assisted with the painting of another cave by sending artists to the site. The Japanese Buddhist scholar Teramoto Enga gave a rather different translation: According to a recent translation by Sam van Schaik, the text should be: According to Sam van Schaik, "Mendre" could be the Indo-Greek king Menander, or the mythical king Manadhatṛ of Buddhist sources; "Polosi" could be a Chinese abbreviation for king Prasenajit; "Romakam" may be the Byzantine Empire; the "naked ones" would be the Niganthas. In Tibetan, the country named "Tho-gar" "Thod-kar" corresponds to Tokharistan (ancient Bactria). Influences The Kizil Caves are "the earliest representative grottoes in China". The art of the Kizil Caves is thought to have influenced cave art at Dunhuang, in the Mogao Caves, as early as during the Northern Liang dynasty (421–439 CE), and pictorial arts in China thereafter. According to historian Daniel C. Waugh: Decay, vandalism, dismantlement, and tourism Since their construction and decoration between the 4th and 8th centuries CE, the Kizil Caves have suffered numerous periods of religious vandalism and decay. Western archaeologists orchestrated the massive sampling on the best remaining works of art in the early 20th century. Aside from their colonial outlook, one of their alleged motivations was to protect these works of arts from vandalism due to Islamic iconoclasm and the depredations of treasure hunters. Most of the dismantled panels were sent to the Museum für Indische Kunst, Berlin, Germany, but ironically and tragically many were lost in the destructions of World War II, with only photographs or drawings remaining in the best cases. A significant number of the murals were also captured by the Soviets in Berlin, and turned up recently in the Hermitage Museum. In more recent times, the Red Guards also contributed to the destruction of the site, and last but not least, the transformation of the site for touristic purposes since 2005 has led to the disfigurement of many caves and the irretrievable loss of archaeological knowledge. Today, none of the caves can be said to have remained entirely intact, although many remain quite impressive. Major Kizil caves The caves were first named in German by Albert Grünwedel based on various individual characteristics. Many of these names have remained in English. More recently, a numbering system was adopted by the Chinese, generally based on the geographical position of the caves from West to East. See also Ah-ai Grotto Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves