Gandharan
/ɡænˈdɑːrən/noun
Relating to Gandhara, an ancient region centered in what is now northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan.
Did you know?Gandharan art famously fused Buddhist imagery with Hellenistic Greek realism, likely reflecting the region’s contact with the world created by Alexander the Great.
Etymological Timeline
c. 520 BCE
Old Persian
Gandāra
“The name of an eastern province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, recorded in the Behistun inscription.”
4th–3rd Century BCE
Sanskrit
Gandhāra
“The ancient kingdom or region in the northwestern Indian cultural sphere.”
3rd Century BCE–1st Century CE
Prakrit
Gandhāra / Gāndhārī
“The regional name and the name of the language associated with Gandhara.”
1st–5th Century CE
Sanskrit
Gāndhāran
“Relating to Gandhara, especially its art, culture, language, or Buddhist tradition.”
19th Century
English
Gandharan
“An English adjective used by historians and archaeologists for the region and its cultural products.”
Modern English
English
Gandharan
“Relating to Gandhara or to the distinctive Gandharan artistic and religious tradition.”