South Asian Archaeology 2007: Proceedings of the 19th Meeting of the European Association of South Asian Archaeology in Ravenna, Italy, July 2007: Volume II: Historic Periods 9781407306742, 9781407336749

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Table of Contents
CONTEXTUALISING BODHGAYA: A STUDY OF SETTLEMENTS AND MONASTIC SITESIN THE BODHGAYA REGION
DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME
DEVOTIONAL FIGURES ON BUDDHIST IMAGES FROM ANCIENT MATHURA
NEW ELEMENT OF FANTASY AND RHYTHM INTRODUCED IN GUPTA ART
CAVE 2 AT AURANGABAD: BUDDHIST ART AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE 7TH CENTURY
THE EVOLUTION OF THE GODDESS WITH THE CORNUCOPIA
THE BUDDHA’S DOORWAYS AND THE RGYA.DPAG.PA’I LHA.KHANG OF NAKO
‘EARLY TERRACOTTA-FIGURES FROM KANAUJ: CHESSMEN?’ CHAPTER II: HALF AN ANSWER AND MORE QUESTIONS
HOYSAЮA TEMPLES (KARNĀTAKA, SOUTHERN INDIA) BUILT IN THE NORTHERN STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE
SCULPTURES OF SŪRYA’S ATTENDANTS FROM MATHURĀ
FROM THE ACHAEMENIDS TO THE SASANIANS. DĀHĀN-E GHOLĀMĀN, QAL’A-YE SAM, QAL’A-YE TAPA: ARCHAEOLOGY, SETTLEMENT AND TERRITORY IN SĪSTĀN (IRAN)
KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE?
NEW EPIGRAPHIC DATA FROM THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE GHAZNAVID PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III AT GHAZNI (AFGHANISTAN)
BHARHUT AND ITS WIDER REGIONAL CONTEXT
CONSERVATION, RESTORATION OR RECONSTRUCTION? THE CASE OF A WOODEN TEMPLE IN THE INDIAN HIMALAYAS (MAHESHVAR TEMPLE AT SUNGRA, KINNAUR, HIMACHAL PRADESH). PRELIMINARY RESEARCH
YAKSAS OR PORTRAITS? A RE-EVALUATION OF THE SO-CALLED ‘YAKSA STATUES’ FROM THE MAURYAŚUṄGA PERIOD
PARTHIAN NISA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON NEW RESEARCH
UNPUBLISHED TERRACOTTA FIGURINES FROM THE BUKHARA OASIS
PECULIAR AND UNKNOWN ICONOGRAPHIES OF THE NĀYAKA PERIOD IN TAMIL COUNTRY
NEWARI INFLUENCE IN TIBETAN PAINTINGS BETWEEN THE 11TH AND 14TH CENTURIES
HITHERTO UNIDENTIFIED METAL SCULPTURES OF THE PAÑCARAKSĀ GODDESS MAHĀSĀHASRAPRAMARDANĪ FROM NEPAL AND TIBET
THROUGH PORTS, PASSES AND JUNCTIONS: RECONSIDERATION OF THE EXCAVATIONAL PATTERNS OF MINOR BUDDHIST CAVESIN WESTERN INDIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO JUNNAR
11TH CENTURY WALL PAINTINGS OF ZHWA LU
ASPECTS OF BUDDHIST ARTEFACTS AND FEATURES FROM THE EXCAVATION OF GARAB-DZONG, DISTRICT MUSTANG, NEPAL. THE CASE OF THE ROOM 2 IN HOUSE 5: A MCHOD-RTEN?
TANTRA IN ASYLUM – THE VEIOVIS OF MONTERAZZANO’S THUNDERBOLT: HARBINGER OF INDIAN TANTRIC VAJRA?
THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING
SUBSISTENCE AND THE SAṀGHA: THE ROCK CUT MONASTERY AT KARĀЏ AND ITS HINTERLAND
TRACING A NEGLECTED HERITAGE OF PLAY: REPORT FROM A FIELD DOCUMENTATION OF ENGRAVED GAME BOARDS AT THE ANCIENT SITE OF VIJAYANAGARA, KARNATAKA, SOUTH INDIA (C. AD 1350-1565)
MARBLE FROM THE PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III IN GHAZNI
DWELLINGS IN THE SNOW: LIVING TRADITIONS IN THE BRALDU VALLEY (BALTISTAN)
ONGOING TYPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF BODHISATTVA IMAGES FROM GREATER GANDHĀRA: FOUR JAКĀMUKUКA CONVENTIONS FOR IMAGES OF THE MAITREYA-TYPE
ROAD NETWORKS AND TRADE ROUTES IN THE GOLCONDA KINGDOM (AD 1518-1687)
INVESTIGATIONS AT THE EARLY HISTORIC CITY OF SISUPALGARH, INDIA 2005-07
FESTIVITY AND SACRED AURA THOUGHTS ON THE ORIGINS AND MEANING OF THE GARLAND MOULDING IN THE ORNAMENTATION OF GANDHĀRAN STŪPAS
A LINK BETWEEN THE DAREL VALLEY AND GILGIT, THE KHANBERY VALLEY. FIELD RESEARCH IN NORTHERN PAKISTAN TRACING FAXIAN’S ROUTE FROM PAMIR TO DAREL 2005 & 2006
THE CITADEL OF TISSAMAHARAMA AND THE TORRENTS OF SPRING
THE PURCHASE OF JETAVANA IN AN AMARAVATI-RELIEF
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

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BAR S2133 2010 CALLIERI & COLLIVA (Eds)

South Asian Archaeology 2007 Proceedings of the 19th Meeting of the European Association of South Asian Archaeology in Ravenna, Italy, July 2007

Volume II Historic Periods

SOUTH ASIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 2007 VOLUME II

B A R

Edited by

Pierfrancesco Callieri Luca Colliva

BAR International Series 2133 2010

South Asian Archaeology 2007 Proceedings of the 19th Meeting of the European Association of South Asian Archaeology in Ravenna, Italy, July 2007

Volume II Historic Periods Edited by

Pierfrancesco Callieri Luca Colliva

BAR International Series 2133 2010

Published in 2016 by BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR International Series 2133 South Asian Archaeology 2007 © The editors and contributors severally and the Publisher 2010 COVER IMAGE Sculpture from Butkara I (Swat, Pakistan), inv. no. B 6000 (Drawing F. Martore, courtesy IsIAO). The authors' moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher.

ISBN 9781407306742 paperback ISBN 9781407336749 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407306742 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library BAR Publishing is the trading name of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd. British Archaeological Reports was first incorporated in 1974 to publish the BAR Series, International and British. In 1992 Hadrian Books Ltd became part of the BAR group. This volume was originally published by Archaeopress in conjunction with British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd / Hadrian Books Ltd, the Series principal publisher, in 2010. This present volume is published by BAR Publishing, 2016.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABHISHEK SINGH AMAR Contextualising Bodhgaya: A Study of Settlements and Monastic Sites in the Bodhgaya Region

9

LAWRENCE A. BABB, JOHN E. CORT & MICHAEL W. MEISTER Desert Temples: Archaeology in Present Time

19

CHANDREYI BASU Devotional Figures on Buddhist Images from Ancient Mathura

27

GOURISWAR BHATTACHARYA New Element of Fantasy and Rhythm Introduced in Gupta Art

35

PIA BRANCACCIO Cave 2 at Aurangabad: Buddhist Art at the Threshold of the 7th Century

45

MARTHA L. CARTER The Evolution of the Goddess with the Cornucopia

53

MARIALAURA DI MATTIA The Buddha’s Doorways and the rGya.dpag.pa’i lha.khang of Nako

61

MANFRED A.J. EDER ‘Early Terracotta-Figures from Kanauj: Chessmen?’ CHAPTER II: Half an Answer and More Questions

69

GERARD FOEKEMA Hoysaάa Temples (Karnātaka, Southern India) Built in the Northern Style of Architecture

85

MARION FRENGER Sculptures of Sūrya’s Attendants from Mathurā

93

BRUNO GENITO From the Achaemenids to the Sasanians. Dāhān-e Gholāmān, Qal’a-ye Sam, Qal’a-ye Tapa: Archaeology, Settlement and Territory in Sīstān (Iran)

101

SANDRINE GILL Kantanagar Temple (North-East Bengal): a Carefully Planned Iconographic Universe?

111

ROBERTA GIUNTA New Epigraphic Data from the Excavations of the Ghaznavid Palace of Mas’ūd III at Ghazni (Afghanistan)

123

JASON HAWKES Bharhut and its Wider Regional Context

133

ANNE-CLAIRE JURAMIE Conservation, Restoration or Reconstruction? The Case of a Wooden Temple in the Indian Himalayas (Maheshvar Temple at Sungra, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh). Preliminary Research

145

VINCENT LEFÈVRE YakΒas or Portraits? A Re-Evaluation of the so-Called ‘Yak·a Statues’ from the Maurya-Śuṅga Period

157

CARLO LIPPOLIS Parthian Nisa. Some Considerations Based on New Research

165

CIRO LO MUZIO Unpublished Terracotta Figurines from the Bukhara Oasis

179

TIZIANA LORENZETTI Peculiar and Unknown Iconographies of the Nāyaka Period in Tamil Country

191

KATHERINE MEAHL-BLONDAL Newari Influence in Tibetan Paintings between the 11th and 14th Centuries

201

GERD J.R. MEVISSEN Hitherto Unidentified Metal Sculptures of the Pañcarak·ā Goddess Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from Nepal and Tibet

213

NOBUO NAKATANI, FUMITAKA YONEDA, AKI TOYOYAMA & AKINORI UESUGI Through Ports, Passes and Junctions: Reconsideration of the Excavational Patterns of Minor Buddhist Caves in Western India with Special Reference to Junnar

225

HELMUT F. NEUMANN & HEIDI A. NEUMANN 11th Century Wall Paintings of Zhwa lu

233

CORINNE POHL-THIBLET Aspects of Buddhist Artefacts and Features from the Excavation of Garab-Dzong, District Mustang, Nepal. The case of the Room 2 in House 5: a mChod-rten?

243

MASSIMILIANO A. POLICHETTI Tantra in Asylum – the Veiovis of Monterazzano’s Thunderbolt: Harbinger of Indian Tantric Vajra?

255

ELLEN M. RAVEN The Seated Lady and the Gupta King

359

GETHIN REES Subsistence and the Saṁgha: the Rock Cut Monastery at KarāΡ and its Hinterland

275

ELKE ROGERSDOTTER Tracing a Neglected Heritage of Play: Report from a Field Documentation of Engraved Game Boards at the Ancient Site of Vijayanagara, Karnataka, South India (c. AD 1350-1565)

287

MARTINA RUGIADI Marble from the Palace of Mas’ūd III in Ghazni

297

ILARIA E. SCERRATO Dwellings in the Snow: Living Traditions in the Braldu Valley (Baltistan)

307

CAROLYN WOODFORD SCHMIDT Ongoing Typological Studies of Bodhisattva Images from Greater Gandhāra: Four JaΓāmukuΓa Conventions for Images of the Maitreya-type

315

ROBERT SIMPKINS Road Networks and Trade Routes in the Golconda Kingdom (AD 1518-1687)

327

MONICA L. SMITH & RABINDRA KUMAR MOHANTY Investigations at the Early Historic City of Sisupalgarh, India 2005-07

337

MARTINA STOYE Festivity and Sacred Aura Thoughts on the Origins and Meaning of the Garland Moulding in the Ornamentation of Gandhāran stūpas

345

HARUKO TSUCHIYA A Link between the Darel Valley and Gilgit, the Khanbery Valley. Field Research in Northern Pakistan Tracing Faxian’s Route from Pamir to Darel 2005 & 2006

353

HANS-JOACHIM WEISSHAAR & SENERATH DISSANAYAKE The Citadel of Tissamaharama and the Torrents of Spring

361

MONIKA ZIN The Purchase of Jetavana in an Amaravati-Relief

369

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

375

DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME

CONTEXTUALISING BODHGAYA: A STUDY OF SETTLEMENTS AND MONASTIC SITES IN THE BODHGAYA REGION Abhishek Singh Amar Bodhgaya – a UNESCO world heritage site – is the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment and is, in many ways, the birth-place of the Buddhist religion. The emergence of a Buddhist shrine and a major monastic establishment at Bodhgaya has been attested from pilgrim’s accounts, epigraphic data, archaeological excavations of the Mahabodhi temple complex and the partially excavated mound surrounding the temple, which is spread over approximately one square kilometre. Contemporary scholarship on Bodhgaya has focused on the architecture, sculpture and the other archaeological remains in the temple-complex at Bodhgaya. Buddhist textual sources also focus on the main complex and its sacred features. This has meant that Bodhgaya has been treated in geographical isolation from the surrounding area, and that the social and religious milieu has not been investigated. In order to avoid the pitfalls of previous studies and contextualise Bodhgaya to bring out its linkages the larger geographical/regional context, this paper will trace the settlement history and the emergence and spread of Buddhism in the Bodhgaya-region between the 3rd century BC and the 12th century AD. This contextualisation will provide a history of Bodhgaya as an integral part of the wider sacred and political landscape of south Bihar.

mentioned the stay of the Buddha in a Brahmin village Khanumata in the Magadha (Walshe 1987: 132). Hence the textual accounts do indicate the existence of several settlements.

Settlement-History from Textual Sources

The establishment of the monastic centres at Bodhgaya from the Mauryan period onwards led to the construction of religious shrines and structures at several places in the south Bihar region. The proliferation of this process of emergence of the monastic centres led to the creation of several sacred structures to construct a sacred landscape in the Bodhgaya region. Therefore, the pertinent question here relates to the location of these monastic centres in the Bodhgaya region. What was the locational context of these monastic centres? These questions about settlements and monastic centres and their wider landscapes will help us determine the context in which Buddhism grew in the larger Bodhgaya region. To answer these questions, it was necessary to document the monastic and settlement sites of the Bodhgaya region. Thus, between October 2005 and April 2006 I conducted an archaeological survey of the Bodhgaya region to examine the history of settlements, spread of Buddhism and its impact on the Bodhgaya region. An attempt was made during the survey to locate these sites within their wider landscape/geographic setting by studying landscape features and spatial distribution, and exploring the linkages between the monastic and non-monastic sites.

The study of textual sources has prompted many scholars to acknowledge the presence of villages/settlements in the Magadha region in relation to the spread of Buddhism. But they did not attempt either to locate the settlements mentioned in the texts or map the settlements where Buddhism spread in the early historic period. The reason for paucity of such works could be the complexity of textual research combined with the dearth of scientific geographical information in the texts, which makes it very difficult to locate most of these settlements. This is further aggravated by the lacunae in the archaeological research of the region where emphasis was placed either on urban centres or on sites containing monumental/sculptural remains. The key question, therefore, is where were these above-mentioned settlements located? What is the settlement history of the Bodhgaya region and how can we map the spread of Buddhism within the region? Obviously one way would be to study the location of the monastic centres of early historic period and then relate them to their wider social context.

The earliest archaeological evidence indicates to the emergence of Bodhgaya in the Mauryan period (Cunningham 1892: 10). But the pre-Mauryan Bodhgaya does have a settlement history which was attested by the early Buddhist Pali and Sanskrit texts. The name of the Senanigrama village and its location close to Uruvela was mentioned in the context of the Buddha’s preenlightenment stay in this region, indicating the existence of a settlement in this area. After his enlightenment, he travels on a trade-route to Sarnath for the first sermon which was testified by his meeting with traders Trapusa and Bhallika (Goswami 2001: 232; Johnston 1972: 182). On his journey he passes through a few villages and settlements such as Uruvela, Gaya, Aparagaya, Vasala, Candadvilam Sarathipura, Anala. Other Buddhist texts also name a few settlements including Brahman villages. The Therigatha commentary says that Nala was a small village in the vicinity of the Bodhi-tree. It is supported also by the Culavamsa (Pandey 1963: 132). The textual sources provided many such references of the village settlements where Buddha in the course of his journeys stopped and preached at the place of such stays. For example, Sutta-Nipatta, dated to mid-3rd century BC, mentioned the stay of the Buddha among the Magadhans at Dakkhinagiri in the Brahman village Ekanala (Norman 2001: 9). Kutadanta sutta of Digha Nikaya also

Defining Geography and the field survey plan For field-survey, I decided to adopt a two-pronged 9

Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister approach. First was to intensively survey a radius of 5 Km, taking Mahabodhi temple at Bodhgaya as the centre. The method adopted was a village-to-village survey which seemed more pragmatic, based on preliminary exploration of the area. After covering this 5 km radius, roughly 78 km2, I decided to extend the survey to a larger geographical area, which I termed as the ‘Bodhgaya region’. The boundary of the Bodhgaya region was decided on the basis of existing data of the archaeological sites and a preliminary exploration. The National Highway no. 2 (NH2) formed the southern boundary of the survey-area. Amas block located on the NH2 formed the south-western boundary of the survey area. Koch and Tikari blocks formed the boundary of the survey area on the west and north-western side respectively. The only exception here was the site of Ghenjan, a part of Makhdumpur block of Jehanabad and located on the west bank of Morhar, which was surveyed due to its historical importance. The Jamuna nadi and Barabar hills range, falling in the Makhdumpur block, formed the northern border of the survey area. Wazirganj block of the Gaya district formed the eastern boundary of the survey area (Fig. 1).

AD temple along with a shell inscription at Baiju Bigha. In the area west of the river, several reported sites were surveyed whereas five new settlement sites were found.

Within the above defined area, the strategy adopted was village to village survey. As is the case about early settlement history in the south Bihar region, most of the early archaeological sites have been found either near the foothills or along the rivers. This led to the survey of the villages along the rivers Niranjana, Phalgu, Mohane, Morhar, Yamuna and Paimar and along the hills of the Gaya falling within the above defined area. All the rivers, mentioned above, originate in the hills of the Chhotanagpur and the direction of their flow is south to north.

Makhdumpur block, the northern boundary, had a concentration of sites from the 3rd century BC to the early medieval period such as Barabar and Nagarjuni caves with inscriptions from Mauryan and Maukhari kings. The availability of inscriptions at historical sites like Barābar caves from the Mauryan period onwards helped establish historicity and chronological frame of the area and other surveyed sites. The survey of the villages within this block turned up many new sites such as Mira Bigha, Sumera, Suppi apart from the reported sites Barabar caves, Kauwa Dol and Dharawat.

The rivers Niranjana, and Mohane have different trajectories and they join at Aamwa village to form Phalgu, just 3 km south of Gaya. These two rivers from NH2 to their confluence at Phalgu were surveyed extensively. The survey along the river Niranjana and the two seasonal streams Gulshakri and Chajya nadi, which joins it in the south at Pirasin and Dema respectively, revealed three settlement sites. The survey along the Mohane river included two previously reported sites Dharmaranya and Lakhaipur and brought out two new sites - Silaunja and a temple site at the eastern edge of Lakhaipur village in Mohanpur block. A further eastward survey of the Paimar river led to the discovery of an early historic settlement mound and sculptural remains at Jagannathpur village.

To summarise, the six-month (village to village) survey was conducted in seventy villages of the Bodhgaya region which included numerous previously reported sites. The purpose of re-surveying previously known sites was twofold: firstly, to collect pottery samples to prepare a new chronological frame; and secondly, to critically examine the reported antiquities/sculptures apart from documenting the newly found sculptures. The survey resulted in the reporting of thirty new archaeological sites, seventeen new inscriptions and the documentation of sculptural and architectural remains. The post-survey plan was to develop a grasp over the acquired data in order to process it. This included examining the nature of the site and developing a relative chronology of the sites. It was thought that this analysis of chronological emergence of the archaeological sites would help map a systematic spread of the settlements and the Buddhism as it evolved/grew in the region. Therefore before establishing the relative chronology of the region, it is necessary to discuss the methodology to ascertain the nature of surveyed archaeological sites.

Another seasonal river of the Gaya district is the Jamunā nadi which flows northwards through Bela to the Makhdumpur block and joins the Dardha nadi at Jehanabad. A major early historic site Sonpur was reported along this river and later excavated. A few new sites were also found along or in the near vicinity of the river during the survey. The major focus in the eastern sector was the settlements along the foothills, which constituted a major part of the route between Rajgir and Gaya. I also travelled on this old village route between Rajgir and Gaya along the foothills and surveyed the reported sites apart from recording three new ones. The Buddhist texts reported existence of a few settlements and sites on the route between Rajgir and Gaya such as Jethian, Tapoban where Buddha stopped during his journeys. In addition, the survey of the isolated Maher hill led to the discovery of two settlement sites, the first one at its western foot-hill called Miyari and the second one, two kilometre north of the hill, called Bhuthra.

The Morhar river of the district intersects NH2 at Sherghati and flows northwards through Gurua, Panchanepur, Koch and Tikari to join Punpun river in Patna district. The area west of this river had a major concentration of sites, most of which are located within the villages along or within a few km west of this river. The survey of the two hills Pahara and Manda also led to the discovery of structural and sculptural remains. Two sites were found on the eastern bank of Morhar riverremains of a huge settlement mound and a 14th century

Methodology: Determining Nature of the Sites In order to process the archaeological data, it was 10

DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME Monastic Sites

necessary to establish the criteria for distinguishing a monastic from a non monastic site. The major problem in ascertaining the nature of the sites was the lack of excavations in the survey area, which was further aggravated by the dense spread of settlements due to ever increasing population. Many sites were found destroyed due to agrarian intensification or encroachment. Many of the mounds reported and documented by A. Cunningham were found levelled due to repeated digging for bricks. In fact, the survey brought out a few sites where mounds were cut through to be used as agriculture fields.

There are two major scholarly arguments for identifying monastic sites. The first argument, proposed by Heitzman, called for the analysis of the artefactual remains in association with the structural remains to identify a Buddhist monastic site. Whereas the second argument, proposed by R. Coningham, has questioned the nature and validity of the structural remains as ‘prime indicators’ in light of modern research and argued for the analysis of the artefactual remains as an independent and equally important indicator for identifying a monastic site. These two arguments and their utility for this paper will be briefly examined in the following section.

Non Monastic Sites James Heitzman has attempted to create a typology of the Buddhist monastic and non-monastic site (James Heitzman 1989). A settlement or non-monastic site is easier to define in comparison to a monastic site. Any structural remains or mound with a scatter of pottery and artefacts of general use would indicate such a site. Heitzman defined a non-monastic site as a place other than a monastic site where archaeological excavations indicate long term occupation during the early historic period. He divided them into two categories. The first and most widely represented type is the village farming community. Its distinguishing features are habitational structures showing evidence of occupancy over many generations, associated with artefacts and implements suggesting that the occupants were engaged in economic activity requiring stable settlement. Structures of the village farming community do not show any features of size or style that indicate public or monumental functions. Artefacts may include pottery, beads, stone or metal tools, coins, and the organic remains of domesticated plants and animals. The second type of non-monastic site is characterized by urban features. It may exhibit the attributes of the village farming community, but with some of the surviving structures being on a larger scale. Public buildings may exist in the form of defensive walls, paved roads, moats or canals. Great differences in the size or style of the structures may indicate public buildings or wide class and status differences. The extent of surviving remains spread over a larger area may be contrasted to the smaller scale of the village (Heitzman 1989: 122).

Heitzman has proposed two-tiered division of artefactual and structural remains (Heitzman 1989: 123). The availability of artefactual remains in the context of structural remains is key to his definition of a monastic site. According to Heitzman, the structural remains at a monastic site included stūpas, chaitya- halls, monasteries, buildings or caves, often quadrilateral in shape, containing cells or dwelling places for monks and temples, buildings or caves housing a Buddha image in a central position for devotion, whereas artefactual remains include Buddha statuary, donatives inscriptions, artistic motifs, relics, or any other finds that indicate the former presence of persons concerned particularly with Buddhist devotion (Heitzman 1989: 122). Heitzman’s definition is acceptable for excavated monastic sites with clearly defined context and established stratigraphy. But in case of unexcavated sites, Heitzman’s definition is clearly inadequate and may not be of much help. Robin Coningham critically examines the use of structural remains such as stūpa, sanctuary and monastery to designate an archaeological site as Buddhist, and questions their integrity as the typology of ‘Buddhist’ structures’ (Coningham 2001). Although the individual elements of this simple typology have changed through time and space, their presence or absence represents the major technique for identified Buddhist sites: ‘Architecturally, one or all of the following elements should be present at a “Buddhist” site: the stūpa, the caitya worship hall containing a stūpa and the vihāra or the monastery’ (Coningham 2001: 71).

Heitzman’s definition of a non-monastic site is based on the excavation reports of archaeological sites, and this definition may be definitive only for the excavated sites. How do these criterions help in examining the surveyed sites? Here, some features, mentioned by Heitzman for defining urban centres do not require excavations, such as the size of the site provided the site has not been disturbed. The size of the site could either indicate some significant features such as public buildings in the form of fortification or a longer occupancy period but it may not be enough to proclaim a site urban. Similarly, the features of village sites such as smaller size of the settlement and simplistic ceramic scatter could be used as indices.

Taking a different position from earlier attempts where a Buddhist monastic site has been identified through a combination of architectural and artefactual evidence, Coningham has also suggested examining the artefactual evidence as a separate category which can help broaden the perspective for interpretations of Buddhist material culture. Coningham has argued for broadening the category of evidence which, to some extent, has established the validity of artefactual evidence as a definitive category. A defined context for artefactual remains can only come from archaeological excavations whereas most of the surveyed sites lack any excavations. Therefore Coningham’s approach is much more helpful for unexcavated sites where it is difficult to find structural or architectural remains. In my survey I came across 11

Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister many sites with artefactual remains without any defined historical context. These unexcavated sites are littered with images, pillars or votive stūpas. Thus taking a cue from Coningham’s methodology, I decided to analyse these artefactual remains and attempted to create their historical context by drawing on artefacts from excavated or studied sites. Two types of artefactual remains were found widely in the survey, hence I will discuss their importance in marking a monastic site as well as changing religious practices in the region.

a major monastic site like Bodhgaya. A smaller monastic site might just have a single stūpa or temple or a mixture of some of these remains. The availability of these remains is often dependent on the immediate social and religious context of a site. Based on the above discussion, the nature of the sites was identified. Chronological Framework of the Surveyed Sites The next important task was to prepare a broad and tentative chronological sequence of the surveyed sites, which required the comparison of ceramic samples of the surveyed-sites with that of the excavated sites within the survey area. Since a chronological sequence built on excavation (stratigraphic and contextual details) is much more reliable and conclusive than the one prepared exclusively from surface survey-collections. Moreover, potteries from excavated sites are found and recorded in specific stratigraphic contexts, it may provide the ‘missing context’ for the surface-survey samples. Three sites - Bakror, Sonpur and Taradih - have been excavated, the most recent being Taradih excavated over eleven seasons between the years 1981-1999. The data from Taradih has matched the data generated from other excavated settlement sites of the Mid-Ganga valley, some of which have provided conclusive carbon-14 dates. The lack of any carbon-14 dates from Bodhgaya region necessitated analysis and comparison of the data from the excavated sites in the Bodhgaya region with the data from the excavated sites from the mid-Ganga valley, which have provided conclusive carbon-14 dates. This comparison helped establish a chronological frame for the three excavated sites of the Bodhgaya region. The next step involved comparing the collected ceramic-samples with this chronological frame to prepare a chronological sequence for the surveyed sites.

Votive stūpas The high number of votive stūpas at Bodhgaya and their widespread distribution throughout the region has been attested by the previous works. My survey also confirmed this distribution. They were found mostly in and around modern shrines/temples in the surveyed villages. Most of these votive stūpas were made up of granite which is available locally. The votive stūpas were also found from the stratigraphy of the Gupta period within the excavated monastery of Taradih. Hence the presence of votive stūpas was considered a significant marker for the existence of monastic site, while determining the existence of monastic sites. Typology of Temples: Monastic and Settlement temples As we know by the 4rt-5th century AD, temples had become part of the Indian landscape. Many of the early historic monasteries contained images within their central halls but also developed other image-shrines or chapels. These image shrines later evolved into temples within the monastic sites. Generally early Buddhist monasteries or stūpas were located outside cities and settlements in the early historic period and contained Buddhist temples within their precincts. But later on temples began to be constructed within the settlements. Therefore, one must distinguish between settlement temples and monastic temples from the Gupta period onwards. This distinction is based on the locational context apart from other evidence such as inscriptions, sculptural remains, and votive stūpas.

Based on the above discussed methodology, a six phase chronological sequence, from c. 2000 BC to c. 1200 AD has been suggested for the surveyed sites. Ceramic analysis formed the basis for the dating of the pre-early historic period whereas the availability of epigraphic, structural, architectural and numismatic data helped in corroborating the chronological sequence from the early historic period onwards. In fact, in Archaeological Survey of India scheme and excavation reports, ceramic analysis loses its utility from the Gupta-period and completely from the post-Gupta period. Therefore one must be extremely careful in dating rural settlements of the postGupta period with no structural or sculptural remains. In such cases, I have relied on the comparison with the excavated data from Taradih and mono-chronological Pala monastic site Jagjiibanpur in West Bengal. (See Table1for the chronological framework).

The temples within the survey-area were identified and dated by an analysis of the shape and size of the temple, the raw- materials used for the construction, door-jambs, pillars, architectural or ornamental fragments, availability of votive stūpas and inscriptions. At many places the old materials from different periods had been recycled in later constructions. The lack of excavation and understanding of stratigraphy made it extremely difficult to identify different periods in which these structures originated or were reconstructed or to determine phases of construction and repairs. Summary

Presentation of the data

Briefly, one can expect a variety of remains such as stūpas, vihāras, caitya-gΰhas, bodhi-gharas, votive stūpas and temples as well as their single combinations at

In order to present the data, the survey area has been divided into four quadrants - North, South, East and West. Similarly, surveyed sites have been divided into the 12

DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME distance between settlements and the monastic sites. The location of the Malikpur habitation mound and the Kurkihar stūpa mound or the Dharawat village site and Katni hill monastic ruins confirm the rule prescribed in the Vinaya texts about the proximate distance of monastic complexes in relation to settlements.

categories of non-monastic or habitation sites and monastic sites. A third category ‘sculptural sites’ has been added in case of sites (villages/towns) containing sculptures without any historical context. As discussed in the section 2.4 about the emergence of temples along or within settlements from the 4th century AD onwards, the availability of sculptures indicated that these sculptures were installed within the shrines/temples at these places. If any of these sculptures were inscribed with details, the identity and nature of the site was easily established but such cases were very few. During the survey, I tried to enquire about the find-spots of the sculptures but most turned out to be accidental discoveries from the village itself. Despite limitations, these sculptures helped establish the historicity/relative dating of the sites (findspots), which was based on stylistic and iconographic grounds. A list of the sites and their nature is attached in the Table 3.

Ritual dynamics underwent a considerable transformation with the emergence of the temples as the ritual foci from the Gupta period onwards. This new process led to the construction of temples/shrines in many settlements. This marked a distinct difference from the early historic tradition when monasteries with chapels or shrines were located in proximate isolation from habitation centres. In fact, the distinction between temple sites and settlements sites became completely blurred after the Gupta period as Seventeen settlement sites also contained shrines/temples during the Pala period. Moreover the continuation of many of these settlements led to the survival of sculptures and the remains of a few temples. The identification of these temples within settlements was based on their spatial contexts and a combination of artefactual, structural and architectural remains.

Discussion: Settlement pattern and spread of Buddhism The analysis of the ceramic and other data indicates that the settlement origins of the region may be placed in the Neolithic/Chalcolithic period. The smaller scale Neolithic/Chalcolithic sites grew further into village settlements (See Table 2). These Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement sites were found along the rivers Niranjana, Mohane, Jamuna, Burha and Morhar in the survey area, whereas later sites of early historic period (NBP settlements) also arose in the plains, leading to the movement into newer areas. This movement was necessitated by the exponential growth of population in early historic period. Most of these early historic sites, being rural settlements, did not provide any structural remains or pottery types like NBPW, which has been reported from the early historic urban sites. Yet we continue to find the forms of pottery prevalent to the region from these rural sites. And as the survey brought out, most of the sites were rural settlement sites. Based on the size of the mounds, and the fact that NBP ware were found at these sites, we may conjecture that Dharawat, Kabar, and Baiju Bigha may be considered larger settlement sites or townships apart from Gaya, Bodhgaya and Sonpur. Dharawat, Kabar and Lakhaipur were definitely fortified sites.

The higher number of temple and sculptural sites from the Gupta period onwards, and particularly in the Pala period, is clearly demonstrated in the Table 2. The lesser number of shrines in the early historic period is explained by the paucity of indigenous sculptural tradition within the region. The sculptures in this period were imported from Mathura, which was one of the pre-dominant art centres of this time. Asher has cited a few examples of sculptures and pillar remains from Mauryan period onwards at Kumharar, Rajgir, Bodhgaya, and Nonagarҿh where sculptures made of Sikri sandstone were found. In fact Kumrahar and Rajgir were monastic centres located near urban centres whereas Bodhgaya was another monastic centre (Asher 1980: 10-12). Most of the early historic monastic sites contained structural or fragmentary architectural remains, the evidence for which was concentrated within the urban centres. In this region, the only site to contain sculptural and architectural remains at such an early stage was Bodhgaya itself. A systematic excavation of the monastic sites such as Kurkihar, Dubba, Hasra-kol and Dharawat might help uncover some structural and architectural remains from the combined spans of the early historic I & II periods.

As new settlements grew in the new areas in the early historic period (I &II), many monastic centres also emerged in these areas. This is duly illustrated by the emergence of monastic sites such as Kurkihar, Hasra kol, Dharawat, and Dubba, (stūpa-sites) as discussed above, in the vicinity of habitation sites (see Table 4). The chronological sequence of the habitation and monastic sites were almost the same at these sites. This reflects not just the extension of settlements but also the spread of Buddhism in conjunction with this process. Therefore the emergence of four early historic monastic centres within the survey area demonstrated the spread of the Buddhism, leading to the necessary local support for the construction and maintenance of such centres. The spatial analysis of monastic and settlement sites also revealed a consistent

Excepting Bodhgaya, none of the settlements or monastic sites of the region were mentioned in the early Buddhist texts. As discussed earlier the Buddhist texts do however indicate a settlement context by mentioning the villages and settlements within the region in which Buddhism emerged. Conversely none of the sites mentioned in the texts could be located archaeologically due to the paucity of the geographical information. But these were never traced because the focus of earlier studies was on sites with monumental remains or urban centres. Therefore the juxtaposition of literary and archaeological sources supplements each other as both reflect a settlement context without confirming each other. Thus, the above discussion attests settlement context of the Bodhgaya 13

Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister within which Buddhism spread from the Mauryan period onwards. What is apparent here is the relative dearth of evidence for early historic period in comparison to the later periods which manifested remarkable evidence.

Bibliographic References Asher, F.M. (1980) Art of Eastern India. Minnesota. Barua, B.M. (1931) Gaya and Buddha-Gaya Early History of the Holy Land. Varanasi.

The tentative chronological framework, which has been built up using a combination of sculptural and ceramic evidence for the region, has demonstrated the growth of settlements in the early historic period. Accordingly this chronological framework led to the revision of the chronology of several previously reported sites, such as Dharawat, Hasra kol and many others, which have been provided with new dates in contrast to previously reported dates based on the analysis of sculptural and epigraphic sources. The late appearance of sculpture within the region was compensated by a reliance on ceramic-evidence for the dating of earlier period at all these sites.

Bloch, T. (1902) Annual Report of Archaeological Survey of India, Bengal Circle. Calcutta. Coningham, R. (2001) ‘The archaeology of Buddhism’ in T. Insoll (ed.), Archaeology and world religion, 35-61. London. Cunningham, A. (1871) Four Reports during the years 1862-63-64-65. Calcutta. Cunningham, A. (1892) Mahabodhi or The Great Buddhist Temple under The Bodhi Tree at Buddha-Gaya. London. Gupta, P. (1989) Geography from Ancient Indian Coins & Seals. New Delhi.

The fact that most of the sites were under active occupation had a direct impact on the ceramic- collection. Of the twenty-eight sites whose earliest chronological marker points to the early historic period, only nineteen were dated on the basis of ceramic samples collected from ploughed surfaces whereas for the remaining eleven sites, ceramic was collected from exposed sections. This indicates the continuous occupation of the sites due to high population density and the resultant damage of the sites. It should be stressed that the chronology presented here only reflects the presence or absence of a certain sculptural phase, or diagnostic ceramic ware. Therefore the resolution of the present chronological framework will be subject to re-evaluation at a later stage as new form of evidence come to light.

Goswami, B., transl. (2001). Lalitavistara. Kolkata. Heitzman, J. (1989) ‘Early Buddhism, Trade and Empire’ in K.A.R. Kennedy and G.L. Possehl (eds), Studies in the Archaeology and Paleoanthropology of South Asia, 121-34. Oxford. Huntington, S.L. (1984) The Pāla-Sena Schools of Sculpture. Leiden. Johnston, E.H., transl. (1972) The Buddhacaritam or Acts of the Buddha. New Delhi. Kumar, N. (1999) Archaeological excavations in Bihar Since Independence. Patna. Mitra, D. (1971) Buddhist Monuments. Calcutta.

Sculptural evidence provided the sole chronological indicator for many sites which have not been excavated or exposed. Eight such sites with just sculptural remains from the Pala period were found and the lack of pottery at these places makes it difficult to locate their origins. Most of these were donative in nature but their damaged and fragmentary nature often did not provide details about the donor or the motives. Despite these shortcomings, the palaeographic analysis helped strengthen the chronological framework for the current purpose, which is to provide a regional backdrop for understanding the archaeological setting of the Bodhgaya region The distribution of the sculptures in the Pala period reinforced the geographical spread of Buddhism, and inter-connectivity between the settlements, monasteries and shrines within the settlements. The early historic trend of proximate distance between monastic centres and settlements probably continued to exist but the emergence of the temples led to the establishment of shrines within settlements themselves. It is at these shrines where images were installed and worshipped, thereby providing the immediate ritual context for the existing settlements of the Bodhgaya region. Therefore this paper maps the process of the geographical spread of Buddhism from Bodhgaya to the larger Bodhgaya region in tandem with the growth of the settlements in the region.

Mitra, R.L. (1878) Buddha-Gaya: The Great Buddhist temple, The Hermitage of Sakya-muni. Calcutta. Norman, K.R. (2001) Sutta-Nipata. The group of discourses. Oxford. Pandey, M.S. (1963) The Historical Geography and Topography of Bihar. Delhi. Patil, D.R. (1963) The Antiquarian Remains in Bihar. Patna. Roy,

A. (2002) ‘Nandadirghi-Vihara: A Newly Discovered Buddhist Monastery at Jagajibbanpur West Bengal’ in G. Sengupta & S. Panja (eds), Archaeology of Eastern India: New Perspectives, 557-613. Kolkata.

Singh, A.K. (1991) History of the Magadha. Delhi. Singh, S.P. (1981) ‘Archaeological Sites in Gaya: Recent Discoveries’ in U. Thakur (ed.), Glories of Gaya, Bodhgaya, 35-58. Sinha, B.P. & Verma, B.S. (1977) Sonpur Excavations. Patna. Singh, P. & Singh, A.K. (2004) The Archaeology of Middle Ganga Plain. New Perspectives. Delhi. 14

DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME Stein, M.A. (1904) ‘Notes on an Archaeological Tour in South Bihar and Hazaribagh’, Indian Antiquary, 1904: XXX. Walshe, M. (1987) Digha Nikaya: The long discourses of the Buddha. Boston .

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Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister

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Period Neolithic Chalcolithic

Time-Frame c. 2000-1500BC c. 1500-700 / 650 BC

Early historic–I

c. 650-200 BC

Early historic–II (Śunga-Kushan Period)

c. 200 BC-c. AD 300

Gupta & Later-Gupta Period

c. AD 300-600

Post-Gupta & Pala Period

c. AD 600-1200

Markers Ceramic-analysis Ceramic-analysis Ring-wells, coinage, terracotta & clay art, architectural / structural remains Asokan pillar, Vajrāsan, inscriptions. Ceramic-analysis (NBP and its associated red ware, black ware, black polished ware, BRW) Pillar-railings, imagery, coinage, terracotta &clay art Ceramic-analysis (red ware without slip or wash, degenerate NBP ware, black or grey ware) Imagery, inscriptions, coinage, Ceramic-analysis (red ware, grey ware) Imagery, inscriptions, pillar railings, temples, ceramic-analysis (red slipped ware, grey ware, buff ware, dull red ware with slip)

Table 1 - Chronological-Framework

17

Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister

Chronological framework Neolithic / Chalcolithic Period Early historic Period I Early historic–II (Śunga-Kushan Period) Gupta and Later-Gupta Period Post Gupta & Pala Period

Number of Settlement Sites 7 Neolithic + 6 new 13 + 15 new = 28 28 + 1 new= 29 29 29

Number of Monastic / temple sites 0 4 4 + 1 new 5 + 3 new 8 + 14 new

Table 2 – Chronological chart of the surveyed-sites

Nature of sites Non-Monastic / Settlement site

North Sumera, Suppi-gadh, Dharawat village-site

South Bank, Binda, Dema, Atiya, Pirasin, Wari, Gothu, Koshila, Lakhaipur, Jagannathpur

East Bhuthura, Miyari / Maher, Malikpur, Silaunja

Monastic / Temple–site

Katni-hill at Dharawat, Kauwa-dol / Samaspur / Barabar Hill / Mira-Bigha

Gurpa, Khojwatti

Kurkihar, Kurkihar hill, Hasra Kol, Harahi sthan / Orel, JethianTapoban

Sculptural-sites Modern temple in villages

Ghamandi sthan, Amwan, Kendua, Ghugritand, Kendui

Badki-Babhni

Amethi, Punawan

West Sonpur, Ghaenjan, Tekari, BaijuBigha, Mangrawangadh, Nasher, Chansi, Jhikatiya, Chillaur,Nagwagadh, Guneri, Kabar, Kespa, Makhpa, Bahelia-Bigha, Misr-Bigha, Utrain, Pali, Konch, BaijuBigha hillock temples, Burha, Dubba, Manda Hill 0

Table 3 - Nature of the Surveyed sites

Nature of sites Non-Monastic / Settlement site Monastic / Temple –site Sculptural-sites Modern temple in villages Total

North 3

South 10

East 4

West 12

Total 29

4 5

2 1

5 2

11 0

22 8

12

13

11

23

59

Table 4 – Geographical distribution of the surveyed sites

18

DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME

DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister To excavate a living monument is to search for evidence in real time. Focusing on four temples in desert Rajasthan founded in the 7th-to-9th centuries AD, an interdisciplinary team, with support from the J. Paul Getty Trust, has, over the past decade, attempted to reconstruct and understand relationships connecting phases of each temple’s architectural remains and ongoing lives (Fig. 1).1 The title of our interpretive research proposal when funded by the Getty Trust was Continuities of Community Patronage: Pilgrimage Temples of Western India. We hoped to test whether the ancient temples we chose had persisted for centuries — remaining in some fashion alive — because of their connections with specific communities (defined in part by caste and in part by religious affiliation).2

pilgrimage temples on the desert, but there was enough local patronage to build a large compound, visitors’ quarters, and a new gateway — all types of patronage we found also at other temples in this period — and to polychrome the ninth-century stone sculptures carved along the sanctum’s walls. Later in the 20th century, after Indian Independence, a newly affluent merchant community of Agravāls from the neighbouring town of Balotra contributed large sums to decorate the hall ceiling with expensive glass mirror work (Fig. 2), and they have established the newly required Public Temple Trust for its management and upkeep. Yet this monument today, with no longer any royal connections and with few pilgrims, has only what we concluded is ‘a somewhat constricted contemporary life’. We had hypothesized that if the deity enshrined in a temple bore a sustained special relationship with one community, a relationship central to that community’s self identity and therefore deserving of continued devotion, veneration, obeisance, and financial support, then the institution could sustain itself over many centuries. What we found at Khed instead was a break from the temple’s royal patronage, and vague if sincere attempts by other local communities at various moments to help identify themselves by associating with its guttering flame.

The temples we chose shared one crucial characteristic: they are functioning temples today that are also of very great antiquity. As we discovered, this does not necessarily mean that they have been continuously functioning throughout their existence, but it does mean they have long and complex histories that raise critical questions about the conditions under which temple institutions can sustain themselves. We selected four temples that could help us define this range of possibilities. We had in part hypothesized that, unlike many medieval Indian temples that have survived only as archaeological ruins — even though in their origins they may have been grand edifices, erected through the landed power of a king or other local elite, or through the economic power of a wealthy merchant prince — each of these particular temples in some way expressed a single community’s identity strongly enough that the members of the community, rich and poor, local and distant, ensured the continuing life of the temple.

Our long-term team research led us to see temples, deities, and communities in far more fluid relationships, requiring a redefinition of ‘continuity’ itself. A case in point is certainly the Dadhimatī-Mātā temple set among gypsum mines and mustard fields between Goth and Manglod villages near Nagaur. An inscription, perhaps from AD 608, records patronage of a local Dāhimā Brahman community for a ‘sthāna’ or sacred place where the Goddess Dadhimatī had emerged from the earth (Ram Karna 1911–12). What remains now is an ancient stone temple built around that sacred ‘sthāna’, which became its sunk sanctum, only in the early 9th century (Meister 2002).

At the site called Khed, for example, far out on the Rajasthan desert toward Barmer, near Balotra, a complex multi-spired stone temple had been built in the 9th century, dedicated to a form of Vi·nu called RanchoΡjī especially valued by a Rajput royal elite. Its domed gūΡhamanΡapa (closed hall) ceiling was finally installed only in the 10th century, and its main deity was replaced by a larger marble sculpture perhaps a century-and-a-half later. This temple, early in the 20th century, was only intermittently still in use compared to other major

But there was also a remarkable reformulation and expansion of this temple in the 19th century — surrounding that ancient stone structure with four courtyards or cauks — instituted by a Dāhimā Brahmacārī, Vi·nu Das, with substantial patronage from the Mahārānā of Udaipur, Swarup Singh, who ruled from 1842–61 (Fig. 3). This ‘new’ institution has its own history, including a century of competing communities intent on controlling the keys to its ritual storeroom and expansion of pilgrimage spaces around the shrine, but also a history by which the Dāhimās of today — spread across India and even the globe — have used this temple and its mythic history to reposition and define their

1

The team carried out systematic joint fieldwork in Rajasthan in Dec. 1996 and Dec.–May 1997–8, and individually have made many trips since. For a final synoptic volume on this project see Babb, Cort & Meister 2007. Earlier collective and individual scholarship appeared in Babb, Joshi & Meister (eds) 2002 and Meister (ed.) 2000. Encyclopedia entries with architectural and historical descriptions of the four temples discussed in this essay appear in Meister & Dhaky (eds) 1991. 2 This summary of results from the Getty project was presented by Meister in Ravenna. All three authors contributed to the text in equal collaboration.

19

Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister community through the past century and into the 21st.3

this collaborative project had in fact been the remarkable changes — physical and sociological — he had observed from his first visits to this region in the 1960s and which continue today. We could, for example, study in some detail the physical transformation of the Mahāvīra temple’s complex from the 1970s to 1990s, with new patronage for renovation from the Ānandjī-Kalyānjī Trust in Ahmedabad; changing local politics; a new Government agenda for the Jain School; and an increase in facilities for pilgrims and tourism (Handa 1984).

Not only do the patrons and prominence of temples change, deities may change as well. Each of our temples has had its own story to tell us of periods of prominence and near desertion. One of them — dedicated to Sacciyā Mātā at Osian — today has even become one of the more important goddess temples in Rajasthan (Fig. 5). Like Dadhimatī Mātā, however, Sacciyā Mātā began (and still serves) as a local goddess. Her earliest eighth-century stone image survives — a passively beautiful form of the goddess called K·emaṅkarī. The original small SacciyāMātā temple’s sanctum, which stood next to a companion eighth-century temple that still stands, was replaced in AD 1178 by a much larger structure. The earlier image in the sanctum was at that time replaced by a fierce version of the Goddess slaying the buffalo demon Mahi·a. It is this fierce form of the goddess that Jain legends then say converts to Jain ways.

As an example of what could be accomplished, we can point to one ‘archaeological’ recovery: we were able to reconstruct the elevation and plan of the little documented double-storied entry-hall to the Mahāvīra complex, which Meister had first photographed in 1968 (Fig. 4), and compare that to the temple’s newly reconstituted single-story ‘tourist reception hall’ as it stands today. This valānaka, first built in the 8th century, renovated and expanded in the 10th (with an important historical praśasti inscription) and 12th centuries, has once again been recreated with new patronage in the 20th century.

The goddess Dadhimatī first emerged from the earth as an autochthonous stone (her skull or knee depending on the source of the story), stopped from fully emerging by the surprised cries of a local cow-herder. An event much like this is actually represented in a small relief on a not-toodistant late-eighth-century temple to PāΡamātā, along with a fully developed image of the Great Goddess in her demon-slaying form at the centre of the outer north wall (Meister in press). As Clifford Geertz has argued, ‘cultural analysis is (or should be) guessing at meanings, assessing the guesses, and drawing explanatory conclusions from the better guesses’ (Geertz 1973, p. 20). At the town of Osian, located in a desert hollow northwest of Jodhpur, two temples — among many others at the site — tell differing if intertwined stories. One is the goddess temple of Sacciyā Mātā. The other is dedicated to the Jain tīrthankara Mahāvīra. First constructed late in the 8th century, this temple has served primarily a community of Osvāl Jains. In the centuries after its founding, the Mahāvīra temple underwent definable phases of renovation, expansion, new patronage, neglect, near abandonment, and reappropriation and renovation by Jains in the 19th and 20th centuries (Fig. 4).

As a scholar of Jainism, Cort concluded that the Mahāvīra temple today, although acknowledged archaeologically as the oldest extant Jain temple in Western India (Dhaky 1968), ‘remains more important for art historians than devotees’. Yet the histories of its rediscovery by local Jains late in the 19th century, at the same time that construction of a light railroad made regional pilgrimage more easily possible; the building and maintenance of a Jain School to repopulate Jains in Osian early in the last century; and the struggles of teachers and local priests — in particular a converted non-temple-worshiper named Jñānsundar — to recover its Jain lineage and restore the temple to its rightful position through the 20th century are stories we could both recover and retell (Babb, Cort & Meister 2008). The Sacciyā-Mātā temple — and the recent growth of its importance and patronage from pilgrims — also allowed us to recover a number of complex and unexpected histories. The communities that today are central to the patronage of each of our temples have not necessarily always played such a role, and we found ample evidence that each temple has been the site of extended contestations over access, ownership, and proprietary rights. Osvāl Jains, who are currently the dominant community among patrons of the Sacciyā-Mātā temple, advance a set of medieval myths to bolster their claims to Osian, but in fact have gained (or recently regained) prominence in the multiple-community patronage of the Sacciyā-Mātā temple only in the past few decades, and for unusual reasons. These major patrons today are Terāpanthī, that is ‘non-temple-worshiping’ Jains, as they were in the 19th century, who have returned to Sacciyā Mātā in recent decades, finding her an auspicious cancer-curing goddess who has also helped (as a reclaimed tutelary deity) to reframe their community identity in the 21st century.

By contrast, the temple-complex dedicated to Sacciyā Mātā as a local place-goddess has served a number of communities over time and at the same time, in changing circumstances and in multiple ways (Fig. 5). In stories of Osvāl origins, for example, the goddess Sacciyā commits herself to Jain austerities by becoming a vegetarian; yet for other multiple communities she continued to receive blood sacrifices until quite recently; and for people today, she continues to service a variety of local and trans-local communities in definable and successful ways. Among Meister’s responsibilities as an art historian on this team was to document the standing monuments and their physical changes. Part of his reasons for proposing 3 See for example www.dadhich.com.

the

recently

established

Dāhimā

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DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME One result of this patronage has been the vast expansion of the complex to meet the needs of multiple users and new pilgrims since 1970. Earlier in the 20th century the ritual functions of the Bhojak priests of the Sacciyā-Mātā temple were still quartered in a small compound toward the northeast corner of the fortified hill, built possibly in the 18th century. Now their enlarged community descends the hill on the east (and is contesting the Temple Trust to keep the community’s private gate open). Vast feeding and sleeping halls have been built; new stone gateways (with even newer aluminum ornaments) march up the hill; and a set of nine shrines to the Nava-Durgās are still in the process of being constructed beyond the old fortifications (Fig. 5).

the means by which myth can function — like archaeology — to make the past present. At Dadhimatī, for example, reformulation of the temple in the 1850s attributed to the Mahārānā of Udaipur has now been connected with a hoary ancestry. Chapbooks at the temple reset this ‘foundation’ (of the nineteenth-century temple) in the far distant past, and place Mahārānā Swarup in the ancient time of the world-ruling king Māndhātā. That this king once competed with Indra, claiming his throne, as represented in a famous secondcentury AD roundel from the Buddhist stūpa at Amaravati (Knox 1992, pp. 74, 79), is beyond the ‘event horizon’ of contemporary devotees, but not beyond what we here call an ‘archaeology in present time’.

We might think that the divinities enshrined in temples would be strong evidence of great stability, but an icon does not exist in autonomous isolation. Scholars of comparative religion use the term ‘god’ to refer to a ‘bilateral relationship’, a general type of experience in which people as individuals and in community experience an ‘otherness’. Thomas Coburn (2001: 215) has written that

We end this summary of our results with comments by L.A. Babb, our team’s sociologist and anthropologist, which emphasize that the notion of social identity was crucial to our research. Functioning temples are confluence points for social relationships of every sort, and deities are emblems of social groupings of all kinds — lineages, clans, castes, and even village or regional communities. By supporting particular deities, and by making them a part of life-cycle rituals, groups enact their own sense of themselves as social entities and project their identities into public space. Origin mythology is the usual medium through which connections between temples and social groups are established and reinforced. Such mythology transmutes questions of social identity into assertions about a given group’s past: how it came to be the kind of community that it is. Part of what makes a temple live and allows it to survive for as many centuries as these have is that it is embedded in a community’s self-understanding as expressed in historical or mytho-historical ideas. People narrate their own history, and because a temple is central to that history, they travel to, worship at, and maintain that temple. Our four temples dramatically illustrate these principles; therefore group histories, told over and over, with many variants, as well as temples built and rebuilt, became central to our research.

[god] does not refer to the intrinsic qualities of an object, person, text, place, [or] act. … Rather, it refers to [each] in relationship to and [in] interaction with particular persons, … individually or collectively.

The ‘deity’ is located in these relationships; and as communities change, deities also change. Within the Sacciyā-Mātā temple itself, and around Osian as a sacred tīrtha — as also at Dadhimatī — we found many layers of divinities and user communities, as well as many stories (and images) of enabling teachers, sages, even a cow-herder or so. Here again we found fluidity more than fixity. In large part this is because in no case is the primary deity of the temple the only deity enshrined. Each deity stands in a web of deities, and how worshipers enter into this web alters the relationships between devotees and deities, and therefore alters deities themselves. Sacciyā, Mahāvīra, and Dadhimatī are the goals of pilgrims who come from afar. Most pilgrims pay little attention to other deities in the shrine. But for regional and local pilgrims, other deities — the Bhairava located in the Mahāvīra compound, the Hanumān in the RanchoΡjī compound, the goddess Gaṅgaur worshiped one day a year in the Sacciyā temple — may have greater importance on a permanent basis, or on particular days of the Hindu and Jain ritual calendars.

The Osvāl clan’s origin myth as retold at Osian asserts that the goddess Sacciyā was instrumental in the ‘awakening’ of the inhabitants of Osian to the truths of Jainism, which was how the Osvāl caste was created. A ferocious and bloodthirsty goddess, Sacciyā Mātā in the form of CāmunΡā, became vegetarian shortly after the townspeople became Jains. This same body of myth maintains that the Mahāvīra temple was built at that time, and credits a goddess with the creation of the image enshrined there. Sacciyā occupies the role of clan goddess for many Osvāls today, though by no means all. She is also venerated as clan goddess by many non-Osvāls, and there perhaps exists a reservoir of origin mythology of descent groups belonging to non-Osvāl communities in which Sacciyā also plays a role.

We thus came to see each of these temples as elements in fluid theologies and fluid archaeologies. The stones of temples change as they are periodically renovated. The communities connected to temples change due to the fluctuations of power, wealth, and migration. Deities change as their relational identities are redefined. Continuity does not imply lack of change. On the contrary, we came to see that temples continue to survive only as they are able to change. We have been struck also by temples’ re-established connections with the past and

The richest trove of origin mythology we encountered was that of the Dāhimā Brahmans. Rendered into Sanskrit in their recently constructed caste Purāna, but also circulating in folk versions, their current origin myth 21

Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister centres on the goddess Dadhimatī and her temple. It traces the descent of the entire caste to the Vedic sage Dadhīci, whom the myth claims to have been goddess Dadhimatī’s brother. This relationship is a feature of the temple’s present sacred geography, for an image of Dadhīci в·ī now sits in the compound of Dadhimatī in a side-shrine constructed only in the 20th century by a Dāhimā Brahman devotee.

Bibliography Babb, L.A. (2004) Alchemies of Violence: Myths of Identity and the Life of Trade in Western India. New Delhi. Babb, L.A.; Cort, J.E. & Meister, M.W. (2008) Desert Temples: Sacred Centers of Rajasthan in Historical, Art-Historical, and Social Contexts. Jaipur.

The retelling of this myth reaches deeply into the structure of the caste by accounting for the traditional 144 caste gotras as the multiplying progeny of the sons of Dadhīci’s twelve grandsons. This mytho-fact is vividly illustrated by a large caste genealogy mounted on one of the inner walls of the temple courtyard, but its promotion has been a construction of the 20th century. The change from Dāhimā (i.e. local) Brahmans — which go back to the ‘Dadhya’ Brahmans of the AD 608 inscription — to contemporary Dadhīci (that is Vedic) Brahmans in the latter part of the 20th century is only one of the multiple layers our ‘archaeology’ has been able to uncover.

Babb, L.A.; Joshi, V. & Meister, M.W. eds (2002) Multiple Histories: Culture and Society in the Study of Rajasthan. Jaipur. Coburn, T.B. (2001) ‘What Is a “Goddess” and What Does it Mean to “Construct” One?’ in T. Pintchman (ed.), Seeking Mahādevī: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess, 213– 32. Albany NY. Dhaky, M.A. (1968) ‘Some Early Jaina Temples in Western India’ in Śrī Mahāvīr Jain Vidyālay Suvarnmahotsav Granth, English section, 290– 347. Bombay.

There is nothing static about any of our temples, and the coupling of the Dāhimā origin myth to the temple, was, although ancient, at the heart of important transformations affecting both caste and temple in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a period in which caste elites all over India were, in response especially to changes related to urbanization and the emergence of new economic opportunities, revising their sense of themselves as caste communities and their notions of the nature of caste as a social institution (Babb 2004). When Dāhimā Brahmans migrated away from Dadhimatī’s rural hinterland, they found themselves in need of burnished Brahmanical credentials and, in the face of their increasing geographical dispersal, they also needed a symbolic focus for caste unity.

Geertz, C. (1973) The Interpretation of Culture: Selected Essays. New York. Handa, D. (1984) Osian: History, Archaeology, Art and Architecture. Delhi. Knox, R. (1992) Amaravati: Buddhist Sculpture from the Great Stūpa. London. Meister, M.W. (2002) ‘Giving Up and Taking On: The Body in Ritual’, Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics 41, 92–103. Meister, M.W., ed. (2000) Ethnography and Personhood: Notes from the Field. Meister, M.W. (in press) ‘Gaurisikhara: Temple as an Ocean of Story’, Artibus Asiae.

Dāhimā elites polished their Brahmanical pedigree by manipulating their caste genealogy and reshaped their caste’s origin myth in such a way as to support their claim that Dadhimatī and Dadhīci в·i had a unique relationship with the Dāhimā Brahman caste community. Such a claim had little basis in the local tradition, for Dadhimatī had been the goddess of many communities in the region, not just the Dāhimā Brahmans. As a result, Dadhīci Brahmans of today have increasingly come into conflict with other communities over control of the temple — with local JāΓs in particular, who take this goddess also as their clan goddess — a contest that is yet to play itself out as the temple enters its one-thousandfive-hundredth year.

Meister, M.W. & Dhaky, M.A. (eds) (1991) Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, vol. II, pt. 2, North India: Period of Early Maturity. Princeton NJ. Ram

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Karna, Pandit (1911–12) ‘Dadhimatī-Mati Inscription of the Time of Dhruhlana; [Gupta]Samvat 289’. Epigraphia Indica 11: 299–304.

DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME

Fig. 1 - Map of Western India with temple sites (Map M.W. Meister).

Fig. 2 - Khed, Rajasthan: RanchoΡjī temple, 9th century, (top) mirrored ceiling in the gūΡhamanΡapa; (lower right) view into north ambulatory corridor. Osian, Rajasthan: Sacciyā-Mātā temple, (lower left) view of gūΡhamanΡapa looking toward eighth-century Sūrya shrine (Photos M.W. Meister).

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Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister

Fig. 3 - Dadhimatī-Mātā temple, located between Goth and Manglod villages, Rajasthan: groundplan of ninth-century shrine (prāsāda) and four cauks that redefined a new temple in the 19th century (Drawing M.W. Meister).

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DESERT TEMPLES: ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRESENT TIME

Fig. 4 - Osian, Mahāvīra temple: phases of development with section and groundplan reconstructing the two-storied entry hall (valānaka) still present in1968 (Drawings and photo M.W. Meister).

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Lawrence A. Babb, John E. Cort & Michael W. Meister

Fig. 5 - Osian, Sacciyā-Mātā temple and hill, changes and additions 1972–98 (Drawings and photos M.W. Meister).

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DEVOTIONAL FIGURES ON BUDDHIST IMAGES FROM ANCIENT MATHURA Chandreyi Basu A striking feature of standing Buddha images in Mathura from the 2nd century onward is the presence of worshipers – both lay and monastic – in the main image field. These devotees stand or kneel close to the feet of the central Buddha figure, their hands either folded in añjalimudrā or filled with pious offerings. They are distinct in treatment, size, and placement from the groups of generic worshipers that are carved in relief on pedestals of seated and standing images. While pedestal figures are grouped together in a separate space below the central icon, individual devotee figures on standing images are accorded a privileged position because they co-habit the central portion of the sculpture with the Buddha.1 They are sculpted almost in-the-round often in a startlingly individualised manner.

Buddha’s feet. Some examples combine kneeling and frontally depicted figures within the same image. Dedicatory inscriptions naming donors and explaining the occasions of the gifts cover the surface of the pedestals of the majority of these images.2 The following four examples from the Ku·āna period illustrate the variation in pose and scale that characterised the formative phase of this imagery. My first example (Fig. 1) is the lower portion of an image (CSMVS 2, length 75 cm) identified by inscription as the ‘holy incomparable Śākyamuni,’ dedicated at a certain Rośika vihāra in the year 45 of the Kani·ka era by Khvasicā, who was an upāsikā, a female lay convert (Lüders 1961: 205-06). The text of the inscription highlights the intermediate role played by the donor and the reciprocity inherent in the act of donation. In return for installing this image the donor asks not only for her own good health but also the well-being of her parents, her mistress, as well as of two other individuals and their mothers.

In Mathura the practice of promoting worshiper figures to the level of the main image was introduced, as far as we can tell, at the same time and by the very donors who adopted a new nomenclature for Buddha images (Härtel 1985: 653-78; Rhi 1994: 207-25). Lay and monastic donors who invested in this new image-type with its deliberate arrangement of figures must have believed in the possibility of individual worshipers gaining a direct and personal access to the Buddha Śākyamuni in his fully enlightened form.

In the main image field, the full figure of a female worshiper dressed in lay costume and adorned with jewellery stands in between the large feet of the now missing Buddha figure, holding a cloth ribbon or scarf. The offering she carries points to her role as a supporter of the sanሶgha. In return, she has not only gained a favoured place close to the Buddha but has also been conferred a suprahuman status through her frontal depiction, which enables her to face viewers in the mundane world in the same way as the Buddha does. Such a position and stance are usually reserved for semidivine attendant figures of the Buddha. Visually, her figure seems to mediate between the mundane world and the realm of the Buddha. Claudine Bautze-Picron (1995: 59-80) has observed that figures of monks played a similar intermediary role in Pala art.

This paper surveys the visual repertoire of devotional figures in Mathura from the Ku·āna through Gupta periods and attempts to situate the imagery within the complex intellectual climate of Buddhist monasteries in northwest India. I begin by tracing the development of these figures in sculpture and then draw on epigraphic data, where possible, to learn about the types of patronage that might have led to a sustained interest in this imagery among Mathura’s Buddhist communities. Visual and epigraphic evidence indicates that lay donors and donor monks, alike, embraced this type of imagery, but few left traces, if any, of their sectarian affiliation. Male and female lay worshipers are far more frequently portrayed in these images than monks or nuns. Ku·āna period devotee figures are more individualised and varied in type, while smaller and more standardised figures are to be found on Gupta images.

Devotees also bridge the mundane and supramundane realms in two colossal Buddha sculptures from Mathura, datable stylistically to the mid- Ku·āna and early Gupta periods respectively. In the Gupta Buddha image (SML 0.71, height 265 cm, Vogel 1906-7: pl. XXIX), a male figure occupies the space in between the Buddha’s feet, in a manner similar to Khvasicā’s worshipper figure. Framed by a thick cluster of lotus buds, this figure holds ‘a flask and wear[s] a fluted crown’ (Sharma 1995: 204), attributes that have led both R. C. Sharma and Jean Vogel (1906-7: 149) to identify the figure as the bodhisattva

The arrangement of devotee figures on the sculptures examined in this paper follows two main formats. Kneeling worshipers on either side of the Buddha’s feet usually turn to face the Buddha and, thereby, make direct contact with the object of their veneration. Devotees facing the viewer are usually placed in between the

2 The separation of the inscription from the image field in these sculptures, I believe, brings both the text and image into sharper focus. Although this could be a practical solution introduced to accommodate lengthier inscriptions, I am not convinced this was the primary reason for the change, since lengthy Jain and Buddhist inscriptions continued to be carved on the rims of pedestals with worshiper figures.

1

In contrast to pedestals of Mathura images, figures of lay and monastic worshipers on Gandhāran image pedestals could belong conceptually to the main image field, since devotee figures occasionally break through the borders to engage with the central image (Huntington 1984: 13378).

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Chandreyi Basu Maitreya. Placed along the central axis of the Buddha image, this frontally depicted figure presents viewers with a secondary focal point with which to interact. The principal focus of veneration is, of course, the colossal Buddha and this is emphasised by the presence of two kneeling lay devotee figures shown in profile on either side of the Buddha’s feet. Their bodies are fractionally taller than the standing Maitreya figure and they look up at the colossal Buddha while venerating him with flowers and a garland.

south-eastern section of Mathura city. The inscription suggests that Buddhavarman, the donor monk, dedicated the image to mark his preceptor’s death and to ensure that he attained nirvāna (Lüders 1961: 64-65). Visually, however, Buddhavarman chose to privilege a lay devotee’s figure. The lay male devotee wears a short tunic, a sash, and sandals while kneeling next to the Buddha’s right foot. The figure is missing its head but is still impressive, since it is carved naturalistically and in high relief. Its large scale (nearly a foot and a half) is magnified by the traces of two small bare feet that are visible next to the Buddha’s left foot. The frontal stance of this missing figure would have contrasted the profile view of the kneeling devotee, who turns sideways towards the Buddha as he supports a bowl-like object in his hands (Fig. 5). The rounded bottom and cross-hatched pattern of this object suggests that it could be an offering of a bowl or a large piece of cloth. In legends about the Buddha’s life, so well illustrated in contemporaneous Gandhāran reliefs, the begging bowl is associated with key acts of generosity by the lokapālas, or a monkey who offered the Buddha honey, and the small boy who gave the Buddha a handful of dust (Ingholt 1957: figs 68-69, 110, 115). While Buddhavarman’s kneeling devotee contains no such narrative reference, he undoubtedly embodies the Buddhist ideal of generosity, which was paramount for high status individuals.

