Gandhara is first and foremost a geographic region of northwest Pakistan with is millennial histories and traditions. The region was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 5th Century BCE and in the process became an important place of cultural exchange between east and west. The art produced in the Gandhara region following this encounter is referred to as a “school of art” or as a “distinctive style” that represent a particular blend of western classical and eastern traditions in the Indian subcontinent.
