Hadda, Afghanistan

Hadda
(Afghanistan)

Buddhist stupas at Hadda, by William Simpson, 1881.[1]
Shown within Afghanistan Show map of Afghanistan Hadda, Afghanistan (Gandhara) Show map of Gandhara Hadda, Afghanistan (South Asia) Show map of South Asia
Coordinates	34°21′42″N 70°28′15″E / 34.361685°N 70.470752°E / 34.361685; 70.470752
Type	Group of Buddhist monasteries
History
Founded	1st century BCE
Abandoned	9th century CE

Haḍḍa (

.

Hadda is said to have been almost entirely destroyed in the fighting during the civil war in Afghanistan.

Background

Some 23,000 Greco-Buddhist sculptures, both clay and plaster, were excavated in Hadda during the 1930s and the 1970s. The findings combine elements of

in an almost perfect Hellenistic style.

Although the style of the artifacts is typical of the late Hellenistic 2nd or 1st century BCE, the Hadda sculptures are usually dated (although with some uncertainty), to the 1st century CE or later (i.e. one or two centuries afterward). This discrepancy might be explained by a preservation of late Hellenistic styles for a few centuries in this part of the world. However it is possible that the artifacts actually were produced in the late Hellenistic period.

Given the antiquity of these sculptures and a technical refinement indicative of artists fully conversant with all the aspects of Greek sculpture, it has been suggested that Greek communities were directly involved in these realizations, and that "the area might be the cradle of incipient Buddhist sculpture in

The style of many of the works at Hadda is highly Hellenistic, and can be compared to sculptures found at the Temple of Apollo in Bassae, Greece.

The

haḍḍ, n., id. and may reflect the linguistic influence of the original pre-Islamic population of the area.

• 
  Map of Hadda by Charles Masson, 1841.
• 
  The village of Hadda, seen from Tapa Shotor in 1976.

Buddhist scriptures

It is believed the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts-indeed the oldest surviving Indian manuscripts of any kind-were recovered around Hadda. Probably dating from around the 1st century CE, they were written on bark in

.

Tapa Shotor monastery (2nd century CE)

The earliest structures at Tapa Shotor (labelled "Tapa Shotor I" by archaeologists) date to the

A sculptural group excavated at the Hadda site of

rather than his usual club.

According to Tarzi, Tapa Shotor, with clay sculptures dated to the 2nd century CE, represents the "missing link" between the Hellenistic art of Bactria, and the later stucco sculptures found at Hadda, usually dated to the 3rd-4th century CE.^[8] The scultptures of Tapa Shortor are also contemporary with many of the early Buddhist sculptures found in Gandhara.^[8]

• 
  Head of a Buddha or Bodhisattva, facing (4th-5th century), probably Hadda, Tapa Shotor.^[9][10]
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  Attendants to the Buddha, Tapa Shotor (Niche V1)
• 
  Site of Tapa Shotor, with a protective roof.^[11]

Chakhil-i-Ghoundi monastery (2nd-3rd century CE)

The Chakhil-i-Ghoundi monastery is dated to the 4th-5th century CE. It is built around the

. It is usually dated to the 2nd-3rd century CE.

The decoration of the stupa provides an interesting case of

artistic elements. The reconstitution consists of several parts, the decorated stupa base, the canopy, and various decorative elements.

• 
  Canopy of the stupa
• 
  Scene of "The Gift of Dirt", Chakhil-i-Ghoundi Stupa, Gandhara.
• 
  Wine and dance scene, with people in Hellenistic clothing

Tapa Kalan monastery (4th-5th century CE)

Musée Guimet

.

The Tapa Kalan monastery is dated to the 4th-5th century CE. It was excavated by Jules Barthoux.^[12]

One of its most famous artifact is an attendant to the Buddha who display manifest Hellenistic styles, the "Genie au Fleur", today in Paris at the Guimet Museum.^[13]

• 
  Buddha statue in Tapa Kalan, Hadda
• 
  Small stupa decorated with Buddhas, Tapa Kalan, 4th-5th century CE
• 
  Indo-Corinthian capital, with figure of the Buddha inside acanthus leaves. Tapa Kalan.
• 
  Buddha with flying Erotes holding a wreath overhead, Tapa Kalan, 3rd century CE
• 
  Heads, Tapa Kalan.^[14]
• 
  The Great Departure

Bagh-Gai monastery (3rd-4th century CE)

The Bagh-Gai monastery is generally dated to the 3rd-4th century CE.^[15] Bagh-Gai has many small stupas with decorated niches.^[16]

• 
  Hadda number 13, Bagh Gai monastery, by Charles Masson, 1842.
• 
  Sculpture from Bagh-Gai
• 
  Decorative panel, Bagh-Gai monastery

Tapa-i Kafariha Monastery (3rd-4th century CE)

The Tapa-i Kafariha Monastery is generally dated to the 3rd-4th century CE. It was excavated in 1926–27 by an expedition led by Jules Barthoux as part of the French Archaeological Delegation to Afghanistan.

• 
  Hadda number 9, Tepe Kafariha, by Charles Masson, 1842.
• 
  Niche with the seated Boddhisatva Shakyamuni, Tapa-i Kafariha. Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[17]
• 
  Door casing: Life of the Buddha.

  Musée Guimet
• 
  Atlas, on the base of a stupa, Tapa-i Kafariha.^[18]

Tapa Tope Kalān monastery (5th century CE)

This large stupa is about 200 meters to the northeast of the modern city of Hadda. Masson called it "Tope Kalān" (Hadda 10), Barthoux "Borj-i Kafarihā", and it is now designated as "Tapa Tope Kalān".^[19]

The stupa at Tope Kalan contained deposits of over 200 mainly silver coins, dating to the 4th-5th century CE. The coins included Sasanian issues of

• 
  Ruins of the stupa (Hadda 10)
• 
  Kidarite

  coins from Tapa Kalan (Hadda 10)
• 
  Small decorative stupa at Hadda 10

Gallery

• 
  Polychrome Buddha, 2nd century CE, Hadda.
• 
  "Laughing boy" from Hadda.
• 
  Man with helmet, Tapa Kalan, Hadda, 3rd-4th century CE
• 
  Hadda Buddha fragment, 3rd-4th century CE
• 
  Hadda statue, 3-4th century CE
• 
  Head of Buddha, probably from Hadda, ca. 5th–6th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[21]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hadda.

• Vandalised Afghanistan
• Oldest Buddhist bark texts
• Photographs from Tepe Shotur/Haḍḍa