The same trade routes that were utilized by the numerous rulers on their way to

India served, in their return trips, the spread of Buddhism from India to the
northwest regions and further into East Asia. The first known establishment of
Buddhism in this region can be definitively ascribed to the Indian Emperor Ashoka,
archaeological evidence of such pointing at around 200 BC, coinciding with a
massive movement of cultural shaping/imprinting around the turn of the
millennium. From this came the Reliquary inscriptions of Apraca and Odi as well as
the Italian excavations in the Swat Valley, notably those of Barikot, Butkara I, Panr
and Saidu Sharif. These offered, for the first time, a more exacting look/perspective
into the beginnings of Buddhism, which blossomed into the region and art. What is
of great note is that the earliest Buddhist art in the Swat region, roughly speaking,
appeared around the middle of the first century AD as more resembling indian art.
This strongly contrasted with the later, bolder Hellenistic variations, although
western concepts were already being implemented in the architecture of Stupa
before the time of Christ.

After its inception, it appears that Buddhism in Gandhara was in upheaval from the
very beginning. The introduction of images of Buddha und the reverence of Maitreya
resulted in harmony with the development of the Mathura region, though many
themes appeared in the foreground art in the Gandhara region. The sequence of
appearance and worship of Buddha came only after those of Brama and Indra, a
hierarchy that took on a particular chronological sequence depicted in bodies of
work by the Stupa. The cults that existed in the Stupa themselves changed, as with
the increasingly visible changes evident in their architecture. These changes in
theme came seemingly rapidly, depending on whether or not there is a
chronological basis, with a new theme soon after the previous one in the
foreground. The Buddha himself would be increasingly relegated exorbitantly to a
larger-than-life figure, with a new Bodhisattva wielding a halo, succeeding the same
level of prominence as Maitreya. It is possible that even the convocation of Maitreya
as Buddha became depicted in Gandhara.

One aspect of Gandharan Buddhism that has come repeatedly into the spotlight is
the development of Buddhist handwriting in the third or fourth centuries of the
region known as Kharosthi and its local dialect Gandhari. Although the first
published studies could not allege the texts to earlier Mahayana Buddhism, more
recent texts have revealed that the Gandhara region played an important role in the
further development of Buddhism. Up until then, the only source was through
Chinese translations WTF and specific images, such as the complex Stele of
Mohammed Nari.

The question of whether such images and other artistic themes of Gandhara
presupposed/represented Mahayana Buddhism is therefore being heavily debated,
because the ideas and concepts that Mahayana Buddhism outline was only being
gradually developed and canonized. Even when a few of the texts thought to point
towards Mahayana Buddhism indicated a date of the second century, certain
concepts continued to differ and were even rudimentarily developed, such as the
body of a Buddha and the miraculous qualities (rather, qualities that can produce
miracles) of a Bodhisattva. The "Great Vehicle" of the beginning of the movement
also existed in a minority. In India, as with China, these Buddhist forms appeared as
early as the fourth century as part of a greater movement. Similarly, the teachings
of Bodhisattva Maitreya in literary sources can be first identified in the fourth
century. The miracle-creating Bodhisattva, who is equated to the Buddha, was first
clearly immortalized in the last stone sculptures of Gandhara, his last life more
preferred than those of all other beings.

Nowadays, it is undisputable that Mahayana Buddism greatly developed from within

the old schools of thought. Therefore, it becomes clear that antiquated concepts
and their visual impressions could not be so simply replaced, rather that they were
reinterpreted and only gradually adapted for visual understanding. The fairly low
number of discovery sites with stone carvings of Mahayanan themes is proof that
perhaps from then on, the momentum could really be established in a few religious
convents.

As with the many locales of South Asia, research in Gandharan art suffered due to
the conditions of the latter half of the 19th century and due to inadequate
methodology of recent excavations with current scientific methods. After the first
monuments were put on display by the British after their imperialistic conquest
crap, such as the famous Bimaran-Reliquiar from the British Museum that was taken
from its burial site in the Khyber Pass, the British turd asses archaeologists focused
on the essentials, on salvaging the best-kept stone sculptures and relics, without
actually extensively documenting them.