La Conversione del Naga Apalala. Complessi Buddhisti e Controllo delle Acque nella Valle dello Swat (Pakistan)

Buddhist tradition recalls how the Buddha Shakyamuni miraculously appeared in the Swat valley to convert the Nagaraja Apalala who was tormenting the local populations with frequent floods. The historical-archaeological data collected by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan, now led by L.M. Olivieri, and the study of the numerous Buddhist monastic complexes that characterise the Swat valley seem to suggest a further interpretation key. The tale of the Buddha’s miraculous intervention may allude to the torrential river waters control by local Buddhist communities that seems to have characterised the agricultural landscape of the region at least in the early centuries of our era.