Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c43.7

c43.7

Such is the generally accepted view, based largely on legendary evidence and supported in a lesser degree by inscriptional testimony, that the Indianization of these lands was brought about by immigration, whereby colonial organizations were founded and developed, with the result that the light of India's culture was communicated wherever these were established. On the other hand another aspect of this expansion may be considered. Religion, and that was the basis of the movement, has no frontiers, and so probably owing to the power and impulse of Buddhism, in the first instance, a racial and cultural drift ensued, gradually penetrating into the whole of this portion of Asia, together with the civilization that accompanied it. This may have taken the form of a slow but persistent infiltration eastwards, often along the valleys of the great waterways on account of easier progress. At times this peaceful penetration came into contact with races having definite art instincts, either a folk art, or, on occasion, an indigenous aesthetic sense of some character, but being recorded in impermanent materials no actual remains have survived. The traditions however of this aboriginal art show their traces in that which the intruding movement superimposed on them, and which was subsequently so highly developed That the inhabitants of these parts were receptively inclined and so prepared for such influences is clear from the primitive conditions under which many of them lived, all that was needed was some incentive of this kind to stimulate their progress in the natural course of evolution.