The Achaemenid Empire in South Asia and Recent Excavations in Akra in Northwest Pakistan Peter Magee Bryn Mawr College, Pmagee@Brynmawr.Edu

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2005 The Achaemenid Empire in South Asia and Recent Excavations in Akra in Northwest Pakistan Peter Magee Bryn Mawr College, [email protected]

Cameron Petrie

Robert Knox

Farid Khan

Ken Thomas

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Custom Citation Magee, Peter, Cameron Petrie, Richard Knox, Farid Khan, and Ken Thomas. 2005. The Achaemenid Empire in South Asia and Recent Excavations in Akra in Northwest Pakistan. American Journal of Archaeology 109:711-741.

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For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Achaemenid Empire in South Asia and Recent Excavations in Akra in Northwest Pakistan

PETER MAGEE, CAMERON PETRIE, ROBERT KNOX, FARID KHAN, AND KEN THOMAS

Abstract subject peoples. A significant proportion of this The impact of the Achaemenid annexation of north- research has been carried out on the regions that westernPakistan has remained a focus for archaeological border the classical world, in particular Anatolia,1 researchfor more than a century.A lack of well-stratified the Levant,2and Egypt.3In contrast, the far eastern settlementsand a focus on artifactsthat are not necessar- extent of the which is the for the effects of control empire, encompassed by ily appropriate assessing imperial borders of Pakistan and haveuntil now obfuscatedour understandingof this issue. modern-day Afghanistan, In this article, we present the results of three seasons of has received less attention. In this paper, we present excavationsat Akra located in the North West Frontier data from new excavations in northwest Pakistan Provinceof Pakistan.Although researchwas cut short in that provide fresh insight into indigenous settle- 2001 by global events,our preliminaryresults indicate that ments in this and also to the the between and the region during prior relationship urbanism, trade, of Achaemenid annexation 1 . Achaemenid annexationwas considerablymore complex period (fig. ) than previouslyargued by scholars.Akra experienced rapid Royal inscriptions, edicts, and administrative growthin settlement at the beginning of the first millen- texts dating from the reign of Darius onward indi- nium B.C.,several centuries before the Achaemenidsruled cate that there were three provinces located along this area, and exhibited contacts with regions in both the eastern frontier of the Achaemenid in India and CentralAsia this time. When empire peninsular during what is South Asia: Gandara, and we are able to return to Pakistan,we hope to investigate today Thatagus, furtherthe causesof this settlementexpansion and trade.* Hindush.4 Toponyms, derivatives, and derivative ethnic designations also appear in the descriptions of the empire and its inhabitantsrecorded by a num- INTRODUCTION ber of contemporary and later classical authors, in- The Achaemenid capitals at Pasargadae, Perse- cluding Herodotus, Arrian, and Quintus Curtius.5 polis, and Susa have traditionally provided the ba- The commemorative Behistun inscription, which sis of our understanding of the archaeology of the was carved between ca. 520 and 518 B.C.,6 lists Achaemenid empire. However, in recent decades Gandara and Thatagus among the provinces that archaeologists and historians alike have turned Darius inherited when he seized the throne in 522 their attention to the peripheries of the empire in B.C.7Thatagus also is listed as one of the provinces search of evidence of how the Achaemenids ruled that rose up against the new king8 and was the loca-

* The authorswould like to thank the following scholars 4Vogelsang1990, 97-102. For a comprehensivereview, see who read over drafts of this and made many useful Vogelsang 1992, 94-179. paper 5 comments and corrections;any errors that remain are the E.g., Sattagydiaand India in Herodotus (3.89-95 [de responsibilityof the authors:Professor Dan Potts (Sydney), Selincourt 1972]); India in Arrian (Anabasis3.8.3-4, 3.28.1, ProfessorJames Wright (Bryn Mawr), Professor Stephanie and Indica[Brunt 2000, 2004]) , and QuintusCurtius (4.12.9, Dalley(Oxford) , and ProfessorDerek Kennet (Durham). The 9.7.14 [Rolfe 1976]); Sattagydians,Gandharians, and Indians fieldworkthat providedthe data on which this paper is based in Herodotus (3.98-105, 7.61 ff. [de Selincourt 1972]); and would not have been possiblewithout the financialassistance various types of Indians in Arrian (3.8.3-4. 3.28.1 [Brunt of the AustralianResearch Council, BritishMuseum, Society 2004]) and QuintusCurtius (4.12.9, 9.7.14 [Rolfe 1976]) . For for SouthAsian Studies (British Academy) , AustralianInstitute a comprehensivereview of the relevantclassical sources, see of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and the Universityof Vogelsang 1992, 180-244. Withoutthe assistanceof numerous officialsin Paki- 6Schmidt 1990, 299-300. Sydney. 7 stan, fieldworkin Bannu would not have been possible. We Inscriptionof DariusI at Bisutum (hereafterDB) , sec. 6, would like to thankcurrent and previousdirectors-general of 1.12-17; Kent 1953, 117-9; Lecoq 1997, 187-214. This dat- archaeologyand the manygovernment officials in Bannuwho ing for Darius'accession follows the chronology outlined in facilitatedour staythere. Vogelsang 1986, 130; 1992, 122; 1998, 197. ^.g^Sancisi-WeerdenburgandKuhrt^ljSummers^S, 8DB,sec. 20, 2.5-8, Kent 1953, 121-3. The detailsof Darius' 85-108; Dusinberre1999, 73-102. accession have been extensivelydiscussed; for recent assess- 2 E.g., Stern 1982. ments, see Vogelsang (1998, with references).For a provoca- 3 E.g., Sancisi-Weerdenburgand Kuhrt1991. tiveassessment of the ethnicityof Cyrus,see Potts(forthcoming) . 711 AmericanJournal of Archaeology109 (2005) 711-41 712 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109

Fig. 1. Map of the Near East and South Asia. (Archaeological Computing Laboratory,University of Sydney) tion of one of the three battles in the ensuing cam- relationships between Baxtrish (Bactria) and paign against rebellious forces in the eastern prov- Gandara,11and between Harauvatish (Arachosia) inces of the empire.9 However,the date of the initial and Thatagus,12which might mean that Gandara annexation of Gandaraand Thatagus is not certain. and Thatagus were annexed when Cyrus secured Recent assessments of the classical sources that Arachosia and Bactria. Whether or not this is the relate Cyrus' expedition to Central Asia agree that case, Darius considered them to be part of his em- he marched through Arachosiain southern Afghani- pire in 522 B.C. stan, destroyed the city of Capisa (modern Begram), It is generally supposed that Hindush is analo- and then campaigned into Bactria between 539 gous with modern Sind,13 although there are no and 530 B.C., when he died somewhere in the north- excavated remains that support this suggestion.14 east of his newly expanded empire.10The arrange- This province is not mentioned in the Behistun ment of the provinces in a number of Darius' inscription, but it does appear on all but one of royal inscriptions has been taken to indicate close Darius' other survivinginscriptions,15 including two

9Fleming1982; Bivar 1988, 200; Vogelsang 1990, 100;1992, 12Vogelsang1985, 79-80; 1990, 100; 1992, 110-5, 129. 127-9. Discussedfurther below. Discussedfurther below. 10 ParticularlyHerodotus (1.169, 1.201-16 [de Selincourt 13Reviewedin Bivar(1988, 202-4), whereTaxila is proposed 1972]) butalsoPliny (6,24.92 [Rackhaml989]),Arrian(3.27.4 as a possible alternative,although the route of Scylaxthat is [Brunt2004] ) , and QuintusCurtius (7.3.1 [Rolfe 1976]) . See reconstructeddoes not passTaxila. See also Vogelsang 1990, Francfort(1988, 170), Bivar (1988, 198-90), and Vogelsang 101-2. 14 (1992,1 87-9) , who listother sources.In contrast,Briant (2002, Although there are significantIron Age remainsat Pirak 38-40) maintainsthe order presented by Herodotus, imply- in Baluchistan,the latest occupation phase (period III) has ing thatCyrus campaigned to CentralAsia before and afterhis been dated to ca. 1100-800 B.C. (Jarrigeand Santoni 1979, victoryin Babylonin 539 B.C. 12-3; Vogelsang 1985, 75-7). 11 15 Vogelsang 1990, 99-100. Discussedfurther below. Kent 1953, DH 147, DNa 137-138, DPe 136, DPh 136- 2005] THE ACHAEMENIDEMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 713 of the so-called foundation charters from Susa that journeys to or from Hindush appears to have been do not mention either Gandara or Thatagus.16 authorized in Harauvatish,suggesting that they may Hindush appears with Thatagus among the 24 "for- have been made via another route, possibly east tress cartouches" inscribed on either side of the through Baluchistan to Carmania.26 While this base of a statue of Darius, recovered at Susa in group of documents as a whole provides an often 17 1972, and both are also represented on the so- intimate view of the movement of individuals and called canal stelae from Egypt.18Bivar has suggested groups to and from the east of the Achaemenid that Hindush was annexed in 515 B.C., following empire and of the routes that were being used, it is the reconnaissance of the Indus River by Scylax of difficult to establish the significance of the paucity Caryandaundertaken in 517 B.C.19 of documents related to Gandara and Thatagus. It The names for eastern provinces and their related may indicate that there was little movement between ethnic designations also appear in several of the these two eastern provinces and the western cen- ration disbursement documents in the Persepolis ters at this time, but it could also reflect differential Fortification(PF) text corpus (509-496 B.C.), which document survival. among other things typically lists the name of Representatives of Gandara, Thatagus, and/or the traveler, the route, and the person who autho- Hindush are depicted as delegates bringing gifts rized the payment.20The most regularly appearing to the king on the Apadana staircases, and as toponyms from the eastern empire are Harauvatish throne/ dais bearers on the Tripylon and Hall of (Arachosia) and Hindush, while Gandara is listed One Hundred Columns reliefs at Persepolis.27They twice and Thatagus is completely absent.21The one also appear on the reliefs that decorate the exte- documented journey from Gandara to Susa rior facades of the tombs of Darius and of each sub- (PF1358) was made via Harauvatish under the au- sequent Achaemenid king at Naqsh-i Rustam and thority of an official there named Bakabadushwho Persepolis,28 with the exception of the tomb of also authorized journeys from other areas.22This Darius III, which was unfinished when he was de- has led to the suggestion that a route from Gandara feated by Alexander at Gaugamela in 331 B.C., and to southwest Iran via the oasis of modern Kandahar remained so after his death.29The representatives was in common use.23Although there are 16 sepa- of Gandara, Thatagus, and Hindush in each in- rate documents that mention Hindush and/or In- stance are characterized by their loincloths, sandals, dians,24only one relating to travel originating in and exposed upper body, which distinguish them Hindush was authorized by an official who may have from the representatives of other eastern provinces resided there (PF1552).25Significantly, none of the such as Bactria and Arachosia.30

