Knowledge Nugget: How Zehanpora excavation reveals Kashmir’s Buddhist past for your UPSC exam

Why in the news?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28th December in his last Mann Ki Baat episode for 2025, has mentioned about ongoing excavations at the Zehanpora archaeological site in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. Highlighting Kashmir’s place in the ancient Buddhist world, he noted that these remains date back nearly 2,000 years to the Kushan period. The clue about these mounds surfaced from an archival photograph preserved in a French museum, showing three ancient stupas standing in Baramulla.

Key takeaways:

1. Shah Faesal, an IAS officer posted in the Ministry of Culture, in an article written in this newspaper highlighted the lesser-known facts about Kashmir in Buddhism history. Emperor Ashoka, of the Mauryan dynasty, who is believed to have founded the city of Srinagar has established monasteries and stupas in the region.

2. Kashmir’s location at the crossroads of the Indus-Gandhara region and the Himalayan corridor made it uniquely suited to act as a conduit between the Indian heartland and the wider Asian world.

Kushan-period Buddhist remains — stupas, structural foundations, and nearly two-millennia-old artefacts- were excavated from Zehanpora in Baramulla. (Maan ki baat)

3. Early Buddhist chronicles and later Sanskrit sources consistently refer to Kashmir as a land of learning or Sharada Pitha, symbolising its role as one of the foremost seats of learning in the ancient and early medieval periods.

4. The Buddhist philosophical tradition reached its zenith in the figure of Nagarjuna, the founder of Madhyamaka (the Middle Way) philosophy, which is the basis of Mahayana Buddhism. Nagarjuna travelled widely, and Kashmir emerged as one of the most important centres for the study, preservation, and elaboration of his thought.

5. It was during the Kushan period that the significance of Kashmir in Buddhist history became noticeable, precisely the era to which the Zehanpora remains are dated. Under Emperor Kanishka, Buddhism received unprecedented royal patronage.

Fragment of a Bust of Buddha dated 8th century in the possession of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art . (File photo)

6. The Fourth Buddhist Council was convened by Kanishka in Kashmir which was presided over by the scholar Vasumitra, with Ashvaghosha among its luminaries. This council was decisive in the systematisation and spread of Mahayana Buddhism, a form that emphasised compassion, the Bodhisattva ideal, and universal liberation.

7. From Kashmir, Mahayana ideas travelled to Qandhar, Kabul and thence over Bactria. In this sense, Kashmir was not peripheral to global Buddhism — it was one of its crucial launchpads. The Gilgit Manuscripts, among the oldest surviving Buddhist texts in the world, written in Sanskrit and Prakrit, reveal Kashmir and its neighbouring regions as custodians of Buddhist knowledge.

Let’s go back to basics: Origin of Buddhism

* Buddhism was founded by the Buddha, who was born as Siddhartha. He was the son of king Suddhodana, a leader of the Sakya clan of Kapilavastu (located in modern day Nepal). According to various narrations, Maya gave birth to Siddhartha in a grove at Lumbini while en route to her natal home.

* According to the Pali texts, at the age of twenty-nine, he encountered life-changing sights – an old person, a sick person, a corpse, and an ascetic. Siddhartha was deeply moved by these sights, which exposed him to the unavoidable realities of life. Hence, he renounced his royal life and became a wandering ascetic for six years, performing severe austerities.

* Eventually, he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in Gaya (in Bihar) and came to be known as the Buddha or the Enlightened One. He is also referred to as Tathagata – the one who has liberated himself from the cycle of birth and death.

* The Buddha delivered his first sermon at a deer park near Banaras (Varanasi) to five of his disciples. This is referred to as dhammachakka-pavattana(the turning of the wheel of dhamma). In his sermon, the Buddha put forward a transformative path – a way of life that helps individuals to escape the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. At the core of his teachings are the four Noble Truths or Ariya-sachchani (Arya Satya), which are –

— The worldis full of suffering (dukkha)

— Suffering arises from desire (samudaya)

— Suffering can be overcome (nirodha)

— There is a path to achieve this – the Eight-fold Path or Atthanga-magga (Ashtanga Marga).

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Mahayana Buddhism

1. Mahayana Buddhism emerged around the 1st century CE, and its doctrines were further developed during the Fourth Buddhist Council. Acharya Nagarjuna is considered a pivotal figure in Mahayana Buddhism. He propounded the Madhyamika philosophy, which is the basis of Mahayana Buddhism.

2. Early Buddhist teachings were focused on self-attained nirvana. However, gradually the idea of a saviour emerged, who would ensure the salvation of others. With this emerged the concept of Bodhisatta. Bodhisattas were perceived as deeply compassionate beings who accumulated merit through their efforts but used this not to attain nibbana and thereby abandon the world, but to help others.

3. It was also called the “great vehicle”. Those who adopted these beliefs described the older tradition as Hinayana or the “lesser vehicle”. Mahayana is prevalent in north and north-east Asia.

Post Read Question

With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2016)

1. The concept of Bodhisattva is central to the Hinayana sect of Buddhism.

2. Bodhisattva is a compassionate one on his way to enlightenment.

3. Bodhisattva delays achieving his own salvation to help all sentient beings on their path to it.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

(Sources: Kashmir was a crucial launchpad for global Buddhism, How Buddhism shows the path to nirvana, ncert, mygov.in)

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