By Rafiullah Khan
The ancient history and archaeology of Swat valley, Pakistan, has been at par with other archaeologically and historically well-studied areas of South and Central Asia. It was first systematically explored by well-known scholar Sir Aurel Stein in 1926. His interest was two-fold, history of Buddhism and Greeks.
However, the area became stirring in the context of Tibetan Buddhism to Professor Giuseppe Tucci, the leading protagonist of Italian Archaeological Mission to Pakistan from 1955 till his death in 1984. His various seminal works about Swat (between 1940 and 1977) recently saw the light of day in the volume On Swāt: historical and archaeological notes. (The book, edited by P. Callieri and A. Filigenzi, was originally published by Istituto Italianol’Africa e l’Oriente, Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan [Rome 1997] but never reached the market due to some unusual circumstances.)
On Swāt contains 15 works of Tucci in addition to his biographical note by Petech, a list of honours awarded to him in Pakistan, his few obituaries by his Pakistani friends in national newspapers and magazines and still another obituary article by Taddei. Another addition in the present volume is P. Callieri’s paper titled ‘Giuseppe Tucci as archaeologist’.
The book contains accounts of Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims, a report on the archaeological heritage, some investigations in the art and enquiries concerning the Greeks’ military expedition. Significant speculations and intuitive observations, in addition to empirical, interpretive and synthetic summations, by Tucci about some historical processes and problems, which have been guiding archaeological and historical research in Swat so far, add seminality to the volume. One vital problem which kept Tucci preoccupied till his death was to procure such archaeological evidence which could add materiality to Tibetan textual narratives about Swat as being central to the development of Vajrayanic Buddhism. Considered as the birthplace of Padmasambhava Tibet has its own tradition of receiving Buddhism from the valley. Lack of prominent Vajrayanic themes in the archaeological landscape of Swat is as yet to be addressed more successfully. However, Tucci’s preliminary reflections in this respect have led to important studies in recent decades especially by A. Filigenzi.
On Swat may also be carefully read with regard to what is now popularly known as Gandhara Grave Culture. Tucci assigns the graves to the people with whom Alexander had encountered. They are, thus, called as pre-Buddhist in an obscure way. This nomenclature as well as temporal framework do not hold good now. The graves certainly belong to the protohistoric period and make great sense in the context of the Indus civilization disintegration and urbanism in the Early Historic India.
On Swat is a valuable reading for students and scholars alike. Historians of ancient South Asia, archaeological workers and cultural anthropologists can particularly benefit from the volume.
On Swāt: historical and archaeological notes By Giuseppe Tucci (Islamabad: Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 2013), pp. vii-xx, 1-348, Rs. 1000 in Pakistan/Outside US $ 40 (paperback), ISBN: 978-969-9265-01-3
Rafiullah Khan (PhD) is Assistant Professor at Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