137, DSe 141-142, DSf 142-144, DSm 145; also Lecoq 1997, and Barrikana,also in southernAfghanistan (Vogelsang 1990, DH 218-219, DNa 219-221, DNe 225-226, DPe 228, DPh 230, 101). Bivar(1988, 205) suggestshe wasthe satrapof Arachosia. DSe 232-234, DSf 234-237, DSm 239, DSv 242, DSz 243-245. 23Vogelsang1985, 82-7; 1990, 101. 24 16 DSf, Kent 1953, 142-4; 1997, 234-7; Summarizedin Vogelsang 1992, 167-9, table 12. Specifically Lecoq 25 DSz, Lecoq 1997, 243-5. These foundation charters list This official was named Parnaka (Hallock 1969, 434; Hindush and Arachosia as suppliers of ivory, and because Vogelsang 1992, 167). PF1425and 1529 refer to Indiansbe- elephantsare not knownin historicalArachosia, Vogelsang has ing authorizedby a certainIrdubama, who also authorized three suggested that it acted as an emporium for the Indian ivory otherjourneys (PF1362,1491, 2051) leading Bivarto suggest trade 1985, 81; 1987, 186; 1992, 132). that he was satrapof Hindush (Bivar1988, 206-7). (Vogelsang 26 17Stronach1972, 241-3; Roaf 1974, 116, 145-7. There is Vogelsang 1990, 102. This is noteworthyin light of the no cartouchefor Gandara. suggestion that Arachosiaacted as an emporium for the In- 18 Roaf 1974, 79-84; Vogelsang 1992, 105. dian ivorytrade (see supra n. 16; Vogelsang 1985, 81; 1987, 19Bivar 1988, 201-3 (after Herodotus 4.44). See also 186; 1992, 132). 27 Vogelsang 1990, 101-4. Schmidt 1953, 82-90, 116-20, 134-7; Roaf 1974, 84-92; 20 Vogelsang1990, 101 (afterHallock 1969, 6). Bivarmakes 1983, 1-164. The ethnic identificationof the individualsand the assumptionthat authorityto travelwas being given by the groupsfrom the eastis reviewedin Vogelsang( 1992, 147-51) . satrapsof the provincesin whichthejourneys originated (Bivar It is notable that at least one Indian representativeor delega- 1988,206-7) . In the instancewhere the from Gandara tion is not depicted in each instance. journey 28 was authorizedby the satrapof Arachosia(PF1358), he sug- Schmidt 1970, 77-118, pls. 39-52. The ethnic identifica- gests that the permit was being renewed (Bivar1988, 205). tion of individualsand groups from the east is reviewedin 21 Vogelsang 1990, 101. The lack of documents that men- Vogelsang (1992, 135-43). Representatives of Gandara, tion is somewhatameliorated three textsthat Thatagus,and Hindush are shown on each tomb. Thatagus only by 29 referto Sa-da-ku-is,"the (PF789,2018, 2020), who Schmidt 1970, 107, pls. 76-79. Sattagydian" 30 wasresponsible for distributingagricultural produce at Shiraz Reviewedin Vogelsang 1992, 140-3; 1990, 98. The del- (Bivar1988, 208 [afterHallock 1969, 233, 622-4]). egates from Makawill not be discussedhere. 22Bakabadush authorized travel from Arachosia,Gandara, 714 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109 The appearance of the representatives of istration with four levels of control: the king, the Gandara, Thatagus, and Hindush on each royal provincial governor, the local potentate, and the tomb relief up to ArtaxerxesIII indicates that these local masses.36As such, Arachosia appears to have provincescontinued to be a part of the royal concep- been an important administrativecenter, with a sa- tion of the empire until at least 338 B.C., less than trap who had influence over the neighboring prov- 10 years before Alexander's victory at Gaugamela. inces to the east, particularlyThatagus.37 A similar The maintenance of fealty with the Achaemenid situation appears to have existed between Bactria king beyond this date is suggested by Arrian's and Gandara,38which is supported by the fact that description of the army of Darius III at Gaugamela, there are no clear references to Achaemenid offi- where the king is said to have "obtained the help of cials in the Indus Valley in the ancient Indian lit- those Indians who bordered on the Bactrians, to- erature, but there are references to Bactrians and gether with the Bactrians and Sogdianians them- Kambojas.39The satraps in Bactria and Arachosia selves, all under the command of Bessus, the satrap are first mentioned in the Behistun inscription, of Bactria."31Arrian then notes, "Barsentes, satrap suggesting that this system operated at least from of the Arachotians, led both the Arachotians and 520-518 B.C.,40and the description of the army of the Indian hill-men, as they were called."32 Al- Darius III indicates that it was maintained until the though Arrian does not use the more specific eth- empire was subsumed by Alexander in 330 B.C.41 nic determiners used by Herodotus, if the evidence From the commencement of archaeological re- of a relationship between Bactria and Gandara is search in what is today modern Pakistan, attempts taken into consideration, then it is likely that the were made to discover Achaemenid occupation in Indians bordering the Bactrians at Gaugamela were the region and to identify relevant place-names troops from Gandara.33The Indian hill-men were mentioned in the Achaemenid and classical thus presumablyfrom either Thatagus or Hindush, sources. This was particularlyso for the province of depending on the perceived boundaries of those Gandara, due to its importance in both the provinces. Achaemenid and the later Kushan periods. As early There has been some debate about the nature of as 1863, Sir Alexander Cunningham proposed that Achaemenid administration over the eastern prov- Charsadda,which is situated in the PeshawarValley, inces, using Achaemenid and classical sources. was the location of ancient Pushkalavati (fig. 2).42 What is clear is that both are harmonious in refer- This Sanskrit name became the Greek Peukelaotis, ring to the existence of satraps in Bactria and Peukelaitis,and Peukalaused by Arrian, Strabo, and Arachosia (Harauvatish),whereas at no point does Pliny, respectively.43Sir John Marshall confirmed either refer to satraps in Gandara, Thatagus, or Cunningham's identification in 1903 when he re- Hindush.34However, the chroniclers of Alexander covered an inscriptionfrom Ghaz Dheri, 1.6 km from make it clear that there were rulers and/ or official Charsadda, which contained the phrase "Puskhala personages in the far eastern provinces in the late visae" or "in the district of Puskala."44The signifi- fourth century B.C.35Vogelsang has argued that the cance of Cunningham's pioneering identification sources indicate the existence of a stepped admin- is emphasized by the fact that it was made nearly 60

31 ArrianAnabasis 3.8.3 [Brunt2004] ; Vogelsang 1992, 221- sideredthe Indianrulers to be, byright, his subjects;and in his 3; Briant2002, 756. invasion,he waseffectively reaffirming control over his proper 32Arrian Anabasis 3.8.4 [Brunt2004] ; Vogelsang 1992, 221- vassals.In apparentcontrast to his Achaemenidpredecessors, 3; Briant2002, 756. he made a point of appointing satrapsthroughout the con- 33 Vogelsang 1992, 222-3. quered Indian territories,either making new appointments, 34 E.g., DB, sec. 38, 3.10-19, sec. 45, 3.54-64; Kent 1953; or reappointing previous rulers (e.g., Arrian 5.29.4, 6.16.3 Arrian3.8.3-4, 3.25.8 (Brunt2004) . See also the discussionin [Brunt2004]). Vogelsang 1992, 169-73. 36Vogelsang1985, 87-91; 1992, 227, and esp. 313-5. 35 E.g.,when Alexandermarches toward India, he is met by 37Vogelsang1985, 87-91; 1990,100; 1992, 172-3, 227, 313-5. Taxiles'and the Indian hyparchs(unapxoi), or princeswest 38Vogelsang1985, 87-91; 1990, 99-100; 1992, 178-9, 313- of the Indus (Arrian4.22.6 [Brunt2004] ) , who are considered 5; Briant2002, 746. 39 both rulersin theirown and de factosubjects of the Great Vogelsang1987, 187 (afterWitzel 1980); Bivar 1988, 199. right 40 (Bosworth1995, 147-8; 1992,236; Briant2002, E.g., DB, sec. 38, 3.10-19, sec. 45, 3.54-64; Kent 1953. King Vogelsang 41 748, 756-7) . The use of the title "hyparchs"has the connota- Arrian3.8.3-4 (Brunt 2004); Vogelsang 1992, 314. 42 tion of subordination,and could emphasizeboth Alexander's Cunningham 1871,89. 43 perceivedselfjustification and providean indicationof the na- ArrianAnabasis 4.22, 4.28, and Indica4.11 (Brunt2000, ture of their relationshipto the Achaemenidking (Bosworth 2004); Strabo 15.1.27 (Jones 1976); Pliny 4.21.62 (after 1995, 147-8). Bosworthhas suggested that when Alexander Wheeler 1962, 3). 44 seized control of the Achaemenid empire, he may have con- Marshall1904, 176. 2005] THE ACHAEMENIDEMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 715

Fig. 2. Map of Pakistan,northern India, and Afghanistan, showing main Iron Age sites years before the publication of H. Weissbach'smag- provided the first well-stratified archaeological se- isterial Keilinschriftender Achdmeniden of 1911, which quence in the region.45Although he initially pro- led to so much research on the territories and proposed that there was no substantial occupation at vincial administration of the empire. the site before the Achaemenid period, reanalysis Since the 1950s, archaeological teams have con- of Wheeler's sequence46 and renewed excavations ducted more systematicexcavations at sites in north- at the site47have shown that it was actually founded west Pakistan that are relevant to the time frame of in the mid second millennium B.C., and that it is the Achaemenid conquest. Sir Mortimer Wheeler's the only site in the PeshawarValley with an unbro- excavations at the Bala Hissar at Charsaddain 1958 ken sequence of occupation from ca. 1400 to 50

45Wheeler 1962, 13, 33. 47Alietal. 1998, 1-34. 46Dittmann1984, 155-93. 716 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109

