ABSTRACT
And indeed, it is a mystery that Sānchi survived while the neighboring city of Vidisā, only five miles away, was sacked repeatedly, its shrines obliterated by waves of Muslim iconoclasm. The explanation of the monument's survival lies perhaps in the extinction of Buddhism at Sānchi just prior to the Muslim conquest of the region. Without life or religious activity on the hill, the complex, located in a desolate area, was apparently soon forgotten even by its closest neighbors.
