Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎118av] (242/312)

' "jontfce banks of the Indus.. Alllbat wSl bo found
is merely nn influence. This influence is not con
fined to arckitecturai details ; it can also be traced
in the sculptures which hare been found. Instead of
the rigid forms and conventional features which ^
belong to Hindoo art, we find very beautiful
faces, and mauy indications of the Greek style
in the pose of the figure and in the treatment
of drapery. This very important point in the ^
history of Greek art, that it carried its conquests
to the banks of the Indus, we owe to our present
extended knowledge of the archeeology of that,
jpart of the world.
! There are in Afghanistan some very wonderful :
relics at a place called Samiam. Up to the present
day we have no complete description of them, nor
have we as yet seen any careful drawings of the
objects ; but when they have been properly repro-
Bented on paper, and every detail has been brought
home, there is no doubt but the remains at
SSamian will rank as wonders in celebrity
with the Eock-cut Temples of India, or the Pyra
mids of Egypt. There are some slight accounts
of the place in more than one writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. , and it
will be possible to convey some idea of the
orchaBological remains at this spot. It is about
SO miles in a straight line to the north-west Of
Cabul, and is on the direct road between that
town and Balkh, and in one of the principal passes
leading to the valley of the Oxus. The high road
from Bactria to India went through this
pass, and it was on the line of conquest
ia the time of Alexander. In the pass there
is a high cliff of rock, extending for some
. distance, and the whole, face of the rock is
perforated with a multitude of caves. These
are all excavated. There are galleries of commu
nication and stairs, also excavated, so that the
rook may be likened to a piece of sponge. Any
one who is acquainted with the City of Caverns at
Inkermann will be able to realise an idea of this
place, the difference being that the descrip
tions would lead us to suppose that the
caverns at Bamian are much more extensive
than those at Inkermann. In addition to the
caves there are two niches hollowed out
in the face of the scarp, and in these niches
the rock has been left and carved into two
enormous figures about 100 feet high. There
is a third and smaller figure which has no niche;
some projecting mass of rock has been cut away,
and the figure is made standing out into
the valley. As we have no exact date
to go upon, it cannot be said as yet
whether these figures existed or not when
"striding Alexander" with his Macedonian
hosts went past. Certainly these figures must
. have looked down on. many conquerors as they |
went on towards the Indus. In our own period a
battle was fought in the valley under these figures,
between Dost Mahomed and Brigadier Dennie, onj
the 18th September, 1840. Later still another
battle took place between the sons of Dost Ma
homed when they were fighting for the throne
after his death. The Pyramids of Gizeh
and the forty centuries, to which Na
poleon appealed when he addressed his
loldiers, must have been but vague abstractions in
comparison to the visible presence of these colossal
figures, a hundred feet in height, towering,
like Jins, over the noise and smoke of battle
during these actions at Bamian.
The Greeks who went with Alexander reported
that they had seen the Cave of Prometheus in the
Paropamisus, or the Indian Caucasus, and some
writers conclude, as the geographical position
suits the theory, that this report must have been
founded on the caves at Bamian, and that they
existed at that time. The Hindoos ascribe them to
the " Panche Pandoo Ke Bhai," or the Five
Pandoo Brothers; who are something like ( the
Cyclops of the Greeks or giants of the Northern
nations, and get the credit of all gigantic works.
There is a long ridge of rock like a petrified ser
pent, the origin of which is thus described:—
According to the Hindu legend, Arjuna, one of
the five brothers, went out walking, and when
about four miles away he found on his path a
snake of huge dimensions and of dreadful shape.
It attempted to swallow up Arjuna, but he struck
it dead at the first blow, cutting it into two
halves. The stony monster is still to be
seen, and still resembles a serpent, with water
flowing through it. This is, no doubt, some old
aqueduct connected with the water supply of the i
place to which the story has been tacked on. The i
Mohammedans call the two principal figures Lat r
and Manat, and identify them with two idols,
which have similar names, mentioned in the 53rd
chapter of the Koran.
These are only a few of the traditions which, as
might be expected, such a very remarkable place
as this has given birth to. The general impression
is that the ruins belong to the Buddhist period.
According to this theory, the caves were the eells
of a vast monastery of Buddhist monks. At Ajunta,
near Bombay, as well as at other places, there are
numerous caves of this description. Such places
are called Yiharas, and every monk had his sepa
rate cell; while some of the larger caves were
called Chaityas, and in them they met as a
congregation for worship. From one or two slight
Bketches of the colossal figures which have been
brought home, it is thought that a resemblance,
can be traced to the style of the' Buddhist
figure* found in the Peshawur district, and which
have been already alluded to as bearing evidence
of the Greek influence. If this theory of these
caves and the flgrures being Buddhist should turn
out to be the true one, then, as Buddhism is not
supposed to have progressed so far north at the
date of Alexander's march upon India, the con
clusion will be that they did not exist at his time.
Eeligious ascetics who lived in the woods and in
caves most probably existed Ion g before Buddhism,
*nd it is quite possible that there may have been
caves at Bamian at a very early period, and they
might have origip.ated the story of the Cave of
Prometheus. If we suppose that the place had
acquired a celebrity for holy men, it would be
exactly such a place which the Buddhist monks
would adopt for their Viharas; and, if they did
this, they may have extended the caves and pro
duced the large figures, which, so far as we can
at present judge, seem to bo figures of Buddha.
A few accurate plans of the caves and a careful
sketch or two of the figures would soon put
this point beyond dispute.
On the slopes of the Hindoo Koosh, away to the
north and east of Peshawur, there are some races
whose religion is certainly not that of the Prophet.
The Mohammedans call them Kafirs, or infidels,
end they are supposed by some writers t« be the
descendants of Greeks left there during the Bao-
trian occupation. They are said, most of them, to
have fair complexions and blue or grey eyes,
which is certainly not the usual type in that
quarter of the world. In Dardistan there are 1
some of this race who are known as Siah-posh
Kafirs," or black-clothed infidels, from the colour
of the dress they wear. Some of them have an
abhorrence of the cow, something like that of the
Mohammedan against the pig; they do not eat
beef nor drink milk.
At Ghuzni is the tomb of Mahraud, the first
Mohammedan who invaded India. Here again is
another old monument of Afghanistan which is
Intimately associated with the invasion and con
quest of India. Mahmud made more than one
taid across the Indus, but he never occupied the
country. His most celebrated exploit was his
expedition against Puttun-Somnath in Gujerat,
■where there was a very celebrated Hindoo
temple. It was also celebrated for its wealth, and
either under the attraction of this, or impelled by
Mohammedan antagonism against idolatry, he
Jed an army to PuttuH-Somnath, where, after a
hard fight, he destroyed the temple and looted its
treasury, which had the reputation of being well
Elled, and its contents he carried back with him to
jGhuzni. Along with this treasure he is sup
posed according to some histories to have taken
jBway the beautiful gates of the temple, which
■were of sandalwood, and these gates were
Said to have been placed on his tomb. This piece
pi history, although dating as far back as the
end of the tenth century, was so well known over
'India that on our troops having retrieved the repu-
jfAtixmjmldoh w«* «»"•■»">««d to have baenlnai in th« J