B.C.48 Recent excavations at the Bala Hissar have categorically that the archaeological site of Bir-kot- aimed at confirming the timing of the site's foun- ghwandai actually corresponds to the Bazira men- dation49 and have produced little in the way of new tioned by Alexander's historians."62 results that are directly relevant to the Achaemenid As such, the excavations at settlement sites and period. cemeteries in northwest Pakistan have exposed se- To the north of Charsadda, in the Swat Valley, quences of material remains that can be dated from Italian and Pakistani archaeologists have been con- the mid to late second millennium to the late first ducting research since the late 1950s. The excava- millennium B.C. However, while the question of tions at a number of necropoleis, including Kherai,50 the Achaemenid and/or Hellenistic presence has Loebanr, Katelai, Butkara,51 and Timargarha,52 have remained one of the main foci of this research, there revealed a sequence of cultural material that the is little doubt that we are no closer to understand- Italians have organized into numbered phases (Swat ing the impact of these imperial powers than we 53 1-7). Dani has labeled this assemblage the were 40 years ago. In the first instance, the identifi- Gandharan Grave Culture.54 The investigation of cation of Achaemenid archaeological horizons at affiliated settlement sites such as Aligrama and sites in northwest Pakistan has been significantly Ghaligai55 has contextualized this grave sequence affected by the unstratified nature of many of the by revealing associated domestic assemblages. cemetery excavations in the Swat Valley; the lack of There is general agreement that the Swat/ consensus over the relative sequence of the mate- Gandharan grave sequence as a whole can be dated rial from the settlements and graves; and the prob- from the mid to late second millennium to the end lems associated with the absolute chronology of the of the first millennium B.C. However, there is con- sequence at Charsadda. The dearth of comparative troversy over the relative dating of the phases and Achaemenid-period material in areas immediately the absolute dating of the entire sequence, and no to the west has exacerbated this problem. The only single site has been excavated that provides a com- major excavated site in Afghanistan with evidence plete sequence.56 for Achaemenid occupation is Kandahar, which is The excavations at the site of Bir-kot-ghwandai situated almost 500 km to the east of the Indus River, had the potential to anchor the Swat sequence in a and has been proposed as the possible location of specific Achaemenid historical context. Sir Aurel the capital of the Achaemenid province of Arachosia Stein was the first to identify Bir-kot-ghwandai as (fig. 2).63 Even at this major site, however, there are Bazira,57 a city that, according to Arrian, was cap- conflicting interpretations of the chronology of the tured and fortified by the Macedonians during Iron Age and Achaemenid-period deposits.64 Schol- Alexander's conquest of Swat.58 Excavations began ars have acknowledged these problems. The most at the site with the aim of establishing the validity of comprehensive review of these issues led Dittmann Stein's identification,59 and Callieri thought he was to conclude, "what is perfectly clear is that the se- initially able to provide validation due to the dis- quence of the 1st millennium B.C. in northern Pa- covery of a fortification wall during excavations.60 kistan needs much more study. . . . My hope is that, However, on the basis of numismatic finds, it has in the future, Pakistan archaeology will follow the been established that this wall could not have been pioneering work of Wheeler, Dani and Stacul in constructed until the Indo-Greek period in the order to elucidate one of the most interesting peri- second to first centuries B.C.61 In fact, Olivieri has ods in Pakistan's history, namely the Iron Age."65 gone so far as to say, "the information provided by In the absence of any clearly defined archaeo- the excavation to date is not yet sufficient to prove logical contexts that can be positioned in relation

48Dittmann 1984, 159, 193. ^Callieri1990, 676; Callieri et al. 1990, 164;see also Callieri 49Ali et al. 1998, 1-34. et al. 1992. 50Stacul 1966b, 261-74. 61Olivieri 1996, 50. 51Salvatori1975,333-51. 62Olivieri 1996,50. 52 Dani 1967,22-40. 63McNicolland Ball (1996, 392-4) indicatethat Mundigak 53Tusa1979,675-90. (period IV) is another possiblecandidate, while Helms (1997, 54 Dani 1967,22-40. 91-2) arguesthat there is cause to doubt that Kandaharis the 55 Stacul 1967,9-43. capital. 56 Cf. Stacul 1966a, 37-79; Dani 1967, 24-40. ME.g.,compare the chronologyand conclusionspresented 57Stein 1929b, 40, 47. in McNicolland Ball (1996, xvii, 392-4) with those in Helms 58Arrian 4.27-8 (Brunt 2000). (1997,91-2). 65 59Filigenziand Stacul 1985, 436. Dittmann 1984, 191. 2005] THE ACHAEMENIDEMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 717 to the historical narrative, interpretations of the as testimony to the influence of the Achaemenids. effects of Achaemenid annexation, therefore, have Such evidence is of questionable relevance in ex- relied on either generalized theories concerning amining ancient imperialism because it provides the beneficial impacts of colonial or imperial activ- no insight into indigenous responses to imperial ity in South Asia or the identification of artifacts strategies of control. More important, as noted by that might confirm a physical Persian presence. For Sancisi-Weerdenburg,71when such evidence is ab- an example of the former approach we need not sent the empire is prone to be interpreted as weak, look any further than Wheeler's introduction to his a possibly erroneous conclusion that takes no ac- volume on Charsadda,where he says: count of the multiplicity of strategies that centers Fromthe decline of the prehistoricIndus Civilisation can employ to subjugate and integrate subject prov- of the thirdand second millenniauntil the adventof inces.72An alternative and more productive avenue the Achaemenidkings in the middle of the sixth cen- is to examine the indigenous (and foreign) ar- B.C.,it be inferredand assumedthat these tury may chaeological evidence that dates before and after regionswere the battlefieldsof jealous local regimes; a condition which in the time of Alexanderstill sub- such a conquest, to determine whether changing sistedin some measureeast of the Indus.To the worst patterns of social and economic behavior coincide abusesof this inter-regionalrivalry the strong arm of with imperial episodes. Many Old and New World the PersianEmpire set a term. Safe communications studies have been characterized by such an ap- wereamongst the Imperialblessings and long-distance For the Mantaro Archaeo- becameat lastsecure and Com- proach. example, Upper trafficking profitable. in Peru focused on the manner in mercialcities such as thosejust mentioned were the logical Project economic response,whether newly founded or newly which production and subsistence was altered with enlarged. There is in fact no hint that Begram or the incorporation of this region into the Inca em- Charsad(d)aor Taxilaexisted appreciablybefore the pire in the Wanka III period. By examining changes extensionof Persian acrossthe Hindu Rushin power in technology, ceramic production, and alterations earlyAchaemenid times.66 in subsistence strategies,73the effects of imperial Wheeler had few external indicators for the chro- conquest were discernible. Similarly,Morrison and nology of the Bala Hissar, and so the assumptions Sinopoli's analysis of agricultural production and concerning the benefits of empire undoubtedly tribute in the Vijayanagaraempire in India illumi- played a significant part in his interpretation of the nated the varied strategies employed in provincial site's history. Furthermore, given the critical role areas to satisfy imperial economic policy.74 that he played in the colonial authority in South The project that forms the basis of this article has Asia,67it is also arguable that Wheeler's interpreta- as its aim the elucidation of changes in economic tion was as reflective of his perceptions of the ben- and social structuresacross the time period in which efits of British rule in South Asia as it was an northwest Pakistan is incorporated into the important reading of the archaeological record. Achaemenid empire. We had hoped to focus on Attempts to identify classes of objects that may this issue by examining changes in settlement size serve as verification of an actual Persian military or and distribution, subsistence strategies, and shifts bureaucratic presence have further obfuscated an in ceramic production using compositional analy- understanding of the impact of imperial control. sis; but recent global events have meant that the For example, the appearance of punch-marked continued collection of data in the field has been coins at Taxila,68the recognition of Aramaic as a temporarily suspended. Nonetheless, three seasons known language in post-Achaemenid Mauryan in- of excavation have provided fresh evidence for the scriptions,69 and the influence of Achaemenid chronology and socioeconomic configuration of monumental sculpture on Mauryan palatial archi- settlement before and, to a lesser extent, during tecture70all have at various times been emphasized the Achaemenid annexation. The data suggest a

66Wheeler 1962, 5. this coinage is not to be associatedwith the Achaemenids. 69 67Boast 2002, 165-70. Allchin 1995, 132-3. 68 70 E.g., Allchin (1995, 131), where it is commented that For the questionable influence of Achaemenid art on coins be seen as almostthe only substan- Mauryanpalatial architecture, see Chakrabati1997, 190-1. punch-marked "may 71 tial evidence of an Achaemenid presence in the early Bhir Sancisi-Weerdenburg1990, 264. mound."Such an argumentis indeed questionablegiven that 72Sinopoli1994, 169-72. thereis no evidenceto indicatethat Taxila was necessarily part 73Costinetal.1989, 107-39; D'Altroyand Bishop1990, 120- of the Achaemenidadministrative network at this time. This is 38; Hastorf 1990, 262-90. 74 further emphasized in the most recent analysis of punch- Morrisonand Sinopoli 1992, 335-52. markedcoinage by Cribb(1985, 549) , in which he arguesthat 718 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109 much more complex trajectory for settlement pat- Throughout the history of occupation, there are terns in this part of South Asia than is implied in material signs of continuous contact with the hill Wheeler's analysis. In particular,it is evident based areas to the west, and there are also indications of on our excavations at Akra and surrounding sites variable and intermittent contact with areas as di- in the Bannu Basin that the emergence of urban- verse as Baluchistan, the Gomal, and the Indus to ism in this region was in no way linked to imperial the south and east, and with various parts of Cen- episodes. We present this new evidence in the hope tral Asia to the northwest and west.79 that it may both methodologically and substantively In 1995 the project turned its attention to the contribute to our understanding of the archaeol- site of Ter Kala Dheri, located about 5 km to the ogy of the Achaemenid empire and late prehistoric south of Bannu city on the banks of an ephemeral South Asia. stream known locally as the Lohra nullah (or stream).80 This settlement appears to have once AKRA AND THE IRON AGE IN THE BANNU been quite large, and while it may have originally BASIN stretched along the bank of the nullah at a width of Since 1986, a research team currently made up 400 m, it is now almost entirely ruined by erosion of members from Bryn Mawr College, the British and intentional destruction.81 Of the six trenches Museum, the Institute of Archaeology (University that were excavated, only two contained intact oc- College London), the Pakistan Heritage Society, cupation deposits: trenches TKD-N and TKD-S2. and the University of Oxford has been conducting Each of these revealed a distinct phase of occupa- archaeological research in the Bannu Basin, which tion; TKD-N presented surface and pit deposits lies south of Peshawar in the North West Frontier with an associated Neolithic ceramic assemblage Province (fig. 3). The basin is a small, topographi- comparable to material from Sheri Khan Tarakai. cally defined region to the east of the Sulaiman TKD-S2 revealed in situ floor deposits associated Range, and is separated from the Gomal Plain in with a previously unknown assemblage of hand- the south and the Indus River and plain to the east made ceramic forms, characterized by black-on-red by a series of substantial ranges.75 This is a climati- geometric decoration on a brown ground.82 This cally marginal area, between western winter and distinctive ceramic material was aptly labeled Bannu eastern summer precipitation zones, and does not black-on-red ware, and two radiocarbon determina- receive regular rainfall from either. It is, however, tions from the stratified layers containing this new fed by a number of ephemeral streams that flow out assemblage indicated a possible date in the early of the various ranges, and by two perennial rivers, first millennium B.C.83 The ceramic assemblage the Kurram and the Tochi, which flow from the draws its closest parallels to the Iron Age assem- Sulaiman Range and have created passes through blage from Margiana in Central Asia, and the exca- the mountains between the eastern low- and west- vations at Ter Kala Dheri were the first in the Bannu ern highlands. The ancient and modern settle- region with material dating to this period. Despite ments are concentrated in the northwestern part the significance of the finding, there were major of the basin, in the area between the two perennial limitations with the excavations at the site, particu- rivers.76 larly that it has been heavily disturbed and that the From 1986 until 1995 the Bannu Archaeological two preserved phases of occupation are separated Project (BAP) focused on the survey, excavation, by a considerable gap in time, indicating that there and analysis of a number of prehistoric sites that may not be an intact sequence of continuous occu- range in date from the Neolithic period to the pation preserved at the site. However, the discovery Bronze Age, the most notable being Sheri Khan of deposits containing the hitherto unknown phase Tarakai.77The research of the BAP has shown that of occupation drew the project's attention to the local environmental conditions have had a particu- imposing mounds of Akra, located approximately lar effect on prehistoric subsistence strategies and 7 km south of Ter Kala Dheri and about 12 km south the social and settlement systems in the region.78 of Bannu. Previous surface surveys at Akra had

