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Gandhāra (Sanskrit: गन्धार) was an ancient Indian kingdom mentioned in the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Gandhara prince Shakuni was the root of all the conspiracies of Duryodhana against the Pandavas, which finally resulted in the Kurukshetra War. Shakuni's sister was the wife of the Kuru king Dhritarashtra and was known as Gandhari after the area of Gandhāra (which is in modern Afghanistan and Pakistan). Puskalavati, Takshasila (Taxila) and Purushapura (Peshawar) were cities in this Gandhara kingdom. Takshasila was founded by Rama's brother Bharata. Bharata's descendants ruled this kingdom afterwards. During the epic's period, the kingdom was ruled by Shakuni's father Suvala, Shakuni and Shakuni's son. Arjuna defeated Shakuni's son during his post-war military campaign for Yudhishthira's Aswamedha Yajna.
Janamejaya, a Kuru king in Arjuna's line, conquered Takshasila, probably then ruled by the Naga Takshaka. He conducted a massacre called Sarpa Satra meaning the slaughter of the snakes, in which the Naga race was nearly exterminated. This massacre was stopped by a Brahmin named Astika, whose mother was a Naga. Nagas were considered as a super human tribe, in Puranas. Naga literally means a Serpent or a serpent-god. The Nagas could be a group of people who inhabited India during epic periods who worshiped snakes.
It is speculated that another super human tribe called the Gandharvas were originally inhabitants of the Gandhara kingdom[citation needed]. Gandharvas were well versed in music and art. This explains why there is much Gandhara influence in Indian Classical Music. Gandhara form of sculpturing is also famous (very close to Greek sculpturing) during the Kushan Era. The Yadava chief Bala Rama saw many Gandharva settlements on the banks of Saraswati River, not far from Gandhara, during his pilgrimage over Saraswati river basin. The Gandharva Kali and Dwapara, probably were princes from Gandhara. The last two Yugas (prehistoric periods) were named after them.[citation needed] Kuru King Dhritarashtra's wife was from Gandhara (a Gandharvi) and she was well known by the name Gandhari. There was a Gandhrava also by the name Chitrangada. (See Gandharva kingdom).
The period ended c. 535 BCE, with the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley.