POETRY ART&mOUGIIT PIKRUN WA FANN 41st cznd) .yeat~ no. 78 (no: 3) November 2003 - May 2004 ,

Publisher: Goethe-Institute

Chief Editor: Stefan Weidner

Editorial Board: Manutshehr Amirpur Brigitte Oleschinski Ahmad Hissou G2 Mission Impossible Stefan Weidner A Trip to the First International Poetry Festival in Indonesia Translations: Timothy Nevill Copy Editor: Charlotte Collins Ranjit Hoskote 68 Lool

Special thanks to Ratbil Ahang Sh

Bettina Prato Publlsher's Address: 7 3 Earning the Right to Watch Goethe Institut Inter Nationes Susan Sonlag's Kennedyallee 91-10~_ "Regarding The Pain of Olhers" 53175 Bonn Germany Stefan Weidner 75 A Pinch of Afghano-Centrism Piease Editor's Address: Nicolas Bouvier's Travels in Afghanistan Art & Thought/Fikrun wa Fann Kasparstr. 41 Michael Thoss ·50670 Köln 77 Khaled Hosseini's Novel Germany "The l

Art & Thought is a cultural magazine_ published twice a year by the German Goethe Institute in English,, Arabic ("Fikrun wa Fann"), ·. and Farsi ("Andishe va Honar."), ßO Alighiero Boetti and Afghanistan ~ GOETH!·INSTITUT Jens-Utve Hartmann Buddha's Forgotten Country The History of Buddhism in Afghanistan

/1 fghanistan was alw,1ys a completely Is­ Prices rase rapidly and considerable sums are ' lamic countty'. This view was held al­ now paid for such manuscripts - with the out­ rnost everywbere until recently and bard­ come that fresh supplies continue to reach the ly anyone paid any attention to the fact that other West and Japan by way of Pakistan. Opinions are religions must have existed there before Islam was underslandably dividecl. On the one hancl, any established. The fact that Buddhism was one of increase in knowledge that can be clerived fram those religions was basically only known to peo­ manuscripts relating to the histmy of Buddhist ple interested in the histoty of Afghanistan or of writings and of Afghanistan is to be welcomed. On Buddhism, or to the few travellers who chanced the other, the precise circumstances of discovery upon Buddhist monuments when moving through remain unknown, meaning lhat irreplaceable data the country. However, two and a half years ago, in is lost for historians. They would very much like March 2001, when the Taliban set about getting rid lo know where a manuscript originatecl, whether of the two monumental statues of the Buddha in it was cliscoverecl in a former cave-monastery or in Bamiyan Valley, the general public across the a stupa (a Buddhist grave monument), whether it world suddenly became aware thal Islam was by was found in isolation or Iogether with other texts, no means the only religion which had shaped and mucb besides. All such information would tell Afghanistan. As is so often the case, only the irre­ us something about religious life in Afghanistan versible lass of patt of our culturallegacy made its over a thousancl years ago, but up to now we only existence widely known. The blowing up of the have the manuscripts themselves and Iack infor­ Buddhas probably brought about the opposite of mation about where and how they survivecl for what those responsible intended - and one can over a millennium. even be pleased about that. Nevertheless, it is no How clid Buddhism come to Afghanistan? The consolation for the irrevocable deslruction of two political creation we today associate with the cultural monuments of global significance. All the name 'Afghanistan' is relatively recent. 1t is not current ideas about reconstructing the two foundecl on any linguistic or cultural unily that Buddhas seem to me to be of dubious value. can Iook back on a long history. In lhe past, the These doubts arise because there are much more area comprising today's state was usually clivided urgent prablems to be solved in today's into several kingdoms. That was already the case Afghanistan than the recreation of two stone in the pre-Christian centuries, although we do not sculptures, no matter how helpful these monu­ know much about this period. The first relatively mental figures might one day be in pramoting a certain contact with Buddhism can be dated revival of tourism. araund the third century B.C. At that time the A second phenomenon has also contributed in Mamya dynasty was establishing the first major recent years to renewed awareness of Afghanis­ empire in Inclia, the north-west of which also tan's Buddhist past, and this too is certainly con­ inclucled Pakistan ancl parts of modern Afghanis­ nected with civil war. For about ten years now tan. This dynasty's most important ruler, Ashoka, Buddhist manuscripts from Afghanistan have bad inscriptions prominently displayed through­ been an offer an the Western and Far Eastern art out his empire, and the most westerly of these markets. Initially these were probably chance were cliscoverecl in Kandahar. Characteristically, discoveries, possibly in former cave-monasteries lhese inscriptions were not in any Indian script or in which combatants or civilians had sought ref­ language; they had been translated into Creek and uge. Unfortunately, more precise information Aramaic, utilising the Creek alphabet. This shows about the origins and discovery of these manu­ that Ashoka's empire reached as far as a region scripts is not available to date. Specialists quickly where Creek was obviously a lingua franca and recognised how sensational these finds were when used for administrative purposes. This Creek in­ the first manuscripts reached the Western market, fluence had arrived and talk of 'The Dead Sea Serails of Buddhism' with Alexander the Tlie Big /3uclclcllia of /3amiyan, 1931 was soon doing the raunds. This was enthusiasti­ Creat, who advan­ Photo tai