78 75Hemphilland Kidwai1973, pl. 5. E.g., Thomas 1986, 26-7. 76Thomas and Knox 1994, 97. 79Thomas and Knox 1994. see Khanetal. 1986,83-90; 1987, 80Khan et al. 2000d, 81-100. 77Forreportsonthiswork, 81 83-90; 1988, 99-148; 1989, 281-91; 1990, 241-7; 1991a; Khan etal. 2000d, 81. 1991b, 111-27; 1991c, 156-74; 2000d; Thomas and Knox 82Khan et al. 2000d, 83, 86-9. 1994, 89-104; Thomas et al. 1997, 237-51. 83Stuiveret al. 1998; Khan et al. 2000d, 89-91. 2005] THE ACHAEMENIDEMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 719

Fig. 3. Map of Bannu Basin, showing main EarlyHistoric sites shown that fragments of the newly observed Bannu discovery of coins and numerous fine art objects black-on-red ware liberally covered the surface of there during the 19th century in particular sug- parts of the site. gested to these scholars that the site was most im- Akra is physically the most prominent site in the portant during the Historic period (ca. 250 B.C. to Bannu region and has been known to European A.D. 1000). These discoveries coupled with the visitors and scholars for more than 150 years. It at- site's size led Stein to argue that Akra was the an- tracted the attention of a number of military offic- cient capital of Bannu, and he drew attention to ers stationed in the district during the late 19th the records of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims and early 20th centuries A.D., including Sir Herbert Faxian and Xuanzang who visited the Bannu re- Edwardes and S.S. Thorburn.84Sir Aurel Stein vis- gion on their travels through the subcontinent in 85 ited and photographed the site in 1905, and the fifth and seventh centuries A.D., respectively.87 Raverty, Gordon, Dani, and Khan86all have de- Stein also made the prescient observation that the scribed the site and/or aspects of its history. The ample irrigationand remarkablefertility in the north-

84Edwardes 1851; Thorburn 1876. Khan 1986, 183-95. 85Stein 1905. 87Stein 1905, 7-10; 1929a, 14; Liu 1994, 196. 86 Raverty1883; Gordon 1943, 136-95; Dani 1968, 250-64; 720 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109 west of the Bannu Basin bore a resemblance to the lute heights were measured relative to an arbitrary typical oases of eastern and western Turkestan in site datum,91which was used in the absence of a Central Asia.88 reliable survey benchmark at the site. The data ob- The preserved area of Akra now stands as a series tained in the 1998 survey were converted into a of occupation mounds with interspersed agricul- digital elevation model that could be rotated and tural fields. The mounds themselves are divided manipulated three-dimensionally, and was used to into two groups of unequal size by the Lohra nullah, gain a clearer understanding of site formation pro- which also flows past Ter Kala Dheri (fig. 4). That cesses, the extant archaeological remains, and the this stream is an ancient topographical feature is natural features of the site (fig. 6) . suggested by the immense alluvial deposits on ei- For ease of identification we have delineated two ther bank. Freshwatersprings are found below the main archaeological zones at Akra, using the Lohra large mound on the right bank of the nullah and nullah as an arbitraryboundary. Area A, on the east serve as important sources of water for modern in- side of the nullah, consists of a large mound that habitants. It is probable that these are also an an- has been extensively damaged by modern digging cient feature of the landscape, and the abundant (see fig. 4). The upper surface is now predomi- freshwater supply and the extremely rich alluvial nantly flat, but it is punctuated by several outcrops soils would have provided an ideal environment of deposits, the largest of which rises about 15 m for cereal and other cultivation. These ideas will be above the preserved mound surface and about 35 tested by continued paleoenvironmental studies m above the surrounding plain. On the west bank that will be an integral part of our research pro- of the stream, the terrain consists of several mounds gram when we are able to renew our work at Akra. that have been damaged by leveling for modern fields and erosion caused by the course of the nul- Surveys lah (fig. 6) . These mounds vary in size and height, Between 1995 and 1998 three separate topo- and rise between 14 and 20 m above the surround- graphic surveyswere carried out at Akra, covering ing plain. the main mounded area of the site as well as other mounds in the surrounding area. In 1995 a brief Excavations and Methodology theodolite survey revealed that at least 31.7 ha (78 In the initial reconnaissance of Akra in 1995, it acres) of the main mounded area were still pre- was observed that fragments of the distinctiveBannu served on both sides of the Lohra nullah.89In 1996 black-on-redware like those found at Ter KalaDheri this initial theodolite survey was extended beyond were also visible on the surface of the mounds on the main mounded area to the north, along the the west bank of the nullah (area B). Between 1996 course of the nullah. It showed that an additional and 2000 excavations were carried out on three 48 ha of mounds and material scatters are still pre- different mounds in area B with the aims of con- served on the right bank of the nullah, indicating firming the early first millennium B.C. dates sug- that the total preserved area of Akra might be gested for Bannu black-on-red ware at Ter Kala around 80 ha (fig. 5).90While there can be no cer- Dheri; defining the stratigraphic position of this tainty about the precise chronological relationship ware in relation to other occupation at the site; and between the outer mounds and the main mounded providing some data on the extent and size of the area, it is likely that at the time of its maximum settlement during the first millennium B.C. (fig. Historic-period occupation, Akra was a sprawling 7). The excavations that have been carried out in- urban site. clude a shallow sounding (Chigkamarmound [here- To further investigate the topography of the after CGK]), a deep stratigraphic probe (Lohra mounds, and to highlight areas that may be worthy mound), and an open area excavation (HussainiBoi of excavation, the entire main mounded area was Ziarat Dherai [hereafter HBZD]). surveyed three-dimensionally in 1998, using a In each area, excavations proceeded with the Sokkia Set 5A Total Station and SDR 31 data log- identification, delimitation, and removal of discrete ger. This survey included the establishment of a stratigraphic units or loci, which were allocated site datum and a precise site grid aligned to mag- unique locus numbers. Each locus was recorded netic north. In total, 7,297 data points with abso- on a separate data sheet, where the nature of the

88Stein 1905,6. 90Khanetal.2000d, 46. 89Khanetal.2000d, 46. 91Set at 1,000m abovesea level. 2005] THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 721

Fig. 4. View towardwest of citadel in area A. Lohra nullah is in the foreground. deposit was defined through the selection of rel- ern edge of area B. Excavations revealed a hard- evant tick boxes and a written description. The lo- ened earth/mud floor approximately 45 cm below cation and extent of each locus was also drawn in the present ground surface. Above this floor thick plan, and digital photographs were taken of spe- habitation deposits, including many ash lenses, were cific deposits. From floor surfaces, pits, and collapse preserved. A complete vessel with one functional debris, 10 or 20 soil samples were collected for flo- fan spout and one false fan spout was recovered tation. All deposits below the surface topsoil were sitting on the earth/ mud floor, along with fragments sieved with a 10-mm screen, which is the only gauge of Bannu black-on-redware vessels (fig. 8). No other locally available. All cultural material recovered architectural features were observed, and excava- from the sieve was collected, and the remaining tions were halted at this point. soil matrix was discarded. Ceramic fragments, ani- LohraMound. This significant mound, which lies mal bone, small finds, and carbonized material were in ^he south of area B, was excavated in 1996, 1998, separated on site and were placed in clean plastic and 2000. In 1996 trench 1 was opened across an bags and labeled with the date, trench number, lo- area stretching from the highest point of the mound cus number, and a brief description. This cultural to the edge of its flattened upper surface, and re- material was returned to the dig house, where the vealed two boulder-constructed buildings: one ceramic fragments were cleaned and sorted into structure visibly extended from the west baulk and diagnostic and nondiagnostic fragments, and reg- another was evident in the south baulk. Although istration was conducted. A considerable quantity of badly damaged in some places, the wallswere clearly carbonized material was recovered, and readily vis- constructed from large river boulders, the upper ible pieces were removed using a cleaned trowel courses of which were laid as "stretchers"while the and placed into a new Ziploc® plastic bag, which lowest courses were "headers" (fig. 9). The stone- was then labeled with an indelible pen. At the faced walls were filled with small pebbles and completion of excavations, groups of individual loci packed clay. Characteristic of these walls are the that relate to specific structural features, or could mudbricks underneath the lowest course of stones. otherwise be shown to be contemporaneous, were The mudbricks had clearly been compacted by the attributed to individual phases. stones in the wall but appear to be rectangular in CGKMound Sounding. The surface of most of area shape. B is littered with fragments of Bannu black-on-red The 1998 excavations at the Lohra mound fo- ware. In 1996 a 4 x 4 m trench (trench 2) was posi- cused on clarifying the layout of the boulder-con- tioned on the slope of a large mound at the north- structed building extending from the west baulk 722 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109

