History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c16.5

v1.c16.5

Since that time other collections have been dug out of another monastery eight miles further westward, at Takht-î-Bahai, and by Dr. Bellew at a third locality, 10 miles southward, called Shahr-î-Bahlol, some of which have found their way to this country. In 1874 Dr. Leitner brought home an extensive collection, principally from Takht-î-Bahai, which have now gone to Berlin.¹ Again, since the extension of British rule over the North-West Frontier Province during the last few years, numerous fresh sites have been discovered and excavated.² But since they were first discovered, numerous sites have been rifled, at least once; "mostly without definite plan and with motives not altogether disinterested. The history of these depredations would be long and lamentable—from the exploit of the Colonel who, as Cunningham tells us, carried off the statues from Jamâlgarhî on twelve camels, to those 'irresponsible diggings,' the ravages of which in the recently opened district of Swât, Sir H. Deane so justly deplores."³ Of the earlier official excavations, the worst thing is that they were so unsystematically carried on that it is impossible to ascertain where hundreds of the sculptures now in the Lahor Museum came from, and in almost no instance can the position of any one piece of sculpture be fixed with anything like certainty.⁴