(the ancient Bazira). They claim it was constructed in the times of Ashoka's reign in Mauryan period, around 250 BC. It was also found that this structure was still in function during the reign of Menander I, the Indo-Greek king, in the mid-second century BC, but even though it was enhanced in later times, it came to an end around the third or fourth century of the Common Era, as the city was abandoned by the Kushan rulers of the time due to an earthquake. This is the earliest apsidal temple found in Pakistan until now, and is a revolutionary discovery also because it proves the presence of Buddhism in Swat since the 3rd century BC, and confirms that Menander I, known as Milinda by early Buddhists, supported this cult. “We have found coins, among which a silver specimen issued by King Menander, an onyx-made seal decorated with a Hellenistic intaglio depicting the image of a youth in Greek attire with a Kharosthi inscription, a monumental Kharosthi epigraph, many other Kharosthi inscriptions on pots, and potsherds belonging to the Indo-Greek cultural horizon such as fish plates and polished black pottery that imitates Attic models,” said the archaeologist Dr Michele Minardi, member of the Italian mission. Indo-Greek Phase (c. 150-100 BC) The Italian expeditions in the 1980s and 90s discovered an Indo-Greek town from around the time of King Menander I in the 2nd century BC. The 2nd century BC town covered, at its peak, an area of about including the acropolis, or about without. It was surrounded by a defensive wall with massive rectangular bastions. This defensive wall, constructed around Barikot during the Indo-Greek phase belongs to Macrophase 3a2, after 150 BC, as per 2016-2017 excavations by the same Italian mission when this wall, massive and imposing, was dated by numismatic findings and radiocarbon analysis. Kushan Times Under the Kushan Empire it grew into a major town before a series of earthquakes in the 3rd century AD devastated it. Probably due to the damage from the earthquakes as well as the decline of the Kushan Empire, Bazira was abandoned by the end of the 3rd century. Turk Shahi Times Turk Shahi was a Kabul-based Turkic dynasty which also ruled Swat Valley (from 7th to 9th centuries AD), so members of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan were able to find a unique temple from this period, built in Barikot, on