Recent research has enriched our understanding of the cultural diversity of northern Afghanistan during the pre-and early Islamic periods. Despite this expanded body of information the eclectic painting at Nigar (Dokhtar-i-Noshirwan, fig. 1)'remains unique. Although individual motifs have a clearly understood semantic field within their own cultural contexts-Sasanian, Sogdian, Buddhist-in Nigar they are combined in such a way that their meaning appears, at best, ambiguous. An eighth-century date for the painting has been proposed on the basis of a comparative stylistic analysis to the Buddhist painting of the Hindu Kush (see below). 2 As noted by other scholars who had visited the site the Nigar artists must have come from the atelier responsible for the paintings at Bamiyan and Kakrak. 3 These art-ists seem to have extracted pictorial themes from the vast vocabulary of visual forms available from the secular and religious arts of the region and combined them in a totally novel way. The originality of the total configuration and the extremely fragmentary nature of the painting and the architectural remains have prevented a convincing interpretation of the painting. It has also not been possible to determine the patrons of the complex nor its function (fig. 1).

As disheartening as this may sound, it seems that it is precisely Nigar's uniqueness which suggests its importance for historical studies. Until now only Buddhist and Hindu monuments have been identified in eighth-century Afghanistan, although we know that the culturalreligious landscape was far more complex. The Muslims had won territory and converts from the end of the seventh century and had become a permanent presence in northern Afghanistan in the eighth century. As a result of these movements there was a shifting of alliances and changes in the balance of power throughout the region. New trade routes were developed and the central Hindu Kush (= the kingdom of Bamiyan) became more important, perhaps because it functioned as a refuge. Recent research testifies to the migration into the central Hindu Kush of Sogdian cultural elements from the eighth century. 4 Buddhism appears to have been the most important religious institution, but many other religions were