Early India and Pakistan to Ashoka c6.11

c6.11

And then came Alexander the Great. To describe his advent in the Punjab in 326 B.C.—with the loot of Asia in his haversack and his entourage of historians and philosophers—as an ‘archaeological datum’ is scarcely to add to the stature of the liveliest of the Nine Worthies. But the fact remains that he opened the way to an inrush of refugee craftsmanship from prostrate Persia and was thus indirectly responsible for lasting elements in Indian sculpture and architecture. The Lions of Sārnāth, the badge of the modern Republic, are in this sense his legacy no less than Ashoka’s. And these lions and their kin are a part of the grammar of Mauryan and Shunga archaeology, as are the gems and ornaments which can be related to the same cultural tradition.