Forum Pakistan

There are large groups of petroglyphs (bas reliefs carved into the native rock) on rocks and stones in the upper reaches of the Paki tan *Indus. The several thousand rock drawings around the village of Chilas on the banks of the Indus were studied by K. Yettmar and A.H. *Dani. Hunters with bows and arrows, and wild goats predominate. There are a few scenes with groups of hunters or large groups of animals. These petroglyphs were made with a stone or a sharp metal object, figures being outlined with deep or shallow points. All of them are covered with a patina to different degrees. Buddhist symbols, (especially stupas) are of interest.

The style, patina and symbols allowed archaeologists to divide the drawings into several age groups: 1. Prehistoric drawings, presumably starting with the Mesolithic and the Bronze Age; 2. A group stylistically close to Scythian-Sarmatian art of the 1st millennium BC; 3. Buddhist drawings of the late l st millennium BCearly 1st millennium AD; 4. Mediaeval, 5th-13th centuries and later up to recent times. Chilas has the largest group of petro glyphs on the Great Silk Route.

There are also about 2,000 inscriptions in seventeen languages and twenty-four scripts that are often connected with drawings. The majority of them are Indian, in the Kharoshthi and Brahmi scripts. The former are dated from the 1st century AD, the bulk of them belong to the 2nd-3rd centuries. The inscriptions in the Brahrni script are later, up to the 8th century. There are many Buddhist inscriptions among them. Sogdian inscriptions predominate among the Iranian inscriptions. There are also Bactrian, Parthian, and middle Persian inscriptions. The Sogdian inscriptions are mostly names including ethnic names and the place of origin, mentioning areas of Samarkand and Tashkent. There are Chinese inscriptions, one of which is connected with a Chinese embassy to Samarkand.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: A.H. Dani, 'Chilas: the City of Nanga Parbat' Dyamar, Islamabad, 1983.