Shahbaz Garhi, or Shahbazgarhi, is a village and historic site located in

Mardan District Mardan District ( ps, مردان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Mardan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The district is named after Mardan city, which is also the headquarters of the district. The district is famo ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhw ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-la ...

. It is at an altitude of 293 metres (964 feet). It is about 12 km from Mardan city. It has mountains, green trees, open fields and a small river in the centre of the village. In old times all these facilities made it attractive for the army and travelers to dig in their tents here, stay for few days and organize their further strategy. The historic Stones of Ashoka (commonly known to the native people by the name of Hkule Gutt), and other sites like Mekha Sanda (male buffalo, female buffalo) are worth visiting.

Location

Shahbaz Garhi is situated on the junction of three ancient routes; #

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acc ...

Pushkalavati Pushkalavati ( ps, پشکلاوتي; Urdu: ; Sanskrit: ; Prākrit: ; grc, Πευκελαῶτις ) or Pushkaravati (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ), and later Shaikhan Dheri ( ps, شېخان ډېرۍ; ur, ), was the capital of the Gandhara kingdom, ...

(modern

Charsadda Chārsadda ( ps, چارسده; ; ur, ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

) #

Swat In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

through

Buner Buner District ( ps, بونیر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Before becoming a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. History The Buner Valley lies bet ...

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area a ...

through Hund on the bank of

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir ...

. Situated on the modern

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growi ...

Swabi Swabi ( ps, صوابۍ; ur, ) is a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan,Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

city surrounded by monasteries and stupas.

Ancient rock edicts

Ashokan inscriptions

Ashoka Rock Edicts Shahbazgarhi by Nisar 1

The town is the location of

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

rock-inscriptionsNWFP - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 19, p. 149.
/ref> that are cut into two large rock boulders and written in the

Kharosthi The Kharoṣṭhī script, also spelled Kharoshthi (Kharosthi: ), was an ancient Indo-Iranian script used by various Aryan peoples in north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely around present-day northern Pakistan and e ...

script. Shahbazgarhi Rock Edicts - UNESCO
/ref> They retain immense historical importance, as they appear to be the first examples of writing in South Asia. They were constructed during the 3rd Century BC (272-231 BC), during the reign of

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

, the famous

Mauryan The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion unti ...

emperor, inscribed in the

Kharoshthi The Kharoṣṭhī script, also spelled Kharoshthi (Kharosthi: ), was an ancient Indo-Iranian script used by various Aryan peoples in north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely around present-day northern Pakistan and e ...

script. The rock edicts were added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Tentative List on 30 January 2004 in the Cultural category. The translation of the text is written on a board nearby the rocks. The sight is a famous tourist spot for people who are interested in history. The town is the location of ancient rock-inscriptions that are cut into two large rock boulders and written in the

script. They retain immense historical importance, as they appear to be the first examples of writing in South Asia. They were constructed during the 3rd Century BC, during the reign of

, the famous

emperor. The rock edicts were added to the

Tentative List on 30 January 2004 in the Cultural category. File:A closer view of the rock - Ashoka Major Rock Edict.jpg, Edict No.12 File:Upper Rock Inscription at Shahbaz Garhi, Mardan.JPG, Edicts No.1 to No.11 File:A view of the second rock in the mountain - Fourteen rock edicts of Ashok.jpg, Edicts No.13 and No.14 File:A distance view of the second rock - Ashoka Major Rock Edict.jpg, Protective housing File:Shahbazgarhi Edicts 7 and 12.jpg, A rubbing of two of the inscriptions. File:Dhrama Dipi inscription in the Shahbazgarhi First Edict in the Kharosthi script.jpg, The words ''" Dhrama- Dipi"'' ("Inscription of the

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for ''d ...

") in

, in Edict No.1 of the Shahbazgarhi edicts.

References

External links

Map of Gandhara archeological sites, from the Huntington Collection, Ohio State University (large file)Gandhari.org
Complete text of the Shahbazgarhi edicts {{Mardan-Union-Councils Mardan District Archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Former populated places in Pakistan Edicts of Ashoka