India and Pakistan have witnessed three phases of Gandharan art studies. From the middle of the 19th century to the partition of India, local scholars and archaeologists had been deprived of the priority of excavation in Gandhara and research in Gandharan art. Western scholars and archaeologists, while dominating the studies of Gandharan art, focused on Western cultural elements in the art and judged it from the measure of Greek, Roman or Early Christian art. In the post － independence period, Pakistan possessed the priority of excavation in Gandhara and the studies of Gandhran art. During the second phase from 1947 to 1980s, some Pakistani scholars emphasized the importance of Gandharan studies and began to carry out some research projects. Since 1980s, studies of Gandharan art have become more and more prosperous in the two countries. During this phase, Indian and Pakistani scholars have tried to construct their own new system of Gandharan studies in local cultural and traditional Indian perspectives.
