columns at
Jandial,
Taxila,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
Pakistan. It is usually interpreted as a Zoroastrian
fire temple from the period of the Indo-Parthians. The city of
Taxila is thought to have been a capital of the Indo-Parthians. Large strata were excavated by Sir
John Marshall with a quantity of Parthian-style artifacts. The nearby temple of
Jandial is usually interpreted as a Zoroastrian
fire temple from the period of the Indo-Parthians. Some ancient writings describe the presence of the Indo-Parthians in the area, such as the story of Saint
Thomas the Apostle, who was recruited as a carpenter to serve at the court of king "Gudnaphar" (thought to be Gondophares) in India. The
Acts of Thomas describes in chapter 17 Thomas' visit to king Gudnaphar in northern India; chapters 2 and 3 depict him as embarking on a sea voyage to India, thus connecting Thomas to the west coast of India. As Senior points out, this Gudnaphar has usually been identified with the first Gondophares, who has thus been dated after the advent of Christianity, but there is no evidence for this assumption, and Senior's research shows that Gondophares I could be dated even before 1 AD. If the account is even historical, Saint Thomas may have encountered one of the later kings who bore the same title. The Greek philosopher
Apollonius of Tyana is related by
Philostratus in
Life of Apollonius Tyana to have visited India, and specifically the city of
Taxila around 46 AD. He describes constructions of the Greek type, probably referring to
Sirkap, and explains that the
Indo-Parthian king of Taxila, named
Phraotes, received a Greek education at the court of his father and spoke Greek fluently: : : The
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is a surviving 1st century guide to the routes that was commonly used for navigating the Arabian Sea. It describes the presence of Parthian kings fighting with each other in the area of Sindh, a region traditionally known at that time as "Scythia" due to the previous rule of the Indo-Scythians there: :"This river (
Indus) has seven mouths, very shallow and marshy, so that they are not navigable, except the one in the middle; at which by the shore, is the market-town, Barbaricum. Before it there lies a small island, and inland behind it is the metropolis of Scythia, Minnagara; it is subject to Parthian princes who are constantly driving each other out." Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Chap 38 An inscription from
Takht-i-Bahi bears two dates, one in the regnal year 26 of the Maharaja Guduvhara (again thought to be a Gondophares), and the year 103 of an unknown era.
Religion of the Indo-Parthians fire-altar. The religion of the House of Suren is unknown although it is known to have been in conflict with the Zoroastrian
Arsacid dynasty. Unlike the Indo-Greeks or Indo-Scythians, there are no explicit records of Indo-Parthian rulers supporting Buddhism, such as religious dedications, inscriptions or even legendary accounts. Also, although Indo-Parthian coins generally closely follow Greek numismatics, they never display the Buddhist
triratna symbol (apart from the later
Sases), and they never use depictions of the elephant or the bull, possible religious symbols that were profusely used by their predecessors. They are thought to have retained
Zoroastrianism since they were of Iranian extraction themselves. This
Iranian mythological system was inherited from them by the later
Kushans who ruled from the
Peshawar-
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region of
Pakistan. Coins of the
Hindu deity
Shiva have also been found issued in the reign of Gondophares I.
Representation of Indo-Parthian devotees On their coins and in the art of Gandhara, the Indo-Parthians are depicted with short crossover
jackets and large baggy
trousers, possibly supplemented by
chap-like over-trousers. Their jackets are adorned with rows of decorative rings or medals. Their hair is usually bushy and contained with a headband, a practise largely adopted by the Parthians from the 1st century AD. Individuals in Indo-Parthian attire are sometimes shown as actors in Buddhist devotional scenes. It is usually considered that most of the excavations that were done at
Sirkap, near
Taxila, by
John Marshall relate to Indo-Parthian layers, but more recent scholarship sometimes relates them instead to the
Indo-Greeks. That archaeological research has provided a quantity of Hellenistic artifacts combined with elements of Buddhist worship (
stupas). Some other temples, such as in nearby
Jandial, may have been used as a Zoroastrian
fire temple.
Buddhist sculptures The statues found at Sirkap in the late Scythian to Parthian level (level 2, 1–60 AD) suggest a developed state of Gandharan art at the time or even before Parthian rule. A multiplicity of statues, ranging from Hellenistic gods, to various Gandharan lay devotees, are combined with what are thought as some of the early representations of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Today, it is still unclear when the
Greco-Buddhist art of
Gandhara exactly emerged, but the findings in Sirkap do indicate that the art had been highly developed before the advent of the
Kushans.
Stone palettes Numerous
stone palettes found in Gandhara are considered to be good representatives of Indo-Parthian art. These palettes combine Greek and Persian influences, together with a frontality in representations which is considered as characteristic of Parthian art. Such palettes have been found only in archaeological layers corresponding to Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian rule, and are essentially unknown the preceding
Mauryan layers or the succeeding
Kushan layers. The palettes very often represent people in Greek dress in mythological scenes, but a few of them represent people in Parthian dress (head-bands over bushy hair, crossed-over jacket on a bare chest, jewelry, belt, baggy trousers). A palette from the
Naprstek Museum in
Prague shows an Indo-Parthian king, seated crossed-legged on a large sofa, surrounded by two attendants also in Parthian dress. They are shown to be drinking and serving wine. File:IndoParthianHunting.JPG|Indo-Parthian man hunting. File:IndoParthianReveling.JPG|Indo-Parthian revelers. File:IndoParthianCouple.JPG|Indo-Parthian couple. ==Silk Road transmission of Buddhism==