A slight variation in this pattern is found on the lower portion of a Ku·āna sculpture in the collection of the Indian Museum, Kolkata (Fig. 2, IM M 6 / A 25020, length 105 cm). Here we see two full-length figures of monks standing in the space between the Buddha’s feet with their hands joined in añjalimudrā. Although they are accorded a special place along the central axis, the figures of these monks are less iconic in comparison to Khvasicā’s lay female worshiper and the figure identified as Maitreya in the previous image. Their bodies are turned slightly toward the centre to avoid a completely frontal depiction. The large bunch of lotus buds that frames these figures could include the Buddha’s cūΡā (hair and turban) and this could be the object to which the monks direct their devotion. Perhaps, it was considered too awkward to visually portray monks in a strictly iconic fashion during this period in Mathura? The busts of a male and female lay patron are prominently depicted on either side of the Buddha’s feet and, like the monks, are presented in three fourth profile. Their large scale (40 cm) relative to the full-length figures of the monks (26 cm) hint at their suprahuman status, although the sculptors took great pains to give them life-like faces as well as distinctive hairstyles and attire. As the busts emerge from the base of the statue, like figures of nāga couples or earth goddesses rising from the water and the earth, they support the base of the statue with their hands (Fig. 3). Clearly they, too, occupy an intermediate world that lies in between ordinary mortals and the Buddha but they are given greater importance than the monks in the centre.

This image of a lay donor, I believe, could be conflated with that of a lay disciple devoted to a great teacher or even a personal deity. As I have suggested for previous examples, the arrangement of figures on these images underscores a reciprocal exchange between the devotee and the Buddha (and the monastery). Thus, although the main Buddha image is missing, it is not hard to visualise this lay devotee as receiving the Buddha’s blessings or teachings in return for his piety. The bowl (or cloth) simultaneously serves as an offering for the Buddha and a receptacle for the devotee. It is quite conceivable that this figure indexes a lay pupil of the donor’s teacher. As fellow pupils, the monk Buddhavarman and the unspecified layman would have both had obligations to fulfil toward their teacher after his death.

The privileging of lay patrons over monks in this image can, perhaps, be understood in reference to lay-monastic interactions during monastic rituals like those described in the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya, analyzed by Gregory Schopen (Schopen 2004: 91-121). These texts illustrate the mutual obligations of monks and laymen in monastic rituals, particularly those related to death. However, in the absence of the main figure or a dedicatory inscription, it is difficult to reconstruct the ritual context of this striking image more fully. My next example – inscribed and dated – could provide a better understanding of the context in which standing images with worshipper figures were used.

The kneeling posture could also contain references to lay conversions and renunciation of household ties for a more direct participation in the sanሶgha as a lay upāsika or a monk, particularly in the later stages of the householder’s life. Gandhāran artists often rendered the figures of new converts, such as Ugrasena, in similar poses on 2nd - 3rd century reliefs depicting the Buddha’s biography (see Ingholt 1957: fig. 117). In bringing the figures of lay worshipers up to the level of the Buddha’s feet, the artists (and donors) of the images discussed thus far succeeded in establishing a closer and more personal interaction between worshipers and the central Buddha figure. This certainly made the Buddha seem less distant or removed from a disciple or practitioner. But, can we see in the sharing of common

In the year 51 of the Kani·ka era, a medium-sized sculpture of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Fig. 4, SML B 3, length c. 60 cm), was installed in a monastery of large proportions, named after the Ku·āna ruler Huvi·ka, in the 28

DEVOTIONAL FIGURES ON BUDDHIST IMAGES FROM ANCIENT MATHURA space by devotees and the Buddha a prefiguration of later Mahāyāna ideals of lay bodhisattvas striving for full buddhahood or the concept of buddhafields with savior deities?3

Fifth century Mathura workshops continued to design worshiper figures in high relief but made them smaller in size in comparison to Ku·āna examples. The standard form in the Gupta period comprised kneeling devotees with hands joined in añjalimudrā, shown in profile one on either side of the Buddha’s feet (Fig. 6, GMM A 5), although figures carrying offerings are not entirely absent (GMM 76.27). The practice of placing figures in between the Buddha’s feet seems to have been discontinued. A few Gupta-period monks who dedicated images of this type explicitly identified themselves as śākyabhik·u, a special title most likely to have been associated with early Mahāyāna cults (Schopen 2005d: 223-46).

In light of recent scholarship based on textual (Schopen 2005a: 3-24, 2005b: 108-53; Harrison 1987: 67-89) and art historical (Rhi 2003:152-90) sources, I think it would be a mistake to assign a Mahāyāna sectarian identity to these images. Sectarian identities were fluid in north India during the Ku·āna period and no clear-cut Mahāyāna identity is evident from either epigraphic or archaeological records datable to that period. Even the donors of the Mathura standing Buddha image dated in the year 26 of the Kani·ka era and identified epigraphically as Amitābha didn’t specify whether they belonged to a clearly identifiable Mahāyāna sect (Schopen, 2005c: 247-77).

An impressive example in this category is a life-sized Buddha image from Jamalpur, a pious donation of the śākyabhik·u Yāsadinna (Fig. 6). In his inscription Yāsadinna differentiates himself from previously discussed donors, such as Buddhavarman or the upāsikā Khvasicā, by foregrounding the goal of increasing universal Knowledge and by not naming a specific Buddha.4 The two figures kneeling on either side of the Buddha’s feet are poorly preserved, although their hand gestures and plain attire are still discernable and they appear to be male. Similar figures can be studied on the lower portion of another life-size image of Śākyamuni sculpted by the famous artist Dinna and installed in Govindnagar in the year 115 of the Gupta era by a monk named Sanghavarman (Fig. 7, GMM 76.25). Both kneeling devotees join the palms of their hands in añjalimudrā and wear thin robes that cover the left shoulder, but display no ornaments. They could represent monks or householders who have joined the monastic community. The sectarian identity of this donor is ambiguous, since his inscription combines older formulae with newer ones that are associated with Mahāyāna ideals (Schopen 2005c: 267-68).

The monk Buddhavarman and the upāsikā Khvasicā, although they experimented with new image types and naming practices, seem more likely to fit the profile of Buddhists in established, or to use Gregory Schopen’s term, ‘mainstream’ monasteries for several reasons (Schopen 2005b: 116). First, the donor Buddhavarman used formulae, such as ‘for the worship of all Buddhas,’ which were associated with traditional groups (Schopen 2005c: 266-67). Second, the donor monk asked for nirvāna or ultimate release, not for all human beings but specifically for his preceptor (upādhāya), thus acknowledging the age-old ārhat ideal, which is more limited in scope than the Mahāyāna bodhisattva ideal of securing buddhahood for all (Harrison 1998: 84-5). The upāsikā Khvasicā, too, made her gift for her own benefit, namely for her own health and the welfare of her parents and other individuals known to her, thus exhibiting a more restricted personal goal. Additionally, these donors emphatically identified Śākyamuni as their primary cult figure.

Lay donors also continued to use this image type in the fifth century, although the surviving inscribed examples are much smaller in scale than the two images just discussed. An example would be the image donated by Mihiranāga in Govindnagar (Fig. 8, GMM 76.35, Sharma 1995: 209-10).5 The male and female devotees on the lower portion of this image are only partially reminiscent of the prosperous lay figures of the Ku·āna period. They have distinctive features, attires, and hairstyles; however, while the female wears heavy earrings, bangles, and a necklace, the male worshiper, like his counterpart on Dinna’s image, is dressed in a thin robe that covers his left shoulder. He wears his hair in long curls but the back of his head appears to be partially tonsured. Both figures join the palms of their hands in añjalimudrā and turn

Both donors dedicated their images to specific monasteries at least one of which – the Huvi·ka vihāra – was well-endowed by a large number of prosperous donor monks and lay organizations called the sanሶghaprakΰtas (Basu 2006: 157-80). Practitioners of Mahāyāna ideals, by and large, did not favour such ostentatious monastic settings (Harrison 1987: 67-89) and would be unlikely to promote the iconic representations of lay patrons and monks as seen on the images that I have discussed so far. This would be true, I believe, even for mixed monasteries, where individuals with leanings towards alternate Mahāyāna philosophies could be embedded with groups that displayed a more traditional orientation. When donors with Mahāyāna leanings started identifying themselves through inscriptions in the late 4th and early 5th centuries, they often dedicated standing Buddha icons with devotee figures.

4 A larger than life-size image of this type from the Indian Museum, Calcutta (M 13/ A 25022, Chakrabarti 2006: 43, pl. XXV) compares well with Yāsadinna’s image but is missing an inscription. Another smaller image with traces of kneeling figures next to the Buddha’s feet was donated by the śākyabhikk·u Dharmadāsa (Indian Museum, Calcutta M 8/ A 24971, ibid., pl. XXXIX).

3 In the 1980s John Huntington outlined strong connections between Mahāyāna ideals and the art of Mathura and Gandhāra (Huntington 1980: 652-72; 1984:133-78; 1989: 85-92).

5 Three other images of this type installed by lay donors come from the Jamalpur and Govindnagar sites (Government Museum, Mathura nos 64.12, 76.34, and 82.240).

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Chandreyi Basu their faces up to face the now missing Buddha figure. The female devotee holds a smooth circular offering, perhaps a cluster of flowers or balls of food, in her cupped hands (Fig. 9).

Abbreviations CSMVS = Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly Prince of Wales Museum), Mumbai. IM = Indian Museum, Kolkata. GMM = Government Museum, Mathura. SML = State Museum, Lucknow.

The particular factors accounting for these changes in visual representations of worshiper figures in Guptaperiod standing images and the apparent gender difference need much further investigation. Whatever the reasons for these transformations, the reduced size of devotee figures and the simplified male attire probably signal changing perceptions and roles of laymen among Mathura’s Buddhist communities.

Bibliographic References Basu, C. (2006) ‘Patronage and representation at the Huvi·ka vihāra, a Ku·āna-period monastery in Mathura’, Studies in History n.s. 22 (2): 157-80.

This brief survey of devotional imagery in Mathura’s Buddhist art from the Ku·āna and Gupta periods only begins to document how this striking iconographical feature may have functioned in a shared landscape where diverse sectarian identities were still being formulated. We know that kneeling and standing devotee figures eventually became prevalent motifs in the visual record of Buddhism in western and eastern India as well as in central Asia, Nepal, and Southeast Asia. Only further comparative historical and art historical analyses can shed light on the reasons for the emergence of this image type in Mathura and its use outside the region.

Bautze-Picron, C. (1995) ‘Between men and gods, small motifs in the Buddhist art of eastern India, an interpretation’ in K.R. van Kooij & H. van der Veere (eds), Function and Meaning in Buddhist Art, Proceedings of a seminar held at Leiden University, 59-80. Groningen. Chakrabarti, M. (2006) Mathura Sculptures A Catalogue of Sculptures of Mathura School in the Indian Museum, Kolkata. Kolkata. Harrison, P. (1987) ‘Who gets to ride in the great vehicle; self-image and identity among the followers of the early Māhāyana’, The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 10 (1): 67-89.

An extended study on the topic might include comparisons with neighbouring Gandhāra and the art of other religious sects in Mathura. For instance, the figures of a kneeling monk and layman (or dēva) on the lotus pedestal of a standing Buddha image in the National Museum, New Delhi (no. 49.24), compare typologically with Mathura examples. However, worshipers are rarely positioned on the same level as the main Buddha figures in freestanding Gandhāran sculptures. An exception is the bodhisattva image (CSMVS 23936) with the figure of a devotee in añjalimudrā kneeling to the right of the bodhisattva’s feet. Within Mathura, worshiping ascetics are sometimes portrayed in close proximity to a Jain deity on relief sculptures (for example, the āyāgapaΓΓa in the State Museum, Lucknow, J 253) and yak·a images holding a small figure of a frontally depicted worshiper (GMM I 8 & 87.145) offer striking comparisons to the Buddhist worshiper figures that I have discussed here. These are only some of the avenues that can be explored in order to further understand the meanings and functions of this fascinating and powerful visual motif.

Härtel, H. (1985) ‘The concept of the Kapardin Buddha type of Mathura’ in SAA 1985: 653-78. Naples. Huntington, J.C. (1980) ‘A Gandhāran image of Amitāyus’ Sukhāvatī’, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli n.s. 40: 652-72. Huntington, J.C. (1984) ‘The iconography and iconology of Maitreya images in Gandhara’, Journal of Central Asia 7: 133-78. Huntington, J.C. (1989) ‘Mathura evidence for the early teachings of Mahāyāna’ in D.M. Srinivasan (ed.), Mathura the Cultural Heritage, 85-92. New Delhi. Ingholt, H. (1957) Gandhāran Art in Pakistan. New York. Lüders, H., ed. (1961) Mathura Inscriptions. Göttingen. Rhi, J. (1994) ‘From bodhisattva to Buddha: the beginning of iconic representation in Buddhist art’, Artibus Asiae 54 (3/4): 207-25. Rhi, J. (2003) ‘Early Mahāyāna and Gandhāran Buddhism: an assessment of the visual evidence’, The Eastern Buddhist n.s. 35 (1 & 2): 152-90.

Acknowledgements I am grateful to D. Gayen, R. Jathar, J. Kumar, A. Mohite, S. Mukherjee, A. Sengupta, R.C. Tewari, and C.M. Verma for making it possible to study objects in their museum collections and to C. Bautze-Picron, M.L. Carter, and E. Raven for their helpful suggestions in Ravenna.

Schopen, G. (2004) ‘Death, funerals, and the division of property in a monastic code’ in G. Schopen, Buddhist Monks and Buisness Matters, still more Papers on Monastic Buddhism in India, 91-121. Honolulu. Schopen, G. (2005a) ‘The Mahāyāna and the middle period in Indian Buddhism: through a Chinese 30

DEVOTIONAL FIGURES ON BUDDHIST IMAGES FROM ANCIENT MATHURA looking-glass’ in G. Schopen, Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India, More Collected Papers, 3-24. Honolulu. Schopen, G. (2005b) ‘On sending the monks back to their books: cult and conservatism in early Mahāyāna Buddhism’ in G. Schopen, Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India, More Collected Papers, 108-53. Honolulu. Schopen, G. (2005c) ‘The inscription on the Ku·ān image of Amitābha and the character of the early Mahāyāna in India’ in G. Schopen, Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India, More Collected Papers, 247-77. Honolulu. Schopen, G. (2005d) ‘Mahāyāna in Indian inscriptions’ in G. Schopen, Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India, More Collected Papers, 223-46. Honolulu. Sharma, R.C. (1995) Buddhist Art Mathura School. New Delhi. Vogel,

J.Ph. (1906-7) ‘The Mathura Sculptures’, Archaeological Survey of India Annual Report, 137-60. Delhi.

31

Chandreyi Basu

Fig. 1 - Image donated by Khvasicā, CSMVS 2 (Photo C. Basu, courtesy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya - formerly Prince of Wales Museum - Mumbai).

Fig. 2 - Buddha image, IM M6/A 25020 (Photo C. Basu, courtesy of Indian Museum, Kolkata).

Fig. 3 - Side view of Buddha image, IM M6/A 25020 (Photo C. Basu, courtesy of Indian Museum, Kolkata).

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DEVOTIONAL FIGURES ON BUDDHIST IMAGES FROM ANCIENT MATHURA

Fig. 4 - Image donated by Buddhavarman, SML B 3 (Photo C. Basu, courtesy of State Museum, Lucknow).

Fig. 6 - Image donated by Yāsadinna, GMM A 5 (Photo C. Basu, courtesy of Government Museum, Mathura).

Fig. 5 - Image donated by Buddhavarman: detail, SML B 3 (Photo C. Basu, courtesy of State Museum, Lucknow).

33

Chandreyi Basu

Fig. 7 - Image sculpted by Dinna: detail, GMM 76.25 (Photo C. Basu, courtesy of Government Museum, Mathura).

Fig. 8 - Image donated by Mihiranāga, GMM 76.35 (Photo C. Basu, courtesy of Government Museum, Mathura). Fig. 9 - Image donated by Mihiranāga: detail, GMM 76.35 (Photo C. Basu, courtesy of Government Museum, Mathura).

34

NEW ELEMENT OF FANTASY AND RHYTHM INTRODUCED IN GUPTA ART Gouriswar Bhattacharya story of Aghāsura finds mention. Compare Bh.P., daśama-skandha-pūrvārdhe dvādaśa-adhyāyaΉ (10. 1.12).

In the private collection of Dr David Nalin there is a beautifuil, reddish stone frieze, slightly damaged at the upper left corner (height 56.5 cm, width 42.9 cm, thickness 8.3 cm). The relief-sculpture appears to be a part of a door-jamb or door-lintel of a temple, most probably from Central India or more precisely from Bhumara, as the owner convincingly informs us. The village Bhumra, also known as Bhumara or Bhubhara, is situated on the top of a plateau, twelve miles to the west of Unchera, in the former State of Nagod, now in the Satna Dist. of Madhya Pradesh (see Banerji 1924: 1; and Deva 1988: 40). It depicts a lively scene of fighting between a large makara-headed animal and a male figure with a dagger stabbing the aquatic animal, on top the head of a cow is to be seen (Fig. 1). The aquatic animal, as well as the male figure, have wavy, ornamental ends, quite typical of the Gupta fashion which helps us to date the relief in the Gupta period (5th-6th century AD). The upper and lower borders of the relief are decorated with small square beads and five-petalled flowers with buds inside.

In the miniature paintings of the late medieval period, however, the illustration of this episode was quite popular. The most interesting and appropriate illustration is, of course, the one from the Suresh Neotia Collection, Jñāna-Pravāha, Varanasi. Pramod Chandra (2006: 138, no. 96) identifies and describes the miniature painting in the following way (Fig. 3): ‘Kΰ·na Rescues His Friends from the Demon Aghāsura, probably Bikaner or Popular Mughal style, Last quarter of the 16th century. Kΰ·na and his cowherd companions were fearlessly at play in the forest when instigated by Kaṁsa, the demon Aghāsura, younger brother of Pūtanā and Bakāsura decides to revenge his kin. By the power of his magic he took on the shape of a great python and stretched his mouth wide so that its lower part touched the earth, and the upper part the sky and there lay in wait blazing eyes and teeth sharp as mountain crests. Taking it to be dead, the cowherds and the cattle marched into his belly along with their cows and calves. Kΰ·na fearing their fate, expanded himself in the throat of the python demon and choked him to death. He then revived the gopas and cattle and extracted them by way of the mouth.’

The problem is to identify the dramatic scene of the beautiful relief. The struggle between a makara and a nāga is well-depicted in the early Mathura art, but in none of the cases the nāga is shown with a dagger. Compare Härtel 1993: 420, no. 3 (p. 438, no. 3 same in black and white; Fig. 2) and p. 437, no. 2 Obverse and Reverse (partially damaged).

Indeed, I was not absolutely satisfied with the identification of the scene illustrated in the Gupta relief with the story depicted in a late medieval miniature painting. But after my lecture at the SAA conference Dr. Monika Zin, the brilliant student of Prof. Dieter Schlingloff, came towards me and in a very silent voice told me that although my lecture was quite interesting, my identification of the relief-story from Bhumara was far from the truth. The relief does not depict any legend, far from a late Kΰ·na legend, but simply illustrates an ornamental design. During the Gupta period (4th-6th century AD) the artists were fascinated with scroll ornamental design and thereby created a unique artistic design. Perhaps this new artistic device originated at Bhumara in Madhya Pradesh where the famous Śiva temple was built (see Banerji 1924: pl. I; also Deva 1988: 40-44, the author calls the place Bhūmarā).

In our relief, the male figure with a spiral scroll lower body holding a dagger stabs the acquatic animal. He wears a special necklace of tiger-claws. We know for certain, that this ornament was given to the Hindu deities, Kΰ·na and Kārttikeya, as well as the Buddhist deity Mañjuśrī. In this case we eliminate the identification of the figure with Mañjuśrī, and we are tempted to identify it with Kΰ·na, for reason discussed below, and not with Kārttikeya. For child Kΰ·na is described as doing all sorts of mischiefs and destroying demons and demonessess to save his own life and the lives of cowherds, his own playmates. The appendix of the great epic, Harivamśa, narrates all these episodes of the child Kΰ·na. The text may be dated in the early years of the Common Era, although the lithic illustrations are not of the same period. It is only from the Gupta period onwards that most of the Gupta period anecdotes are illustrated either in stone or terracotta.

Monika Zin, however, drew my attention to their (Schlingloff’s and Zin’s) praise-worthy meticulous volumes on Ajanta, and kindly sent me a xerox copy of a very relevant chapter of hers with the German title ‘Schnörkelornamentik als Muster und als Teil von Kompositwesen’ (Zin 2003: 72-85). I was so impressed with her right suggestion and correct interpretation that without any hesitation I express my gratitude to her and admit that the credit of identifying the theme of the David Nalin collection relief belongs to her. I shall, nevertheless, quote passages from her writing and also illustrate a few ornamental designs. I also will illustrate a few artefacts with this type of design given by Banerji in

Our stone relief, if we dare to identify with the Kΰ·na legend, may refer to the reptile demon Aghāsura, an agent of Kamsa, who was killed by the child Kΰ·na. This story does not find mention in the Harivamśa, although it mentions almost all the heroic deeds of the child Kΰ·na. It is only in the Bhāgavata Purāna (c. 10th century) that the 35

Gouriswar Bhattacharya of the kinnaras are superbly modelled human male bodies. Their faintly smiling faces are each surmounted with a tiara and framed with long locks and a wide feather collar. The lower bird halves are lightly feathered and provided with spectacular tails, floral scrolls which exuberantly billow out with ornate abandon of their Gupta prototypes.’

his pioneer volume (1924). It is quite necessary to mention here that although this type of scroll and fantasy designs originated in the Gupta period in Central India, it spread to other parts of the country in the subsequent periods. But to restrict the limit of our article we should not be very elaborate here.

In the large and scholarly volume in two parts, Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture: North India: Foundations of North Indian Style (c. 250 B.C.A.D. 1100) (Meister et al. (eds) 1988), a thorough and praise-worthy study has been made of the architecture of the early temples with profuse illustrations. As we are concerned with the spiral ornamentation which flourished on the designs on the various parts of the temple architecture we show how this fanciful ornamentation was created by the Gupta artists and how long it continued. But we wish to avoid elaboration and cover a large area of northern India in this article. Krishna Deva (1988: 26) refers to the Gupta temple (no. 17) at Sanchi which is assigned to c. AD 400 or slightly later. He describes the scroll design on the doorframe as,

Illustrations from the Bhumara temple from where our relief-panel seems to have originated; compare Banerji 1924: pl. V, for the pillars and pilasters of the manΡapa showing kīrtimukhas, makara and pūrnaghaΓas with lotuses and spiral foliages and designs (Figs 4-5). Heavy lintels of manΡapa, (Banerji 1924: 7): ‘Several very beautiful of such lintels were discovered in the neighbourhood. In the first of these we find the undulating stalk of a creeper from which conventional foliage issues and in the interspaces of which we find Erotes climbing upwards (pl. VIIa). [...] The third lintel is beautifully carved and though broken into two, both parts have been recovered. The carving on it consists of a border of lotus rosettes, within two raised lines, enclosing on three sides a sunken panel containing representations of waves with curving crests (pl. VIIc), and one or two lotus buds near the top.’

‘The doorframe has three śākhās (Plate 10): the innermost is carved with patravallī with a cross ‘T’-beam above, the second is plain en face but is carved on the side with śālmali blossoms (rosettes), the third, a stambhaśākhā, is similar to the porch’s pillars.’

Compare the border of lotus rosettes with the border of our relief-panel. One should compare also the door-jambs and light lintels of the manΡapa, especially of plate VIIId.

Next we refer to Udayagiri, near Vidisa, then the capital of Dasarnadesa, to be dated in c. AD 430-450. We illustrate the scroll ornamentation of Cave no. 4, doorway, lintel (Fig. 8). Krishna Deva describes (1988: 28),

With the scroll and detail ornamental workmanship of the Bhumara temple one should compare one of the earliest pañcāyatana temples, the Vi·nu temple at Deogarh in Jhansi Dist., generally called the Gupta Temple at Deogarh. Vats (1952: 11) dated the temple in the early part of the 6th century AD. For a similar scroll and ornamentation as those of the Bhumara temple one may compare the detailed view of the lower part of the left jamb of the doorway of the sanctum, plate VIIIb (Fig. 6). Compare Fig. 4 from Bhumara for the undulating stalk of a creeper from which conventional folliage issues and in the interspaces of which we find Erotes and the similar border of lotus rosettes.

‘Cave no. 4 [...]; it is noteworthy for its doorframe, with four ornate śākhās and a prominent overdoor. The broad first śākhā is carved with a rich, swirling patravallī design; the second projecting śākhā is adorned with six-petalled rosettes; the third and the fourth displays patterns of patravallī in low relief.’

However, Udayagiri, Cave no. 19, known as the Amΰta cave, is an excellent example of scroll ornamentation (Fig. 9). Krishna Deva comments (1988: 29), ‘The doorframe is composed of three exquisitely ornamented śākhās (Plates 22-24): the first shows a deeply carved patravallī, the second, figure-panels with loving couples alternating with birds and makaras with rich tails [italics ours], the third a stambhaśākhā similar in form to the interior pillars but with a bharana without vyālas.’

One, no doubt, should compare the scroll and ornamentations of the rathikābimba at the Sanctum of the Deogarh temple (Vats 1952: pl. Xa-b) and also the details of semi-circular medallions with two large Gupta pillars (pl. XIV.a-f), especially (d), the Kinnara couple with their long tails with artistic elaborate scroll.

A beautiful example, no doubt, is from the Gupta temple at Darra (first half of the 5th century AD), locally known as Bhīm-kī-caurī. On the candraśālā (Fig. 10) decorated with ornamental scrolls and makaras with artistic waivy bodies and ornamental tails1 Krishna Deva (1988: 30) writes:

In this connection we have to compare the parallelism of scroll and ornamentation in the Nepalese relief (Fig. 7) mentioned by Slusser & Vajracharya (2005: 53):

‘Three candraśālās were found at the site. The largest and best preserved measures c. 3 ft. 9 in. wide and 2 ft. 3 in. high and shows a seated gana beating ΡiṁΡima (Plate 29); this is enclosed by patravallī issuing from karimakaras, and may have been fitted as a shallow śukanāsa to the superstructure.’2

‘The other relief (Fig. 30), hitherto unpublished, is probably of Vai·nava inspiration, for it depicts kinnaras flanking the Vi·nu cognizance par excellence, the conch. It is a magnificient work and if we are to judge by it, the temple it decorated must have rivalled Gupta temples [italics ours]. Indeed, the Kathmandu relief excels similar compositions on Gupta temples at Deogarh and Aihole. The Nepalese relief is carved in relatively low relief and the ass-eared, demi-birds lean gracefully beside the ornate conch to which they bear floral offerings. The upper halves

1 2

36

I wonder why Krishna Deva calls them karimakaras? Patravallī is ‘patralatā, leafy scroll’; śukanāsa or śukanāsika is

NEW ELEMENT OF FANTASY AND RHYTHM INTRODUCED IN GUPTA ART About Bhumara, from where our relief-panel should have come, according to the information of the owner, Krishna Deva writes (1988: 41),

In the 5th century, as far as Sarnath (U.P.) the fantastic scroll ornamention was created in the architectural frieze as is evidenced in a piece shown in the Gupta Art exhibition, Grand Palais, Paris 2007 (Catalogue 2007: no. 46) (Fig. 14). One witnesses in this relief-panel the fabulous makaras and the fighting ganas. The makaras are a composite figure of crocodile, fish and elephant with tails in scroll ornamentation, and one of the ganas has no legs but a scroll ornamental tail which may well be compared with our piece.

‘Among the fallen fragments found around this temple (Plates 71-72), a substantial number pertain to two types of friezes: 1) those measuring from 11.4 to 12.6 in. high, carved with niches framed by pilasters and carrying figures largely of ganas, apsarases, yak·īs, or mithunas alternating with floral patterns or grāsamukhas; 2) those measuring about 9 in. high with rectangular niches containing ganas alternating with blank sunk niches with arched tops. [...] Many architectural fragments from Bhūmarā are preserved in the Municipal Museum, Allahabad, and the Indian Museum, Calcutta.’

And one may also compare the beautiful kinnarī figure (wrongly described as kinnara in the catalogue) with a highly ornamental scroll tail from Chandimau, Bihar, now in the Indian Museum, Kolkata (Fig. 15).

And he concludes (p. 44), ‘The decorative repertoire of this temple is richer than that at Nacnā, is drawn from a wider conspectus, and reveals greater inventiveness and a superior aesthetic perception. [...] The Bhūmarā temple is more advanced than that at Nacnā and may be assigned a date toward the end of the last quarter of the fifth century A.D.’

And with the ornamental-tailed gana and the kinnarī above one may compare the kinnara couple on the ceiling panel of the rock-cut Śiva and Jaina temple respectively at Aihole in S.W. Deccan, later in the 7th century, illustrated by Kramrisch 1954 (pls. 59 and 60). The scroll ornamentation has undergone high exaggeration.

Also see above our quotation from R.D. Banerji (1924).

And finally coming back to Bhumara we compare the seated male figure (gana or pramatha) (now in the Indian Museum, Kolkata, dated in the 5th-6th century) from whose navel a highly ornamental creeper (patralatā) rises upwards (Fig. 16). Strangely enough this male figure wears the same peculiar-shaped necklace as the one in our relief (Fig. 1). Perhaps this type of necklace furnishes the crucial point for the provenance and time of the reliefpanel.

It will be interesting to compare a detail of a door lintel from the Narasimha temple at Eran, (ancient Airikina, once a flourising Gupta settlement), the earliest shrine at the site, c.AD 430, but now almost demolished (Fig. 11). Compare the central figure and the rosettes below with those of our relief panel. To convince me about her remark during the conference at Ravenna M. Zin sent me a few related pages with her lucid drawings from her excellent German text (2003, vol.I, pp. 72-84, no. 7: ‘Schnörkelornamentik als Muster und als Teil von Kompositwesen’). This is the right nomenclature of this type of ornamental art which no scholar before has convincingly described. I reproduce, with her kind permission, some drawings from her publication for the readers to have a clear view of the theme, Fig. 12 (pure ornamental painting), and Fig. 13 (scroll ornamentation as motif and part of the composit creature). In her German text M. Zin calls the scroll ornamentation in Ajanta painting a ‘Rococo’ ornament. In a detail discussion she analyses the different principles underlying the scroll motif. Quite appropriate is her comment (Zin 2003, vol. I, p. 73) that this ‘Rococo’ ornamentation appears in parts of numerous fabulous creatures, the front part of their body has a natural shape, while the rear part is formed with luxurious scroll spirales. This is exactly the case in our relief with the male figure, the makara and the cow on top. Anthropomorphic creatures with scroll form tails fight not only with one another, but with makaras with horns and trunks (ibid.: 75). This is exactly what is happening in our relief.

Bibliographic References Banerji, R.D. (1924) The Temple of Siva at Bhumara (Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India 16). Calcutta. Catalogue (2007) L’Âge d’Or de l’Inde classique: L’Empire des Gupta. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais: 4 avril - 25 juin 2007. Paris. Chandra, P. (2006) ‘Kΰ·na Rescues His Friends from the Demon Aghāsura’ in R.C. Sharma et al. (eds) Indian Art Treasures: Suresh Neotia Collection, 138-139, no. 96. Varanasi-New Delhi. Deva, K. (1988) ‘Gupta and Their Feudatories’ in Meister et al. 1988: 18-57, pls. 9-97. Härtel, H. (1993) Excavations at Sonkh: 2500 Years of a Town in Mathura District. With contributions by Hans-Jürgen Paech and Rolf Weber. Berlin. Kramrisch, S. (1954) The Art of India through the Ages. London. Meister, M.W.; Dhaky, M.A. & Deva, K., eds (1988) Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture: North India: Foundations of North Indian Style c. 250 B.C.- A.D. 1100. Delhi.

‘antefix above the roof of the kapilī’; and kapilī is the ‘wall projecting in front of the sanctum framing a vestibule’; see Meister et al. 1988: 408, 411 and 402 respectively.

37

Gouriswar Bhattacharya Slusser, M.S. & Vajracharya, G. (2005) ‘Some Nepalese Stone Sculptures: A Reappraisal Within Their Cultural and Historical Context’ in M.S. Slusser, Art and Culture of Nepal: Selected Papers, 1-84. Kathmandu (repr. from Artibus Asiae 35, 1/2, 1973: 79-138). Vats, M.S. (1952) The Gupta Temple at Deogarh. (Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India 70). Delhi. Zin, M. (2003) Ajanta - Handbuch der Malereien / Handbook of the Paintings, 2. Devotionale und ornamentale Malereien / Devotional and Ornamental Paintings, Vol. 1: Interpretation, Vol. II: Plates. Wiesbaden. Bhāgavata Purāna, ed. Nārāyana Rāma Ācārya (1950). Bombay.

38

Gouriswar Bhattacharya

Fig. 2 - Sonkh, architrave with makara (After Härtel 1993: 438, no. 3).

Fig. 3 - Folio from Bhāgavata Purāna, Kΰ·na rescues his friends from the demon Aghāsura, Suresh Neotia Collection (After Chandra 2006). Fig. 1 - Bhumara, frieze, David Nalin Collection (Photo © Dr. David Nalin).

Fig. 4 - Bhumara, lintel of manΡapa (After Banerji 1924: pl. VIIa).

Fig. 5 - Bhumara, lintel of manΡapa (After Banerji 1924: pl. VIIc).

39

NEW ELEMENT OF FANTASY AND RHYTHM INTRODUCED IN GUPTA ART

Fig. 8 - Udayagiri, Cave no. 4, doorway, lintel (After Deva 1988: pl. 13).

Fig. 6 - Deogarh, left jamb of the doorway of the sanctum (After Vats 1952: pl. VIIIb).

Fig. 9 - Udayagiri, Cave no. 19, doorway, upper right corner (After Deva 1988: pl. 23). Fig. 7 - Kathmandu, kinnaras flanking Vi·nu’s cognizance, the conch (After Slusser 2005: fig. 30).

40

NEW ELEMENT OF FANTASY AND RHYTHM INTRODUCED IN GUPTA ART

Fig. 10 - Darra, Gupta temple, candraśālā with drummer (After Deva 1988: pl. 29).

Fig. 11 - Eran, Narasimha temple, door lintel, detail (After Deva 1988: pl. 35).

41

Gouriswar Bhattacharya

Fig. 12 - Ajanta, pure ornamental painting (After Zin 2003, vol. I, p. 80).

Fig. 13 - Ajanta, scroll ornamentation as motif and part of the composit creature (After Zin 2003, vol. I, p. 81).

Fig. 14 - Sarnath, frieze with gana and makara, National Museum, New Delhi (After Catalogue 2007: 222, no. 46).

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NEW ELEMENT OF FANTASY AND RHYTHM INTRODUCED IN GUPTA ART

Fig. 15 - Chandimau, Bihar, kinnarī, Indian Museum, Kolkata (After Catalogue 2007: 305, no. 100).

Fig. 16 - Bhumara, architectural fragment with gana or pramatha, Indian Museum, Kolkata (After Catalogue 2007: 285, no. 90).

43

CAVE 2 AT AURANGABAD: BUDDHIST ART AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE 7TH CENTURY Pia Brancaccio The Buddhist caves at Aurangabad are located on a slope of the Sihyachal range between the Kaum River and the Devgiri basin. They are divided in a western and eastern group (Fig.1), with a third unfinished cluster of later excavations to the north.1 The oldest structure at the site, part of the western group, is a severely damaged caityagΰha (Cave 4), carved around the 1st century AD or slightly thereafter. The site reveals a continuity of occupation and patronage until the 7th century, when the whole complex seems to fall into decline. The lack of surviving inscriptions at Aurangabad makes the dating of the caves somewhat difficult.

access to the deity and facilitates the performance of public devotion. However, variations on this architectural format appear in many parts of the Buddhist world3 (Franz 1981) in conjunction with the diffusion of Mahāyāna practices. For example, in Śri Lanka the central sanctum layout is found in 6th century establishments located outside the exclusive monastic areas. In the suburban complexes of Anurādhapura known as pabbata vihāras, literally rock-monasteries or mountain temples (Bhandaranayake 1974: 58), the shrines with square plan, central sanctum and corridor for circumambulation were called paΓimāghara ‘receptacle of the image of the Buddha’ or pāsāda ‘palace’, residence of the Buddha. They had a key role within these complexes and were geared mostly to lay devotees (Prematilleke & Silva 1968).

The present paper focuses on Cave 2, nestled in the western group, and will address the distinctive layout and iconography of this unit. Probably carved at the end of the 6th century, this cave has a central plan and is decorated with a myriad of small panels depicting a Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas (Fig. 2). Through an analysis of the spatial organization of this unit and its votive imagery, it is my hope to shed light on issues related to patronage, ritual practices and developments within the local Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition at the threshold of the 7th century.

At Aurangabad, the secular and devotional matrix of Cave 2 is suggested by the fact that the corridor surrounding the shrine is filled with a multitude of heterogeneous sculpted panels, commissioned by multiple donors. Typically they depict a Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas (Fig. 4). It is clear that when the cave was excavated, the pradak·inapatha was intentionally left undecorated to accommodate these attestations of devotions. The panels were first carved in the most desirable and visible parts of the circumambulatory path and then the less well-lit back sections of the walls were progressively filled. The dark areas of the corridor behind the sanctum were left completely plain although the walls were smooth and finished.4 This way of proceeding is best demonstrated by Aurangabad Cave 5 which has a similar plan yet dates to the later phase of activity at the site: here the votive panels are only carved at the entrance of the pradak·ina passageway as patronage at the site ended and the remaining wall surfaces were left plain.

A paucity of monastic residences characterizes the site of Aurangabad throughout its life span. No early vihāra can be traced here, unless it was built in perishable materials at the foot of the hill or carved to the east of the 1st century caityagΰha, where the cliff has now collapsed. There are also surprisingly few monastic cells associated with the later phases of patronage at the site, especially if we compare Aurangabad with other Buddhist rock cut establishments in the Deccan such as Kānheri. As I have observed elsewhere, there is strong evidence to argue that the Aurangabad complex was mostly geared to the laity (Brancaccio 2000).

Votive panels carved on the walls of caves are a common phenomenon associated with Mahāyāna patronage in the Deccan. They are found almost everywhere, at AjanΕā (Spink 2005 vol. 3), Kārle (Fergusson & Burgess 1988: 238), Kānheri (Fergusson & Burgess 1988: 352), Nāsik (Bautze Picron 2000) and many other sites, but nowhere

Cave 2 is one of the simplest and most accessible units at the site.2 It consists of a small manΡapa (Fig. 3), now partially collapsed, and a central sanctum enclosed within a corridor for circumambulation. The structure is squeezed into the last available rock within the western group of caves and its basic layout was probably meant to accommodate the devotional necessities of practitioners at a site where the lay community had a significant influence. The plan with central sanctum is generally found in Hindu contexts where it allows an immediate

3 In central Asia, the so called ‘pillar caves’ at the sites of Kizil and Kumtura seem to represent variations of the same basic conceptual plan. In these caves the main Buddha image is always in a niche on a central ledge of in situ rock enclosed by an ambulatory passage (Hartel & Yaldiz 1982: 52-53). An example of a freestanding temple with central image shrine and ambulatory passage can be seen in the ancient urban area of Khocho (modern Gao Chang) near Turfan (Hartel & Yaldiz 1982: 54-55) dating between the 5th and the 7th c. CE (Litvinsky 1996, 3: 306).

1 The ancient name of the rock-cut complex at Aurangabad is unknown. Shobhana Gokhale suggested that the cave site should be identified with Rājatalāka mentioned in an early inscription from Kānheri (Gokhale 1991: 52).

4 Votive panels were primarily located in visible areas of the structure. Some panels may have also been painted, judging from the small holes that still remain on the walls probably to affix garland holders.

2

Cave 2 is located between the pre-existing fifth century AD caves 1 and 3, at the same level of cave 3 and of the early caityagΰha.

45

Pia Brancaccio precise correspondence in textual sources. However this body of imagery is especially useful to shed light on the beliefs of common practitioners at a critical time when Mahāyāna was in full blossom and new Vajrayāna ideas were about to emerge. In Cave 2 at Aurangabad we are fortunate to have a relatively homogeneous sample of votive images within a single location and a limited chronological horizon: by mapping the iconographic variability of these images some remarks can be made.

they display the degree of organization as they do in cave no. 2 at Aurangabad. At AjanΓā, Walter Spink has labelled these tableaux as ‘intrusive’, and he argues that they were added by people during the disruption of the site, when the VākāΓakas lost control over the caves and patronage suddenly collapsed prior to the abandonment of the complex (Spink 2005, vol. 3: 1). However, at Aurangabad this imagery speaks to the actual life of the site and seems to be perfectly integrated within the original design of the cave as the panels are rather well distributed on the smooth walls.

At Aurangabad, as in many other cave sites in the Deccan, the triad format seems to be the one of choice for votive panels, however no one has been able to identify securely what the triad stands for. This iconographical type generally associated with Mahāyāna, is well attested in the Northwest of the subcontinent before emerging in the Deccan Plateau, and many scholars have discussed its possible meaning in Gandhāran context. Stelae representing triads or elaborations upon this basic motif have been variously interpreted as referencing the Miracle of Śrāvasti (Foucher 1917), Buddhist heavens (Huntington 1980), or most recently, visions of a Buddha attained in samādhi (Rhi 2003). As remarked by Juhyung Rhi, the Gandhāran triads might be the sources for the Deccan iconographies (Rhi 2003: 171), however in the Deccan we notice a greater degree of generalization and a significant change in the depiction of the central Buddha image. The Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas is frequently portrayed in pralambapādāsana on a throne, in a fashion that seems to emerge at the AjanΓā caves around the end of the 5th century (Spink 2007, vol. 5: 396).

The votive origin of this body of images is unquestionable (Fig. 5): many include depictions of donors or worshippers in the bottom register, and some even bear traces of small painted inscriptions now completely abraded. It is worth observing that donor images and inscriptions were often placed to the bottom of the panel in exactly the same position, as they were interchangeable signatures of individual donations. The donors appear to be mostly lay people, often women, and very rarely members of the saṁgha. Further, in this cave, images of a squatting female, commonly identified as Lajjā Gaurī holding a lotus,5 occur in four instances in the same position where we usually find worshipper’s images. The emergence into Buddhist imagery of such a figure tied to the world of local beliefs seems to confirm the lay devotional matrix of this unit and its sculpted panels. The main iconography of the 84 panels carved along the sidewalls of the manΡapa and pradak·ina of Cave 2 (Fig. 4), consisting of a Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas, is not completely standardized. If we map the triad imagery carefully, significant iconographical patterns emerge within the established blueprint that cannot be simply ascribed to arbitrary choices. The central Buddha is seated in pralambapādāsana or dhyānāsana,6 he displays the teaching gesture or the dhyānāmudrā, he wears the saṁghatī with or without one shoulder covered, nāgas sometimes hold the stem of the lotus flower where the Buddha sits or rests his feet, and even the iconography of the two bodhisattvas shows a significant degree of changeability, often leaving us in the dark as to their identity. In addition to triad panels, there are also few images of standing, isolated Buddhas in varādamudrā.

The Buddha in pralambapādāsana clearly alludes to kingship. The first large scale Buddhas of this type appear in the gandhakuΕī of AjanΓā’s vihāras. Gregory Schopen, after a careful examination of the epigraphic record, implies that the new iconography might reflect the notion that the Buddha is the owner of property and main resident of early medieval monasteries in India (Schopen 1997) – in essence that the Buddha can be considered as a sovereign in the vihāra. It is worth remarking that in the AjanΓā paintings, kings protagonists of jātakas such as Mahājanaka (Cave 1, left wall; Sclingloff 1999: 4) and Viśvantara (Cave 17, left wall; Schlingloff 1999: 49) are represented, much like the Buddhas in the gandhakuΓī, sitting on elaborate thrones in European fashion when addressing public audiences and exercising their royal functions. In AjanΓā (Cave 2, on the left wall of shrine antechamber; Behl 1998:13) the Buddha appearing as a bodhisattva in Tu·ita heaven, prior to his birth as Śakyamuni, also sits on a throne in pralambapādāsana and dharmacakramudrā as he preaches to the gods.

Unfortunately the votive panels found in the western Deccan caves have often been overlooked by scholars, not only because they are generally seen as spurious addition to the caves and thus not useful to understand the original function, iconographical plan and date of a structure. Their repetitive iconography yet complex visual syntax is seen as particularly enigmatic as it does not find

Pralambapādāsana Buddhas, however, are generally uncommon in Gandhāran art except for very few examples (Zwalf 1996, vol. 1: 90) that seem to belong to a late chronological horizon. Mostly kings, queens and gods sit in the so-called ‘European fashion’ and sometimes bodhisattvas can also be represented in this

5

Robert Brown identifies this image as related to the Buddhist goddess Vasudhāra (Brown 1990). 6 In Aurangabad Cave 2 there are 46 panels in which the central Buddha appears in dhyānāsana and 34 panels in which he is depicted in pralambapādāsana.

46

CAVE 2 AT AURANGABAD: BUDDHIST ART AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE 7TH CENTURY. manner.7 In China, the bodhisattva and future Buddha Maitreya who awaits in Tu·ita heaven for his future descent, is always represented on a throne sitting in the European fashion (Kim 1997). Thus we might conclude that the pralambapādāsana is always associated with ownership of a particular realm and with the public exercise of superior wisdom.

which both textual and visual Mahāyāna are built upon. There is a striking tone of generality dominating the panels at Aurangabad. The Buddhas are never specifically identified and even the iconography of the bodhisattvas is surprisingly fluid whereas it is hard sometimes to distinguish Maitreya from Vajrapāni or even Avalokiteśvara. It seems as if the lack of definite identity of the figures represented would not impinge on the efficaciousness of the imagery. In brief, these scenes appear to be emblems of generalized Mahāyāna beliefs rather than precise illustrations of a creed. This is, to my opinion, a parallel phenomenon to the one observed by Gregory Schopen in Mahāyāna literature with regards to Sukhāvatī (Schopen 2005: 154-89). He argues that after the 2nd century Sukhāvatī became a generalized religious goal open to the whole Mahāyāna community. It acquired very broad connotations and became disassociated from the particular figure of the Buddha Amitābha. In essence, the lack of iconographical specifications in our panels could reflect a trend emerging with the popularization of Mahāyāna where the various realms of rebirth are not any more rigorously associated to individual Buddhas or bodhisattvas but become universalized objectives for the devotees.

From this brief overview it is obvious that in the Deccan the pralambapādāsana bears specific connotations and that in our votive triads the Buddhas in pralambapādāsana are not semantically identical to the Buddhas in dhyanāsāna. While no single textual source can be surely used to explain these variations in triad iconography or the Buddha fields they represent, I would like to suggest that these two simple types visually encapsulate the very essence of Mahāyāna tradition, the same one that underlies the rather complex and articulated sūtra literature. Mahāyāna Buddhism, whose genesis continues to be a source of debate among scholars, is not by any means a uniform tradition: its diversity is represented by a conglomeration of beliefs that emerged around the 2nd century AD and became particularly popular in the 5th century in different regions of India (Walser 2005: 16-39; Schopen 2005: 3). Many Mahāyāna sūtras are known from later versions in Tibetan and Chinese, and it is often a challenge to establish their place of origin, although the Deccan has often been referred as a location where Mahāyāna traditions existed given the association of the famous Nāgārjuna with this region. (Walser 2005: 59-88). What seems to be the common denominator of Mahāyāna beliefs whether expressed in art or literature is the absolute lack of uniformity. As we examine some of the literary Mahāyāna sources, it becomes apparent that some of the most important sūtras associated with this creed such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtra (Lamotte 1949-80), the Sukhāvatīvyūha (Gomez 1996) or the Samādhirāja sūtra (Gomez & Silk 1989), while substantially different, are all weaved around two main ideas: visualization and kingship. In these sūtras abound descriptions of heavenly realms, palaces, dharma kings evoked by those who have faith and elaborate the clearest visions. The sūtras are also very repetitive and their efficaciousness appears to be rooted in the recurring of the revelations.

The nāgas, traditional symbols of kingship and protectors of the Buddhist practitioners, appear in many panels holding the lotus flower beneath the Buddha. Their presence highlights the royal and mystic aspects of Buddhahood as expressed in the Mahāyāna traditions. In addition, the nāga images also work to also establish a clear link between this body of sculpture and the episode of the Śrāvasti miracle, the most Mahāyānic moment in the career of the historic Buddha. The inclusion of nāgas becomes an expedient to merge the individual experience of the historic Buddha with the emblematic visions of universal Buddha realms propounded by the Mahāyānic faith. To conclude, I hope that this brief analysis of Cave 2 votive iconography has contributed to shed some light on the nature of popular Mahāyāna practices in the Deccan. The imagery of the votive panels weaved around the threads of meditation and kingship recalls the tone of many Mahāyāna sūtras. Weather representing attained visions or promised realms of rebirths, the efficaciousness of these popular donations probably lied in their generalized universality, the same that we observe in later Mahāyāna literature on Sukhāvatī. One thing seems to be apparent: by relating the visual and textual in a less literal manner, and by trying to tease out the religious atmosphere in which our sources developed, perhaps it is possible to learn more about the actual Buddhists of the time.

As we return to the votive imagery in Cave 2 at Aurangabad, we will notice that the triad panels, although impossible to match with any specific text, emphasize the same themes of kingship and meditations that dominate Mahāyāna literature on the whole. The central Buddha in the triads, whatever his identity might be, is either the dharma king sitting in pralambapādāsana, or he is the accomplished practitioner in dhyānāsana attaining a miraculous meditative state. The panels are formulaic, much like the passages of several Mahāyāna sūtras – patterns of repetition seem to constitute the framework on 7 In Gandhāra, images such as Pāñcika and Hāritī with iconographies that display princely features are invariably represented seated in this posture (Zwalf 1997, vol. 2: figs 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100).

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Pia Brancaccio Honolulu.

Bibliographic References

Schopen, G. (2005) Fragment and Figments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India. Honolulu.

Bautze Picron, C. (2000) ‘Nasik: the late Mahāyāna caves 2, 15, 20 & 23-24’ in SAA 1997, 1201-227. Roma.

Spink,

Behl, B. (1998) The Ajanta Caves. New York. Berkson, C. (1986) Ahmedabad.

The

Caves

at

Aurangabad.

and

Zwalf, W. (1996) A Catalogue of the Gandhāra Sculpture in the British Museum. Vols. 1-2. London.

Brown, R. (1990) ‘Lajjā Gaurī in a Buddhist Context at Auranagabad’, The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 13 (2): 1-16. Burgess, J. & Fergusson, J. (1988) The Cave Temples of India. Delhi. Sinhalese

History

Walser, J. (2004) Nāgārjuna in Context. New York.

Brancaccio, P. (2000) ‘The Buddhist Caves at Aurangabad: The Impact of the Laity’, Ars Orientalis Supplement I: 41-49.

Bhandaranayake, S. (1974) Architecture. Leiden.

W. (2005-2008) AjanΓā: Development. Vols.1-5. Leiden.

Monastic

Foucher, A. (1917) ‘The Great Miracle at Śravasti’ in The Beginnings of Buddhist Art, 148-84. Paris. Franz, H.G.(1981) ‘Ambulatory Temples in Buddhism and Hinduism’ in SAA 1979, 449-58. Berlin. Gokhale, S. (1991) ‘Ajanta: The Center of Monastic Education’ in R. Parimoo (ed.), The Art of Ajanta, New Perspectives. Delhi. Gomez, L. & Silk, J. (eds) (1989) The Great Vehicle: Three Mahāyāna Buddhist Texts. Ann Arbor. Gomez, L. (1996) The Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light. Honolulu. Hartel, H. & Yaldiz, M. (1982) Along the Ancient Silk Routes: Central Asian Art from the West Berlin State Museum. New York. Huntington, J. (1980) ‘A Gandhāran Image of Amitāyus’ Sukhāvatī’, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale 40: 652-72. Kim, I. (1997) The Future Buddha Maitreya: An Iconological Study. Delhi. Lamotte, E. (1970-1981) Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse. Vols 1-5. Louvain. Litvinsky, B.A., ed. (1996) History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vols. 1-6. Paris. Prematilleke, R. & Silva, R. (1968) ‘A Buddhist Monastery Type of Ancient Ceylon Showing Mahayanist Influence’, Artibus Asiae XXX (1): 61-84. Rhi, J. (2003) ‘Early Mahāyāna and Gandhāran Buddhism: An Assessment of the Visual Evidence’, The Eastern Buddhist XXXV (1-2): 152-90. Schlingloff, D. (1999) Guide to the Ajanta Paintings. Delhi. Schopen, G. (1997) Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks. 48

CAVE 2 AT AURANGABAD: BUDDHIST ART AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE 7TH CENTURY.

Fig. 1 - Plan of the Aurangabad caves (Plan G. Monzo after Berkson 1986).

49

Pia Brancaccio

Fig. 3 - Aurangabad Cave 2: view of the manΡapa (Photo P. Brancaccio).

Fig. 2 - Aurangabad Cave 2: interior, view of the ambulatory passage. (Copyright American Institute of Indian Studies).

Fig. 4 - Aurangabad Cave 2: votive panels on the left wall of the ambulatory passage (Copyright American Institute of Indian Studies).

50

CAVE 2 AT AURANGABAD: BUDDHIST ART AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE 7TH CENTURY.

Fig. 5 - Aurangabad Cave 2: votive panel (Photo P. Brancaccio).

51

THE EVOLUTION OF THE GODDESS WITH THE CORNUCOPIA Martha L. Carter trampling on prostrate bodies (Ustinova 1999: 264). One holds up a sceptre and rhyton while the other raises his hand in salute. Also it is of some interest to note the strange bronze rhyton representing centaur holding a tiny caprid found by Aurel Stein in the Ishkoman Valley near Hunza. It has been dated a century or two before the Common Era and attributed to Sakas on their route south from the Pamirs to India (Harle & Topsfield 1987: no. 5; Errington 1992: 88-89). From these and other examples it seems clear that horn-shaped vessels, generally rhyta, were seen in ancient Central Asia within an auspicious, princely, and most probably ritual context.

The goddess holding a cornucopia on Ku·āna stater reverses is labelled Ardoxsho, a goddess with a name of Bactrian derivation, although her image derived ultimately from the Greek goddess of good fortune Tyche holding the magical horn of the goat Amalthea, filled with the ever-flowing abundance of the land (Fig. 1). Ardoxsho’s numismatic male counterpart Pharro, who also personifies the Irano-Bactrian concept of fortune or glory, is seen as a princely youth often with attributes of Hermes such as small wings on his head and bags of money (Carter 1986: 89-98; Rosenfield 1967: 96). In Gandhāra sculpture of the Ku·āna era Pharro and Ardoxsho combine as a syncretistic Irano-Bactrian version of the Buddhist tutelary couple, mirroring the Indian yak·a pair Pañcika and Hāritī, as has often been noted (Bachhofer 1937: 6-15; Rosenfield 1967: 246-7). The Gandhāran Ardoxsho has the cornucopia as her major attribute, although when shown in sculptural form with Pharro, she may have coins at her feet or a small child. However, the Gandhāran Buddhist Hāritī is always represented surrounded by many infants and is generally considered to personify human fecundity. Also, Hāritī is never seen on Ku·āna coin reverses as a divinity supporting the dynasty. With Pañcika she belongs most comfortably to the Buddhist bourgeoisie of Gandhāra who appealed to her for material prosperity and progeny.

The Ku·āna dynasty emanated from an eastern branch of inner Asian culture ultimately that of the ScythoSarmatians, and linked with the Parthians in Eastern Iran. Therefore it would not be surprising that they too viewed the rhyton or drinking horn as a vessel associated with divine beneficence and kingship, especially in the hands of a fortune-granting goddess. In my opinion the cornucopia with zoomorphic finial of the Ku·āna Ardoxsho in Gandhāra was created in a deliberate manner combining Greek with similar Scytho-Parthian concepts of royal or heroic ‘good fortune’. Forms of this type of rhyton were very likely known in pre- Ku·āna era Bactria, and are depicted in a ‘dionysiac’ setting, as illustrated by the reclining satyr drinking from a rhyton with a small zoomorphic head from a pair gold clasps from Tillya Tepe dated to the early 1st century AD (Sarianidi 1985: cat. no. 6.2, pls. 77-79, 254). We may also note the alien ‘Dionysos’ depicted in a relief from Nāgārjunakonda shows the deity holding up a horn cup, perhaps inspired by a Hellenistic prototype (Carter 1968: 135, fig. 15), also the well-known post- Ku·āna Silenuslike figure on the medallion of a silver bowl who totes a wineskin and drinks wine from an animal-headed rhyton (Carter 1968: 132-4 fig. 13). Interestingly enough, a highly decorated silver rhyton of Tibetan manufacture, created for use in the court of Srongtsen Gompo in the mid-7th century, has the same basic shape and animal headed spout (Fig. 8) (Carter 1998: 22-47).

The cornucopia of the goddess in Gandhāra has one distinctive feature that recurs in many sculptural representations both when she is shown alone or seated beside Pharro. Very often the tip has a zoomorphic head, causing it to resemble a rhyton or drinking horn (Figs. 57). This alteration of the cornucopia is considered by John Boardman (Errington 1992: 134) to be an inconsequential addition taken from Iranian or Central Asian sources more familiar with the shape of the rhyton. Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that this hybrid was not simply a random association of two horn-shaped vessels. The rhyton itself was well-regarded in the Parthian world of the Arsacid Dynasty, as demonstrated by the cache of huge carved ivory rhyta discovered at their early capital Nisa in modern Turkmenistan (Masson & Pugachenkova 1982). These were wine vessels of exceptional grandeur very likely reserved for festive ceremonies at the Parthian court such as investitures, celebrations of victories, or other similar occasions requiring special pomp. The importance of horn-shaped vessels in the Scythian world is strongly suggested by the appearance of a number of gold repoussé plaques from the Black Sea region depicting male figures or deities holding rhyta in what appear to be rituals scenes, such as investitures (Rostovtzeff 1919: 462-81; 1922: 105; Ustinova 1999: 114). A rhyton from Karagodeuashkh in the Ukraine dated to the 4th or 3rd century BC is decorated with what appears to be an investiture scene, showing two bearded horsemen facing each other while

A branch of the later Ku·ānas ruling after Vasudeva I used the image of a frontally enthroned Ardoxsho holding a cornucopia and a diadem on their dinar reverses (Fig. 2) (Rosenfield 1967: 109-14, types 236-47). This was adopted without change on some gold reverses of the Gupta Dynasty’s Samudragupta (c. 330-380) although by now it is highly likely that goddess was considered to be a version of the Indian Śrī Lak·mī.(Fig. 3) (Mukherjee 1991:75-86, pl. 1). She may also be seen on another reverse standing like the earlier Ku·āna Ardoxsho, but facing in the opposite direction holding a cornucopia and a lotus (Mukherjee 1991: 77, pl. 2). Since the lotus pedestal, bud and flower are symbols par excellence of 53

Martha L. Carter complexly draped robes derived from the chiton and himation. The influence of late Gandhāran stylistic elements is clearly visible, as discussed in an article on three such images by John Siudmak (1994: 681-94). There can be no doubt that in the invasions that followed the fall of the Ku·āna Empire, and a short era of KusanoSasanian rule that ended in the mid-4th century, local populations retreated east to sheltered locations bringing Gandhāran artistic traditions with them. Also, Kashmir was an heir to Ku·āna culture and remained open to influences from Central Asia. One figure from the Lidder Valley originally published by Foucher and dated by Siudmak as early as the 4th century shows a draped standing goddess with one breast bare holding a fantasy ‘cornucopia’ with a bowl on top from which leafy sprays issue (Fig. 9) (Siudmak 1994: 682-84). The stem below is tipped by a zoomorphic head, echoing the hybrid cornucopia-rhyton of Ardoxsho in Gandhāra. The goddess has long curls on either side of her head, a feature of feminine coiffure known in the Ku·āna era and also in Sasanian Iran and Sogdiana. In the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum a similar Kashmiri enthroned goddess, in a lively pose close to that of some depictions of Sogdian deities, probably a version of rājalilāsana, is shown beneath an elephant lustration and carries both a lotus and a stalk with a similar details and zoomorphic finial (Fig. 10). Tiny lions and a crescent in her crown may also link her with the Bactrian Nanā. A third version of the same theme in the Metropolitan Museum, depicts an enthroned crowned goddess wearing the typical classically inspired costume with one breast exposed flanked by two standing female attendants wearing crowns with crescents and holding lotuses, two small seated youthful figures (children?) and a pair of small lions (Fig. 11). Above her is the usual elephant aspersion over her high pointed crown. Her face still has a Gandhāran look and like the other figures she holds an animal headed stalk, this time with a twist in it, topped by a lotus base holding a bowl holding an arrangement of vegetal forms. These three images are most likely an early Kashmiri form of Śrī Lak·mī and should probably be dated between 4th and 5th centuries, as indicated by Siudmak. They display echoes of style and attributes of goddesses of the Ku·āna era but combined and reinterpreted anew. The cornucopia has become a fantasy of motives, and interestingly, the zoomorphic tip now looks like a makara with a curled snout. The bared breast and children may be associated with the Buddhist Hāritī, the cornucopia with Ardoxsho, the lotus with Śrī Lak·mī, the lions with Nanā or Durga, and the crescents with Nanā. The zoomorphic head, possibly having become that of a makara, may even bring in a trace of Gangā. In this figure we see the final assimilation of the goddess with cornucopia into the repertoire of Indian sculpture. Significantly, the true cornucopia has been transformed into a new construction, but its zoomorphic finial remains intact.

Śrī Lak·mī it is not surprising that following the issues of Samudragupta the goddess abandons the cornucopia and takes up this attribute on Gupta gold reverses (Chand & Cribb 2003: 24). The cornucopia, however, does not disappear totally from the post-Ku·āna world in northern India. Rather, it changes into a fantastic conglomeration of floral and vegetal motives on a long curved stalk. It no longer resembles the Greek vessel, although it seems to convey the same meaning and is held by goddesses who must be Śrī Lak·mī or cognate divinities personifying good fortune. Two almost identical small gold roundels displaying the half-figure of a goddess, one in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Fig. 4) (Hallade 1968: 97, pl. XI reversed; Errington: 1992: 143, no. 143) and one in the Cleveland Museum (Czuma 1985: 157, no. 75) are said to have come from Taxila. They were originally dated to the late 1st or 2nd century which seems altogether too early. I agree with Chantal Fabrègues (Errington 1992: 143) and others, who suggest a date in the 4th century. The diminutive females wear a peplos with a flared ruffled apron, Greek in inspiration but transformed into a decorative motive that appears to be later than its Ku·āna Gandhāran prototypes. In addition, the little goddess has an odd goggle-eyed Hunnish visage, and carries a lotus in her right hand and in her left a floral fantasy of an open lotus blossom on a tendriled stem transformed into a platform and a vessel holding an assortment of fruit. She is no doubt a descendent of the Ku·ānas, but she belongs to a post- Ku·āna era. Happily, a Ku·āna era prototype has been brought to light with a recently published Gandhāran gold roundel showing a much more hellenizing bust of Ardoxsho wearing a turreted crown and holding a cornucopia and a lotus (Bopearachchi 2003: 191, no. 181). It is difficult to decide exactly when the Indian Śrī Lak·mī and the Bactrian Tyche/Ardoxsho became identified with each other, but from the evidence of the Ku·āna medallion with the goddess holding both lotus and cornucopia it would seem that this had already occurred prior to the Gupta era. Indeed, a Gandhāran image of an Ardoxsho-type goddess holding a zoomorphic headed cornucopia in the British Museum has a kharo·Γhī inscription read by Gerard Fussman as śriyāh pratimā “image of Śrī” (Fussman 1988: 1-9). It does not appear to be later than the 2nd century. Thus, it would seem that Hellenistic, Iranian, and Indian aspects of a ‘goddess of abundance’ had already coalesced under the Ku·ānas, just as these same three cultures blended in the cultural melting pot of the Ku·āna Empire. Additionally, a very rare Śaka coin reverse type depicting standing city goddess in a Greek chiton and himation holding a lotus and staff appears on the reverses with a kharo·Γhī inscription labelling her ‘goddess of Pu·kalāvatī’ (Bopearachchi 2003: 143, no. 126b). This suggests that that under the Śakas the Greek Tyche and the Indian Śrī LakΒmī had already met. Among the earliest known examples of Kashmiri sculpture are several images of female deities in 54

THE EVOLUTION OF THE GODDESS WITH THE CORNUCOPIA le Russie meridionale’, Revue des études grecques 33: 462-81.

Excursus I find that there are numerous occasions when the names of Bactrian, Indian Buddhist, and native Indian goddesses are confused in Gandhāran art. Additionally, Tyche in her Graeco-Roman form still existed in Gandhāra, as we may note from photos of the now destroyed Hadda site of Tapa-ye Shotor, where a goddess who seems to be a thoroughly Greek Tyche hails the Buddha with a theatrical gesture. It would seem that we must depend on a particular scholarly bias in favor of one name rather than another. In my opinion Hāritī must have children. She and Pañcika as the ‘tutelary couple’ are dressed in Indian royal costumes. Pharro and Ardoxsho are generally in Graeco-Bactrian dress, just as they appear on coin reverses, and Ardoxsho always carries a cornucopia.

Rostovtzeff, M. (1922) Iranians and Greeks in South Russia. Oxford. Sarianidi, V. (1985) The Golden Hoard of Bactria. New York-Leningrad. Siudmak, J. (1994) ‘A group of standing female deities and their antecedents in Late Gandhāran Art’ in SAA 1993, II, 681-94. Helsinki. Ustinova, Y. (1999) The supreme Gods of the Bosporan Kingdom: Celestial Aphrodite and the Most High God. Leiden.

Bibliographic References Bachhofer, L. (1937) ‘Pañcika und Hāritī -Pharo und Ardoxsho’, Ostasiatische Zeitschrift n.f. 13, 6-15. Bopearachchi, O. (2003) De l’Oxus a Archéologie de l’Asie Centrale. Lattes.

l’Indus:

Carter, M.L. (1968) ‘Dionysiac Aspects of Kushan Art’, Ars Orientalis 7: 121-46. Carter, M.L. (1986) ‘Trifunctional Pharro’, Studia Iranica 15.1: 89-96. Carter, M.L. (1998) ‘Three silver vessels from Tibet’s earliest historical era: a preliminary study’, Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 3: 22-47. Chand, V. & Cribb, J. (2003) Ancient Indian Coins from the Chand Collection in the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore (Exhibition Catalogue). Singapore. Czuma, S. (1985) Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India (Exhibition Catalogue). Cleveland. Errington, E. (1992) The Crossroads of Asia (Exhibition Catalogue). Cambridge. Fussman, G. (1988) ‘Une statuette gandharienne de la déesse Śrī’, Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 48: 1-9. Hallade, M. (1968) The Gandhāra Style and the Evolution of Buddhist Art. London. Harle, J. & Topsfield, A. (1987) Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum. Oxford-London. Masson, V. & Pugachenkova, G.A. (1982) The Parthian Rhytons of Nisa (Monografia di Mesopotamia I). Florence. Mukherjee, C. (1991) Gupta Numismatic Art. Delhi. Rosenfield, J. (1967) The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans. Berkeley-Los Angeles. Rostovtzeff, M. (1919) ‘Le culte de la grande déesse dans 55

Martha L. Carter

Fig. 1 - Huvi·ka stater Ardoxsho reverse. Private collection.

Fig. 2 - Va·iska stater with reverse of Ardoxsho. Private collection.

Fig. 3 - Samudragupta stater reverse with Ardoxsho. Private collection.

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THE EVOLUTION OF THE GODDESS WITH THE CORNUCOPIA

Fig. 4 - Gold roundel with Ardoxsho. Victoria and Albert Museum.

Fig. 6 - Ku·āna sculpture Pharro and Ardoxsho. British Museum.

Fig. 5 - Ku·āna sculpture. Pharro and Ardoxsho. Private collection. Fig. 7 - Ku·āna sculpture. Ardoxsho. Private collection.

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Fig. 8 - Tibetan silver rhyton. Cleveland Museum of Art.

Fig. 9 - Standing Lak·mī. Kashmir Private collection. (After Siudmak 1994, fig. 58.1 a-b).

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Fig. 11 - Enthroned Lak·mī. Kashmir. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Fig. 10 - Enthroned Lak·mī. Kashmir. Victoria and Albert Museum.

