An early Buddhist urban shrine in Outer Gandhara

The presence of an apse was a common architectural feature in early Buddhism. An apsidal temple associated with an Indian-style Buddhist stupa was recently discovered at Barikot in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, dating to the time of the great promoter of Buddhism, the Mauryan Emperor Aśoka (r. 268–232 BC). The monument was modified from an earlier, non-Buddhist shrine from the time when Alexander the Great besieged Barikot in 327 BC. It suggests the assimilation of pre-Buddhist places of worship in the Gandhara region during the spread of Buddhism from the Indian subcontinent to central Asia and beyond along the Silk Roads...