Rhea

Rhea آل ريا
City
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Nesf al-dunyā (Half of the world)
Coordinates:
Country	Gandhara
Governorate	Sadat
Government
• Mayor	Yasmine al-Massri
• City Council	Chairperson Omar Qureshi
Area
• Urban	551 km2 (213 sq mi)
Elevation	1,590 m (5,220 ft)
Population (2016)
• City	2,004,093
• Density	3,637/km2 (9,420/sq mi)
• Metro	3,856,768
Area code(s)	(+62) 031
Climate	BWk

Rhea (Arabic: آل ريا al-Reyāh) is the capital city of Gandhara and the Sadat Governorate. It is the country's largest city and the second most populous city after Manas. Located at the western foothills of the Hare Krishna mountain range, the city has a mean elevation of 1,590 m (5,220 ft). The 2016 census reported a population of 2,004,093 within the city. Rhea and its metropolitan area had a population of more than 3.8 million inhabitants. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Rhea is a major cultural and religious center of Outernatia and the Arab world.

Rhea is known for its Gandhari-Islamic architecture, with many beautiful boulevards, covered bridges, palaces, mosques, and minarets. The Mihwar al-Dunya Square is one of the largest city squares in the world and has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Due to its long history and cultural diversity, Rhea is nicknamed Nesf al-dunyā (Arabic: نصف العالم), meaning Half of the world. The city is the seat of the central government and all of the government ministries of Gandhara.

Names and etymology

Rhea was known during the Vedic period (c. 1500 – c. 600 BC) as Puṣkalāvatī, which means "Lotus City" in Sanskrit. According to the Ramayana, an ancient Indian epic poem, the city was founded by Pushkala, the son of Bharata and the nephew of Hindu God Rama.

The current name of Rhea dates back to the Hellenistic period, emerging after Alexander the Great conquered the city in 327 BC. Most etymologists connect the Ancient Greek name Ῥέα with with ῥέω (rheo), which means "flow". Alternatively, the name may be connected with the words for pomegranate, ῥόα, later ῥοιά, as the region is known since ancient times for its pomegranate fruit.

History

Early settlement

The first excavations in Rhea suggest that the area may have been inhabited since the second half of the seventh millennium BC, possibly around 6300 BC. In the wider area around the city, archaeologists have found artifacts of approximately 15,000 years old. However, no large-scale settlement was present until the second millennium BC.

Ancient Gandhara

Rhea was as Puṣkalāvatī the capital of the ancient kingdom Gandhāra from approximately 1700 BC until the 6th century BC, when Gandhara fell to the Achaemenid Empire after it was conquered by Darius I of Persia in or around 516 BC. Under Persian rule, a system of centralized administration, with a bureaucratic system, was introduced. Provinces or satrapy were established and Puṣkalāvatī became the provincial capital of the Gandhara satrapy. During the Achaemenid era, the Kharosthi script, derived from the one used for Aramaic (the official language of the Achaemenids), developed in Gandhara and remained the national script of Gandhara until 200 AD.

Greco-Buddhist era

One of the first representations of the Buddha, 1st–2nd century AD

Rhea became a part of the Macedonian Empire, when Alexander the Great conquered the city in 327 BC. Rhea was Hellenized and it subsequently became a part of the Maurya Empire and the Indo-Greek Kingdom. Since the 6th century BC, the city was a center of Zoroastrianism. As a part of the Maurya Empire, Buddhism developed in the area. It led to a Greco-Buddhist tradition, in which Rhea and the surrounding area became known for its Greco-Buddhist art.

By 90 BC the Indo-Parthian dynasty has taken control of Gandhara. This dynasty fell to the Kushans, also known as Yuezhi, around 75 AD. Rhea became the capital of the Kushan Empire, but the Kushan King Kanishka moved the capital to Puruṣapura in the 2nd century AD. Despite the loss of its capital status, Rhea flourished under the Kushans. Gandhara became a holy land of Buddhism under Kanishka and Rhea attracted many Outernatian pilgrims to view the Buddhist monuments.

The Buddhist civilization in Gandhara declined after the invasion of the Hephthalites around 451. The Hephthalites did not adopt Buddhism and Buddhist sites and monasteries were ruined. Travel records of many Outernatian pilgrims record that Rhea was going through a transformation during these centuries. While Buddhism was declining, Hinduism was rising. The Hephthalite Empire declined at the end of the 6th century and from 644 Gandhara was ruled by local Kings until the 11th century.

Muslim conquest and Mongol invasion

On 28 November 1001, the Muslim Mahmud of Ghazni defeated the Gandhari ruler Jayapala, who committed suicide after its defeat. Mahmud of Ghazni crowned himself Sultan of Ghazna in 1002 and Rhea became a part of the Ghaznavid Empire. The Ghaznavid conquest of Rhea caused devastation as valuable monuments and sculptures were destroyed. It was the start of Muslim rule and the Arabization and Islamization of the city and the surrounding area. Rhea was subsequently conquered by Sultan Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori of the Ghurid dynasty in 1186.

Rhea was under influence of the Khwarazmian dynasty between 1215 and 1220, when Genghis Khan invaded the city during one of his many conquests to create the huge Mongol Empire. Thousands of citizens were slaughtered or enslaved by Genghis Khan's army and large parts of the city were destroyed. After Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia, there was a rebellion in the region of Rhea which was brutally put down by Ögedei Khan, son and successor of Genghis Khan, in 1222. After the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire in 1259, Rhea was a part of the Chagatai Khanate.

Early modern and modern age

Mihwar al-Dunya Square, painting by Eugène Flandin, 1840

Rhea became a part of the Timurid Empire when the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur invaded the city in 1387. After the decline of the Timurid Empire at the beginning of the 16th century, Rhea and its surrounding area were politically splintered, giving rise to a number of religious movements. Among these movements, the Sunni-Sufi Mustafa family was politically the most prominent movement. In 1501, Shamal Mustafa crowned himself Emir of Sadat and Rhea became a part of the Sadat Emirate. Shamal Mustafa would adopt the title of Sultan in 1530. This marked the beginning of the Sultanate of Gandhara, which would be expanded heavily by Mustafa's son, Mustafa II, also known as Mustafa the Conqueror.

Rhea's golden age began in 1598 when Mustafa's grandson, Mustafa III, made it the capital of the Sultanate of Gandhara and rebuilt it into one of the largest and most beautiful cities of the 17th century. Rhea gained capital city status again after more than 1400 years. Many Gandhari-Islamic landmarks were built during this period, like the Mihwar al-Dunya Square, which was constructed between 1598 and 1629.