Content area
Full Text
Abstract
Religion has always played a pivotal role in guiding the norms, values and beliefs of the human beings. Importance of religion in the history of human beings can not be denied. Though not abundant, evidences of the presence of Hinduism in Swat are found. Buddhism, however, not only prevailed here for centuries but the valley remained a great centre of Tantric Buddhism. Islam was introduced in Swat during Mahmud of Ghazna's rule, in the beginning of the eleventh century CE, but Buddhism existed here till the advent of the Yusufzais' in the sixteenth century CE. Information about the religious perspective of pre Muslims Swat is scanty. This paper is an attempt to connect the broken chain and produce a sketch on the basis of the available primary and secondary sources.
Religion has always played a pivotal role in guiding the norms, values and beliefs of the human beings. Importance of religion in the history of human beings can not be denied. Information about the religious perspective of pre Muslims Swat is scanty. This paper is an attempt to connect the broken chain and produce a sketch on the basis of the available primary and secondary sources.
About the religion of the prehistoric and pro-to-historic Swatis, Giuseppe Tucci has put a question:'Can we say anything about the religion of those ancient Swatis of whom, so far, only the graveyards and a few habitations have been found?.' And answering the question he has said:'Very little indeed, and this also cannot but be largely hypothetical' (Tucci 1977: 26).
Although'the presence of Hinduism in Swat is certain' (Tucci 1977: 38), traces of a great diffusion of Hinduism here are not so many. Hiuen Tsiang (recently spelled as XuanZang) has spoken (in about 630 CE) of'about ten temples of Devas [Hindus], and a mixed number of unbelievers who dwell in them' (Tsiang 1958, 2: 167). It, however, has rightly been pointed to that Yuan Chwang (Hiuen Tsiang), however, has not mentioned the location of these temples (See Muncheiji 1959: 41; Tucci 1958: 283). H.A. Deane, however, has stated, in 1896, of the presence of'a fine Deva temple' near the stupa situated between Shankardar (Shingardar) and Ghaligay (Deane 1896: 660). Not only the Hindu temples have been reportedly...