The Turk-Shahis or Kabul-Shahis were a dynasty of Western Turk, or mixed Western Turk-Hephthalite, origin, that ruled from Kabul and Kapisa to Gandhara in the 7th to 9th centuries AD The Turk Shahis are reported as having been supporters of Buddhism, and are generally presented as Buddhists. From the 560s, the Western Turks had gradually expanded southeasterward from Transoxonia, and occupied Bactria and the Hindu-Kush region, forming largely independent polities. The Turk Shahis may have been a political extension of the neighbouring Western Turk Yabghus of Tokharistan. There was a renewed patronage of Buddhism in the area of Afghanistan during the 7-8th century AD as a function of the expansion of the Tang Dynasty power in Central Asia at that time. Consequently, The Korean pilgrim Hui Chao in 726 AD recorded in the Chinese language that the Turkic rulers of Kapisa followed the Triratna and dedicated many Buddhist temples. The period of the Turk Shahis also corresponds to the last stages of Greco-Buddhist art. (Source: Turk_ShahiS, Wikipedia) (Image-Credit: Wikipedia) 🙏🙏 [Images(Left-to-Right) 1. Seated Buddha, Fondukistan monastery. National Museum of Afghanistan 2. Sun deity (either Mitra or Surya), wearing tunic and boots. Khair Khaneh, Kabul, 7-8th century AD, Kabul Museum. 3. Last-Stages of Greco-Buddhist art. circa 700 AD, Fondukistan monastery, Ghorband District, Afghanistan 4. Seated Maitreya, 7th-8th century AD, near Kabul, Afghanistan ]
Indian History