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THE BUDDHA’S DOORWAYS AND THE RGYA.DPAG.PA’I LHA.KHANG OF NAKO Marialaura Di Mattia A type of mchod.rten very frequent in Western Tibet is the ka.ka.ni mchod.rten, the underpassing – or entrance, or gateway – mchod.rten, through which it is possible to walk. It is a kind of doorway surmounted by a mchod.rten which generally announces the approaching or the entrance to the villages, monasteries and temples.1 Often their peculiar placing in the territory is evidenced by rising at junction points of circumambulatory paths like monumental doorways indicating the direction to be followed.

The religious factor played an important role in order to legitimate the power of the new kings and was instrumental to strengthen the rule over the natives, to amalgamate the indigenous populations through a common cultural identity, fostering friendship and trade exchanges. The Second Diffusion of Buddhism is hence accompanied and characterized by the construction of several temples and mchod.rten which still today mark the Western Tibetan territories: monuments which rose as architectural outposts of the Buddhist faith, defining the space under the political and cultural control of the freshly established mNga’.ris dynasties.6 Scattered along the valleys of Sutlej, Spiti, Chandra-Bhaga and Indus rivers, Buddhist monuments seem distributed following the ramifications of trade routes, probably southern branches of the ancient Silk Route, according to, and composing as well, an artistic and religious pilgrimage itinerary. During the field researches7 it has been possible to observe a sizeable number of entrance mchod.rten along the ancient unmetalled roadway connecting Rarang to Jangi and Lippa, and then at Powari, at Ropa, Puh and Nako.

It is difficult to establish a firm date for the entrance mchod.rten type because most of them are faithfully rebuilt and repainted,2 nevertheless from Kalpa (in the south-western extension of the ancient Gu.ge kingdom, in the region of Kinnaur) to Nako and onwards through Spiti and Lahul and furthermore in Ladakh, they seem to point out to one of the possible itinerary of Rin.chen.bzang.po (958-1055)3 and his retinue of Tibetan scholars, Indian panΡita and artists: a sort of sacred route climbing the Himalayan range from Northern India to Western Tibet along which Buddhist philosophic thought and artistic languages spread all over the ‘Land of Snow’. In fact, around the beginning of the 10th century Western Himalaya became the theatre of a wide ranging phenomenon of cultural irradiation: the Second Diffusion of Buddhism (bsTan.pa phyi.dar).4 It was a real cultural, religious and artistic Renaissance, and Western Himalaya became the cradle of a new, rich and distinct IndoTibetan style.5

The typology of the entrance or underpassing mchod.rten is slightly different from Ladakh to the Kinnaur - Spiti areas, for in Ladakh the shape of the mchod.rten, constructed over an arch, is bigger and seems to envelop the whole structure (Fig. 1), meanwhile in Kinnaur and Spiti the superimposed mchod.rten is smaller and is often covered with a sloping roof (Fig. 2). Hypothetically we can infer that the sloping roof is may be due to a less dry climate and consequently to the need to protect the mud superstructure from the rain. Anyway, the recurrence of the roofing also at higher and less rainy altitude, surrounding a stone structure, perhaps reveals the development of a regional pattern.

Therefore, one thousand years ago these Western Himalayan areas, at the periphery of the Great Tibetan kingdom (Bod Chen.po), were transformed into centres of learning ad political power. The two principal coefficients of Second Diffusion can be summarized by the shifting to Western Himalaya of Tibetan ethnic groups, descendants from the Yar.lung royal family, and the cultural influences of the Indian Buddhist world.

Corresponding to the basement of the mchod.rten, under the door archway, there is a lantern wooden ceiling where is painted a manΡala (Figs. 3, 4) and, corresponding to

1 ‘However, once built four square, such a chöten tends to become a little shrine in its own right, and thus it may be constructed not only at the entrance to a religious compound, but also inside wherever an appropriate place might be found’ (Snellgrove & Skorupski 1979: 77; see also ibid: 29, 77-79). Regarding the A.lci entrance mchod.rten see also Goepper (1993: 111-43).

6 The mNga’.ris sKor.gsum actually was a confederation of three kingdoms, including Mar.yul, Gu.ge and Pu.rang. According to presentday geography Mar.yul corresponds to Ladakh and Zangskar, in the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir. Gu.ge is parted between the socalled Tibetan Autonomous Region (T.A.R.) and India: its westernmost extension corresponds to the Kinnaur, Spiti and Lahul regions in northeastern Himachal Pradesh, meanwhile Pu.rang is almost fully included in the T.A.R.. For a detailed history of the mNga’.ris dynasties see mainly Petech (1977), Snellgrove & Skorupski (1979) and Vitali (1996).

2 As Buddhism is still a living religion over the whole area, once the older parts deteriorated in the course of time, local artists use to replace them, imitating the original ones very closely with pious attitude. 3

For a study of the biography (rnam.thar) of Rin.chen.bzang.po see mainly Tucci (1933) and Snellgrove & Skorupski (1980: 83-100). 4 The Second Diffusion has been deeply analyzed by Tucci (1933), Roerich (1988: 68-101), Snellgrove (1987: 470-526) and Davidson (2005: 84-160) among the others.

7 Field researches were carried out from 1988 to 1999 with the collaboration of Massimiliano A. Polichetti; the research mission of 1999 was in the framework of a joint Research Project between the Chair of History of Oriental Art of the Genoa State University and the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale ‘Giuseppe Tucci’ in Rome, and was partially co-sponsored by the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR).

5

On the main characters of the Indo-Tibetan style in Western Himalaya see Di Mattia 1996; 1998; 2002; 2003; 2007; forthcoming. and respective bibliographies.

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Marialaura Di Mattia the very centre of the manΡala, the ya·Γi which symbolises the axis mundi rises towards the sky.

mystic doorway leading to the heavenly abode of the Buddha.

The ‘lantern form’ consists of several layers of beams, each being placed diagonally across the corners of the lower tiers, the resulting triangles being closed by boards. The resulting image is that of a series of overlapping squares, each of which cuts the angles of the square below it. A possible source for the typology of the lantern ceiling can be traced to the temples of Lak·anā Devī at Bharmaur and Śaktī Devī at Chatrāΰhi (Himachal Pradesh, respectively 8th and 9th century, wood carving) or at PāndreΓhan (Kashmir, 9th or 10th century, sculptured stone ceiling) which, in their turn, may have been influenced by the more ancient lantern ceilings at the cave temples of Bāmiyān (Afghanistan, 5th–6th century) and by the ‘Painter Cave’ at Qïzïl (Central Asia, 5th–7th century) dug and carved out of the rock. A similar typology can be found in the richly painted ceiling at Cave 2 of Dungkar (ancient Gu.ge kingdom, today T.A.R., 12th century) also belonging to the cultural atmosphere of the Second Diffusion.8

The rGya.dpag.pa’i lha.khang at Nako: a preliminary report I have previously dwelt upon the temple complex of Nako analysing the Lo.tsa’.ba’i lha.khang and the gTsug.lag.khang (Di Mattia 1998; 2003).9 As already mentioned, the name of the site of Nako, according to local sources, means ‘The Door of the Buddhists’. Therefore, the proposed Tibetan transliteration can be read as Nang.sGo. Nang.pa is translatable as ‘Buddhist’, because this is one of such terms belonging to the ‘implicit meaning’ category of words, so often employed in the Tibetan language. In fact, Nang.pa can be interpreted at a double level: either as ‘one who is inside the saṁgha’, the Buddhist Community, or as ‘one who is inside his own mind’ with the attention fully concentrated on the inner world and not distracted by the illusory appearances. sGo simply means ‘Door’. As a matter of fact, situated in High Kinnaur, near the Shipki La Pass, Nako occupies a strategic position along the trade routes which connected Indian Himalaya with the Tibetan plateau.

Besides qualifying the territory by determining unmistakably the aesthetic impact of the high Himalayan Buddhist landscape, these mchod.rten also express at a double level the psycho-cosmic symbolism of the stūpa. Thugs.rten or dharmakāya (Tucci 1932: 24-27; Snellgrove & Skorupski 1979: 77), the Buddhist stūpa represents the Mind of the Enlightenment which experiences Blissfulness and Omniscience and is historically connected with the parinirvāna of the Buddha. At a first level of reading the mchod.rten, as all the stūpa, is a three-dimensional realization of the manΡala (Tucci 1932: 48-50; Govinda 1976) owing to the symbolism of the plan and to the composition of the architectural volumes, to the proportions of all the elements tapering towards the top in order to evocate the shape of the cosmic mountain which culminates in the ya·Γi surmounted by the chattra.

Nako village and lha.khang complex are announced by an underpassing mchod.rten in stone and wood (Fig. 5). On the lantern ceiling is depicted a quite effaced manΡala of Ak·obhya. Nako village lies on the shore of the homonymous lake at the altitude of 3960 m. Approaching the village from the lake side, one walks across another underpassing mchod.rten, almost ruined, which unexpectably preserves an interesting wall painting of Padmapāni, with a flexuous body, fine features and waving scarfs remembering pentagram clefs (Fig. 6). The treatment of the fluttering scarfs seems to be an ubiquitous pattern, for it recurs also in the wall paintings inside the Nako temples, in the manΡala painted in the Puh mchod.rten, and is noticeable in the paintings inside the caves at Dungkar, beyond the Shipki La Pass, perhaps denoting a common stylistic school working in a considerable portion of Western Himalaya at the beginning of Second Diffusion.

In the underpassing mchod.rten the psycho-cosmic symbolism is emphasized by the depiction of a painted manΡala on the ceiling, therefore conferring sacredness, sanctity and ritualism to the passage itself, meanwhile bestowing the blessing of the tathāgata to the pilgrim walking underneath. Consequently, to cross an underpassing mchod.rten can be interpreted as to enter in a manΡala, to be under the centre of a manΡala, to identify oneself, at least for a short while, with the Lord of the manΡala, the Buddha painted in the middle of the ceiling at the very core of the manΡala.

The rGya.dpag.pa’i lha.khang, whose name has at least two possible translations, ‘The Temple of the Immensity and Profundity’ or ‘The Temple of the one who expounds (deepens) the Perfection (Immensity)’, is may be the later one of the four temples of the Nako compound, dated as a whole in 12th century.

Ultimately, at a deeper level of reading, the macrocosm universe rendered as a geometric diagram, composed by concentric circles and squares, is suspended over the head of the microcosm individual, potentially purifying the pañcaskandha (rūpa, vedanā, samjñā, samskāra, vijñāna). Therefore, the entrance mchod.rten acts as a

The back wall of the temple, opposite to the entrance, is 9 The studies on Nako have been pioneered by Franche (1914: 32-34) and Tucci (1988: 141-73) followed later by Singh (1983: 141-42); Handa (1987: 105-06); Khosa, Singh & Chaturvedi (1992: 87-96, 16174); Klimburg-Salter (2003: 39-45); Luczanits (2003: 46-53).

8 On Dungkar see, among the others, Pritzker (1996: 206-27) and Neumann (2005: 139-48).

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THE BUDDHA’S DOORWAYS AND THE RGYA.DPAG.PA’I LHA.KHANG OF NAKO taken by a large mural painting depicting Śākyamuni together with his chief disciples, Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, all surrounded by a still discernible architectural frame (Fig. 7). On the top of the side columns rest a beautiful rendering of makara heads, with wide open jaws (Fig. 8). The colour palette is earthly and warm: orange, grey, white, red and saffron yellow. All the personages are robed in heavy drapery with prominent folds. At the base of the columns, like supporting the stability of the whole structure, are depicted white elephants, surmounted by mythical animals, vyāla. Laterally the composition is concluded by a row of panΡita, actively engaged in the debate.

Vajradhara (rDo.rje.’chang) stands out in the centre of the wall (Fig. 12). Sitting in padmāsana, Vajradhara with the crossed hands holds the vajra, symbolizing the indivisibility of the two essential coefficients of the Buddha’s mind: wisdom (prajnā) and compassionate methods (upāya), while the sound of the ghanΕā, held with the left hand, reminds the interdependence of all the phenomena and their intrinsic emptiness (śūnyatā). The gentle movement of the waving scarves follows the smooth outline of the slim, clepsydra shaped flexuous body, with a slender waist and full, rounded shoulders. Vajradhara wears regal clothes and, even if the painting is quite worn, nevertheless it is still possible to discern the jewellery of the classic Bodhisattva’s attire: armlets, necklaces, earrings and the crown’s diadems, revealing the influences of the Pāla-Sena schools of sculpture. The dhotī is decorated by multicoloured stripes: saffron yellow, dark grey, red and white. According to the traditional iconographical code the body colour should be dark blue, as the nighty sky, instead here is painted intense grey. However, this chromatic choice is not unappropriate, since the dark tone symbolizes the integration of the five manΡala family into one and unique supreme Buddha, the ādi Buddha, the one without beginning, from which the manΡala emanates and it is reassorbed, or Vajradhara/Vajrasattva. According to Tucci (1988: 94): ‘Vajradhara is the symbol of the indiscriminate state of being, prior to the ideal fivefold division, expressed in the pentad, and therefore of the Vajradhātu or “indefectible diamond” sphere, which is the incorruptible end of the whole’.

On the right wall stands out a large painting of the Prajñāpāramitā Goddess, the Goddess of the Perfection of Wisdom, flanked by two Bodhisattvas (Fig. 9). This deity has been wrongly identified by Francke first (1914: 33), Tucci later (1988: 171), followed by other scholars as well (Singh 1983: 141, Handa 1987: 105) as the Buddha Amitāyus, may be in account of her reddish colour and because she has her principal pair of hands in dhyānamudrā holding a kalaśa. Actually, the deity has four arms and, while with the upper right hand she holds a vajra, it is clearly recognizable the holy book of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtra, black and rectangular, held with the raised upper left hand.10 The colour of the body, intense orange, shows the connection of the Goddess with Mañjuśrī, whose peculiar attribute is just the Prajñāpāramitā text and whose body colour is generally yellow or orange. In fact, in the A.lci gSum.brtsegs the Goddess is depicted in correspondence with the statue of Mañjuśrī and her body is yellow. Furthermore, the softness of her fleshy body, enhanced by her fully rounded breasts, doesn’t leave any doubts on the fact that we are in front of a female deity. From the highly pointed crown two white ribbons descend, following the body contour. The sharp and arched eyebrows, the almond-shaped eyes and the half-closed eyelids render the glance searching and relaxed.

Vajradhara is the idealized form and the secret appearance of the spiritual master, conceptually representing the Buddha who unfolds the esoteric vehicle of the tantra, and therefore is the ultimate door to our inner self, leading to the path of Liberation.

Bibliographic References On the entrance wall, in the classical position hold by the dharmapāla or chos.skyong, is depicted Mahākāla (The Big Black). Mahākāla has six arms (mGon.po Phyag. Drug), a fleshy, energetic and powerful dark grey body and dances, in ālīΡha āsana, on the white Ganeśa body (Fig. 10). On the right side of Mahākāla, just above the door, is depicted Ge.sar of gLing, hero of the Tibetan epic poem, riding a wild donkey.

Davidson, R.M. (2005) Tibetan Renaissance – Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture. New York. Di Mattia, M. (1996) ‘A Historical Profile of Ladakhi Religious Architecture’ in M.A. Polichetti (ed.), Shaping the Mind – Artistic Facets of Tibetan Civilization, special issue on Art of The Tibet Journal, XXI, No 2: 90-127. Dharamsala.

On the left wall two standing Bodhisattvas (Fig. 11), depicted in a natural posture and dressed with princely garbs, flank the painting of Vajradhara.

Di Mattia, M. (1998) ‘Il complesso templare di Nako nell’alto Kinnaur: un esempio dello stile indotibetano dei secoli X-XII – Parte I’, Rivista degli Studi Orientali LXXI (1-4): 185-238. Di Mattia, M. (2002) ‘Indo-Tibetan Schools of Art and Architecture in the Western Himalaya: the Instance of Ribba in Kinnaur’ in J. Ardussi & H. Blezer (eds), Impressions of Bhutan and Tibetan Art – Tibetan Studies III, Proceedings of the IX

10

It is worthwhile to recall the predominance of the Prajñāpāramitā texts in the translation’s works from Sanskrit to Tibetan of the lo.tsa’.ba Rin.chen.bzang.po and his school and therefore the deep connection of the lo.tsa’.ba with the Perfection of Wisdom. To my knowledge, the more complete list of the translation’s works of the Rin.chen.bzang.po’s school has been published by Tucci (1933: 39-49).

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Marialaura Di Mattia Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, 91-112. Leiden.

Heritage of Ladakh – volume two – Zangskar and the Cave Temples of Ladakh. Warminster.

Di Mattia, M. (2003) ‘Il complesso templare di Nako nell’alto Kinnaur: un esempio dello stile indotibetano dei secoli X-XII – Parte II’, Rivista degli Studi Orientali LXXVI, (1-4): 137-67.

Tucci, G. (1932) “mc’od rten” e “ts’a ts’a” nel Tibet indiano ed occidentale (Indo-Tibetica I). Roma. Tucci, G. (1933) Rin c’en bzaṅ po e la rinascita del Buddhismo in Tibet intorno al mille (Indo-Tibetica II). Roma.

Di Mattia, M. (2007) ‘The Divine Palaces of the Buddha: Architectural Frames in Western Himalayan Art’ in A. Heller & G. Orofino (eds), Discoveries in Western Tibet and Western Himalayas – Essays on History, Literature, Archaeology and Art, Proceedings of the X Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, 55-81. Leiden– Boston.

Tucci, G. (1988) The Temples of Western Tibet and their Artistic Symbolism. The Monasteries of Spiti and Kunawar (Indo-tibetica III.I). New Delhi (first ed. 1935). Vitali, R. (1996) The Kingdom of Gu.ge Pu.hrang – According to mNga’.ris rgyal.rabs by Gu.ge mkhan.chen Ngag.dbang grags.pa. New Delhi.

Di Mattia, M. (forthcoming) ‘L’incontro tra India e Tibet: uno sguardo alla storia e ai principali caratteri dell’arte e dell’architettura nell’Himalaya Occidentale’ in Atti del Convegno in ricordo di Maria Teresa Lucidi “…alla maniera di”. Francke, A.H. (1914–1926) Antiquities of Indian Tibet. Calcutta. Goepper, R. (1993) ‘The Great Stūpa at Alchi’, Artibus Asiae 53 (1-2): 111-43. Govinda, A.L. (1976) Psyco-cosmic Symbolism of the Buddhist Stūpa. Emeryville. Handa, O.C. (1987) Buddhist Monasteries in Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi. Khosa, S.; Singh, A. & Chaturvedi, M. (1992) Antiquities of Western Himalaya. New Delhi. Klimburg-Salter, D. (2003) ‘The Nako preservation project’, Orientation 34 (5): 39-45. Luczanits, C. (2003) ‘The 12th century Buddhist monuments of Nako’, Orientation 34 (5): 46-53. Neumann, H.F. & Neumann, H.A. (2007) ‘Defining the Sacred Space: Painted Ceilings in Dung Dkar and Tsaparang in Western Tibet’ in A. Hardy (ed.), The Temple in South Asia, 139-48. London. Petech, L. (1977) The Kingdom of Ladakh. Roma. Pritzker, T.J. (1996) ‘A Preliminary Report on Early Cave Paintings of Western Tibet’, Art of Tibet, Selected articles from Orientation 1981-1997: 206-27. Roerich, G.N. (1988) The Blue Annals, Part I & II. Delhi (first ed. 1949). Singh, M.G. (1983) Art and Architecture of Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi. Snellgrove, D.L. (1987) Indo-Tibetan Buddhism – Indian Buddhists and their Tibetan Successors. London. Snellgrove, D.L. & Skorupski, T. (1979) The Cultural Heritage of Ladakh – volume one – Central Ladakh. Warminster (first ed. 1977). Snellgrove, D.L. & Skorupski, T. (1980) The Cultural 64

THE BUDDHA’S DOORWAYS AND THE RGYA.DPAG.PA’I LHA.KHANG OF NAKO

Fig. 2 - Rarang, Kinnaur, underpassing mchod.rten on the way to Lippa (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

Fig. 1 - Leh, Ladakh, underpassing mchod.rten below the royal palace (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

Fig. 3 - Rarang, manΡala painted on the mchod.rten’s wooden ceiling (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

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Fig. 4 - Puh, Kinnaur, manΡala painted on the mchod.rten’s wooden ceiling (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

Fig. 6 - Nako, underpassing mchod.rten in the village: Padmapāni (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

Fig. 5 - Approaching Nako, high Kinnaur, underpassing mchod.rten (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

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THE BUDDHA’S DOORWAYS AND THE RGYA.DPAG.PA’I LHA.KHANG OF NAKO

Fig. 7 - Nako, rGya.dpag.pa’i lha.khang, mural painting of Śākyamuni on the back wall (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

Fig. 9 - Nako, rGya.dpag.pa’i lha.khang, Prajñāpāramitā Goddess (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

Fig. 8 - Nako, rGya.dpag.pa’i lha.khang, detail of Śākyamuni prabhāmanΡala (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

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Marialaura Di Mattia

Fig. 10 - Nako, rGya.dpag.pa’i lha.khang, Mahākāla (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

Fig. 12 - Nako, rGya.dpag.pa’i lha.khang, Vajradhara.( Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

Fig. 11 - Nako, rGya.dpag.pa’i lha.khang, Bodhisattva flanking Vajradhara on the right side (Photo M.A. Polichetti & M. Di Mattia).

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‘EARLY TERRACOTTA-FIGURES FROM KANAUJ: CHESSMEN?’1 CHAPTER II: HALF AN ANSWER AND MORE QUESTIONS Manfred A. J. Eder uncertainty existed about the question which kind of gaming-pieces Chess was played with at its beginning.

Some Facts and Basic Considerations 1

Twenty-six years ago, chess was subject to the body of South Asian Archaeology for the first time: at the 6th SAA conference, which took place at Cambridge University in July 1981, Professor Dr J.E. van Lohuizende Leeuw presented ‘A unique piece of ivory carving – the oldest known chessman’. She brought this only 1.7 cm high ‘Quadriga’, made of ivory, in 1981 from the Archaeological Museum at Anurādhapura to London to be shown in her exhibition ‘Sri Lanka – Ancient Arts’.2 Nowadays we may state that its proposed dating to the 2nd-3rd century AD is too early to call this tiny carved piece of ivory a ‘Chessman’, i.e. a gaming-piece, which was used in playing the Game of Caturaṅga on the A·Εāpada (the 8x8-fields´ planogramme: a Chess-Board).

For her paper ‘Early Terracotta-Figures from Kanauj: Chessmen?’, presented at the 15th SAA conference in 1999 at Leiden (NL) (Syed 2007: 363-74), Syed identified archaeological finds of artefacts, examples see Fig. 3, in Museums’ collections of several cities along the Ganga-Valley (Fig. 2), which could be looked upon as objects, representing a miniature Indian army, so to fit on a play-ground, coincidently the A·Γāpada, a long before existing ‘board’ for earlier Indian games. This battle-field suited exactly to take-up two opposing equal parties in an arrangement to play war with: Foot-Soldiers, Elephants, Horses (with Riders) and Chariots, the four wings of the traditional Indian army. Syed suggested to discuss their transformation from reality into terracotta-figures.

A reasonable time-frame for the evolution and invention of Caturaṅga as a Game - starting around the middle of the 5th century AD, based upon Dr habil. Renate Syed’s theory and her sole merit, that Chess came down to us from what she calls a ‘didactic model’, a sort of sand-pitexercise of Catur-aṅga, the Indian army, respectively its four wings - is shown as Fig. 1. Dr Irving L. Finkel interprets the essence of Syed’s book (Syed 2001a) as Caturaṅga having originally been ‘[…] an elaborate teaching device, using little warrior-like figures on a miniature battlefield, that instructed young warriors-to-be in the art of warfare’ (Finkel 2006).

Recently, the idea, that terracotta-figures used in the said ‘didactic model’ for exercise could have caused the creation of a game played on a miniature battle-field found support by two new readings of the first Indian reference to Chess in literature: in Bāna’s famous ‘Har·aCarita’, in which the poet gives an account of King Har·avardhana, residing in Kannauj5 as the successor of the Maukhari-Dynasty, under which, most likely, Caturaṅga was invented as a Game. The Maukhari King Śarvavarman obviously was the Mahārājadhirāja, who sent (a set of) Chess from Kannauj to the contemporary Sassanian King Xosrow I Anushirwan in Ctesiphon, between 560/565 (the beginning of Śarvavarman’s reign) and AD 579 (Xosrow’s last year).

‘Approaching the Roots of Chess’ was the title of the first ever Chess-Historic Research Symposion in India, carried out at Pondicherry University in November 1996. As one of the results of this Congress and its follow-up in Wiesbaden in August 1997, FSG [Foerderkreis SchachGeschichtsforschung e.V. – a Charity Trust on ChessHistoric Research3] initiated the Project ‘We must find the [Gaming-]Pieces – of Caturaṅga 4 - because much

Earlier translations of Bāna’s respective text suggested ‘figures of sculptors’ (Cowell & Thomas 1961) or ‘royal figures of sculptors’ and ‘earthen bodies in the manufactures of dolls’ (Kane 1986), while a new look at the line

1 This was the original title of Dr habil. Renate Syed’s paper presented at the 15th SAA conference at Leiden (NL) in 1999, the Proceedings of which have been published by Ellen Raven, IISA Leiden University in 2007. Earlier references to Syed´s subject in FSG-Publications are in Syed 1999, 2000, 2001a and 2001b. The present author considers these articles by Syed as ‘CHAPTER I’. 2 Dr J.E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw was Professor of Indian and SouthAsian Art and Archaeology at the University of Amsterdam. The Archaeological Museum at Anurādhapura registered this object as a find from Mantai (or Montata), the site of the ancient Mahatittha, a town on the North-West coast of Sri Lanka, which was an important harbour. Van Lohuizen-de Leeuw dated this ‘Chariot’ (to use the Indian armyterm instead of the possibly misleading Roman word ‘Quadriga’!) 2nd3rd century AD and determined it as an import from Andhra Pradesh. (van Lohuizen-de Leeuw 1984). 3 Foerderkreis Schach-Geschichtsforschung e.V. (Charity Trust on Chess-Historic Research) Parkstr. 27, D-65779 Kelkheim/Ts. 4 ‘We must find the Gaming-Pieces’ (of ‘Caturaṅga’) was made an FSG-Project on November 7th, 1997, as an International Initiative of

pustakarmanām pārthivavigrahāΉ disclosed the meaning ‘Es gab (kämpfende) Tonkrieger, aber keine kämpfenden Könige’ (Syed 2005) [There were fighting terracotta-warriors but no fighting kings – transl. MAJE] and ‘When this king [Har·a] reigns, the fight among kings is confined to terracotta statuettes’ (Rajendran 2008)

FSG; details in ‘Bericht Projekt-Ausschuss – Status 31. März 2000’ for the Member-Assembly on April 14th, 2000, in Munich, ProjectDescription no. 15. 5 Kanauj = Kannauj = contemporary spelling.

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Manfred A. J. Eder illustrations on colour-plates p. 19 (nos 3-4) and p. 41, 2003: 12-13 and 55-56; Syed 2001a: 81-82 and illustration p. 91), which clearly show particular elements typical for Chess, and these are:

This new perception made it necessary to further investigate three ‘T’: The Terracotta-figures in question, the Territory they come from and the Time-frame (Gupta – Maukhari – Har·a) they belong to; in other words: where and when foot-soldiers, war-elephants, horses, ideally with warriors as riders, and chariots were used in the strategic and tactical planning or the analysis of battles in theory and practice. Not only for chess-players is remarkable that King and Advisor (‘Queen’) find no mention in this context! The assumption is, that in these military sand-pit exercises, in this teaching concept, the ‘King’ and his ‘War-Minister’ were not participants in the improvised battle-field but decided on the positions and the manoeuvres of the ‘four wings’ as the tutors! They only took their place in the middle of their troops when Caturaṅga was transferred onto the A·Γāpada-’ Board’, the 8x8 squares´ planogramme, outlining the territory of war in the game.

1.

a War-Elephant - representing a ‘Bishop’, and

2.

a Horse with an armed Rider - representing a ‘Knight’.

They both carry prototype-features very similar to later objects doubtlessly belonging to the world of Chessmen: The Elephant = ‘Bishop’ - Fig. 4 - is on its knees, put on rest before it enters the battle; and it is protected by a chain-mail. In particular ‘Bishops’ in old Burmese chesssets deliver a breath-taking similarity and therefore may be considered a link between origin and maintained tradition. The Horse with Rider = ‘Knight’ - Fig. 5: in all elements of its representation it is, for generations (!), identical with later chess-‘knights’ of Indian sets.

Local Investigations in India An initial exploration was undertaken by FSG-Member Dr Leander A. Feiler, who visited two Museums, in Kannauj and Lucknow, in January 2006, reviving former contacts and establishing new ones. Since the perspectives appeared promising, the decision was taken, to travel again with a small delegation to the territory in question.

Unfortunately, there are no archaeological records available on them! For comparison with what we found on our mission, the parameters are given by those examples, which Syed selected for her paper ‘Early Terracotta-Figures from Kanauj: Chessmen?’ as presented at the 15th SAA conference at Leiden, printed in several publications (Syed 1999, 2000, 2001a, 2001b and 2007) with detailed information about their sources and interpretations: Fig. 3 features three Warriors (a-c), possibly Foot-Soldiers, two Horse-Riders (d-e), two Elephants (f-g) and a Chariot (h).

The purpose of our mission from February 26th to March 9th, 2007, however, was not only to obtain more information about terracotta-figures of plausible Caturaṅga-nature, but as well to draw the attention of the Archaeologists and Historians of the Museums of the Doab to the possible use of such finds as devices in the ‘didactic-model’ Caturaṅga preceding the Game Caturaṅga – which may well go back to the later Guptas.

Among the seven authors and sources Syed refers to (Nigam 1981; Agrawala 1947/48; Prakash 1985; Altekar 1959; Sinha & Narain 1970 and Lal 1954 and 1955), the most important commentaries of three of them are the following:

Preliminary Results What we found in six Museums in Delhi, Lucknow, Kannauj, Allahabad and Varanasi (Fig. 2) has to be further evaluated with great care and with the help of our new Indian friends, mainly archaeologists and historians, and their colleagues – because: We just touched and scratched the surface!

Prakash, in addition to his description of a ‘Horse rider, warrior, originated from Bhitari, latest period, 300 AD600 AD’ (p. 10 and 127, pl. X), reports:

In this paper we discuss a selection of photographs which our delegation was kindly permitted to take from possibly relevant artefacts on exhibition (including some in the godowns of the State Museum in Lucknow). Everybody knowledgeable or interested is invited to give reasoned opinion on these issues! To start with, some key-criteria are given, suitable to provide guidance for comparison of what could be determined as Caturaṅga-Gamesmen, by two terracottas known from a private collection (Eder 2000: 24-41 and 70

•

that in Bhitari, near Ghazipur, about 70 km north-east of Varanasi, among the terracottas found, 74 represent ‘men’ and 65 represent ‘animals’, all made from models, ‘… dateable not earlier than the 4th century AD.’ (Prakash 1985: 38; Syed 2001a: 78, fn. 196);

•

that in Ahicchattra, a city about 80 km northwest of Kannauj and right in the heart of the Maukhari territory (with no Museum nowadays), 17 elephant-figures were found: ‘A large majority of elephant figures showed representations of riders. These are mostly represented on a pedestal.’ (Prakash 1985: 122; Syed 2001a: 81, fn. 202);

‘EARLY TERRACOTTA-FIGURES FROM KANAUJ: CHESSMEN?’ CHAPTER II: HALF AN ANSWER AND QUESTIONS boars, dogs, donkeys, monkeys, lions, tigers, camels, besides elephants, horses and chariots, as well as the armed warriors made of terracotta. We also saw birds, and, made of ivory, we know of cows, peacocks and beasts in addition. The more motifs we list, the more uncertainty grows about the purposes and functions of such items.

And he reports: •

•

‘An interesting development was the occurrence of large number of horse-figurines with rider. In many cases the person depicted as a rider is shown as a warrior. […] This type is very popular and almost every site of the valley has yielded this type. The figures are generally mould-made. The rider is often represented like a warrior’ (Prakash 1985: 126f; Syed 2001a: 81);

Again van Lohuizen-de Leeuw tried to give an answer with her article ‘What was the Purpose of the Terracotta Animal Figurines discovered at Kondapur?’ (van Lohuizen-de Leeuw 1987: Chapter 62, 369-73): Apart from discussing the general understanding of toys, she creates the conclusion that the three figurines in question, a horse, a lion and a zebu-bull, represent the symbols of the [four!] cardinal points in ancient Indian art (but: where is the elephant?) as also present in the famous Aśoka pillar-motif with one animal for each of the four main-directions of the world (north, east, south and west).

A general observation is, that most of these artefacts were ‘double-moulded’ and lack of sophistication and decoration, certainly an indication that they were produced in masses and that there was no need to design them artistically to give them value!

Altekar, who comments the Elephant, Fig. 3f, in Syed’s selection (Patna 1959: 119, pl. LII, 1), reports about the excavations in Kumrahar, a village South of Patna/Pataliputra, and mentions:

This interpretation, however, is not satisfactory for the many different types of small terracotta figurines which might be of mystic, religious, ritual, ethnological significance or the like. As an example: The ram is considered as an animal of protection for new-born babies and as a patron saint for children (Kreisel 1989: 23).

• ‘Ninety seven [97!] terracotta animals, entire or fragmentary, were found [ …] The majority of these animals are solid.’ (Altekar 1959) Kala states about the ‘Terracotta Figurines from Kausambi’:

So, what is the meaning and purpose of these numerous other terracotta-motifs besides the elephant (and later the Camel!), the horse (with and without a rider, perhaps to differentiate the two parties which make war against each other!) and the chariot, for which horses (or zebu-bulls) were needed to pull them to the battle and into the fight?7

• ‘Kausambi6 has yielded a number of sling-balls and miniature objects, used in chess and other indoor games’ (Kala 1950: 49). These three authors interpret the objects they describe very generally as ‘toys’, without being more specific, e.g. whether for children or adults, whether for playing a certain motif (like the arrangement of a farm) or just a thing to play with (without any relation to a game based on rules).

Have they been used to mark a place as holy like homealtars? To arrange something like a nativity scene, not unlike a representation of the birth of Christ as seen in the Christian world in churches at Christmas? Or to indicate, which animals belong to the family on a farm? Or like battle-formations we now-a-days still find in collections of tin-figures?

Two statements by Syed are very important (2001a: 79): 1.

2.

As promised: more questions than answers!

She emphasizes that there is no proof for her hypothesis that these terracotta figures, which obtrude themselves upon such a function, in fact were used in a ‘didactic model’ or in the game Caturaṅga.

In any case: Toys are something to play with, and playing with toys must not be far from (inventing [!] and) playing a game (based on rules). There is clearly a close relationship between Toy – Play – Game!

But the assumption, she says, that these objects have only been used as ‘toys’ for children, is not less speculative than the supposition, that some of these many terracottas be figures for Caturaṅga - in the sense of ‘toys’ for men!

For this study in the framework of the project ‘We must

7 Specializing in this field is Naman P. Ahuja, Associate Professor Ancient Indian Art and Architecture, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, who presented ‘Further Visual and Textual References to Talismanic Iconography in Ancient India’ in Ravenna. In a Privatissimum and correspondence following it he drew our attention to www.indianiconography.info and promised to re-examine his corpus of images ‘to see if there are any [terracotta chariots] that I identify as gaming pieces.’ (e-Mail July 14th, 2007). Furthermore we may expect a contribution from him on ‘Toys from the early period with suggestions of what they may [have] be[en] used for’.

Taking into account the variety of terracottas found one may conclude that they could be just objects of virtu if not offerings for deities. In the collections are bulls, rams, 6 Kausambi is located West of Allahabad and the objects found there date - in our understanding - from a suitable period.

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Manfred A. J. Eder find the Gaming-Pieces – of Caturaṅga’ we decided to concentrate on objects which have significance in the Indian army: Elephants, Horses, Chariots and FootsSoldiers (although the Bull may have played a role as well, not as one of the four wings, not as a weapon or a certain power of force, but in the logistic part: to pull vehicles, to settle positions in a battle or war).

It is therefore not surprising to find endless interpretations of meanings of early Indian terracotta art. The opinion of Gerd Kreisel (1989) that most of these riders, chariots and animals are related to religion and rural rituals is not objectionable. Even using them as symbolic sacrifices could be a possible purpose.

However and of course: Not every ‘warrior’ is necessarily a ‘Pawn’, not every ‘elephant’ is a ‘Bishop’, not every ‘horse’ a ‘Knight’ and not every ‘cart’ is a ‘Chariot’, … among the thousands of terracotta-figures, matching with the relevant time-period (roughly from Gupta to Har·a), the territory (i.e. the Maukhari- and Pu·yabhūti/Vardhana-Dynasties’ Dominions), even if suitable in size and shape and concept!

Some hard facts Coming to examine the material collected on this FSGmission in six out of seven museums visited in the Doab, the objects of particular interest are to be characterized as follows: Small terracotta figures, in a handy size, roughly dated between 300-700 AD, excavated at places belonging to the territories dominated by the Guptas, Maukharis and King Har·a.

On the other hand we learned from archaeologists and historians met in the museums visited, that hardly anybody considered or realized the possibility that the available excavated pieces could have some connection to Caturaṅga. Indeed, one explanation for this might be that the importance of terracotta warriors in the context given is a relatively recent discovery.

Their identification: Elephants - without a base, on a base, without a rider, with a rider - Figs 6-8. Horses - without a base, on a base, without a rider, with a rider - Figs 9-13. Chariots - Fig. 14 - For them, the following observation is for consideration:

For three of the four elementary parts of the Indian army we also have to consider their mythological significance: For the Elephant: According to brahmin sources the elephant symbolises the dimension and the duration of the world and royal power.8 This is reflected in antique figurative Indian Chess-Sets in two ways:

If a chariot was made to be a toy (for children), we must take into account that the horses (or the bulls) to pull are the most important element of the two parts of a span – strictly following the real object to be reproduced enminiature! (Examples of exactly this type made out of bronze can be seen in the Harappan-Section of the National Museum in Delhi). However such long vehicles made of terracotta have not been detected in the museums visited! Instead, the four- or two-headed span (of horses or bulls) is integrated as a relief onto the front-plate of the cart, as illustrated (Fig 14 a-c)!

The ‘King’ and his ‘Minister’ is often presented riding an elephant, and the war-elephant, as the strongest weapon (later called ‘Bishop’!), is placed on the sides of ‘King’ and ‘Minister’ as we know from the position on the ‘Board’, which is the same as in all the descriptions of war, and battle-strategies and tactics. For the Horse: ‘A horse with rider used to be a favourite motif in the art of many ancient peoples.’ Mirzamurat Mambetullayev (2000: 4-6), quoting E.E. Kuz’mina (1977) refers particularly ‘ …to the cult of the horse which was practiced throughout antiquity by the ancient Indo-Iranian tribes and Khorazmians.’ And Mambetullayev translates: ‘In all cases, a horse was sacrificed to the sun-god.’ And: ‘… a horse with rider represented the cult of the sun and the astral cult.’

What is the reason for this reduction at the cost of loss of the attractivity as a toy? Possibly, this was to design the chariot as a square unit to make it easier to handle when practising the ‘didactic model’, and - to fit better on the squares of the A·Γāpada, the battle-field of the game Caturaṅga. Some of such carts (or fragments thereof) seen in India have a hole on the front, obviously to manoeuvre the piece by using a stick. The collection of well identical terracotta carts of the Linden-Museum in Stuttgart, Germany,9 consists of 10 chariot-fronts or –fragments, most of them probably from Mathura (on the Yamuna, south of Delhi), but dated 1st century BC to 1st century AD; and - as can be seen from the remains - they also were constructed so that an axis for two wheels could be inserted.

For the Chariot: The chariot finds its expression for example in the Rāmāyana as a vehicle of gods or heaven; and from the Rāmāyana we also learn that not only horses were put to harness, but also a zebu-bull, as the carrier of god Śiva (Lobo 1986: 16). 8 ‘Nach den brahmanischen Quellen bringt er [= der Elefant] symbolisch die Größe und die Dauer der Welt zum Ausdruck und ist Attribut der königlichen Macht’; und sinngemäß: In Indien war die Elefantenhaltung königliches Vorrecht (Matz 1952: 750).

9 Information and illustrations by courtesy of Gerd Kreisel, LindenMuseum Stuttgart.

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‘EARLY TERRACOTTA-FIGURES FROM KANAUJ: CHESSMEN?’ CHAPTER II: HALF AN ANSWER AND QUESTIONS To look for such type of chariots in our project is certainly a must to learn more about them as possible objects used in both, the ‘didactic model’ and the game Caturaṅga.

They are grouped into

While the fact, that terracotta artefacts representing ‘King’ and ‘Minister’ were not found, is less disturbing (see page 70), the scarcity of figurative terracottas representing ‘Foot-Soldiers’ is indeed surprising!

Horses:

Elephants: 9 shown out of 16 (17?) as candidates to represent ‘Bishops’, without or with a base, without or with a rider (Figs 6-8) 12 shown out of 18 as candidates to represent ‘Knights’, without or with a base, without or with a rider (Figs 9-13)

Chariots: 2 shown out of 4 as candidates to represent ‘Rooks’ (Fig. 14 a-c)

The three ‘Warriors from Kanauj’ referred to in Syed’s publications as nos 1-3 (Fig 3 a-c) could not be detected, although they were registered as to belonging to the collections of the Government Archaeological Museums in Kannauj. Nevertheless they (and two more ‘warriors’) appear on a Photo-Index as nos 55+56+57 from 1975, [by Dr. G.K. Agnihotri, at that time Secretary of the Archaeological Museum Kannauj]10 … comprising a total of 129 lots of mostly terracotta-finds.

Warriors (‘Foot Soldiers’): 7 in parts or questionable fragments as candidates to represent ‘Pawns’, with two of them non-figurative found in Kannauj (Fig. 15a), identical with classical traditional Indian gamesmen (Fig. 15 b-c) Finally there are (nine) animals (bulls, cows, rams, birds) as well as numerous unidentified gamesmen in our collection of photographs - with certainly no connection to Caturaṅga.

Some small heads (with helmets?) kept in the go-downs in Lucknow and one in Allahabad (where the Government Archaeological Museum is hosting numerous objects from Kannauj) could belong to ‘warriors’. But the question remains: Where have they all gone, the ‘Pawns’, of which each complete set for a game of Caturaṅga consists of 2 x 8 = 16 ‘men’? We may and must assume that it is as good as impossible that in the ‘didactic model’, the master-pattern of the game, footsoldiers were ignored and the strategic and tactical exercises had simply been carried out with only the major forces (elephants, horses and chariots)!

One could imagine that elephants and horses with no base, i.e. standing on four legs, could well have served as Caturaṅga-figures used on outdoor grounds or in a sandpit; while the pieces with a base could have been intentionally tailored to stand on a hard surface – like on a ‘board’ for a game! For those interested in more details: There is also a breakdown by museum visited and more information to be obtained from the author.

Therefore a convincing explanation for so small a number of figurative ‘pawns’ could be, that the ‘foot-soldiers’ were of non-figurative shape, just like traditional Indian gaming pieces, of which we found two in Kannauj - Fig. 15a - and to which Rakesh Tewari, Directorate of the U.P. State Archaeology in Lucknow, has drawn attention by contributing photos during the Ravenna Congress – Fig. 15 b-c: Seven terracotta gamesmen from different periods between AD 0-600, excavated in Hulaskhera, District Lucknow. Interesting: They look astonishingly similar to 14 gamesmen from Narhan, District Gorakhpur, dated 800-600 BC, published by Singh (1994: 198-99).

Conclusions ‘Half the Answer’ is, that there is sufficient evidence of terracotta-figures from Kannauj as well as from other ancient settlements of the late Gupta-Maukhari-Har·aperiods (4th-7th century AD) in the museums of Kannauj and other ones within the Doab-Plain, which could have played their role in Caturaṅga as a ‘didactic model’ as well as the game - and so do confirm what Bāna described in his Har·a-carita! To the ‘missing half’ belong those artefacts of which we could clearly say they leave no doubt, that they were used in the Game Caturaṅga – for example with the feature of forming a group to be part of a set.

The most impressive example of possibly a figurative ‘Pawn’, however, is featured by Syed as no. 3 (Fig. 3c), which seems to provide a master-pattern and guiding reference for the maintenance of the tradition in designing ‘Pawns’ in later figurative chess-sets: We can trace this concept over roughly 12-15 centuries! Compare Figs 16-17.

They may be among the uncountable reserves of the museums visited as well as in others not visited - and they may still not be unearthed! Even for Kannauj, a place most promising due to its importance as the residential city of several dynasties within the respective time-frame for the invention of Caturaṅga as a game, is true: It is only the surface which so far was scratched! What is needed is a new beginning! Not only for the good of the history of the origin of chess!

The following examples have been selected from over 40 objects photographed during the reported study-tour: 10

Agnihotri, G.K., Secretary Archaeological Musem Kannauj, in ‘A short History of Puratatva Sangrahalaya Kannauj’, Kannauj, 1975, published in a larg(er) volume of unknown title and bibliographical data, p. 141-160 (138-161?).

For the time being we hope for more archaeological data of the items seen and preliminary classified as candidates 73

Manfred A. J. Eder Lucknow; for all other photographs the copyright remains with Manfred A.J. Eder and Leander A. Feiler, members of Foerderkreis Schach-Geschichtsforschung e.V., Kelkheim/Ts., Germany.

from the records in Lucknow, Kannauj, Allahabad, Varanasi and Delhi. Two important remarks

Finally I should like to thank Elisabeth and Leander Feiler very much for improving my English and for lectoring the final text, and my wife Karin Eder and Birgit Schmieding and most of all Luca Colliva for assisting me in fulfilling the standards required for the format of this paper.

1) Of course, Caturaṅga -Pieces may have been not made figurative and from terracotta only - but already very early from other materials like ivory, bone, wood etc. as well; even of precious stone. 2) Already prior to Bāna/Har·a (around AD 630) the Maukhari King Śarvavarman sent a set of non-figurative chessmen (‘made of ruby and emerald’) to his Sassanian contemporary Xosrow I Anushirwan within the period of AD 560/565 (terminus ante quem) to 579 (terminus post quem) (Syed 2001a; Abka’i Khavari 1998, 1999, 2001).

Bibliographic References Abka’i Khavari, M. (1998) ‘Schach im Iran – Einige Überlegungen zu den iranischen Schachepisoden’ in Arbeitspapiere zum Privatissimum ‘Seidenstraße’, 28-41. Kelkheim/Ts.

This justifies to assume that Chess very soon after its invention (around AD 450) was also played – in parallel to figurative pieces – with traditional Indian gamingpieces, ‘tailor-made’ to differ sufficiently for the identification of their functions and positions on the ‘board’ and in the game!

Abka’i Khavari, M. (1999) ‘Die Schachpräsentation der Inder beim Sassaniden-Herrscher Khosrow I Anushirwan fand wahrscheinlich mit unfigürlichen Spielsteinen statt’ in Arbeitspapiere zum Privatissimum ‘Indien’, 66-69. Kelkheim/Ts.

Epilogue

Abka’i Khavari, M. (2001) ‘Schach im Iran’, Iranica Antiqva XXXVI: 329-59.

It has been suggest to make the lost metropolis Kannauj a new archaeological site! Apart from the expectation that more Caturaṅga-material will be found there, earlier efforts (undertaken in 1955 and 1972-75) have already proven, what a historic treasure this place bears:

Agnihotri, G.K. (1975), ‘A short History of Puratatva Sangrahalaya Kannauj’. Kannauj (see fn. 10). Agrawala, V.S. (1947-48) ‘Terracotta Figurines of Ahichchhatra, District Bareilly, U.P.’, Ancient India, Bulletin of the Archaeological Survey of India, 4, Double Number: July 1947 – January 1948: 104-179.

The re-vitalization of this project will definitely deliver many missing links, especially about the Maukhari Dynasty which suffered from being overlooked so far due to the dominance and present knowledge about the mighty Guptas and later the powerful King Har·a. In spite of Syed’s remarkable study about the Maukharis (who began to rule about close to 5th century till around AD 600 11) much too little in terms of hard facts is known about the rulers of Kannauj as a great place of Indian history.

Altekar, A.S. (1959) Report on Kumrahar Excavations 1951-1955. Patna. Cowell, E.B. & Thomas, F.W., transl. (1961) The HarsaCarita of Bana. Delhi (first ed. 1897). Eder,

M.A.J. (2000) ‘Zum gegenwärtigen Forschungsstand über die ältesten Schachfiguren /The Present State of Research regarding the Oldest Chessmen’ in Arbeitspapiere/Working Papers ‘Chess Originated in India’, illustrations on colour-plates p. 19 (nos 3+4) and p. 41, Kelkheim/Ts.

Eder,

M.A.J. (2003) ‘Bagdad – Bergkristall – Benediktiner. Zum Ex-oriente des Schachspiels’ in Begleitschrift mit Katalog Schach zur ‘Exoriente’-Ausstellung in Aachen 2003, 12-13 and 55-56. Kelkheim/Ts.-Aachen.

Acknowledgements Special thanks are due to Robert S. Dinsmore, Leander A. Feiler, Renate Syed, the members of the Delegation on the mission in India February/March 2007, and to our local Organiser and Guide Unni Krishnan Pillai, without whom our programme could have never been accomplished. We are grateful to the Directors and their staff of the Museums visited, for granting us every possible support and permitting us to take photographs of their treasures.

Finkel I.L. (2006) ‘Preface’ in R. Vasantha Maharaja´s Games and Puzzles, 6-7. Kelkheim/Ts.

The Master-Map of Fig. 2 and the comparative photo of an identical Chariot on Fig. 14b are by courtesy of Gerd Kreisel, Linden-Museum Stuttgart; the photographs on Fig. 15 b-c were kindly contributed by Rakesh Tewari, 11

Kala, S.C. (1950) Terrracotta Figurines from Kausambi, 49. Allahabad. Kane, P.V. (1986) Har·acarita. Delhi (first ed. 1918).

see fn. 10: Agnihotri 1975: 142.

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‘EARLY TERRACOTTA-FIGURES FROM KANAUJ: CHESSMEN?’ CHAPTER II: HALF AN ANSWER AND MORE QUESTIONS Kreisel, G. (1989) ‘Sundari die Schöne – Terrakottakunst aus Indien’ in G. Kreisel (ed.) ExhibitionCatalogue, Bildheft der Südasien-Abteilung Linden-Museum Stuttgart, Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde, 13 & 37. Stuttgart.

van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, J.E. (1984) ‘A unique piece of ivory-carving – the oldest known chessman’ in SAA 1981, 245-49. Cambridge. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, J.E. (1987) ‘What was the Purpose of the Terracotta Animal Figurines Discovered at Kondapur?’ in M.S. Nagaraja Rao (ed.) Kusumāñjali: New Interpretations of Indian Art and Culture (Sh. C. Sivaramamurti Commemoration Volume), II, 369-73. Delhi.

Kuz’mina, E.E. (1977) Kon’ v religii i iskusstve sakov i skifov / Skify i sarmaty. Kiev. Lal, B.B. (1954-55) ‘Excavation at Hastinapura and other explorations in the Upper Ganga and Sutlej Basins 1950-52’ in Ancient India, Bulletin of the Archaeological Survey of India, 10-11: 5-151. Lobo, W. (1986) ‘Erzählende Reliefs vom Angkor Vat’, Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 16. Berlin. Mambetullayev, M. (2000) ‘Terracotta from Khorazm’, quoting E.E. Kuz’mina, San’at Journal of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan 4/2000: 4-6. Matz, F. (1952) ‘Der Gott auf dem Elefantenwagen’, Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur Mainz, Geistesund sozialwissenschaftliche Klasse 10, 750. Mainz. Nigam, J.S. (1981) ‘Some Post-Gupta Terracottas from Kanauj’, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay, Dr. P. Kane Birth Centenary Volume, 52-53/197778 (New Series): 214-18. Prakash, P. (1985) Terracotta Animal Figurines in the Ganga-Yamuna Valley (600 BC-600 AD). Delhi. Rajendran, C. (2008) A new look into the Caturaṅga Passages in Har·acarita (forthcoming by FSG Kelkheim/Ts.). Sinha,

B.P. & Narain, L.A. (1970) Excavation 1955-56. Patna.

PāΓaliputra

Syed, R. (1999) ‘Terrakotta-Figuren aus Kanauj und Ahicchattra: Schachfiguren? – Early TerracottaFigures from Kanauj: Chessmen?’ in Arbeitspapiere zum Privatissimum ‘Indien’, 70-76. Kelkheim/Ts. Syed, R. (2000) ‘Early Terracotta-Figures from Kanauj: Chessmen?’ in Arbeitspapiere/Working-Papers ‘Chess Originated in India’, 13-17. Kelkheim/Ts. Syed, R. (2001a) Kanauj, die Maukharis und das Caturaṅga: Der Ursprung des Schachspiels und sein Weg von Indien nach Persien. Kelkheim/Ts. Syed, R. (2001b ) ‘Early Terracotta-Figures from Kanauj: Chessmen?’, Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques, Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft, LV.2.2001: 381-414. Syed, R. (2005) ‘Astapadanam Caturaṅgakalpana – Banas Erwähnung des Schachspiels im Harsacarita’, Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques, Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft, LIX.2.2005: 581-91. Syed, R. (2007) ‘Early Terracotta-Figures from Kanauj: Chessmen?’ in SAA 1999, 363-74. Leiden. 75

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Fig. 3 - Terracottas from Kanauj and other cities of Northern India (after Syed 2000: 17).

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HOYSAЮA TEMPLES (KARNĀTAKA, SOUTHERN INDIA) BUILT IN THE NORTHERN STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE Gerard Foekema The three styles now mentioned are poorly defined. As a consequence many contributions to Indian temple architecture discussing monuments found over all India suffer from vagueness and confusion. But the three recent Ph.D.-theses mentioned above do away with that. By analyzing not just the silhouette but all the actual details of plan and elevation of the shrines, it is possible to be crystal clear. The most important and exciting conclusion of the study of architectural details is, that indeed there are two or three architectural styles, because together with the differences in outline of the towers there are many other architectural details that are always found together in one monument. This is not self-evident. A much earlier Ph.D.-thesis on temples in Karnātaka by Michell (1975) arrived at the opposite conclusion. Nevertheless this publication was the fruitful beginning of a systematic comparison of architectural details with the aim to find clusters of details that are found together. The explanation for the initial failure was the choice of the group of temples: early medieval in the case of Michell, later medieval in the case of Hardy, Sinha and Foekema. It is only in the later temples with their larger number of architectural details that clusters become evident. In addition to the character of their superstructures, an important difference between DrāviΡa and Nāgara is the architectural articulation of the walls below the superstructures. In DrāviΡa temples the projections of these walls are framed with thin pilasters. In Nāgara temples the projections are given the details of one heavy pilaster. And indeed, in Vesara temples, these articulations can be found side by side!

Introduction Are there two or three major architectural styles in Indian temple architecture? Nāgara temples are found in the north, DrāviΡa temples are found in the south, and in between north and south, in Karnātaka, later medieval temples look in-between and can be called Vesara. Answering the question whether Vesara is a style on its own needs a morphological analysis of the temples. This is done in three recent Ph-D.-theses by Hardy (1995), Sinha (2000) and Foekema (2003). The subject of this paper is a related one: temples from the later medieval period found in Southern India but built in the northern style. Hoysaάa temples (Southern Karnātaka, AD 1100-1300) are DrāviΡa/Vesara with a few exceptions: out of 100 surviving temples, 5 are Nāgara. Analysis of the details of the northern and southern styles makes this clear. All 5 these temples are already known for a longer time, but in the traditional overviews of temple architecture they are not recognized as a separate group. Even in the most comprehensive of all overviews, the Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, their foreign character is only mentioned in passing (Dhaky 1996). In this paper I will present these 5 temples (found in Belūr, Nāgamangala, Nuggihalli and Turuvekere). A recently discovered old photograph of the large temple in Belūr gloriously underlines the special character of this group of temples. DrāviΡa, Nāgara and Vesara

A schematic drawing of DrāviΡa shrines is given in Fig. 1. To avoid confusion it is important to notice that their elevation contains two different kinds of horizontal layers. The most important layers, responsible for the stepped outline of the upper half, are capped by domical roofs. It is these layers that are called talas. But in turn each tala consists of two (sometimes three) layers separated by an eaves called kapota. Thus, if all horizontal layers are called storeys, confusion is a danger. Indeed they all represent storeys, but they are of two kinds. The simple shrine in figure 1 has one tala and two storeys, the upper one can be called attic storey.

Overlooking the landscape of Indian temple architecture we can easily distinguish two different kinds of temples. In the south of India many shrines of temples are towerlike structures with an upper half showing a very characteristic outline against the sky: a stepped pyramid. In the north of India most shrines are still more tower-like and the outline of their upper half is strikingly different: not stepped but continuous, and with an elegant convex curvature. These two styles are called DrāviΡa and Nāgara respectively, terms that are found in many old texts on temple architecture. These texts all have a regional bearing only and do not compare temples all over India, but it is commonly agreed to use the two terms in this way. Also commonly accepted is the term śikhara for the northern superstructure. In Karnātaka after AD 1000 a third silhouette of tower is found: a pyramid without clear steps and sometimes a curvature. It is not obvious whether they are DrāviΡa or Nāgara, their superstructures are somewhere in-between, and usually they are called Vesara.

A schematic drawing of Nāgara shrines is given in Fig. 2. Also here there are simple and compound designs with the latter consisting of a number of simple ones. Divergent is their arrangement. Compound DrāviΡa shrines consist of horizontal rows of simple ones, while the Nāgara Śekhari shrines consist of a bundle of simple ones. The Nāgara Bhūmija shrines consist of horizontal rows again, but within a Latina frame.

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Gerard Foekema Hoysaάa. Obviously, Viśnuvardhana considered his overlord a rival, and wanted a temple in the architectural style of his region but larger. He also wanted the design more complicated. This was reached by rotating some of the wall-projections of the shrine by 22.5 degrees, giving the plan of the shrine the outline of a star. Up till then stellate plans were only found very occasionally in southern India.

A schematic drawing of Vesara shrines has no use since they have the DrāviΡa schematic design, but always with two or more talas and always with reduced attic storeys. Did the patrons and architects of medieval Karnātaka acknowledge the three groups now distinguished by us? Two inscriptions published and discussed by Dhaky (1977) show they were well aware of divergent architectural styles, but not whether they are the DrāviΡa, Nāgara and Vesara as shown in our figures. However, study of architectural details in the field clearly shows they were aware of at least two distinct styles, because the typical kinds of superstructures are always found in conjunction with a number of other architectural elements. These other elements are given schematically in Fig. 3. There is no structural reason why a design as shown in Fig. 1 could not have a kumbha and pillared walls. There is also no structural reason why a design as shown in Fig. 2 could not have a vyālamālā and walls with framed projections. Nevertheless these combinations are never found in the field. The builders of the temples considered the temples to be of at least two kinds, each one with its own set of architectural details.

Today, the temples in Belūr are without any superstructures. The oldest photographs of the large temple, however, show a slovenly superstructure of the Bhūmija kind, a superstructure foreign to the region but in tune with the articulation of the walls. In the beginning of the 20th century all additions to the temple in Belūr were removed in order to better show the original temple. The superstructure of the shrine was included in the clearings, and indeed it was not from Hoysaάa times but from AD 1774. In that year Nañjayya, a military man during the reign of Hyder and of Chñāmarāja III of Mysore, rebuilt the tower and put up the kalaśa (Narasimhachar 1919; University Of Mysore 1935). But why not a tower as usually built in the 18th century? I think there is no other explanation for building this kind of foreign tower than the copying of the character of its predecessor. The details of the Bhūmija tower as visible in the photographs are correct, notably the almost completely embedded Latina miniatures in the inner corners are present. Therefore, today, a new reconstruction of the tower as seen in the photographs would be reasonable. The most important argument is that, in all surviving medieval temples, a shrine with Nāgara articulation of the walls is never crowned with a DrāviΡa or Vesara tower.

We conclude this paragraph with a few photographs. Fig. 4 shows an example of a DrāviΡa/Vesara shrine in southern Karnātaka. The usual eaves or chādya is missing in this example, and therefore the DrāviΡa schematic design is undisturbed and easier to see. Typical are the framing of each projection of the walls with thin pilasters or posts, and the decoration of each projection and each recess with miniature towers on thin pilasters. The only temple with a surviving Nāgara-Śekhari superstructure in Karnātaka is shown in Fig. 5. The walls below the tower show a kumbha and are articulated as pillars. Figs 6 and 7 each show two miniature shrines decorating the same temple. In both pairs, the DrāviΡa shrine has pilastered walls, the Nāgara shrine a kumbha and pillared walls. However, in Fig. 7 left-hand side we can see two (out of five) wall-projections articulated as pillars, and a typical Vesara superstructure with the suggestion of a Latina frame.

The following illustrations are vital for our reasoning. Fig. 8 shows the shrine of the large Belūr temple as it is today. Fig. 9 shows the shrine as it was in the 19th century. Two more photographs showing the 1774 superstructure are known, but this recently discovered one is by far the best. Fig. 10 shows the smaller Belūr temple and a temple from the same period found not far from Kalyāna. The architectural articulation is strikingly similar in both temples.

The temples in Belūr In the small town of Belūr, about 150 km north-west of Mysore, a very popular temple for both pilgrimage and tourism is found. The history of the temple is welldocumented. It was consecrated in AD 1117 and commissioned by the ambitious Hoysaάa king Vi·nuvardhana. With a shrine measuring about 10 m per side the temple is exceptionally large, and it has an architectural character foreign to the region. Next to it stands a second temple, smaller but of the same foreign architectural character, commissioned by the queen of Vi·nuvardhana. In both temples, the walls of the shrines have projections articulated as pillars, and the common DrāviΡa thin framing pilasters are absent. Also the common DrāviΡa vyālamālā in the pedestal of the elevation is absent. Elevations of the same character are only found in the extreme north of present-day Karnātaka and in adjoining Mahārāshtra, being the heartland of the Cālukya of Kalyāna, at that time the overlords of the

Nāgara dressing in a minor temple DrāviΡa, Nāgara and Vesara are architectural articulations of sophisticated temples. But also many simple temples survive in Karnātaka. They have small shrines with flat walls, the pattern of projections and recesses of sophisticated temples is missing, and their pyramidal superstructure consists of a repetition of kapotas only. But often their walls have thin pilasters that are not evenly spread but clustered in a pattern of a DrāviΡa shrine with three wall-projections per side. In this way, they imitate an articulated DrāviΡa shrine, the more so because often they have a pedestal with a simple vyālamālā. However, in Belūr, not inside the compound of the royal temple but in the fields west of the town, a simple temple imitating a Nāgara articulation is found! Just by adding a kumbha, skipping a vyālamālā, skipping 86

HOYSAЮA TEMPLES (KARNĀTAKA, SOUTHERN INDIA) BUILT IN THE NORTHERN STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE the thin pilasters and by adding a clasping central band to each side of the pyramid of kapotas, a Nāgara look is produced. Without any doubt, this simple temple reflects the foreign look of the royal temples. It shows that its patrons were aware of two different kinds of temple and with simple means they succeeded in imitating the king.

noticed the difference we don’t know for sure, but certainly the patrons and craftsmen were clearly aware of both architectural styles.

Fig. 11 shows an example of the imitation of a DrāviΡa shrine and the successful imitation in Belūr of the royal Nāgara shrines.

Dhaky, M.A. (1977) The Indian Temple Forms in KarnāΓa Inscriptions and Architecture. New Delhi.

Bibliographic References

Dhaky, M.A. (1996) Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture. South India. Upper DrāviΡadē·a. Later Phase, A.D. 973-1326. Delhi.

Nāgara Hoysaάa temples

Foekema, G. (1994) Hoysaάa Architecture. Medieval temples of southern Karnātaka built during Hoysaάa rule. New Delhi.

The two royal temples in Belūr are the beginning of a hub in temple building in Southern Karnātaka. From the next 150 years, about one hundred sophisticated temples survive, but only three of them have a Nāgara architectural articulation. But the simple fact that three more were built shows the lasting awareness and knowledge of two contrasting architectural styles among patrons and craftsmen.

Foekema, G. (2003) Cālukya Architecture. Medieval temples of northern Karnātaka built during the rule of the Cālukya of Kalyāna and thereafter, 1000-1300 AD. New Delhi. Foekema, G. (2003) Architecture decorated with architecture. Later medieval temples of Karnātaka, 1000-1300 AD. New Delhi.

The Saumyakeśava temple in Nāgamangala (Fig. 12) was built in the 12th century AD. It has three shrines, the central one with a superstructure of plastered brick that is not in tune with the Nāgara walls. In contrast with Belūr, renovators here added a tower in the local style of later times. As visible in Fig. 12 also a gopuram in the DrāviΡa style of later times was added.

Hardy, A. (1995) Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation. The KarnāΓa DrāviΡa Tradition. 7th to 13th Centuries. New Delhi. Michell, G. (1975) Early Western Calukyan Temples. An Architectural Description and Analysis of the Early Western Calukyan Temples. London.

The Śankareśvara temple in Turuvekere (Fig. 13) was built in the 13th century AD. Here, without any doubt, the original superstructure of the shrine survived. It has been made of natural stone, not of plastered bricks, which was relatively easy because the size of the temple is very modest. The shrine is regular Bhūmija from bottom to top.

Narasimhachar, R. (1919) The Kesava temple at Belur. Mysore. Sinha, A.J. (2000) Imagining Architects. Creativity in the Religious Monuments of India. Newark-London. University Of Mysore (1935) Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department for the year 1931. Bangalore.

The Sadāśiva temple in Nuggihalli (Fig. 14) was also built in the 13th century AD and is also complete. Here an ingenious design of the shrine is found. Nevertheless this shrine is Nāgara in exactly the same way as the other four Hoysaάa Nāgara temples. Finally we give in Fig. 15 an example of a simple Hoysaάa DrāviΡa temple with approximately the same degree of elaboration as the temple in Nuggihalli. Because figure sculpture is missing, the architectural articulation of both temples is very clearly visible. As a consequence, the difference between DrāviΡa and Nāgara in Hoysaάa times and region is perfectly clear in Fig. 15. Conclusion Hoysaάa temples have been built in two different architectural styles. The most common one can be called Hoysaάa DrāviΡa or Hoysaάa Vesara, more than 100 of these temples survive. The other one can be called Hoysaάa Nāgara, and of this kind only 5 sophisticated temples survive. Whether the devotees of Hoysaάa times 87

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Fig. 1 - Schematic elevations of southern or DrāviΡa shrines. Each tala has two storeys. Vesara shrines have the same schematic design, but with the height of the upper (attic) storeys of each tala reduced (Drawing G. Foekema).

Fig. 4 - Kabbali, Someśvara-temple. A shrine from Hoysaάa times and region without figure sculpture and without chādya, and therefore clearly showing the DrāviΡa affiliation of Vesara temples. Kabbali is close to Arsikere, a small town in between Bangalore and Bhadrāvati (Photo G. Foekema).

Fig. 2 - Schematic elevations of northern or Nāgara shrines. Śekhari has a large Latina centre, Bhūmija has a large Latina frame (Drawing G. Foekema).

Fig. 3 - Architectural details of the walls of later medieval Karnātaka shrines. Left, the fourth layer from the bottom is called vyālamālā. Right, the second layer from the bottom is called kumbha (Drawing G. Foekema). Fig. 5 - Hāngal, Ganeśa-temple. This is the only shrine in Karnātaka with a surviving Śekhari superstructure. Hāngal is south of Hubli (Photo G. Foekema).

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Fig. 6 - Kāmadhenu, Kalmeśvara temple, two miniatures, left DrāviΡa/Vesara, right Nāgara. Kāmadhemu is south of Hubli (Photo G. Foekema).

Fig. 7 - Hāveri, Siddheśvara-temple, two miniatures, left DrāviΡa /Vesara, right Nāgara. Hāveri is to the south-east of Hubli (Photo G. Foekema).

Fig. 9 - Belūr, Cennakeśava-temple, the shrine as it was in the 19th century. Photograph found in the British Library, up till now unpublished. It was made by Henry Dixon, probably in 1868 (Photo © British Library Board, All Rights Reserved, Indian Museum 448, 1000/24 (2333); Courtesy of the British Library).

