The Contributions of Peshawar Teachers in Development of Mahayana Buddhism in Gandhāra (1st-6th cent. CE).

The present paper highlights the intellectual contributions of ancient Peshawar with special reference to eminent teachers in Mahayana Buddhism. It extracted data from the archives of National Library of Beijing and Peking University, China. It consists of the Chinese Royal histories, the oldest extant biographies of Buddhist teachers, and anthologies of the Chinese pilgrims to Gandhāra. Furthermore, an extensive literature review of renowned scholars; and other chronicles, e.g., the dictionaries of Chinese and Pali Buddhist terms, is also referred to in the study. The presen paper pinpoints Peshawar as a place of origin for renowned Mahayanists who had previously been placed under the generic name 'India'. It details the distinct Kavya style of Aśvaghosa; the philosophical contributions of Yogacāra school of Asanga and Vasubandhu, and intellectual contributions of Jinangupta who travelled to China in 6th century CE, and translated a number of scriptures from Gandhari Prakrit to the Chinese language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]