ABSTRACT
In the late ancient period, during the Śāhi dynasties in the northwest of the subcontinent, magnificent Hindu temples were built in and around Gandhara, on the banks of the Indus River, on the Salt Range, as well as around Kabul and in the Swat Valley. Here, an important Śāhi centre was at Barikot. At that time the site, already known in earlier Greek and Latin sources as Bazira/Beira, is mentioned as Vajirasthāna in a Brahmi-Śāradā inscription (dated between 964 and 1002 CE). Here are large remains of a Hindu temple, built on a monumental terrace previously constructed for a Buddhist sacred area. In addition to evidence from the excavation, surface documentation has led to the location of other Śāhi temples, at Zalamkot at the southern gateway to the Swat valley, at Manyar (near Barikot) and in the Talash valley, not far from the junction of the Swat and Panjkora rivers. The existence of other temples in the region can be guessed from sporadic findings. Śāhi sacred architecture formed a much larger cultural landscape that included fortified settlements, castles and watchtowers, documented, but only partially excavated, in the surrounding area.
