Excavations in Pakistan reveal Indo-Greek city remains

New season of excavations conducted at Barikot in the valley of Swat (Pakistan) revealed fortifications built by the Indo-Greek kings that ruled the city after the siege by Alexander the Great. Barikot is the present day name of the ancient city of Bazira. Ancient fortifications by the name of Barikot-Ghwandai, which are  located on the outskirts of the town, are being excavated by an Italian archaeological mission since 1984.

Excavation site (by Dawn)
Excavation site (by Dawn)

Recent excavations revealed large layers of the Indo-Greek city with weapons and coins as well as important pottery forms imported from Greek Bactria and from the Mediterranean area dated to the 2nd cent. BC. The Indo-Greek city, encompassed by the defensive wall is dated to 2nd cent. BC, but also remains of the pre-Greek city, the Mauryan settlement, dated to 3rd cent. BC were also discovered. Another find is the large late Kushan period temple with four pillars on the northern part, dated to 3rd cent. BC.

One of the coins found at the site (by Dawn)
One of the coins found at the site (by Dawn)

Results of excavations show that all the pre-Greek layers were artificially destroyed and obliterated along the defensive wall at the time of its construction, to make space to the fortification. The construction also revealed traces of the Iron Age village dated to 7th cent. BC.

(after Dawn)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.