Fig. 8 - Belūr, Cennakeśava-temple, the shrine as it is today. Photograph taken in 1997. Belūr is north-west of Hassan, a town halfway between Bangalore and Mangalore (Photo G. Foekema).

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Fig. 12 - Nāgamangala, Saumyakeśava-temple. Only the walls, all showing heavy embedded pillars, are original. Nāgamangala is in between Bangalore and Hassan (Photo G. Foekema).

Fig.

10 - Kalgi, Mallikārjuna temple (above) and Belūr, Kappecennigarāya-temple (below). Kalgi is a village near Gulbarga and near the Cālukya capital Kalyāna, 500 km away from Belūr (Photo G. Foekema).

Fig. 13 - Turuvekere, Śaṅkareśavara-temple. Though a little stiff and uneasy, the superstructure of the shrine is regular Bhūmija. Turuvekere is in between Bangalore and Hassan (Photo G. Foekema).

Fig. 11 - Heragu. Kīrtinārāyana-temple (left) and Belūr, Śaṅkareśavaratemple (right). Heragu imitates a DrāviΡa architectural articulation and Belūr imitates a Nāgara architectural articulation. Heragu is close to Hassan (Photo G. Foekema).

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Fig. 14 - Nuggihalli, Sadāśiva-temple. The Nāgara shrine has an ingenious plan and is crowned with an equally ingenious Bhūmija superstructure. Nuggihalli is in between Bangalore and Hassan (Photo G. Foekema).

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Fig. 15 - Dindagūr, Keśava-temple (above) and Nuggihalli, Sadāśiva-temple, (below). The difference between Hoysaάa DrāviΡa (above) and Hoysaάa Nāgara (below) is strikingly visible because figure sculpture is absent. Also Dindagūr is in between Bangalore and Hassan (Photo G. Foekema).

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SCULPTURES OF SŪRYA’S ATTENDANTS FROM MATHURĀ Marion Frenger right hand would have held a pen in a position similar to that of the earlier example. The quality of the execution on this piece is much higher than that on the first Piṅgala and this is only partly due to its larger size. Its face still shows the round, fleshy cheeks of Ku·āna sculpture while its headgear, especially the jewelled diadem with crescents attached to both sides, is reminiscent of Iranian, and in particular Sasanian, crowns. What is visible of the dress comprises the same elements as on the earlier sculpture, including the cape and the decorated front of the tunic, although in a more elaborate form. The cape here is no longer knotted; instead, its ends are held by a ring in the shape of a lotus flower.

Among the many extant sculptures from the period between AD 300 and 600 discovered in the area of Mathurā, there is a small group of images representing the two male attendants of the sun god, who are usually named DanΡin and Piṅgala. Sculptures showing the sun god with two accompanying male figures are known from Gupta times onward. This type of image (Fig. 1) was first developed at Mathurā, but its occurrence is not confined to this region. After its invention it spread quickly and widely over northern India. By the end of the 6th or the early 7th century it was known from at least Magadha in the east to the far Northwest of India. Much less frequent, however, are separate sculptures of each attendant. From Mathurā itself, several more or less complete examples of such separate sculptures are known. With the exception of one piece which is now part of the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, they are all kept in the Government Museum at Mathurā. The paper will concentrate on this small group of sculptures. It will discuss their identity, why these separate sculptures were made, and what information can be derived from them regarding the sun cult in the Mathurā region, specifically in the 4th to 6th centuries.

Closely related to these two sculptures is the separate head of a bearded male figure (Fig. 5). This head has been generally identified as that of one of Sūrya’s attendants or more precisely as Piṅgala. The complete lack of attributes does not permit a secure identification, but the beard and the close resemblance of the headgear to that of the two Piṅgalas shown before are strong arguments in favour of this identification. This head should therefore be regarded as part of a potential third Piṅgala.

An overview of the sculptures under discussion must begin with what is probably the earliest among them, a small figure of Piṅgala (Fig. 2). His somewhat crude execution and some stylistic elements - such as the shape and features of the face - point back to Ku·āna sculpture, while the separation of the nimbus from the lower part of the back is a feature known from Gupta art. The basis for his identification as Piṅgala are his distinctive cap as well as his characteristic pose, with the lowered left hand holding a manuscript and the raised right hand holding a pen. A thin line on both cheeks of his face indicates a beard, and the slightly protruding belly identifies him as an older man rather than a youth. His dress combines Indian elements, principally the voluminous sash tied around his hip, with a cape knotted over the chest and a version of the long tunic-like dress that are typical of the art of Central Asia and Iran. The reverse of the sculpture (Fig. 3) is plain and shows no physical traces that would indicate that it was once part of a larger piece of sculpture. What is seen today is therefore, apart from the missing base with Piṅgala’s feet, the complete sculpture.

A fourth Piṅgala (Fig. 6), dating from the 5th or early 6th century, shows a more elegant treatment of the body. The same features seen in the earlier sculptures are also visible in this piece. They include the cap or helmet-like headgear with a crescent ornament this time placed centrally over the forehead, the beard again indicated by a thin line on the cheeks, the long tunic depicted here without any decorated part on the chest, and the cape again held by a ring. Only the sash tied around the waist is absent. Unfortunately the back of this sculpture could not be personally examined by the author. However, in the description of this piece for the 1951 catalogue of the Brahmanical images in Mathurā Art it is stated that the sculpture is a ‘fragment with rounded back’ (Agrawala 1951: 73); perhaps indicating that the sculpture was attached to a small pillar. The fragmentary DanΡin in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Acc. no. 1968.281; Pal 1978: 105, cat. no. 55) is probably the latest among the sculptures discussed. With his raised right hand he holds the śakti or danΡa that accounts for his Sanskrit name. Again a cape fixed by a ring is visible over what was probably a tunic-like dress. This relates the piece to the smaller Piṅgala just discussed, especially in regard to the lack of any decorated element on the chest. The cap however does not include the particular crescent ornament seen in the earlier examples of Piṅgala although the general shape of the headgear is maintained. The face is that of a young man without the beard and moustache distinctive of Piṅgala; its shape and execution show all the features

The next fragmentary sculpture (Fig. 4) is also unlikely to have belonged to a larger composition. Although only the upper part of the torso from the waist upwards has survived, and while both arms and therefore both the attributes are missing, the slight turn of the head towards the left and the visibly lowered left shoulder help to identify this fragment as another Piṅgala. The beard in this case is indicated by finely carved curls; this, together with the cap, supports the identification. A broken part on the right shoulder probably indicates the place where the 93

Marion Frenger identification we have to rely on the 1951 catalogue, the sculpture in the collection of the Cleveland Museum is the only one to be safely identified as DanΡin. In contrast, there are at least three - probably four - independent sculptures of Piṅgala, as well as the two heads which also seem to have belonged to Piṅgalasculptures. A short revision of these pieces shows very clearly that none of the single Piṅgalas documented can be regarded as a direct counterpart to the Cleveland DanΡin. Even the Piṅgala 00.D.1 (Fig. 4), of almost equal size, displays stylistic features that are too different to be explained merely by the fact that one is represented as a mature man while the other is shown as a young warrior. In consequence, each of the sculptures under discussion must be taken as one half of an independent pair of Sūrya’s attendants. Thus we have the remnants of at least five separate pairs of attendants, and if the DanΡin from Bajna does not match one of the Piṅgalas, there is one more. Together with the two heads the total of once existing pairs could easily rise to seven or more.

characteristic of the mature Gupta style. Besides the sculptures mentioned so far there are three more relevant pieces from Mathurā described in Agrawala’s catalogue. The first is the head of a male figure (Mathurā Museum Acc. no. 598) probably similar to that already shown. According to the catalogue description (Agrawala 1951: 73) this head with a cap and a diadem set with pearls also belonged to a Piṅgala. The next is the lower half of another Piṅgala sculpture (Mathurā Museum Acc. no. 2662) from Mathurā City. Agrawala describes the sculpture, which has a height of approximately 30 cm, as having ‘an upper and a lower halo, traces of the latter are preserved on both sides of the legs’ (Agrawala 1951: 74). This feature connects the fragment to the first Piṅgala shown (Fig. 2). He then describes its long dress and the manuscript held in its lowered left hand as the reasons for his identification of it as Piṅgala. The third sculpture is that of a DanΡin discovered in an excavation at Bajna in 1918 and listed under the accession number 1397. It is described by V.S. Agrawala in his catalogue as being ‘carved against a semi-circular column’ (Agrawala 1951: 74). Unfortunately, none of these three sculptures could be traced during the author’s stay at Mathurā and the discussion of them must therefore be restricted to their inclusion in the general list of known sculptures without describing them in detail. This means that they cannot be placed in the sequence of the other attendants and it is also unclear from Agrawala’s descriptions whether these sculptures were actually created as independent objects or were part of larger compositions. If they are included in the following considerations this is done with the reservation that a future examination may eventually lead to their exclusion from the group.

The question arises as to what purpose these sculptures served. In North Indian sculpture, the two standing male attendants usually accompany a figure of the standing sun god. One might suppose therefore that the sculptures under discussion either belonged to a larger sculpture of this type, or that, as separate sculptures, they were arranged together with a third sculpture of the sun god to create a similar effect. Both possibilities, however, are unconvincing for several reasons. The grouping of a set of individual sculptures in order to create a formal arrangement similar to what would otherwise be depicted in a single sculpture is not known from the art of Mathurā during the Gupta period. Although it cannot be ruled out completely it seems highly improbable that this was done in the case of the sun god and his attendants. However, the back of the earliest Piṅgala has been completely smoothed and finished, and it was clearly not part of a larger sculptural composition. For the other fragments, the strongest argument against them being part of larger sculptures is their size. The height of the extant sculptures varies between 35 and 47 cm and the size of the two heads between 12 and 23 cm. If we take into account the fact that all these sculptures are more or less fragmentary pieces, their full original height must have been far greater. In the case of the biggest fragment, the Cleveland DanΡin at 47 cm, a total height of about one meter would seem to be reasonable. Since the height of a central standing figure is usually about two or even three times the height of its accompanying attendants, the central sun god flanked by the Cleveland DanΡin or the Piṅgala 00.D.1 would have had enormous dimensions of at least two meters. For the other examples, the respective central figures would have measured from 120 to 150 cm in height. Up to now, no Gupta sculpture of a standing Sūrya has come to light in the region of Mathurā which would fit into this pattern. Although it is not impossible that somewhere in the region - or even under the buildings of modern Mathurā itself - there are sculptures of this type and size still buried in the ground, on the basis of the material available there is no proof that they ever existed. There is, however, another interpretation

A fourth fragmentary sculpture mentioned by Agrawala, a two-sided sculpture from Bajna showing DanΡin on one side and Piṅgala on the other, falls beyond the scope of this study. Together with a second similar fragment that was discovered much later at the same site, it was probably part of a two-sided relief of the sun god and his attendants.

Govt. Museum Mathurā Govt. Museum Mathurā

Acc. no. 2359 00.D.1

34,7 cm c. 46 cm

Govt. Museum Mathurā

2844

22,8 cm

Govt. Museum Mathurā

513

46,6 cm

Govt. Museum Mathurā

598

c. 11 cm

Govt. Museum Mathurā

2662 1968.2 81 1397

c. 30 cm

Type

Location

Piṅgala Piṅgala Piṅgala (Head) Piṅgala Piṅgala (Head) Piṅgala DanΡin

Cleveland Museum of Art

DanΡin

Govt. Museum Mathurā

Height

47 cm c. 31 cm

Table 1 - List of extant sculptures from Mathurā

The corpus of one-sided images demonstrates first of all that among the extant sculptures and sculptural fragments there are clearly more Piṅgalas than DanΡins. Besides the DanΡin from Bajna (Acc. no. 1397), for whose 94

SCULPTURES OF SŪRYA’S ATTENDANTS FROM MATHURĀ the club and sword were replaced by his classical attributes, the two open lotus flowers, and the sun god seated on the lion throne gave way to the newly introduced standing Sūrya image.

that can help us to understand how these sculptures may have been used. The identity of DanΡin and Piṅgala has been traced back to their Iranian origins by Heinrich von Stietencron in his article on ‘DanΡanāyaka und Piṅgala’ (Stietencron 1971). He also emphasised the fact that their Iranian counterparts, Rašnu and Sraoša, are described in the relevant texts as the guardians of the solar world, and that one of their primary tasks is the defence of this heavenly sphere against every intrusion by demons (Stietencron 1971: 12-14). It is this role that is reflected in several passages of the Sāmba Upapurāna and the Bhavi·ya Purāna where Rājña and Srau·a are mentioned as the door keepers of the sun god (Stietencron 1971: 11). According to these texts they were the guardians of the east gate, which would mean the main entrance of a Sūrya temple.

As we have seen, the attendants were shown as door guardians in larger sculptures, but they also appear in the context of real temple entrances. The sculptures from Mathurā are only the earliest examples of this placement. A fragment of a DanΡin from Varanasi (Bharat Kala Bhavan Acc. no. 24055; Biswas & Jha 1985: 64, cat. no. 67) shows close stylistic connections to the Cleveland DanΡin, and provides evidence for the spread of this concept along the Ganges valley during the 6th century. A Piṅgala sculpture from Karhali, 25 km west of Patiala, that has hitherto been identified as a Ku·āna portrait sculpture (Handa 1986: 2), indicates the early existence of a sun temple with similar door keepers in this region, while the large surviving fragments of the doorkeepers from the guΡhamanΡapa of the Bhim Deval in Prācī (Meister & Dhaky 1991: 332) attest to the later spread of this type of sun temple into Gujarat. In the course of time both attendant doorkeepers were incorporated into the conventional set of guardian figures. One of the finest examples from Central India, showing how DanΡin and Piṅgala were finally placed in the same position as the guardian figures on other temple doorframes, is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (Guy 2007: 168, Fig. 190).

This arrangement described in the texts corresponds to what is actually depicted in a few sculptures from Mathurā. The unique stelae of Sūrya in his chariot discovered in 1992 (Fig. 7) shows both attendants; not standing immediately beside the central deity but rather at the two corners of the architecturally structured body of his chariot. In another much more damaged example (Fig. 8) discovered in 1910 (Diskalkar 1931: 34) only the tiny figure of Piṅgala is still visible at the edge of the chariot. He can be recognised mainly by the characteristically lowered right arm holding the manuscript. Both the literary sources and the sculptural depictions are clear in placing the two attendants outside the temple cella, and it therefore seems reasonable to suggest that the individual sculptures of Sūrya’s attendants were probably intended as doorkeepers guarding the entrance to a temple of the sun god.

To come to the end of these considerations, I would like to propose how the study of these attendants can help to expand and confirm our knowledge about the development of the sun cult in the region of Mathurā. First of all, if five or even more pairs of attendants can be reconstructed from the sculptural remains and if each pair served as doorkeepers for a temple of the sun god, this throws considerable light on the importance of Mathurā as a centre of the sun cult. That Mathurā held an important position in the worship of Sūrya is obvious from several passages from different Purānas. Among other references they include Mathurā amongst the most important places of sun worship, together with Mitravana or Mūlasthāna in the west, Kālapriya, and Udayācala or MunΡīra in the east (Mirashi 1966; Stietencron 1966: 222-27). In the Varāhapurāna (175.32-33) even Sāmba, when suffering from leprosy after his father’s curse, is sent to Mathurā by the sage Narada. According to his explanation, the three sun temples at Mathurā were equal to the three major centres of the sun cult in the sense that a devotee, in this case Sāmba, could derive the same benefit from worshipping the sun at these three temples representing the place of the sun in the morning, at noon and at sunset - as from a pilgrimage to all three tīrthas. Against the background of these important but only partly datable literary sources the sculptures discussed, together with the extant sculptures of the sun god himself, can help to delimit the period of time in which the sun cult flourished at Mathurā, and in particular to come closer to an approximate date for the beginning of this cult

As a footnote, it might be added that the two stelae of the sun god in his chariot may even give a hint as to what form of Sūrya icon was enshrined in a cella guarded by the two attendants. In both cases, the sun god is not shown standing but rather sitting in his chariot. As the earliest Piṅgala seems to predate the earliest known depictions of the standing sun god with his two attendants, there is good reason to suppose that, in the earliest cases, the attendant doorkeepers guarded an image of a seated sun god such as the well known seated Sūrya in the Mathurā Museum (Acc. no. 12.269; Fig. 9) which belongs to the transitional phase between the Ku·āna and Gupta periods. This would correspond with the findings of a survey of contemporary small size sculptures. One unfortunately very eroded relief depicts the combination of an attendant, Piṅgala, with a single seated sun god (Fig. 10). In both cases, the sun god still carries the older set of attributes, a sword and a club, in his two hands, while these iconographical details can no longer be verified for the two Sūryas in chariots on the large stelae. The sword and the club were the dominant attributes on Ku·āna images of the sun god who, during this period, was invariably shown seated - either on his chariot or on a lion throne. After the end of the Ku·āna realm, however, in a rather rapid iconographical change, 95

Marion Frenger Stietencron, H. von (1966) Indische Sonnenpriester. Sāmba und die Śākadvīpīya-Brāhmana. Eine textkritische und religionsgeschichtliche Studie zum indischen Sonnenkult. Wiesbaden.

association. With their help, I would argue that the beginning of a temple cult for the sun god at Mathurā can be placed in the 4th century AD. Temples of the sun good must therefore have been among the first brahmanical temples erected in stone in the area of Mathurā.

Stietencron, H. von (1971) ‘DanΡanāyaka und Piṅgala’, Indo-Iranian Journal 13 (1): 1-19.

Furthermore the sculptures can help to delimit a more precise understanding of the non-Indian influences on the development of the sun cult, in particular that of Iran. In this regard, the focus of most scholars still lies on the very early contacts between the two regions, dating from the pre- Ku·āna and Ku·āna periods. However, the strong stylistic connections with the Iranian cultural sphere visible in the dress and headgear of the attendants have already been noticed by Agrawala (1951: 72-73) without drawing any further conclusions. But it is exactly this stylistic connection that bears witness to a fresh and probably continuing contact with Iran long after the end of Ku·āna dominance; unfiltered and not yet altered by Indian stylistic preferences. The heyday of this contact is marked by the second and third Piṅgala, while the following sculptures show a growing degree of adaptation to Indian taste, probably promoted by a need to reinterpret features no longer meaningful to artists or devotees. At which point in this development the attendants ceased to be named and regarded as Rajña and Srau·a and were ‘re-born’ as DanΡin and Piṅgala, can not yet be decided. What can be read out of the sequence of the attendant sculptures is that by the time the first three were sculpted, that is by the 4th to 5th century, the connection with Iran was still vivid while during the 6th century this contact slowly declined or at least lost its importance. Bibliographic References Agrawala, V.S. (1951) A Catalogue of the Brahmanical Images in Mathurā Art. Lucknow. Biswas, T.K. & Jha, B. (1985) Gupta Sculptures. Bharata Kala Bhavan. New Delhi-Varanasi. Chandra, P. (1970) Stone Sculpture in the Allahabad Museum. A Descriptive Catalogue. Poona. Diskalkar, D.B. (1931) ‘Some Brahmanical Sculptures in the Mathurā Museum’, Journal of the Uttar Pradesh Historical Society 5 (1): 18-57. Guy, J. (2007) Indian Temple Sculpture. London. Handa, D. (1986) ‘A Ku·āna Portrait Statue from Punjab’, Bulletin of Museums and Archaeology in U.P. 37: 1-2. Meister, M.W. & Dhaky, M.A., eds (1991) Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture. North India. Period of Early Maturity c. A.D. 700900. Delhi. Mirashi, V.V. (1966) ‘Three Ancient Famous Temples of the Sun’, Purāna 8 (1): 38-51. Pal, P. (1978) The Ideal Image. The Gupta Sculptural Tradition and Its Influence. New York. 96

SCULPTURES OF SŪRYA’S ATTENDANTS FROM MATHURĀ

Fig. 1 - Sūrya with attendants from Ghosna Khera. Govt. Museum Mathurā, Acc. no. 595. h. 22.2 cm (Photo M. Frenger).

97

Marion Frenger

Fig. 2 - Piṅgala. Findspot unknown. Govt. Museum Mathurā, Acc. no. 34.2359. h. 34.7 cm (Photo M. Frenger).

Fig. 4 - Piṅgala. Findspot unknown. Govt. Museum Mathura, Acc. no. 00.D.1. h. c. 46 cm (Photo M. Frenger).

Fig. 3 - Piṅgala. Reverse of Fig. 2 (Photo M. Frenger).

98

SCULPTURES OF SŪRYA’S ATTENDANTS FROM MATHURĀ

Fig. 5 - Head of a Piṅgala sculpture. Findspot unknown. Govt. Museum Mathurā, Acc. no. 2844. h. 22.8 cm (Photo M. Frenger).

Fig. 7 - Sūrya in his chariot. From Mathurā City. Govt. Museum Mathurā, Acc. no. 92.1. Overall h. 175 cm; h. of sculpted part 108 cm (Photo M. Frenger).

Fig. 6 - Piṅgala. From Mathurā City. Govt. Museum Mathurā, Acc. no. 15.513. h. 46.6 cm (Photo M. Frenger).

99

Marion Frenger

Fig. 9 - Sūrya seated on a lion throne. From Kaṅkālī Tīlā. Govt. Museum Mathurā, Acc. no. 12.269. h. 47 cm (Photo M. Frenger).

Fig. 8 - Sūrya in his chariot. Findspot unknown. Govt. Museum Mathurā, Acc. no. 124 (Photo M. Frenger).

Fig. 10 - Seated Sūrya with an attendant. From Pālīkherā. Govt. Museum Mathurā, Acc. no. 15.930. h. 21 cm (Photo M. Frenger).

100

FROM THE ACHAEMENIDS TO THE SASANIANS. DĀHĀN-E GHOLĀMĀN, QAL’A-YE SAM, QAL’A-YE TAPA: ARCHAEOLOGY, SETTLEMENT AND TERRITORY IN SĪSTĀN (IRAN) Bruno Genito The Sīstān basin is comprised of three geographical subunits: the upper plain of the Hilmand inland delta, which is mostly drained and used for agriculture, the swamps (Hamoons) covering the lower delta plain and a hypersaline lake (Gowd-e Zereh) in the lowest part of the basin, which collects the overspill from the swamps and in case of extreme floods - from the river. There is no outflow from this terminal lake: water is lost from Gowde Zereh only by evaporation. The river comprises the largest drainage system in the Sīstān basin, but other smaller rivers also feed the swamps, which are, from an environmental perspective, the most important parts of Sīstān.

In the 1960s, Italian archaeologists of the Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Rome (IsMEO, now IsIAO = Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente) excavated and studied the important protohistoric city of Shahr-e Sokhta in Sīstān (Southeast Iran), as well as other interesting sites of later periods. The last remains represent a very particular set of sites of the Achaemenian, Parthian, Sasanian and early Islamic time in East Iran. Pioneering work in the region started in the early 1900s when G.P. Tate identified many sites (1909; 1910). The area was also investigated by Sir Aurel Stein (1916, 1925, 1928, 1929 & 1934) and Ernst Herzfeld (1920; 1935, 1941; 1968). Italian studies began in 1959 when Giuseppe Tucci opened a long and rich series of field activities that lasted up to 1978. In Sīstān, one of the most important regions for the Iranian history, Giorgio Gullini and Umberto Scerrato started surveying the territory. They covered the following sites: Dahan-e Gholaman (Achaemenid) (Scerrato 1962, 1966a, 1966b, 1966c, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1979),1 Kuh-e Khwāja (Parthian) (Gullini 1964), Qal’a-ye Sam (Parthian), Qal’a-ye Tapa (Sasanian and Islamic), Tapa Shahrestān (Parthian), and Bībī Dust (Islamic) (Fig. 1). In order to understand the regional history of the area, Italian researchers also looked at the historical and geographical context of old Drangiana (Daffinà 1967; Gnoli 1967).2

The Sīstān basin is one of the driest regions of the world. The annual precipitation is about 50 mm and under such conditions, human settlement is only possible if another source of water is available. The Hilmand river plays that major role in Sīstān area, by draining the snowmelt waters from the mountains of the southern Hindu Kush. Three tributaries also contribute considerable flows: Kash, Farāh and Ardaskan (Harūt) rivers, which collect water from the western part of the Hindu Kush. The ecology and economy of the region hence rely on the snowmelt and rainfall in the high mountains. The Hilmand river (Latin ‘Erymandrus’, Pliny, VI, 25, 23), is located in Southwest Afghanistan and East Iran, and is about 1150 km long. Its width varies between 200 m and 900 m its depth from 2 m to 5 m. Rising in the Bābā Range in the East of central Afghanistan, it flows south-westward across more than half the length of Afghanistan before flowing northward for a short distance through Iranian territory and emptying into the Hilmand swamps on the Afghan-Iranian border. It drains more than 160,000 square km.

1

In 1975 and 1976 a specific study of IsMEO on restoration and conservation was carried out only at Dahan-e Gholaman (Mariani 1977, 1979). 2 The name of the area is first attested in Old Persian as z-r-k (i.e., Zranka) in the great Bisotun inscription of Darius I. The form is reflected in the Elamite, Babylonian, and Egyptian versions of the Achaemenid royal inscriptions, as well as in Greek (Arrian, Isidore of Charax and Herodotus) and in Latin (Pliny). The Drangians were listed among those ruled by the legendary King Ninus of Assyria, before the Achaemenids (Diodorus, 2.2.3, apud Ctesias in Jacoby, Fragmente IIIC, p. 422, fr. 1, par. 2.3). In the Achaemenid royal inscriptions, Zranka is listed as a separate province, but its position varies; either located between Parthia and Aria, or even, before Parthia and Aria and after Armenia. On the other hand, in Herodotus’ tribute list (III.93.2) the Sarangians, Sagartians, Thamanaeans, Utians, Mycians, and neighbouring islanders were included in the fourteenth tax district, required to pay the relatively high amount of 600 talents annually (Schmitt 1996). The land was historically characterized as rich in tin, a crucial element for the manufacture of bronze weapons (Strabo, XV, 2,10). During the time of Alexander the Great he came to the capital of Drangiana in pursuit of Bessos and his followers (Arrian, 3.25.8; Diodorus, 17.78.4; Strabo, 15.2.10) in the winter of 330-29 BC and subdued the entire satrapy (Arrian, 3.28.1, 7.10.6, who used the forms Drangai and Zarangai or Zarangaîoi interchangeably; Justin, 12.5.9). According to Polybius (11.34.13), after the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus had subdued the Sogdians, Arachosians, Drangians, and Arians (Justin, 41.6.3), Antiochus III marched against him; he returned in the winter of 206-05 BC, crossing Arachosia, the Erymanthus (i.e., the Etymand(r)us or Helmand) river, Drangiana, and Carmania in turn. Sometime in the mid-2nd century BC Drangiana became part of the

The tectonic subsidence of an area may be an important factor in canalizing and deviation of drainage and rivers. Faults are tectonic structures that, by forming weak lines or offsetting some structures, can divert the course of a river. In some regions, tectonic uplift is mainly responsible for the deviation of streams. Satellite data processing (Landsat 7 ETM), geomorphic indications, geological investigations and field observations in the area (AA.VV. 2006), show that the Hilmand river has been often changed by tectonic factors. Rūd-e Kočak, Rūd-e Sheileh, Rūd-e Bīyābān, Sana Rūd, Rūd-e Sīstān and Rūd-e Paryan are former branches of the river, while now, Rūd-e Paryan is the main branch in the northernmost part of the area and Rūd-e Sīstān, as a Arsacid empire under Mithridates I.

101

Bruno Genito no traces have yet been detected even in the other deltaic areas. The only remains attributable to the first half of the 1st millennium are the settlements of Nād-e ‘Alī (Ghirshman 1939) on the eastern limit of the present-time delta and Dāhān-e Gholāmān (Scerrato 1962, 1966). This seems to indicate, on the other hand, that the Sana Rūd was not the only deltaic arm of the Hilmand between 1800 BC and the 4th century BC, since probably, already around 1000 BC, an alternative north-flowing river axis was being formed, one that was to become definitive. At the turn of the 2nd millennium the nature of these natural phenomena in the Sīstān basin combined with the inhabitants’ attempts to regulate and distribute the waters in the lands of the delta, must have given rise to acute and conflictual situations. The crisis was compounded by the arrival of new peoples with ways of life that interfered with or at least did not immediately adapt to the optimal equilibrium of the harsh but fragile environment of the basin.

minor branch, flows south of Rūd-e Paryan. Historical and archaeological evidence of the area, also confirms that the Hilmand river has swung round to the north, so that the Hilmand delta is now active in the northern part of the basin. The deviation of the Hilmand river over the past few thousand years could be assumed to be a neotectonic phenomenon due to uplift of southern parts and/or subsidence of northern parts of the area. Processing and interpreting of satellite data for the Hilmand river courses locate seven different deltas in the area, which are of different ages. Today, only a few detached patches of delta no. 1 (about 7m high) can be seen in the main branch of the Hilmand river, before its deviation. This delta is related to the time that Hilmand just flowed into the depression. Delta no. 2, related to Rūd-e Bīyābān, is the widest and the most recognizable old course of the Hilmand river in the Sīstān plain. Delta no. 3 is the Saroutar delta in the eastern part of the Hilmand river where it emptied to Laleh navār depression in Afghanistan. The Traghoun delta, is no. 4 and is the southernmost course where the river emptied into the Gowd-e Zereh depression. Delta no. 5 is Sana Rūd that is narrower than that of Bīyābān Rūd or Kočak Rūd. Delta no. 6 is the present-time delta of the Hilmand river. The most recent is delta no. 7 formed by the Paryan river in the Pouzak swamp. Although winds causing sand erosion and drifting last for about four months in the area, it seems that tectonic movements have a greater influence in changes of river courses.

About 30 km south-east of Zābol and 40 km north-east of Shahr-e Sokhta, around 2 km south of the village of Qal’a-ye Naw (‘New Fortress’), there is a place known locally as Dāhān-e Gholāmān (‘Gateway of the Slaves’), a crack in the edge of the desert that lies above and connects with the most southern of the three depressions known as Chahnime I, II and III (Fig. 2). On this site Scerrato discovered a large city in 1960. The remains excavated so far extend for about 1500 m east-west and between 300 m and 800 m north-south. The city is located on a low terrace at the foot of the pliopleistocene balcony. The desert plateau is above the alluvial lowland and the neighbouring Hāmūn-e Helmand basin, near an artificial corridor that serves as the entrance into the basin. Traces of villages and agricultural works discovered in 1964 prove that this vast depression (Tate 1910: 142 ff.), now scoured by wind and choked with sand, was formerly inhabited and fertile. The excavations revealed an urban settlement, notable not only for its size, but also for its internal differentiation by function. There were large public buildings and an extensive residential area (Fig. 3). It is by far the most significant example of a provincial capital located at a distance from the imperial centre. Archaeological investigations have established that the city was constructed according to a generally unified plan and in at least two principal phases. The excavated buildings, constructed of mud brick and rammed earth on a flat terrace below the desert plateau, are distinguished by an absence of neat stratigraphy. The entire complex suggests a city laid out according to a well-defined plan and literally built in the wilderness, inhabited for a brief period (a century or a century and a half), and then abandoned as a result of the natural forces that have always determined the migration and survival of urban settlements in the arid regions of Sīstān: the instability of the delta and the inevitable resulting shifts in the system of irrigation channels, the sometimes disastrous flooding of the Hilmand, and the salinization of the soil. The residential quarter, which seems to have extended over about 100 ha, is divided into two parts by a spur of the

The survey of the 1960s drew attention to a small area, the southern extremity of the high course of the Shib-e Āb, which had been virtually ignored up to that time by from archaeological point of view. The study was aimed at singling out traces of possible ancient settlements in the area of the Sana Rūd delta, the dried-up riverbed of the Hilmand, located between the southernmost delta, the Rūd-e Bīyābān and the present delta, the Rūd-e Paryan. It was ascertained that the position of the delta of the Hilmand river, in the last 5000 years, has swung through an arc of 90°, from the west at Rūd-e Bīyābān, the fossil delta location of the protohistoric settlement of Shahr-e Sokhta and its agricultural villages (3200-1800 BC), to the north at present-time Rūd-e Paryan. The Sana Rūd represents a new terminal bed of the Hilmand, after the Rūd-e Bīyābān had lost this function, indicating the drying-up of the southern Sīstān basin and the end of Shahr-e Sokhta, around 1900-1800 BC, dates which coincide with the crisis in all the proto-urban cultures of central-oriental Iran and central Asia around the end of the 3rd millennium. The deltaic fan of the Sana Rūd is evidence of an intermediary phase of the Hilmand in its migration north before its definitive stabilization in the Rūd-e Paryan, the delta where practically all the ruins of the historical period are located, starting from the Hellenistic era. In the area of the south-western delta Rūd-e Bīyābān, there is no archaeological evidence of remains after 1800 BC and between 1800 and 1000 BC 102

DĀHĀN-E GHOLĀMĀN, QAL’A-YE SAM, QAL’A-YE TAPA : ARCHAEOLOGY, SETTLEMENT AND TERRITORY IN SĪSTĀN (IRAN) garrison. The city appears to have had a complex system of functions, amongst which one would be ceremonial religious (building no. 3), one ceremonial-civil (building no. 2), one economic (Namakī). The basic idea underlying the foundation of Dāhān-e Gholāmān was, clearly, related to the history of an oriental province (satrapy) progressively and slowly absorbed into the political and administrative system (Genito 1996). The palatial architecture of Dāhān-e Gholāmān represents a sort of meeting point of different building traditions and experiences from widely separated geographical areas, that is, those of the palaces of Bactria and Chorasmia, of Fars, and Susiana. All of these seem to be reflected in a perfect synthesis at Dāhān-e Gholāmān.

terrace. On the western side the buildings are aligned along an ancient canal, the course of which could still be traced; it must have intersected another canal running north-south, dividing the eastern part of the town (Fig. 3). The area of Qal’a-ye Naw was at that time irrigated by the channels fed by the Rūd-e Sīstān, southern riverbed of the Hilmand delta, that divides at Kohak from the northern riverbed, the Rūd-e Paryan. Nevertheless it is probable that in ancient times this part of Sīstān was watered by a now dry riverbed of the Rūd-e Sīstān, the Sana Rūd, that branched from the main course of the Hilmand, near Dīk-e Dāla, about 40 km further south of the present-time bifurcation of Kohak, and about 20 km further north of the point from where, in prehistoric times, the Hilmand continued its course westwards, crossing the riverbed now known as Rūd-e Bīyābān.

The particular nature of building no. 3 (Fig. 3), with the presence of different fire installations, leads one to think of a fire ideology (Genito 2001, 2004a, 2004b, 2007). Scientific debate has been focused particularly on this building, which reflects a typology of a very special kind that seems to exclude a Zoroastrian interpretation because of the remains of ashes mixed with grease and bones of animals, inadmissible by the rules of Zoroastrian purity. The ritual use of fire and animal sacrifice are documented from both of the two phases that characterize the history of the building. A tripartite scheme, the three central altars and the furnishing of three of the porticoes (excluding the entrance portico on the south) with special structures could indicate a cult devoted to the three Achaemenid gods, Ahura Mazdā, Anāhitā, and Mithra, and it is possible that the building was an example of the kind of āyadana ‘cult place’ to which Darius I (522-486 BC) referred in the Bisotun inscription (DB I, ll. 63 ff., p. 118). In fact, the building does seem to have been a cult place, rather than a true temple in the Babylonian or Greek style (Gnoli 1967: 107 ff.). It thus probably attests to local religious forms (Tucci 1977: 13-14; Scerrato 1979: 731 ff.; Gnoli 1980: 71 ff. and fn. 80) or perhaps the survival of a still older religious sensibility, still respected by the Achaemenid administration.

The Sana Rūd seems to lead near the village of Aliābād on the western edge of the ample bay carved in the desert plain - Qal’a-ye Naw is located on the eastern edge. This eastern part of the alluvial lowland was reached by one of the deltaic arms of the Sana Rūd that can be identified near the village of Kaleghdad. From there it probably connected with a large artificial channel clearly detectable in the district of Dāhān-e Gholāmān. Dāhān-e Gholāmān was in all likelihood a capital town in the region of Hāmūn-e Helmand: the Zarin (Zranka) of the earliest Achaemenid period. Ctesias (Persika 55), Isidore of Charax (Stathmoì Parthikoí 17), and the compiler of the Peutinger Tables (Tomaschek 1883: 207) referred to different places by similar names in different periods. In fact, due to environmental factors, Zarin must have been subject to successive shifts in location. As for the importance of Dāhān-e Gholāmān in the history of Achaemenid Persia, most probably seems to be the sole large provincial capital surviving from the empire. Excavations there have brought to light a combination of ‘imperial’ elements, identified in the public buildings, and ‘local’ elements, especially in the valuable examples of domestic architecture (Genito 1987). Together these distinctive elements, each unique of their kind, ensure the fundamental importance of the site for an understanding the origins and the evolution of urban settlement and material culture on the Iranian plateau during this period (Genito 1986, 1990).

The other Achaemenid settlement of the region, Nād-e ‘Alī, located in the Afghan part of the province, excavated by Roman Ghirshman (1939: 10-22), did not share the same characteristics, though the comparative study of the ceramics from the two sites does reveal some similarities. Together with other elements, especially seals, arrowheads, building plans, and ceramics from other sites in Afghan Sīstān (Fairservis 1961), they make it possible to pinpoint the foundation of Dāhān-e Gholāmān to the 6th or the beginning of the 5th century BC (Scerrato, 1966b).

The location of Dāhān-e Gholāmān, in an area far from the centre of the empire, allows one to consider it differently from that perspective usually applied to Achaemenid period and culture (Gnoli 1966, 1995). There emerges a new conception of the first half of the 1st millennium BC in Iran, whose main aspects can be outlined as follows: 1) an urban centre surrounded by connected groups of buildings; 2) frequent use (though not yet very well archaeologically attested) of water supply channels; 3) a clear distinction between public and private spaces. The presence of a zone close to the urban centre where numerous remains of pottery production (Namakī) have been identified, and of a square precinct, suggest respectively a craftsmen’s quarter and a military

In the last few years, new excavations and some trenches at Dāhān-e Gholāmān have been carried out by the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization. First results seem to confirm the extraordinary importance of the site, adding significant new aspects to our knowledge of the architecture and material culture. It is important to mention a new excavation of building no 15, and the discovery of characteristic traces of paintings and small graffiti 103

Bruno Genito representing a chariot and wild animals (Sajjadi & Moghaddam 2004a, 2004b; Sajjadi 2007).

Hellenistic ceramics, while maintaining forms such as the carinated cups of more ancient Sīstān tradition.

In 1964 an excavations was also carried out at Qal’a-ye Sam, a site with an irregular encircling wall (Fig. 4). Located both at c. 35 km of Zābol and Dāhān-e Gholāmān upon a slight rise of the alluvial ground, the citadel is a quadrilateral with one angle bevelled off to make a fifth side, following the lie of the land and the bed of an ancient channel in use at the time. The walls, strengthened by semicircular towers near the angles and gate, had two main constructional phases: in the first, two curtains were built set in rammed earth with semicircular towers that connected them to the wall in a short straight line. In the second phase, the walls had often been covered with on the outside with a stucco of rammed earth below and mud brick in the upper part. Following this intervention the towers assumed decidedly a semicircular aspect. A gate protected by two large towers gave access to the citadel and from it started a route oriented E-W (Fig. 4). The relief of the structures, emerging partly because of the salty efflorescence, partly because of the trial trenches, shows that the buildings follow at least two different orientations, according to the constructional phases to which they belong. In any case, the excavation has given evidence of two periods divided into many sub-phases. The third period, the most ancient, has been scarcely been distinguished.

Close to the comb-incised or grooved ware and to the red and grey-black burnished ceramics, the painted pottery is abundant also (Fig. 5). The dating to the Hellenistic period of this painted production is confirmed by the association with numerous fragments bearing engraved inscriptions or isolated Greek letters and by some ostraka with cursive inscriptions in ink. One of them, now conserved in fair condition, contains with all probability a list of objects and it is datable, according to Giovanni Pugliese Carratelli (1966), to the 3rd century BC. It seems therefore very likely that the dating of this site goes a few centuries further back in comparison to the chronology of the ‘full Parthian Period’ that was proposed for the origin of the site on the basis of the first archaeological investigations. The introduction of the circular tower may well be due to the influence of Greek warfare techniques rather than to an obscure local technological evolution. The excavations at Qal’a-ye Tapa (Fig. 6), north of Zābol, proved to be especially significant: a long chronological sequence with three main phases from the 3rd century BC to the 11th-12th century AD was identified. The site is located on a low artificial hillock that rises out of the surrounding plan to a maximum of 78 m. It is oval shaped, with the longer axis of 125 m oriented west-east, and the shorter axis of 85 m oriented north-south. It is a stronghold with the characteristic form of ancient nomad camps found all over Asia. The Tapa hillock was essentially formed by the decay of the mud structures.

Besides the characteristic painted pottery called ‘Dipinta Storica Sistana’3 (useful for dating the deepest layers of Kuh-e Khwāja also), other pottery evidently related to the Hellenistic period was extracted. Particularly noteworthy are the materials deriving from the levels of the II period that introduce a whole set of forms connected, on one hand, to those of the eastern

In a particular position, but surely pre-Sasanian and preParthian, the site, a stronghold in the zone of drifting sands of the upper Posht-e Āb, around 20 km north-east of Zābol, near the village of Qazemabad, some kilometres north of the ruins of the old Zahedān, the Zaranj of Islamic epoch, contained also painted pottery.

3 In the post-Achaemenid (Seleucid??) period in Sistan a particular painted ceramic ware was so widespread that it was named Dipinta Storica Sistana. It is a ceramic ware with rather thin walls, in fairly pure clay, ranging in colour from pink to sand to yellow. Vessels are of medium and small sizes, and most numerous forms are small jars with wide necks and flat bases and cups (especially those with a truncatedcone body with tall vertical sides or rounded off and slightly everted rim). Some forms are clearly derived from the bell crater with pseudoribbon handles. The painted decoration on the slip is realised in red wine, or in ochre or brown, dark or diluted colour. Sometimes it is limited to the rim but more often the decoration is on the shoulder or the upper part of the vessel. Rarely two-coloured, the decoration consists of geometric motifs: multiple braids, upside-down Vs, rectangles divided in four by their diagonals, simple or double broken lines, dotted lines, but also of naturalistic motifs such as regular locks of leaves of water or stylized ‘ears’. This ceramic ware shows similarities with the painted pottery found at Shamshir Ghar near Kandahar, where it has been dated to start from the 1st century BC, while it has no relationship with the painted decoration attested on the ceramic ware coming from the 1st period of Tepe YaΉyā, dated to the Parthian-Sasanian period, which shows, instead, reminiscences of the ‘Londo Ceramics’ (LambergKarlowsky). The form of the truncated-cone cups seems to introduce some comparison with those attested in the tormented 2nd period of Tepe YaΉyā, for which dubiously the archaeologist proposes a date between 500 and 300 BC. This ceramic ware comes particularly from the layers of the 2nd Period identified in Qal’a-ye Sam, a stronghold located around 33 km south of Zabul, near the village of Seh Kuhe, on the road to Zahedan, in the low Shib-e Āb, toward the western edge of the present deltaic fan.

Stein visited this site and collected there a large quantity of glazed Islamic ceramics, as well as the ribbed pottery characteristic of all the archaeological sites of Sīstān from the Sasanian to the early-Islamic period. The place was defended by a double walled enclosure. The external wall in mud brick 2 m thick is the most recent of the Islamic era (Period I). It is now reduced to little more than some humble traces. About 9 m inside this first enclosure there is a second wall, datable to the Parthian and Sasanian age (Periods II and III), that has stayed standing, despite heavy wind erosion, for almost all the perimeter, except a large break on the south side. It is an imposing earth bastion more than 10 m thick, built with clay foundations and non homogeneous earth strengthened by coarse radial segments of rammed earth; a mud-brick facing still remains in some points. In the best preserved part it can be observed that the wall was crowned by a series of vaulted rooms opening toward the 104

DĀHĀN-E GHOLĀMĀN, QAL’A-YE SAM, QAL’A-YE TAPA : ARCHAEOLOGY, SETTLEMENT AND TERRITORY IN SĪSTĀN (IRAN) inner side of the enclosure. The vaults are formed by big bricks. These rooms were wisely used in the Islamic era, nevertheless it seems that has to refer to Period II. The construction of the great earth bastion described here must be instead attributed to the 3rd period of Parthian epoch. This last earth bastion in turn partly incorporated an earlier wall enclosure further inside, whose plan is shoe-shaped. The shoe-shaped enclosure was built with clay egg-shaped blocks, put into place while still soft, and not from the usual mud bricks or rammed earth. This innermost wall enclosure constitutes a structure of Period IV dated approximately the middle of the 2nd century BC. This dating, also with due caution, is suggested by the complexity of the ceramic ware that was abundantly mixed with the earth and clay that formed the walls of Periods II and III that absorbed the shoe-shaped wall. Among this material there is no ribbed ceramic ware, while the grooved is present; but above all there is wide evidence of painted ceramic ware, which is not found in the layers related to Periods I, II and III (Fig. 7). Unfortunately it was not possible to dig further down, due to the high level of the water table in the virgin ground. Consequently it was impossible to identify the real level of this ceramic ware and its relationship with the shoeshaped wall.

Bibliographic References AA.VV. (2006) History of Environmental Change in the Sīstān Basin Based on Satellite Image Analysis: 1976 - 2005 UNEP Post-Conflict Branch Geneva, May, Report coordination and editing: Hassan Partow - UNEP/PCoB, Photos: Dr. Zoltán Vekerdy - ITC, Image acquisition, processing and cartography: Remco Dost, Gerard Reinink and Dr. Zoltán Vekerdy - ITC, Design and Layout: Matija Potocnik Daffinà, P. (1967) L’immigrazione dei Saka nella Drangiana. Rome. Faiservis Jr., W.A. (1961) Archaeological Studies in the Seistan Basin of South-Western Afghanistan and Eastern Iran, Anthropological (Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 48/1). New York. Genito, B. (1986) ‘Dahan- i Ghulaman: una città achemenide tra centro e periferia dell’impero’, Oriens Antiquus 25 (3-4): 287-317. Genito, B. (1987) ‘Altari a gradini nell’Iran antico’ in G. Gnoli, & L. Lanciotti (eds), Orientalia Iosephi Tucci Memoriae Dicata, 475-84. Rome. Genito, B. (1996) ‘The Iranian Empires and Central Asia: an Archaeological Perspective’ in La Persia e l’Asia Centrale da Alessandro al X secolo, in collaborazione con l’Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Rome, 9-12 November 1994 (Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Atti dei Convegni Lincei 127), 401-21. Rome.

Acknowledgements Special gratitude is warmly expressed to the memory of the late eminent scholar Prof. Umberto Scerrato. I am very proud to have inherited his archive on the work and activities in Sīstān in the 1960s, and his constant help and encouragement illuminated my professional and human life.

Genito, B. (2000) ‘The Achaemenids and their Artistic and Architectural Heritage: an Archaeological Perspective’ in P. Matthiae et al. (eds), Proceedings of the First International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, May 18-23, 1998, 533-54. Rome.

Many thanks are due to the IsIAO, Rome, its President Prof. Gherardo Gnoli and the Museo Nazionale of Arte Orientale, Rome (MNAOR) and its Directors Donatella Mazzeo (former) and Silvana Balbi de Caro (present). They conserved the photographic and graphic archives of the related data up to the time of Prof. Scerrato’s death in 2004, and provided me with the premises to use them at the Archaeological Studies Centre of the IsIAO and in the storerooms of the MNAOR. Last, and by no means least, particular and heartfelt thanks go to PhD candidate Giulio Maresca who is preparing his thesis on the Scerrato Archive at the Università degli Studi di Napoli “l’Orientale”, ‘Archeologia: Rapporti tra Oriente e Occidente V cycle N.S.’, Evoluzione insediamentale e cultura materiale nel Sīstān (Iran Orientale) di epoca storica under my supervision. His detailed and meticulously accurate work will contribute to saving a large part of the old data and will make headway for their complete scientific revision. I deeply regret that Umberto Scerrato did not live to appreciate this work.

Genito, B. (2001) ‘Dahan-i Ghulaman: una “vicina” periferia dell’Impero Achemenide’ in Antica Persia, I tesori del Museo Nazionale di Teheran e la ricerca italiana in Iran, XXI-XXXVI. Rome. Genito, B. (2004a) ‘La protostoria: l’altopiano iranico: l’età del ferro e l’apogeo dei Medi’ in Enciclopedia Archeologica Treccani, Asia, IV, 349-51. Rome. Genito, B. (2004b) ‘Dahan-i Ghulaman’ in Enciclopedia Archeologica Treccani, Asia, IV, 368-69. Rome. Genito, B. (2007) ‘Italy VI, Italian Excavation in Iran (2), Excavations in Sīstān’ in E. Yarshater (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, XIV, 3, 265-70. New York. Ghirshman, R. (1939) ‘Fouilles de Nad-i-Ali dans le Seistan Afghan (Rapport préliminaire)’, Revue des Arts Asiatiques 13 (1): 10-22. Gnoli, G. (1966) ‘Additional Note to the Paper by U. 105

Bruno Genito Scerrato’ in La Persia e il mondo Greco-Romano, 471-76. Rome.

Archaeology, Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, 11th-18th April 1968: 200-03. Tehran.

Gnoli, G. (1967) Ricerche storiche sul Seistan antico. Rome.

Scerrato, U. (1974) ‘A proposito dello Airyana Vaejah. Notizie sulla possibilità di allevamento del bovino nella Drangiana come attività autonoma’ in Gururājamañjarikā. Studi in onore di Giuseppe Tucci, I: 101-12. Naples.

Gnoli, G. (1993) ‘Dahan-e Golaman’ in E. Yarshater (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, VI, 582-585. Costa Mesa, California.

Scerrato, U. (1979) ‘Evidence of Religious Life at Dahan-i Ghulaman, Sīstān’ in SAA 1977: 709-35. Naples.

Gullini, G. (1964) Architettura Iranica dagli Achemenidi ai Sasanidi. Torino. Herzfeld, E. (1920) Am Tor von Asien. Berlin.

Schmitt, R. (1996) ‘Drangiana’ in E. Yarshater (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, VII, 535-36. Costa Mesa, California.

Herzfeld, E. (1935) Archaeological History of Iran. London.

Stein, A. (1916) ‘Expedition in Central Asia’, The Geographical Journal 47 (5): 358-64. London.

Herzfeld, E. (1941) Iran in the Ancient East. Oxford. Herzfeld, E. (1968) Persian Empire, Studies in Geography and Ethnography of the Ancient Near East, ed. by G. Walser. Wiesbaden.

Stein, A. (1925) ‘Innermost Asia: Its Geography as a Factor in History’, The Geographical Journal 65: 377-403 and 473-501. London.

Mariani, L. (1977) The Operation Carried out by the Italian Restoration Mission in Sīstān 1975-1976 (2534-2535) Campaigns. Conservation of the Mud-Brick Structures in the Sacred Building QN3 at Dahan-i Ghulaman, and the Detachment of the Fresco in the Palace at Kuh-i Khwağa. RomeTehran.

Stein, A. (1928) Innermost Asia: Detailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia, Kansu, and Eastern Iran. Oxford. Stein, A. (1929) ‘Innermost Asia: Detailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su, and Eastern Iran’, The Geographical Journal 74 (4): 391-94.

Mariani, L. (1979) ‘Conservation Work on Building 3 at Dahan-e Ghulaman’ in SAA 1977, 737-54. Naples.

Stein, A. (1934) ‘Archaeological Reconnaissances in Southern Persia’, The Geographical Journal 83 (2): 119-34.

Pugliese Carratelli, G. (1966) ‘Greek Inscriptions of the Middle East’, East and West XVI: 34-35.

Tate, G.P. (1909) The Frontiers of Baluchistan: Travels on the Borders of Persia and Afghanistan. London.

Sajjadi, S.M.S. & Moghaddam, F.S. (2004a) in Nameh-ye pazhuheshgah-e miras-e farhangi, 2. Bahar 1382sh./2003 [2004]: 11-25

Tate, G.P. (1910-12) Seistan, A Memoir on the History, Topography, Ruins and People of the Country, IIV. Calcutta.

Sajjadi, S.M.S. & Moghaddam, F.S. (2004b) ‘Peintures et graverus murales découvertes à Dāhān-e Gholāmān, Sīstān’, Studia Iranica 33 (2): 285-98.

Tomaschek, W. (1883) Zur historischen Topographie von Persien I, Die Strassenzuge der Tabula Peutingeriana (Sb. der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-hist. Klasse 102). Wien.

Sajjadi, S.M.S. (2007) ‘Wall painting from Dahaneh-ye Gholaman (Sīstān)’, Ancient Civilisation from Scythia to Siberia 13 (1-2): 129-54. Scerrato, U. (1962) ‘A Probabile Achaemenid Zone in Persian Sīstān’, East and West XIII: 186-97. Scerrato, U. (1966a) ‘Excavations at Dahan-i Ghulaman (Seistan-Iran), First Preliminary Report (19621963)’, East and West N.S. 16 (1-2): 9-30. Scerrato, U. (1966b) ‘L’edificio sacro di Dahan-e Ghulaman (Sīstān)’ in La Persia e il mondo grecoromano, 457-70. Rome. Scerrato, U. (1966c) ‘A Lost City of Seistan’, Illustrated London News, Archaeological sec. 2255, 29 October: 20-21. London. Scerrato, U. (1970) ‘La missione archeologica italiana nel Sīstān persiano’, Il Veltro 14 (1-2): 123-40. Scerrato, U. (1972) ‘Missions archéologiques italiennes au Sīstān’ in The Memorial Volume of the Vth International Congress of Iranian Art & 106

KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE?

Fig. 1 - The Hilmand basin in the 1960’ with the main archaeological sites and areas (Sketch map from IsIAO, revised by the author).

Fig. 2 - The three depressions known as Chahnime I, II and III around the village of Qal’a- ye Naw (after Google revised by the author).

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Sandrine Gill

Fig. 3 - General map of Dahan-e Gholaman, with the indications with the main buildings (Drawing IsIAO).

Fig. 4 - Qal’a-ye Sam, map and a general view (Drawing and photo IsIAO).

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KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE?

Fig. 5 - Qal’a-ye Sam, painted pottery, drawings and photos (Drawing and photo IsIAO).

Fig. 6 - Qal’a-ye Tapa, map and a general view (Drawing and photo IsIAO).

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Sandrine Gill

Fig. 7 - Qal’a-ye Tapa, samples of glazed and ribbed pottery (Photo IsIAO).

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KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE?

KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE? Sandrine Gill The famous Kantaji temple at Kantanagar, located in north-east Bengal (now Bangladesh), about 20 km north of Dinajpur (Fig. 1), is one of the finest examples of brick temples (Fig. 2) from the late Mughal period (18th century AD). It is also a typical shrine for Krishna worship, built in the atmosphere of Hindu revivalism and the bhakti movement initiated by Chaitanya (1486-1533) in Bengal. And to this day, it is a living religious monument with daily rituals practised by the local Hindu community. But Kantanagar temple is also a protected archaeological monument which belongs to the well known series of brick temples from Bengal built between the 16th and the 19th century AD (Michell 1983). In spite of its conformity to a well defined style, the mention of a number of ‘fancy choices in the themes’, ‘confused sequences’, ‘asymmetrical decorative scheme’ or ‘inconsistencies’ in the iconographic program (Ahmed 1990: 36, 66, 67, 77…) have raised a number of questions.1 These ‘flaws’ were puzzling enough to reconsider the terracotta ornamentation of this particular temple as a whole, in its integrity and authenticity, taking into account its own history and including the so-called ‘errors’. This paper will first focus on the choice and organisation of the subjects on the temple’s outer surface. Second, the emphasis will be laid on the elaborate narrative process which structures the reading of the whole.

Raja Prannath in 1722 and the temple was later completed by his adopted son Raja Ramnath in 1752. An inscription in Sanskrit engraved on the plinth of the temple (Ahmed 1990: 21) mentions that Ramnath completed his father’s project in 1752. The exact chronology of the temple building is not known. This three storied square brick temple (approximately 16 m2 and 99 m high) rests on a high plinth (19.30 m2), made of stone collected from Bangarh. It was originally crowned by nine towers of rekha type (according to McCutchion classification of types of temples in Michell 1983: 33-35) which collapsed during the regional 1897 earthquake. Fortunately the prestigious nava-ratna (nine spires) pattern of the temple is known through a woodcut based on a photograph and published by James Fergusson (1876: pl. 263). Beyond the complexity of the face ornamentation, the plan of the temple is rather simple. The four faces of the first level are identical, with a verandah punctuated by three arches. The inner corridor of the temple is theoretically accessible by four entrances, at the centre of each face, but the north and west ones alone lead to the central square garbhagriha (sanctum). The second and third levels, smaller in size, can be reached by a narrow staircase, respectively on the southwest and south-east corners. These upper levels follow the same internal pattern: a nuclear square sanctum surrounded by a corridor. However they are differentiated by the layout of the faces. The second level has five arched doorways on each face instead of three, while the third level is characterised by a single doorway on the south, north, west faces and three windows on the east one. Like other Hindu brick temples of ratna type built in Bengal under the Mughals, Kantanagar’s architecture appropriates a number of features inherited from the Islamic architecture of the Sultanate period (Michell 1983: 39-43; Ghosh 2005: 80-83): the characteristic curvature of the hut’s thatch roof, the internal dome, the triple-arched entrance, and reinforced corners.

Foundation and construction of the temple In the early years of the 18th century (around AD 1704) Raja Prannath, a very powerful zamindar (landlord), member of the Dinajpur Raj family, laid the foundations of a temple at Kantanagar, above the ruins of an ancient mud-wall. According to a local legend recorded by the British (Westmacott 1872, Strong 1912, synthesised by Ahmed 1990: 3-5) Prannath was ordered to report to the Aurangzeb court in Delhi to settle a matter of dispute with his neighbour and brought back from his trip an image of Kanta (or Krishna) found at Brindavan. He started the construction of the temple at a place on the western banks of Dhepa river then known as Shyamgarh, renamed as Kantanagar. It was interrupted at the death of

The evolution of the status of the temple Another aspect of the temple’s identity is its status which has gone through several changes since its foundation by the Dinajpur Raj family. Soon after the completion of the construction of the temple, at the end of the 18th century, the Dinajpur Raj family began to lose the usual privileges of the zamindars who then acted as local administrators. With the new tax policy implemented by the British, the illustrious family faced many difficulties in maintaining the estate, to a point that around 1800 almost whole possessions were lost. Kantanagar temple was gradually regained and managed by the members of Dinajpur Raj family until Independence of India. After partition, in

1

Nazimuddin Ahmed did a tremendous work of identification of the scenes depicted on the temple but some of his comments are truly subjective and contemptuous (i.e. Ahmed 1990: 66-67): ‘The lowest panel of the temple, depicting minor figural representation, confined to the northern face and partly spilled over the east and the west faces, apparently portrays at random an uninteresting assemble of mythical animals, acrobats, ascetics and “dvararapalas” without any conscious sequence of subject matter or coherent theme. The southern face and most of the east and west reflects the artists idiosyncrasy in the asymmetrical decorative scheme of the edifice.’

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Sandrine Gill 1951, the zamindar system was definitely abolished and, in 1956, the Kantanagar temple declared a Protected Monument. At first under the jurisdiction of the East Pakistan authorities, it became a property of the Government of Bangladesh in 1971. Minor repairs on the temple were made regularly until the implementation of a Preservation Project supported by UNDP Dhaka, in 1987. In spite of these efforts, environmental damage and vandalism were still important issues. Alarmed by this recurrent problem, a group of Bangladeshi students, soon organised as the NREE society, undertook, from 2002, an extensive and useful photographic coverage of the temple, with individual photographs of the 22000 terracotta plaques (Gora 2006). A selection was published in a book edited by UNESCO Dhaka in 2005 (Hoque 2005). Unfortunately, this protected monument is still threatened by vandalism like many other brick structures of the region. The Kantanagar temple, also functioning as a religious structure for Hindus with activities organised by a local Temple Management Authority, is visited by more than 160,000 visitors a year, among which a high percentage of nationals (2001 census, see Gora 2005: 11).

of variety may be a little distorted and overshadow, the repetitions of figures and motifs or the rather conventional iconographic scheme. At the time Kantanagar temple was built in the 18th century, the decoration scheme of Bengali brick temples was standardised and a number of formulas and conventions were settled. Some themes were associated with some specific parts of the faces of the temple, without much innovation from one temple to the other. McCutchion and Michell (Michell 1983: 129-69) have demonstrated how the iconography remained fairly constant throughout the centuries in spite of the fact that each epoch and each region had its own style. The inspiration of the artists was mainly derived from local Bengali poets who translated and retold the great epics and myths in the form of popular drama and songs rather than classical Shilpashastras or other Sanskrit texts. As mentioned by Zulekha Haque (Michell 1983: 171), the cult of bhakti expressed in the terracotta representations of the Krishna legend is specific to the post-Chaitanya period and the Ramayana and Mahabharata bear the influence of the Bengali versions of the classical texts.

An exuberant terracotta ornamentation

A conventional and unconventional decorative scheme

The main attraction of the temple remains its terracotta ornamentation which covers every inch of the surface (Fig. 3), including the interior of the verandahs which reproduce, on a smaller scale, the decoration scheme of the outer walls. The themes are mainly figurative and, unlike other regional temples (e.g. Govinda temple, Puthia), there are very few vegetal or decorative motifs. Ramayana and Krishnalila scenes are depicted in majority all over the temple, included in narratives or isolated in individual frames. A number of minor figures (mythological figures, gods and goddesses, warriors, guardians, dancers, musicians, ascetics) are part of the iconographic universe of the temple. Another theme specific to Hindu temples of the Mughal period in Bengal is the leisure world of wealthy landlords depicted on the lower base frieze. In these huge processions, aristocratic personages and a crowd of figures, some of them dressed in Moghol or European style, and many domestic and wild animals are involved in hunting and boating scenes.2

In this well established context, one would expect, at Kantantanagar temple, a conventional iconographical scheme. On the contrary, Ahmed, the author of the main monograph on the temple refers, at several occasion, to irregularities and mistakes in the choice and order of the mythological sequences of the narrative friezes or the reading direction which vary, at times, from his left to right perception. The so-called irregularities of the iconography of the temple also indirectly appear in illustrated books (Hoque 2005: pl. 31) where some parts of the Ramayana narrative frieze -unidentified- are simply deleted, without any explanation. This type of censorship and the rude commentaries mislead the reading of the authentic decoration of the temple. It thus appeared necessary to approach the narrative scheme of the temple from a structural point of view and to confront it with the recent study of Krishna brick temples of west Bengal by Pika Ghosh (Ghosh 2005) which fundamentally changes the perception of the organisation of this type of monument. For example, the importance of the south face, derived from the integration of a new north-south axis to the traditional east-west axis of nagara temples, is an innovation linked to bhakti and the new involvement of the community in daily rituals (Ghosh 2005: 137-57). At Kantanagar, the predominance of the south face, starting point of the main narrations, is also underlined by daily rituals : statues of Radha and Krishna are brought by the brahman three times a day to the centre of the southern verandah in a small portable shrine and worshipped by devotees standing in the courtyard (Hoque 2005: 18).

The impression of density, a characteristic of the ornamentation of this temple, is enhanced by the extensiveness of the surface covered and the delicacy of carving of the details. The profusion of tiny figures on the wall panels is such that the eye can only take in a small part of it, not to speak of the decoration of the upper levels which is simply beyond the vision of the ground visitor. The surface of the temple appears as a kind of patchwork of modelled terracotta plaques, the result of the work of many artists, with some parts carefully planned while some others seem more subject to improvisation. As a matter of fact the general impression 2

In these secular scenes, the self representation of the patrons of the temple, the local Hindu zamindars, in a society ruled by the Mughals, is the subject of another paper by the author (Gill 2007).

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KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE? The narratives, face by face

EAST FACE Panels above the arches

Narratives are concentrated on two main zones of the temple face: panels above the arches and base friezes. These friezes, strategically placed at eye level of the visitors standing in the courtyard, provide the main guide line in the ritual path around the temple, while the panels above the arches, with simple compositions, can be read broadly from a distance. The decoration of the base is well structured, with mythological themes depicted on the upper frieze and secular themes on the lower frieze. A third irregular frieze, probably the result of the multiple phases of the temple building and restorations, appears at times in place of the lower floral scroll border on the east (Fig. 4), north and west faces. It is an assemblage of miscellaneous figures who belong both to the mythological and secular corpus: ascetics, acrobats, figures smoking the pipe ‘hukka’, mythical animals and other figures. The organisation of the narratives and the multiple reading directions, starting from the south face, is quite significant of the conception of the temple space.

MAHABHARATA Kurukshetra battle between the Kauravas and the Pandavas Base friezes RAMA

RAMA

RAMA

Agreement with Abduction of Sita Sugriva, crossing of Sita by prisoner of the ocean and battle Ravana Ravana with Ravana → → →

Exile in Dandaka forest → Hunting procession Departure of Zamindar, elephant procession, hunting scenes →

Double boat with Zamindar ----

Hunting procession Hunting Tiger procession hunting, Tiger hunting, elephant elephant procession, procession, hunted leopard hunted ← leopard ← Miscellaneous figures

SOUTH FACE Panels above the arches

On the east face, the Ramayana story continues from left to right: the exile in Dandaka forest, the Abduction of Sita by Ravana, Sita as Ravana’s captive, the agreement with Sugriva, the crossing of the ocean and finally the battle with Ravana. Other scenes involving Hanuman are developed on the walls inside the verandah. Among the variety of figures depicted on the external wall panels, there are several series of figures from the battles of the Ramayana. Thus this is epic dominates the iconography of the east face except for the panels above the arches decorated with Mahabharata battles. On the main lower frieze, the usual secular convergent processions are depicted and on the right side, below this frieze, miscellaneous figures appear in place of the usual floral border.

PURANA Chamunda slaying the Sumbha, Nishumbha and Raktavija monsters Base friezes KRISHNA

KRISHNA

RAMA

RAMA

Birth and childhood

Krishna on a boat ----

Return to Ayodhya ←

Conception, childhood, and marriage of the 4 brothers ←

Circus Party for a Zamindar ----

Hunting procession Departure of Zamindar on palanquin, then on boat, hunting scenes ←

→ Hunting procession Departure of Zamindar, hunting scene, hunted leopard carried on a pole →

Couple of Zamindars face to face ----

RAMA

WEST FACE Panels above the arches KRISHNA Six medallions with Krishna and Radha surrounded by gopis

On these tables, the base friezes are divided into four parts, the central ones depict the column panels. Both the narratives of the base friezes, the Ramayana and the Krishnalila, begin on the south face. On the south-east corner, the first episode of the Ramayana deals with the rite for securing male issue for the king Dasaratha. It is followed by the childhood of Rama and his three brothers, their marriage, and return from Mithila to Ayodhya. The Krishna story begins on the south-west corner with his birth and childhood. The scene depicted on the left column, Krishna on a boat, is rather intemporal and does not take place within a continuous narrative. The reading directions of both the stories, Krishnalila from left to right and Ramayana from right to left, follow the conventional convergent pattern of the hunting and boating processions of zamindars on the lower frieze. One can also notice the absence of direct connection between the themes of the mythological friezes and the three panels above the arches dedicated to the story of goddess Chamunda from the Puranas.

Base friezes KRISHNA Krishna’s exploits in confused sequences (battles to conquer Rukmini) →? Hunting procession Departure of Zamindar, hunting scenes → Miscellaneous figures

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KRISHNA

Krishna reveals his true identity (?)

Tiger hunting ----

KRISHNA

KRISHNA

Krishna and Balarama travel Krishna kills to Mathura to Kansa attend the sport festival organised ← by Kansa ←

Hunting scene ----

Hunting procession Departure of Zamindar, hunting scenes ← Miscellaneous figures

Sandrine Gill right to left. The lower secular frieze with a regular convergent scheme, is underlined by a border of miscellaneous figures.

