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| Finding Traces of Tendency to Buddhism in Ancient Iran | ||||||||||
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Iranian and Japanese archaeologists discovered traces of Buddhism in an area near city of Sabzevar in Khorasan province. | |||||||||
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Tehran, 5 March 2006 (CHN) A joint Iranian-Japanese archeological team found out the traces of Buddhism in an area near Sabzevar city in Khorasan province. Architectural style similar to Buddhism temples, local narrations, the similarity between Sufism and Buddhism, and the historical evidence all indicate the existence of tendency toward Buddhism in Iran during ancient times. The joint Iranian-Japanese team started excavations in this historical site in order to find traces of Buddhism in ancient Iran. They believe that they might find one of Buddhism ancient temples in this area. “Last season some excavations were carried out in 19 historical sites in Zanjan, West Azarbaijan, Kurdistan, Hamadan, Central Khurasan, and Khurasan-e Razavi provinces. Since more evidence from the existence of Buddhism in ancient Iran was found in Pirastir area in 12 kilometers west of Sabzevar city, this area attracted more attention in this respect,” said Hamid Fahimi, head of joint Iranian-Japanese team to CHN. According to Fahimi, historical evidence and people’s narrations all indicate the existence of Buddhism in this area during the end of the Sassanid era and the beginning of the Islamic period. In addition, existence of buildings similar to Buddhism monuments in the vicinity of Pirastir, where according to local stories non-Muslim religious rituals were performed, strengthen the theory of existence Buddhism in ancient Iran. “Based on local legends, there were forty rooms around Pirastir building used by non-Muslim people for praying, who did not exit the rooms during performing religious ceremonies. The rooms had low ceilings, and were completely dark. The smoky ceilings and niche indicate that there were no openings for light entrance. These rituals were very similar to Buddhism religious ceremonies. According to historical evidence, this area was a religious place for Buddhists during ancient times in Iran. The exact date of these events is not clear yet. Since Pirastir building goes back to the Sassanid era and the beginning of Islamic period, it is supposed that Pirastir surrounding buildings must have been more ancient than this one,” added Fahimi. The joint researches and excavations of Iranian-Japanese team during the last season were started in order to identify the meaning of Bahar and Nobahar (spring, and new spring) phrases. Nobahar or new spring has its root in Sanskrit language and means a place where Buddhism temple is situated. Archeological excavations and anthropological studies of this team in Afghanistan led to the discovery of a Buddhism temple in Nobahar village in Balkh province which was destroyed by Taliban. “We are determined to expand our researches according to historical evidence. In addition to research libraries, one of the main programs of the team is to study the coins of the end of the Parthian and the beginning of the Sassanid eras. Because during these periods of time the local governor of Khorasan province had a tendency to Buddhism and minted the Buddha’s portrait on the coins,” explained Fahimi. According to Fahimi, Sassanid coins have not been studied in this respect so far, and considering the large number of discovered Sassanid coins, the study of them from this point of view may result in some important information in this respect. Fahimi also mentioned about the influence of Buddhism on Sufism in ancient Persia which means the existence of Buddhism in ancient Iran. Fahimi believes that many Sufism values have their roots in Buddhism religious, and there are many stories in this respect. The story of Ibrahim Adham’s life (Ibrahim Adham, a ninth century Sufi of Khorasan, was the Prince of Balkh who governed a large northeastern province in Persia) is very similar to the story of Buddha’s life. Therefore, studying Buddhism and Sufism cautiously and compare them with each other will lead to identifying the influence of Buddhism on Sufism beliefs in ancient Persia. Pirastir historical site is located in Pirastir village. The name “stir” is derived from “Sadir” and Sadir means a place where Buddhism temple is situated. “The evidence of existence Buddhism in some places where had already been excavated during last season has been approved to a large extent. With the acceptance of this project by the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Iran, some expand researches libraries and archeological soundings will be started to reach to a final conclusion,” said Fahimi. Japanese archaeological team is under the supervision of Tschihashi from Nara International Foundation which is one of the cultural and religious institutes in Japan, carrying out researches about Buddhism and its influence and movement through the route of Silk Road, which had an important role in connecting western and eastern countries during ancient times. |
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