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Art. XXI.—The Buddhist Caves of Afghanistan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

William Simpson
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Extract

In going through the Khyber Pass I saw numerous recesses in the rocks which struck me as places which might have been used by ascetics, but they indicated no signs of having been excavated, hence nothing definite could be assumed regarding them. In the scarp under the Ishpola Tope there is one of these rude niches which would be a very desirable spot for a holy man to retire to, who wished to give up the things of this world, but who at the same time had some intention that his light should not be hid under a bushel, for if an ascetic ever made it his residence, every passer-by must have seen him, high above the road, with little more than a fair allowance of space in which to sit cross-legged. From the immense number of caves I afterwards saw which had been excavated, indicating that a very large monastic population had existed, I have now little doubt that during the fervour of asceticism in the Buddhist period, most of these rocky niches had been thus occupied at one time or another. At Daka there are a few caves which have been excavated, but they are little more than holes.

Type
Original Communications
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , July 1882 , pp. 319 - 331
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1882

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References

page 322 note 1 Hiouen-Thsang, , in Vie et Voyages, p. 274Google Scholar, and in the Voyages, vol. ii. p. 214Google Scholar, describes two chambers cut in the rock of Khavandha, near the Pamir plateau. In each chamber there was a Lo-han, or Arhat, “plongé dans l'extase complete.” So far as this example goes, it indicates that each Cave would he the habitation of one monk.

page 323 note 1 In the Bengal Archæological Survey Reports, vol. i. p. 48, General Cunningham says that an inscription in the Viswa Mitra Cave, at Barabar, gives the date of its dedication in the 12th year of the Raja Priyadasi, or Asoka, or 252 B.C.

page 325 note 1 See Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for April, 1881.

page 328 note 1 See Ariana Antiquœ, p. 105.Google Scholar

page 328 note 2 Archæological Survey of India, Cunningham, vol. ii. p. 64, where it will be seen that the fame of this legendary Rajah extends from Jelalabad to the Punjab. Lowenthal derives the name of Udi from Udyâna; but General Cunningham identifies it with “the great Indo-Scythic race of Yuti or Yuchi.” Macgregor, in his papers on Central Asia and Afghanistan, states that in Kaffiristan “their kings are named Oda and Odashooh.” We have here perhaps the most probable origin of the name.