Colonial Archives and the Exploration of Gandhāran Heritage

Abstract

The British annexation of Punjab and Peshawar encouraged colonial officers to investigate the region’s rich archaeological landscape, initiating early research on Gandhāran heritage. Although none of these officers were formally trained archaeologists, their pioneering efforts produced valuable records of numerous Gandhāran Buddhist sites, some of which have since vanished or been forgotten. The Directorate of Archives and Libraries, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, preserves a substantial corpus of these exploration reports, dating from the 1860s to the creation of Pakistan in 1947. This paper examines selected archival records to highlight the methods and practices employed in the exploration of Gandhāran heritage during the latter half of the nineteenth century.