The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

ART UNDER THE KUSHANS: GANDHARA 137
75. Sirkap, Taxila, palace
1. Halls of audience 2. Women's quarters
3. Private court and men's quarters
table to Indian ideals the Romanized architecture
of Gandhara must have appeared.
The earliest examples of architecture in this
region are the buildings in and around the ancient
city of Taxila, notably the site of Sirkap,
which was the capital of the Greek and Saka-
Parthian sovereigns who ruled in the Punjab
before the advent of the Kushans. Only the
ground plan of the royal palace at Sirkap survives.
It reveals an arrangement not unlike that
of the ancient palaces of Mesopotamia, with a
division into the king's apartments, audience
chambers, and harem [75]. The foundation of
an interesting structure on the main street of
Sirkap is characteristic of the partly Greek, partly
Indian culture of the first century B.C. This
is the so-called Shrine of the Double-headed
Eagle [76]. It consists of a square base that at
76. Sirkap, Shrine of the Double-headed Eagle