Fig.5. Topographicalplan of Akra,showing main mounds of trench 1 (fig. 10). To achieve this, a new trench, black-on-red ware and fan-spouted vessels akin to trench 3, was opened adjacent to trench 1, in accor- thetone discovered in the Chigkamar (CGK) sound- dance with the visible line of the wall. Unfortunately, ing were found associated with the stone and the recent destruction wrought upon this area of mudbrick-constructed buildings, and also in the the site has meant that all the upper features of underlying deposits. Due to its stratigraphic posi- trench 3 were destroyed. However, substantial ar- tioning on the Lohra mound, this assemblage has chitecture in the south of trench 3 marked the con- been referred to as assemblage 2. Overlying these tinuation and return of the stone and mudbrick deposits was a series of habitation surfaces and pits wall found in trench 1. Excavations between the that contained a completely different ceramic wall return and the western baulk of trench 3 in assemblage. This group of material includes a num- 2000 revealed a series of tightly compacted floor ber of vessel forms that are considered distinctively levels, many of which were plastered (fig. 11). These Achaemenid in date, and has been referred to col- ran up to the wall and several courses of mudbrick lectively as assemblage 1. underneath. Also in 2000, excavations in the north TheHBZD Mound. To the southwest of the Lohra of trench 3 revealed remnants of substantial stone mound lies the HBZD mound. Of all the mounds and mudbrick architecture that had been heavily at Akra, it appears to have been the least disturbed disturbed both by its proximity to the surface and by modern activity; it has a flat upper surface, is by visible modern disturbance in this area of the roughly rectangular in shape, and covers an area of mound (fig. 12). approximately 0.63 ha. A series of connected In the Lohra mound excavation two basic mate- trenches was opened along the top of the eastern rial culture phases could be discerned. Bannu slope in a perpendicular line toward the center of 2005] THE ACHAEMENIDEMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 723

Fig.6. Three-dimensionaltopographical plan of Akralooking to the south the mound in 2000 (fig. 13) to obtain a broad hori- crete rooms, one in the eastern and one in the west- zontal exposure, and the remains of three major ern areas of the excavation. In the eastern room, an structural phases were revealed. occupation surface was isolated and a complete The two uppermost structural phases and an in- spouted vessel was found in situ, embedded in the tervening pit phase displayed a homogenous as- floor. The ceramic assemblage contained most of semblage of cultural material.A combination of AMS the other elements of assemblage 2, as defined in radiocarbon determinations and relative ceramic thq Lohra mound excavations, including many frag- parallels has been used to suggest that these two ments of Bannu black-on-redware. phases date to the late first and early second millennia A.D.92The lower of these structural phases Ceramics consisted of a substantial river-stone wall and asso- From these three excavated areas two distinctive ciated semicircular bastion, while the upper phase ceramic assemblages were isolated on the basis of includes a rebuilding of the river-stone wall and a stratigraphic and architectural phasing. Each con- series of mudbrick structures. tains unique forms, wares, and fabrics, which we Beneath these later Historic phases, a phase of review separately. stone and mud architecture and associated occu- Assemblage1. This assemblage was isolated to the pation deposits were revealed, with walls oriented upper levels of the Lohra mound, and is character- on a different alignment (fig. 14). These walls were ized by fine, well-levigatedwheel-made wares. Three constructed by the same technique found on the pastes can be defined on the basis of varying densi- Lohra mound, using a combination of packed mud, ties of mineral temper, mica, and chaff. In addi- large river stones aligned to form a wall face, and tion, a cooking-pot coarse ware characterized by smaller pebbles used as packing. The alignments elongated pieces of mica up to 4 cm in length was of four walls were delineated, consisting of two dis- recovered. Open vessels, especially bowls, are of-

92 Petrie (forthcominga and b) . 724 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109

Fig. 7. Topographicalplan of area B, Akra ten decorated with a very smooth, sometimes bur- eastern Arabia and the Gulf, specifically at nished, red-orange slip. Rumeilah,100 Tell Abraq,101 and at Qala'at al 1. Bowls with offset vertical rim (fig. 15a-c). The Bahrain.102 examples recovered at Akra often have a 2. Banded beakers (fig. 15d, e). This is an un- burnished red-brown slip. They bear some re- usual form for which few parallels are found semblance to examples from Charsadda I layer in Iron Age Pakistan. It is characterized by a 36b dated by Wheeler to the fourth-third cen- slightly thickened internal lip and bands of turies B.C.93 but convincingly redated by black paint on an orange ground. Although it Dittmann to the early sixth century B.C.94 In is more frequently made in the well-levigated Afghanistan, examples from Mundigak (pe- wares that are common in assemblage 1, some riod V)95 and Kandahar (site H)96 are "slipped examples are found in the coarser wares typi- or self slipped mostly plain . . . generally cal of assemblage 2. Some examples have deco- smoothed, especially on the upper part of the rative elements such as wavy painted lines on exterior."97 Further west, the form is found in the exterior that resemble, to some extent, the southeast Iran, at Tepe Yahya, in a burnished decorative schemes found on Bannu black-on- red-brown slip and is well dated on the basis red ware, suggesting that it may represent the of radiocarbon and artifactual evidence from continuation of earlier traditions. 600 B.C. onward.98 It is also found in the Iron 3. S-carinated rim bowls (fig. 16a, b). Bowls with Age III period (ca. 600-300 B.C.)99 in south- an S-carinated rim are common in assemblage

93Wheeler1962, figs. 16.58-16.59. 98Magee2004, fig. 5.35. 94 Dittmann 1984, table 5. "Magee 1996,240-52. 95 Casal 1961, 116.605. 100Boucharlatand Lombard1985, pls. 57-58. E.g., 2:fig. 101 96McNicolland Ball 1996, figs. 192.14, 194.54. Magee 1995, fig. 4.9. 97Vogelsang1985, 65-6, fig. 1; 1992, 258-9, fig. 12. 1O2H0jlundand Andersen 1994, nos. 1164-1165. 2005] THE ACHAEMENIDEMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 725

Fig. 8. View of complete fan-spouted vessel in CGKexcavation

1 at Akra and are frequently decorated with a 4. Tulip bowls (fig. 16c, d). Many examples of this thick red, often burnished, slip. This type is shape, often smoothed or self-slipped, were known from Charsadda, where it is common discovered in assemblage 1 deposits. In Paki- 103 in layer 27, which Dittman dates prior to the stan the shape is found at Charsaddalayers 22- end of the fourth century B.C.104North of 28, where it is described as an "abundantbut Charsadda,in the SwatValley, examples are also not ungraceful drinking-bowl."114Wheeler's known from Aligrama,105Kalako-deray,106 Bir- date for these layers of the third to second cen- kot-ghwandai,107and Ghaligai.108To the west, turies B.C. was corrected to the fourth century examples have been reported from Kandahar109 B.C. by Dittmann. This date accords perfectly and Tepe Yahya110and from Tal-i Zohak in the with the examples found at Persepolis,115 Fasa Plain from where Hansman describes Pasargadae,116and Tol-e Spid117in Fars, as well examples as "red/brown, fine; surface same, as surface collections from sites in the Marv burnished."111At all these sites a dating from Dasht.118Good parallels are also known from the sixth to the fourth centuries B.C. has been the Achaemenid-period levels at Susa119and suggested - a chronology in accord with the Tal-i Ghazir on the Ram Hormuz Plain.120 recovery of similar shapes at the Achaemenid Assemblage2. This assemblage was found in each capitals of Persepolis112and Pasargadae.113 of the excavated areas and is characterized by a

103 112 Wheeler 1962, 40. Schmidt 1954, pl. 74.1. 104Dittman 1984, table 5. 113Where this form was recoveredfrom Achaemenid and 105Staculand Tusa 1977, fig. 14j-k. post-Achaemeniddeposits (Stronach1978, fig. 107.8-10). 106Stacul(1993, fig. I7o), although this example is more 114Wheeler1962, 40, fig. 10.11. 115 shallowthan most. Schmidt 1954, pls. 67.3, 72.1, 89.8. 116 107Stacul1980, fig. 5.1. Similarexamples are known from Stronach 1978, pls. 106.1-13. other sites in the SwatValley, some of which are burnishedin 117Petrieet al. (forthcoming), fig. 5.93, TS 439, 495. a verysimilar fashion to those fromAkra. See also Stacul1997. 118Sumner1986, fig. Ill 2.A-J. 108 119 Stacul 1969, fie. 13c. De Miroschedjiet al. 1987, fig. 7.7. 120 109McNicolland Ball 1996, fies. 113.4, 80.12. Carter(1994, fig. 14.3) suggeststhese are comparableto 110 Magee 2004, fig. 5.5. examplesfrom Nippur. 111 Hansman 1979, figs. 3.3, 4. 726 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109 1. Bannu black-on-red ware (figs. 17, 18). The standardform of this ware is a simple bowl with a straight wall and a slightly thickened inte- rior rim or an incurving rim. Decoration consists of diagonal lines, bands, and wavylies or hatched triangles. Although Iron Age painted pottery is not unknown in Pakistan,the shapes and decorative schemes found on Bannu black-on-red ware seem largely unrelated to local developments. There are general parallels between Bannu black-on-redware and the painted forms from Pirak (period III),121 Mundigak (period V),122and Sorkh Dagh at Nad-i-Ali (period I),123but far more convincing parallels can be found in the ceramic corpus common in South-CentralAsia in the early Iron Age. This pottery,which has been studied in depth by Sarianidi,124has a wide distribution throughout southern Turkmenistan and Af- ghanistan and was found at Yaz Depe I,125as well as Kuchuk Tepe and Chust and Dalverzin in the Ferghana Valley.126The examples from Tillya Tepe illustrated by Sarianidi include the same decorative motifs on the same forms that occur on the Akra examples.127The only differ- ence is that the Akra examples are on a red or brown ground whereas the Tillya Tepe examples are on a buff or undecorated ground. Examples have also been published from the 9. Viewof Lohramound toward Fig. northwest,showing AtrekValley in the northeast of Iran where they stone-constructed mudbricksubstructure, and buildings, are described as "hand-made, of fairly course deep soundingin the foreground clay and painted with geometric figures (rhom- boid and triangular) in brown, black, or wine- chaff- and mineral-tempered ware. Analysis on a red on a red or, more often, a buff surface."128 macroscopic level suggests that in terms of temper it This description and the forms illustrated by is unrelated to the wares of assemblage 1, although Venco-Ricciardi129closely parallel examples that does not necessarily mean that its clay comes found at Akra. In the Atrek Valley this mate- from a different geological source. Bannu black-on- rial is dated following the Yaz Depe I/Tillya red ware is the most typical feature of this assem- Tepe I-II chronology of 1000-650 B.C. blage. It is hand-made, often wet-smoothed, and 2. Fan-spouts (figs. 8, 19). A unique form present characterized by black-on-redgeometric decoration at Akra is the fan-spout. These are found on on a brown ground. Other wares in this assemblage the shoulders of vessels and consist of both include a brown, grog-tempered, coarse hand-made functional spouts and false spouts. Judging by ware and a hard burnished gray ware. Only a few the complete vessel found in area B, trench 2, sherds, most of which were nondiagnostic, of the the combination of both these forms of spouts latter two wares were found. A few fragments of may have been used as a handle and a spout a hard, gray-black,highly burnished ceramic were on pouring vessels. As with Bannu black-on- also found, and these have tentatively been identi- red ware, there are few local parallels for this fied as northern black polished ware. form. Although Iron Age Iran, with its noted

121 126 Enault 1979, figs. 64, 70, 77. Zadneprovsky1962. 127 122Casal1961, figs. 107-115. Sarianidi1989a, pls. IV-XXVIII. 123 Dales 1977, pls. 15.1-15.5, 28.1-28.8, 30.1-30.7. 128VencoRicciardi 1980, 58. 124 Summarizedin Englishin Sarianidi1985, 4-23. 129VencoRicciardi 1980, fig. d. 125Masson1959,29-50. 2005] THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 727

Fig. 10. Plan showing architecturalremains in trenches 1 and 3, Lohra mound

tradition of spouted vessels, appears as the from area B and many from layers containing as- possible source for such a shape, a caveat is semblage 2 ceramics. Most were nondiagnostic arti- necessary. Our knowledge of Iron Age Iranian facts, while some were likelywaste from iron working ceramics is heavily reliant on the western Iran and smelting, including small pieces of slag. Beads sequences, in particular those provided by the of terracotta, carnelian, and other semi-precious sites of Tepe Sialk and Hasanlu. Spouted ves- stones were also common in assemblage 1 and 2 sels are common at both these sites and are deposits. not unknown in Luristan and Fars.130However, CHRONOLOGY moving to the east and southeast they become much less common.131Vessels with spouts were There is a variety of evidence available that per- recovered from pre-Achaemenid Iron Age mits a broad reconstruction of when Akra was occu- 132 deposits at Pirak (period III) and Mundigak pied. At present it appears that the site was (period V),133but these examples are all mor- inhabited from as early as ca. 2000 B.C. and up to as phologically different from those of Akra. late as ca. A.D. 1200, including two distinct phases More accurate parallels for the Akra fan-spouts of Iron Age occupation. can be found in South-CentralAsia alongside There are three seals from Akra now in the col- the painted pottery shapes discussed above. lections of the British Museum that provide clues Although examples are limited, comparable as to when the site might first have been occupied. spouts are known at sites such as Tillya Tepe.134 One of these is a small, lenticular button seal with a bird of prey attacking a snake on one side and a Small Finds prancing quadruped on the other, which is similar Forty-six pieces of iron were found in the first in shape to Late Harappan Jhukar seals from sites three seasons of excavation at Akra, the majority such as Chanhu-Daroin Sind.135The other two seals

130 E.g., Overlaet1997, fig. 4. This vessel,which belongs to 79.434. TaimuranI phase,differs considerably from the typeof spouts 133Casal1961, figs. 113, 563-563a. found in the Akraassemblage. 134Sarianidi1989a, pls. XL.6, XLI.7. 131 135 E.g., they are virtuallyunknown in the Iron Age corpus Khan et al. 2000d, 54-5 n. 58 (after Lambert 1986). at Tepe Yahyain southeasternIran; see Magee 2004. Illustratedin both publications. 132Enault1979, figs. 66.343, 72.395, 76.416, 76.418, 79.432, 728 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109

Fig. 11. Deep soundingalong stone-constructed wall. Laminated floor levels are evidentin the westand southbaulk. appear to be of Central Asian origin and are related two centuries of the second millennium B.C.,142 to seal types found in the so-called BactriaMargiana which is contemporaneous with the fragmentation Archaeological Complex (BMAC). One is a stamp of the Mature Harappan civilization in the Indus cylinder seal of Murghab type, which has a suspen- Valley, and the expansion of the BMAC from Cen- sion loop at one end, a repeating motif of a bird of tral Asia. BMAC material is widespread in the Cen- prey attackinga snake on the verticalsurface, and an tral Asian oases, but it is also known from sites in identical snake shown alone on the base.136This seal southwestern, northern, and southeastern Iran, is similar in form to seals and impressions from northern Afghanistan, and Baluchistan.143In seek- Togolok 1 and Taip-depe 1 in Margiana,137and is ing to explain the appearance of clusters of BMAC also morphologically similar to seals that have been material at sites in Iran and Pakistanin a context of found in graves at Sibri and Mehrgarh in Baluchi- completely different local material cultures, stan.138The other Central Asian seal is a stepped- Hiebert has suggested this is evidence of the move- cross pendant made of soapstone with a fish incised ment of Central Asian people who were searching on one side.139Similar pendant seals are known from for resources through conquest or trade.144Thus Togolok 21 and Gonur I,140and an example with a far, there has been no stratified occupation con- bird on one side was found at Harappa.141 taining contemporary material isolated at Akra, so Taken together, the three seals indicate that the there is no context for establishing the nature of earliest occupation at Akra could date to the first the relationship between the BMACand the Bannu

136 140 Lambert1986; Knox 1994, 377. Illustratedin both pub- Sarianidi1981, 232-3, figs. 7, 8; see also Hiebert 1994, lications. fig. 9.14-9.16. 137 141 E.g., Hiebert 1994, fig. 9.16 (after Sarianidi1989b, fig. Vats 1940, 319, pls. 91, 255. 5);Masimovl981,211. 142Khan etal. 2000d, 55. 138Santoni1984, 56, fig. 8.4A;Tarrige and Hassan1989, 150. 143Summarized in Hiebert 1994, 163-4, 178. 139 144 Khan et al. 2000d, 55, 174-6. Hiebert 1994, 163-4, 177-8, fig. 10.8. 2005] THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 729

Fig. 12. View of trench 3, Lohra mound, showing destruction of wall region. However, at the least, the discovery of the of this proviso, the two dates from Ter Kala Dheri early second millennium B.C. BMAC seals at Akra suggest that the Bannu black-on-red ware horizon implies that there was interaction between the at that site dates from the early to mid first millen- Bannu region and Central Asia at this time. nium B.C. To further investigate this, an intensive On the basis of the stratigraphic and radiocar- program of C14 dating was undertaken at Akra. bon evidence, the earliest in situ levels at Akra are From Akra CGKmound, one sample was obtained those associated with Bannu black-on-redware and on the floor on which rested the large spouted ves- fan spouts (assemblage 2). In the three excavations sel (table 2). The probability distribution for this conducted in area B, Bannu black-on-redware was sample falls predominantly before the large pla- very common, and it remains the most common teau on the calibration curve, which starts at ca. 750 surface material across this part of the site. As noted B.C., indicating that there is a high likelihood that above, preliminary information on the chronology the floor was in use after 930 B.C. of the Bannu black-on-red ware horizon was pro- The excavations on the Lohra mound have been vided by two radiocarbon dates from Ter Kala the most extensive, and it is from here that the larg- Dheri.145The radiocarbon ages and the probability est number of radiometric assayswas obtained (table distributions for each are shown in table 1. Of the 3). From trench 1, two samples were analyzed- one two samples, OxA 6239 was recovered from an up- from deposits associated with the stone-constructed per floor and BM 2979 from a lower floor, although building that contains assemblage 2 material, and it should be pointed out that these surfaces were one from the deposits just below this structure. Al- not separated by a significant depth of deposit. It is though Beta 129791 comes from a deposit immedi- important to note that OxA 6239 intercepts the ately underlying the structure, both it and NZA calibration curve at a plateau, which results in a 10990 are statistically the same.146It is, therefore, wide probability range for any samples with calen- possible that NZA 10990 has been incorporated into dar ages between ca. 750 and 400 B.C. Irrespective the habitation deposits from an immediately prior

145 These and all the other dates presented in this paper IntCal98calibration curve. have been calibrated using OxCal 3.8, which utilizes the 146T=1.87x2 (0.5)=3.84. 730 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109

