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Timeline

Circa 9th century BCE First reference to Gandhara in the tenth book of the Rigveda
522–486 BCE Reign of Darius I, king of Persia
518 BCE Gandhara becomes a Persian province
5th century BCE Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the historic Buddha
327–326 BCE Invasion of Alexander the Great, Greek-Macedonian king, into Gandhara and northwest India
321–circa 297 BCE Reign of Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan Empire
312–281 BCE Reign of Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire
312 BCE Gandhara is part of the Seleucid Empire
305 BCE In exchange for 500 war elephants, Gandhara and Arachosia become part of the Mauryan Empire
268–240 BCE Reign of Ashoka, ruler of the Mauryan Empire, supporter of Buddhism
Circa 250 BCE Foundation of the Greco-Bactrian Empire
247 BCE Foundation of the Parthian Empire
Circa 180 BCE Conquest of Gandhara and northwest India by the Greco-Bactrians
Circa 140 BCE Invasions of the Scythians from Central Asia (Sakas, Yuezhi, and others)
1st century BCE Foundation of the Indo-Scythian dynasty
Early 1st century CE Kingdom of Odi in the Swat valley
Mid-1st century Foundation of the Kushan Empire in Gandhara by a Yuezhi tribe
127-150 Reign of Kanishka I, Kushana ruler; first heyday of Buddhist art in Gandhara
232 Foundation of the Iranian Sasanian dynasty in Afghanistan; the so-called Kushanshahs become viceroys
Circa 320 Foundation of the Gupta Empire in North India
400 Chinese pilgrim monk Faxian in Gandhara
630 Chinese pilgrim monk Xuanzang in Bamiyan, makes a record of the giant buddhas
861–900 Islamic Saffarid dynasty in Afghanistan
1008 Gandhara comes under the reign of the Muslim Ghaznavids

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