At the same time, Gandharan art bears witness to the detailed knowledge of

western - specifically Greek and Roman - mythologies and visual cultures. Indeed,
the Gandhara region experienced the global expansion/conquest of Alexander the
Great (356-323 BC), beginning from the Mediterranean region, which lasted well
through his rule and continued through generations of successors, including those
of the Seleucid and Bactrian Dynasties. As evidenced by the minted coins of the
then-established Greek culture, the city of Taxila continued to exist under IndoGreco rule until the first century. This rule extended through subsequent time
periods, evidenced by the strategic use of Greek script on the coins during the early
Kushan dynasties that arose much later. This decision, due to the long presence of
Greek rulers through Bactria, may have been monumental to allowing the formation
of a trade route through the Middle East, the most famous of which was the Silk
Road. Rome, in particular, capitalized on the Silk Road, as well as another oceanic
route, during that time.

It is therefore not surprising that in Begram, north of Kabul, numerous plaster prints
with clearly Western themes and Bronze with Western deities, as well as the largest
collection/hoard of Indian elephant ivory, have been found. What is incredible,
however, is how inextricably intimately linked the societal elite and the Gandharan
artists were with Western art and how this knowledge could have been
implemented. The majority of documentations in the first three chapters and a few
thereafter, readily offer a myriad of examples, or at the very least a partial
reconstruction, as to the testimony of such a fascinating historical event.

The connection to the west and the prevalence of Buddhism should not be mutually
exclusive to one another, in regards to how the Gandharan art prevailed the south
Asian region and how Buddhism began to seep into a region that had up until then
been brahmish and afterwards strengthened by the Hinduism that had developed
during this period. Both the Kushan coins and small-time sculptures show, that even
under Kushan rule there was a significant portion of the population that followed
earlier forms of Hinduism, from which the worshipping of Shiva took on a beatific
purpose.

What was still popular was the War God Skanda, who could be recognized by the
chainmail he wore and the bow he carried over his chest. In the exhibition he is also
depicted as the one who felled the bullheaded (literally with a bull's head) demigod
Mahisa. Mahisa himself appeared in depictions much later in South India, but here
he is characterized in anthropomorphic form with a bull's head. This connection
points toward an aspect of Gandharan culture, which until now was found in little

observance, namely that of the connection between Gandharan art with the
development of South Indian art.

In addition to Indian influence was that of the Persian Empire, beginning with that of
Alexander the Great's defeat of the Achaemenid Empire/First Persian Empire, which
exerted significant influence on northwestern South Asia. The rigidity of the
portrayals of the human body, which were discovered among the objects from early
Gandharan art found in Taxila, had its own influence on the Parthian Empire, which
was not described before 100 AD Kushan rule under Gondophares and his nephew.
Towards the middle of the third century AD the political and cultural ties with the
Sassanid Kingdom also became recognizable through the form and other details in
Gandharan art.

The details summarized insofar regarding political and cultural countermovements

are responsible for another layer of complexity to the already intricate background
of Gandharan art, and therefore must be further interpreted. Gandharan art mirrors,
albeit somewhat distorted, the multiplex of resistances in society, which was a
society in itself. This "society" possessed its own cultural basis from Rome until the
Indian subcontinent and was keenly aware of the riches that lay in between.
Whether this awareness thereby actually manifested itself through Buddhism and
Buddhist art, because being tolerant of such would have been prudent or that it had
been incorporated from the very beginning into Gandharan art, will be seen here.
However, it is clear that Buddhism in Gandhara has been subject to change, even if
it was meant to be simply used as a guide, unassuming and fragmented in the
Gandharan region.

The same trade routes that were utilized by the numerous rulers on their way to
India served, in their return trips, the spread of Buddhism from India to the
northwest regions and further into East Asia. The first known establishment of
Buddhism in this region can definitively ascribed to the Indian Emperor Ashoka,
archaeological evidence of such pointing at around 200 BC, coinciding with a
massive movement of cultural shaping/imprinting around the turn of the
millennium.