Art & Thought 34 the Punjab. His campaign left no Iasting traces in ly true. The oldest depiclion of the Buddha known lndia itself and Alexander's empire began to dis­ to us is on the obverse of a coin showing Kanish­ integrale after his death, bul the Creek cultural ka. On the other hand, coins also demonstrate that influences remained a dominant element in the the Kuchanas clearly pursued a very even-handed Eastern states which then came into existence. policy with regard to religion, promoting all the The most easterly Creek town we know of today faiths represented in their empire. was excavated in the 1960s by a team of French Political stability favours trade, and Irade then archaeologists in the far north of Afghanistan - at generates a flourishing economy, which enables Ai Khanum on the Amu Darya. The influence of the provision of a viable basis for craftsmen and Creek and later Roman culture persisted for cen­ artists as weil as representatives of the various turies, and after the start of the new millennium religions. This laid the foundation stone for made a wonderfut contribution to Lhe emergence Candhara art. Candhara was originally the old of Buddhist art. We will turn to that in a moment. name for the region araund Peshawar. It was Under Ashoka, Buddhism in India seems to however subsequently applied to a considerably have blossomed initially, so it is to be assumed !arger artistic area characterised by a relatively that political stability and the associaled long­ unified style. Indian art scholars Loday use this distance trade also favoured extension of order to designation for a region comprising parts of the north-west of the empire. However, sure signs Afghanistan, the northern part of Pakistan, and of this expansion are only known from the first the extreme north-western corner of India. For century B.C., particularly in the form of dated centmies the Buddha had been represented by inscriptions. Dateabte evidence only becomes symbols such as a footprint, rather than being more prolific in the post-millennium centuries, depicted figuratively. This period is termed the particularly through donor inscriptions, in which 'anti-iconic' phase of Buddhist art. Under the the names of individual Buddhist sects may ap­ Kuchanas, however, the first figurative depictions pear. Buddhism experienced an enormaus up­ of the Buddha were simultaneously produced in surge when a !arge new empire was estabtished northern lndia and Candhara. In northern India in the north-west during the first century A.D. artists based their work on Indian precedents, cre­ A migrant people from Centrat Asia, whose origins ating a unified form of representation. In Can­ are not entirety clear, seized power in Bactria (an dhara, however, artists took the still-presenl forms otd empire incorporating the north of Afghanistan of Creco-Roman art as their model, thereby crea­ with Batq as its capitat). lts ruters belonged to the ting that unique synthesis of Western forms and Kuchana tribe, which gave its name to both the Indian content which has become world-famous dynasty and the empire. They succeeded in conli­ as 'Candhara art'. For portraying the Buddha they nually expanding their sphere of influence, which used the Creek god Apollo as a model, for secon­ eventually incorporated Afghanistan, Pakistan, dary figures other Creek gods such as Hermes or !arge parts of northern India and areas of Uzbekis­ Fortuna, and for Bodhisaltvas, an exceplionally tan, and reached far into Centrat Asia. Political important category of mediators of salvation, stability once again favoured tong-distance trade. depictions of Roman youths. This art was famous­ One of the most important trading routes was the ly and particularly impressively exemplified by the 'Silk Road', a network of commercial connections sculpture at the Hadda monastery (not far from which at its height linked the capital of the Roman Jalalabad), which was extensively restored a Empire in the West with that of Lhe Chinese while ago but is now said to have been complete­ Empire in the East. Several branches to the south ly destroyed in the recent upheavals. The specific joined lhe Indian sub-continent lo this East-West formal character of Candhara art clid not only axis, and one such connection also led through influence lndia, modifying representation of the Afghanistan. However, these trading routes were Buddha that originated there. It was also transmit­ not only used by merchants. Buddhist monks tra­ ted to Central Asia by way of the Silk Road, and velled Lhrough Pakistan and Afghanistan and then then on to China, becoming the basic model for all on the Silk Road, firstly lo Centrat Asia and final­ East Asian Buddhist art. ly Lo China, spreading their religion wherever they In Lhis art Indian and Creco-Roman elements wen!. were mergecl, giving rise to a fascinating and auto­ Buddhism obviously flourished under the Ku­ nomous new style. The situation was obviously chanas. The first monasteries were built, frequent­ very different with regard to Buddhist literature, as ly endowed by members of the ruling dynasty, and can be seen more clearly today. Over the past ten stupas were erected. This dynasty's most impor­ years several thousand fragments of Buddhist tant representative, Kanishka, who according to manuscripts have reached the West and Japan. current knowledge acceded to the throne in 125 None of these manuscripls contains a date, but Lhe A.D., appears in hislorical sources as an outstan­ development of writing makes it possible to show ding palron of Buddhism. That was certainly parl- that they were produced between the first and the

