Gandahara ?

                                                                                           Buddhist Triad Found in Gandahara
          Gandahara was an ancient afghan kingdom located somewhere between Kabul and Peshawar. At the height of its power Gandahara ruled Quetta, Baluchistan, Lahore and Kandahar.

          Evidence found in past indicated there were people living in this region 15,000 years before today and more recent evidence have also indicated that actually people lived in the region of Gandahara since 30,000 years. The name Gandahara has been mentioned in Rig-Veda (RV1 126.7) as well as a vista. Gandahara was one of the most famous territories of Darius I in 519 BC.

          The most famous cities of Gandahara were Purushapura (modern Peshawar) and Takshashila (Modern Taxila). The kingdom was first ruled from Kapisa (Bagram), pushkulavati (Chaharsada), Taxila, Purushapura (Peshawar) and finally from Udabhandapura (Hund) on the River Indus (Modern day Sind river).                                               Map of Gandahara
    
            After Cyrus the great united Iranian people the region was a part of Iran then in 4th century BC it was a part of mauryas around 185 BC Demetrius invaded Gandahara and Punjab after a long time of war in 90BC the partians took control of Gandahara. After the fall of partians they were divided to 75 different groups among those 75 was a tribe known as the Kushans (Kuṣāṇa), under the leadership of Kujula Kadphises who gained control of Gandahara and other parts of what is now Pakistan. During the rule of Kanishka Gandahara was at the peak of cultural improvement and was the most cultured state of Asia. Gandahara was invaded by Huns around 475 AD and they took control until 644 when Huns was defeated by Muslims and Gandahara was under pressure from Muslims but they failed to extend Muslim empire to Gandahara. The region was ruled by Turkishahi for the next 200 years from Kabul. After the turkishahi's based the Shahi's dynast (Kabuli Shahi). Jayapala was the last great king of this dynasty. His empire extended from west of Kabul to the river Sutlej. However, this expansion of Gandhara kingdom coincided with the rise of the powerful Ghaznavid Empire under Sabuktigin. Defeated twice by Sabuktigin and then by Mahmud of Ghazni in the Kabul valley, Jayapala committed suicide. Anandapala, a son of Jayapala, moved his capital near Nandana in the Salt Range. In 1021 the last king of this dynasty, Trilochanapala, was assassinated by his own troops which spelled the end of Gandhara.

        Gandahara was a cultural state and a famed Buddhist state. Buddhism extended from Gandahara to China and Chinese respected the state. The people of this region were said to be Pactyans (according to some evidence modern Pashtun) and now almost all of the population of this state are Pashtuns and Muslims.

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Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara#History