Like the Ramayana narrative on the east face, the Krishna story continues on the west face. It starts on the south-west corner and although the order of sequence is not very clear on the left side, the story can be broadly read from right to left. The first series of episodes depicted on the right are related to the journey of Krishna and Balarama to Mathura to attend the sport festival organised by Kansa which ends, on the right column, by the murder of Kansa. Then follows a series of Krishna’s exploits, notably battles to conquer his first wife Rukmini, depicted in confused sequences. On the left side, the figures seem to move from left to right but the chronological sequence of the scenes is not very clear. The lowest frieze, below the usual secular frieze, combines a floral scroll and miscellaneous figures.

On the panels above the arches, the Lanka battles from Ramayana have, once again, no link with the base mythological frieze. Logically these scenes could have been expected on the eastern face, where Ramayana episodes are alone depicted on the base frieze.

The theme of panels above the arches, three series of two medallions with Krishna and Radha surrounded by gopis is in harmony with the mythological base frieze dedicated to Krishna’s youth. But in the general iconographic scheme of the temple, this similarity stands as an exception. NORTH FACE Panels above the arches RAMAYANA Lanka battles Base friezes KRISHNA

KRISHNA

KRISHNA

KRISHNA

Krishna and his wives

Marriage with 3 wives

Marriage with 4 wives ----

Marriage with Satyabhama and exploits of Krishna

----

Tab. 1 - Direction of the narratives around the temple To summarize the general scheme of the mythological frieze of the base of the temple, a double path appears quite clearly (Tab. 1), one for the Ramayana and another for the Krishnalila, first convergent on the south face, then divergent on the sides of the temple (right for the Ramayana, left for the Krishnalila). It is not strictly symmetrical as Krishnalila occupies more space (the north face), a choice that is not really surprising on a temple dedicated to Krishna. However the themes depicted on the panels above the arches do not follow this scheme and Krishna iconography is limited to the west.

→ ← Hunting procession Departure of Zamindar, horse procession, hunting scenes → Miscellaneous figures

Zamindar entertained by female musicians and dancers ----

European boat ----

Hunting procession Departure of Zamindar, hunting scenes ← Miscellaneous figures

The story of Krishna continues on the north face with the series of marriages of Krishna, starting with his third wife, Satyabhama. The chronology of events is not very clear: Krishna and a woman are depicted in repeated sequences. However, the identification, on the right side of the frieze, of several events which took place in Mathura such as the exploit with the hunch back Kubji or the grappling of the seven bull-demons sent by Kansa provides a chronological frame. It sets the starting point of the Krishna narrative of the north face of the temple, in continuation of the sequences of on the west face and indicates the reading direction, from right to left. The orientation of some of the figures on the left panel, towards the right, can be explained by the graphic correspondence with the procession of the lower frieze. It does not change the general reading of the frieze, from

The narrative processes Within this general framework, a number of narrative processes structure the compositions. Although not specific to Kantanagar temple, they need to be brought up as they explain a number of so called ‘inconsistencies’ in the narration. The panels above the arches based on a vertical symmetry are perfect for dual compositions which generally present two warriors face to face. A perfect example is the battle between Rama and Ravana on the north face of the temple (Fig. 5). The opposition between two figures is not limited to the general composition: a number of couples are depicted fighting each other on both sides of the panel, an echo to the main protagonists of the scene. The panels on the west face of the temple depicting medallions with Krishna and Radha 114

KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE? If we consider the authenticity of the temple, it is impossible to isolate the reading of these friezes, within the broader context of the wall and the temple itself.

surrounded by gopis (rasamandalas) provide a very interesting example of contravention of established conventions (Fig. 6). The typical dual composition is transformed into a very peaceful scene with the repetition of the same motif.

Construction of narratives Of greater interest are the narrative processes of the base friezes which play a crucial role in the guidance of the visitor.

This leads us to the problematic of the structures of these linear narratives. What in particular indicates an evolution, a progression in the story? The secular friezes follow more or less the same pattern.

Secular processions

First, the starting point: one or two zamindars carried in a palanquin, on a horse, an elephant or a bullock-cart set the social context of the procession: the wealthy noblemen are surrounded by a crowd of assistants, armed or not (Fig. 9). Some of them wear Moghol dress, others have European outfits. A European boat is also depicted, as in several other brick temples, on the base of a column. Proud animals with rich ornamentations are part of the zamindar’s suite. Interestingly the main character, the zamindar, has no conventional physical appearance and can be of any size. His most distinct feature is the smoking of the hukka, symbol of pleasure and of relaxation. He is always depicted seated and resting on a cushion. The procession thus begins in a peaceful atmosphere.

The secular processions, on the lower frieze, although never identical in their details, are all based on the same pattern: starting from the left or the right corner of the face of the temple, they converge in a symmetrical manner. The strong movement of these friezes invariably leads towards the centre of each face of the temple. The orientation of the figures, and specially of the animals (elephants, horses, camels) all depicted in profile and often in groups, provides a strong movement in one determined direction. Scenes depicted on the two central columns, such as the boats on the east face columns (Fig. 7), do not take part in the procession: they are frontal compositions simply linked thematically to the whole frieze. Mythological friezes

The second phase in the narration is the hunting scene. It is characterised by action, movement, struggles, fierceness and cruelty. The zamindar never directly participates in the hunting scene, he is only a spectator. Hunters on horses or elephants usually fight several animals at the same time and use the bow as well as the sword. It is not unusual to see the horses and elephants participating in the fight, crushing or strangling the wild beasts. Although the general movement of the procession in one specific direction is still clear, the confrontations in the fights impulse a dynamic counter-movement.

The mythological frieze has its own logic and, except for a few cases, is not affected by the strong movement driven by the processions of the lower secular frieze. Thus, on the right side of the east face the Ramayana episodes are sequenced from left to right while the procession below follows the opposite direction. For the spectator, this double movement, from right to left and from left to right is quite difficult to follow. It is only theoretically possible to ‘read’ both the friezes separately. Not to mention, in some parts of the Kantanagar temple, a third unusual frieze in place of the lower floral border. The base friezes may have been planned independently but the correspondences, intentional or not, are at times obvious. On the south face, the tiny boat carrying Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and the boatman across the Ganges does not bear comparison with the huge and luxurious boat of the zamindar depicted just below (Fig. 8). In this case, the pleasant life of the zamindar, which may to some extent symbolise the noblemen of the Dinajpur family, patrons of the temple, is certainly more attractive than the world of the gods. Another example is provided by the last scenes on the right of the east face (Fig. 4). On this particular portion of the temple the three friezes are connected in one way or another to each other. The upper frieze displays the battle of Rama in Lanka. Although the rhythm of this confrontation is rather mild, the warlike atmosphere is intensified by the fierce and dynamic hunting scene involving wild animals in the frieze just below. The lowest frieze, with the depiction of men smoking the hukka at regular intervals, is also indirectly related to the middle frieze dedicated to the pastimes of the noblemen.

The third phase takes place after the hunting: huge and ferocious animals are seen dead and hanging on a pole upside down (Fig. 10). The action is over and a certain peacefulness is restored in the procession. Within these three distinct phases it is not rare to find single figures set in individual cartouches. They depict different characters (warriors, musicians, women), which belong to the background of the main narrative. In the structure of the frieze, they create regular pauses and contribute to the rhythm of the hunting procession. Similar figures which are part of the general background but do not interfere with the main action are found in the mythological frieze. But the narrative structure of the mythological frieze has its own logic, which is more difficult to follow than that, the secular frieze. It is based on the juxtaposition of sequences in chronological order, with the interference of some anachronic scenes which are used as ‘flashbacks’ and some other scenes which set up the context. There is usually no material separation between the scenes except those of the frames of terracotta plaques which do not necessarily correspond to 115

Sandrine Gill and Krishnalila stories, starting from the south face, leads the meticulous visitor who wants to follow both the stories to make several partial tours around the temple. But how many devotees do actually follow the whole narratives from the start to the end? It is impossible, from a visual point of view, to abstract the mythological frieze from the vivid and well structured secular frieze just below, with its procession, its lively human and animal figures. The possibilities of correspondences between all the figures and motifs on the temple are infinite and the interpretations endless in spite. Both the narrative friezes are only part of a wider figurative universe, which may be intended by the patrons and the artists as a reflection of the richness and the multiplicity of the divine which a mere human being cannot perceive at once.

the sequences of the narrative. For example on the south face (Fig. 10), the three exploits of Krishna’s youth, the killing of several demons are broken down differently: the killing of the snake demon Kaliya and the crane demon Bakasura are displayed in the same frame, while the third (and fourth episode not visible on this photograph) occur in individual frames. On the right, Krishna is seen killing the horse demon Keshi. In between these scenes, Krishna appears walking with a cow and playing the flute, and, in the panel on the right, sitting with Radha on his lap. In fact, there is no rule in the delimitations of sequences. The Ramayana story begins on the right side of the south face with the Ayodhya king Dasaratha performing the rite for securing male issue (Fig. 11). He is seated on the right, facing the deer-faced Rishyasringa. On the left, five standing attendants are part of the scene. The next episode, on the left, shows the three wives of the king Dasaratha, i.e. Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi, with the four new-born babies on their lap. There is no material separation between the two scenes which occur, chronologically, one after the other. The main movement is given by the five attendants seen in profile facing towards the right, a direction opposite to the main reading direction. But this linear structure is not systematic and on other parts of the frieze a series of material separations are depicted within a single narrative sequence. On the north side (Fig. 8) a motif is repeated: Krishna and a woman seated in a hut, with standing assistants on both side. Although each couple constitutes an individual entity, the whole panel illustrates a single theme.

Bibliographic References Ahmed, N., ed. (1979) Bangladesh Archaeology I.1. Ahmed, N. (1984) Discover the monuments of Bangladesh. A Guide to their History, Location and Development. Dhaka. Ahmed, N. (1990) Epic Stories in Terracotta. Depicted in Kantanagar Temple, Bangladesh. Dhaka. Cucciniello, R. (2005) Mythes en terre cuite. Les temples en brique du Bengale occidental, XVIe-XIXe siècle. Paris-Pondichery. De, S.K. (1961) Early History of the Vaishnava Faith. Calcutta. Fergusson, J. (1876) History of Indian and Eastern Architecture 1. London.

These narrative patterns are only a few examples of the multitude of solutions used by the artists to depict stories on the terracotta panels of Kantanagar temple. In spite of the existence of established iconographic formulas for this type of brick temple from Bengal, they also illustrate the richness, the creativity and also, at times, the improvisation which characterise any narration and questions the interpreter!

Ghosh, P. (2005) Temple to Love. Architecture and Devotion in Seventeenth-Century Bengal. Bloomington-Indianapolis. Gill, S. (forthcoming) ‘The social and visual impact of Hindu temples in East Bengal under the Mughals : the case of Kantanagar temple’ in Proceedings of the Shivdasani Conference 2007, The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Oxford University. New Delhi.

Comparison between the narrative structures The analysis of the mythological frieze, compared to the well organised secular frieze, shows the absence of regularity in the narration structure. There is, for example, no specific indicator of the evolution of the story or the transition of the sequences. A number of factors can explain this particularity. First the nature itself of the epics and myths with a multiplicity of events. Second, the familiarity of the public with the tales illustrated on the temple walls, known through dramas and plays of Bengali poets who wander from village to village. Third, the interpretation of the story by the artists and patrons in a specific context. These illustrations in terracotta appear as visual reminders of a story with multiple episodes that a devotee can read partially, reconstitute in his mind, and meditate on, alone or with the help of the brahman who may again provide its own interpretation. The divergent directions of the Ramayana

Gora, M.M.R. (2005) Can we protect our past ? A Heritage Conservation Project in Kantajee Temple, Bangladesh. Thesis submitted to The International Training Centre of the ILO (Management of Development Programme) and the ‘S. Cognetti De Martiis’ Economics Department of Turin University for Partial Fulfilment of the Post-Graduate Course on ‘Cultural Projects for Development’. Gora, M.M.R. (2006) ‘From documentation to local-level heritage protection: Local-community role in heritage protection of the “Kantajee” temple in Northern Bangladesh’, presented at the International conference of Issues of Culture and Development: Celebrating Diversity, Achieving Equity, UNESCO Bangkok & SEAMEO SPAFA, 116

KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE? Thailand, 28-30 November 2006. Hoque, M.M.; Hoque, S. & Rahman, M. (Gora). (2005) Kantajee temple. An outstanding monument of Late Medieval Bengal. Dhaka. Majumdar, R.C. (1943) The History of Bengal. Dhaka. McCutchion, D. (1972) Late Medieval Temples of Bengal. Calcutta. Michell, G. (1983) Brick Temples of Bengal. From the Archives of David McCutchion. Princeton. Ray, H.P. (2007) ‘Crossing the seas. Connecting Maritime Spaces in Colonial India’ in Cross currents and community networks, 50-79. New Delhi. Sarkar, J.N. (1948) The History of Bengal, II. Dhaka. Strong, F.W. (1912) Eastern Bengal District Gazetteer: Dinajpur. Allahabad. Westmacott, E. V. (1872) ‘The Territorial Aristocracy of Bengal. The Dinagepoor Raj’, The Calcutta Review 55: 205-24. Zakariah, A.K.M. (1979) ‘Ikhtiyar-ud-din Muhammad Bakhtyar’s Expedition to Tibet’ in N. Ahmed (ed.), Bangladesh Archaeology 1979, 1 (1), 15990.

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Sandrine Gill

Fig. 1 - Map of Bengal with the location of Kantanagar (Map S. Gill).

Fig. 2 - Kantanagar temple, south face (Photo S. Gill).

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KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE?

Fig. 3 - Part of the elevation of the east face (Photo S. Gill).

Fig. 4 - Final episodes of Ramayana, hunting scenes (east face, right corner, base friezes) (Photo S. Gill).

Fig. 5 - Battle between Rama and Ravana (north face, panel above the arches) (Photo S. Gill).

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Sandrine Gill

Fig. 6 - Rasamandalas (west face, panels above the arches) (Photo S. Gill).

Fig. 7 - Sita captive of Ravana, boats of the zamindars (east face, base of a central column) (Photo S. Gill).

Fig. 8 - Comparison between Rama’s and the zamindar’s boat (south face, right side, base friezes) (Photo S. Gill).

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KANTANAGAR TEMPLE (NORTH-EAST BENGAL): A CAREFULLY PLANNED ICONOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE?

Fig. 9 - Krishna and his wives, departure of a procession with a zamindar (north face, left corner, base friezes) (Photo S. Gill).

Fig. 10 - Episodes of Krishna’s youth, hunting scenes (south face, left side, base friezes) (Photo S. Gill).

Fig. 11 - First episodes of the Ramayana, departure of a procession with a zamindar (south face, right corner, base friezes) (Photo S. Gill).

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NEW EPIGRAPHIC DATA FROM THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE GHAZNAVID PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III AT GHAZNI (AFGHANISTAN) Roberta Giunta The establishment since 2004 of the IsIAO archaeological project ‘Islamic Ghazni’ as one of the activities of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan1 is aimed at the study and publication of the documentation collected in Ghazni in the 1950s and 1960s,2 during the excavations of a Ghaznavid palace3 and of a Ghurid court dignitaries’ residence,4 as well as in the course of the numerous surveys5 carried out in the area of Ghazni (Giunta 2005b, 2005c, 2009).

the main ornamental element of the architectural decoration. Marble inscriptions As I have already mentioned, we owe Bombaci the study and, unfortunately, only partial deciphering of the inscription originally carved on the upper part of the over 500 marble dado panels of the central court of the palace.8 It contains a versified Persian poem in kufic script extolling the power, the majesty, and the zeal of the Ghaznavid dynasty, starting with the reign of MaΉmūd son of Sebüktikin.9 The poem was probably introduced by the customary basmala in Arabic and we can suppose that the text started in the first niche west of the entrance (XVII) to the court and ran along the niches from right to left, ending in the first niche East of the entrance (Fig. 1).

Since then, new data have been obtained, especially with regard to the marble and baked brick findings pertaining to the sumptuous architectural decoration of the Ghaznavid palace.6 These recent studies, together with the 1966 publication by Bombaci of the most important inscription from the palace and the study undertaken since 1993 on the tombs (Giunta 2000, 2003a), and the funerary (Giunta 1999, 2001a, 2001b, 2003a) and civil (Giunta 2003b, 2005a) inscriptions of the Ghaznavid and Ghurid periods, significantly contributed to the knowledge of the historical Islamic Ghazni and its artistic, architectural and epigraphic productions.

Among the few other epigraphic documents published by Bombaci there are the inscriptions of three marble elements which probably allowed the identification both of the construction date of the palace, and of its patron. The first item is the upper half of a small arch (100 × 72 cm) re-used in the ziyāra built at a later period on the perimeter walls of the western īwān of the palace (Bombaci 1966: 3, fig. 131). Its upper part shows a cursive inscription on a vegetal scroll containing the official title, the kunya and the ism of Mas’ūd III (alsulΓān al-a’Нam Abū Sa’d Mas’ūd), which are elements of his official protocol, extensively attested on his coins (Giunta & Bresc 2004: 171-2, 213-14) and on the well known kufic inscription of his minaret in Ghazni, standing not far from the palace (Pinder-Wilson 1985). The other items are two transennas, similar in shape and size (94 × 48 cm), excavated in the north-west corner of the central court, near the prayer hall (XIII) entrance (Bombaci 1966: 3-4, figs 133-6). On both these items the inscription, in cursive script, runs along the four sides of the frame and on one of the narrow sides. The text is preserved only on one of the items10 and Bombaci (1966: 3-4) reads it as follows:

The systematization of all the findings from the Mas’ūd’s palace7 allows to report some preliminary data about the location and nature of the numerous inscriptions which constituted, together with vegetal and geometric patterns, 1 I was entrusted with the responsibility of the project ‘Islamic Ghazni’ by Maria Vittoria Fontana, director of the Islamic IsIAO archaeological projects relating to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. 2 The Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan was inaugurated by Giuseppe Tucci and directed, along the years, by Alessio Bombaci, Umberto Scerrato, Dinu Adamesteanu, Maurizio Taddei, Giovanni Verardi and Anna Filigenzi. 3 According to archaeological and epigraphic evidence, the palace, found east of the citadel, in the Dašt-i Manāra plane, was attributed to Mas’ūd III (1099-1115), one of the last sovereigns of the Ghaznavid dynasty that had chosen Ghazni as its capital, embellishing it with magnificent monuments (Bombaci 1957, 1958, 1959; Scerrato 1959a, 1995; Adamesteanu 1960). 4 The residence, located north of the palace, on the hill slopes between the citadel and the village of Rawza, was nicknamed ‘House of the Lusterwares’ because of some luster-painted ceramics found inside a small niche (Scerrato 1959a).

A) ‘amal MuΉammad b. ®usayn b. Mubārak Work of MuΉammad son of ®usayn son of Mubārak

5

Inspections carried out in the mosques, ziyārāt, and cemeterial areas located mainly east and south-east of the citadel (Scerrato 1959a; Bombaci 1966).

8 The excavations revealed 337 slabs (either intact or only fragmentary) composing the dado. Another 79 exemplars were found as parts of more recent monuments of the town in which they had been re-employed (Rugiadi 2007). Bombaci examined 116 slabs out of the 150 c. on which the inscription is still preserved (44 in situ; Bombaci 1966: 11-15).

6

The study of all the marbles of Ghazni has already been undertaken in a doctoral dissertation (Rugiadi, 2007; see also Rugiadi 2009, as well as her contribution to this volume). S. Artusi’s dissertation on the baked brick documentation from the Ghaznavid palace has been defended in June 2009 (for the first results of this study, see Artusi 2009).

9 A study has been recently devoted to the use of the Persian language in the monumental epigraphy of Ghazni (Giunta, in press).

7

The new research team is working on the elaboration of a database that currently contains 10,731 filing cards of findings, complete with inventory number, 6383 of which come from the excavation of the palace.

10 The finding (inv. no. C2975) is currently preserved in the Ghazni storerooms.

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Roberta Giunta (B) wa furigሶa min išādati-hi and its building was finished

sana the blessed RamaΡān [– may] God [heighten his valour? –] in the year

(C) fī awwal šahr Allāh11 al-mubārak ramaΡān ‘aΞΞama Allāh on the first of the blessed month of Allāh RamaΡān – may God heighten

(E) Ϊams wa Ϊams māya five hundred and five

(D) qadra-hu sana Ϊams wa Ϊams māya his valour – in the year five hundred and five

The inscription is actually very similar to the previous one, but for the direction in which the text is developed, as shown in the following drawing (Ill. 2)

(E) wa Ϊams māya and five hundred The following drawing (Ill. 1) illustrates the layout of this inscription referring to the end of the works for the construction of an unspecified building on the first of ramaΡān in the year 505 of the hijra (March 1-2, 1112).

Ill. 2 and, more importantly, for the portion of text carved on the lower band (A) that does not reveal the name of the patron, but that of a second responsible for the works, equally set between two chevrons, preceded by the word ‘amal (‘work of’) and composed of only the ism followed by two nasab (the name of the father and that of the grandfather). In the light of the deciphering of this last text, the interpretation of the two inscriptions raises some questions. First of all, it is necessary to clarify that very rarely in the construction text of a monument of such remarkable importance there is no reference to the patron that commissioned the works and in Ghazni, in particular, the other texts of the same kind known to us always mention it (Giunta 1999: no. 1a, 2003b, 2005a: 532-35).14 Moreover, the similarity between the texts of the two transennas and the absence of the name of the patron in the second one complicate the understanding of the reason for abrading the inscription from the latter. At the moment, no sufficient evidence allows us to establish the epoch in which the text was erased. We can however propound some hypotheses with regard to the original positioning of the two transennas and the nature of their inscriptions. The morphology of the items and the presence of the epigraphic bands on both the narrow sides suggest that the transennas were positioned along the sides of a passageway leading to one of the main halls of the edifice.15 The text of the two lateral inscriptions informed on the epoch in which the works had been completed (wa furigሶa min išādati-hi / wa Ϊams māya).16 The construction concerned could correspond to the same prayer hall (XIII) before which the transennas were found17 and actually the inscriptions could refer

Ill. 1 The name of the man in charge of the works is carved on the lower band (A) and is preceded and followed by two chevrons-like decorative elements − chevrons being a highly recurrent feature in the epigraphic bands of Ghaznavid epoch (Giunta 2003a: 429-30) − and is thus isolated from the remaining part of the text. Bombaci (1966: 4) supposed that the text contained the name of the architect and the date of completion of the works for the construction of Mas’ūd’s palace, or part of it. As for the text of the second transenna, completely abraded (Fig. 2) but for the narrow side, Bombaci’s hypothesis (1966: 4) was that its content could have been identical to the previous transenna; Adamesteanu supposed instead that it could have revealed the name of the sultan during whose reign the edifice had been constructed.12 The object can be seen at the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale ‘G. Tucci’ of Rome (inv. no. 7779) and with the help of an efficacious lightening system and of new photos13 it has been possible to emphasize a significant portion of the marks of the letters and to come to a nearly complete deciphering of the text: (A) ‘amal ‘UΕmān b. [...] b. [...] Work of ‘UΕmān son of [...] son of [...] (B) wa furigሶa min išādati-hi and its building was finished

14

I mention also the existence of two construction texts whose fragmentary state allows the reading only of the formula that introduces the name of the patron, unfortunately disappeared (inscriptions read by the author in Rugiadi 2007: nos 754, 959).

(C) fī awwal šahr Allāh on the first of the month of Allāh

15 For an interesting comparison regarding their collocation see the three stucco panels found on the podium in the room 10 of the apartment II of the Ghaznavid ‘southern palace’ of Lashkari Bazar (Schlumberger 1978: pl. 74).

(D) al-mubārak ramaΡān [‘aΞΞama] Allāh [qadra-hu ?] 11

Word not present in Bombaci’s reading. I take this information from one of Adamesteanu’s excavation reports that is unfortunately still unpublished (IsIAO documentation). 12

16 According to the sequence of the text carved on the narrow sides, the first transenna we have presented (Ill. 1) should have been positioned left of the passage, while the second (Ill. 2) was on the right.

13 I wish to thank here the personnel of the Museum for having permitted the installation of the necessary working instruments in one of the exhibition rooms.

17 Bombaci 1966: 64. In the inventories of the Mission is wrongly reported that the two transennas were found at the south-west corner of

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NEW EPIGRAPHIC DATA FROM THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE GHAZNAVID PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III AT GHAZNI (AFGHANISTAN) exclusively to the completion of the construction works of this area. Due to orientation exigencies, this room is considerably out of axis with respect to the planimetry of the palace and seems to have been included after the achievement of the latter, probably shortly later. This hypothesis would justify the absence of the name of a patron − the latter being probably the same that had commissioned the palace − and of a verb informing on the beginning of the construction works. Archaeological evidence has in fact demonstrated that the palace, since its foundation and until the invasion by the Mongolian hordes, went through at least two different dwelling phases. With the exception of the bases of the prayer hall columns, some dado panels18 and many floor slabs of the central court, all the marble findings were found out of their original context because they had been re-employed along the years for different uses than their original ones. Among the numerous examples particularly interesting are the slabs (all fragmentary) found in several rooms, sometimes distant ones, or even in external areas of the palace, that originally constituted a sole large panel, surrounded by an epigraphic band with an elegant kufic inscription (Rugiadi 2007: nos 694-708). The only section of this band that is still clearly readable bears the following words:

maybe to one of the rooms in area IV. Of the whole text, carved in a kind of very rough cursive script, only the ism of the sultan followed by the first part of the laqab of his father (Mas’ūd b. Нahīr...)20 survives. According to our current researches − with the exception of another marble inscription which might be considered part of a historical text, though one not connected with the patron of the palace21 − almost all the other marble inscriptions are carved on the upper part of a specific type of dado panels. These were found mainly in the entrance area, both inside and outside, some of them re-employed in the floor of the īwān XVII, and probably constituted, as already supposed by Scerrato (1959a: 96), a dado frieze embellishing this area. These dado panels are more than one hundred22 and, unlike those of the central court, bear parts of Arabic inscriptions in cursive script. A palaeographic examination revealed them as belonging to at least two benedictory texts dedicated to the owner of the palace, and certainly dated at the same epoch of its construction. The texts include sequences of invocations, each introduced by the determinative article al- and joined by the conjunction wāw.23 This kind of supplications, often elevated for an anonymous owner, is particularly frequent on the metalwork of the eastern islamic territories dating back to the 11th-early 13th century.24 In this case the sequence of the words is often casual, but it is quite constantly introduced by the binomy al-yumn wa al-baraka (‘bliss and divine grace’, in the case of kufic inscriptions), or al-’izz wa al-iqbāl (‘glory and success’, in the case of cursive inscriptions), and is concluded with the expression wa al-baqā’ li-·āΉibi-hi (‘and eternal life to the owner’, in both kufic and cursive inscriptions). In the well-wishing marble inscriptions from the palace none of these formulas is found.25 However, the recover of a carved inscription expressing a ‘wish of a long life to its owner’ on a marble slab, reused in a ziyāra of the town (Flury 1925: 74) and which on the basis of its dimensions did not belong to the architectural decoration of Mas’ūd’s palace (Rugiadi 2007: no. 608), further witnesses to the diffusion of this particular type of inscriptions in the civil architecture of the town during the Ghaznavid era.

fī ayyām al-dawla al-’āliyya in the days of the noble reign an expression certainly followed by the name of the sultan and probably preceded by the verb of construction (Giunta 2005a: 546, fig. 14). Given the dimensions of the whole panel, the refined decoration and the nature of the inscription, it can be supposed that it covered one or more walls of the ceremonial area (II), though none of the fragments was found in this area. It cannot be excluded then that the two transennas as well were originally positioned at the sides of a wall or a passageway that lead to the presence of the sultan, patron of the palace. In this case, the two inscriptions would be part of a much more articulated epigraphic apparatus − distributed on supports of various nature and executed both in kufic and in cursive −,19 containing all the necessary elements in a construction text of an important sultan’s residence and celebrating the end of the works and the two architects responsible for the construction.

20

Ibrāhīm bears two laqab beginning with the word Нahīr: Нahīr aldawla and Нahīr al-milla.

21

The text contains the initial part of the titles of a military personage of the Ghaznavid entourage (Rugiadi 2007: no. 751): its finding in the upper levels of the excavation and the kind of kufic (datable no later than the early 11th century AD), leads us to suppose that this item did not originally belong to the decoration of the palace.

Among the other marble epigraphic documents originally belonging to the palace, only one item bears the name of Mas’ūd III. It is a small fragment of a well curb (36 × 29 cm) found in front of the ziyāra, not far from the two transennas (Giunta 2005a: 542, fig. 11), but belonging probably to the area of the private apartments (III), or

22

More precisely, 148 slabs, 111 of them coming from the excavation of the palace. Of all these exemplars, 20 were almost intact when they were recovered (Rugiadi 2007: sub-type dado 02). 23

We have identified about twelve different benedictory words, all of them being repeated at least once. The most recurrent ones are: albaraka (‘blessing’), al-dawla (‘prosperity’), al-Γā’a (‘obedience to God’), al-nu·ra / al-ba·ra (‘sustain’ / ‘spiritual perception’), and alsalāma (‘spiritual integrity’).

the court. 18 I am referring here to the 44 slabs that were found in situ (see fn. 8). 19 The coexistence of kufic and cursive epigraphic bands is widely attested in Ghazni during the Ghaznavid epoch, both on decorative architectural elements (Giunta 2005a: 535-6, 538-9, figs 6, 9; Rugiadi 2007: nos 766, 768, 818), and on tombs, beginning with the epoch of MaΉmūd (Giunta 2003a: nos 2, 9, 10, 21, 24, 25, 36).

24 See, just as examples, Melikian-Chirvani 1974, 1975; Blair 1998: 104-05. 25 Numerous instances of them can be found instead in kufic and cursive inscriptions on backed brick (see below).

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Roberta Giunta simple and are constituted by only two words, al-mulk (‘the sovereignty’) and Allāh, sometimes joined in the common expression al-mulk li-llāh (‘sovereignty belongs to Him’). The world Allāh is generally carved on small stucco elements inserted in the geometrical pattern of large brick panels. The word al-mulk, isolated or repeated, is found on panels, both in brick and in stucco, small columns, frames, and column shafts.27 The expression al-mulk li-llāh is found mainly as framing arches and geometrical panels, and, above all, it was continuously repeated framing the upper part of some niches of the western side of the court, as attested in one of the few evidences found in situ in the niche XIIId, near the entrance of the prayer hall.

Brick and stucco inscriptions The brick and stucco inscriptions are exclusively in Arabic and mainly in different varieties of kufic scripts, thus differing from the marble inscriptions which are, as we have seen, in Arabic or Persian, in kufic or in cursive, used with the same frequency. The study of this epigraphic material, all unpublished, is still in a preliminary phase. Nevertheless, on the basis of the nature of the inscriptions, we are able to classify the documentation in three categories, here presented following their frequency (benedictory, religious texts and historical texts). The most conspicuous group is represented by benedictory inscriptions. Many of these, in kufic script, are carved on small columns, either as their ending part, or, more frequently, in the joining part between the base and the shaft. In these cases the texts are very short, including one or two words, generally al-yumn wa albaraka (‘bliss and divine grace’). The same expression, followed by words like al-salāma (‘spiritual integrity’), al-sa’āda (‘happiness’), and so on, is found again on cylindrical column shafts where it is often repeated both on the columns endings and around the shaft in a spiral pattern.26 Epigraphic bands with sequences of words of invocation framed also brick panels of which only fragments survive.

We have no attestation of Koranic verses among the religious texts found on baked brick, though they are widely attested in the inscriptions of the Ghaznavid residence of Lashkari Bazar (Sourdel-Thomine 1978). At the current state of research the only exception seems to be represented by an epigraphic band framing along three or four sides a large fragmentary stucco panel (Fig. 5).28 The text only contains the basmala followed by Koranic verses 18 and 19 of the sura III,29 which are, since the age of MaΉmūd,30 the most frequently attested verses in funerary inscriptions (all on marble) of the town during the Ghaznavid and Ghurid eras (Giunta 2003a: 364-69) and can be found only on one marble architectural element datable at the 12th century (Giunta 1999: n. 3a; Rugiadi 2007: no. 758). The vegetal pattern of this panel and the close resemblance between its kufic inscription and some kufic inscriptions of Lashkari Bazar attributed to the Ghurid period suggest a post-Ghaznavid production.

Numerous fragments of monumental epigraphic bands (height between 30 and 50 cms), featuring some words from benedictory texts equally in kufic script (Figs 3-4), have been found inside and outside the entrance area, as well as in the room XVIII, located just west of the entrance hall. These prayer formulas, with repeated invocations in favour of the owner of the palace, were employed for the embellishment of the upper part of the walls. Two of them in particular (the first one on an undecorated background, the second one characterized by a stucco honeycomb background) probably adorned the external façade of the building and were located above the marble dado panels containing a similar text, but in cursive script.

The most significant brick inscriptions, which could give useful insights to the history of the palace throughout the 12th century, contain part of official titles. At the moment we have only three, but important, large fragments − two were retrieved between the niches LIII and LVI −, each of them containing the initial part of a word in cursive script on a stucco honeycomb background. As for the first word (inv. no. 5784; Fig. 6), al-sulΓān, we are fully confident of its reading. The second word (inv. no. 2719; Fig. 7) maybe corresponds to the adjective al-mu’aΞΞam (‘the glorious’), which often qualifies the word al-sulΓān. On the basis of an analysis of Ghaznavid and Ghurid titles on epigraphic, numismatic, and historical

There are very few instances of cursive benedictory inscriptions on brick. The most representative one was found in room X and contains the expression al-’izz wa al-iqbāl (‘glory and success’), usually introducing cursive benedictory inscriptions, specially on metalwork. Since other fragments were recovered in adjoining rooms, we suppose that they belong to the same epigraphic band which adorned the area south of the prayer hall, possibly facing the central court. The type of cursive on a vegetal scroll is very similar to that carved on the upper part of the small marble arch containing the name of Mas’ūd III.

27

Several testimonies of the use of these brief inscriptions come also from the architectural decoration of the ‘southern palace’ of Lashkari Bazar (Sourdel-Thomine 1978). 28 About fifty small fragments of this panel, which does not have any inventory number, remain and are preserved in the warehouse of the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale ‘G. Tucci’, in Rome. 29 ‘Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and so do the angels and those possessed of knowledge, being maintainer of justice; there is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise. Surely the true religion with Allah is Islam’.

Most of the religious inscriptions, all in kufic, are very 26

30 The most ancient testimony of these verses can be found in fact on the tomb of MaΉmūd, where they are featured in the inscription carved on one of the four slabs of the cenotaph (Giunta 2003a: 33).

As noticed above, this well-wishing formula is widely attested on metalwork and is also found on some artefacts attributed to the Ghaznavid era (Scerrato 1959b, 1964).

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NEW EPIGRAPHIC DATA FROM THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE GHAZNAVID PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III AT GHAZNI (AFGHANISTAN) documents (Giunta & Bresc 2004), the few letters of the third word (inv. no. 5612; Fig. 8), al-mu’[...], could be read as al-mu’ayyad (‘supported by heaven’) or almu’minīn (‘the believers’). The main question related to the comprehension of this small part of a historical text concerns the identification of the sovereign bearing these titles. In 1173 Ghazni became the capital of the Ghurid sultan Mu’izz al-dīn MuΉammad b. Sām who commissioned the reconstruction and the building of several edifices31 after the pillage and destruction of the town enacted by the Ghurids themselves between 1149 and 1151. The clearly visible traces of fire found in the palace witness to this devastating fury, while conspicuous archaeological evidence attests that it was later modified to be used as private residence, maybe by the sultan Mu’izz al-dīn himself. It is legitimate then to hypothesise that the monumental epigraphic band dedicated to the sultan is to be ascribed to the Ghaznavid Mas’ūd III, and thus date at the first epoch of the palace, or that it has to be attributed to the Ghurid sultan and thus date at the second dwelling phase, though no marble elements coming from this palace bear his name (Giunta 2005a). The question is still unanswered. Both the sovereigns bear in fact the title of al-sulΓān (Giunta & Bresc 2004: 187, 214, 222, 223, 240). In its official documents Mu’izz al-dīn is always qualified as al- sulΓān n al-mu’aΞΞam (‘the glorious sultan’; Giunta & Bresc 2004: 223, 240). Mas’ūd III was instead referred to as al-sulΓān al-a’Ξam (‘the exalted sultan’; Giunta & Bresc 2004: 187, 214).32 However, the title al- sulΓān al-mu’ aΞΞam could have been mentioned in the nasab of his protocol also because it was attested among his father Ibrāhīm’s titles (i.e. [...] Mas’ūd b. al- sulΓān al-mu’aΞΞam Ibrāhīm [...]),33 though only on some coins struck in Lahore (Giunta & Bresc 2004: 189). As for the third word, if it is to be read as al-mu’ayyad, it would refer only to Mas’ūd III, who bears on his coins the title al-malik al-mu’ayyad (Giunta & Bresc 2004: 199, 214); otherwise, if it is to be read as al-mu’minīn, it could refer to both sovereigns, since both bear the title na·īr Ϊalīfat Allāh amīr al-mu’minīn (‘the defender of God’s Caliph, prince of the believers’; Giunta & Bresc 2004: 214, 240). We hope that a careful palaeographic analysis will provide the necessary evidence to solve the question; at this stage we can notice that the knot-shaped graphic complement above the third word is found exclusively on some cursive epitaphs of Ghurid tombs found in the Ghazni cemeteries, where it was largely employed with many variants (Giunta 2003a: see in particular pl. 108.5). Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the Ghurid sultan Mu’izz al-dīn bears both the title of al- sulΓān al-mu’aΞΞam and the laqab of na·īr Ϊalīfat Allāh amīr al-mu’minīn in the inscription dated at 1203, reported on the frame of a miΉrāb-like panel, and

re-employed in one of the numerous ziyārāt of the Ghazni area (Giunta 2003b). Finally, still to be analysed are the numerous fragments of the epigraphic decoration in baked bricks retrieved during the first excavation campaign in 1957 in the throne room (II) and in the adjacent īwān I. Among these, Scerrato, in an unpublished report (IsIAO documentation), announced the discovery of a find (inv. no. C2318) with a small portion of a kufic epigraphic band (27 × 49 cm), whose few extant letters could be read as al-muΞaffar, a word that, as he himself noticed, is part of the kunya (Abū’l-MuΞaffar) of the Ghaznavid sultan Ibrāhīm (1059-99), the father of Mas’ūd (Giunta & Bresc 2004: 179, 212). The same kunya belongs however also to the Ghurid sultan Mu’izz al-dīn (Giunta & Bresc 2004: 218, 240).34 If all these titles refer to Mu’izz al-dīn, we would have a positive epigraphic evidence that the building was actually re-used as a palace under the Ghurid sultan who, in particular, would have endowed the edifice with a new decorative aspect, providing for the reconstruction and (maybe just partial) decoration in backed bricks of the upper part of the walls destroyed by the fire35 and modifying the distribution (and function?) of some marble elements. The abrasion of the text of one of the two transennas could date back to this phase when also the removal of the structure/pavilion could have taken place that contained the arch with the name of Mas’ūd III and that must have originally occupied a relevant position in one of the main rooms of the palace. Bibliographic References Adamesteanu, D. (1960) ‘Notes sur le site archéologique de Ghazni’, Afghanistan 15 (1): 21-30. Artusi, S. (2009) ‘Architectural Decoration from the Palace of Mas’ūd III in Ghazni: Brickwork and Brickwork with Stucco. A Preliminary Analysis’ in Filigenzi & Giunta 2009, 117-29. Roma. Blair, Sh.S. (1998) Islamic Inscriptions. Edinburgh. Bombaci, A. (1957) ‘Ghazni’, East and West 8: 247-58. Bombaci, A. (1958) ‘Ghaznavidi’ in Enciclopedia Universale dell’Arte (Roma) 6: 5-16. Bombaci, A. (1959) ‘Introduction to the Excavations at Ġaznī. Summary Report on the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan’, East and West 10: 3-22. Bombaci, A. (1966) The Kūfic Inscription in Persian Verses in the Court of the Royal Palace of Mas’ūd III at Ghazni (IsMEO Reports and Memoirs V). 34

32 The title is attested also in the inscription carved on the upper part of the marble arch found in the ziyāra of the palace (see above).

We do not have at the moment a good photographic documentation of this find that is preserved, still wrapped in a protecting covering, in the warehouses of the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale ‘G. Tucci’ of Rome. However, upon a first reading, the deciphering hypothesis seems to be unacceptable.

33 Though it is not a frequent procedure in the attribution of titles to sultans in carved monumental inscriptions, in fact, in the epigraph adorning the above mentioned well curb, the name of Mas’ūd is followed by the laqab of his father Ibrāhīm.

35 This hypothesis would probably also explain the absence, in the backed bricks epigraphic documentation, of texts in Persian, a language that had a considerably important role in the Ghaznavid marble inscriptions.

31

Two important marble inscriptions bearing the name of Mu’izz al-dīn have been found in Ghazni area (Giunta 2003b, 2005a: 547).

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Roberta Giunta Rome. Filigenzi, A. & Giunta, R., eds (2009) The IsIAO Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan 19572007. Fifty Years of Research in the Heart of Eurasia (Proceedings of the symposium held in the Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, Rome, January 8th 2008). Roma. Flury, S. (1925) ‘Le décor épigraphique des monuments de Ghazna’, Syria 6: 61-90. Giunta, R. (1999) Les inscriptions de la ville de Ġaznī (Ph.D. thesis, Université de Provence “AixMarseille I”). Aix-en-Provence. Giunta, R. (2000) ‘Ghazni. ii. Monuments and Inscriptions’ in Encyclopaedia Iranica 10 (4): 385-88. Giunta, R. (2001a) ‘The Tomb of MuΉammad al-Harawī (447/1055) at Ġaznī (Afghanistan) and Some New Observations on the Tomb of MaΉmūd the Ġaznavid’, East and West 51: 109-26. Giunta, R. (2001b) ‘Some Brief Remarks on a Funerary Stele Located in the Ġaznī Area (Afghanistan)’, East and West 51: 159-65. Giunta, R. (2003a), Les inscriptions funéraires de Ġaznī (IVe-IXe/Xe-XVe siècles) (Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’, Series Maior VIII – IsIAO – Fondation Max van Berchem). Napoli. Giunta, R. (2003b) ‘Un texte de construction d’époque gሶūride à Ġaznī’ in M.V. Fontana & B. Genito (eds), Studi in onore di Umberto Scerrato per il suo settantacinquesimo compleanno (Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Series Minor LXV – IsIAO), II, 439-55. Napoli. Giunta, R. (2005a) ‘Testimonianze epigrafiche dei regnanti ghaznavidi a Ghazni’ in M. Bernardini & L. Tornesello (eds), Scritti in onore di Giovanni M. D’Erme (Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’, Series Minor LXVIII), I, 525-55. Napoli. Giunta, R. (2005b) ‘Islamic Ghazni. An IsIAO Archaeological Project in Afghanistan. A Preliminary Report (July 2004-June 2005)’, East and West 55: 473-84. Giunta, R. (2005c) ‘Ghazni’ in Enciclopedia Archeologica Treccani, Asia, IV, 962-65. Rome. Giunta, R. (2009) ‘Islamic Ghazni: Excavations, Surveys and New Research Objectives’ in Filigenzi & Giunta 2009, 89-104. Roma. Giunta, R. (in press) ‘L’utilisation de la langue persane dans les inscriptions monumentales de la ville de Ghazni aux 6e-7e/12e-13e siècles’ in C. Cereti (ed.), International Conference ‘Iranian Identity in the Course of History’. Rome. Giunta, R. & Bresc, C. (2004) ‘Listes de la titulature des Ghaznavides et des Ghurides à travers les documents numismatiques et épigraphiques’, Eurasian Studies 3: 161-243. Melikian-Chirvani, A.S. (1974) ‘Les bronzes du Khorassan I’, Studia Iranica 3: 25-90. Melikian-Chirvani, A.S. (1975) ‘Les bronzes du Khorâssân 3. Bronzes inédits du Xe et du XIe siècles’, Studia Iranica 4: 187-205. Pinder-Wilson, R. (1985) ‘The Minaret of Mas’ūd III at

Ġaznī’ in R. Pinder-Wilson (ed.), Studies in Islamic Art: 89-102. London. Rugiadi, M. (2007) Marble Architectural Decoration from Ghazni (Ph.D. thesis, Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’). Rugiadi, M. (2009) ‘Documenting Marbles of the Islamic Period from the Area of Ghazni: The Italian Contribution (1957-2007)’ in Filigenzi & Giunta 2009, 105-15. Roma. Scerrato, U. (1959a) ‘The First two Excavation Campaigns at Ghazni, 1957-1958. Summary Report on the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan’, East and West 10: 23-55. Scerrato, U. (1959b) ‘Oggetti metallici di età islamica in Afghanistan’, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 9: 95-130. Scerrato, U. (1964) ‘Oggetti metallici di età islamica in Afghanistan. II’, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 14 (Scritti in onore di Laura Veccia Vaglieri, II): 673-714. Scerrato, U. (1995) ‘Giuseppe Tucci, l’archeologia islamica ed altri parerga’ in B. Melasecchi (ed.), Giuseppe Tucci. Nel centenario della nascita, Roma 7-8 giugno 1994 (Conferenze IsMEO 8), 85-111. Roma. Schlumberger, D. (1978) Lashkari Bazar. Une résidence royale ghaznévide et ghoride. 1A. L’architecture (Mémoires de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan 18). Paris. Sourdel-Thomine, J. (1978) Lashkari Bazar. Une résidence royale ghaznévide et ghoride. 1B. Le décor non figuratif et les inscriptions (Mémoires de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan 18). Paris.

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NEW EPIGRAPHIC DATA FROM THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE GHAZNAVID PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III AT GHAZNI (AFGHANISTAN)

Fig. 1 - Ghazni. Plan of the Palace of Mas’ūd III (Drawing T. Tamagnini, 1966).

Fig. 2 - Marble transenna with abraded Arabic inscription (inv. no. C2976, IsIAO Neg. 1220/10-11).

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Roberta Giunta

3

4 Figs 3-4 - Baked brick fragments of benedictory kufic inscription: 3, on a background devoid of decoration (inv. no. C6025, IsIAO Neg. 3835/2); 4, on a background of small triangles (inv. no. C1140, IsIAO Neg. 1231/1).

Fig. 5 - Fragmentary stucco panel with Koranic inscription (IsIAO, digital archives, 2006).

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NEW EPIGRAPHIC DATA FROM THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE GHAZNAVID PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III AT GHAZNI (AFGHANISTAN)

Figs 6-8 - Baked brick epigraphic bands in cursive script (inv. no. C5784, IsIAO, digital archives, 2004; inv. nos C2719 and C5612, IsIAO Negs 3831/9 and 3314/4).

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BHARHUT AND ITS WIDER REGIONAL CONTEXT Jason Hawkes The Buddhist stūpa site of Bharhut has long been the subject of much study. Since its discovery by Alexander Cunningham in 1873 (Cunningham 1875, 1879a, 1879b), the carved remains of the Bharhut stūpa railing have been central to many studies of architecture, epigraphy and sculpture. These great objects constitute themselves one of the benchmark schools of ancient Indian sculpture, and have been used as a basic stylistic and epigraphic reference point in almost every art historical discussion of the early historic period. Examinations of the narrative and other figural sculptures that appear to illustrate certain episodes from the early Buddhist texts have also provided valuable contributions to the understanding of ancient Buddhism. Indeed, such has been the importance of these particular aspects of study that previous scholarship on Bharhut has focussed almost exclusively on the carved remains of the railing, and these have been studied in complete isolation from their wider archaeological context. As it has been pointed elsewhere (Hawkes 2005, 2009), this continued exclusive focus on the carved remains has resulted in a situation where they have come to be perceived as the only thing that it is possible to study at Bharhut, and the ‘study of the site’ has become effectively sealed as ‘the study of the carved remains’.

115-18, 141-43) and Deur Kothar (Varma 1990; Mishra 2000) further to the northeast, the early historic cave complex of Badhogarh (Chakravarti 1960) to the southeast, the Asokan inscription at Rupnath (Cunningham 1878: 58-60; Bühler 1877) and settlement at Kakrehta (Sharma & Mishra 1992) to the southwest, and the early historic fort at Kalinjar (Cunningham 1885: 20-45) in the northwest. Other than these few sites, very little is known about the archaeology of this entire region (see Fig. 1). Instead, and in lieu of any first hand examination of the archaeological realities of the site of Bharhut and the region within which it was located, much is simply assumed to have been the case. Due, presumably, to broad similarities in terms of the decoration and age of its carved monumental remains, the site of Bharhut is frequently seen and understood to have been the same as other stūpa sites in central India. The monastic community that lived there is assumed to have functioned in the same way as at other sites, and are assumed to have interacted with the wider society in the same way as in other areas. By extension, the socio-political and economic dynamics of the wider Bharhut area are also assumed to have been the same as in other areas (in other words, part of the wider process of urbanism that was taking place across much of northern and central India at this time); as are the ways in which the Buddhist community are understood to have interacted with the wider society around them. Much as all of this may very well have been the case, until examination of the wider archaeological realities of the site of Bharhut and the region takes place, such interpretations and conclusions will always remain hypothetical.

This has meant that the wider archaeological contexts of the site of Bharhut and the surrounding region have not been comprehensively examined since Cunningham’s time. The only existing picture of the site is that which can be reconstructed from the accounts of the excavations that took place in search of fragments of the stūpa railing. Other remains are recorded as having been found at the site (Cunningham 1879a, 1879b), yet the published details of these are too vague to establish a clear and coherent picture of the site. On the regional scale, knowledge of the surrounding region only extends as far as that which can be inferred from the political history of the neighbouring areas to the north, south and west.1 The archaeological and geographical realities of the surrounding region have never been explored, with the nearest known contemporary site being the early historic settlement of Itaha over 50 km away to the northeast (Indian Archaeology – A Review 1988-89; Singh 1998).2 Beyond this, the nearest known roughly contemporary sites lie over 100 km from Bharhut in either direction, with the Buddhist sites at Keonti (Cunningham 1885:

Points of Departure There is then a need to examine the wider archaeological contexts of Bharhut, at both the level of the site and the surrounding region. If the understanding of this important site (whether at the level of the carved remains of the railing, the wider site, or region) is to be improved, then it is important that future interpretations take into account the archaeological realities of the site of which the stūpa monument was only a part, as well as the wider regional historical and cultural context in which it existed. With these considerations in mind, recent doctoral research (Hawkes 2008) has tried to incorporate just this by reinvigorating the approach to the archaeological evidence of the site and surrounding region. On the one hand, observation of the visible surface remains at the site of Bharhut has established a preliminary picture of the extent, nature and life-span of the site. This examination has then been further situated within a wider framework

1

In other words, the areas of the Ganga valley to the north, the areas around Tripuri and Sohagpur to the south, and the Betwa valley to the west, all of which have yielded a large amount of epigraphic and numismatic data from which it has been possible to reconstruct political historical frameworks. 2 As well as a cluster of smaller settlement sites (probably villages) in the Itaha area, all of which found during survey of the area by Dr Ajay Singh, APS University, Rewa (cf. Indian Archaeology – A Review 1988-89; Singh 1998).

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Jason Hawkes Samudragupta and a later copper-plate inscription from Khoh, near Bharhut, which appear to refer to the region as a ‘forested kingdom’ (see Chhabra & Gai 1981: 213; Fleet 1888: 112-16).

constructed from the archaeological and geographical realities of the region. These were investigated through survey of the surrounding landscape. Building upon past approaches to landscape survey in both South Asia and in other archaeological contexts, a survey methodology was formulated that involved two different geographical scales, with different degrees of intensity of focus employed at each scale. First, the 10 km area immediately surrounding Bharhut was surveyed relatively intensively in order to reconstruct a detailed picture of the immediate Bharhut area. Then, the wider region was surveyed much more extensively, in order to place the findings of this small area within their wider regional context. Altogether, this resulted in the discovery of over 300 new sites in the Bharhut region. Through observation of the surface remains visible at these sites, and examination of their spatial and temporal distribution across the landscape, it has been possible to identify certain broad social, political, and economic processes that were operating in the area around Bharhut, and the ways in which these have changed over time throughout the life-span of Bharhut. Then, further consideration of the spatial and temporal relationships between Bharhut and the sites that surrounded it has, in turn, enabled the identification of some of the ways in which the Buddhist community at Bharhut was related to those processes.

Due to a relative lack of historical sources pertaining to the area, the known political history of the Bharhut region is somewhat scarce. During the 3rd century BC, the evidence of Ashokan inscriptions on either side of the Rewa-Panna Plateau, at Allahabad and Rupnath (Hultzsch 1925: 156-60, 166-69), suggest that the Bharhut region would have been connected with the wider Mauryan Empire. Recent work by Chakrabarti (2001, 2005) has demonstrated how routes of trade and communication would have passed the region, and linked the Ganga Plain to the north with the areas of Tripuri and Sohagpur to the south. Yet, the absence of any Mauryan inscriptions anywhere on the Rewa-Panna Plateau itself may indicate the area, while integrated with the Mauryan Empire, was not under the direct rule of the Mauryas. Following the end of Mauryan suzerainty, it would seem that the region remained largely autonomous. Like much of Central India during the later centuries BC and early centuries AD, it would seem to have been made up of small apparently independent territories, which at various points came under the wider (though not necessarily direct) rule of powerful empires that had their centres of power elsewhere.

It is not the intention to present the full results of this work here; these will form the main body of a more substantive work that is forthcoming: Bharhut and its Archaeological Landscape. Rather, this paper will review some of the main findings from the immediate area around Bharhut during the later centuries BC in order to give some idea of the range of findings that can be made when the regional settings of religious sites such as Bharhut are examined, and to indicate some of the ways in which these findings have raised new questions for the study of Bharhut.

The Site of Bharhut It is within this distinct geographically bounded area, which was isolated from though undoubtedly connected to wider areas of the subcontinent, that one encounters the Buddhist stūpa site of Bharhut. The site is located prominently in the middle of a broad valley (with the Damoh Plateau to the west and the hill, Naro Pahar, to the east), and is near the banks of the Tons River, the main riverine tract in the area (see Fig. 3). The site itself lies at the base and on the lower slopes of a large hill, Lal Pahar. Preliminary examination of the surface remains at the site has enabled the reconstruction of a picture of the extent of the site for the first time, and to make certain observations about its nature.

The Bharhut Region: Geographical and Historical Background Before reviewing these findings, it will be useful to introduce the geography and history of the Bharhut region. Geographically, Bharhut is located in the geographically distinct region of the Rewa-Panna Plateau at the edge of the peninsular foreland, with the alluvial stretch of the Ganga Plain to the north, and the main body of the Deccan Peninsula to the south (Singh 1971; see Fig. 2). The topography of the plateau makes the entire area fairly inaccessible from all but a few locations. In addition, the area is rich in mineral resources, with a plentiful supply of building materials, non-precious and precious minerals, and metals such as copper and iron (Cotton & Burn 1908; Sharma et al. 1980; Lahiri 1992; Raghunandan & Dhruva Rao 1981). Many of the upland areas are covered in dense forest, and it is likely that in antiquity similar forests would have covered the entire region. This is suggested by a number of inscriptions, such as the Allahabad pillar inscription of the Gupta king

Without entering into too much detail, it was found that the remains roughly contemporary to the establishment of the Bharhut stūpa were confined to a relatively small area surrounding and to the north of the stūpa, and on the lower slopes of the north-western face of the hill (see Fig. 3). The stūpa excavated by Cunningham appears to have been one of at least three stūpas that were part of a wider monastic complex, the traces of which are still visible as the foundations of walls or surface scatters of bricks and pottery in the top soil and exposed in natural sections throughout the site. Interestingly, some sort of economic activity also seems to have taken place at Bharhut. Local villagers find a large number of copper cast and silver punch marked coins (dating from the 3rd to the 1st century BC), and luxury items, such as red polished ware and beads, on the lower slopes of the hill, Lal Pahar, and 134

BHARHUT AND ITS WIDER REGIONAL CONTEXT in the beds of the tributary streams that run off it.3 This suggests that as well as functioning as a centre of Buddhist religious practice, the site of Bharhut also had an economic aspect, with the monastic community having engaged in (or at least facilitating) a degree of economic activity. As the presence of the well-known votive inscriptions on the Bharhut stūpa railing suggest, the relationship between these aspects of the site probably lay in the relationship between the monastic community and the wider social sphere.

activity in the ancient context, it is interesting to note that the hill of Lal Pahar that dominates the site of Bharhut is, along with a number of other hills in the immediate area, considered to be sacred by the local population. The summit of the hill and a number of points along its slopes are marked with modern shrines. It would, of course, be pure conjecture to suppose that these points correspond exactly with the locations of ancient and pre-Buddhist ritual activity. Yet, it is not altogether beyond the realm of possibility that the hill Lal Pahar was associated with some sort of earlier sacred significance. If this was the case, then such associations may very well have been an important factor in the location of the Buddhist site, and perhaps reflect a conscious attempt by the monastic community to legitimise their presence in the area to the local population. This would go some way to explaining the social interaction reflected in the votive inscriptions at Bharhut, and the rapid consolidation of the monastic community in the area. Much as such associations may have been a significant factor in the location of Bharhut, this was by no means an exclusive relationship. There would undoubtedly have been other sites of pre-Buddhist ritual significance in the area, and not all of these came to be associated with Buddhism through the construction of Buddhist stūpa sites. As such, there were probably other factors governing the specific location Bharhut.

The Archaeological Realities of the Immediate Bharhut Area Turning then to look at the wider regional context of the site of Bharhut, survey of the area around Bharhut resulted in the discovery of a number of sites. The analysis of these sites has helped to suggest some of the ways in which Bharhut was related to the wider sociocultural and political spheres around it. During the later centuries BC, four sites appeared in the immediate area that can be interpreted as stūpa sites (see Fig. 4). Two of these are composed of a number of small mounds built of heavily compacted lime-rich soil (or ‘kankar’), one of which was excavated in recent years by local villagers to reveal a circular foundation of roughlyhewn stones. The other two sites comprise only single stūpas. One of these is a mound similar to those noted above, while the other is marked by a circular brick foundation exposed in the top soil. All of these new sites are located in close association to the Tons River, and their appearance can be understood as reflecting the consolidation and expansion of the monastic community at Bharhut during the later centuries BC.

Turning then to consider the secular sphere, survey revealed the existence of six settlement sites in the immediate area. None of these appear to have been very large. The scatters of surface remains at all bar one of them are between one and two hectares in size. These remains are characterised by a very limited range of archaeological remains, mostly crude pottery types and bricks of early historic dimensions, and were identified as agricultural villages. The only site that would appear to have been any larger, and that could be tentatively dated to the later centuries BC, was at the village of Patarahata (see Fig. 5). The site is marked by a reasonably large (15 ha) settlement mound, but the remains of the site are obscured by a modern village, and only a few fragments of early pottery sherds and bricks are visible. Local villagers testify to having found terracotta beads and silver coins of a ‘square shape’ while digging in the village, though none were encountered during survey. The possible presence of beads and coins at the site suggests that some sort of economic activity may have taken place here. This could have been related to craft production at the site, as well as systems of exchange related to wider trading activities. In this connection, it is worth pointing out that the site is situated on the banks of the Tons River, the main waterway in the area, which, if the region was heavily forested, would probably have provided the easiest path of movement in the area. As such, it is reasonable to suggest that the site may have been connected to wider routes of transport and communication that extended throughout the region, and any trade that passed along these routes.

No other definitively ‘religious’ sites dateable to this general period were found in the immediate area. However, as recent work on the sacred geography of Sanchi by Julia Shaw has pointed out (Shaw 2007), this does not mean that Buddhism was the only religion in the area at this time. The sheer volume of textual references to Brahmanical deities in the Vedic texts amply reflects the existence of widespread orthodox religious beliefs that predate both Buddhism and Buddhist monastic practice by many centuries. Furthermore, one can postulate the existence of even more ancient and widespread popular belief in local folk deities. Instead, there are a number of textual references to various folk deities in both Brahmanical and Buddhist texts (for a review of which, see Coomaraswamy 1928-31). Indeed, one can safely presume the existence of a number of preexistent, non-Buddhist religious beliefs and ritual practices that would probably have revolved around other less monumental shrines (Shaw 2002). If one hypothesises a connection between the locations of certain cult spots in the modern context with foci of ritual

The evidence provided by these sites enables one to make some very broad observations about the wider sociopolitical and economic situation in the immediate Bharhut

3

Coins are dated primarily with reference to Gupta & Hardaker 1985, and with the assistance of Shailendra Bhandare (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford).

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Jason Hawkes (such as trade, or the movement of resources). As such, the apparent link with these routes, and presence and sheer volume of coins at Bharhut would in fact seem to indicate that more organised forms of economic exchange took place there as well.

area. The economic activity that may have taken place at the larger of these settlements indicates that a degree of economic specialisation had developed in the area by this time. In addition, one can also imagine that agricultural activity had intensified to the point that there had seemingly developed a network of agricultural villages. On an even wider level, the possible economic and agricultural activity in the area, together with an apparent hierarchy of settlement size, suggests that there was a degree of social organisation in the area. Here, one might imagine that the larger of the settlements in the area would perhaps have functioned as some sort of local centre, providing some sort of basic services to the nearby villages.

Interpretations of the relationships between Bharhut and the archaeological remains of the surrounding area are not only limited to the understanding of the Buddhist monastic community at Bharhut. They also have a strong bearing on the general understanding of wider sociopolitical and economic developments in the area. It is, for instance, significant that all of the agricultural villages are actually located closer to Bharhut and the other Buddhist sites than they are to the largest settlement (see Fig. 5). The villages also seem to cluster around Bharhut and the other smaller stūpa sites, with none being located on the other side of the river. Altogether, it would seem that proximity to Bharhut and the network of Buddhist sites may have been a governing factor in the location of permanent agricultural villages in the area during the later centuries BC. If this was the case, then it would imply some sort of a relationship between the intensification of agricultural production that took place and the presence of the Buddhist monastic community in the area.

Most importantly, however, there does not appear to have been an urban centre in the immediate area. No other settlements that could be even tentatively dated to this period were encountered anywhere else in the Bharhut area, and those that were encountered were certainly nowhere near as large, nor displayed the same range of material culture as the urban settlements that characterised the patterns of settlement in the neighbouring regions to the north and south, such as Bhita, Kausambi, and Tripuri (Marshall 1914; Sharma 1960, 1969; Dikshit 1955). The absence of any urban settlement in the Bharhut area suggests that levels of social and political organisation, and economic systems had not developed to the same degree as those of the urban areas to the north and south, and were still on only a very small-scale in this area.

It is not the intention to suggest that the Buddhist monastic community at Bharhut was in any way actively and consciously engaged in agricultural systems or with social and political organisation in the area. Instead, with the economic activity that appears to have taken place at Bharhut, the visible connection with the wider routes of transport and communication that ran throughout the area, and in the complete absence of an urban centre in the area, it may have been that the site of Bharhut itself functioned (at least in economic terms) as some sort of economic centre in its own right. The economic activity that appears to have taken place at Bharhut, whatever that activity may have been, and however the monastic community were engaged in it, could have stimulated economic specialisation in the wider area. This, in turn, may have increased demand for, and at the same time would have been facilitated by, local agricultural practices. Symbiotically, the agricultural base provided by the surrounding villages may have provided vital support for the Buddhist monastic community, facilitating the ritual and economic activity that took place at Bharhut.

Turning then to look at how the site of Bharhut and the other Buddhist sites were related to these sites, one can start to suggest some of the ways in which the Buddhist monastic community at Bharhut may have been related to the wider social sphere on this local scale. First, Bharhut appears to have been purposefully located near to what may have been the largest settlement in the area. This can be understood in terms of the subsistence support the monastic community may have received from the local population. Second, in being located near to the Tons River, Bharhut also appears to have been purposefully located near to the main lines of transport and communication that ran through the area. It is significant that the site is located in association with the one hill in the immediate area that lies directly on the Tons River, and that the smaller stūpa sites nearby are located near the banks of the Tons River. It is likely that the decision to situate the site in such close proximity to the routes that probably passed along this river would have been due to the support the monastic community may have received from the people moving along these routes. As for the form that this support took, some would undoubtedly have been the result of donations from those moving along these routes, whether from pilgrims to the site, or those travelling along these routes while engaged in other purposes. Yet, proximity to these routes also puts the economic activity that seems to have taken place at Bharhut into more contrast. One must also consider the fact that a proportion of the traffic moving along these routes would have been engaged in commercial activities

From the examination of the archaeological and geographical realties of the area immediately surrounding Bharhut there begins to emerge an understanding of the Buddhist monastic institution at Bharhut and the ways in which it may have been related to the wider social and economic spheres as they appear on a local level. Due to the surface nature of the remains, these identifications and interpretations have, by necessity, been only very broad. All of these findings have yet to be confirmed with more scientific dating methods. At the same time, however, it is interesting to note that all of these interpretations are all fully borne out when one takes an even broader view of the wider region. 136

BHARHUT AND ITS WIDER REGIONAL CONTEXT that, at the same time, it does not appear to have been connected to an urban centre. This reinforces the point that it should not be assumed that all Buddhist stūpa sites functioned and operated in exactly the same way. Indeed, if any further progress is to be made with the study of the Buddhist monastic institution in general, it is imperative that more attention needs to be paid to these variations in the historical picture, and the specifics of individual archaeological contexts.

The distribution of settlements in the wider region display the same pattern as that noted in the immediate Bharhut area, with clusters of agricultural villages punctuated by slightly larger settlements that appear to have been smallscale local centres (see Fig. 6). This broader view also confirms that there were no urban centres throughout the entire region. In addition, using the locations of these settlements, and bearing in mind the geographical features of the region reviewed in the introduction, it is also possible to chart the alignments of the main trade routes that passed through the region. In doing so, it can be seen that one of the main routes that traversed the wider region pass through the Bharhut area, and that, in fact, the Bharhut area appears to have been one of the main nexus of routes. This not only lends further weight to the suggestions made on the small scale around Bharhut regarding the presence of routes of transport and communication and the relationships of sites to these routes, but also puts them into starker contrast. Furthermore, when one considers the locations of other Buddhist sites that occur elsewhere in the region, it becomes apparent that they, too, are situated near to these clusters of settlements and the main nodal points of these routes.

Acknowledgements This work would not have been possible without the hospitality, guidance, and help of the staff and students of Awadhesh Pratap Singh University, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. In particular, I wish to thank Prof. Chandra Deo Singh, Dr Amrendra Kumar Singh, Dr Mahesh Chandra Shrivastava, and Dr Ajay Singh. Bibliographic References Bühler, J. (1877) ‘Three New Edicts of Asoka’, Indian Antiquary 6: 149-60.

Implications and conclusions

Chakrabarti, D.K. (2001) The Archaeological Geography of the Ganga Plain: The Lower and the Middle Ganga. New Delhi.

As mentioned earlier, these are by no means the complete results of recent work that has been carried out in the area. The full picture is much more nuanced, and becomes much more complex when the ways in which these processes and relationships changed over time are also examined. Yet, from just this brief snapshot of the area immediately surrounding Bharhut during the later centuries BC, it can be seen that examination of the site of Bharhut and its situation within its wider regional setting has, on a very basic level, improved the understanding of the archaeological realities of both the site of Bharhut and the wider regional context within which it existed. These findings enable the identification of some of the ways in which the monastic community were engaged in a series of complex social and economic relationships with the wider society in which it existed.

Chakrabarti, D.K. (2005) The Archaeology of the Deccan Routes: The Ancient Routes from the Ganga Plain to the Deccan. New Delhi. Chakravarti, N. (1960) ‘Brahmi Inscriptions from Bandhogarh’, Epigraphia Indica 31: 167-86. Chhabra, B. & Gai, G., eds (1981) Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings (Revised by Devadatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar). New Delhi. Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1928-31) Yakshas. 2 vols. Washington D.C. Cotton, J.S. & Burn, R., eds (1908) The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Oxford. Cunningham, A. (1875) Archaeological Survey of India. Report for the Year 1872-73. Calcutta.

