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A smashed relief of the Buddha. Swat Valley, Pakistan. 21 December 2009...Buddhist engravings in the Swat Valley and even further afield in the Upper Indus region attest to the Kushan Period, especially that under Kanishka the Great (128–151), which is considered the Golden Age of Gandhara. The area is immensely rich in ruins of stupas and monasteries, and rock carvings—relief sculpture and stelae—abound. ..With the Islamization of Gandhara in the 10th century came the belief among Muslims that every stone that hit the Buddha's face would bring the thrower one step closer to Paradise.. (KEYSTONE/VII Photo/Daniel Schwartz)