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and Wazomitra, both from Gandahara, were his literary councillors. Mantanza and Gabharana were two of the many learned people from Gandahara of his time. Buddhist temples were the main centres of art and literature. Hundreds of students and learned people were conducting their studies in various fields, composing great poetry, writing books and doing translation work in the temples. Writing was done on wood blocks, which were thus prone to destruction. Some writing of this period was found in 1930 near the smaller statue at Bamian and it is believed the author is Aswagosha, a poet at the court of Kanishka. Around the third century B.C. another tongue, of the same family of languages as the above, came into the picture on the shores of the Oxus and was called Parsawi. This tongue developed and spread to the western regions of Khorassan, while it was still being spoken at its original source. It was from this that the Dari Persian developed, which is one of the two main languages of Afghanistan today. The first known poet in Persian was Hanzala Badghisi (Badghis being a district in western Afghanistan). Many great works in this language have come into being in Afghanistan, the most famous being the Shahnama of Ferdawsi of Tus, which was written during the reign of Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi. The origin of Pakhto, the more prevalent of the two main languages of Afghanistan, is somewhat obscure. A close study of it shows resemblances to Parakrit and to Zend, the language of the Avesta. Parakrit is one of the languages of the Indo-Aryan group of languages, as opposed to Zend, which is in the Indo-Iranian branch. Pakhto thus seems to be an independent language alongside the Indo-Aryan and Indo-Iranian languages, and to have evolved, with the others, from a mother tongue—the original tongue of the Aryans—prior to their migration south and west. Pakhtoons are the people who speak Pashto (Pakhto). The words Pakhtoon and Pakhto are related to the name of Bactria, or Bakhtar, Bakhdi or Pakhdi (the modern Balkh), the origin of Zend, the language of the Avesta. Herodotus mentions the Pakhtoons as Paktyes and calls them a branch of the Aryans inhabiting the country of Paktia. Other dialects spoken in Afghanistan are as follows: Baluchi, Shughni, Roshani, Wakhi, Inshkashni, Ormuzi, Parachi, Kati, Waigali, Pashai, Uzbeki, Turkmani, etc. The advent of Islam brought with it the rich Arabic language and Afghanistan, accepting the religion, turned its attention to Arabic culture and literature. It is a known fact that services rendered by Muslims from Afghanistan to the World of Islam were diverse. Many religious leaders rose from Afghanistan to spread Islam eastward and southward and even to contribute in propagating Islamic thought and philosophy westward. Imam Azam ben Sabit, Imam Ahmad ben Hambal Marwazee, Mohammed ben Keram Zaranjee, Maulana Jalaluddin Balkhi, Sayyed Jamaluddin Afghani are but a few who may be named in this respect. Arabic literature, too, was served by such eminent Afghan literary figures as Bishar ben Bard Takharistanee Abu-Ata-i-Sindee, Abul Fazl Ahmed and many others. Contributions were also made to Arabic literature in medicine, astronomy, and astrology by Afghan scholars. During the Islamic period, the place of sculpture was taken by developments in architecture, calligraphy, painting, illustrating, illuminating, etc., of which today there are many brilliant examples in various parts of Afghanistan and in museums everywhere. Amir Khalil, also known as Ghiasuddin, Ruhullah Mirak and Behzad Herawi are the most famous illuminators and artists of the ninth century in Afghanistan. 72