All of this becomes especially important when one remembers how little prior knowledge of the site and the region there was. The resulting interpretations and conclusions that have been made are based on the first hand examination of the archaeological evidence from the site and the region, and not inferences drawn from other sources. Further studies of Bharhut, whether at the focussed level of the carved remains of the stūpa railing or on this wider level, can now be less hypothetical and assumption driven, and instead be based on interpretations drawn from the evidence from the site and the region concerned. That this has to be the case is further borne out by the fact that some of the findings of this work do not necessarily correspond with certain traditional notions of Buddhist stūpa sites during the later centuries BC. For instance, that the site of Bharhut may have been host to some sort of economic activity, and

Cunningham, A. (1878) Archaeological Survey of India. Report of a Tour in Bundelkhand and Malwa, 1871-72; and in the Central Provinces, 1873-74. Calcutta. Cunningham, A. (1879a) Archaeological Survey of India. Report of a Tour in the Central Provinces, 187374, and 1874-75. Calcutta. Cunningham, A. (1879b) The Stûpa of Bharhut: A Buddhist Monument with Numerous Sculptures illustrative of Buddhist Legend and History in the Third Century BC. London. Cunningham, A. (1885) Reports of a Tour in Bundelkhand and Rewa in 1883-84; and of a 137

Jason Hawkes Singh, R., ed. (1971) India, a Regional Geography. Varanasi.

Tour in Rewa, Bundelkhand, Malwa, and Gwalior, in 1884-85 (Archaeological Survey of India Report 21). Calcutta.

Singh, A. (1998) Rewa ka Puratattva. Allahabad.

Dikshit, M. (1955) Tripuri – 1952. Nagpur.

Varma, R. (1990) ‘The Unknown Stūpa Complex of Deur Kothar (Rewa), Madhya Pradesh’, Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 49: 427-30.

Fleet, J. (1888) Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings and their Successors (Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum 3). Calcutta. Gupta, P. & Hardaker, T. (1985) Ancient Indian Silver Punchmarked Coins of the Magadha - Maurya Karshapana Series. Anjaneri. Hawkes, J. (2005) ‘Bharhut: A Re-assessment’, paper presented at the 18th International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, held at the British Museum. London. Hawkes, J. (2008) ‘The Buddhist Stupa Site of Bharhut and its Sacred and Secular Geographies’, unpublished PhD thesis. Cambridge. Hawkes, J. (2009) ‘Bharhut: A Re-assessment’, South Asian Studies 24: 1-14. Hultzsch, E. (1925) Inscriptions of Asoka (New Edition) (Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, 1). Oxford. Lahiri, N. (1992) The Archaeology of Indian Trade Routes upto c. 200 BC: Resource Use, Resource Access, and Lines of Communication. Delhi. Marshall, J. (1914) ‘Excavations at Bhita’ in J. Marshall (ed.), Archaeological Survey of India - Annual Report 1911-1912, 29-94. Calcutta. Mishra, P. (2000) Deorkothar (Barhat), Rewa: A Unique, Recently Excavated Buddhist Site in Central India. Bhopal. Raghunandan, K.R. & Dhruva Rao, B.K. (1981) Exploration for Copper, Lead and Zinc Ores in India. Calcutta. Sharma, G.R. (1960) Excavations at Kausambi, 19571959: the defences and the Syenaciti of the Purusamedha. Allahabad. Sharma, G.R. (1969) Excavations at Kausambi, 19491950 (Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India 74). Delhi. Sharma, G.R.; Misra V.D.; Mandal D.; Misra, B.B. & Pal, J.N. (1980) Beginnings of Agriculture. Allahabad. Sharma, R.K. & Mishra S.N. (1992) Excavations at Kakrehta (Rupnath). Delhi. Shaw, J. (2002) ‘The sacred geography of Sanchi Hill: the archaeological setting of Buddhist monasteries in central India’, unpublished PhD thesis. Cambridge. Shaw, J. (2007) Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. 3rd century BC to 5th century AD. London. 138

BHARHUT AND ITS WIDER REGIONAL CONTEXT

Fig. 1 - The main known archaeological sites in the Bharhut region (Map J. Hawkes).

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Jason Hawkes

Fig. 2 - The main geographical features of the wider Bharhut region (Map J. Hawkes).

140

BHARHUT AND ITS WIDER REGIONAL CONTEXT

Fig. 3 - The Site of Bharhut (Map J. Hawkes).

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Jason Hawkes

Fig. 4- Bharhut and other Buddhist sites in the immediate area (Map J. Hawkes).

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BHARHUT AND ITS WIDER REGIONAL CONTEXT

Fig. 5 - Other sites in the immediate Bharhut area that could be dated to the later centuries BC (Map J. Hawkes).

Fig. 6 - Other sites and areas of probable movement in the wider region (Map J. Hawkes).

143

CONSERVATION, RESTORATION OR RECONSTRUCTION? THE CASE OF A WOODEN TEMPLE IN THE INDIAN HIMALAYAS (MAHESHVAR TEMPLE AT SUNGRA, KINNAUR, HIMACHAL PRADESH). PRELIMINARY RESEARCH Anne-Claire Juramie Lower Kinnaur makes any study difficult. Nevertheless, the field of research offered by this heritage is rich and deserves to be considered.

Despite their isolation, the valleys of Himachal Pradesh have never been cut off from the artistic trends of North India. At the same time, they have been touched by the influences and the cultural exchanges with neighbouring regions, notably to the east with Tibet and to the west with Kashmir. However they have also developed unique features.

After having presented the Maheshvar temple, I will seek to define the various aspects related to it – from the cult of Maheshvar, to the dating of the temple and to the specific iconographic themes, as well as questions springing from the complete and identical reconstruction of the edifice.

Located in the foothills of the Himalayas, surrounded by high mountains, the Kinnaur constitutes the oriental part of Himachal Pradesh and shares a border with Tibet (Fig. 1). While entering the Satluj valley, one arrives at the Atharabees, a zone which indicates the entry to Kinnaur (more precisely, Lower Kinnaur). A great part of this region was occupied by the principality of BushahrKinnaur up to 1947, one of the oldest and most important political entities of the Western Himalayas, which extended from the Tibetan border to the north and up to the river Tons to the south-east.1

Maheshvar temple at Sungra The temple is located on a circular esplanade below the road, partly enclosed by low walls. On the western and southern sides there are concentric stone tiers while on the northern and eastern sides the site is completely exposed to mountains. The access of the temple complex is made through a doorway, then by steps in the middle of the tiers to the west/south-west. Inside the complex, we can observe four small stone temples of the nāgara style, and a small edifice – probably a shelter for pilgrims (dharmaśālā) or a manΡapa for musicians (there are music instruments). Other buildings and dwellings surround this esplanade. The priest lives in the one located to the south.

A first stay in Himachal Pradesh in October 2004 provided me with an opportunity to visit the Sungra village and its temple, located in the Satluj valley. During a second stay in October 2005, I discovered a temple which was brand new and yet identical to its predecessor : the earlier building had been entirely dismantled and replaced by another identical in all aspects, from its external appearance to the elements of its internal structure (framework, joisting…) – all scrupulously reproduced, with a total respect to the earlier dimensions.

The first nāgara temple stands at the centre of the esplanade on a simple base; at each of its four angles stands a pile of small carved stone blocks (like pañcāyatana).4 Its entrance direction is different from the main temple (the cella facing south). Curiously, the three other small temples are located on the top of the tiers, on the south-east side. Perhaps have they been moved. All of them are very simple, small (less 1 meter per side), with a small overhang of a vestibule (antarāla) in the alignment of the cella which has two pillars supporting a flat roof. The tower (śikhara) itself, without vertical projection, is covered by a large āmalaka and a final crowning motif which looks more like a linሶga than a kalaśa. Among the rare carved elements one can notice a gavāk·a (horseshoe arch form) on the main side of the tower and a few decorative motifs (purnaratna) on the pillars. No cult image is kept in any of those temples.

The modest Sungra village is found at an altitude of 2.200 m; it borders a small road which ends at Nichar, a neighbouring village only a few kilometres away, relatively far from the National Highway n°22. Far from the principal roads, surrounded by orchards, hidden by Himalayan Cedars, Sungra has long remained ignored. Like many other wooden edifices from Lower Kinnaur, the village temple (Figs 2a-2b), dedicated to Maheshvar or Maishur, has not attracted the attention of travellers or specialists, with the exception of A.H. Francke, an explorer and archaeologist who travelled to the region at the dawn of the 20th century.2 To date, the bibliographical references are few,3 and the absence of historical data for most of these wooden temples from

The small wooden manΡapa seems relatively older than the main temple. It is completely open, with twelve pillars supporting a gabled roof covered with slate, a technique common in this region. This small edifice is entirely carved and painted more delicately than the

1 The origins of the Busharh are lost in legendary stories, but royal genealogies – Vamśāvalī – mention a foundation in 415 (Verna 2002: 39 ff.). 2

He visited between June and October 1909.

3

4 i.e. ‘Five temple’; in architecture, a temple that has a central shrine surrounded by four others.

For Sungra, we can name: Francke 1974 [first ed. 1914]; Sanan & Swadi 1998; Handa 2001.

145

Anne-Claire Juramie Maheshvar temple; a decorated coffered ceiling can also been seen inside the temple.

to a decorative ‘pinnacle’ crowning some temples with two-side roofs9 (Fig. 4). The Sungra temple can however be distinguished from the other wooden edifices with superimposed roofs10 (Fig. 5), by the presence of a vestibule preceding the cella, which is crowned by two superimposed square roofs which join the lower roofs of the cella. The upper roof of the vestibule forms a gable, a very common feature of Kinnauri temple roofs11 (Fig. 6).

The complex itself is accessible to all; however, those who do enter it must cover their head, go barefoot, and wear a cloth belt (called gachi) and no leather. The Maheshvar temple is slightly out of the central alignment, facing west/south-west towards the road (Fig. 3). The building is rectangular and has a cella (garbagΰha) preceded by a vestibule (antarāla). The cella is square and measures 7.62 m per side. It has an interior corridor forming a circumambulatory passage (pradak·inapatha), 1.22 m broad (Handa 2001: 278). The wall is 46 cm thick. The vestibule is nearly square and measures 3.05 by 3.35 m.

In the absence of an interior section study of the temple, the internal analysis remains hypothetical and is based on comparisons and deductions. Some pillars, partly supporting the upper roofs, seem to form at each storey a surrounding gallery (this gallery separates each storey from another). Through this cleared space the internal elevation, the core of the temple and a part of the framework can be seen. But in all likelihood, the whole of the internal volume above the cella is also empty, inaccessible and perhaps continuous (or crossed by beams or tie beams which maintain the coherence of the structure), for the visible external storeys correspond to ‘false’ storeys. This organisation of concentric walls is made possible only by the presence of an internal corridor (circumambulatory passage): the outside wall rises up to the summit of the ground level while the inside wall of the cella reaches the summit of the first ‘false’ level. There is a possibility that the second ‘false’ storey, small in size, is an encorbelled structure with beams fixed on the lower storey, in accordance with a common technique in Nepal. Comparisons can be made between this feature and those of the wooden Nepalese temples with ‘false’ storeys and superimposed roofs, of which internal structures have often been described as ‘telescopic system’,12 or with some temples from Kerala where the walls of the cella extend onto the tie beam, thus creating useless and, it seems, inaccessible chamber above it.13

One of the original aspects of the building is the use of wood (deodar or Himalayan Cedar)5 as the only construction material for the entire temple, from the impressive beams on the ground that serve as foundation beams, to the panelled walls, to the roof made of planks. In this region slate is the usual roofing material,6 through wooden roofs are sometimes seen.7 The ground beams crossing at angles provide a base to the temple. The ground floor walls seem to stand directly upon them, without resting on any possible substructure. Nevertheless, and according to construction ‘logic’, one can believe that in the absence of real foundations (which must be confirmed), a foundation raft (a stone or timber framework covering the whole surface of the construction floor and used as a foundation) may have been installed instead. This last hypothesis seems to be the most plausible, for stone covering is visible on certain areas of the wooden ground beams. Without a minimum of ‘insulation’, the ground humidity, quite high in these mountainous regions and in this climate, would lead, by capillarity, to quick deterioration of the wooden walls of the building.

At the extremities of the roof are placed sculptures of tigers or lions, the protective wardens of the temple, ready to pounce and to defend.

Preceded by a few steps, the temple doorway is slightly elevated, thus indicating a clear separation between the interior and the exterior, and granting additional physical protection against pollution or flood. The door frame is one of the simplest.

The kingpost of the upper roof sticks out and creates the pinnacle of the temple. This crowning wooden motif is circular, bulging but flat above and underneath, and barely looks like a fruit (āmalaka) and even less like a vase (kalaśa). The pinnacle was covered by gilded metal during the reconstruction of the temple in 2005.

The superstructure covering the cella has three superimposed roofs. While the lower roofs are square, with four slopes, the upper one is round, in the shape of a funnel, reminiscent of an umbrella. This form also appears on other edifices in the valley and also in the region.8 The final circular roofing is sometimes reduced

The architectural description presented here is based on my observations of the temple in 2004 and later in 2005 (Fig. 7a-7b).

9 5

Himalayan Cedar is a hard wood, insect-proof and highly prized as a local construction material. 6

Hadimba Devi temple at Dhungri; Tripuresvara temple at Naggar, etc.

11

Nag Bering temple at Sangla. For example: cross section of Maju Dega, Maru Tol, Kathmandu (Korn 1979: 82). See Wiesner 1978: 9; Korn 1979: 66; Slusser 1982: 143.

See the temples of Nichar, Chitkul, Sangla, Bacchonch, ...

12

7 The roofs of a few old houses in the village of Kafaur in Kinnaur are covered by planks. 8

See the Vishnu temple at Kalpa.

10

13 Śiva Anantapadmanabhasvami temple at Anantapuram (Sarkar 1978: 198, fig. 42).

At Bacchonch, Devi Kothi, Chhatri, ...

146

CONSERVATION, RESTORATION OR RECONSTRUCTION? THE CASE OF A WOODEN TEMPLE IN THE INDIAN HIMALAYAS After the presentation of the general structure of the temple, we will now discuss some of the issues related to it, especially those that aim toward structuring preliminary research.

Uttaranchal, are used mainly as procession images. According to the findings of A.H. Francke (1974: vol. I, p. 9), and repeated by O.C. Handa (2001: 276), a linሶga is also sheltered in the centre of the cella, behind the mohra. The priest, the only one allowed to enter the cella, apparently honours the linሶga and the mohra regularly. I was unable however to confirm this finding, as the priest would not talk to me.

Questions of cult The Sungra temple is dedicated to Maheshvar or Maishur. But who is this deity?

In O.C. Handa’s opinion, these local cults, in particular the most dominant one, the Maheshvar cult, have lost their original characteristics and been transformed under the influence of Brahmanism (Handa 2001: 275 ff.). According to certain specialists, the cult to Maheshvar is a local version of the one to Mahāśiva, but this theory has yet to be confirmed. Nevertheless, the religious syncretic process we can observe in this region seems to be materialized through the joint presence of a linሶga and mohra inside the cella.

Lower Kinnaur and Central Kinnaur are transition zones, where deities and local traditions are mixed with Hinduism and Lamaïc Buddhism, a blend which impregnates both religion and society. Among the local deities, the Banasura clan occupies a major position and includes gods and goddesses that are among the most powerful of Kinnaur. Banasura was the king of demons. He is considered to be a Śiva devotee. Among the legends related to him, one takes place during his reign at Sarahan, a village located in Simla district, bordering Kinnaur.

There is a possibility that the original temple was shivaist, but as Handa underlines, no Śiva cult tradition has been confirmed in this zone, while Nāga are usually represented by a linሶga in numerous wooden temples of Himachal Pradesh (Handa 2001: 277). One will note also the absence of Nandi in front of the cella.

The Banasura clan has eight distinguished members (Sanan & Swadi 1998: 33-35): the mother Hirima (or Hadimba) who has a limited presence in her residence at Kafaur; the three sons, called Maheshvar or Mahashu or Maishur, who are very powerful and control Sungra, Chagaon and Katgaon (Bhaba Valley); and finally a feminine quartet composed of Chandika, Usha (or Ukha), Chitralekha and Pirasan, who occupy respectively the villages of Kothi-Ropa, Nichar, Tranda and Pirasan.14 Other members of secondary importance belong to the Banasura clan (one version lists seventeen brothers and sisters). Each deity is in charge of a geographically limited area, but there is more than one god in the same space. The Maishur who rules over Sungra is supposed to be the most powerful and the eldest of the family.

It would be interesting to continue this research on the Maheshvar, on their cult and their residences, in the Chagaon and Katgaon (Bhaba Valley) temples (Fig. 8a8b), both in Lower Kinnaur, not far from Sungra. The temple of Chagaon (or Tholang), of which I have seen photographs, appears to be an exact replica of the Sungra temple. Although the previous Katgaon temple was devastated by flames in 1971, a new edifice in wood was built. This one also has the same structure as Sungra and Chagaon. This apparent tendency to duplicate temples raises even other questions (which will not be discussed in this paper but would be interesting to research further).

The studies of O.C. Handa have shown the existence of a pantheon of different Maishur in the rest of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal (Handa 2001: 72 and seq.). Handa has also listed 117 temples dedicated to Maishur through Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal. The legends concerning their origin are numerous but most see their origin in Kashmir.

Questions of dating It is important to return to the problems of dating and to the original shape of the temple. In absence of historical or epigraphical indications (no inscriptions have been found on the site), determining the foundation date remains difficult. It is only the presence on the site of small nāgara style temples which enable us to make a few hypotheses.

Although the complex is accessible to non-Hindus, the cella was off-limits to me. It was thus impossible for me to penetrate inside and see the cult image. However I could catch a glimpse of masks, called mohra, apparently three of them, located at the entry of the cella. The local deities are generally depicted on these mohra (made of gold plate or gilded metal, melted or hammered), which are all attached to a wooden circular structure. These masks, venerated throughout Himachal Pradesh and

Stone temples of the nāgara style were erected in Himachal Pradesh between the 7th and the 13th century (Thakur 1996: 44 ff.). The extreme simplicity of these tiny Sungra temples, which are reminiscent of those in Dhabas, near Simla, or of the temple n°1 in the Śiva complex at Nirmand, or even of those erected in Hatkoti, could lead one to believe them as early as the 7th-8th century. On the other hand, their reduced dimensions make us believe that they may have been used as models for a bigger edifice of this same style, probably at this same period. However, this hypothesis needs further study.

14 Note than Handa (2001: 275 ff.) mentions five Maishur (at Chagaon, Bhaba, Pawari, Mehbar and Sungra) and their spouses (Ukha, Chitralekha, Chandika, Goddess of Chhota Khamba and Goddess of Pirasan).

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Anne-Claire Juramie has yet to be established.

Another challenge is to define the reasons and the moment of the reconstruction of the temple in a new material, no longer in stone but in wood. The existence of a temple of such type in this place, in wood with superimposed roofs, is attested by a photography taken by Francke, dated 26th of June 1909 (Francke 1974: vol. I, pl. VI). The exact architectural similarity, its location and integration in the landscape, the presence of the fence, and of the entrance doorway, visible on this cliché, all of this leads us to assume that a similar temple was already on the spot in the second half of the 19th century.

Considering the edifice in 2005, though the iconographical themes offer a certain variety, the representations of Śiva and his family (with Parvatī or Ganeśa) and his symbols (linሶga, Nandi) are slightly more numerous. This leads us back to the ambiguity of the cult and the identity of the deity to which the temple is dedicated. The linሶga (which is supposedly in the cella) and the external iconography of the temple testify to a shivaite cult, while the presence of mohra inside the cella, the name of the temple itself, Maishur, and the legends related to it, all indicate the cult of a local deity.

Iconography issues For the edifice I saw in 2004 and the one that replaced it (that I saw in 2005), the iconography is located mainly on the wooden panels – on the external surface of the ground level.

Like most of the temples of this region, the Sungra temple thus seems to show that the institutional religion, Hinduism, had to adapt itself to an ancient local cult. As recalled by O.C. Handa (2001: 80 ff.), Brahmanism inside these valleys has been weakened, distorted. With the frequent absence of brahmins and strict orthodoxy, local practises have been integrated into Hinduism, which has continued its own adaptation or assimilation process of native deities, some of them becoming local expressions of Śiva. This assimilation is visible notably in the transformation of the name of Sungra temple, from Maishur to Maheshvar.

As with the architecture that was identically reproduced, I noticed that the bas-relief sculptures on the panels had been entirely replaced during the reconstruction of the temple in 2005. As well, on both the edifices, most of the themes remain unaltered: the depiction of the main deities of the Hindu pantheon (Śiva, Vi·nu, Durgā, Brahmā, Sarasvatī…), scenes or figures from the great epics, heroes from Mahābhārata or Rāmāyana, ascetics whose cult is popular in certain valleys of Himachal Pradesh, and decorative, floral or geometric motifs and animal representations (Fig. 9a-9b). The slightest space is occupied by carved panels or filled with floral friezes, with no space left undecorated.

However, confirming the theory of syncretism is still quite premature; a thorough study, in particular regarding the cult, the rituals, the liturgy but also from the artistic point of view, is still to be completed.

The earlier temple had more decorative motifs and animal subjects than deities, which alternated with little real concern to any type of organisation. All the panels were carved in a clumsy and naïve style, and were covered with colours (mainly blue, red, white, green and yellow) probably very bright originally, but faded in 2004.

Finally, we must keep in mind the existence, in this part of Kinnaur, of two other temples dedicated to Maishur: Chagaon and Katgaon, “twin brothers” of Sungra. It would be recommended to verify if these temples, which I have only seen photographs, have or have not similar iconography.

The new edifice erected in 2005 still has decorated wooden panels but with new dimensions. The wood is varnished, and so no colour covers the sculptures. The carved work testifies to a better mastery of the material, a better quality of execution, a more accomplished and harmonious style, though clearly different sculptors executed the work.

Questions related to the reconstruction of the temple To conclude and, at the same time, to open the discussion, it would be interesting to settle some unanswered questions raised by the reconstruction of the temple.

The temple in its entirety is also more structured and organised than earlier: the bigger panels of the upper register are human representations while those of the lower register, smaller in size, have decorative or animal motifs. There are however a few exceptions at the angles or around the door, with a preponderance of deities. Thus, on both sides of the door leading to the cella, apart from the usual guardians (dvārapāla), we find Śiva and his family on the upper register on the left, and Śiva ascetic on the right; on the middle register, Ganeśa on the left and Kΰ·na as a child on the right; on the lower register, Hanuman on the left and Hanuman and Rāma on the right. The presence of a real iconographic organisation

We must ask what the reasons were that motivated these reconstructions. Wood is indeed a material which deteriorates over time, in particular in these mountainous regions (extreme climatic changes, humidity, insects...). But with regular maintenance, wood conserves its specific qualities for a long period: thus, among the oldest listed wooden temples in Himachal Pradesh, not far from this area, we can mention the one from Parashar Rishi (Fig. 10), near Mandi, which has three superimposed roofs and is dated from the second half of the 14th century, or the Hidimba Devi temple in Dhungri, close to Manali, which was built in 1553. 148

CONSERVATION, RESTORATION OR RECONSTRUCTION? THE CASE OF A WOODEN TEMPLE IN THE INDIAN HIMALAYAS One could understand that if the roof had deteriorated, it would have been replaced. But why raze the entire temple and rebuild it exactly as it was?

To this day, it is difficult to come to any definitive conclusions. The Sungra temple in Kinnaur is a potential for a variety of research; this paper is only the preliminary step.

The Sungra temple is not an isolated case. At Kalpa, a few kilometres from Sungra, one of the temples of the village, dedicated to Vi·nu, carries the date 1986 and we know that there was an earlier edifice in the same place.

Acknowledgements

At first glance, these wooden temples from Lower Kinnaur, rebuilt, could testify to a lack of interest on the part of the inhabitants for their heritage. But rebuilding temples exactly as they had been is evidence of very lively cults, of the preservation of expertise, of the respect of traditions and of a heritage which is expressed in a tangible as well as an intangible manner.15 Here, only the external envelop of the temple is remade; nothing else, the complex itself or the cult image, is modified, everything is preserved. On the other hand, rebuilding the temple in the same way allows the ‘visual’, ‘structural’ and ‘functional integrity’ of the temple to remain unchanged (Jokilehto 2004: 29-30). Finally, the reconstruction, whose symbolic nature has yet to be confirmed, would imply that the only permanency is, in essence, intangible. But perhaps, like in Japan,16 the destruction of the temple is necessary to its lifespan, required as a purification act?

I would like to thank the EFEO (École française d’Extrême-Orient) whose aid allowed me to instigate my first fieldwork in Himachal Pradesh. Many thanks for their precious help to N. Humbert-Droz, S. Gill and J. Wayne. Thanks also to I. Le Person and V. Seppeliadès. Bibliographic References Bajpai, S.C. (2000) Kinnaur: A Remote Land in the Himalayas. New Delhi. Bernier, R.M. (1989) Himalayan Towers, Temples and Palaces of Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi. Francke, A.H. (1974) Antiquities of Indian Tibet. Calcutta (first ed. 1914). Goetz, H. (1955) The Early Wooden Temples of Chamba. Leiden.

It is also important to underline that these reconstructions are not specific to Lower Kinnaur. There is evidence of this practice in other valleys of Himachal Pradesh where I travelled. Nevertheless, we can note that if, in certain cases, the temple is rebuilt exactly as before,17 in other cases it can be replaced by a totally different structure.18

Goetz, H. (1969) Studies in the History and Art of Kashmir and the Indian Himalaya. Wiesbaden. Handa, O.C. (2001) Temple Architecture of the Western Himalaya A Study of Wooden Temples. New Delhi.

Apart from these symbolic questions are others related to the socio-economic context of the reconstructions: who decides and who finances?

ICOMOS (1984) Comité Bois/Wood Committee, Proceedings of the V. International Sumposium, Norway, 1983, Luce Hinsch, Håkon Christie, Stephan Tschudi-Madsen (ed.). Øvre Ervik.

Does the deity intervene through the priest in the decision of restoring or reconstructing? Is there a consultation with the villagers or their elders?

Inagaki, E. (1996) ‘Authenticity in the Contexte of Japanese Wooden Architecture’ in Monuments and Sites Japan, ICOMOS Japan, 99-102. Colombo.

For such a huge project must be quite costly. A small village like Sungra seems solely unlikely to be able to finance such a reconstruction. The government of Himachal Pradesh, through its Department ‘Language, Art and Culture’ sometimes offers financial aid to restore ancient temples,19 but does the government also help in the case of a reconstruction?

Jokilehto, J. (2004) ‘Authenticité, intégrité et Convention du patrimoine mondial’, Cahiers du Patrimoine mondial 9, Unesco WHC, 29-30. Paris. Juramie, A.-C. (2001) Architecture et iconographie des Temples de Visnu dans la vallée de Kathmandu, Népal, Ph.D. Paris. Juramie, A.-C. (forthcoming) ‘État actuel du patrimoine architectural de la vallée de Kathmandu. Un patrimoine en sursis?’ in La Question de l’art en Asie. Paris.

15

I refer to the definition of authenticity from the UNESCO document of Nara, dated 1994, § 7.

16 See for example the Isè temple (Mie prefecture, Japan), which is rebuilt every twenty years. 17

Such as the Brahma temple at Rahala, with three superimposed roofs.

18

Manu Rishi temple at Manali Garh, now a ‘composite’ structure.

Klimburg-Salter, D. (2002) ‘Ribba, the story of an early Buddhist temple in Kinnaur’ in Buddhist Art and Tibetan Patronage, Ninth to Fourteenth Centuries, Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the IATS, 2000, 1-26. Leiden-Boston-Köln.

19

See the temple of Kothi mentioned by Handa 2001: 272, 293. Handa underlines that such financial aid can even backfire for the restoration is often ill-conceived and -executed.

Korn, W. (1979) The Traditional Architecture of the 149

Anne-Claire Juramie Kathmandu Valley. Kathmandu. Nagar, S.L. (1990) The temples of Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi. Noci, F. (1994) ‘Observations on the Architecture and on a Carved Wooden Door of the temple of Mirkula Devi at Udaipur, Himachal Pradesh’, East and West 44 (1): 99-114. Pieruccini, C. (1997) ‘The temple of Laksana Devi at Bharmaur (Chamba)’, East and West 47 (1-4): 171-228. Postel, M.; Neven, A. & Mankodi, K. (1985) Antiquities of Himachal. Bombay. Sanan, D. & Swadi, D. (1998) Exploring Kinnaur & Spiti in the Trans-Himalaya. New Delhi. Simpson, W. (1970) Architecture in the Himalayas. New York-London (first ed. 1882-1883). Singh, M.G. (1999) History of Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi. Singh, M.G. (1999) Wooden Temples of Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi. Slusser, M.S. (1982) Nepal Mandal. A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley. Princeton. Thakur, L.S. (1989) ‘Parasara Rsi – An Hitherto Little Know Pagoda Temple at Kammant, Kulu District of Himachal Pradesh’, East and West 39 (1-4): 303-12. Thakur, L.S. (1996) The architectural heritage of Himachal Pradesh, Origin and Development of temple Styles. New Delhi. Thakur, M.R. (1997) Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi. Verma, V. (2002) Kanauras of Kinnaur, A Schedule Tribe in Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi. Wiesner, U. (1978) Nepalese Temple Architecture, its characteristics and its relations to Indian developments. Leiden.

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Fig. 1 - Map of Himachal Pradesh (Map A.-C. Juramie).

Fig. 2b - View of Maheshvar temple and its complex, Sungra, October 2005 (Photo A.-C. Juramie).

Fig. 2a - View of Maheshvar temple and its complex, Sungra, October 2004 (Photo A.-C. Juramie).

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CONSERVATION, RESTORATION OR RECONSTRUCTION? THE CASE OF A WOODEN TEMPLE IN THE INDIAN HIMALAYAS

Fig. 5 - Tripurasundari temple, Naggar, Himachal Pradesh (Photo A.-C. Juramie). Fig. 3 - Plan of Maheshvar temple, Sungra (After Handa 2001, pl. 58: 277).

Fig. 4 - Vi·nu temple, Kalpa, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh (Photo A.-C. Juramie). Fig. 6 - Nag Bering temple, Sangla, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh (Photo A.-C. Juramie).

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CONSERVATION, RESTORATION OR RECONSTRUCTION? THE CASE OF A WOODEN TEMPLE IN THE INDIAN HIMALAYAS

Fig. 7b - Maheshvar temple at Sungra, October 2005 (Photo A.-C. Juramie). Fig. 7a - Maheshvar temple, Sungra, October 2004 (Photo A.-C. Juramie).

Fig. 8a - Maheshvar temple, Chagaon, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, November 2007 (Photo C. Humbert-Droz).

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Fig. 8b - Maheshvar temple, Katgaon, Bhaba Valley, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, November 2007 (Photo C. Humbert-Droz).

Fig. 9b - Decorated wooden panel, ground floor (south-south-east side), Maheshvar temple, Sungra, October 2005 (Photo A.-C. Juramie).

Fig. 9a - Decorated wooden panel, ground floor, Maheshvar temple, Sungra, October 2004 (Photo A.-C. Juramie).

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CONSERVATION, RESTORATION OR RECONSTRUCTION? THE CASE OF A WOODEN TEMPLE IN THE INDIAN HIMALAYAS

Fig. 10 - Parashar Rishi temple, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, 2nd half of the 14th century (Photo A.-C. Juramie).

155

YAK·AS OR PORTRAITS? A RE-EVALUATION OF THE SO-CALLED ‘YAK·A STATUES’ FROM THE MAURYAŚUṄGA PERIOD1 Vincent Lefèvre ‘Yak·a images are the oldest known images in India’; thus wrote Ananda K. Coomaraswamy in one of his most famous books, simply called Yak·as (1928: 18). From that time on, this assertion became a sort of creed in the history of Indian art, so that, in spite of many different studies, its accuracy was never really discussed. A significant number of impressive statues have been labelled ‘Yak·a’. This is, for example, the case of the famous Pārkhām statue. Just after its discovery, Alexander Cunningham wrote: 1

far as these Early Historical images are concerned, I do not find their identification as Yak·a entirely convincing. It would follow from this identification that 1) in the last centuries BC, Yak·as were considered as important cult deities at a moment when other divinities were not represented and 2) in the first centuries AD this cult almost disappeared, so that Yak·as became minor deities, similar to Gandharvas and the like. To my knowledge, these religious implications have not really been taken into consideration.

The statue is a colossal standing figure of a man cut in the round, 7 feet in height from head to foot and 2 feet broad across the shoulders. […] The statue is made of grey sandstone, and still retains many traces of having been highly polished. The figure is called Devatā or “the God”, and has been in its present position for an unknown length of time. All the other remains at Parkham are of red sandstone, and comparatively modern. Both arms being broken off just below the shoulders, it is difficult to say what was the action of the figure. But I suspect that the statue was that of a Yaksha, or attendant demi-god, who carried a chauri over the right shoulder (Cunningham 1885: 40-41).

Yak·a vs. royal portrait Following Cunningham’s tentative interpretation, quite a number of big statues were labelled ‘Yak·as’. Such was the case, for example of two images found in PāΓaliputra (Patna) and kept at the Indian Museum, in Kolkata.3 Both of them bear inscriptions on their shoulder in which Cunningham read the word yakkhe. In 1919, K.P. Jayaswal proposed new readings of these inscriptions and, as a consequence, interpreted the two statues as portraits of kings of the ancient Śaiśunāka dynasty (483409 BC, according to his estimation): Aja-Udayin (Fig. 1) and Nandi-Vardhana (Fig. 2). This identification gave birth to a huge controversy, which there is not space to summarise here. The chart below, following the chronological order, gives an idea of the number of papers delivered on that issue in only two years.

By comparison with the Pārkhām statue, many other such images have also been labelled ‘Yak·a’. Sometimes they have been dated from the Maurya period, or even earlier but, nowadays, most scholars seem to agree on a date around the Śuṅga period. It is not my intention to enter this discussion, the important point for the purpose of this paper being that these statues are ancient and older than the representations of Buddha, Mahāvīra and the Hindu gods. Statues and the cult of Yak·as I do not seek here to deny the existence of Yak·a as a category of divine or semi-divine beings, even if, as we will see, their definition is far from being evident.2 But as 1

This paper is derived from a wider study on portraiture in India and Southeast Asia which was presented as a ‘Habilitation à diriger les recherches’ at the University Paris-III Sorbonne Nouvelle in June 2007. The publication of the entire study is under preparation.

Portrait

Yak·a

Jayaswal, K.P. (1919a). Banerji, R.D. (1919). Bhattacharya, B.C. (1919). Smith, V.A. (1919). Jayaswal, K.P. (1919b). Sastri, Mm H.P. (1919). Banerji, R.D. (1920). Jayaswal, K.P. (1920).

Majumdar, R.C. (1920). Barnett, L.D. (1919). Gangoly, O.C. (1919). Papers by R.C. Majumdar & R. Chandra in The Indian Antiquary 49, March 1919, pp. 25 et sq. (n.v.) Chanda, R. (1921).

idol-worship, rituals of the cult, the nature of worshippers and the status of the Yaksha priests vis-à-vis the Vedic priests. […] It is significant that Yakshas’ images are the first anthropomorphic representations of any deity in stone and present a uniform iconographic standard in spite of geographical distances between their find-spots. Since image-worship was a pre- or non-Aryan institution and the Yaksha sculptures are the oldest known historical sculptures so far, it may be pleaded that this occurrence is not merely coincidental; it might be indicative of a pattern, flowing from the one to the other.’

2

In spite of an abundant literature on the subject, most of the studies on YakΒas are imbued with many prior assumptions. See for example R.N. Misra (1981: 7): ‘The Yak·as seem to imbibe the idea of the supernatural in their acts, form and appearance, to the widest possible extent. And there is hardly any reason to doubt the impact of primitivereligion on it. How the general traits of primitive-religion moulded themselves into the form of a particular deity, i.e., Yaksha, is difficult to reconstruct. The earliest mention of Yaksha is found in the Rgveda, but not as a deity inhering in itself the primitive beliefs. What we find there is an intellectual concept in the form of a symbol and abstraction. […] But it suffices here to say that the word might have been of a non-Aryan origin and the high-god concept applied to it in the Vedic period might have been due to the fact that a section of the Aryans upheld it. […] That the Yaksha were originally non-Aryan deities hardly need be doubted, and his non-Aryan character is reflected by the institution of

3

According to Cunningham’s report of 1879, these two statues had been on the grounds of the Asiatic Society’s Museum at Calcutta, hidden amongst the foliage, for forty years. They had probably been found by the brother of a Dr. Tyler at Agam Kua, an old brick well, on the south side of the city of Patna and just to the north of the Buddhist ruins of Panch Pahari (Cunningham 1882: 1-3).

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Vincent Lefèvre Most of the debate was related to palaeographic arguments but also to something less scientific: all the partisans of the Yak·a interpretation refuted the idea that the most ancient statues in India could be portraits or at least images of historical persons. Enhanced by the scientific controversy, Jayaswal went so far as to interpret the Pārkhām statue as being a portrait of the king Ajātaśatru, since ‘Kunika’, possibly another name of this Śaiśunāka ruler, can be read on the pedestal of the image (Jayaswal 1920). Finally, in 1921, R. Chanda published a paper which definitively demolished Jayaswal’s palaeographic method. However, it should be emphasised that, although Chanda proved Jayaswal’s reading not to be accurate, he did not prove the Patna images to be Yak·a; Chanda merely returned to the previous interpretation without elaborating further arguments. Nevertheless, it has since been admitted that these images are Yak·as.

translated as ‘what is this?’ In Buddhist texts, Yak·a, or yakkha in Pāli, also seems to be very vague. For example, it can be used to designate Buddha (Majjhima Nikāya I.386) or Sakka (Majjhima Nikāya I.252). In the Jātakas, yakkha is very often a synonym of devatā and I would suspect that in all the Buddhist literature Yak·a is used for any deity or being of non Buddhist origin to whom a cult is offered. Finally, in the Vinaya-PiΕaka (e.g. I.277) it is used as a gloze for amanussā. According to the commentary, amanussas ‘are either yakkhas or men who having departed desire to return’. In the Pāli-English dictionary, amanussā is defined as ‘a being half-deified and of great power as regards influencing people’. The same word also appears, very interestingly in Nagnajit’s Citralak·ana: 4 Brahmā himself has expounded for me on the different bodily proportions of the kings and other beings; I will explain exactly these methods of measurement to you, as will you do it to other men. The following measurements are applicable to Asuras, Nāgas, Rāk·asas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Siddhas, Vādana and Jaritars, Piśācas, Pretas, Kumbhāndhas and the host of the Vidyādharas, for the human beings, Amānushas and Kings (Citralak·ana, 528-539).

Yak·a in ancient texts As explained above, the Yak·a interpretation has many religious implications. Therefore, once it was admitted that these statues were Yak·a, it was necessary to look at ancient texts to justify this interpretation. This was the work of Coomaraswamy and others (for example, R.N. Misra). Once again, we must examine the method: the texts were read in such way because of the supposed ‘Yak·a-hood’ of the statues. But, as we have seen, this interpretation can be questioned (and indeed had been over a very short period). Now, with this doubt in mind, let us look again at some of the texts.

This treatise deals with the making of images and we should note, then, that Amānu·a rank among human images, close to the Cakravartin and other kings. To sum up, in ancient texts, it is very difficult to see behind the word Yak·a something very specific. Only at a later date was the word applied to a category of semidivine beings.

Gopatha Brāhmana: ombrahma ha vā idam agra āsīt svayam tv ekam eva tad aik·ata mahad vai yak·am tad ekam evāsmi hantāham mad eva manmātram dvitīyam devam nirmama iti

Back to the portrait interpretation? Now, let us go back to our statues in order to examine further the arguments in favour of the Yak·a interpretation. In fact, they are not very numerous:

‘Om, verily, the Brahman was this in the beginning, just alone, only self-existent. It willed: “I am the large Yak·a. Come, let me measure out from myself a second god of like measure with myself”. (transl. Srinivasan 1997: 205 and fn. 42)

1. Patna image The Patna statue that Jayaswal thought to be VaΓa Nandi or Nandi Vardhana bears an inscription on his scarf. Most authors (for example, Barnett, R.C. Majumdar, R. Chanda) seem to agree that the first word is yakkha. But there are some disagreements about this and Jayaswal was not the only one to hold this point of view (for example, B.C. Bhattacharya). Not being a palaeographist, I merely underline these doubts concerning the reading. In addition, as we have just seen, questions remain about the real meaning of the word yakkha.

According to this passage Prajāpati is an emanation of Brahman, which is also defined as Yak·a, whose likeness he retains. Therefore, in this passage Yak·a is almost similar to deva. Kenopani·ad 3.1-2: brahma ha devebhyo vijigye / tasya ha brahmano vijaye devā amahīyanta / ta aik·antāsmākam evāyam vijayo āsmākam evāyam mahimeti // tad dhai·ām vijajñau / tebhyo ha prādur babhūva / tan na vyajānata / kim idam yak·am iti ‘Brahman once saw to the victory of the devas. The devas became elated by the victory, and they thought, this victory is ours, the greatness is ours. Brahman noticed this conceit and appeared to them. But they did not know it, and said: “What spirit is this?” (transl. F. Max-Müller)

4

To date, the Citralak·ana is the oldest śilpaśāstra known to us; quoted by Varāhamihira in his Bΰhat Samhitā it is thus anterior to the 6th century AD. But the Sanskrit original has disappeared and the text is known only through its Tibetan version, which was translated into German by G. Laufer at the beginning of the 20th century; this translation was in turn translated into English by A. Dallapiccola and B.N. Goswamy. For an interesting viewpoint on this text, see also Roth 1990.

Once again, Yak·a is used in relation with Brahman but since the gods cannot recognise him, we should interpret the word Yak·a is a very broad sense, like ‘spirit’ or ‘apparition’. Indeed kim idam Yak·am could almost be 158

YAKṢAS OR PORTRAITS? 2. Bhārhut

very conclusive about Manibhadra being a Yak·a. But this name appears in a somewhat earlier source: the Mahāniddesa (e.g. I.92).9 There, it appears as Manibhadda(vattikā) and it is mentioned along with three other persons: Punnabhadda, Vāsudevattikā and Baladevattikā. Of course the last two are clearly Vāsudeva and Balarama. This could give us a key of interpretation about the identity of the former: indeed, it is possible that Manibhadra and Punnabhadda, like the two famous Vΰ·nis, could also be some sort of heroes or (deified?) k·atriyas.

On the railing of the Bhārhut stūpa, there are many big figures carved on the pillars. Many of them are accompanied by short labels in which the word yakkha also appears. However, except for Kubera and VirūΡhaka, many of these supposed Yak·a and Yak·ī cannot be identified: their names do not appear elsewhere. And those who are supposed to be known from elsewhere are always related to very different sources from one another.5 Therefore these identifications do not always seem to be very consistent. Besides, some of these are also true portraits of donors in Bhārhut: this is the case, on the eastern door, of the king leading a procession and holding a relic casket who might be the king Dhanabūti (Coomaraswamy 1956: 41, fn. 1); the queen and the prince, on the western door, might then be his wife and his son, Nāgarakhitā and Vādhapāla. This raises the question whether the other figures, usually identified as Yak·a or Yak·ī, could also be representations of donors.6

To conclude, I have not sought to give a firm and definitive interpretation but to show that some ideas about ancient images are not as well established as we may think. The Yak·a interpretation was a tentative one at the time of Cunningham, but since then has been followed so closely that many texts were interpreted only in order to justify this hypothesis. As I have tried to demonstrate, this identification is rather weak because the nature of Yak·a, at least in the Early Historical period, is far from being evident. Indeed, it would seem that ‘Yak·a’ is used as a practical denomination when the actual identity of an image is not known. It is a possibility but, then, we have to know what a Yak·a is! I am reluctant about this identification because it appears, in the minds of many scholars, to be much more precise than it should be.

3. The ‘Yak·a’ Manibhadra from Pawaya The last piece of evidence in favour of the Yak·a interpretation is the inscription on the pedestal of the Pawaya image.7 The word yakkha does not appear here, but we are given the name of the image: Manibhadra, which is supposed to be a Yak·a name.8 The identity of this Yak·a Manibhadra has often been established according to one famous text: the list of Yak·as included in the Mahāmāyurī. This is in fact a long list of towns and cities with a mention of the local deity. It is important to note that among the Yak·as are also some important gods like Vi·nu or Kārttikeya, a fact which, again, seems to give a rather vague definition of what is a Yak·a. Besides, the Mahāmāyurī, according to Sylvain Lévy, could have been composed between the 1st and 4th century AD and was translated into Chinese several times between the 4th and the 7th century. However, the Yak·a list is absent from the first translations, which means it is a late interpolation. The Mahāmāyurī is therefore not

Of course, the question remains as to who these gigantic statues are supposed to represent. On this point I do not completely follow Jayaswal, whose interpretation appears rather anecdotal. But it seems that the portrait hypothesis should be re-examined. I would suggest that these statues may be images of ancient kings or rulers. Maybe, like the famous Vΰ·nis, they were deified heroes. But it is not possible to ascertain that all of these images were created after the death of the models or events that were used in a cult. I would add that this interpretation would be consistent with what we know about portraiture in India. When images of Buddha and Mahāvīra made their appearance around the beginning of the common era, it was felt necessary to justify this with stories about portraits of these two religious figures made during their life-time.10 In the Hindu tradition, we know that divine images are considered as true portraits of the gods and, in the most ancient śilpaśāstras, we see that images of men (i.e. Cakravartin) are considered as model for all images.11 I have quoted Nagnajit’s Citralak·ana before, but it also the case of the Bΰhat Samhitā and the Vi·nudharmottara Purāna.

5

See for example, Ajakāla (Lüders H. et al. 1963: 74-75, n° B3, pl. unknown in other sources, Suchiloma (Ibid.: p. 79, n° B9, pl. mentioned in Suttanipāta (eds D. Andersen & H. Smith, Pali Text Society, p. 47 ff.) and Samyuttanikāya (ed. L. Feer, PTS, p. 207ff.) and Sudarśana (Lüders H. et al. 1963: 79-80, n° B10, pl. XXXII) mentioned in the Mahābhārata (13.2.4 ff.) but who, in the Mahāmāyurī, is either a YakΒa (ed. S. von Oldenburg, p. 231) or a Nāgarāja (p. 246). XXIX), XXXI),

6 Some of the figures on the railing posts are also depicted with a snakehood above their head and, therefore, have been labelled ‘Nāgarāja’. As an hypothesis, I would suggest that these figures might be related to a local tribe. As a matter of fact, in many sources, the term nāga is used to designate an autochtonous group. A good example of this is the South Indian legend of the Nāginī who married a Cōάa prince (in the Manimēkalai, for instance); this legend was later used by the Pallava dynasty (see for example the Velūrpālaiyam grant) and was adaptated in South East Asia, notably in Cambodia and in Champa (see Coedès 1911 and Goloubew 1924).

The ideas and suggestions raised in this paper can, of course, be debated. Furthermore, space limitations mean

7 Kept at the Gwalior Archaeological Museum, this famous image has been published several times; see for example, Coomaraswamy 1927: pl. 18, fig. 63; Coomaraswamy 1928: pl. 1, fig. 2; Misra 1981: fig. 24.

9

See Misra 1981: 43, fn. 20.

10

On the images of Buddha and Mahāvīra as portraits, see (among others) Sinha 1981 and Shah 1951. See also chapter 1 of the memoir by me alluded to in fn. 1.

8 One can find a good synthesis on Manibhadra with a lot of textual references in Zin 2003: 265-76.

11

159

For a more detailed study, see Lefèvre V., in press.

Vincent Lefèvre Chanda, R. (1921) ‘Four Ancient Yak·a Statues’, Journal of the Department of Letters, University of Calcutta, 4: 47-84.

that it is impossible here to set out and examine the evidence in full. However, should we follow the suggested hypothesis, it would mean reconsidering in part the origins of the Indian iconography, because the most ancient images could represent more or less historical characters. After the completion of my study, from which this paper stems, I became aware of a recent article by Doris Meth Srinivasan (2005) on the famous Dīdārgañj ‘Yak·ī’ which, she argues, could be in fact an image of a royal courtesan, or ganikā. Srinivasan’s approach is quite different from mine (and both were developed independently); however we reach quite similar conclusions. Srinivasan suggests that the statue might represent some sort of historical character and she adds:

Citralak·ana: An Early Document of Indian Art. The Citralak·ana of Nagnajit (1976) translated and introduced by B.N. Goswamy & A.L. DahmenDallapiccola, following the German Edition of the Citralak·ana based on the Tibetan Tanjur, edited and translated by Berthold Laufer. Delhi. Coedès, G. (1911) ‘Études cambodgiennes I : La légende de la nāgī’, Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême Orient 11: 391-93. Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1927) ‘The Origin of the Buddha Image’, The Art Bulletin 9 (4): 287-328.

Towards whom does she show this deference? Most probably the king. Indeed, it may be proposed that a royal figure, either seated or standing would have been flanked by two courtesans, the ganikā and the pratiganikā. One of these, I propose, is the Dīdārgañj female; the other one, though no longer known, may have been holding the umbrella and/or vase (Srinivasan 2005: 361).

Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1928) Yak·as. Washington. Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1956) La sculpture de Bharhut. Paris (transl. Jean Buhot). Cunningham, A. (1879) The Stupa of Bharhut: A Buddhist Monument Ornamented with Numerous Sculptures illustrative of Buddhist Legend and History in the third century B.C. London.

This suggestion is quite consistent with those I have developed here and I wonder whether the so-called Yak·a statues, or at least some of them, could not be the royal figures attended by such ganikās?

Cunningham, A. (1882) Report of a Tour in Bihar and Bengal in 1879-80, from Patna to Sunargaon (Archaeological Survey of India Report 15). Calcutta.

Finally, my hypothesis, if proved correct, would have one last implication: it would also mean that the tradition of erecting statues of important rulers was an old one in India. Therefore, some later royal portraits, like those of the Kushans, which are generally considered as a foreign practice, should be viewed through a more Indian lens.

Cunningham, A. (1885) Report of a Tour in Eastern Rajputana (Archaeological Survey of India Report 20). Calcutta. Goloubew, V. (1924) ‘Mélanges sur le Cambodge Ancien I : Les légendes de la nagi et de l’apsaras’, Bulletin de l’Ecole Française d’Extrême Orient 24: 501-10.

Acknowledgements I wish to thank Doris M. Srinivasan and Monika Zin for pointing to recent publications to be added to this paper. Katie Booth was kind enough to check my English.

Jayaswal, K.P. (1919a) ‘Statues of Two Śaiśunāka Emperors (483-409 B.C.)’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 5 (1): 88106. Jayaswal, K.P. (1919b) ‘Another Śaiśunāka Statue (cir. 515 B.C.)’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 5 (4): 550-51.

Bibliographic References Banerji, R.D. (1919) ‘A Note on the Statues of Śaiśunāka Emperors in the Calcutta Museum’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 5 (2): 210-15.

Jayaswal, K.P. (1920) ‘The Statue of Ajatasatru Kunika and A Discussion on the Origin of Brahmi’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 6 (2): 173-204.

Banerji, R.D. (1920) ‘Inscriptions on the Patna Statues’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 6 (1): 40-50.

Lefèvre, V. (in press) ‘Portraits in Śilpaśāstras and Related Texts’, Proceedings of the 13th World Sanskrit Conference (Edinburgh, July 10-14, 2006).

Barnett, L.D. (1919) ‘Śaiśunāka Statues’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 5 (4): 513-16.

Lévi, S. (1915) ‘Le catalogue géographique des Yak·a dans la Mahāmāyurī’, Journal Asiatique 5: 19138.

Barua, B. & Sinha, K.G., ed. & transl. (1926) Bharhut Inscriptions. Calcutta.

Lüders, H. & Janert, K.L., eds & transl. (1961) Mathurā Inscriptions. Göttingen.

Bhattacharya, B.C. (1919) ‘Śaiśunāka Statues’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 5 (3): 402-4.

Lüders, H.; Waldschmidt, E. & Mehendale, M.A., eds & 160

YAKṢAS OR PORTRAITS? transl. (1963) Bharhut Inscriptions (Corpus inscriptionum indicarum 2, pt. 2). Ootacamund. Majumdar, R.C. (1920) ‘Inscriptions on the Alleged Śaiśunaga Statues’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 6 (4): 474-80. Misra, R.N. (1981) Yaksha Cult and Iconography. New Delhi. Mukherji, P.D. (2001) The Citrasūtra of the Vi·nudharmottara Purāna, critical edition and translation. New Delhi. Roth, G. (1990) ‘Notes on the Citralaksana’ in SAA 1987, 2, 979-1028. Rome. Sastri, Mm H.P. (1919) ‘Sisunaga Statues’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 5 (4): 552-63. Shah, U.P. (1951a) ‘A Unique Jaina Image of Jīvantasvāmī’, Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda 1 (1): 72-9. Shah, U.P. (1951b) ‘Sidelights on the Life-Time SandalWood Image of Mahāvīra’, Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda 1 (3): 358-67. Sinha, D.K. (1981) ‘The So-Called Portraits of Buddha’, Prof. Jagannath Agrawal Felicitation Volume, Vishveshvaranand Indological Journal 19 (1-2): 247-58. Smith, V.A. (1919) ‘Alleged Portrait Statues of Saisunaga-Nanda kings’, The Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society 5 (4): 51213. Srinivasan, D.M. (1997) Many Heads, Arms and Eyes. Origin, Meaning and Form of Multiplicity of Indian Art. Leiden. Srinivasan, D.M. (2005) ‘The Mauryan Ganikā from Dīdārgañj (PāΓaliputra)’, East and West 55 (1-4): 345-62. Varahamihira (1981) Bΰhat Samhitā, with English Translation, Exhaustive Notes and Literary Comments by M.R. Bhat, 2 vol. Delhi. Zin, M. (2003) Ajanta, Handbuch der Malereien 2: Devotionale und ornamentale Malerei, Vol. I: Interpretation. Wiesbaden.

161

Vincent Lefèvre

Fig. 1 - Male figure (possibly Aja-Udayin), from PāΓaliputra (Patna). 3rd century BC (?). Polished brownished sandstone. 162 cm. Indian Museum, Kolkata (copyright American Institute of Indian Studies, accession no 35339; with the kind permission of the Indian Museum).

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YAKṢAS OR PORTRAITS?

Fig. 2 - Male figure (possibly Nandi-Vardhana), from PāΓaliputra (Patna). 3rd century BC (?). Polished brownished sandstone. Indian Museum, Kolkata (copyright American Institute of Indian Studies, accession no 35331; with the kind permission of the Indian Museum).

163

PARTHIAN NISA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON NEW RESEARCH Carlo Lippolis this royal foundation.3

Old Nisa is one of the archaeological sites of the Parthian period which has been subjected to studies and investigations for a long time.1 In the 1880s the governor of the Transcaspian region A.V. Komarov, studying ancient history locally, thought that Old Nisa was the ruin of a town of ‘fire-worshippers’ destroyed before the Arab conquest. A first archaeological surface exploration of the site was taken in 1925 by O.E. Vizel’ and V.D. Gorodeckij of the Ashgabat Museum of Regional Studies. The earliest systematic excavations began in 1930 and were continued for six years by the History Institute of Turkmenistan under the direction of A.A. Maruščenko. A second period, ranging from the years immediately after World War II until 1967, marked two decades’ work by the JuTAKE complex expedition. Subsequently, the excavations of the ‘Parfianskaja ekspedicija’ were carried out by the History Institute of the Science Academy of Turkmenistan from 1979 to 1991 and by the LOIA (now IHMC/IIMK RAS) expedition (1982-86); work was then carried out by the Soviet Union Academy of Sciences in Moscow and the Asghabat University (1986-1991). At the moment work there is carried out by a RussianTurkmen mission under V.N. Pilipko and an ItalianTurkmen expedition (since 1990) of the Centro Scavi of Turin.2

The Red Building The most recent excavations carried out by Italian archaeologists between 2000 and 2006 on the so-called Red Building have helped to shed new light on this matter. Within what is generally described in scientific literature as the central complex,4 which is in fact located in a position almost juxtaposed to the citadel’s enceinte, the excavations revealed a large Parthian building of about 40 m on each side, opening on the large central court of the citadel (Fig. 2). The new building was named ‘Red Building’ because of its purple-red plastered walls:5 this seems to be here a highly significant feature as it was used not only on the northern and southern façades, but also in four internal rooms and in some of them as floor delicate treatment. The building has a square plan which conforms to a well-established Iranian tradition: the northern façade takes the form of an unusually deep portico flanked by two projecting rooms probably added in a later phase of construction (Fig. 3). Three steps in gray-greenish sandstone are set in the middle of the façade, and led up on the platform from the lower level of the courtyard. A single row6 of four wooden columns on

In spite of the seventy years’ investigations, there are still many unanswered questions, both regarding absolute chronology of the site’s building phases and of the structures of ancient Mithradatkert, and also regarding the specific purpose of each single structure within the fortification wall or of the specific character of the ceremonies which were supposedly performed there.

3 At the time of writing, the Italian excavations final report was in phase of completion: see now Invernizzi & Lippolis 2008. Russian-Turkmen excavations on the Tower Building are still underway and remain unpublished but they might result decisive to the general interpretation of the site. What is presented in this paper therefore remains open to further revision as it was drawn up without the benefit of the wealth of data gleaned from the work underway. 4 The middle sector of the citadel placed against the western fortifications has been described in scientific literature as the ‘southern sector’, as the ‘south-western complex’ or as the ‘central complex’: it includes buildings placed around a large open space, namely, the NE Building (or Palace), the Square Hall, the Tower Building, the Red Building, the Round Hall.

The very interpretation of the entire site (Fig. 1) as a large ceremonial centre of the Arsacid dynasty, which is generally accepted today, needs in fact further specific hypotheses that can be proposed today thanks to the results of researches carried out in Old Nisa during the last twenty years, particularly regarding its monumental complex. The opening of new soundings as well as the full excavation of some of the main buildings in the central part of the site are both events which have resulted in further objective data; this means we can now trace a more complete picture, albeit a still temporary, provisional one, concerning the historical vicissitudes of

5 Recently other names have been proposed for the Red Building, such as ‘the central complex’s South Western building’ – a description used at first by Maruščenko to indicate the Round Hall – or ‘Building with the Stone Slabs’ (Pilipko 2007: 150-51). The purple red plaster finish is certainly not exclusive of the recently excavated building: it is found in the Square Hall and possibly in the Round Hall (note 25) of Old Nisa itself, as well as in the building adjacent to the western walls of New Nisa and in the burial chambers which occupied the sector in a later period (‘red chambers’: Vjazmitina 1949: 147-69; 1953: 147-68; Pugačenkova 1953: 159-67; Gullini 1964: 306-11, figs 238-39; Grenet 1984: 66-67, 215) or again in the nearby complex of Mansur-depe (Košelenko, Novikov & Lapšin 2000: 87-123); nevertheless we believe this type of decoration a distinctive trait of a building which was largely covered in this colour, both inside as outside. The name ‘Red Building’ is by now a term in use, and was chosen from the very start for convenience’s sake, and because it is able to indicate one of the building’s main characteristics: we therefore believe it is the most apt and immediate.

1

For the history of the research cfr. Pilipko 2001: 10-124 and Masson & Pugačenkova 1982: 9-11. 2

Research has been financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by the Compagnia di San Paolo and by the University of Turin; after a cooperation with the State University of Turkmenistan, since year 2001 the National Department on Protection, Research and Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Turkmenistan directed by M. Mamedov and the National Museum of Turkmenistan directed by O. Mametnurov, are both working side by side with the Italian expedition; I am grateful for their precious cooperation to our research.

6

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One of the problems relating to the reconstruction of the portico roof is

Carlo Lippolis square stone bases with torus stands on the edge of the platform: these bases are made by five assembled pieces of stone (plinth) and a monolithic barrel-shaped torus, therefore they belong to a rather different type from those in the central hall of the building (where the three-stepped plinth is sculpted as a single piece). In both cases plinth and torus were made separately from each other.7

axis, therefore the view of the central hall was not allowed from the outside. The main central hall (Fig. 6) itself is a large - almost square - space, measuring 17.2 x 15.8 m, with four columns on three-stepped plinth with torus bases: according to a genuine Iranian tradition the wooden columns were covered in plaster with red, black and ochre colours but also sheets of gold.

The Red Building’s uniqueness is due to the decoration on its main façade, in which stone elements were largely used, a fact that is quite rare in Nisa. The entire length of the front wall of this platform, in fact, was covered with a series of stone slabs of local sandstone, decorated with astragal and rounded vertical flutings. Other slabs form a socle at the base of the rear wall of the portico: the collapse of superimposed structures have sealed and protected these slabs and therefore the state of preservation was remarkable and the slabs still preserve their original rich polychromy, with red, ochre and black colours over the greenish-grey of the stone (Figs 4-5).

As in other buildings in Old Nisa the architectural decoration of the hall included terracotta decorative plaques, merlons and metopes, while a few fragments of terracotta acanthus leaves seem to belong to the assembled Corinthian capitals of the columns of the portico and of the hall. The walls of the main central room were smooth and simply plastered in white: only three small rectangular niches - with the inside coloured in purple red - opened in its western wall. Although the walls are here preserved to a considerable height, they don’t provide enough information for a precise reconstruction of the roof. On the basis of comparisons with the Square Hall, we would suppose it to be a flat roof with a lantern in the middle supported by the four columns: the reconstruction suggested by Pugačenkova for the Square Hall still represents a likely comparison for the covering of the central hall of the Red Building.9

This decoration is highly original, for, while the individual motifs are borrowed from the Greek repertoire,8 its positioning is completely anomalous. On a ‘Greek’ monument, in fact, we would expect to find it in the upper part of the wall as a frieze, but here it appears at the base of the masonry, with slabs simply leaned against the façade and joined to the mud brick core with gypsum mortar. Therefore the term ‘socle’ could be more appropriate than the term ‘frieze’, in particular for the slabs on the wall at the back of the portico.

As said before the name ‘Red Building’ derives from its particular decoration: the northern and southern façades and the lower part of the inner walls of the lateral rooms on the portico, of room 15 and of room 21 had a fine but resistant purple-red plaster final treatment (Fig. 7). Only in room 15 the top of the walls was further decorated by polychrome bands (alternating green, black, ivory and red colours) and geometric pattern (cancorrente). Furthermore, in the case of room 15 and 21 a fine coloured plaster was also applied over a beaten clay floor (the colour was purple red in 15 and ochre in 21); for that reason one may think that these two rooms had a special destination. This type of finish of floor surfaces has been recorded by archaeologists for the northern corridor in the Square Hall and also in New Nisa (see fn. 4). It’s a technique found quite frequently in Achaemenid residences: this type of paving is executed with greater care, is theoretically at least more resistant, and carried out by superimposing different clay strata which are then covered by a thinner level of sand and fine gravel (sometimes crushed sherds or ‘cocciopesto’), over which a layer of colour is then applied. We find it again at Persepolis, (Palace of Darius I, Treasury, structures to the south of it), at Susa (residential complex of Darius I), and at Babylon (‘Persian Building’, Palace in Babil) (Schmidt 1953: 28 (Babylon), 31-32 (Susa), 55 (Persepolis, buildings south of the Treasury), 159 (Persepolis, Treasury), 222 (Persepolis, Palace of Darius I).10 As was possibly also the case in Achaemenid buildings, the purple colour should have had a particular ideological meaning for the Arsacids and we can suppose its presence

The colours on the stone slabs (ochre and red) returned on the plastered wall at the back of the portico, while green, blue and dark blue were probably used for the beams of the covering. In this way, the strongly pictorial effect and lively polychromy of the façade gives unity to the different materials used on the façade: stone for the bases and the slabs, wood for the columns and the portico’s covering, terracotta and gypsum for architectural decorative elements, mud for bricks and plaster. The main entrance to the building opens slightly offcentre in the rear wall of the portico; it leads into a small atrium and then to the central square hall through a second passage. These doorways are not on the same

the remarkable distance between the columns’ bases and the façade’s wall, totalling eight metres: it is an unusually long bay and no other similar examples appear at Nisa. On the other hand as excavations in the lower levels of the portico have not led to the discovery of any traces of another row of columns, we cannot propose a double line of columns here, as attested in many other buildings of Iranian and Central Asian tradition or in Old Nisa itself (NE Building). 7 Both in shape (‘Achaemenid type’) and technique (more blocks of stone for plinth and torus) Nisa’s bases are close to those in Takht-i Sangin, while at Ai Khanum bases are monolithic (Litvinskij & Pičikjan 2000: 141-53).

9 Pugačenkova 1953: figure opposite p. 146; Pilipko 1996: figs 56-57; 2001: 195, fig. 139, where he reconstructs three skylights instead of a single central one.

8

Even if the Achaemenid tradition of the ‘cavetto cornice’ could be not completely unrelated in the transmission of the decorative motifs and may have somehow influenced their syntax on the Nisa slabs, cfr. Lippolis 2005.

10

166

For technique see Matson 1953: 285-88.

PARTHIAN NISA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON NEW RESEARCH in the buildings of Nisa could be somehow connected to the close links of these structures with the royal ideology.

earlier (more than one?) ‘archaic’ Arsacid phase in Old Nisa. Unfortunately, there is no way of reconstructing a plan of the earliest levels, but this discovery allowed researchers to make another consideration, namely, whether the buildings of the central complex might belong to a second, monumental phase, to which we ascribe the Square Hall, the Tower Building, the Round Hall and the NE Building (this also incorporating earlier structures). Italian excavations have shown that the Red Building definitively belongs to a phase preceding the one in which the Round Hall and the Tower Building were erected. Objective proofs supports this hypothesis, namely:

The general layout of the Red Building is typical of the architecture of Central Asia in Achaemenid and postAchaemenid period as well documented in residential (domestic), palatial and sacral architecture. The adherence to Hellenistic motifs, even if recognizable in some architectural details (astragal and flutings on the stone slabs, terracotta plates and metopes, Corinthian acanthus leaves of the capitals) is even more marginal in our building than in other structures of Nisa. A systematic discussion on comparisons between the Red Building and other complexes of the Iranian and Central Asian traditions exceeds the limits of this study, but we may observe some general considerations. The basic scheme recalls the ‘cella carrée à quatre colonnes, précédée d’un portique, flanquée de salles étroites et pourvue à l’arrière d’une sale rectangulaire’ (Boucharlat 1984: 129), which are distinctive features of a series of buildings as for example the Oxus Temple, the Ayadana of Susa, the Frataraka’s temple at Persepolis and the Kuh-i Khwaja complex: except for the temple at Takht-i Sangin the chronology and the punctual destination of these building still remain debated and uncertain (Bernard 1976, 1990; Boucharlat 1984; Stronach 1985). In any case, identifying the Red Building at Nisa as a temple appears a not wholly satisfactory solution and this hypothesis is not supported by materials or other objective data. Moreover, the general layout of a central square piece preceded by a portico and surrounded by corridors is not exclusive of religious buildings and recurs, even if adapted, in the residential architecture of Bactria, as for example at Ai Khanum, Dilberjin and Dalverzin tepe (Bernard 1976: 257-66; Pugačenkova 1977; Francfort 1977).11 However, comparisons can also be found in the palatial context and the shape of the Nisa’s building is reminiscent of Achaemenid residences at Persepolis (Palace of Darius) and Susa (building III on the terrace), in spite of the different way of distributing and articulating spaces within the complex.

-

-

the masonries of the nearby Round Hall and of the Tower Building are leaning respectively to the southern and eastern plastered façade of the Red Building; the Red Building is directly built on the virgin soil (whereas a platform was erected under the Tower Building and Square Hall); whereas in the Red Building stone and wood are extensively used, they are gradually replaced by baked bricks in the later phases of the central complex in Old Nisa.

Unfortunately there is no way to establish whether the structures under the Square Hall date from the same age as those of the Red Building, and the two areas lie at a considerable distance from each other, but we cannot exclude that these structures might initially have been conceived as an official or ceremonial sector of an original, larger complex erected in this part of the citadel and comprising different buildings, pavilions, open areas which were nevertheless linked to each other.13 The system of corridors surrounding the Red Building, each leading to an adjacent area on each side, can be considered as a possible indication of that. It is worthwhile quoting a recent proposal advanced by V.N. Pilipko (2007: 155-56) concerning a change of function occurring at a certain moment in Old Nisa’s history, which led to the transformation of an original royal residence (founded by Mithridates I) into a dynastic ceremonial centre: a memorial erected after the death of the founder with buildings which would have glorified for ever his own name, the origins of the dynasty but also his successors. During the second phase the Red Building still continued to be in use: the only work which partially altered its original plan consisted in the insertion of lateral rooms on either side of the portico, originally a wider structure. Despite the radical remodelling which affected all the area, it was preserved and continued to function. This fact may have depended on the particular meaning it once had, possibly because there existed a connection with the figure of the king himself, or with the

One of the most typical aspects of the layout of the Red Building is that the rooms surrounding the main hall on the east and west sides communicate exclusively with corridors: a significant peculiarity, probably related to the general purpose of the building and the punctual use of the individual rooms (see below). There is also another element, this time linked to the chronology, which points to the particular significance of the Red Building. During excavations carried out in the Square Hall, an earlier phase of mud brick structures emerged, which had later been incorporated into the platform providing the foundation base of the building:12 therefore there arose the possibility to recognize an 11 . On Graeco-Bactrian residential architecture and comparisons see Lecuyot 1993.

13

Actually, excavations have ascertained the existence of earlier structures only under the Square Hall and the NE Building; the Round Hall excavations haven’t revealed the presence of previous structures; in the Tower Building the presence of the foundation platform base makes the identification of any structures or of earlier cultural levels difficult.

12 The lower structures in the sectors between the Square Hall and the NE Building can be related to two separate buildings: Pilipko 1996: 1420.

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Carlo Lippolis idea of kingship, which we cannot further understand in details.

delicate and complex: the statues had been piled into some areas of the halls at some time in history so the work required restorers to be constantly on site during the excavation. The Italian expedition, therefore, engaged in the difficult task of extracting these fragments which had been sealed off by the collapsed levels in the halls; in most cases work focused on small pieces, but the systematic documentation of these data ensures now a much greater knowledge of one of the most refined expressions of Old Nisa’s artistic production.

The absolute chronology of the building phases must still be ascertained and unfortunately the scanty material that emerged from the excavations do not help us to define a punctual dating: the terracotta architectural elements brought to light are common to all of the buildings and Arsacid levels of Old Nisa and the pottery doesn’t offer any precise term ranging in the wide cultural horizon of Bactria, Margiana and Atrek valley from the 3rd/2nd century up to the 1st century BC/1st century AD.

Mostly, the fragments can be identified as representing the drapery of statues executed in a pure Greek style, but some elements undoubtedly portray Iranian style dresses. Unfortunately there is no way to reconstruct the hall’s entire decorative cycle, or the exact number of figures it contained. The original location of the statues remains uncertain, but according to the fragments recovered, there were at least five or six statues probably placed directly on the floor or maybe mounted on bases of wood which have left no traces.

The Round Hall The Round Hall belongs to Old Nisa’s second great building phase (it was investigated in 1990-1996 and in 1999), and leans on to the Red Building on its SE corner (Gabutti Roncalli 1996). The research in the Round Hall began in the 1930s with Maruščenko and continued with JuTAKE’s works, leading within a few years to its almost complete excavation.

The JuTAKE’s archaeologists elaborated the hypothesis that the Round Hall was covered by a conical roof with a wooden structure (Krašeninnikova & Pugačenkova 1964: 129-35, figs 9-10). This supposition was clearly formulated following closely the model of one precise building of the Hellenistic world, the Arsinoeion of Samothrace as reconstructed by Niemann (1875). In 1990s the Italian mission completed the excavation of the northern corner of the building, carried out soundings in some areas inside the circular room and started a systematic structural study that concerned the roof covering type. The building has been erected with the overlapping of two distinct walls: the rectilinear external wall is tangent to the inner circular perimeter, the former made by a wall of four rows of bricks and the latter by a wall of two and a half rows (of bricks). At their base these two walls are just leaning one against the other, while in the upper part they are fastened together.

Together with the excavation of the NW passage and of the outer W corridor, one of the Italian team’s objectives was the recovery of the clay statue fragments that still remained on the ancient floor and had not been removed during previous expeditions. The building is composed of a large circular hall with a diameter of c. 17 m inside a quadrangular perimeter. Access to the inner hall was provided by three distinct passages that underwent several modifications during the long history of the building. Its plan makes the Round Hall an unusual building that cannot be directly compared to other structures, although it bears generic similarities to both Western designs and to traditional Central Asian schemes. The unusual plan, the monumental size and the finds from the inside all suggest that it was used for ceremonial purposes.

More than twenty years ago R. Besenval noted that the well-known reconstruction made by Pugačenkova didn’t follow the architectural models generally used in the region (Besenval 1984: 130-31).15 A closer examination and precise measurements carried out in the last years has shown that the walls of the Round Hall are not vertical but inward-sloping, and this slope starts from the base of the walls. They prove, therefore, that the old hypothesis of a conical roof on a cylinder has to be reconsidered: the covering could have better been a dome with a semielliptical profile resting directly on the floor, the smaller axis coinciding with the floor and the height roughly equivalent to the internal diameter of the hall (Fig. 10). The series of pole holes pits observed below the original floor are due to the scaffoldings erected during the construction of the dome and were disposed probably in concentric rings (Fig. 11). According to the elaborated models, the hypothesis of an adobe-dome on the Round

The Round Hall was at first interpreted as a temple and then as a mausoleum by Maruščenko, and later named as ‘Round Temple’ by the JuTAKE archaeologists; finally Košelenko recognized in the Round Hall a mausoleum or heroon, hypothesis that still prevails among the scholars, of one of the Arsacid kings (Košelenko 1977: 57-64; Lapšin 1999: 105-18; Invernizzi 2001b: 307-10; Pilipko 2001: 206-19), possibly the same sovereign portrayed in the beautiful fragmentary head recovered during Italian excavations in the hall (Invernizzi 2001a: 145, figs 7-9, pl. I-IV.) (Fig. 9). In fact, over-life-size clay statues of rulers, heroes and deified kings (according to Pilipko maybe also gods) would grace the main buildings’ interiors and were surely produced on site, as their fragile material seems to testify.14 The recovery of sculpture fragments was

15 For the architectural study of the Round Hall and for the possible hypotheses concerning the dome-shaped roof, see Masturzo and Blasi, Ferretti & Coïsson in Invernizzi & Lippolis 2008.

14

For this artistic production, largely found in Central Asia, cfr. Bollati 2005; Ead., in Invernizzi & Lippolis 2008, 167-96.

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PARTHIAN NISA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON NEW RESEARCH Hall is possible from a structural point of view and it is compatible with the local building techniques. Besides that, from the archaeological point of view, the volume of the filling debris inside the hall could further support the dome hypothesis.

the reign of Mithridates I, before the large scale reconstruction which can be perhaps placed at a time after his death, when the central sector, if not the whole hill, became a ceremonial centre of the Arsacid dynasty. We are unable to establish whether the fragmentary structures underneath the Square Hall are contemporary with the Red Building, or whether they might in fact belong to an original earlier complex which rose on the hill (building technique and materials are typically Parthian). Certainly, in spite of its peripheral position close to the citadel boundary, the Red Building was by no means isolated, as it was linked to other buildings. The close relationship between the Red Building and the fortifications seems to suggest they were all built at the same time, but the continual work to reinforce and refurbish the walls makes it difficult to establish the original structural relations between the two elements. If they were built at the same time, they could both be referred to the original foundation of the ‘fortress of Mithridates’.

If this reconstruction hypothesis is true the previous reconstruction of the Round Hall, with at least sixteen columns and statues on a second order on the walls, should be revised. The geometrical form of the building is quite simple and pure as probably must have been its inner space and decoration. In the new reconstruction, the principle of the bipartition of the inner walls remains but the above mentioned sloping-inwards of the masonry rules out the presence of statues and columns as suggested by Pugačenkova.16 The walls were simply covered with white plaster (maybe purple-red in the upper part)17 and divided into two registers by a stucco cornice of which a small fragment has been found.18 The exterior of the building has been reconstructed with a smooth socle in the lower part, just interrupted by the opening of the entrances to the hall, and a second order with a central part set further back having half-columns or slightly protruding pilasters.

At a certain moment, possibly following Mithridates I’s demise (Pilipko 2007: 156), Old Nisa was transformed from a fortified residence into a ceremonial centre. The proof would lie in the large buildings of the central sector of the citadel, which, we believe, might belong to a single basic project, which could have been subjected to changes and alterations during its execution. The example provided by the Round Hall is symptomatic: it interrupts the overall symmetry which characterizes the Tower Building (although it does so in a way that is not totally lacking in harmony) by occupying the position of its south-western projecting corner.

Conclusions The data collected during the last few years of research allow us to trace a more complex picture of the Arsacid phases at Old Nisa; unfortunately in spite of the relatively good state of conservation of the wall structures, no diagnostic materials have emerged from the fill of the buildings, which could supply absolute dating for any building phase.19 From the ostraka recovered in the store rooms we know that Old Nisa buildings were already in use in 151/150 BC, and that activity there reached its acmè in the 1st century BC (Diakonoff & Livshits 19761979), when other substantial restoration works were carried out all over the complex.

From that time onwards, Old Nisa would continue to play the role of an important ceremonial centre for over two hundred years, during which time its buildings would be subject to restorations and remodelling. During the 1st century BC, we should fix the site’s maximum activity, as testified by the records kept in the store rooms concerning the goods entering the citadel. At the moment there are no dated materials which date from a time after the 1st century AD as there is no trace of violent destruction at the citadel. Probably the buildings were emptied and abandoned, while doorways and passages of some interior areas were walled up. Traces of small fires have been found on the floors, which alternate with destruction levels, pointing to the fact that these structures were occasionally frequented. Some gypsum balls with imprints (Fig. 12), recovered in considerable quantities inside the buildings of Old Nisa, may refer to a last (Parthian) phase of utilization of the structures at that time partially ruined and abandoned; these spheroids, sometimes hollow, consist of chalky mortar and are roughly modelled by hand to assume varying shapes: spherical, hemispherical, ‘mushroom-shaped’, truncated conical with protuberances on the top. Some of them bearing incisions, some are chipped, or with impressions of coins; only in a small number of cases these are readable, and anyhow none appear to date from a time after the middle of the 1st century AD. The case of the

Excluding a few isolated proposals to revise the chronology of the first phase of the site’s frequentation (Balahvancev 200520) today there is general agreement over the existence of at least one phase, to be fixed during 16 On the other hand, the fragments of the architectural decoration and clay statues brought to light during excavations are not decisive for supposing their position in the upper part of the walls. 17 The placing of red plaster over an upper band on the walls as shown in figure 11 is hypothetical (and involves some degree of uncertainty): small fragments of red plaster have in any case been found inside holes dug during construction work under the floor. The lower wall section, which was still well preserved at the time of the Soviet excavations, was covered with white plaster. 18

Mollo 1996.

19

This occurs, for example, for the above mentioned clay statues, which seems to appear only after a certain moment in time (clay statues were not displayed in the Red Building); furthermore, the stylistic differences which characterize this material seems to indicate the existence of various distinct production phases. 20 He sets Nisa’s foundation in Seleucid time.

169

Carlo Lippolis una copertura a cupola e loro validazione statica’ in Invernizzi & Lippolis 2008, 66-81. Firenze.

Red Building, the single context in which the position of each find was systematically recorded, is significant: the spheroids belong to destruction levels which are sometimes located at a quite high level compared to the last Parthian floor level and were purposely placed along the walls, in passages and corners. We can no longer reconstruct this ritual in detail, but we can perhaps interpret these objects as expressing a diffuse and spontaneous popular feeling; a ritual offering pointing to a continuing strong cult-related significance of Old Nisa which remained after the centre’s decline. After this last phase of frequentation, the ruins of Old Nisa were forgotten for a long time, as testified by the fill in of all buildings composed of a thick layer of soft clay deposit alternating with the debris of collapsed masonry. Above that, new buildings were erected in the Middle Ages (Pilipko 2001: 354-69): the earliest ceramics may date from as late as the 10th century, but the most consistent frequentation phases occurred during the 12th and the 15th-16th century. It is to this cultural horizon that we must date the structures in a precarious conservation state, which rose above the Red Building: the areas occupied by the central halls of the earlier building were the site of a new large building in pakhsā and mud bricks, with a central courtyard overlooked by three ivāns (Lippolis 2002: 47-55) (Fig. 13).

Bollati, A. (2005) ‘Antecedenti delle sculture grecobuddiste in argilla cruda da Nisa Vecchia’ in Z. Tarzi (ed.) Art et archéologie des monastères gréco-bouddhiques du Nord-Ouest de l’Inde et de l’Asie centrale, Actes du Colloque international du CRPOGA, Strasbourg, 17-18 mars 2000, 2949. Paris. Boucharlat, R. (1984) ‘Monuments religieux de la Perse Achéménide: état des questions’ in G. Roux (ed.), Temples et Sanctuaires (Travaux de la Maison de l’Orient 7), 119-35. Lyon. Diakonoff, I.M. & Livshits, V.A. (1976-79) Parthian Economic Documents from Nisa, ed. D.N. MacKenzie, 3 vols (Corpus inscriptionum Iranicarum II.II). London. Francfort, H.-P. (1977), ‘Le plan des maisons grécobactriennes et le problème des structures de “type megaron” en Asie Centrale et en Iran’ in Le plateau iranien et l’Asie Centrale des origines è la conquête islamique (Colloques Internationaux du CNRS 567, 1976): 267-80. Paris. Gabutti Roncalli, A. (1996) ‘The Italian Excavation in Old Nisa: the Northern Corner of the Round Hall Complex’, Mesopotamia XXXI: 161-77.

After the last two decades of research we are therefore able to propose for Old Nisa a more articulated and balanced sequence of phases of use. The new research carried out in the central sector and the just started works in the south-western corner of the citadel may prove decisive in further reconstructing the complex mosaic of the Arsacid foundation.

Grenet F. (1984) Les pratiques funéraires dans l’Asie Centrale sédentaire de la conquête grecque à l’islamisation. Paris. Gullini (1964) Architettura iranica dagli Achemenidi ai Sasanidi. Torino. Invernizzi, A. (1996) ‘Die hellenistischen Grundlagen der frühparthischen Kunst’, Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 27: 191-203.

Bibliographic References

Invernizzi, A. (1998) ‘Parthian Nisa. New Lines of Research’ in J. Wiesehöfer (ed.), Das Partherreich und seine Zeugnisse, Beiträge des internationalen Colloquiums, Eutin, 1996 (Historia Einzelschriften 122), 45-59. Stuttgart.

Bader, A.; Gaibov, V.; Gubaev, A.; Košelenko, G.; Lapšin, A. & Novikov, S. (2003) ‘Ricerche nel complesso del Tempio Rotondo a Nisa Vecchia’, Parthica 4: 9-43. Balahvancev, A.S. (2005) ‘Staraja Nisa: Hronologija i interpretacija’ in Central’naja Azija. Istočniki, Istorija, Kul’tura, Materialy Meždunarodnoj naučnoj konferencii, Moskva 3-5-aprelija 2003 g., 172-90. Moskva.

Invernizzi, A. (1999) Sculture di metallo da Nisa (Acta Iranica, 35, vol. XXI). Leuven. Invernizzi, A. (2000) ‘The Square House at Old Nisa’, Parthica 2: 13-53.

Bernard, P. (1976) ‘Les traditions orientales dans l’architecture gréco-bactrienne’, Journal Asiatique 264: 245-75.

Invernizzi, A. (2001a) ‘Arsacid Dynastic Art’, Parthica 3; 133-57. Invernizzi, A. (2001b) ‘Arsacid Palaces’ in I. Nielsen (ed.), The Royal Palace Institution in the 1st Millennium BC, 295-312. Athens.

Bernard, P. (1990) ‘L’architecture religieuse de l’Asie Centrale à l’epoque hellénistique’ in Akten des XIII. Internationalen Kongresses für klassische archäologie, Berlin 1988, 51-66. Mainz am Rhein.

Invernizzi, A. (2006) ‘Cornici dentate da Nisa Vecchia’ in P. Callieri (ed.), Architetti, capomastri, artigiani. L’organizzazione dei cantieri e della produzione artistica nell’Asia ellenistica, Studi in onore di D. Faccenna (Serie Orientale Roma C), 49-57. Roma.

Besenval, R. (1984) Technologie de la voûte dans l’Orient Ancien. Paris. Blasi, C.; Coïsson, E. & Ferretti, D. (2008) ‘La Sala Rotonda di Nisa Vecchia: ipotesi geometriche di 170

PARTHIAN NISA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON NEW RESEARCH Invernizzi, A. (2007) ‘The culture of Nisa, between steppe and empire’ in J. Cribb & G. Herrmann (eds), After Alexander - Central Asia before Islam, British Academy Conference, June 23-25, 2007, 163-77. London.

Masturzo, N. (2008) ‘L’architettura della Sala Rotonda di Nisa Vecchia’ in Invernizzi & Lippolis 2008, 4365. Firenze. Matson, F.R. (1953) ‘A study of wall, plaster, flooring and bitumen’ in Schmidt 1953, I (2), 285-88.

Invernizzi, A. & Košelenko, G.A. (1990) ‘Soviet-Italian Excavations in Old Nisa (Season 1990)’, Mesopotamia XXV: 47-50.

Mollo, P. (1996) ‘The Italian excavations at Old Nisa: the Round Hall’, Mesopotamia XXXI: 179-88. Pilipko, V.N. (1996) Staraja Nisa. Zdanie s kvadratnym zalom. Moskva.

Invernizzi, A. & Lippolis, C., eds (2008) Nisa Partica. Ricerche nel complesso monumentale arsacide 1990-2006 (Monografie di Mesopotamia IX). Firenze.

Pilipko, V.N. (2001) Staraja Nisa. Osnovnye itogi arheologičeskogo izučenija v sovetskij period. Moskva.

Košelenko, G.A. (1977) Rodina Parfjan. Moskva.

Pilipko, V.N. (2007) ‘Nekotorye itogi arheologičeskih issledovanij na Staroj Nise’, Rossijskaja Arheologija 1: 150-58.

Košelenko, G.A.; Novikov, S.V. & Lapšin, A.G. (2000) ‘The Mansur-depe excavations of 1986-1987’, Parthica 2: 87-123.

Pugačenkova G.A. (1953) ‘Hram i nekropol’ v Parfjanskoj Nise’, Vestnik Drevnej Istorii 3: 15967.

Krašeninnikova, N.I. & Pugačenkova, G.A. (1964) ‘Kruglyj hram parfjanskoj Nisy (Arheologičeskoe issledovanie i voprosy rekonstrukcii)’, Sovetskaja Arheologija 4: 119-35.

Pugačenkova, G.A. (1958) ‘Puti razvitija arhitektury Južnogo Turkmenistana pory rabovladenija i feodalizma’, Trudy JuTAKE, VI. Ashgabat.

Lapšin, A.G. (1999) Carskoe Svjatilišče Mitradatokerta. Vladimir.

Pugačenkova, G.A. (1967) Iskusstvo Turkmenistana. Moskva.

Lecuyot, G. (1993) ‘Résidences hellénistiques en Bactriane, Résidences parthes en Iran et en Mésopotamie. Diffusion ou communauté d’origine?’ in Northern Akkad Project Reports 8, 31-45. Ghent.

Schmidt, E.F., ed. (1953) Persepolis I. Structures, Reliefs, Inscriptions (University of Chicago, Oriental Institute Publications 68). Chicago.

Lippolis, C. (2002) ‘Nisa-Mitradatkert: l’edificio a nord della Sala Rotonda. Rapporto preliminare delle campagne di scavo 2000-2001’, Parthica 4: 47-62.

Stronach, D. (1985) ‘On the Evolution of the Early Iranian Fire Temple’ in Papers in Honour of Professor Mary Boyce (Acta Iranica 25), 605-27.

Lippolis, C. (2004) ‘Nisa-Mitradatkert: l’edificio a nord della Sala Rotonda. Rapporto preliminare delle campagne di scavo 2002-2003’, Parthica 6: 16177.

Vjazmitina M.I. (1949) ‘Arheologičeskoe izučenie gorodišča Novaja Nisa v 1946 g.’, Trudy JuTAKE, I, 147-69. Ašhabad. Vjazmitina M.I. (1953) ‘Arheologičeskie raboty na gorodišče Novaja Nisa v 1947 g.’, Trudy JuTAKE, II, 147-68. Ašhabad.

Lippolis, C. (2005) ‘Osservazioni sui fregi in pietra dall’Edificio Rosso di Nisa Vecchia’, Electrum 10: 59-72. Litvinskij, B.A. & Pičikjan, I.R. (2000) Ellenističeskij hram Oksa v Baktrii. I. Raskopki. Arhitektura. Religioznaja žizn’. Moskva. Masson, M.E. & Pugačenkova, G.A. (1982) The Parthian rhytons of Nisa. Firenze (orig. ed.: Parfjanskie ritony Nisy, Trudy JuTAKE IV, 1959, Ašhabad).

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Carlo Lippolis

Fig. 1 - Old Nisa, the citadel (Drawing N. Masturzo).

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PARTHIAN NISA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON NEW RESEARCH

Fig. 2 - Old Nisa, schematic plan of the central complex (Drawing C. Fossati).

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Carlo Lippolis

Fig. 3 - Old Nisa, Red Building and Round Hall: schematic plan (Drawing C. Fossati).

Fig. 4 - Old Nisa, Red Building: general view of the façade, from NW (Photo Centro Scavi Torino)

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PARTHIAN NISA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON NEW RESEARCH

Fig. 5 - Old Nisa, Red Building: stone slabs of the wall façade (Photo Centro Scavi Torino).

Fig. 6 - Old Nisa, Red Building: hall 12, from N (Photo Centro Scavi Torino).

Fig. 8 - Old Nisa, Red Building reconstruction (Drawing C. Fossati).

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Carlo Lippolis

Fig. 9 - Old Nisa, Round Hall: portrait of an Arsacid king, mud clay (Photo Centro Scavi Torino).

Fig. 7 - Old Nisa, Red Building: room 21 (Photo Centro Scavi Torino).

Fig. 10 - Old Nisa, Round Hall: graphic reconstruction (Drawing N. Masturzo).

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PARTHIAN NISA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON NEW RESEARCH

Fig. 11 - Old Nisa, Round Hall: view after excavations (Photo Centro Scavi Torino).

Fig. 13 - Old Nisa: Islamic levels (Photo Centro Scavi Torino). Fig. 12 - Old Nisa: votive gypsum ball from the Red Building (Photo Centro Scavi Torino).

177

UNPUBLISHED TERRACOTTA FIGURINES FROM THE BUKHARA OASIS Ciro Lo Muzio After a first prolonged flourishing in protohistoric times, especially during the Bronze Age (4th-2nd millennium BC), baked clay figurines came once again into prominence in Central Asia in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BC, possibly under a Hellenistic (or postHellenistic) impulse. Their production reached its peak, with a regional variability, between the 1st and the 6th century AD.

décolleté. Over the tunic she wears a mantle with which, as one may guess, she wraps her back. In her left hand she holds both hems of the mantle, the one falling from her left shoulder, forming relatively naturalistic folds, the other covering her right hip and leg. She holds a small cup in her right hand. Among the terracottas unearthed in the Bukhara oasis6 there are a number of female figures, some of which are suitable for a comparison. Unlike the most typical female terracottas of Afrasiab (Fig. 2), which are often clad in a heavy and ornamented dress and show a rich, almost baroque hairdo, as a rule Bukhara terracottas display a sober attire and sometimes a remarkable simplification of forms. Among the findings kept in the local museum, there are a few female figurines holding a cup. One of them is very similar to our specimen (Fig. 3): a headless female figure wearing a tunic and a mantle, with a cup in her right hand and the hem of the mantle in the left. Another terracotta depicts a well proportioned female figure, with a ‘Hellenistic’ face rendering and high hairdo, and holding an unclear attribute, possibly a cup (Fig. 4); around her head, three holes, one in the headdress, the others above the shoulders.7

Perhaps the most distinctive forms of popular art in preIslamic Central Asia, terracottas are an extremely rich, but not adequately exploited source of information on iconography and religious beliefs. In spite of the endless list of studies dedicated to the subject,1 much work still needs to be done, in the methodological approach to begin with.2 In 2003, during the preparation of a permanent archaeological exhibition in the Bukhara Citadel Museum,3 I came across a number of unpublished terracotta figurines. All of them are stray finds and were donated to the museum by a local amateur in 1983-84. On this occasion I will present two of them.4 The first is a headless female figure (Fig. 1a-b). A little more than 9 cm high, 5 cm wide and 2 cm thick, it is made of fine, depurated clay of a beige hue. As usual, the terracotta was made with a one-piece mould;5 its back side was left smooth. It was found in the area of the Sverdlov Kanal, west of Bukhara.

Female figures, a most favourite subject in Central Asian coroplastics, are generally supposed to represent goddesses. Their identity, however, remains enigmatic, so much so that they form a heterogeneous repertory, with regional or local differences both in iconography (attire and attributes) and in style.8

The figure wears a tight tunic with vertical parallel folds on the breast and in its lower part; a series of horizontal lines in relief above the breast probably indicates the

They do not seem to have anything in common with the female deities depicted on the Kushan coinage, on the one hand, and in the painting of early medieval Transoxiana on the other; for instance, Nana, the goddess on lion so often depicted in Sogdian painting – but already represented on Kushan coins, although in a somewhat different iconography – has left no trace

1 As I am going to deal with finds from the Bukhara oasis, I will just mention the main reference books on Sogdian terracottas: Meškeris 1962, 1977, and 1989 (see also Grenet 1991 and Stavisky 1996). For synthetic information and bibliography on Central Asian terracottas, on a regional basis, see Košelenko (ed.) 1985: passim. For specific bibliographic references to terracottas from the Bukhara oasis, see further fn. 5.

6 A comprehensive study of the terracottas unearthed in the Bukhara oasis is still to be done. For the time being, see Šiškin 1963: 122-23, 143, figs 12, 13, 60, 61, 73; Adylov 1983; Achrarov & Usmanova 1990; Lo Muzio 2002 and 2006. 7 Terracotta figurines framed by holes, especially around the head or the upper part of the body, are not uncommon in the Bukhara oasis. Sometimes they seem to fulfil a decorative purpose, in other cases they might have had a practical function, perhaps to hang up the statuette somewhere.

2 On this issue, see Naymark 2003, in which a stimulating hypothesis on the production method of Sogdian terracottas, proposed by Boris Maršak in the early 70s, is presented and discussed afresh. 3 The organization of the exhibition (Archaeological research in the Bukhara Oasis. Antiquity and Middle Ages), held in the Citadel, was part of the activities of the Uzbek-Italian archaeological mission in Uzbekistan, led by C. Silvi Antonini (Sapienza - University of Rome) and Dž.K. Mirzaachmedov (Institute of Archaeology, Samarkand). 4 My most heartfelt gratitude goes to Robert Almeev, Director of the Bukhara Citadel Museum, who gave me the chance to study these finds.

8 There are no local written sources which may shed light onto these deities. The only reference to small images meant for a religious purpose is the well-known passage in Narshakhi (10th century AD) on the bazar of Makh, in Bukhara, where, on the occasion of a fair held twice a year, a large quantity of idols were sold. Narshakhi links this tradition to the pre-Islamic cult of the inhabitants of the town, but still alive in the author’s days (Frye 1954: 20-21). All this, however, seems not to be confirmed by the archaeological research: the production of terracotta figurines (but for zoomorphic subjects) appears definitely extinct between the 7th and the 8th century AD, at the latest.

5 This technical detail represents a major difference with Hellenistic terracottas, which are traditionally made by means of a two-piece mould; see, for instance, the large selection of terracotta figurines from Seleucia and other Mesopotamian sites in Menegazzi 2007. In the majority of cases, Central Asian figurines are, stricto sensu, terracotta reliefs.

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Ciro Lo Muzio among Central Asian baked clay figurines.

belong to the Sasanian period and highlight the prominent role she had acquired in royal investiture;12 her main attribute is a crown, through which she bestows kingship unto the sovereign.

Another debated issue is the supposed, sometimes assumed relationship between Central Asian female terracottas and certain goddesses of the Mazdean pantheon, which is, however, hard to demonstrate on the basis of iconographic evidence. In particular, there are no grounds for asserting that these figurines or even part of them represent the Iranian water-goddess Anahita.9 Apart from the establishment of the Anahita cult at Bactra by the king Artaxerxes II (404-359 BC), who made statues of the goddess placed in this as well as in other major towns of the Achamenid Empire,10 no evidence – either archaeological or textual – can be put forward that she had ever been worshipped in Central Asia.11

Turning to Central Asian terracottas, there are a great many ‘goddesses’ wearing a mantle with a rich ornamentation (especially at Afrasiab, as already pointed out) and with a complicated hairdo; in some cases their figure could be even defined ‘high girded’. Such features, however, seem too generic to suggest a relationship with Anahita rather than with the typical attire of well-to-do Sogdian ladies, whereas the varied range of attributes that can be found in their hands definitely moves these figurines away from the Ābān Yašt. For the time being, we should perhaps be content with saying that most of these goddesses, often holding a cup (in Sogdiana and Bactria), a mirror (in Margiana), a bouquet, a fruit, sometimes accompanied by a child, portray local deities for which we can assume no more than a generic relationship with fertility and with the protection of motherhood and children.

After all, the iconography of Anahita is an open question even in Iranian art. The fullest description of this multifaceted goddess is given in the Yašt 5 (Ābān Yašt; see Darmesteter (ed.) 1883: II, 363-402); several elements in it were apt to be transferred from the symbolic realm into iconography. We learn that Anahita ‘drives forward on her chariot’ (Yt. 5.11), that she takes ‘the shape of a maid, fair of body, most strong, tallformed, high-girded, […] wearing shoes up to the ankle, with all sorts of ornaments and radiant’ (Yt. 5.64, 78, 126); for her Ahura Mazda has made ‘four horses, the wind, the rain, the cloud, and the sleet (Yt. 5.120); she wears a ‘golden mantle’ (Yt. 5.123), ‘a mantle […] fully embroidered with gold’ (Yt. 5.126), ‘ever holding the baresman in her hand […] she wears square golden earrings on her ears bored, and a golden necklace around her beautiful neck […] and she girded her waist tightly, so that her breasts may be well-shaped, that they may be tightly pressed’ (Yt. 5.127); upon her head Anahita ‘bound a golden crown, with a hundred stars, with eight mansions’ (Bailey 1979: 63b, s.v. kū·Ρa; Grenet, in Boyce & Grenet 1991: 162 and fn. 42) or ‘eight towers’ (Panaino 2000: 38 and fn. 16), […] a well-made crown […] with fillets streaming down’ (Yt. 5.128); further we read that ‘she is clothed with garments of beaver’ (Yt. 5.129).

What date can we propose for this terracotta? Chronology – both absolute and relative – is another unsafe ground in the study of these artefacts. Terracotta figurines abound in almost all Central Asian museums, but the bulk of them is represented by chance finds. The chronological frameworks worked out so far have been usually based on iconographic and stylistic criteria; unverified (or unverifiable) assumptions, however, have sometimes prevailed over a critical approach, exerting a long lasting influence upon generations of scholars. In particular, more or less evident traces of Hellenistic style and iconography have been often misused as reliable chronological indicators. How risky this approach could be is clear if we just cast a glance to Seleucia on the Tigris, a major artistic source for Eastern Hellenism (coroplastics included), where, in absence of precise stratigraphic data, it is often impossible to attribute confidently a terracotta figurine to the Seleucid rather than to the Parthian epoch (Menegazzi 2007: 132). In other words, in the very heart of Oriental Hellenism, the production of Hellenised figurines (along with that of terracottas gradually adapted to the local taste) went on with no significant break until as late as the 2nd century AD. Further east, a remarkable lesson on the longevity and even the late reflourishing of a Classical-oriented style (be it of Hellenistic or Roman origin) is provided by Gandhāran (1st-3rd century AD) and post-Gandhāran art, with their almost cyclic, sometimes still unexplained, resurgence of the Hellenistic legacy as late as the 7th century.

Now, none of the few Iranian representations which are unanimously interpreted as depictions of Anahita matches the Avestic description of the goddess. All of them 9 This hypothesis was first formulated by K.V. Trever (1940: 21), and since then followed, at best with weak arguments, by many scholars; see, for instance, Ivanickij (1982, on a female figurine holding a crown, and on this ground linked to the Sasanian Anahita, see further) and Adylov (1983, on a group of terracottas from the Bukhara oasis; all the female specimens are invariably labelled as ‘Anahita’). Contra see Lelekov 1985: 58; Pugačenkova: 1992: 51. For a critical overview of the subject, see Grenet, in Boyce & Grenet 1991: 187-89, who suggests a possible link between at least part of the Bactrian female figurines and the Iranian goddess Ashi/Ardokhsho.

Turning back to Central Asia, keeping in mind that Ai Khanum has yielded almost no Hellenistic terracottas (Abdullaev 1996), we are led to suspect that the main impulse to produce baked clay figurines came to Central

10

Boyce, Chaumont & Bier 1983, pp. 1004, 1006; Grenet, in Boyce & Grenet 1991: 187, fn. 146; Panaino 2000: 35-36. 11

The theophoric personal name ‘n’xtßntk, ‘servant of Anahita’, attested in 3rd-4th century AD Sogdian rock inscriptions in the Upper Indus Valley may betray a Sasanian or Kushano-Sasanian influence (Grenet, in Boyce & Grenet 1991: 187, fn. 147); the legend ‘Anahita the lady’ appears on a coin of the Kushano-Sasanian king Hormizd II (ibid.).

12 Duchesne & Guillemin 1971: 378, pl. III, 1-3, IV, 1; on this issue, see also Bier, in Boyce, Chaumont & Bier 1983.

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UNPUBLISHED TERRACOTTA FIGURINES FROM THE BUKHARA OASIS Asia from Parthian Mesopotamia, where the Classical figurative lexicon was well-established, also in the coroplastics. At any rate, one should resist temptation to assign a terracotta depicting a figure clad in chiton and himation to the Hellenistic period or even to the 2nd-1st century BC, if we ignore its stratigraphic context or even the whereabouts of its finding.

as well as their costume, weapons and ornaments. On the role they were meant to play in the scene different views have been expressed, according to the often contrasting hypotheses advanced on the interpretation of the whole composition.14 Apart from the Afrasiab paintings, the Turks play a rather elusive part in the arts as well as in the archaeological remains of early medieval Western Central Asia. Setting aside the northern and north-eastern fringes of this region, mainly Semireč´e, the middle and lower Sir Darya and Ferghana, no significant migration of Turkic tribes seems to have taken place in Western Central Asia in the 6th-7th century. The number of Turks based in the towns of Transoxiana must have been rather small and restricted to the military and administrative élite. As to Sogdiana, to date a solitary Turkic tomb has been found, in the outskirts of Samarkand, near the Ulugh Begh Observatory (Spriševskij 1951; Raspopova 1980: 97-98); an unpretentious grave, probably dating to the 7th century, in which, according to the early Turkic custom, a man had been buried along with his horse.15

Now, although the tunic and mantle echo a Classical pattern (chiton and himation), the strictly frontal, almost hieratic stance of our small Bukharan icon bespeaks an adaptation to the local taste. The absence of a firm chronological framework for terracotta sculpture in the Bukhara oasis (as well as in most of pre-Islamic Central Asia) does not allow any precision. We may tentatively propose for this specimen a date somewhere between the 2nd and the 4th AD. The second terracotta (Fig. 5a-b), a surface find from Takhmach Tepe, near Varakhsha, is a fragment (7 cm high, 4 cm large and 2,5 cm thick) preserving the upper part of a male figure. He has oval head, with receding forehead, very thick eyebrows forming a continuous line and joined at a right angle with the triangular nose, and large and elongated almond-shaped eyes, with eyelids in sharp relief; the nose and the lower part of the face are badly chipped. The figure wears a typical Central Asian tunic with both revers open and two circles on the breast. His arms are crossed on the chest, with the sleeves forming spiral folds. His left hand is hidden behind the right forearm, the right hand emerges behind the left forearm, with the fingers bent as if holding something, but no trace of any attribute is discernible.

The presence of the Turks, however, seems to have left traces in terracottas as well. Among early Medieval Sogdian figurines, a group of mounted horsemen holding a mace has been singled out which, according to some scholars, are to be identified as Turks (Zaslavskaja 1956; Meškeris 1962: 39-40, pls. XVII-XVIII, nos 318-328; Pugačenkova & Rempel´ 1965: 163). The closest parallel for our figure, however, is provided by a fragment of a Chorasmian terracotta figurine (Fig. 7).16 Found at Kyrk Kyz Kala (7th-8th century), it shows the upper part of a male figure with long hair, oval head, thick eyebrows and triangular nose forming together a T-shaped pattern, and wearing a tunic with both revers open.17

Male figures are not as frequent as female ones in Central Asian terracottas, yet they are not an uncommon subject. What is unusual about this figurine is that it probably represents a Turk.

What is particularly interesting about the Takhmach Tepe and the Kyrk Kyz Kala figurines is that they lend themselves to a comparison with Turkic funerary stone sculptures. This class of artefacts, a major archaeological marker of early Turks, is widespread between the late 6th and the 8th century throughout the central and eastern parts of the Eurasian steppe belt: Mongolia, South Siberia, Kazakhstan and Kirghizistan (Fig. 8). Although no Turkic stone sculpture is recorded in Sogdiana, two specimens have been found in Northern Tokharistan

The military and political presence of the Turks in Western Central Asia dates to the second half of the 6th century, when a Turkic-Sasanian alliance put an end to the Ephthalite kingdom, in c. AD 560. This happened about a decade after the advent of the First Turkic Kaghanate. In the beginning of the 7th century the Kaghanate split into two parts, the Western and the Eastern Kaghanate. Soon after this, Transoxiana passed under the suzerainty of the Western Turks, which lasted until AD 658, when the Tang gained control of Central Asia.

14 On this issue, I refer the reader to the proceedings of a conference recently held in Venice (2003), which has been the occasion of a thorough re-examination of the Afrasiab painting (historical setting, iconography, painting technique), see Compareti & de La Vaissière (eds) 2006.

A little before or a little after that date the most famous representation of early Turkic notables so far known in Transoxiana appears in a Sogdian painting: the mural on the western wall of the main hall (the ‘ambassadors’ hall’) of an aristocratic residence (sector 23, room 1) dug by Al’baum at Afrasiab (Samarkand)13 (Fig. 6). These figures were identified as Turks on account of the long tresses falling on their back, their Mongolic physiognomy 13

15 On the archaeological evidence on early Turks in Northern Tokharistan: see Solov´ëv 1997: 124-25, 147, 174-75, with further bibliographic references; in Western Central Asia in general: Stark 2008: 265 ff.; Lo Muzio (forthcoming) . 16 Pugačenkova & Rempel´ 1960: 64, fig. 65; Meškeris 1962: 107, pl. XXX, 406; Nerazik 1987: 118-19, fig. 2. 17 For another supposed representation of a Turk, see the stone statuette from Yakke Parsan, Chorasmia, discussed by Nerazik (1987).

Al´baum 1975: 20 ff., figs 4-7, pls. VII-XI.

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Ciro Lo Muzio (Tajikistan).18 Though fragmentary, our terracottas display clearly enough some of the typical iconographic traits of such sculptures: a caftan with both triangular revers open, a large, round face, a small slightly open mouth (preserved in the Kyrk Kyz Kala figure) and, in particular, the eyebrows and nose joined as to form a Tshaped pattern, a detail which is so often found in Turkic sculptures as to lead some scholars to consider it as a specific, almost exclusive stylistic trait of early Turkic art (Šer 1966: 67).

the same group showing hanging breasts (Fig. 12), in much the same way as later funeral female sculptures of the Cumans (Fig. 13) – or Polovci, as early Russians called them –, the Turkic nomads roaming in Southern Russia and Ukraine in the 12th century AD. On the other hand similar circles are found in ancient Western Scythian sculptures (Fig. 10), which invariably portray male figures, and, many centuries later, in a number of Cuman male funeral statues (Fig. 14). The latter offer a key for a correct understanding of such circles, most probably metal or leather protective plaques sewn onto the tunic or held by means of belts.21

The tradition of monumental funerary stelae had already been flourishing in Scytho-Siberian culture, twelve or more centuries before the advent of the Khaghanate. Nevertheless early Turkic statues seem not to have stemmed from Siberian and Mongolian prototypes, that is from the fascinating but definitely non-naturalistic ‘stag stones’ (Fig. 9), as they are labelled in the archaeological literature.19 On the contrary, Turkic sculptures show a stronger typological resemblance to Scythian funerary stelae (7th-6th century BC; Fig. 10) from Western Eurasia: Southern Russia, Ukraine and the Northern Caucasus;20 all regions to which the Turks extended their power as early as the end of the 6th century, and that until the Mongol conquest remained subject to Turkic chiefdoms. A point which, to my knowledge, has never been stressed is that for the general treatment of the figure and the rendering of faces, costumes and attributes, Western Scythian stelae appear more credible prototypes for early Turkic statues than the almost non-figurative ‘stag stones’ do.

Let us finally consider the unusual posture of our figurine from Takhmach Tepe. Keeping the arms crossed on the chest is not typical of early Turkic statues, which almost invariably hold a cup with both hands or with the right hand only, while the left rests on the belt or on the lap. The way in which the arms of our terracotta figure are tightly kept together, underlined by the oblique folds of the sleeves, reminds us a late Sasanian silver plate found at Strelka (Harper & Meyers 1981: pl. 19; Fig. 15). The four attendants of the king stand in pairs on either side of the throne as on the well-known rock relief of Naqsh-e Bahram (Ibid.: fig. 25); here, however, they do not carry swords, nor can they be distinguished, one from the other, by any special attribute. All four figures have one arm laid over the other at the height of the breast, but, unlike our figure, both hands are hidden in the sleeves. The practice of covering the hands with the sleeves was also part of the typical Turkish posture of homage: ‘while standing in attendance the hands are folded on the breast. Since the Gök Türk petroglyphs and the Uygur murals down to the Ottoman period, the attendant took care to hide his hands in long sleeves’ (Esin 1971: 26).22

What is particular intriguing for our issue is that in these much earlier statues we notice the schematic rendering of eyebrows and nose joined together, that Šer was inclined to consider as a Turkic iconographic marker. Therefore it seems that for their shape and stylized physiognomic details they have much more in common with early Turkic statues than the almost non-figurative ‘stag stones’ do.

On the subject of Turkic etiquette, two significant pieces of evidence can be added to the heterogeneous list of parallels presented so far. The first is a funerary relief depicting the Turkic ruler Bilge Kaghan (AD 683/4-734) with his arms in a posture recalling our terracotta (Esin 1970: fig. 2; Fig. 16; Stark 2008: Abb. 36). The second is a standing male figure appearing in one of the marble reliefs found at Ghazni (Afghanistan), most probably belonging to the decoration of the palace of Mas’ud (early 12th century) (Fig. 17).23 In spite of the chronological gap, the posture of this personage – portrayed, as Bombaci remarked, ‘in the conventional attitude of respectful attention (dast bar sīna)’ (1959: 10) – seems to offer the closest parallel to our terracotta.

Turning back to our terracotta, the two circles on the chest should not be taken as a sign of female gender. They appear sometimes also on Turkic funerary sculptures, as in some specimens dating to the 9th-11th century, mainly from Kazakhstan (Pletnëva, ed., 1981: fig. XXIII. 24, 26, 27); two more specimens are included in the collection of stone sculptures from Semireč´e published by Čarikov (1980: figs 6.20, 21, 9.1); the author labels one of them as female (Ibid.: 220, 6.21), the other as of ‘undefined gender’ (Ibid.: 230, fig. 6.20; Fig. 11), although in the latter the crescent-shaped motif on the chest is probably to be interpreted as a stylized rendering of the revers of a tunic. The hypothesis that they are female figures can be probably ruled out if we compare them with other distinctly female sculptures in

One last remark on chronology. Should the interpretation we have proposed for the Takhmach Tepe figurine be 21 For an overview of Cuman sculptures, see Pletnëva (ed.) 1981: 21921, pls. 87-89.

18 Žukov 1978; Solov´ëv 1997: 124-25, pl. 66.1-2; Stark 2008: 277-78, Taf. 111a-c. 19 V.V. Volkov, in Moškova (ed.) 1992: 196-98

22 According to the Qudatgu Bilig: ‘The attendant should stand looking to the ground with the feet together and with hands folded, the right hand over the left’ (Esin 1970: 83).

20 For a comprehensive catalogue of these sculptures, see Ol´chovskij & Evdokimov 1994.

23

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Bombaci 1959: 10, fig. 2

UNPUBLISHED TERRACOTTA FIGURINES FROM THE BUKHARA OASIS by Narshakhī, Cambridge (Mass.).

correct, the finding most likely belongs the 7th century AD, that is the time span in which a Bukharan terracotta depicting a Turk – either a guard or attendant or an image linked with the ritual or funerary sphere – could make sense.

Grenet, F. (1991) ‘Review to Meškeris 1989’, Abstracta Iranica 14: 65-66. Harper, P.O. & Meyers, P. (1981) Silver Vessels of the Sasanian Period, I. Royal Imagery. New York. Ivanickij, I. (1982) ‘Obraz bogini Anachity v koroplastike Sogda’, Istorija material´noj kul´tury Uzbekistana 17: 78-80.

Bibliographic References Abdullaev, K. (1996) ‘Terrakotovaja plastika AjChanum’, Rossijskaja Archeologija, 1: 55-67.

Košelenko, G.A., ed. (1985) Drevnejšie gosudarstva Kavkaza i Srednej Azii. Moskva.

Achrarov, I. & Usmanova, Z.I. (1990) ‘Terrakoty Buchary’ in G.A. Pugačenkova (ed.), Kul´tura Srednego Vostoka. Izobrazitel´noe i prikladnoe iskusstvo, 36-44. Taškent.

Lelekov, L.A. (1985) ‘Voprosy interpretacii sredneaziatskoj koroplastiki ellinističeskogo vremeni (po materialam Zartepe)’, Sovetskaja archeologija 1: 55-60.

Adylov, Š.T. (1983) ‘O koroplastike Bucharskogo Sogda’, Istorija material´noj kul´tury Uzbekistana, 1: 55-67.

Lo Muzio, C. (2002) ‘On a Terracotta Figurine from Uch Kulakh (Bukhara Oasis)’, Rivista degli Studi Orientali 75 (1-4): 139-45.

Al´baum, L.I. (1975) Živopis´ Afrasiaba. Taškent.

Lo Muzio, C. (2006) ‘O terrakotovoj statuetke iz Uč Kulacha’ in C. Silvi Antonini & Dž.K. Mirzaachmedov (eds), Ancient and Mediaeval Culture of the Bukhara Oasis 32-35. SamarkandRome.

Bailey, H.W. (1979) Dictionary of Khotan Saka. Cambridge. Belli, O. (2003) Stone Balbals and Statues in Human Form in Kirghizistan. Istanbul. Bombaci, A. (1959) ‘Introduction to the Excavations at Ghazni’, East and West, 10 (1-2): 3-22.

Lo Muzio, C. (forthcoming) ‘Archaeological Traces of Early Turks in Transoxiana: an Overview’ in Iranian Huns and Western Turks: Archaeology History - Numismatics (Vienna, 18th-20th November 2008).

Boyce, M. & Grenet, F. (1991) A History of Zoroastrianism, III. Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman Rule, with a contribution of R. Beck. Leiden.

Menegazzi, R. (2007) ‘La coroplastica della Mesopotamia ellenizzata’ in V. Messina (ed.), Sulla via di Alessandria. Da Seleucia al Gandhāra (Torino, Palazzo Madama, 27 febbraio – 27 maggio 2007), 129-33. Milano.

Boyce, M.; Chaumont, M.L. & Bier, C. (1983) ‘Anāhīd’ in E. Yarshater (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, I, 1003-009. New York. Čarikov, A.A. (1980) ‘Novaja serija kamennych statuj iz Semireč´ja’ in Srednevekovye drevnosti evrazijskich stepej, 213-34. Moskva.

Meškeris, V.A. (1962) Terrakoty Samarkandskogo muzeja. Katalog. Leningrad. Meškeris, V.A. (1977) Koroplastika Sogda. Dušanbe.

Compareti, M. & de La Vaissière, É., eds (2006) Royal Naurūz in Samarkand. Proceedings of the Conference Held in Venice on the Pre-Islamic Paintings at Afrasiab (Rivista degli Studi Orientali 78, Suppl. I), Pisa-Roma.

Meškeris, V.A. (1989) Sogdijskaja terrakota. Dušanbe. Moškova, M.G., ed. (1992) Stepnaja polosa Aziatskoj časti SSSR v skifo-sarmatskoe vremja, Moskva. Naymark, A. (2003) ‘A Note on Sogdian Coroplastics: Two Ossuary Fragments from Afrasiab’ in M. Compareti, P. Raffetta & G. Scarcia (eds), Ērān ud Anērān. Studies presented to Boris Il´ič Maršak on the occasion of his 70th birthday, http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/

Darmesteter, J., ed. (1880-1883-1887) The Zend-Avesta, 3 vols. Oxford. Duchesne-Guillemin, J. (1971) ‘Art et religion sous les Sassanides’ in La Persia nel Medioevo. Atti del convegno internazionale, Roma 31 marzo – 5 aprile 1970, 377-88. Roma.

Nerazik, E.E. (1987) ‘Kamennaja statuetka iz JakkeParsana’, in V.A. Ranov (ed.), Prošloe Srednej Azii, 113-20. Dušanbe.

Esin, E. (1970) ‘“Ay-Bitiği”, the Court Attendants in Turkish Iconography’, Central Asiatic Journal 14 (1-3): 78-117.

Ol´chovskij, V.S. & Evdokimov, G.L. (1994) Skifskie izvajanija, VII-III vv. do n.e. Moskva.

Esin, E. (1971) ‘Oldruğ - Turuğ, The Hierarchy of Sedent Postures in Turkish Iconography’, Kunst des Orients 7: 1-29.

Panaino, A. (2000) ‘The Mesopotamian Heritage of Achaemenian Kingship’ in S. Aro & R.M. Whiting (eds), Melammu Symposia 1. The Heirs of Assyria, 35-49. Helsinki.

Frye, R.N. (1954) The History of Bukhara. Translated from a Persian Abridgment of the Arabic Original 183

Ciro Lo Muzio Pletnëva, S.A., ed. (1981) Stepy Evrazii v epochu srednevekov´ja. Moskva. Pugačenkova, G.A. (1992) ‘New Terracottas from North Bactria’, East and West 42 (1): 49-67. Pugačenkova, G.A. & Rempel´, L.I. (1960), Vydajuščiesja pamjatniki izobrazitel´nogo iskusstva Uzbekistana. Taškent Pugačenkova, G.A. & Rempel´, L.I. (1965) Istorija iskusstv Uzbekistana. Moskva. Raspopova, V.I. (1980) Metalličeskie rannesrednevekovogo Sogda. Leningrad.

izdelija

Šer, A.Ja. (1966) Kamennye izvajanija Semireč´ja. Leningrad. Šiškin, V.A. (1963) Varachša. Moskva. Solov´ëv, V.S. (1997) Severnyj Tocharistan v rannem srednevekov´e. Elec. Spriševskij, V.I. (1951) ‘Pogrebenie s konem serediny I tysjačeletija n.e., obnaružennoe okolo observatorii Ulugbeka’ in Trudy Muzeja istorii narodov Uzbekistana, 33-42. Taškent. Stark, S. (2008) Die Alttürkenzeit in Mittel- und Zentralasien. Archäologische und historische Studien. Wiesbaden Stavisky, B. (1996) ‘Review to Meškeris 1977 and 1989’, Information Bulletin IASCCA 20: 233-35. Trever, K.V. (1940) Pamjatniki greko-baktrijskogo iskusstva. Moskva-Leningrad. Zaslavskaja, F.A. (1956) ‘Terrakotovye statuetki vsadnikov s bulavami iz Afrasiaba v sobranii Muzeja istorii UzSSSR’ in Trudy Muzeja istorii narodov Uzbekistana, III, 88-117. Taškent. Žukov, V.A. (1978) ‘Nachodka drevnetjurkskogo izvajanija v Tadžikistane’ in Material´naja kul´tura Tadžikistana, 3, 120-21. Dušanbe.

184

UNPUBLISHED TERRACOTTA FIGURINES FROM THE BUKHARA OASIS

Fig. 1a-b - Terracotta figurine, Bukhara Citadel Museum (Photo C. Lo Muzio).

. Fig. 2 - Terracotta figurines from Afrasiab. Samarkand, Registan Museum (After Košelenko 1985).

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Ciro Lo Muzio

Fig. 4 - Terracotta figurine from Bukhara. Bukhara Citadel Museum (Photo C. Lo Muzio).

Fig. 3 - Terracotta figurine from Bukhara. Bukhara Citadel Museum (Courtesy F. Filipponi).

Fig. 5a-b - Terracotta figurine from Takhmach Tepe (Varakhsha, Bukhara Oasis). Bukhara Citadel Museum (Photo C. Lo Muzio).

186

UNPUBLISHED TERRACOTTA FIGURINES FROM THE BUKHARA OASIS

Fig. 6 - A group of Turks in the painting of the northern wall of the ‘ambassadors’ hall’ at Afrasiab. Samarkand, Afrasiab Museum (After Al´baum 1975).

Fig. 7 - Terracotta figurine from Kyrk Kyz Kala (Chorasmia). Samarkand, Registan Museum (After Meškeris 1962).

Fig. 8 - Turkic funerary sculpture. Karakol University Park, Kirghizistan (After Belli 2003).

187

Ciro Lo Muzio

Fig. 11 - Turkic male sculpture, from Semireč´e, Kazakhstan. Džambul, Regional Museum (After Čarikov 1980).

Fig. 9 - ‘Stag stone’ from Samagalataj, Tuva (After Moškova 1992).

Fig. 12 - Turkic female sculpture, from Semireč´e, Kazakhstan. Džambul, Regional Museum (After Čarikov 1980).

Fig. 10 - Scythian funerary sculpture from Vorovskolesskaja, Northern Caucasus (Russia). Stavropol´, Regional Museum (After Olchovskij & Evdokimov 1994).

Fig. 13 - Cuman female sculpture (After Pletnëva 1981).

188

UNPUBLISHED TERRACOTTA FIGURINES FROM THE BUKHARA OASIS

Fig. 14 - Cuman male sculpture (After Pletnëva 1981).

189

Ciro Lo Muzio

Fig. 15 - Sasanian plate from Strelka. State Hermitage Museum, Sankt Peterburg (After Harper & Meyers 1981).

Fig. 17 - Marble relief with the representation of a male figure, from Ghazni, Afghanistan. Kabul, National Museum (Photo courtesy IsIAO, Rome).

Fig. 16 - Funerary relief of Bilge Kaghan (After Stark 2008).

190

PECULIAR AND UNKNOWN ICONOGRAPHIES OF THE NĀYAKA PERIOD IN TAMIL COUNTRY Tiziana Lorenzetti In the second half of the 16th century India was largely under Islamic rule. In fact, the destruction of the vast Hindu empire of Vijayanagar in the South1 was consummated as the Moghuls forged ahead with their irresistible expansion in the North of the country. It was a scenario that seemed to doom Hindu culture, and particularly the artistic production, to inexorable decline. Nevertheless, although the crisis of Hindu culture entailed a drastic fall in patronage, in some parts of the peninsula, far from Muslim domination, the artistic vigour of the kingdom of Vijayanagar and the cultural tradition of the great Hindu medieval kingdoms survived, albeit with the inevitable artistic and cultural exchanges that came about with the world of Islam. In the south of India continuity of the Hindu tradition was guaranteed by the Nāyakas,2 governors or ‘key functionaries’3 of the sovereigns of Vijayanagar, who reigned autonomously in certain areas of what are now Mahārā·Γra (where famous was the reign of Ikkēri),4 Karnatāka, Orissa (Panda 1938: 92-107) and Tamil Nādu for nearly two centuries after the empire came to an end. Famous were the kingdoms of Madurai and Tañjore (now Tañjavūr), both in Tamil Nādu, where the Nāyakas had already taken the place of the governors and local princes (nāΓΓavar) in the days of the empire of Vijayanagar.

falls into a ‘late period’ in the history of Indian art, and hence is implicitly considered ‘decadent’ in the light of the Western preconception (mostly due to colonial historiography period), that the greatness of Hindu art died out with the Islamic invasions. A third reason might lie in the decidedly unflattering judgment certain scholars of former times passed on Nāyaka art, held to be ‘folkish’ and devoid of real artistic inspiration (Smith 1911: 52 ff.; Nilakanta Sastri 1958: 76-481). Nevertheless, whatever be the opinions that enjoy wide circulation, the Nāyaka period holds great interest and, while their vast production may have only rarely reached the high level of technical virtuosity that characterised the masterpieces of the great dynasties of the past, it reveals great imaginative power and certain peculiar characteristics, in part still unknown, that imply a complex religious and cultural context. As far as the architecture is concerned, the dominant trend seems to aim at magnificent, grandiose effects. As anticipated in the last Cōάa period and during the Vijayanagar kingdom, the temple complexes grew increasingly vast: pavilions, pillared aisles, minor sanctuaries and meeting places were added to the central core, while the portals (gopura) reached remarkable heights (as much as 50 metres), showing the characteristic tendency to curve the lateral profiles, unlike the earlier gopuras which took the form of a perfect truncated pyramid. These significant variations attest important changing not only in the architectural temple structure, but also in the social and religious context. From the architectural point of view, the proliferation of sacred buildings emphasises more than the horizontal main axis east-west (along which are generally based all Hindu temples), the other cardinal directions; this suggests the expansion from the centre of divine energy along a series of layers of a concentric plan. From the social and religious viewpoint, such proliferation not only points out the evolution and complexity of the religious rituals, but also the transformation that had taken place in the Hindu temple, now become a centre about which social, cultural and economic activities also went on (Stein 1960: 163-76; Champakalakshmi 1986: 40; Karashima 1999: 147- 49).

While the history and the policy of the Nāyakas under the Vijayanagar rule is quite well-known, especially due to the vast number of records available, largely analysed and published by Japanese scholars (Karashima 2002: 29212), scant study has been made of the variety and complexity of their autonomous rule from the cultural, religious and, especially, artistic viewpoints. There are many reasons that might account for this: some lie in the fact that the Nāyakas reigned in a period considered ‘Islamic’, and thus generally taken to be outside the sphere of interest of scholars studying Hindu art and tradition. Moreover, the span represented by the Nāyakas 1

The kingdom of Vijayanagar, the ‘City of victory’ was founded in AD 1346, most probably by local princes in the service of the Hoysaάa dynasty. At the peak of its expansion it included almost all Southern India and south of the rivers Tungabhadrā and KΰΒnā as far as the city of Madurai. The kingdom was destroyed in AD 1565 by a coalition of sultans with the epic battle of TālikōΓa, on the banks of the river Kΰ·na.

2 The term Nāyaka appears to derive from the Tamil noun nayakkan, which indicates a high rank in the military hierarchy (Percival 2000: 209).

As for the Nāyakas, who, having had close connections with the temple as supervisors, administrators, guardians of the assets since the Vijayanagar period, they carried on the royal tradition of temple building, especially after the fall of the empire, and encouraged participations in temple rituals and donations (dāna) to brahmans (Karashima 1985: 18-19; 2002: 49-50; Sewell 2004: 70). Such policy, in some aspects already present under the Cōάas (Ogura 1999: 126-31), was also implemented to

3 Epigraphic and literary sources attest that the Nāyaka were entitled to hold various posts: some were essentially military chieftains, others performed tasks as political counsellors or administrators and, in some parts of the kingdom, as actual governors or viceroys. (Karashima 1985: 1-26; 1992 : 27-40; 1999: 143-52; Stein 1999: 396-415). 4 The kingdom of Ikkēri included at its zenit the coast of today’s Gujarāt, at the south of Goa, part of Mahārā·Γra and Karnatāka (Swaminathan 1957: 2-10).

191

Tiziana Lorenzetti strengthen their right to ruling the kingdom through a close connection with the sacred, especially with the brahmans, who have always legitimated the rule of the Hindu kings. Therefore, the Nāyakas encouraged a variety of initiatives within the temple precincts, contributing to transforming the sacred complexes into real multifunctional temple-cities. To mention but the most outstanding examples in Tamil Nādu, the MīnākśiSundareśvara sanctuary at Madurai was reconstructed by Tirumalai Nāyak (AD 1623-1659) on a gigantic scale; a number of temples (the Bΰhadiśvara at Tañjore, NaΓāraja at Cidambaram and the Jambukeśvara in the region of Trichi and Rāmeśvaram, Ramanathapuram district) were endowed with many auxiliary structures (Michell 2003: 58-113; Das 1991: 70-76, 108-17, 194-99, 259-62; Nilakanta Sastri 1958: 425-74), while the Vi·nu templecity at Śrīrangam, with its seven surrounding walls within which rose lodgings, shops, bazaars and schools, remains to this very day an exceptional example of urban and community life closely integrated with religious practices.

Nāyaka style and wearing the arrangement of garments peculiar of the period, are apparently in stucco, but since they are partially mutilated, they reveal the underlying original stone sculptures of the late Pallava period (Fig. 2). The use of polychrome stuccos placed within and without the temples also forms an integral part of this ‘colouristic’ trend that characterised Nāyaka art. In Southern India, this trend had some antecedents in the art of previous kingdoms such as Vijayanagar (Sivaramamurti 1994: 7999) or the late PānΡya6 and appears to have some connections with traditional Tamil folk art. In fact, many images of popular divinities – by now absorbed in the mainstream of the great sanskritised Brahmanical current – had always been made in terracotta, often painted, or in polychrome stuccos. For instance, we can see some statues of Ayyanār or Muniśvara, revered as protectors of villages, whose gigantic iconographies are to be seen all over the land of Tamil Nādu (Fig. 3). Also some stylistic characteristics typical of the Nāyaka period, such as penetrating gazes, moustaches and pointed nose, probably derive from popular art. As a matter of fact, popular or folk divinities, probably derived from the ancient Dravidic gods, are generally conceived as forms or relatives of the major Hindu classical divinities; nevertheless they retain their own characteristics, in turn influencing the iconographies of the same divinities of the classical tradition (Elmore 1984: 20-26; Whitehead 1983: 16-34).

These monumental temple complexes, combining, albeit not always harmoniously, architectural elements deriving from a variety of sources, show exuberant wall decoration. Together with a variety of sculptures emerging boldly from the stone, with sharp profile and fantastic entanglements, we find wall paintings, mostly belonging to the later phase of Vijayanagara style, and polychrome stuccos binding and identifying the chromatic parameter with the masonry mass of the walls (Das 1991: 70-76, 108-17, 194-99, 259-62; Nilakanta Sastri 1958: 425-74). During the Nāyaka period the use of colour in architecture was so important that many stone sculptures (also belonging to previous periods) were painted. Also an increasing number of previous temples had mural paintings and polychrome stuccos added, while new temples had their outer walls entirely frescoed over: a noteworthy example is to be seen in the 17th-century sanctuary dedicated to Kālī at Tiruvalañjuli, in the region of Kumbhakonam (Tamil Nādu), entirely decorated with wall paintings exuding vitality (Fig. 1).

The same stylistic features are seen in stone sculptures which are original and exuberant for the variety of iconographies, often unusual, conveying an unimagined symbolism. It is in particular in the Nāyaka kingdom of Tañjore that we come across sculptures of this type. Tañjore patronage to art has not received due attention, although the complex historical events of the kingdom have favoured the rise of a composite and extremely interesting artistic, cultural and religious context. The circumstances that led to the establishment of Nāyak rule in Tañjore need to be generally described for a proper understanding of its artistic production.

A peculiar characteristic of the Nāyaka artistic tradition is the practice not only of covering ancient temple wall paintings with their own paintings,5 but also of coating entirely in polychrome stucco the stone sculptures belonging to previous periods, thus concealing the earlier works under a second image portraying the same original subject but in different material and style. An emblematic case is to be seen in the rock temple of MalaiyaΓippaΓΓi, dated between the late 8th - early 9th centuries (Kalidos 1988: 57-69), where statues showing the unmistakable

South India came under the influence of Vijayanagar around AD 1358, when the king Kumara Kampana began his victorious campaign into the south, defeating the last PānΡya and Cōάa kings. For some time these sovereigns continued to rule as feudatories of the new power, as attested by a great many literary and epigraphic sources (Vriddhagirisan 1995: 15). Towards the 16th century, however, the sovereign of Vijayanagar Kri·nadevarāja reorganised the dependencies to the south, placing the Cōάa and Tondaimandalam regions (which included the districts of North Arcot, South Arcot, Chingleput, Tanjore and Ramnad) under the control of Nāyaka Vira Narasinga. It was not the happiest of choices since the latter immediately showed separatist tendencies,

5 It is the case of the Bΰhadiśvara temple, where wall paintings belonging to Nāyaka period have been removed to reveal Cōάa painting they had covered. The Nāyaka paintings were removed in 1980, by a unique ‘destucco’ process: the chemists of the Archaeological Survey of India fixed chiffon cloth over the Nāyaka paintings and applied polyvinyl acetate. Then, they delicately stripped it off, without causing much damage to the lower Cōάa frescoes, which appeared in their magnificence. In 2003 the Nāyaka paintings were mounted over fibreglass boards and placed in a separate pavilion.

6 e.g. the Citra Sabai sanctuary of the 15th century AD, near Tirunelveli, T. N., which is completely frescoed.

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PECULIAR AND UNKNOWN ICONOGRAPHIES OF THE NĀYAKA PERIOD IN TAMIL COUNTRY ultimately greeting the successor to Kri·nadevarāja, emperor Achyutadevarāja (AD 1529-42), with open rebellion. However, the new sovereign was not one to be intimidated; in fact, having immediately ousted the rebellious, he defeated him in battle and appointed as ‘governor’ of the regions of Cōάa and TondaimanΡalam the trusted general Sevappa, to whom he gave his sisterin-law as wife (Vriddhagirisan 1995: 9-34; Nilakanta Sastri 1958: 273-78; Nagaswamy 2003: vol. I, 190-91).

temple, not far from the ancient Tañjore, dating back to the 17th century. The divinity, whose monkey face is well depicted, is sculpted in high relief on a stele; he stands in a rigid posture, wearing a long garment in the typical Vijayanagar fashion and displaying four arms. Unlike the traditional iconography,9 Hanumān is portrayed here with an unusual mixture of attributes, some of which typical of diverse divinities. In fact, his forward right hand holds a trident, the peculiar attribute of Śiva, but also of Karuppan (‘The black one’, Fig. 5), a divinity of popular religion (Inglis 1980: 19-23), while the corresponding left hand is in varada mudrā. The left hand behind holds a cakra, typical attribute of Vi·nu, while the right hand behind holds a knife, the peculiar weapon of certain popular divinities, such as Muniśvara (Fig. 3). As a matter of fact, on the level of popular tradition, knife takes on particular importance as it is a ritual weapon (Inglis 1980: 29).

Thus began, in c. 1532 AD,7 the Nāyaka dynasty of Tañjore, which had its centre in this city, leaving deep, indelible traces of its rule. The Nāyakas of Tañjore faithfully served the sovereigns of Vijayanagar, maintaining close relations with them, to the extent even of following their cultural, religious and artistic trends, embracing like them the Vai·nava religion and calling to their town the artists who had worked in the imperial city (Nagaswamy 2003: vol. II, 302). To some extent this explains why their artistic production shows close similarities in both subject matter and mode of treatment with the school of Vijayanagar.

Belonging to this peculiar artistic trend and also very similar in style to the image of Hanumān previously described is a series of sculptures dating back roughly to the 17th century situated in the Śivendra temple, not far from the Rāja Gopālaswāmy sanctuary and coeval with it. All these works of art, published some years ago (Lorenzetti 2002: 121-35), seem to portray the god Vi·nu, for we see two attributes characteristic of this divinity, i.e. the wheel (cakra) and the conch (śanሶkha). However, the god also displays a knife (as mentioned above, peculiar of certain popular gods), a third eye, and the bull Nandin is always sculpted in front of the deity, both the latter elements typical of Śiva. Occasionally, the composite deity is depicted with two lotus buds (Figs 67), which suggest possible association of the figure also with Śakta cults (Lorenzetti 2002: 126-27). Another interesting particular is the fact that most of the images occupy the central position of a stone yantra: a cakra with decorated border, displaying in the middle two interlocking triangles.

