A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9.s1.9

c9.s1.9

But whether we concede much or little importance to the foreign elements of ancient Indian art, great weight must be allowed for the personal initiative of Asoka, a man of marked originality of mind, capable of forming large designs and executing them with imperial thoroughness. The direction taken by Indian art, like the diffusion of Buddhism, was determined in its main lines by the will of a resolute and intelligent autocrat.