I knew that Alexander's armies had made it far into Asia, but I've always been unclear how extensive their cultural influence was and how long that effect lasted in places like Persia and what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. A recent Reddit post on the Buddhas of Bamiyan, the giant statues blown up by the Taliban fifteen years ago, taught me that those statues were made in the Gandhara style, a Greco-Buddhist hybrid. The statues were crafted in the 6th century CE, over nine hundred years after Alexander's invasion. And that realization sparked my curiosity. Thanks in advance for any answers.
To add to the above: i understand that the Persian empire was considered to be tolerate (i.e. they did not force peoples from the lands they conquered to speak a different language or change religion). There is a little town in Turkey called Perge that I visited and the pamphlets there noted that after Alexander the Great conquered the town, he left soldiers there and years later the soldiers and their descendants were speaking the native language and had adapted to local customs. I'm wondering if Alexander the Great learned anything from the Persian empires policy of tolerance as he went further into the empire. Apologies if this does not belong here.
Regarding the Gandharan Buddha style, it was always my understanding from my Art History courses (it was my major though Buddhist art was not my speciality) that the North West of the subcontinent was part of an east-west trade route that included the Hellenic region. It as also being conquered by powers that traded with the West or themselves were influenced by the Greek/Roman tradition.This thereby influenced the style of the Buddha and caused it to be so distinct from any other style in the rest of India.
That is to say, there were influences flowing from east to west outside of Alexander's (and his cultural descendants) direct influence via his campaigns in the form of land based trading along something akin to the silk road.
(In regards to sources, I believe the Art of Buddhism by Leidy gets into this subject at least at a cursory level. It's been a little while since I studied it)