<P> Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, was one of the greatest Indian rulers . Like his grandfather, Ashoka also started his career in Gandhara as a governor . Later he supposedly became a Buddhist and promoted this religion in his empire . He built many stupas in Gandhara . Mauryan control over the northwestern frontier, including the Yonas, Kambojas, and the Gandharas, is attested from the Rock Edicts left by Ashoka . According to one school of scholars, the Gandharas and Kambojas were cognate people . It is also contended that the Kurus, Kambojas, Gandharas and Bahlikas were cognate people and all had Iranian affinities, or that the Gandhara and Kamboja were nothing but two provinces of one empire and hence influencing each other's language . However, the local language of Gandhara is represented by Panini's conservative bhāṣā ("language"), which is entirely different from the Iranian (Late Avestan) language of the Kamboja that is indicated by Patanjali's quote of Kambojan śavati' to go' (= Late Avestan šava (i) ti). </P> <P> The decline of the Empire left the sub-continent open to Greco - Bactrian invasions . Present - day southern Afghanistan was absorbed by Demetrius I of Bactria in 180 BC . Around about 185 BC, Demetrius invaded and conquered Gandhara and the Punjab . Later, wars between different groups of Bactrian Greeks resulted in the independence of Gandhara from Bactria and the formation of the Indo - Greek kingdom . Menander I was its most famous king . He ruled from Taxila and later from Sagala (Sialkot). He rebuilt Taxila (Sirkap) and Pushkalavati . He became a Buddhist and is remembered in Buddhist records for his discussions with the great Buddhist philosopher, Nāgasena, in the book Milinda Panha . </P> <P> Around the time of Menander's death in 140 BC, the Central Asian Kushans overran Bactria and ended Greek rule there . Around 80 BC, the Sakas, diverted by their Parthian cousins from Iran, moved into Gandhara and other parts of Pakistan and Western India . The most famous king of the Sakas, Maues, established himself in Gandhara . </P> <P> By 90 BC the Parthians had taken control of eastern Iran and, around 50 BC, they put an end to the last remnants of Greek rule in today's Afghanistan . Eventually an Indo - Parthian dynasty succeeded in taking control of Gandhara . The Parthians continued to support Greek artistic traditions . The start of the Gandharan Greco - Buddhist art is dated to about 75--50 BC . Links between Rome and the Indo - Parthian kingdoms existed . There is archaeological evidence that building techniques were transmitted between the two realms . Christian records claim that around AD 40 Thomas the Apostle visited India and encountered the Indo - Parthian king Gondophares . </P>

When did the best production of gandhara sculpture appear