Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Rigveda identifies Gandhara as a tribe possessing sheep with good wool, while Sanskrit terms define it as perfume or fragrance bringer. Old Persian inscriptions recorded the name as Gadāra, and Chinese records later referred to it as Jiāntuóluó.
Excavations along the Middle Swat River revealed burial practices dating from 1900 BCE to 800 BCE. Genetic analysis indicates ancestors mixed with Steppe ancestry populations between 1900 and 1500 BCE.
King Pukkusāti ruled during the 6th or 5th century BCE before Alexander the Great reached Arigaum in 327 BCE. Menander I reigned from 155 to 130 BCE, and Kanishka presided over the establishment of Mahāyāna teachings in northwest regions.
Gandharan art achieved peak status from 1st to 5th centuries before destruction by Alchon Huns invasion. Sculptors used stucco and stone to create youthful Buddha figures with wavy curls similar to statues of Apollo alongside Indo-Aryan elements.
Alchons undertook mass destruction of Buddhist monasteries and stupas at Taxila around 460s CE under Mihirakula. Chinese monk Xuanzang visited in 630 CE and reported that most monasteries were deserted and left in ruins when he arrived.
Charles Masson, James Prinsep, and Alexander Cunningham deciphered Kharosthi script in 1838 using Chinese records for location data. Archaeologist John Marshall excavated at Taxila between 1912 and 1934, discovering separate Greek, Parthian, and Kushan cities plus numerous stupas and monasteries.