KASHMIR VALLEYS 69 



buildings is certainly so strong that it is difficult to 

 believe that Greek art is not responsible for many of the 

 characteristics of Kashmirian architecture, and Sir 

 Alexander Cunningham has an ingenious theory relating 

 to their inter-columniation. Like the Greeks, the 

 Kashmirians are constant in their diameters, and 

 have a certain fixed relation between the capital 

 shaft, base, and diameter, quite unlike the Hindu 

 builder, who varies his segment and his pro- 

 portion with every pier. Now, Cunningham 

 suggests that the word " Areostyle," used by the Greeks 

 to denote an inter-columniation of diameters, one 

 seldom employed by themselves, really means the 

 " system of the Aryans," and he thinks the fact of the 

 constant character of their designs and proportions, 

 and the great beauty and perfection of their achieve- 

 ments points to the existence of a distinct style, which he 

 calls " Aryan." These old Hindu rulers must have been 

 both men of taste and men of means, for the valley is 

 full of their structures, all of the same solid artistic 

 type. The trefoil arch, rising high into the tympanum of 

 the pediment, is a very noticeable feature of the style, 

 and in all the details there is a constancy and a 

 decorative quality which is as different from the 

 unrestrained fantasy of Indian ornament as it is from 

 the cold prose of modern work. Great uncertainty 

 exists as to the dates of most of the buildings. Anti- 

 quarians were at one time in the habit of much ante- 

 dating the respective foundations, and very incorrect 

 ideas as to the vast antiquity of the remains prevailed, 

 some authorities making them coeval with much of the 

 Egyptian work. Nowadays these dates are much 

 questioned. Some still consider it possible that portions 



