Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c14.23

c14.23

The Gandharan style of architecture continued to be practised throughout the supremacy of the Kushans, and although their power declined in the third century A.D., the monasteries were not noticeably affected, as in the year 400, when the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hian passed through the country, they appear to have been in a relatively flourishing condition. The first serious check to Buddhism in Gandhara took place however about fifty years later, when through the iconoclastic zeal of Mihiragula—the "Attila of India", who, with his hordes of barbarian White Huns, is said to have destroyed sixteen hundred stupas and sanctuaries.¹ From this calamity the religion in northern India never fully recovered, although Buddhist monasteries and other buildings continued to be erected, mainly in regions far outside the country of Gandhara, until a much later date.