The present volume is the reprint of a book first published by the Asiatic Society in 1971. From the Preface by the author of the original edition we learn that: This study of the Kanishka Vihra was originally submitted, with slight revisions, in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Arts degree in History at the University of Hawaii. The project of research was carried out in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan under the sponsorship of the East-West Center in the Summer and Fall of 1966.

An attempt to fulfill this obvious need will be made in the following pages. We shall try to describe the mo1lument with the help of archaeological and literary information. Our next task will be to detuning the place of the objects of art and artifacts found here in the evolution of the Andhra art of the region. Then we shall give an account of the inhabitants of this Buddhist establishment and try to determine their relationship with Kanishka (I). And, finally, we should discuss the contributions of Kanishka and his monument to the growth and dissemination.