Bakhshali

Bakhshali is a village and Union Council of Mardan District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.[1] It is at 34°17'0N 72°9'0E and has a height of 307 metres (1010 ft).[2]

History

The village is famous for being the place where the Bakhshali manuscript was found. This is an ancient mathematical work written on birch bark and is the oldest surviving document in South Asia of Indian mathematics.[3] It was discovered in 1881 during British rule by a tenant of Mian An-Wan-Udin, a police inspector. The tenant discovered it while he was digging in an abandoned building.[4]

Bakhshali today

In March 2007 there were attacks made on music shops in Bakhshali. Two people were injured and one was killed in attacks by an unidentified extremist group who attacked the bazaar shooting and killing the watchman of the Seven Stars music centre.[5]

In August 2007 the people of Bakhshali observed a strike against power cuts. They blocked the main Mardan to Bakshali road in protest. The protectors said that the power cuts were harming business and their children's studies.[6] The village has also been affected by violence between the Taliban and the government; on 24 January 2008 the militants attacked the vehicle of former Health minister Syed Kamal Shah injuring his guard.[7] The rebels have also been pressuring local people to stop listening to music as well launching bomb attacks in the area.[5][7]

On 15 August a meeting of elders in Mardan decided to set up anti-Taliban group similar to one that has been stated in neighbouring Buner District. According to Shakoor Khan, an elder from Bakhshali who attended the meeting, "Before the Taliban resorts to torching more schools, we have decided to resist them".[8]

Related pages

References

  1. ↑ "Tehsils & Unions in the District of Mardan – Government of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
  2. ↑ Location of Bakhshali – Falling Rain Genomics
  3. ↑ Flood, Gavin (2003). The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Wiley. p. 371. ISBN 978-0-631-21535-6.
  4. ↑ The Bakhshali manuscript
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Extremists kill one, injure two in attacks on music shops Archived 2008-08-27 at the Wayback Machine, Marvaiz Khan, 18 March 2007, Freemuse, accessed 31 August 2008
  6. ↑ MARDAN: Demo held against loadshedding
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Mardan residents say paying price for delay in Taliban-govt peace pact – Daily Times
  8. ↑ "PAKISTAN: Border Villages Rise Up Against Taliban - Inter Press Service News agency". Archived from the original on 10 September 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2008.