Blogchatter A2Z Challenge 2018: Theme reveal – Ancient Cities of India

Theme: Ancient Cities of India

That India has a rich historical and mythological heritage is not unknown, but hidden in the folds of such mythology and history are cities which once sparkled with glory. We know about a lot of such ancient cities of our country from the Vedas, Puranas and mythological legends. In later Vedic periods, accounts of historians and chroniclers from India, Greece, China and the Arabian region have given us legendary tales and information about many cities which were imperial seats of power, home to many dynasties, steeped in religion, learning and culture, thus etching their names in history forever.

My attempt during the A2Z Blogchatter Challenge in April will be to alphabetically showcase some of such ancient cities which have had an impactful life in ancient India, but have either faded into insignificance later, or changed their character and names as they fell into the hands of other rulers, or with time and change have been erased from the face of the world. In my blog-posts on these ancient cities I hope to share with my readers many lesser known ancient cities and the role they played in their times; also tracing the history of those cities down to the modern times wherever possible.

I hope my readers will enjoy this re-telling of history and the stories that come with it.

To leave you with a taste of history, let me share with you the story of Pushkalavati, an ancient city first excavated in 1902 by archaeologists John Marshall. Legend has it that Pushkalavati was founded by Bharat’s son Pushakala, as mentioned in the ‘Uttarakhanda’ of the Indian Epic Ramayana. 

This legendary city was built on the banks of the Swat River near its confluence with the Kabul River. Pushkalavati once served as the capital of the verdant Gandhara kingdom and was an imperial city which impressed the visiting Greeks, who called it ‘Peucelaitis’. 

King Ashoka built a stupa in Pushkalavati when he was propagating Buddhism in the region, and the city was later visited by the famous Chinese traveller Hieuen Tsang in 630 AD and finds mention in his records.

The ruins of Pushkalavati are found near the outskirts of modern-day Charsadda in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

So, if you enjoy mythology and history, stay tuned for my posts in the A2Z Blogchatter Challenge 2018!

Thank you…

Sayan Bhattacharya


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Ancient Cities of India has been published by BecomeShakespeare.com in both Paperback and eBook  (Amazon Kindle) editions, in April 2019. Hence the posts have been removed from my blog.

You may get your copy of the book from the following sellers:

Amazon India - https://www.amazon.in/Ancient-Cities-India-Sayan-Bhattacharya/

Amazon global - The book is available on the respective Amazon portals of USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Japan as part of its international distribution. Please search with the Title of the Book, or the Author name.

Flipkart India - https://www.flipkart.com/ancient-cities-india/

Become Shakespeare Dot Com - http://www.becomeshakespeare.com/ancient-cities-of-india/

Thank you for your interest in my Book, and I hope you will enjoy reading it.