Fig. 13. View of HBZD mound after 2000 season of excavation

Fig. 14. Plan of Iron Age and Historic architecture in HBZD mound 2005] THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 731 event such as a clearing fire for the construction of mum occupation area to be calculated. Even if we the building. The other samples from the Lohra were to take the three areas as the very boundaries mound were obtained in the deep sounding exca- of occupation in this period, our observations con- vated into the hardened floor levels between the cerning the abundance of Bannu black-on-red and stone and mudbrick wall return and the western later wares on the surface suggest that from ca. 900 baulk in trench 3. On the basis of stratigraphy the B.C. onward the settlement covered most of what we earliest floor level is Locus 3112 for which a date have defined as area B, or approximately 20 ha of was obtained suggesting a terminus post quern of settlement. Only further excavations could provide ca. 900 B.C. The sequence of floor levels above this this most cautious estimate with a more solid basis. provided further chronometric assays that indicate No radiocarbon assays were obtained from the continued occupation into the ninth century B.C. deposits containing assemblage 1 ceramics. How- The latest sampled floor (Locus 3100) has a termi- ever, the parallels presented above are unanimous nus post quern of ca. 800 B.C., suggesting that the in suggesting that this assemblage dates between building still stood into the eighth century B.C. ca. 600 and 300 B.C., or the period that coincides Two radiocarbon determinations were obtained with the Achaemenid annexation of northwestern from the HBZD mound, one from the fill deposits South Asia. Determining the extent of occupation associated with the river-stone and mud walls to the at Akra during this period is made difficult by the west of the excavated area (OZF 094) and the other lack of preservation in area B and the lack of sys- from a collapse deposit overlying the occupation tematic excavation in area A. Nevertheless, there is surface with the intact fan-spouted storage vessel evidence that suggests that Akra continued to be to the east (OZF 093) (table 4). Interpretations of occupied extensively in the final centuries B.C. and these two dates are slightly hampered by the un- the first centuries A.D. The most telling evidence usually high error in OZF 093. Nonetheless, the for the exact chronology of the settlement at this upper limit of this sample suggests that the Iron time is available from the many coins that have been Age occupation of this part of the site has a termi- found on the surface and those that have been ex- nus post quern of ca. 900 B.C. The probability range cavated since 1996. While their definitive publica- for OZF 094 suggests that the occupation of the two tion is not yet complete, it is sufficient to state that mudbrick and stone-constructed buildings contin- collections of coins from the site currently held in ued into the eighth century B.C. the British Museum, Ashmolean Museum, and On the basis of these numerous radiocarbon Peshawar Museum include those of the Indo- samples, two important conclusions can be made Greek kings Apollodotus, Hermaeus, Demetrius, regarding the chronology of Iron Age occupation Strato, Atimachus, Menander, the Parthian king at Akra. The first concerns the relationship between Gondophases, the Skythian kings Maues and Azes, Akra and the Ter Kala Dheri mound. The earliest the Kushan king Kidara Kushan, as well as those of date from Ter Kala Dheri (BM 2979: 1000-760 B.C.) Hepthalite rulers, Hindu Shahi rulers, and a lone and the earliest date from Akra (OZF 092: 920-800 silver coin of Mahmud of Ghazni, dating to the 11th B.C.) are statistically the same and suggest that the century A.D.147 Furthermore, excavations on the settlement of Ter Kala Dheri was part of a contem- HBZD mound have indicated that the settlement porary hinterland to the main occupation at Akra. continued to be occupied into the 12th century Second, and most important, dates obtained from A.D.148It would seem unlikely, therefore, given the the three excavation areas in area B are remarkably evidence for the Iron Age and Historic period (ca. similar in their radiocarbon and calendar ranges. 250 B.C. to 12th century A.D.) occupation through- They all suggest a terminus post quern of ca. 900 out the site, that the settlement did not also witness B.C. for the occupation of area B. The subsequent considerable occupation in the period between 600 dates from the HBZD mound and the Lohra mound and 300 B.C. suggest that the occupation continued into the discussion: the significance of akra eighth century B.C. Although one must move cau- tiously from this observation to conclusions concern- Akra is clearly one of the few sites in northwest- ing the size of settlement during this period, the ern Pakistan that may contain a material culture chronological evidence for the contemporaneous sequence from at least ca. 1000 B.C. to ca. A.D. 1000. nature of occupation in these areas permits a mini- The majority of our evidence so far relates to the

147 148 Khan 1986, 184. Petrie (forthcominga and b) . 732 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109

Fig. 15. Assemblage 1 ceramics. Lohra mound. Bowls with Fig. 16. Assemblage 1 ceramics.Lohra mound. Bowlswith S- offset vertical rims and banded beakers. Scale in cm. carinated rims and tulip bowls. Scale in cm. first millennium B.C., and it is to that period that no real consensus on the issue of where it is located. we will limit the following discussion. It is clear that As mentioned above, there are indications that the remains of this period hold the potential to Thatagus was administratively associated with provide information on one of the outstanding and Arachosia,151but proposals on its specific geographi- unresolved questions in South Asian archaeology: cal location have ranged from the suggestion that the archaeology of the Achaemenid annexation of it lay in the area to the south or southeast of Kabul,152 this region in the sixth century B.C. to the more precise suggestion of the region around the Gomal River in North West Frontier Province,153 Akra- Capital of Thatagus? or the area of Multan in the Punjab.154However, thus While Thatagus is mentioned in Achaemenid far, no convincing archaeological evidence has been royal inscriptions of Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes found that supports any of these suggestions. II,149and its inhabitantshave been identified on royal In 1982 Fleming suggested that the capital of reliefs at Persepolis and Naqsh-i Rustam,150there is Thatagus was located in the Bannu Basin and that

149Kent 1953, 187: Vallat 1993, 240. 153Dani1971, 1; Bivar1988, 200. 150 154 Schmidt 1970, 85, 107, pls. 25, 76-79; Bivar1988, 208- Vogelsang 1985, 80-1; 1990, 100. Although Vogelsang 10; Hachmann 1997, 195-224, and references. has nowmodified this (1992, 129), he does maintainthat there 151 Vogelsang 1990, 100; 1992, 110-4, 129. were specific connections with the lowerPunjab and Aracho- 152Vogelsang1992, 129. sia (1992, 227-8). 2005] THE ACHAEMENIDEMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 733 Akra was the most likely candidate,155basing his argument on the testimony of the Behistun inscription and a reconstruction of the campaigns and battles between the lieutenant of the Persian rebel named Vayazadataand the loyal satrap of Arachosia, Vivana.156Bivar has rightlypointed out that Fleming's suggestion was based on geographical and historical data alone and that the terrain around Bannu had been insufficiently explored for this interpretation to carry weight,157while Vogelsang objected to Fleming's identification on the basis that it would mean that Thatagus was too close to the satrapy of Gandhara,158which is centered in the PeshawarVal- ley and might also include the upper reaches of the Kabul RiverValley. While there is little distance between Bannu and Peshawar as the crow flies (ca. 150 km), the two regions are separated by a section of the Salt range that has acted as a cultural barrier since the Neolithic period. There is also some additional evidence from the classical sources that indicates the importance of a small district to the west of the Indus, which might be the Bannu Basin. In describing Alexander's march toward Drangi- ana, Arrian notes that Barsentes, satrap of the Dran- gians and Arachosians, flees to "the Indians on this side of the Indus."159Following the conquest of Ara- chosia and while on his way north to Parapomis- adae (Kabul/Begram), Alexander is said to have approached "the Indians who lived nearest to the Arachosians."160It is not possible to establish whether "the Indians on this side of the Indus" and "the Indians who lived nearest to the Arachosians" are actually the same group inhabiting the same region, but geographically they both must lie somewhere to the east and north of Kandaharand to the south and southeast of Kabul.161The terms used by Arrian also bring to mind a relationship between Fig. 17. Assemblage 2 ceramics. Lohra, CGK, and HBZD Harauvatishand Thatagus that is evidenced in the mounds. Bannu black-on-redware. Scale in cm. Achaemenid royal inscriptions. Furthermore, according to Quintus Curtius, while Alexander was Barsentes."162Although it is not possible to identify later staying in Taxila, Barsentes was handed over the precise location of this "small"territory, it pre- in chains, along with Samaxus,who was "the king of sumably was south of both the Peshawarregion and a small district of India who had allied himself with the areas near the Indus that were traversed by Al-

155 Fleming 1982, 102-22. Quintus Curtius6.6.36 (Rolfe 1976); Briant2002, 757. 156 160 In DB, Dariusclaims that Vivanawas both the satrapof Arrian3.28.1 (Brunt2004) ; Vogelsang1992, 227. Could Arachosiaand a Persian(DB, sec. 45, 3.55-56;Kent 1953, 126- Alexanderhave been pursuingBarsentes? 161 7). Vogelsang (1998, 218) has argued that this attribution Although Briant (2002) does not discuss this issue, he might well be a post-factosimplification, and thatVivana and includesa map thatshows the areavisited by Alexander at this Dadarshish,the other satrapnamed in DB, might have been time to be the Quetta/Pishinarea of Baluchistan(Briant 2002, Bactrianswho only subsequentlysided with Darius. 755, map 7). 157 162 Bivar1988, 200. QuintusCurtius 8.13.3-5 (Rolfe 1976);Vogelsang 1992, 158Vogelsang1985, 80-1; 1992, 129. 227; Bosworth1995, 260; Briant2002, 757. 159 Arrian3.25.8 (Brunt 2004); Vogelsang 1992, 227; also 734 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109 Bannu Basin also fits the geographical requirement of being both close to Arachosia and on the west of the Indus, indicating that it is entirely plausible that in fleeing from Alexander, Barsentes might have gone to the Bannu basin, where his subordinate Samaxuswas king. However,until further field- work is conducted, this suggestion must remain within the realm of conjecture. In any case, the identification of pre-Achaemenid deposits at Akra has perhaps greater implications for our understanding of the effects of the Achaemenid empire in the east than the historical identification of the settlement, and it is to this issue that we will now turn.

Akra and the Benefitsof Empire In the quotation from Wheeler cited in the introduction (see page 7), much emphasis was placed on the advent of empire to explain the emergence of urban entities in northern South Asia. The excavations at Akra have shown that this was not the case. By sometime in the early first millennium B.C., Akra was already a large, and possibly urban, center. The correlation of radiocarbon dates from within the settlement leaves little doubt that at least area B, or

Fig. 18. Assemblage 2 ceramics. Lohra, CGK, and HBZD mounds. Bannu black-on-redware. Scale in cm. exander and his men on their route to Taxila, as these regions had different named rulers.163It is tempting to presume that in escaping to the land of the Indians on this side of the Indus, Barsentes fled to Thatagus and its local ruler (in this case Samax- us), who had previously been his subordinate. Now that work has begun at Akra, it is clear that there is a significant Achaemenid-period compo- nent, and our topographic survey has shown that it is the largest site and the only one in the Bannu region that definitely contains such occupation. If we accept that the Achaemenid-period occupation was contiguous to that of the Iron Age throughout area B, then the size of Akra is on par with provincial like Kandahar and Charsadda and the capitals Fig. 19. Assemblage2 ceramics.HBZD mound. Fan-spouted case for the identification of Akra as capital of vessel. Compare similarexample from CGKmound (fig. 8) . Thatagus is strengthened.164 The location of the Scale in cm.

