"In those days, archaeological excavations were done mainly by the French
and the Italians. My dad studied around the world, learned ten languages
and could speak in any of those languages without an accent."
Huvishka
reminisces, "He was always a very classy dresser, a ladies man. Even
in Italy, he always had the nicest suits, every single day he had the
button-down shirt and slacks. Just a classy guy with a sense of humor.
He always had these stories. He would tell me about putting spiders in
the underwear drawers in the girl's dorms."
Dr.
Mustamandy was far more than a classy renaissance man. He was the pre-eminent
Afghan archaeologist who spearheaded a decades long series of excavations
that shed light on a vast range of Central Asian culture and history.
Huvishka
describes how his father unearthed artifacts of Hellenist, Buddhist, Mongol,
Bactrian and Gandharan influence; tales of today's Afghanistan. His findings
revealed a country of varied ethnicities, influences, landscapes and histories
that most of the world is unaware exists.
In
329 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered Afghanistan, but was unable to
subdue the Afghan spirit, who constantly rebelled against the foreign
invaders by heading to the mountains and striking from a distance.
"The Greeks weren't around for very long?" I asked.
"No, but the Greeks brought a lot of technology to Afghanistan, and
they left behind coins and sculptures, influence."
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Huvishka
Mustamandy at age 3, and Aunt,
great buddhist statues of Bamyan |
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Dr.
Mustamandy's most famous excavations are of a Hellene depiction of Hercules
and of Hellen of Troy. Huvishka explains, "This earliest influence
dates back to Norway, because the Greek style was based on the Norse."
Circa
300 AD, Buddhist influence grew in Afghanistan, which is apparent in hundreds
of artifacts uncovered by Dr. Mustamandy in the 1960s and 1970s. Huvishka
describes the pieces as having a distinctly Asian quality to them. "(The
Afghan Buddhists from the seventh century spent years looking for a perfect
place to build (giant statues to worship Buddha)." At first they
were looking in the Hindu Kush mountains, but just because of how quickly
the climate changes, they couldn't do it. But they also needed the rock
foundation. They chose this particular spot (south of the Hindu Kush)
because it was warm enough."
Dr. Mustamandy
led the excavation of the giant buddhist statues; cleaning, uncovering,
studying what would later become one of the greatest symbols of Central
Asian heritage - 50 foot statues carved from shear cliff stone. Huvishka,
who was three during the excavations, says, "I was scared to be out
there. There were scorpions everywhere. I still have scars on my legs
from being bitten. I remember being at the Buddha statue, I was scared
of that thing, it was a huge monster. I couldn't stand by it alone, because
I thought it would come alive."
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