India, Jan. 5 -- Ancient Buddhist mounds uncovered in Baramulla reveal Kashmir's forgotten role as a bridge between India, Gandhara, and Central Asia. In October 2023, far from home, archaeologist Mohmmad Ajmal Shah sat in France staring at an old, pale photograph. It showed three low mounds in Zehanpora, Baramulla.

The earth seemed ordinary, almost invisible, but something beneath it was calling to him.

Baramulla has seen spades before. Records trace digs back to the 1860s.

At Ushkur, once called Hushkapura, the Archaeological Survey of India uncovered a stupa in the 1870s.

What came out of the soil surprised everyone: terracotta heads shaped in the Gandharan style, proof that Kashmir was tied into a larger Buddhist world of art a...