163 records the site sizes: These regions were previouslyruled by Astis (Peucelao- 164Coningham(1995, 58) following 1100-800 6.5 Kausambi 1000- tis) and Cophaeusand Assagetes(regions close to the Indus); Hastinpaura(ca. B.C.) ha; (ca. Arrian4.22.8, 4.28.49 (Brunt 2004). 600 B.C.) 10 ha;Pirak (ca. 1600-800B.C.) 9 ha;Anuradhupura 2005] THE ACHAEMENIDEMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 735 Table 1. Radiocarbon Dates for Bannu Black-on-RedWare from Ter Kala Dheri

Probability Sample Provenience 14CAge Distribution 95.4% Relative %

OxA 6239 TKD95/S2 upper floor 2470 ±60 b.p. 780-400 B.C. 95.4% BM 2979 TKD95/S2 lower floor 2680 ±60 b.p. 1000-760 B.C. 95.4%

Table 2. Radiocarbon Dates for Bannu Black-on-RedWare from CGK Mound, Akra Probability Sample Provenience 14CAge Distribution 95.4% Relative %

NZA 19089 layer 3 2463 ±60 b.p. 930-750 B.C. 85.8% (44 cm below surface) 690-660 B.C. 2.6% 650-540 B.C. 7.0%

about 20 ha of the present site, was already occu- of such large settlements with all that that entails in pied from 900 B.C. onward. This would make the terms of political and economic organization. Iron Age settlement of Akraone of the largest within In Wheeler's summary of the effects of imperial this time frame in South Asia. The dates from Ter control, he surmised that interregional trade was a Kala Dheri suggest that there was also an important benefit of Achaemenid annexation. According to hinterland for which Akra was the central place. In him, this was attributed to the increased security future research it will be critical to investigate the brought about by the emergence of cities. Indeed, cause of this settlement intensification, in particu- the many parallels that can be drawn between as- lar its agriculture and irrigation base. However, semblage 1 at Akra and sites within South Asia (e.g., there is little doubt that the settlement system of Charsadda), in eastern areas of the empire (e.g., the early first millennium B.C. in the Bannu Basin Dahan-i Ghulaman), and in the Iranian heartland is markedly different from that which existed be- itself (e.g., Persepolis, Pasargadae, Tol-e Spid) fore. The position of Akra alongside a seasonal wa- would seem to indicate that this is a period of un- terwaythat provides both water and communication precedented interaction and trade over long dis- routes is analogous with the emerging settlement tances. However, the evidence from Akra suggests systemfound in Bactriaand Margianaat this time.165 that large, possibly urban, entities with local econo- It is notable that in assessing the impact of Achae- mies and extensive trade and exchange networks menid rule in Central Asia, Francfort and Briant were already in existence in this region from ca. both have stressed that the Achaemenids were not 900 B.C. The parallels that can be drawn between responsible for introducing irrigation, urban de- Bannu black-on red ware and the Yaz Depe I cul- velopment, and "civilization"to Central Asia, but ture suggest that interaction and long-distance, over- rather all these things existed in the earlier Iron land trade were alreadyoccurring. In fact, the BMAC Age.166The possibility that climatic factors may be seals found at Akra emphasize that the evolving responsible for the emergence of such systems has cultures of Central Asia had a protracted interest in been suggested for other parts of the Indo-Iranian the frontier regions along the western edge of South borderlands,167but only continuing fieldworkat Akra Asia from at least the second millennium B.C. will illuminate what local environmental or techno- While resource extraction and long-distance logical factors account for the sudden emergence trade using established routes may indeed have

(ca.600-450 B.C.) 18 ha; BalaHissar (Charsadda) 13ha;Taxila 166Francfort(1988, esp. 169),where he aptlynotes, "The 13ha; Inamgaon (ca. 1600-700 B.C.) 5 ha;Daimabad 30 ha. Achaemenidsdid not found Bactra, they did not invent irriga- 165Biscione1981, 203-13; Francfort 1988, 169, 181-93; tion,they did not createthe civilizationof CentralAsia, but Briant2002, 752-3. As noted, the similaritybetween the Cen- theycoveted its richeswhen their time came" (Briant 2002, tralAsian environmental conditions and those in thenorthwest 752-3). BannuBasin were initially commented on byStein (1905, 6). 167Magee2004, 76-9. 736 PETER MAGEE ET AL. [AJA109 Table 3. Radiocarbon Dates for Bannu Black-on-RedWare from Lohra Mound, Akra Probability Sample Provenience 14CAge Distribution 95.4% Relative %

NZA 10990 trench 1, layer 15 (floor 2546 ±70 b.p. 820-480 B.C. 88.9% assoc. with stone building) 470-410 B.C. 6.5% Beta 129791 trench 1 (charcoal-rich 2660 ±40 b.p 900-790 B.C. 95.4% layer below stone building) OZF 088 trench 3, locus 3100 2569 ±36 b.p. 820-750 B.C. 53.8% 700-540 B.C. 41.6%

OZF 090 trench 3, locus 3105 2690 ±33 b.p. 905-800 B.C. 95.4%

OZF 091 trench 3, locus 3106 2577 ±38 b.p. 830-750 B.C. 58.9% 700-540 B.C. 36.5%

OZF 092 trench 3, locus 3112 2710 ±31 b.p. 920-800 B.C. 95.4%

Table 4. Radiocarbon Dates for Bannu Black-on-RedWare from HBZD, Akra Probability Sample Provenience 14CAge Distribution 95.4% Relative %

OZF 093 locus 4078 2491 ±112 b.p. 900-350 B.C. 95.4%

OZF 094 locus 4074 2564 ±36 b.p 820-750 B.C. 48.5% 7100-540 B.C. 46.9%

been extended during the Achaemenid period tional analysis that indicates where they were made. because of the security brought about by empire, Nonetheless, we would default to the argument that the desire for foreign or foreign-emulation goods such vessels are not evidence for the presence of must, in the first instance, be explained as a reflec- Persians per se but rather potentially indicate shifts tion of changing social configurations during this in social and political structure brought around by time. Most of the ceramics from Akra that are paral- changing geopolitical circumstance. leled in the west are highly burnished drinking bowls To Wheeler and other scholars, any economic or tulip cups. Not only may these copy metal vessels and social change in South Asia was, fundamen- but, as Dusinberre argued in her recent paper on tally, the result of a west-to-east movement. How- Achaemenid bowls in Sardis, the presence of such ever, to the east of Bannu lies the Punjab and, across vessels may indicate the emulation of banqueting the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the mighty Ganges. The and feasting practices that were a powerful symbol question of the emergence of large, urban cities in of authorityin the Achaemenid center.168Such prac- the Ganges doab and their effects on regions to the tices would make an ideal political strategy to bal- northwest has remained largely unaddressed. The ance imperial demands for ideological conformity chronology of large cities like Ujjain (see fig. 2), while legitimizing indigenous authority in an out- Kausambi,Mathura, Hastinapura, Atranjikhera, and lying satrapy.Sadly, the architectural remains from others remains tied to the vexatious question of Akra do not permit us to provide more contextual the dating of painted grayware169 and northern black information on where these vessels were recovered, polished ware, a ceramic that Wheeler initially and we have yet to complete a program of composi- dated to the fifth century B.C. because it was found

168Dusinberre1999, 73-102. 169Magee2005, 37-44. 2005] THE ACHAEMENIDEMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA 737 with iron, which he believed erroneously to have CAMERON PETRIE been introduced by the Achaemenids.170 Recent DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY excavations at Gotihawa in Nepal have suggested, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE however, an earlier dating of this ceramic assem- CAMBRIDGE blage and, by inference, opened the possibility that UNITED KINGDOM many of the Gangetic cities may date earlier than 500 B.C.171The presence at Akra of carnelian (al- ROBERT KNOX most certainly from Gujarat), a small number of DEPARTMENT OF ASIA sherds of northern black polished ware, and figu- BRITISH MUSEUM rine fragments that find ready parallels in northern LONDON India indicate that Gangetic cities might have played UNITED KINGDOM an economic role in developments outside the doab [email protected] just as they did only centuries later with the emer- FARID KHAN gence of the Mauryanempire. The assumptions of PAKISTAN HERITAGE SOCIETY Wheeler and others concerning the primal agency PESHAWAR of "the West"has for too long, therefore, prevented PAKISTAN a more nuanced approach that emphasizes this re- as not on the of western-based gion simply periphery KEN THOMAS but of a mosaic of interaction empires part larger INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY that linked and western Asia. South, Central, UNIVERSITY COLLEGELONDON CONCLUSION LONDON UNITED KINGDOM On the basis of our work, it is clear that present [email protected] Akra is a key site for understanding the Late Prehis- toric and EarlyHistoric periods in the Asian subcontinent. At the least, the site unequivocally attests to Works Cited processes of settlement and economic growth that are not the result of annexation and control. Ali, T., R. Coningham,M. Ali-Durrani,and G.R.Khan. foreign 1998. of TwoSeasons of Archaeo- Our excavations and survey have, however, only "PreliminaryReport logicalInvestigations at the BalaHissar of Charsadda, touched upon the many facets of human occupa- NWFP,Pakistan." Ancient Pakistan 12:1-34. tion in this region. There are many outstanding re- Allchin, F.R.1995. "EarlyCities and StatesBeyond the search issues that will guide our future work at Akra. Ganges Valley."In TheArchaeology of Early Historic South Excavationsin area A will data on Asia,edited by F.R.Allchin, 123-51. Cambridge:Cam- hopefully provide Press. the Bannu the existence of the vari- bridgeUniversity region during Biscione, R. 1981. "Centre and Periphery in Late held after the con- ous states and empires that sway Protohistoric Turan." In SouthAsian Archaeology1979: quests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century Proceedingsfrom the Fifth InternationalConference of the B.C. Examination of the pre-Iron Age levels, if they Associationof South Asian Archaeologistsin WesternEu- can be located, will also data on how the Bannu ropeHeld in theMuseum fur IndischeKunst derStaalichen yield Museen PreussischerKulturbesitz edited H. reacted to the fundamental that were Berlin, by region changes Hartel,203-13. Berlin:Dietrich Reimer Asia dur- Verlag. occurring throughout South and Central Bivar,A.D.H. 1988."The Indus Lands. In TheCambridge ing the late third and early second millennium B.C. AncientHistory 4. Cambridge:Cambridge University We look forwardto the day when it will be possible to Press. of Order: return to Bannu, recommence collaborationwith our Boast,R. 2002. "MortimerWheeler's Science The Traditionof at Arikamedu." Pakistani and continue our research. Accuracy Antiquity colleagues, 76(291):165-70. Bosworth, A.B. 1995. A HistoricalCommentary on Arrian s PETER MAGEE Historyof Alexander. Vol. 2. Oxford:Clarendon Press. DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICALAND NEAR EASTERN Boucharlat,R., and P. Lombard.1985. "TheOasis of al- Ain in the Iron Excavationsat Rumeilah1981- ARCHAEOLOGY Age. 1983." Archaeologyin the UnitedArab Emirates 4:44-7 '3. BRYN MAWR COLLEGE Briant, P. 2002. From Cyrusto Alexander:A History of the BRYN MAWR, PENNSYLVANIA10,010 PersianEmpire, translated by P.T. Daniels. Winona [email protected] Lake,Ind.: Eisenbrauns.

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