Photo 1003(1127)

This is one of a series of photographs taken for H. H. Cole at Mardan by Serrot, and not, as stated in T. Bloch, 'A list of the photographic negatives of Indian antiquities in the collection of the Indian Museum: with which is incorporated the list of similar negatives in the possession of the the India Office' (Calcutta, 1900), by Cole himself. Reproduced in photogravure in 'Illustrations of Graeco-Buddhist sculptures from the Yusufzai District', in vol. I of H. H. Cole, 'Preservation of monuments in India' (c. 1885), pl. 20: 'The hill had fallen in and partially overwhelmed this site, but three small chapels were excavated which yielded these and other carvings. Besides these there were many plaster figures attached to the walls, which were too fragile to remove. The stone carvings are destined for the Central Museum at Madras.' Bloch gives the find-spot as the Rhode Tope at Sanghao, but a partially illegible note, scratched on the negative and seen in reverse on the print, appears to corroborate the Nuttu identification. The sculptures seen here include heads, sculpture slabs, fragments of frieze, etc.