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कहाऊँ स्तम्भ एवं क्षेत्रीय पुरातत्व की खोज
little doubt that the design of the whole capital came from Persia. This pillar, of which the greater part of the shaft is lost, is surmounted by an elephant, but so mutilated that even in the 7th century the Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsiang mistook it for a lion, if this is indeed the effigy he was looking at, as General Cunningham supposes, which however, is by no means so clear as might at first sight appear.
Another capital of similar nature to that last described crowns the Lauriyâ Navandgarh lât in Champaran - this time surmounted by a lion of bold and good design (Woodcut No. 7). In this instance, however, the honeysuckle ornament is replaced by the more purely Buddhist ornament of a flock of the sacred hansas or geese. In both instances there are cable ornaments used as neckings, and the bead and reel so familiar to the student of classical art. The last named form is also, however, found at Persepolis. These features it may be remarked are only found on the lâts of Asoka, and are never seen afterwards in India, though common in Gandhâra and on the Indus for long afterwards, which seems a tolerably clear indication that it was from Persia that he obtained those hints which in India led to the conversion of wooden architecture into stone. After his death, these classical features disappear, and wooden forms resume their sway, though the Persian form of capital long retained its position in Indian art. Whatever the Hindûs copied, however, was changed, in the course of time, by decorative additions and modifications, in accordance with their own tastes
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