A Walk Through the Ancient City of Sirkap
Sirkap, the second city after Bhir at Taxila was founded by the Greco Bactrian king Demitrius in 180 B.C. Since then and until the second century A. D for over 250 years it was first re-built and improved by the Indo Greek King Menander before it was taken over by the Scythians and Parthians. The Indo Parthian King Godophares-I, may have been the last king who at least occasionally was in residence at Sirkap. The Kushanas (Sakas) who ruled the region later, abandoned the city and built another city Sirsukh. The city accordingly bears the footprints of at least four different dynasties who invaded the Gandhara region from within as well as the present day Persia, Afghanistan and Central Asia from time to time in the second and first century B.C. The remains of the Sirkap city exist just opposite the UET (Taxila) and are at a crow flight distance of not more than a couple of miles from the Wakefield Gardens. Arranged by The Gandhara Resource & Research Centre (GRRC) at the Wakefield Gardens, Sirkap provided the first walk through of a Taxila Ruin. It was aimed at furnishing not only acquaintance but also educating the members of the Wakefield Forum and their families about the history behind this ancient city and its current state of existence. This blog describes the walk through that took place on Saturday the 23 Nov 2019.
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1. Introduction: As very ably introduced by Dr Nadeem Tarar former Director of PNCA, Rawalpindi just before the visit to Sirkap at the GRRC, the Sirkap was a very well planned metropolis, built on the Greek 'Iron Grid' design pattern, similar to Islamabad. The city was fortified boasting a 6 meter thick, 5 kilo meter long defensive wall as in ancient Greek cities. The streets of the city were regular perpendicular to the main north-south street. There were temples, houses, shrines and stupas all along the main street. On the east side of the street were several notable structures, such as the shrine of Double Headed Eagle, the Apsidal Temple and a palace on a hill and a stupa at the south end of the street.
Photograph Captions:
(1) Irongrid Layout (Typical of Greeks) (2) Front Line of Shops (3) Jain Temple (4) Earthquake Proof Stone Laying) (5) Large & Smaller Stones Layering (6) A Smaller Size Stupa
2. Historical Perspective:
Sirkap was discovered by Alexander Cunningham in 1863. It was explored and excavated by John Marshall between 1913 and 1930, when he was Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. Attempts to establish the chronology of Sirkap had been made by a number of scholars. Based on numismatic evidence and the material culture from his own excavations, Marshall to begin with listed four stratas for Sirkap. He assigned the earliest stratum (IV) to the ‘pre-Greek’ times and the next stratum (III) to the period of the ‘Bactrian Greeks’, which is thought to be contemporary with the foundation of the city of Sirkap. The following stratum (II) was assigned to the ‘Saka’, which subsequently was rebuilt by the Parthians after an earthquake in AD 30. Marshall assigned the latest stratum of Sirkap to the period following the Kushan conquest, which he dated to c. AD 60.
Period IV: Pre-Greek times
Period III: : Bactrian Greeks 190 B.C
Period II: Sakas & Parthians (90 B.C - 30 B.C.)
Period I: Kushanas (60 - 80 A.D)
The excavated structures now visible in the
plan are, by and large, Marshall’s Sirkap Stratum II, which represents the city
rebuilt by the Indo-Parthians after the earthquake of about AD 30.
Sirkap was discovered by Alexander Cunningham in 1863. It was explored and excavated by John Marshall between 1913 and 1930, when he was Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. Attempts to establish the chronology of Sirkap had been made by a number of scholars. Based on numismatic evidence and the material culture from his own excavations, Marshall to begin with listed four stratas for Sirkap. He assigned the earliest stratum (IV) to the ‘pre-Greek’ times and the next stratum (III) to the period of the ‘Bactrian Greeks’, which is thought to be contemporary with the foundation of the city of Sirkap. The following stratum (II) was assigned to the ‘Saka’, which subsequently was rebuilt by the Parthians after an earthquake in AD 30. Marshall assigned the latest stratum of Sirkap to the period following the Kushan conquest, which he dated to c. AD 60.
Period IV: Pre-Greek times
Period III: : Bactrian Greeks 190 B.C
Period II: Sakas & Parthians (90 B.C - 30 B.C.)
Period I: Kushanas (60 - 80 A.D)
Much has been said about the association of Sirkap with the Indo-Greeks and their possible occupation of the this city.
One of the main features that plays a role in such an association is the flat-topped hill
called Hathial mound, situated to the south of the excavated structures of Sirkap, which is believed to have been used
as an acropolis by the Indo Greeks.
(1) Hill (Hathial Mound) at the South End (2) View of Sirkap from top of the hill
Photograph Captions
Observations:
(1) There was a need for spreading awareness around, about our archeological monuments. It was accordingly necessary to develop a "Adopt a Heritage Initiative" (3) The compilation of detailed 3D representation of archaeological monuments too is of great importance for restoration purposes. In this connection the attention of universities may need to be drawn.
Points to Ponder:
(1) It was not clear if 'Hathial Mound' was part of Sirkap city from the begining or was it a separate site that was built at the fag end of the Sirkap timeline? The GRRC may consider arranging a discussion forum on the subject (2) As the City underwent a severe earthquake in 30 AD, the top layer of the city belonging to the Sythian and Parthian periods in several cases was completely devastated. There is accordingly no identification of the periods associated with different monuments. For example it is not known to which period the Jain Temple related or similarly about the Apsidal Temple and the Sun Clock etc.,
Points to Ponder:
(1) It was not clear if 'Hathial Mound' was part of Sirkap city from the begining or was it a separate site that was built at the fag end of the Sirkap timeline? The GRRC may consider arranging a discussion forum on the subject (2) As the City underwent a severe earthquake in 30 AD, the top layer of the city belonging to the Sythian and Parthian periods in several cases was completely devastated. There is accordingly no identification of the periods associated with different monuments. For example it is not known to which period the Jain Temple related or similarly about the Apsidal Temple and the Sun Clock etc.,