Art & Thoughl 36 eighth centuries A.D. With just one exception all the history of Buddhism in Afghanistan thus these fragments are written in Indian languages remains extremely fragmentary. We basically con­ and scripts. This shows that in the realm of Iitera­ tinue to be eiependent on evaluation of archaeolo­ ture Buddhism did not seek to adapt itself to local gical evidence. Nevertheless, they do show us that conditions, for instance by translating works Buddhism must have received exceptioaal support braught from India into local languages, as was at least for a time. The 53 metre Buddha at the case in China and Tibet. The oldest fragments Bamiyan was the largest such statue in the world prabably date back to the first half of the first cen­ and consiclerable funds were required to create tmy, just at the beginning of the new millennium. this work. Bamiyan lay on the Irade raute linking This is absolutely sensational. Afghanistan can the Silk Road with India and will have profitecl now lay claim to having preserved not only the considerably from this commerce, but we know oldest Buddhist ma­ nothingabout the monks who livecl in the monas­ nuscripts, but also tery caves araund the two !arge Buddhas, the reli­ the oldest existing gious festivals and rituals held there, or the num­ manuscripts contai­ ber of believers who visited these monuments. ning works in an However, there is one unique document, a Indian language. kind of eye-witness account, which does preserve Until now that emi­ some information about Bamiyan and Buddhism nence belonged to in Afghanistan. Between 629 and 645, a Chinese remnants of manus­ monk called Xuan Zang undertook a pilgrimage to cripts discovered by holy Buddhist sites in India and wrate a kind of a German expedi­ travel diary recording places, distances, and speci­ tion a hundred years al aspects. He travelled fram China on the Silk ago along the Silk Road towards the west, and then followed the Road in Centrat raute south by way of Bamiyan and Peshawar to Asia, but these are India. He describes Bamiyan and admires both the between one and great Buddha and the religious seriousness of the two centmies more people there, a characteristic which he thinks Buddha performing the mirac/e recent than the new distinguishes them from their neighbours. of Srava<;ti. 4tl' Century B. C. finds from Afgha­ Elsewhere, however, Xuan Zang notices phenome­ Reproc/uctJOn fro111 Bt'm'>nice nistan. This latest na indicating that Buddhism is starting to decline. Geoffroy-Srhneiler's booi< discovery involves There may have been economic reasons for this. "Clane/liara ". With l

tain any information revealing more about the Jens Uwe Hartmann teaches HistOl)' o( Buddhism at the Univer· history of Buddhism in this region. Om pictme of sily of lvlunich.

Art & Thought 37