Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/314

 270 ARCHITECTURE IN THE HIMALAYAS. BOOK II. known as "for four waters" have always been in common use. 1 We learn from tradition that in the time of A.yoka, B.C. 250, missionaries were sent to convert the inhabitants of the valley to the Buddhist faith, and that, at a later date, the Turushka king Kanishka ruled over Kashmir, and was a patron of the Buddhist religion ; and we know that in the 7th century Hiuen Tsiang found Buddhism, if not the only religion, at least one of the dominant cults of the people. The details he mentions, and the fact of his lingering here for two whole years (A.D. 633 and A.D. 634) to study its forms and scriptures, proves how im- portant this religion then was. 2 More than a century later (A.D. 759), U-k'ong, another Chinese Buddhist, reached Kashmir, and spent fully four years in literary study, and visiting the sacred sites and monasteries, stating that he found more than three hundred convents, and many stupas. 3 But scarcely a vestige of a chaitya or of a vihara has yet come to light ; and though there are mounds which may contain stupas, it is most improbable that they will contain any architectural forms that may be of use for our purposes. 4 All the ancient monasteries seem to have been destroyed on the decline of the religion. We now know sufficiently the forms and age of the Gandhara monasteries (ante, pp. 211 et seqq.) to supply most of the missing links connecting the Kashmiri style with that of the outer world ; but till the temples in the Salt Range, and other little- frequented parts of the Panjab are examined, we shall not know all that we desire. Meanwhile the annexed woodcut (No. 154), representing a temple at Malot, in the Jehlam district, shows how nearly the Panjabi style resembled that of Kashmir. 5 There are the same trefoil-headed openings ; the fluted pillars, with quasi-classical bases and capitals ; and a general similarity of style not to be mistaken. There is another temple very similar, but smaller, at Katas, 1 2 miles north-west from Malot ; 1 Foucher, ' L'Art Greco-Bouddhique du Gandhara,' pp. 116, 131-136. 2 Beal, ' Life of Hiuen Tsiang,' pp. 68-72 ; Julien, Vie de Hiouen Thsang,' pp. 91-96. 3 Dr. Stein has succeeded in identify- ing the localities referred to by U-k'ong in his ' Notes on Ou-k'ong's Account, of Ka9mir' (Wien, 1896). See also 4 L'Itin6raire d'Ou-k'ong (751 - 790) traduit et annote par MM. Sylvain Levi et Ed. Chavannes ' in 'Journal Asiatique,' ix. s6r. tome vi. (1895), pp. 341-384. on the Jehlam, opposite to Barimula was a Buddhist stupa still intact till 1882 when, under Gen. Cunningham's in- structions, one of his assistants dug into it and razed it to the ground. It had been constructed along with a vihara, by Lalitaditya early in the 8th century. Lawrence's ' Valley of Kashmir,' p. 163 ; Stein's ' Rajatarangini,' bk. iv., note on v. 1 88. 5 It appears from Hiuen Tsiang, that in the 7th century the northern Panjib was subject to Kashmir. Beal, ' Buddhist Records,' vol. i. pp. 136, 143, 147, and 163 ; ' Life of Hiuen Tsiang,' p. 192.
 * Near Ushkiirthe ancient Hushkapura,