further development to trade and commerce as well as art and architecture. The stratigraphical record from different excavated sites has proved that Kushan period was of longer duration as compared to other periods in Kashmir history. The newly discovered sites in South Kashmir have given ample evidence of Kushan period as a flourishing centre of art activities. Kushan levels in Kashmir could be stretched from 1st century AD to 450 AD, while as in other parts ofGandhara, Mathura and in Ganges region it comes to an end around the third century AD. In this paper all the possible evidence from fresh excavations and explorations have been utilised in order to present an emerging picture of what constituted the early historic period of Kushan s in Kashmir valley. This paper even challenges the age old perceptions and theories that there is the lack of art historical material pertaining to Kushan period in Kashmir. Hence, an attempt to re-situate early historic period of Kushan's in Kashmir history has been made on the basis of archaeological evidence gathered from Kashmir as well as its neighbouring region.