Wikipedia

Hashtnagar

Hashtnagar (Pashto: هشت نګر{{ }}, more commonly known as اشنغر in Pashto)[3] is one of the two constituent parts of the Charsadda District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The name Hashtnagar is derived from the Sanskrit अष्टनगरम् Aṣṭanagaram, "eight towns", from Sanskrit aṣṭa, "eight" and नगर nagara, "settlement, locality, town". There was an unrelated town of the same name near Kabul in the 17th century. It was home to the Roshani Movement. The descriptive was later influenced by the Persian هشت hasht, "eight". The etymology "Eight Towns", refers to the eight major settlements situated in this region.[4] These are:

Hashtnagar is located in Pakistan
Hashtnagar
Hashtnagar
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Hashtnagar area, in Pakistan
Hashtnagar Buddha
Statue of the Buddha from Palatu Dheri in Hashtnagar, inscribed of "the year 384", thought to belong to the Yavana era, which would be 209 CE.
Piedestal of the same statue, with Year 384 inscription: sam 1 1 1 100 20 20 20 20 4 Prothavadasa masasa divasammi pamcami 4 1 ("In the year 384, on the fifth, 5, day of the month Prausthapada").[1] The pedestal was sawed off by L. White King in 1883 and brought to the British Museum.[2]

History edit

Buddhist period edit

Hashtnagar is known for an early Buddhist statue. The name Hashtnagar is derived from the Sanskrit Aṣṭanagaram, aṣṭa meaning "eight" and nagaram meaning "town".[5]

Modern era edit

In 1812 the Asiatick Society (Calcutta, India) described the Gujars of Afghanistan as brave, mainly pastoral, and numerous in Hashtnagar district. The Muhammadzai (Charsadda) and Kheshgi were also mentioned as powerful tribes in the area.[6]

Media edit

A documentary, exploring the political and cultural life of Hashtnagar, has been made by Ammar Aziz[7][8] which is the first ever film on the subject .[9] It features the local artists and political activists and romanticizes the communist movement of the area.

Notable people edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Art p. 37
  2. ^ Errington, Elizabeth. "Numismatic evidence for dating the Buddhist remains of Gandhara". Papers in Honour of Francine Tissot. Silk Road Art and Archaeology 6: 204.
  3. ^ Raverty, Henry George (1867), A dictionary of the Puk'hto, Pus'hto, or language of the Afghans (2 ed.), Williams and Norgate, p. 33
  4. ^ Asiatick Society (Calcutta; India) (1812). Asiatick researches, or, Transactions of the society instituted in Bengal, for inquiring into the history and antiquities, the arts, sciences, and literature of Asia. John Murray. pp. 383–. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  5. ^ Hendrik Willem Obbink (1949). Orientalia Rheno-traiectina. Brill Archive. pp. 115–. GGKEY:S6C77GP5KP7. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  6. ^ Asiatick Society (Calcutta, India) (1812). Asiatick researches, or, Transactions of the society instituted in Bengal, for inquiring into the history and antiquities. John Murray.
  7. ^ "In the spotlight: Screening of Hashtnagar". 3 February 2012.
  8. ^ "Documentary on insurgency survivors wins first prize". 2011-01-28. Archived from the original on 2014-05-04. Retrieved 2013-01-15.
  9. ^ "A man with a movie camera in Hashtnagar!". Viewpointonline.net. 2011-03-18. Retrieved 2013-01-15.

External links edit

34°12′59.24″N 71°42′53.26″E / 34.2164556°N 71.7147944°E / 34.2164556; 71.7147944


 

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