However, after the fall of the empire, the Nāyakas of Tañjore became absolute sovereigns, patrons of the arts and letters,8 and opened up to various cultural and religious trends, admitting faiths long present in the area such as Śaivism (the school of Śaiva Siddhānta was particularly widespread) and Śaktism, both permeated by devotional (bhakta) and Tantric currents (Vriddhagirisan 1995: 177; Nilakanta Sastri 1958: 411-25; Narayana Rao et al. 1992: 113-15). Highly popular among these was the sect of the Vīraśaiva or Linሶgāyat which, as from the 15th century, had probably absorbed the earlier sects of the Kālāmukha (Sinha 1970: 152-54; Verghese 1995: 4-7). Thus, ‘it may be said that the period of Nāyak rule formed the connecting link between the epoch of Cōάa rule and the intrusion of foreign powers into the land’ (Vriddhagirisan 1995: 1). As a result of this complex scenario the artistic production of the Nāyakas of Tañjore shows both the stylistic trend of Vijayanagar and the continuation of long-established cultural and artistic patterns that can be traced back both to the early Cōάa dynasties, and to more remote traditions, both cultured and popular, with phenomena of reciprocal interaction. These phenomena, combined with the originality of certain characteristics, gave rise to unique and often syncretic iconographies, not codified by any literary source, where specific attributes and iconographic elements, usually belonging to different deities, coexist in a such a manner as to constitute in some cases a new composite divine being.

Similarly sculpted on a ritual diagram (in this case starshaped) is a standing male figure with four arms (Fig. 8) which, despite the unusual miscellany of attributes, could represent Subrahmanya, given the presence of two attributes typical of the god, namely the sword (khaΡga), borne in the front right hand, and the rosary (akΒamāla), visible in the back right hand (Rao 1997: vol. II, part II, 426-28; L’Hernault 1978: 139-73). The front left hand is in varada mudrā, while the back left hand bears a damaged object that looks like the cakra, Vi·nu’s weapon.

9 In the traditional iconography, Hanumān is generally represented in the attitude of devotion or obedience, i.e. in añjali mudrā, with the right hand in front of mouth and the left hand hanging down or crossing the chest. Sometimes he bears a club and a bow, or two cylindrical objects, which probably represent the linሶgas which Rama had deputed Hanuman to fetch from some sacred place (Rao 1997: vol. I, part I, 192-93; Stutley 1985: 53). Exceptionally, in an iconography from Vijayanagar, where the Hanumān worship was very popular, the four-handed god also bears three of the classical attributes of ViΒnu, the cakra, the śanሶkha and the gadā (Dallapiccola & Verghese 1998: 212).

Of these we may cite an image of Hanumān, better known popularly in the south of India with the name of Āñjanēya (Fig. 4), situated in the Rāja Gopālaswāmy 7

Not all scholars endorse this date (Vriddhagirisan 1995: 9).

8

We remind that the famous ‘Public Library’ of Tañjore was built upon the nucleus left by the Nāyakas.

193

Tiziana Lorenzetti ruffled hair), and ganሶgāvatarana dance, which is characterised by both legs upside down. But such iconography could also have been influenced by folk dances, as many of them, depicted on the outer walls of temples,13 and performed still nowadays, involve acrobatic positions and the use of bowls of fire, held in one or both hands. Furthermore, a symbolic meaning (as Tamil sources might suggest) could also be considered, but this would require too long a time to be discussed on this occasion, so that I hope to prove it in a future study.

These divine figures, set at the centre of ritual diagrams and endowed with attributes and iconographic elements usually belonging to different deities, are very peculiar and unusual in Indian iconography.10 So they might well reveal specific religious and socio-political trends. In fact, the unusual miscellany of attributes which bespeak of amalgamation and syncretism, could be indicative of an attempt by the Nāyakas (but the point calls for further study) at ‘dialogue’, and possibly a connection between the various religious paths, also of popular origin, running through their territory.

To sum up, the artistic production of the Nāyaka period, particularly as regards to sculpture, displays a large number and variety of iconographies blending the Vijayanagar tradition with the local ones. Very interesting sculptures, characterised by a great richness and complexity of symbolic meaning, are the outcome of this fruitful interaction, where both the classical and the local popular traditions take active part. These works, particularly in the region of Tañjore, show peculiar iconographies and original syncretism departing from the canonical schemes, where specific attributes and iconographic elements, usually belonging to different deities, coexist. This peculiar ‘mixed trend’, in connection with a complex religious and cultural context, seems to have also a strategically political function, as could reveal an attempt by the Nāyakas at unification of the various religious paths running through their territory.

On the other hand, the use of ritual diagrams, as Brunner rightly points out, is a characteristic feature of many Tantric schools (Brunner 1986: 11) and of some Śakta currents (Bhatt 2000 : 233-43), both present in the area. In particular, the yantra bearing at the centre a representation (usually painted) of the chosen divinity is typical of the saudarśanayantra, well described in the Ahirbudhnya-Samhitā of the Pāñcarātrāgama, 25.14c-15 (Rastelli 2007: 148), and a favoured ritual object of the Tantric school of the Pāñcarātra (Rastelli 2007: 119-52). The saudarśanayantra also shows another peculiarity; it is used especially by those who want to attain kingship, or those who are deprived of kingship, as attested by the Ahirbudhnya-Samhitā of the Pāñcarātrāgama 26.82-87 (Rastelli 2007: 148-49). Thus, on the strength of these evidences we can deduce not only that the Śakta and Tantric schools (including the Vai·nava school of the Pāñcarātra) with their ritual complexes11 were still present and widespread in the area of modern-day Tamil Nādu during the 16th and 17th centuries, but it is also possible that the Nāyakas had installed in certain temples of their capital some saudarśanayantra in stone, in order to secure their kingship which, as we know, was not legitimised by any royal descent.

Bibliographic References Balasubrahmanyam, S.R. (1975) Middle Cōάa Temples: Rajaraja I to Kulottunga I (A.D. 985-1070). Faridabad. Bhatt, R.N. (2000) La Religion de Śiva, d’après les sources sanskrites. Palaiseau.

Also belonging to the Tañjore Nāyaka period, but of uncertain provenance, is a bronze sculpture displaying an unusual and particularly interesting iconography of NaΓarāja (Fig. 9). The god, represented within the prabhāmanΡala, is completely perpendicular upside down resting on his left hand behind, which stands on Apasmāra’s body. The corresponding right hand is open downwards, while the forward right and left hands hold respectively the drum and the fire. This rare posture, which is not codified in any classical literary source,12 seems to be an original mixed form of the famous ānanda tānΡava dance (which also shows the prabhāmanΡala, the figure of Apasmāra, the drum, the fire, and loose and

Brunner, H. (1986) ‘ManΡala et Yantra dans le Śivaisme āgamique. Définition, description, usage rituel’ in Padoux 1986, 11-31. Paris. Bühnemann, G., ed. (2007a) ManΡalas and Yantras in the Hindu Traditions. New Delhi (first ed. 2003). Bühnemann, G. (2007b) ‘Mandala, Yantra and Cakra: Some Observations’ in Bühnemann 2007a, 13-56. New Delhi. Bunce, F.W. (2001) The Yantras of Deities and their Numerological Foundations. Delhi. Bussagli, M. (1984) L’arte del Gandhāra. Torino.

10

A probably antecedent of these iconographies could be an exceptional graffito scratched on a rock in the Yantroddharaka temple at Vijayanagar (Dallapiccola & Verghese 1998: 210).

Champakalakshmi, R. (1986) ‘Urbanisation in South India: the Role of Ideology and Polity’ in Proceedings of Indian History Congress, 47th Session, 1-58. Srinagar.

11 For the ritual use of sacred diagrams (Colas 1986: 83-95; Brunner 1986 : 11-31; Bühnemann 2007: 13-56). 12

Among these e.g. NāΓyaśāstra of Bharata (Manomohan 1950); Abhinayadarpana of NandiΌeśvara (Coomaraswamy 1970; Gosh 1976); Śrītatvanidhi (Subrahmanya Sastri 1963); NāΓyśāstra Sanሶgraha (Sastri & Rao 1953).

13

A dancer represented in perpendicular upside down position is depicted on the prākāra of the Airavateśvara temple, in Darasuram, T. N.

194

PECULIAR AND UNKNOWN ICONOGRAPHIES OF THE NĀYAKA PERIOD IN TAMIL COUNTRY Panda, S.K. (1938) ‘Nāyaka System in Medieval Orissa’ in D. Gupta, D.K. Bhattacharyya & R.D. Choudury (eds), Studies in Ancient Indian History, 92-107. Delhi.

Colas, G. (1986) ‘La vision de la Divinité dans les diagrammes selon le Vishnouisme Vaikhanasa’, in Padoux 1986, 83-95. Paris. Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1970) The Mirror of Gesture, Abhinayadarpana of Nandikeśvara. New Delhi.

Percival, P. (2000) Tamil–English Dictionary. New Delhi-Madras.

Dallapiccola, A. & Verghese, A. (1998) Sculpture at Vijayanagara, Iconography and Style. New Delhi.

Rao, G. (1997) Elements of Hindu Iconography, 4 vols. Delhi (first ed. 1914).

Das, R.K. (1991) Temples of Tamilnad. Bombay (first ed. 1964).

Rastelli, M. (2007) ‘ManΡalas and Yantras in the Pāñcarātra’ in Bühnemann 2007a, 119-52. New Delhi.

Elmore, W.T. (1984) Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism. Delhi (first ed. 1913).

Sastri, V. & Rao, N. (1953) NāΓyśāstra Sanሶgraha. Tanjore.

Ghosh, M. (1976) Nandikeśvara’s Abhinayadarpana. Calcutta.

Sathyanatha Aiyar, R. (1924) History of the Nāyakas of Madurai. Madras.

Inglis, S. (1980) A Village Art of South India. Madurai. Kalidos, R. (1988) ‘The MalaiyaΓipaΓΓi Cave Temples’, South Asian Studies 4: 57-69.

Seth, M. (2006) Indian Painting, the Great Mural Tradition. New York.

Kalidos, R., ed. (1997) Sectarian Rivalry in Art and Literature. Delhi.

Sewell, R. (2004) A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar). A Contribution to the History of India. DelhiChennai (first ed. 1878).

Karashima, N. (1985) ‘Nāyaka Rule in North and South Arcot Districts in South India during the sixteenth Century’, Acta Asiatica 48: 1-26.

Sinha, J. (1970) Schools of Śaivism. Calcutta. Sivaramamurti, C. (1994) South Indian Paintings. New Delhi (first ed. 1968).

Karashima, N. (1992) Towards a New Formation, South Indian Society under Vijayanagara Rule. DelhiOxford.

Sivaramamurti, C. (1996) Indian Painting. New Delhi (first ed. 1970).

Karashima, N., ed. (1999) Kingship in Indian History. Delhi.

Smith, V. (1911) History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon. Oxford.

Karashima, N. (2002) A Concordance of Nāyakas, the Vijayanagar Inscriptions in South India. New Delhi.

Stein, B. (1960) ‘The Economic Function of a Medieval South Indian Temple’, Journal of Asian Studies 19 (2): 163-76.

L’Hernault, F. (1978) L’Iconographie de Subrahmanya au Tamilnad. Pondichéry.

Stein, B. (1999) Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India. Oxford (first ed. 1980).

Lorenzetti, T. (2002) ‘A Rare Meditational Sculpture from Tamil Nadu’, Rivista degli Studi Orientali 76 (1-4): 121-35.

Stutley, M. (1985) The Illustrated Dictionary of Hindu Iconography. London.

Manomohan, G.(1950) NāΓyaśāstra of Bharata. Calcutta.

Subrahmanya Sastri, K.S., ed. Śrītattvanidhi. Thanjavur.

Michell, G., ed. (2003) Temple Town of Tamil Nadu. Mumbai (first ed. 1993). Nagaswamy, R. (2003) South Indian Architecture, 2 vols. New Delhi.

Art

&

transl.

(1963)

Swaminathan, K.D. (1957) The Nāyakas of Ikkeri. Madras.

and

Veluthat, K. (1993) The Political Structure of Early Medieval South India. New Delhi.

Narayana Rao, V.; Shulman, D. & Subrahmanyam, S. (1992) Symbols of Substance, Court and State in Nāyaka Period Tamilnadu. Oxford.

Verghese, A. (1995) Religious Traditions Vijayanagara: as Revealed Through Monuments. Delhi.

Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1958) A History of South India, from Prehistoric time to the Fall of Vijayanagar. Oxford (first ed. 1955).

at its

Verghese, A. (2000) Archaeology, Art and Religion, New Perspectives on Vijayanagara. Delhi.

Ogura, Y. (1999) ‘The Changing Concept of Kingship in The Cōάa Period: Royal Temple Constructions, c. AD. 850-1279’ in Karashima 1999, 119-41. Delhi.

Vriddhagirisan, V. (1995) The Nāyakas of Tanjore. Delhi-Madras (first ed. 1942). Whitehead, H. (1983) The Village Gods of South India. Delhi (first ed. 1921).

Padoux, A., ed. (1986) Mantras et Diagrammes Rituels dans L’Hindouisme, Équipe de recherche n° 249, Table Ronde, Paris 21-22 juin 1984. Paris.

Yamazaki, G. (1999) ‘Kingship in Ancient India as 195

Tiziana Lorenzetti Described in Literary Sources and Inscriptions’ in Karashima 1999, 17-36. Delhi. Yarlagadda, T. (2004) Social History of the Deccan. Delhi.

196

PECULIAR AND UNKNOWN ICONOGRAPHIES OF THE NĀYAKA PERIOD IN TAMIL COUNTRY

Fig. 1 - Kālī Sanctuary (17th century) Tiruvalañjuάi Kumbhakonam, T.N. (Photo T. Lorenzetti).

Fig. 2 - Vi·nu, polychrome stucco, MalaiyaΓipaΓΓi, T.N., Nāyaka period (Photo T. Lorenzetti)

197

Tiziana Lorenzetti

Fig. 3 - Muniśvara, polychrome stucco (modern) Tañjore, T.N. (Photo T. Lorenzetti).

Fig. 4 - Hanumān, Nāyaka period, Rāja Gopālaswāmy temple, Tañjore, T.N. (Photo T. Lorenzetti).

198

PECULIAR AND UNKNOWN ICONOGRAPHIES OF THE NĀYAKA PERIOD IN TAMIL COUNTRY

Fig. 5 - Karuppan, polychrome stucco (modern) Tañjore, T.N. (Photo T. Lorenzetti).

Fig. 6 - Deity with two lotus buds, Nāyaka period Raja Gopālaswāmy temple, Tañjore, T.N. (Photo T. Lorenzetti).

Fig. 7 - Deity with two lotus buds, Nāyaka period, Rāja Gopālaswāmy temple, Tañjore, T.N. (Photo T. Lorenzetti).

199

Tiziana Lorenzetti

Fig. 8 - Subrahmanya (?), Nāyaka period, Rāja Gopālaswāmy temple, Tañjore, T.N. (Photo T. Lorenzetti).

Fig. 9 - NaΓarāja, Nāyaka period, unknown provenance (Copyright French Institute of Pondicherry).

200

NEWARI INFLUENCE IN TIBETAN PAINTINGS BETWEEN THE 11TH AND 14TH CENTURIES Katherine Meahl-Blondal AD 1100 (Lee 1982: pl. 9) and the Prjañāpāramitā manuscript dated 1138 (not the covers, see Pal & MeechPetarik 1988: p. 23).1 The body shapes are more harmonious, arm movements are slightly more supple, faces are rounder and the facial lines somewhat finer. The garments follow the body lines and present a few additional decorations such as a circular design. The belts in this period are similar to the previous ones. The jewellery is somewhat more elaborate with three pronged crowns. The back rests now give a sense of depth; small and gently curved volutes decorate the pillars. The toranas are now decorated foliage emerging from bird (haṁsa) tails. There is no depiction of vegetation in these two examples.2 A typical Newar motif is however present for the first time: the canopies with a festoon hanging from each end (top cover of the Prajñāpāramitā work, dated AD 1100). This period shows an emerging Newar style that is going to amplify over the next few centuries.

Nepal, situated at the trans-Himalayan crossroads which joins the Indian subcontinent with Tibet and China, played a fundamental role in the development of Tibetan art between the 13th and the 15th centuries. During this period, the Himalayan route connecting the Katmandu Valley and Central Tibet was the favoured venue for artistic, cultural and religious exchanges and contributed to the expansion of Himalayan art. A great number of illustrated manuscripts, mural paintings and Nepalese and Tibetan thang-kas were produced during this time. Nepalese Style and its evolution between the 11th and 14th centuries Nepalese Style and its evolution between the 11th and 14th centuries can be divided into several periods reflecting their stylistic evolution. There are four distinct periods each representing a single century. The examples used in this article are all dated precisely with the exception of the Avalokiteśvara and Vasudharā which are dated around AD 1300 and AD 1370, respectively. In order to follow the Newar stylistic evolution, five criteria have been chosen: body shape, jewellery, garments, thrones and vegetation.

The third group, covering the 13th century AD, shows the body shapes as more slender, the movement of the bodies as well balanced and proportionate. The faces are rounder and the features are softer and even with the eyes now being slightly incurved. This can be seen in the Pancaraksa manuscript, in the Bir Library, Katmandu, dated AD 1247 (Waldschmit 1970: 69; Fig. 1). Thin and thick stripes with circular motifs decorate the garments and the gold belts are now larger. The artists are also paying close attention to jewellery: pearled necklaces, gold necklaces and earrings adorned with triangular motifs. The three pronged crowns are accentuated on either side with bows (kosti) and floating ribbons. This is Indian in origin but the Newari artists have adopted it and transformed it into fan like shapes. The structure of the thrones is simple yet rich compared to the previous examples. The divinities sit on a lotus and moon supported by a seat with a cloth draped in its centre and lions placed on either side. The pillars have disappeared yet the torana is suggested by the back rest and the makaras and their flaming tails. An important Newar motif is represented here: the monochrome scrolling on the background of Vairocana and Amoghasiddhi aureoles. This will be passed on to Tibetan art.3 Unfortunately, there is no representation of any vegetation but the canopies are once again present and are now decorated with circular and floral motifs. The

The first group, spanning the 11th century AD, is exemplified by the Prajñāpāramitā sūtra dated AD 1015 in the Cambridge University Library (Béguin 1990b: 16; Pal & Meech-Petarik 1988: 103). It unites the illuminations from the 11th century AD which are undeniably Indian in its style. The body shapes are stout, facial features are heavy, the garments are decorated with stripes and small dots and the gold belts are very simple. The jewellery is composed of simple pearl necklaces, the arm bracelets contain a stone encased in its centre and the tiaras have one prong and, exceptionally, there may be three decorated with several stones. The thrones are plain with just the representation of the lotus and the moon (candra). The depiction of vegetation and animals holds an important place in the Newar artists’ repertoire. In our example, the trees are intertwined with rounded leaves highlighted by a green monochrome. Sometimes, clouds festooned with pearls are present as well as flowers sprinkled in the background. This is Indian in origin but the Newar artists will include it in their works. However, these are all drawn with a certain awkwardness which will not be the case in later works. The Nepalese characteristics are just barely perceptible: the smiling juvenile faces, the simple style of the thrones and vegetation

1

Prajñāpāramitā manuscript dated AD 1138 is part of Edwin Binney 3rd’s collection. 2 There is a manuscript in the Cambridge University Library dated AD 1148 that shows a palm tree with well delineated foliage. (see Pal & Meech-Petarik, 1988: fig. 38).

The second group encompasses the 12th century and is represented by the covers and the manuscripts of a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra in Cleveland Museum of Art dated

3 These are other manuscripts that have monochrome scrolling but none with a confirmed date. See for example Pal & Meech-Petarik 1988: fig. 37.

201

Katherine Meahl-Blondal the rim, clasped in the middle by a ribbed and slightly bulbous crown (āmalaka) and surrounded by flames. The top of the structure is the lotus itself, composed of a corolla surrounding the pistil.

festoons are now bulbous tassels. All this is characteristic of the 13th century AD, and shows that the Newar artistic evolution is well on its way. The fourth and last group refers to the 14th century AD. It includes a paubhā of Avalokiteśvara in the Musée Guimet, L. Fournier donation, dated around AD 1300 (Béguin 1990a: pl. D; Fig. 2), a Prajñāpāramitā manuscript in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, dated AD 1367 (Pal & Meech-Petarik 1988: pl. 28; Fig. 3), a painted manΡala of Vasudharā in a private collection, dated AD 1367 (Pal 1975: pl. 59; Fig. 4) and a Prajñāpāramitā in the Musée Guimet, L. Fournier donation, from the year AD 1379 (Béguin 1990a: pl. 9; Fig. 5). During the 14th century AD, the body shapes are even more slender and well balanced, as one can see in the example of Vasudharā dated AD 1367, where her movement - not to mention those of the four goddesses protected by the shrines in the corners - are also coordinated. The faces are rounder with delicate features such as the purity of the lines of the eyebrows. The eyes and the mouths are especially well depicted in the example of Avalokiteśvara dated around AD 1300. The garments follow the body contours and are adorned with several motifs: simple white border (manuscript 1367), thick and thin stripes, flowers and sometimes even scroll work (Prajñāpāramitā dated AD 1379). The jewellery combines long pearl necklaces with various cartouches and shorter festooned necklaces. The arm bands are highlighted with more stone settings (Prajñāpāramitā dated AD 1379, and Avalokiteśvara dated around AD 1300.) The earrings can be simple in decoration or more elaborate with a prong, as can be seen in the paubhā of Prajñāpāramitā dated AD 1379. The crowns are adorned with three main prongs with a central stone setting. In the example of Avalokiteśvara dated around AD 1300, the main prong is flanked by two smaller ones held by a gold stem. The ends of the structure are decorated with kosti and floating ribbons. The artists have re-introduced small rings with stone settings and simple band rings which existed in Indian art but were ignored in Newar art during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. In general, the thrones are more elaborate and the base is composed of several plinths, sometimes draped at its centre by a cloth. The cloths themselves are stylised with flowers retained in circles or intertwined with vegetation, all of which are characteristic to Newar art. The square shape pillars of some of the thrones, the - ‘classic structure’, originally Indian, is animated with lions, elephants, palmipeds, mythological animals (vyālaka) mounted by riders, creatures half-men/half-bird (kinnara) and flame-like motifs. Haṁsas or makaras with their ribbed and turnedup snouts and elaborate flame-like scrolls compose the toranas (Figs 5, 7 and 8). A winged Garuda, with either serpents clasped in his beak or surrounded by anthropomorphous creatures, dominates the whole structure.

Monochrome scrolling is becoming more frequently used by the artists and can be seen in the paubhās of Avalokiteśvara, Vasudharā and Prajñāpāramitā (Figs 2, 4 and 5). The vegetation is represented by falling flowers (Fig. 2), which is also seen in the Prajñāpāramitā manuscript of AD 1367 (Fig. 3), and the paubhā of Vasudharā (Fig. 4). These lotus pillars stem from Newari art. The toranas, originally inspired by India, have become one of the characteristics of Newari art: the makaras and their curved forms and arched snouts, the rich golden foliage, and bi-coloured Garuda. During this period, the artists systematically represent the lotus pillars, not only in the structure of the thrones and the pavilions of the minor divinities, but also for the arcades in the superior and inferior registrars, for example in the paubhā representing Vasudharā 1367 and Prajñāpāramitā 1379. This characteristic of Newar art will be methodically used by the artists in the Tibetan works. These four different groups show the development of Newar style through several themes: body shape, garments, jewellery, thrones and vegetation. The first group unites the illuminated manuscripts, indisputably Indian in origin yet allowing a glimpse of the characteristics of Newar style: juvenile faces, simple thrones and awkward depictions of the vegetation all represent a naïve Newar style. The second group shows more harmonious bodies and some detailing of the jewellery and toranas. The third group presents slender bodies with more refined features. Closer attention is paid to the jewellery, the decoration of the garments, details of the toranas and to the canopies. Finally, the last group shows a firmer modelling of the bodies with garments more decorated, jewellery more meticulous and thrones adorned with more elements. These groups enable us to divide the Newar stylistic development: the beginnings of Newar art (group 1), its development (groups 2 and 3) and its maturity (group 4). From the 14th century AD, the art of Nepalese painting evolves towards a certain maturity; this can be seen in the mural paintings at the monastery of Shalu, the Kumbum of Gyantse, and Tibetan thangkas. The Monastery of Shalu The Monastery of Shalu is situated a few kilometres from the city of Shigatse. It was founded in AD 1027 and was completed in AD 1335. After the first period of its foundation (AD 1027-1045), the history of this monastery remains obscure due to lack of sources and chronologies. However, at the dawn of the 13th century AD when Buddhism was blossoming in Tibet, the monastery once again became the centre for new expansion and decoration. The second and third phases of its

However, it is important to note the lotus pillars created by the Newar artists, particularly in the Prajñāpāramitā dated AD 1379. The torana is upheld by lotus pillars that soar up from rounded vases with flowers falling around 202

NEWARI INFLUENCE IN TIBETAN PAINTINGS BETWEEN THE 11TH AND 14TH CENTURIES construction (AD 1290-1306, and after AD 1306) are most interesting. (The third phase was carried out between AD 1333 and AD 1335.) During this time, the chapels of the main assembly hall were built. The mural paintings and motifs clearly derived directly from the Katmandu Valley. This revival is partly due to the close family links between the Sakyapas and Shalu order and the privileged relations between the two facilitated by both cultural exchanges and commerce. According to literary sources (Vitali 1990), Drakpa Gyeltshen, sovereign of Shalu, arrived at the Yuan court in AD 1306 to be given the stature of ‘maternal grandfather’, an honorary term (sku-zhang) of Shalu, by the emperor Temur. It is thought that he came back with several artists from Anige’s atelier in order to enlarge and embellish the monastery. In AD 1260, Anige (AD 1244-1306), a famous bronze maker and several Newar artists were invited to the Yuan court. Even though Anige had already passed away at the time of Drakpa Gyeltshen visit, the dominant Lamaist art school at the Yuan court arts was that of Anige and his disciples, hence the Newar style.

then the two prongs and the fan-like shape kosti at the end of the band. Once again similar to Avalokiteśvara in structure (Fig. 2), but the details are not as rich. At Shalu, the use of precious stones and pearls is greater than in the Newar example. The base of the throne is not much different from illustrations 1, 2 and 4. The God, however, sits on a stylised double lotus here. The pillars have disappeared very much like Prajñāpāramitā’s inner throne (Fig. 5). The layout of the toranas is identical to the Newari examples (Figs 2-5). Makaras spitting ascending flowers, and throwing their heads back with their ribbed snouts curled up, are placed on either side of the crossbar. Enflamed volutes rise from their tails. A winged Garuda clenching serpents in his claws and beak hovers over the apex of the structure. Not very visible on the representation of Ak·obhya, but much more so on the mural of Ratnasambhava, is monochrome scrolling on their aureoles. The only representations of vegetation are the falling delicately represented flowers on the blue back ground and the ones descending from the makaras mouths. The latter ones are fully bloomed, still in a bud or just opening. The rounded or elongated petals are highlighted in blue monochrome or, on the contrary, light colours contrasted with darker ones or just with stripes.

The southern (sGo-gsum) and northern (bSe-sgo-ma) chapels, built and decorated between 1290 and 1306 and after 1306, both represent the five Jinas4 and although very similar in style, there are some minor stylistic differences. Ak·obhya, in the sGo-gsum chapel, is the example we will refer to in this article (Huo & Suolang 1994: pl. 201; Fig. 6). The dimensions of the murals are 2,85 × 1,70 m and given the large size of the work the proportions and position of the divinity regular and in harmony with the touching of the earth mudrā. The waist is slender, accentuated by a green monochrome musculature. The heart shaped faces show sinuous facial features with elongated eyebrows and eyes, similar to the Newar examples of the Pañcaraksā manuscript dated AD 1247 (Fig. 1) and to Avalokiteśvara dated around AD 1300 (Fig. 2). Note especially that the artists highlight the nose with a thin brush stroke (Huo & Suolang 1994: 201-04). The garments, following the contours of the bodies, are more elaborate than the earlier Newar works, are decorated with circular motifs, flowers in star shapes, stripes and flowers intertwined with vegetation, thus resembling a similar style to the works of the 14th century AD (Figs 2 and 4).

The differences, in comparison to the other Jinas in the same chapel, are seen in the great variety of representing details. For example, none of the jewels are depicted the same way; each is unique as with the motifs on the garments. As for the comparison with Ratnasambhava in the bSe-sgo-ma chapel (2.20 x 5.50 m), there are numerous differences, especially in the details such as the depiction of the jewellery, the representation of animals, etc. (Yu 1991: 12; Fig. 7). The role that vegetation has in this chapel should be highlighted. It is similar on the backgrounds and from the makaras mouth, but the novelty resides in the lotus vine that scrolls around dancers, musicians and elaborate lotus. Flame-like motifs run along the structure, curving left and right, and regularly bursting into new ones. Elongated petals, half bloomed rounded ones, or full bloomed curved-up corollas compose the different lotuses. In comparing the mural paintings at Shalu and those with the manuscripts and the paubhās, the evolution of Newar art is not only visible but so is the skill of their artists. The silhouettes are more balanced and better proportioned than the Newar examples. The rounded heart-shaped faces reveal supple and graceful features. The jewellery has become lush with the augmentation of the stones and pearls. The designs of the garments are also more intricate with motifs intertwining. The toranas, despite the lack of pillars, are also more sophisticated with the filigree volutes emerging from makara tails coupled with a wide-winged Garuda giving certain grandeur to the murals. The innovative scrolling lotus vine also reflects the evolution of the Newar style in Tibet. The use of monochrome scrolling of Newar origin has now found a predominant place at Shalu.

The configuration of the jewellery is by far more complex than the 14th century AD Newar works. The long and short necklaces are pearled with a variety of stones enclosed in square decorative elements. The garland necklaces are a new ornamentation not represented in the Newar examples except for Avalokiteśvara (Fig. 2). Arm bands and bracelets exhibit similar rendering with added smaller stones surrounding a central one. The rings are now set with a raised stone (right hand). The configuration of the jewellery in Shalu resembles that of Avalokiteśvara, for example the festooned necklace and the raised stone inserted in the rings (Fig. 2). The crowns are organized on three levels. They depict a central prong flanked by a gold stem supporting a smaller prong and 4

Or Tāthagatas, term used for the five Transcendent Buddhas.

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Katherine Meahl-Blondal is a fully spread, winged and armed Garuda flanked by anthropomorphous creatures. The composition of Śākyamuni is similar to the paubhās of Avalokiteśvara and Vasudharā (Figs 5 and 7). Green and blue monochrome intertwined lotus vines and flowers are also visible, echoing the monochrome volutes of some the Newar examples and the Jinas at Shalu.

The Kumbum of Gyantse The town of Gyantse, formerly a main intersection between Nepal, Bengal and Lhasa, is located in southern Tibet, not far from the Tsangpo river. The construction of the Kumbum began in AD 1427 and was finished in AD 1440, or perhaps AD 1439. The artists, all Tibetan as can be seen through their signatures, are from different towns: Lhatse (12), Nasnying (at least 7), Jonang, and several centres around Shalu and Gyantse. For more than two centuries, the arts, religion and literature of southern Tibet (Tsang) were influenced by the North of India, Nepal and China. The mural paintings at Gyantse show the blend of Indian, Nepalese and Chinese influence.

The second style can be seen in the representation of Māyājāla Kurukullā (Fig. 9). She sits on a double lotus seat with a stout yet menacing-looking Garuda in front. The base of the lotus pillars is represented by two lions back-to-back, joined together by a liana sprouting leaves and buds. Their raised eyebrows and bulging eyes give them their fierce look. It is interesting to note that their shape resembles that of a vase as can be seen in the upper registrars of the paubhā of Vasudharā and in Prajñāpāramitā’s throne (Figs 4-5). An āmalaka crown with an ascending flame embraces the middle of the lotus balusters. Foliage and flowers grow along the structure, a style that was not present in any of the previous works. A fully bloomed lotus with slightly curled and blade-like petals and an enlarged pistil form the top of the structure. An enflamed jewel (cintāmani) occupies the corners of the three-lobed torana. This type of arch is also found in Newar manuscripts, as can be seen in the Prajñāpāramitā manuscript dated AD 1367 (Fig. 3). The monochrome motifs are also present in the aureoles.

Only a general description of the body shapes, jewellery and the garments will be given due to the numerous murals and because it is the details that make each work different. Close attention will however, be given to the thrones and hence the vegetation because three distinct style are to be recognized. The body shapes are similar to those of the Jinas at Shalu: well proportioned where the symmetry is respected as can be seen in the depiction of Śākyamuni (Fig. 8). This is even more apparent when the divinities have more than two arms (Lo Bue & Ricca 1993: pls. 82, 10; Figs 9-10). Some of the faces are round and heart-shaped (Fig. 8) and the facial features are inspired by the paubhās of the 13th and 14th century AD (Figs 1-2) with curved eyebrows, incurved eyelids, small mouths, and sometimes the thinness of the nose is accentuated by a fine brush stroke (Fig. 10) as with the Jinas from Shalu. The garments are of Chinese inspiration, no longer following the lines of the body and rarely depicting the motifs that were present on the garments in the paubhās and the Jinas at Shalu. The jewellery is intricate as in figures 2, 7 and 8. The necklaces are festooned with numerous stone inserts as are the armbands and earrings (Fig. 10), similar to those of the Jinas at Shalu. There is however a distinct sense of sobriety in some of the examples such as Māyājāla Kurukullā, where her necklace consists of three triangular motifs with a stone set in the centre. Her longer necklace is depicted in a similar fashion. (Fig. 9). The crowns, sometimes having five prongs such as Śākyamuni’s (Fig. 8), demonstrate the same meticulousness as those represented at Shalu. Yet, each crown manifests its own originality, such as Dharmadhātuvāgiśvara (Fig. 10), whose main prong is inserted with a stone and the upper one is in the form of a vortex. Rings are still present at Gyanste, as can be seen in the same example.

The third style is apparent in the representation of Dharmadhātuvāgiśvara (Fig. 10). The base of the throne is similar to the 14th century AD paubhās and the Jinas from Shalu. Here, the orange maned vicious lions support the seat with one paw. A double corolla lotus stems from the sides of the lotus seat holding a bulbous vase. The lotus pillars have now given way to undulating stems which blossom into red and green flowers. Two stylised buds sprout from here with petals in the shape of thistle and ginkgo. A double corolla forms the top of the structure, itself supporting a proud haṁsa on either side of the divinity. From their tails spring another vine scrolling around different lotuses, all of which have the particularity of being fully bloomed yet still enveloping a closed bud. The petals of different shapes can be long, slightly curled and still unfolding, slightly bent outwards, or rounded and fully bloomed. Golden tendrils surround the entire structure. This is one example of many in the Kumbum where the rigid structure of the lotus pillars and the toranas have been replaced with sinuous vegetation. Yet, the structure is still manifest because of the haṁsa which would normally be placed at the corners of the crossbar. As with the two previous examples, the monochrome decorations are still present in this mural.

As mentioned previously, three distinct styles in the representation of the thrones can be seen. In the first instance, there is the ‘classic’ representation, originally inspired by Indian art (Figs 2 and 4). The pillars are animated by placid elephants, fierce lions and vyālaka mounted by riders. Imposing makaras, with their ribbed thrown-back snouts and gaping mouths revealing their sharp teeth, sit on the either side of the cross-bar. Well organized volutes rise from their tails, doubled with flame-like motifs and adorned with stones. At the summit

Newar influence through the different themes is still omnipresent amongst the works in the Kumbum, such as the articulation of the body movements, the symmetrical proportions, and the pure lines enhancing the refined facial features. The jewellery in the 14th century AD paubhās have the same extravagance as Shalu and even less than in the Kumbum. The crowns depicted at Gyantse, are by far more diversified than at Shalu. The 204

NEWARI INFLUENCE IN TIBETAN PAINTINGS BETWEEN THE 11TH AND 14TH CENTURIES garments, as mentioned previously, have a more Chinese influence. This is not encountered in the Newar examples or those at Shalu. Many thrones in Gyantse (Figs 8 and 9) reflect a Newar structure (Figs 2-5) as with the thrones of the Jinas at Shalu. The third style of the throne is unprecedented. The lotus pillars are transformed into undulating vegetation losing all aspect of rigidity and the toranas are replaced by lotus medallions enveloped with flames and vines. Despite the vegetative scrolling at Shalu (Fig. 7), there is an amplification and development of the vegetative elements at Gyantse which is unique. It is as if the artists were compelled to fill in all empty space with climbing and uncoiling plant and floral patterns.5

flowers, the filigree volutes rising from their tails are alike. Nāgarājas and a full bodied Garuda tower the structure. The vegetation is sparse but the ascending flowers in the background are like those in figures 2-4 and 7. The monochrome scroll work is also still present on the aureoles (Figs 2, 5, 6 and 7). This thangka particularly resembles that of Avalokiteśvara dated around AD 1300 (Fig. 2). One could argue that it may be Nepalese but the Tibetan inscription on the back reveals its origin. The agile drawing of the body outlines, facial features, the detailed motifs of the garments, the execution of the jewellery, and the stylization of the scroll work all indicate a Shalu influence, hence a Tibetan origin.

The mural paintings at Gyantse reflect a style with two distinct influences: the Newar style and the Chinese style, which is seen through the garments and the landscape such as the clouds. This coupled with the extraordinary amplification of the vegetative elements creates the unique style of Gyantse. The Tibetan thangkas reveal simultaneously the Newar style of the 14th century and the Newar style created at Shalu and Gyantse.

The second thangka is Amitābha dated around AD 1350. It is part of a famous series representing the five Tāthagatas, but only three of them are known.6 The style of the painting is similar to that of the Jinas in the bSesgo-ma chapel. The contours of the body are drawn with great agility and the proportions are in perfect harmony. The faces are rounder than Ratnasambhava (Fig. 7), but the features are realized in the same style: raised eyebrows, curved eyelids, nose, accentuated by a thin line7 and small mouth. He is clad in a garment bearing a unique pattern of circles enclosed in squares. This pattern has not been encountered in any of the previous examples and after having compared them to other Nepalese and Tibetan paintings none was found that resembles it. One can only speculate that it is part of the artist’s creativity. The belt is virtually identical to that of Ratnasambhava. The long necklaces, bracelets, and armbands are comparable to those of Ratnasambhava but the festooned necklace is more like those worn by Vairocana and Amitābha in the same chapel.8 The earrings in this example are simple with no prongs attached to them, unlike the ones at Shalu. No rings are present in this thangka, nor in the ones of Amoghasiddhi and Ratnasambhava.9 The throne is ‘classic’ with all the Newar elements. The structure finds its origin in Indian art, but the exploitation of the decorative elements is from the Katmandu Valley (Figs 2, 4 and 7). The double corolla lotus and lunar disk are placed on a base similar to the Avalokiteśvara and Ak·obhya (Figs 2 and 6). The columns are composed of placid elephants, rampant lions, mongooses and vyālaka with their riders. The mongooses are a new element. Animated makaras spitting jewels occupy the crossbar corners and rich volutes spring from their tails. Nāgarājas and their large serpent tails and a stout Garuda form the apex of the structure. The vegetation does not have a dominant place, but the falling flowers in the blue background are reminders of Newar art (Figs 2-4). It is important to note the flowers falling

Tibetan Thangkas Most of the Tibetan thangkas reflecting Newar style do not have precise dates and do not bare inscriptions. The ones discussed in this article were chosen based on the presence of Newar, Shalu and Gyantse style. The first one in the Musée Guimet, L. Fournier donation, is of Vairocana dated around AD 1330 (Béguin 1990: pl. F).This thangka incorporates more the Newar style at Shalu than the Newar manuscripts, except for the rendering of the two attendants where the slightly off-set position is similar to the Prajñāpāramitā manuscript dated AD 1100 and the Pañcarak·ā manuscript dated AD 1247 (Fig. 1). The body proportions of this thangka are symmetrical and the hand-gestures poised. The central divinity is of a similar inspiration as Ratnasambhava in the bSe-sgo-ma chapel (Fig. 7) at Shalu, where the fine brush strokes reveal the delicate facial features: arched eyebrows, incurved eyes and a thinly drawn mouth. The garments also reveal a familiar pattern (stripes, star likeflowers) to that of Ratnasambhava, especially in the style of the belt. The jewellery possesses similar qualities depicted through the festooned necklaces, the elaborate armbands and the earrings with descendent triangular motifs all highlighted with stone inserts. The three layered crown is adorned with central stones and pearls, fan-like kosti ornate the sides. Once again, a raised ring is placed on the finger of the divinity’s right hand (Figs 2 and 7).

6

This example is from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the other two are in the Los Angeles County Museum and in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. See Kossak & Singer 1998: pl. 36b.

The base of the throne is built in a similar fashion supporting a double lotus. As with Ratnasambhava, the pillars have disappeared and the torana is composed of makara, although not as vivacious and not spitting 5

7 This is especially visible in the depiction of AkΒobhya, Amitābha and Amoghasiddhi, see Yu 1991: 13-15.

For further examples see Lo Bue, & Ricca 1993.

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8

See Yu 1991: 15-16.

9

See fn. 5.

Katherine Meahl-Blondal the 14th century AD sees it going from an awkward brush stroke to a firm and refined one, visible in all the elements whether it be in the contours of the bodies, the delicate eyes, the patterns of the garments, the meticulousness of the jewellery or the detailed richness of the thrones and their toranas. Over this period the details applied to the elements not only intensified but the artists display great ability to render them with clarity. The Newar influence at Shalu is evident, yet it has its own unique trademark such as the motifs on the garments. At Gyantse, its unique style is even more apparent, for example, the diversity of the different thrones and the hypertrophy of the vegetative elements. The availability of precisely dated manuscripts and paubhās coupled with the dates of the two temples should assist in narrowing down dates for the Tibetan thangkas, which rarely carry a date or an inscription. The analysis of a wider range of elements, such as colour, animals, secondary figures should assist in bringing a more precise date (Meahl 2002). Other methods of analysis also exist. Analysis of the writing is possible in cases where an inscription is present. Identification of the religious figures and their lineages based on texts is also possible (Jackson 1996). A third method is the study of the iconography coupled with the religious texts. The Newar influence in Tibet saw its adoption and then its adaptation depending on the artists’ inspiration. This allowed them to create their own style as seen at Shalu and Gyantse. These various styles in Central Tibet during the 14th and 15th centuries AD show the Newar inspiration blended with the Chinese one of the Yuan and Ming court. From the 15th century AD onward, Newar influence no longer occupies as dominant a place as it did previously. A more prevailing Tibetan art was on the rise.

from the volute for it is depicted in a similar manner as the ones the makaras are spitting (Fig. 7). The monochrome scroll work is still present for the decoration of the aureoles. The difference between the original examples from the Katmandu Valley and the Tibetan thangkas resides in the development of the details and crispness of the clear brush work. The date AD 1350 seems to correspond to the style of the period; the 14th century AD paubhās and the style at Shalu. The last example in the Musée Guimet, L. Fournier donation, represents Usnisavijaya and is dated around AD 1430 (Béguin 1990: pl. 138). Despite a significant Chinese influence in this painting, there are numerous Newar elements. First, the depiction of the goddess’s slender body and refined features are akin to those represented in the Māyājāla Kurukullā and Dharmadhātuvāgiśvara (Figs 9-10). Second, the garments, although very Chinese, resemble those represented at Gyantse (Lo Bue & Ricca 1993). Third, the jewellery does not retain any of the former elaboration. The garland necklaces, the prongs of the armbands, and crown are inserted with barely visible stones. Perhaps the only comparison would be with Mahāmāyūrī in Gyantse (Meahl 2002: pl. 64). Placed in a stūpa, the concept of the throne has disappeared and yet there are Newar elements present. The base is more elaborate than the previous examples. There is not just the representation of the two lions but four, coupled with four wrathful divinities. In the first instance, the lotus pillars grow from two intertwined birds (Figs 9, 4 and 5), clasped in their middle by an āmalaka crown (Fig. 5). They then evolve into a fully bloomed lotus with a single corolla where the enlarged pistil is stylised, almost integrating the geometrical form of the outer arch corners. The inner columns are composed of coiled vines emerging from a sphere-shaped vase encircling several auspicious objects. A single corolla and an enlarged pistil support the tiny makaras. The torana a integrates scroll work rising from their tails, and a pattern of lotuses supporting birds, kinnaras and volutes. The top of the structure is invaded by nāgarājas and Garuda. Vegetation is sparse except for the two white lotuses on either side of the divinity’s face and a red monochrome scroll work fills the background. The links with the murals from Gyantse are apparent, but was it made before or after the Kumbum? Certain authors think it was made before because ‘it appears to be a precursor of the bolder and stronger style of the Gyantse Kumbum wall paintings’ (Thurman & Rhie 1996: 462). It is a plausible theory, although it could be an artist who was in fact inspired by the murals. G. Béguin points out that he saw a similar representation of Usnisavijaya at Shalu but was not allowed to take its picture (Béguin 1995: 219). In lieu of the resemblance with the Gyantse murals, and until further evidence is uncovered, the date around AD 1430 seems probable. The apparent Chinese influence backs this theory.

Bibliographic References Béguin, G. (1990a) Art ésotérique de l’Himalaya, la donation Lionel Fourneir. Paris. Béguin, G. (1990b) Merveille de l’Enluminure. Geneva. Béguin, G. (1995) Les peintures du bouddhism tibétain. Paris. Heller, A. (1999) Art et Sagesse du Tibet. Milan. Huntington, J. (1976) The Styles and Stylistic Sources of Tibetan Paintings. Ann Arbor. Huo, W. & Suolang, W. (1994) Xizang fojioa siyuan bihua yishi (Fresco art of the Buddhist Monasteries in Tibet). Chengdu. Jackson, D. (1996) A History of Tibetan Painting : The Great Tibetan Painters and their Traditions. Wien. Kossak, S. & Singer, C.J. (1998) Sacred Visions, Early Paintings from Central Tibet. New York.

Conclusion

Lee, S. (1982) A History of Far Eastern Art. New Jersey,

The evolution of Newar art from the 11th century AD to

Lo Bue, E. (1985-1986) ‘The Newar Artists of the Nepal 206

NEWARI INFLUENCE IN TIBETAN PAINTINGS BETWEEN THE 11TH AND 14TH CENTURIES Valley. A Historical Account of their Activities in the Neighbouring Areas with Particula Reference to Tibet’, Oriental Art 31 (3): 262-77 and 31 (4): 409-20. Lo Bue, E. & Ricca, F. (1993) The Great Stupa of Gyantse. A Complete Tibetan Pantheon of the Fifteenth Century. London. Macdonald, A.W. & Vergati-Stahl, A. (1979) Newar Art: Nepalese Art during the Malla Period. Warminster. Meahl, K. (2002) L’influence néware dans la peinture tibétaines et essai de datation de thang-ka tibétain, Ph.D Thesis, Paris IV-Sorbonne University (unpublished). Pal, P. (1975) Nepal, where the Gods are Young. New York. Pal, P. (1978) The Arts of Nepal, vol. II. Leyde-Cologne. Pal, P. (1985) The Arts of Nepal. A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection. Los Angeles. Pal, P. (1988) Tibetan Paintings. Hong Kong. Pal, P. & Meech-Petarik, J. (1988) Buddhist Book Illuminations. New York. Ran, G. (1994) Zhongguo zangchuan fojiao bihua (Tibetan Buddhist Murals). Beijing. Singer, C.J. & Denwood, P. (1997) Tibetan Art, towards a Definition of Style. London. Slusser, M. (1982) Nepal Mandala. A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley. Princeton. Snellgrove, D. (1987) Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. London. Thurman, R. & Rhie, M.(1996) Wisdom and Compassion. The Sacred Art of Tibet. New York. Tucci, G. (1949) Tibetan Painted Scrolls. Rome. Waldschmit, E. & R.(1970) Nepal-Art Treasures from the Himalayas. London. Yu, J. (1991) Xizang yishu. Shanghai.

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Fig. 3 - Prajñāpāramitā manuscript, AD 1367, Indian Museum, Calcutta (after Pal & Meech-Petarik 1988: pl. 28).

Fig. 1 - Pañcarak·ā manuscript, AD 1247, Bir Library, Katmandu (after Waldschmit 1970: 69).

Fig. 4 - Vasudharā, AD 1367, Private collection (after Pal 1975: pl. 59). Fig. 2 - Avalokiteśvara, around AD 1300, Musée des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris (after Béguin 1990a: pl. D).

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Fig. 5 - Prajñāpāramitā, AD 1379, Musée des Arts Asiatiques - Guimet, Paris (after Béguin 1990a: pl. D). Fig. 7 - Ratnasambhava, Shalu temple (after Yu 1991: pl. 2).

Fig. 6 - Ak·obhya, Shalu temple (after Huo & Suolang 1994: pl. 180).

Fig. 8 - Śākyamuni, Gyantse (after Meahl 2002: 567).

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Fig. 9 - Māyājāla Kurukullā, Gyantse (after Lo Bue & Ricca 1993: pl. 82). Fig. 11 - Vairocana, around AD 1330, Musée des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris (after Béguin 1990a: 176).

Fig. 12 - Amitābha, around AD 1350, Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Fig. 10 - Dharmadhātuvāgiśvara, Gyantse (after Lo Bue & Ricca 1993: pl. 10).

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Fig. 13 - U·nī·avijayā, around AD 1430, Musée des Arts Asiatiques - Guimet, Paris (after Béguin 1990a: 57).

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HITHERTO UNIDENTIFIED METAL SCULPTURES OF THE PAÑCARAK·Ā GODDESS MAHĀSĀHASRAPRAMARDANĪ FROM NEPAL AND TIBET Gerd J.R. Mevissen In 2003 a late sixteenth-century gilt bronze image of a goddess from Nepal (Fig. 1), now in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena (inv.no. N.1974.5.13.S) was published by Pratapaditya Pal (Pal 2003: 98, no. 63 & colour plate). The height of the image is 12.7 cm. It has eight arms and three heads, each face shown with wide open eyes and a third eye on the forehead. The hair visible behind the diadem is standing on end (ūrdhvakeśa). In her four right hands she holds a vajra, an elephant goad (aṅkuśa), an arrow (śara), and a sword hilt. The attributes in her left hands are a noose (pāśa), a lotus (padma) with a roundish object on top, a bow (dhanus), and a battle-axe (paraśu). An animal skin is tied around her waist. She is depicted slightly pot-bellied and shown in a half-kneeling posture with the right knee touching the ground and the left foot placed firmly on the pedestal.

Among the Pañcarak·ā goddesses Mahāsāhasrapramardanī is easily distinguished. Unlike the other four goddesses, namely Mahāpratisarā, Mahāmāyūrī, Mahāmantrānusārinī, and Mahāśītavatī, she is usually portrayed as a plump, pot-bellied figure with a dark complexion, who tramples malevolent beings, as for example in an early 13th-century manuscript painting in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.3 In SM 206 the violent stance of the goddess is denoted as lalitāk·epena mahābhūta-mahāyak·ān ākramamāna. In the LACMA painting, the great bhūtas and yak·as trampled by the goddess appear as two naked, long-haired, male figures. However, whereas the peculiar half-kneeling stance is characteristic for the goddess in the majority of her representations, the two trampled figures may be reduced to one, as can be seen for example in an 18th-century manuscript painting from Nepal, now in the N.C. Mehta Gallery at Ahmedabad, Gujarat (Bühnemann 2006: 4243, col. pl. V), or they may even be absent, as on a painting from a manuscript dated AD 1105 in the Asutosh Museum, Calcutta University (inv.no. T.1055; see Mookerjee 1947: col.pl. IX), actually the earliest dated representation of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī.

A brief dedicatory inscription in Newari language and script on the back gives the name of the goddess as ‘Sāhasrapramadanī’,1 thus identifying her as one of the five Pañcarak·ā goddesses. The Pañcarak·ās are five personified spells that are said to protect the devotee from physical and mental afflictions.2 Mahāsāhasrapramardanī is invoked especially to ward off malignant and fearful spirits such as ghosts (bhūta), nature spirits (yak·a), and devouring demons (rāk·asa). Because of these qualities, the Pañcarak·ā pentad became very popular in Nepal from the 12th century onwards, as is evident from the large quantity of Pañcarak·ā manuscripts that have come down to us, including hundreds of illuminated ones bearing miniature paintings of the five goddesses.

According to D.C. Bhattacharyya (1978: 18), ‘the peculiar stance [is] technically known as jānuparyaṅkāsana (an attitude in which one of the knees touches the ground)’, ‘and is usually assigned to the destructive forms (ugra-mūrti) of divinities in Buddhist iconography’ (Bhattacharyya 1978: 74). Although he fails to provide any textual reference for the term *jānuparyaṅkāsana, it nevertheless describes the stance quite vividly.

Of the four different iconographic concepts available in the Sādhanamālā and in Abhayākaragupta’s Ni·pannayogāvalī, it is the description found in sādhana 206 (SM 206) of the Sādhanamālā (Bhattacharyya 1928: 406-07) that was generally followed by the Newari artists (Mevissen 1989: 354-61). The image in the Norton Simon Museum also faithfully adheres to SM 206. We notice only some minor deviations, such as three instead of four heads, the absence of the gesture of admonition of the front left hand holding the noose (SM 206: tarjanīpāśa), and the roundish rendering of the sixteenedged jewel placed on the lotus in the second left hand (SM 206: padmopari ·odaśaratna).

In fact, this particular stance frequently occurs with another goddess of the tantric Buddhist pantheon,4 namely Parnaśabarī, as for example on an illustration in the aforementioned 18th-century manuscript from Nepal.5 On Tibetan images of Parnaśabarī this feature is even more pronounced, as can for example be seen on two bronzes: One is of the 15th century and now kept in the Musée Guimet, Paris (Béguin 1990a: 58-59, col. pl. 23), the other is an 18th-century image that was sold on the American art market in 2002 (Christie’s New York, 19 3 Inv.no. M.72.1.25c; see Pal 1985: 59 col.pl. P6, 200-01; Pal & Meech-Pekarik 1988: 104, col.pl. 24c; Béguin 1990b: 30-31, col.pl. 4 It also occurs with the male god Acala or CanΡamahāroΒana; see e.g. von Schroeder 1981: pls 105A, 115D-F, 137B; von Schroeder 2001: pls 97D-E, 223B-C, 250A-B, 259C, 292B-C.

1

The whole inscription reads ‘śrī 3 sāhasrapramadanī [xx] / dhari mātātāyā pratimā dayakā thavato nāma’. See Gautam Vajracharya in Pal 2003: 262, no. 63.

5

Bühnemann 2006: 52-53, col.pl. XIV, with references to other representations of the goddess. For another Parnaśabarī from a Nepalese manuscript, see Bhattacharyya 1978: pl. 5. For recent studies on Parnaśabarī see Bhattacharyya 1999; Mitra 2000 and Shaw 2006: 188-202.

2

On the cult of the PañcarakΒās, and in particular of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī, cf. Lewis 2000: 119-64, 195-99, esp. 140-46. On the iconography see Bhattacharyya 1978: 68-100, esp. 79-80, 84, 86, 90-91.

213

Gerd J.R. Mevissen 1739 and 1749.7 A much earlier image of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī (Fig. 4) appeared on the New York art market in 1998 under the label ‘tantric goddess’ (Sotheby’s New York, March 26, 1998: lot 78). It may date from the 12th or 13th century. Again the present whereabouts is unknown. Though rather small - only 10.2 cm in height - the image is quite impressive. Correctly provided with four heads, only the vajra and the sword in two of her right hands are preserved, and the raised index finger of her main left hand indicating the tarjanīmudrā as well as the animal skin tied around her waist are clearly visible. In contrast to the two previous images there are two recumbant figures being trampled under the feet of the goddess. Despite her violent appearance, her face is quite calm, almost smiling.

September 2002: lot 174). Although resembling Mahāsāhasrapramardanī to a certain extant, Parnaśabarī cannot, however, be confused with the Rak·ā goddess since no eight-armed form of Parnaśabarī is known so far (cf. Mallmann 1975: 300-01). Let us now return to the Norton Simon image (Fig. 1). In his description Pratapaditya Pal remarks that ‘this particular representation of Mahasahasrapramardini may have been part of a group or an individual dedication’ (Pal 2003: 98). Since in Nepal the Pañcarak·ā goddesses are always worshipped collectively rather than independently, it is quite probable that the Norton Simon image once belonged to a complete set of five Rak·ā figures. A possible candidate for another sculpture from the same set is a recently published bronze image of Mahāpratisarā (von Schroeder-Imhof 2006: 80-81, col. pl. 21), the first member of the Rak·ā pentad (Fig. 2), which now belongs to the Berti Aschmann-Stiftung in the Museum Rietberg Zürich (inv. no. BA 221). It is 13 cm high and bears some stylistic similarities with the Norton Simon image; the prevailing differences in the execution of certain details, however, may point to a different though contemporary - artist or workshop.

Two figures are also trampled in an image (Fig. 5) that surfaced on the New York art market in 1980 under the label ‘Dharmapala Hayagrīva’ (Sotheby Parke Bernet New York, December 10, 1980: lot 15) and is since kept in an unknown location. The image is 10.5 cm high. One of the right arms of the goddess seems to be missing, while a vajra and a sword are visible in two of her remaining right hands. The attributes in her left hands are hardly discernible. Her obeseness and violent attitude are impressively rendered. On her left knee can be seen the head of the animal skin. According to the brief description in the auction catalogue she is three-headed, thus resembling the Norton Simon piece.

Pal concludes his description by stating that ‘Sculptural representations are extremely rare and as far as is known this bronze is unique’ (Pal 2003: 98). While it is certainly true that sculptures of the Pañcarak·ās are quite rare, the Norton Simon piece is not at all unique. During the last three decades several bronze images of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī - as well as of other Rak·ā goddesses have occurred on the international art markets, mostly unrecognised6 and often regarded as male figures. In fact the Norton Simon piece too ‘entered the collection as a male deity’ (ibid.).

So far we have seen only images of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī that show her in the halfkneeling posture. Alternatively, in other representations her violence is rather subdued and reduced to a crosslegged sitting stance in which one of her legs is only slightly raised. This feature can be seen on an image (Fig. 6), perhaps of the 12th or 13th century, that was offered on the Swiss art market in 1986 as a ‘Tantric Dakini’ (Koller 61/3, 14./15. November 1986: Nr. 154); it now belongs to the collection of the Museum Rietberg Zürich (inv.no. RNE 8).8 The small four-headed figure (height 9.8 cm) has a ferocious facial expression and a prominent belly; her crown is adorned with sculls and her neck with a snake. Only three of her attributes are preserved: vajra and khaΡga on the right and a flat circular object in the upper left hand, possibly the padma mentioned in SM 206. Her front left hand shows the usual tarjanīmudrā.

One of these images (Fig. 3) was offered on the Swiss art market in 1987 as ‘Acala’ (Koller 65/3, 14/15 November 1987: Nr. 118), while one year later it was sold in London as ‘Mahamanjusri’ (Sotheby’s London, 13th/14th June, 1988: lot 104); its present location is unknown. Measuring 19 cm in height it is comparably large, and certainly later than the Norton Simon piece. The image resembles the latter in not showing the figures trampled under the feet of the goddess. Otherwise it keeps close to the description of SM 206 in providing the goddess correctly with four heads and the respective attributes. The goddess wears a snake necklace and an animal skin. The inscription at the bottom of the pedestal records the dedicatory date of the figure. Unfortunately the numerals at the end are not fully visible on the published photographs, but seem to suggest a date between AD

In several figures Mahāsāhasrapramardanī’s sitting stance resembles ardhaparyaṅkāsana, i.e. she sits with one leg pendent, usually the right one. The most impressive representation of this type is the largest Nepalese bronze of the goddess known so far, measuring 27 cm in height (Fig. 7). The image is preserved in the gSer Khang lha khang of the ‘Bri gung mthil monastery in Central Tibet,

6 Significantly, even the most recent and quite comprehensive account of images of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī compiled by Lokesh Chandra (2003: 2002-06) includes only a single bronze image of the goddess, viz. the one published by Clark (1937/1965: 205, no. 6 A 57 / 96), our Fig. 13; see Lokesh Chandra 2003: 2003, no. 4 (not illustrated).

7 The inscription reads ‘siddham (symbol) svasti | | laΓkīmayi vaiśākhaśudi 4 | | guru samvata 86(?)...’. I am thankful to Dr Gudrun Melzer for reading and transcribing the inscription. 8 I am thankful to Ulrich von Schroeder for informing me of the present whereabouts of the image.

214

HITHERTO UNIDENTIFIED METAL SCULPTURES OF THE PAÑCARAK·Ā GODDESS MAHĀSĀHASRAPRAMARDANĪ published and dated by Ulrich von Schroeder to the 13th or 14th century (von Schroeder 2001, I: 526-27, pl. 172B). Except for the animated posture, the four-headed image appears quite calm with half-closed eyes. Her waist is rather slim; neither sign of obesity nor any indication of her violent nature is seen in the image, whose identification as Mahāsāhasrapramardanī, however, cannot be questioned because of her right hand in varadamudrā, the partially preserved sword and the arrow on the right as well as the noose and the bow on the left side.

northern side, with Mahāsāhasrapramardanī being flanked by Mahāpratisarā on her left and Mahāmāyūrī on her right. Although candle wax and incense offering have disfigured the image considerably, the remaining details are sufficient to state that the violent and pot-bellied ardhaparyaṅka type of the goddess has been depicted here. The iconography of the image follows SM 206. The other one is a loose mutilated sculpture belonging to set of Pañcarak·ās, now apparently incomplete, that has been noticed and published by Bangdel (1995: 480, sec. 2.2) who saw it at Chapachotol in Thimi (Madhyapur), to the east of Kathmandu. The sculpture is ten-armed and obviously follows the iconography described in the Pañcarak·āmanΡalam (NSP 18) of Abhayākaragupta’s Ni·pannayogāvalī (Bhattacharyya 1949: 42, Devanāgarī section), a very rare feature for Nepalese Rak·ā images.

The slim type of the goddess seated in ardhaparyaṅka is frequently found with later images. On the gilt torana dated AD 1828/29, above the entrance on the south side of the Hāratī temple on Svayambhūnāth hill near Kathmandu, the complete Pañcarak·ā-manΡala according to SM 206 is represented, with Mahāsāhasrapramardanī on the proper right of the central figure of Mahāpratisarā (Fig. 8).9 As usual in this period, the fourth head is shown on top of the other three heads. The violent nature of the goddess becomes obvious when compared with the other four Rak·ā figures: She is the only one shown in movement, with her pendent right foot slightly raised, she has wide open eyes and frowns on the forehead. A second gilt torana on the north side of the same temple was modelled on the first one, presumably in the late 20th century (Mevissen 2006: 141-45, figs 5 & 7c); it is now protected by iron bars (Fig. 9). Though worked as a relief rather than in the round, stance and iconography of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī resemble that of the previous figure. Her feminity is given so little emphasis that it could well be taken as a male deity, a feature increasingly observed in Nepalese art of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Whereas in Nepal the iconography of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī generally follows SM 206,11 the situation is different in Tibet, Mongolia and China. Only few such metal images have surfaced so far,12 for example a gilt bronze of Sino-Tibetan origin (Fig. 11) that appeared on the German art market in 1996, tentatively identified as ‘Bodhisattva Tara (?)’, height 14.3 cm, probably dating from the 18th century (Lempertz 732, 7/8 June 1996: 45, Nr. 84). The present whereabouts is unknown. Although the bow in one of the right hands seems to be misplaced, there can be no doubt about her identification, since the remaining attributes, her four heads, and the ardhaparyaṅka-like sitting stance with the slightly raised right leg point to Mahāsāhasrapramardanī. In another, considerably larger (height 35.5 cm) image that was offered on the German art market in 1999 (Lempertz 774, 4/5 Juni 1999: 119, Nr. 342), again tentatively identified as ‘Tara (?)’ and attributed to Tibet or Mongolia, 18th century (Fig. 12), all the eight attributes are lost, but the four heads and the animated sitting stance suggest an identification as Mahāsāhasrapramardanī.

A very similar gilt bronze image of the goddess (Fig. 10) appeared on the German art market in 1982. The present location of the 13.2 cm high figure is unknown. Again we notice the superimposed fourth head as well as the rather subdued feminity, possibly accounting for the label ‘Dharmadhâtu Vâgîshvara Manjusri’ printed in the auction catalogue (Lempertz 592, 26./27. November 1982: 153, Nr. 1119, Tafel 35). The projected right foot indicates movement; it is slightly raised and placed on a separate lotus bud.

All the other known metal images of Sino-Tibetan origin follow a different iconography, viz. the one laid down in sādhana 198 of the Sādhanamālā (Bhattacharyya 1928: 400), which conceives the goddess as a peaceful, singleheaded and six-armed figure with the main right hand in varadamudrā, holding an arrow and a sword in the remaining right hands, and a noose, a bow and a battle-

Before proceeding to Tibetan images, two more important Nepalese sculptures of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī should be mentioned, being the only stone images of the goddess that are known so far. One of these is found among the 108 stone reliefs that embellish the base of the dome of the mahācaitya at Bodhnāth (Bauddha) near Kathmandu (Mevissen 2006: 146-47, figs 12-13), all measuring c. 38 by 25 cm, probably dating from the 16th century.10 The Pañcarak·ās occupy five niches on the

when the present stūpa (Bubriski/Dowman 1995: 35).

was

built,

or

soon

thereafter’

11 Cf. Mevissen 1989: 356-57. There are only few exceptions: (1) the two-armed wooden image carved on a roof-strut in the ChuΒya Bāhā, Kathmandu (Kooij 1977: fig. 26; Lokesh Chandra 2003: 2002, left fig.; Bajracharya 2061 [2004]: 10, fig. 6) which has to be regarded as an abbreviated SM 206 image; (2) a small ten-armed image carved at the bottom of a wooden roof-strut in the Uku Bāhā, PāΓan, dated NS 773 = AD 1653 (Gail 1991: 26, 70, Taf. VI.2) which follows the iconography of NSP 18; and (3) the stone image of the goddess at Thimi, referred to above, also following NSP 18.

9 See Gail 1991: 66, 71, Taf. LVI.[2]; Mevissen 2006: 142-43, figs 4, 7b. For a study of the three Pañcarak·ā toranas of the Hāratī temple, see ibid.: 141-45, figs 3-10. 10 According to Keith Dowman, the series depicts ‘deities of the Nyingma school’s pantheon. [...] These images almost certainly were commissioned together by Shakya Zangpo in the sixteenth century AD,

12 Of course there are several painted representations of SM 206 images to be found on Tibetan thangkas and wall paintings as well as on blockprints; see e.g. Mevissen 1992: 417-20, figs 50.5-6; Mevissen 1998: 317 figs 7a, 10, 337 fig. 18.

215

Gerd J.R. Mevissen axe in the left hands. The text, however, is silent about her sitting posture.

her main left hand are not corroborated by the textual description of SM 198. Thus, some doubts remain if the identification as Mahāsāhasrapramardanī is correct.15

A bronze image of this type of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī (Fig. 13) was already noticed by Walter Eugene Clark in 1937, when it was kept in the Pao-hsiang Lou temple in Beijing, China.13 The image dates from c. AD 1771 and is identified by an inscription in Chinese characters on the front of the pedestal as ‘Sāhasrapramardanī (fo-mu)’. It slightly differs from the prescribed iconography in holding a water-vessel instead of a battle-axe in the front left hand. Otherwise it keeps close to the description in SM 198. The tarjanīmudrā of the second left hand is probably indicative of the noose, now missing. The figure is seated in vajraparyaṅkāsana.

Nevertheless, it has been shown that a considerable number of metal images of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī were created in Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and China, and the Norton Simon piece (Fig. 1) is a welcome addition to this corpus. Furthermore, judging from the numerous bronzes of the other four Rak·ā goddesses that have surfaced till now16 it is evident that several sets of five must have existed. However intriguing the fact may be that, apart from the Svayambhūnāth toranas (Figs 8, 9), no complete set of Pañcarak·ā bronzes is known so far, it is to be hoped that future research will be successful in presenting such re-united sets of five Rak·ā images.

Only recently another 18th-century image of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī (Fig. 14) was published from the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing (Palace Museum 2002: 386-87, no. 170, col.pl. on p. 386). With a height of 47 cm this image is the largest metal sculpture of the goddess known so far. It belongs to a set of five Pañcarak·ā copper images, of which only four are extant. All the attributes are perfectly preserved and in accordance with SM 198. Her sitting posture is sattvaparyaṅka.

Bibliographic References Bajracharya, Y.R. (2061 [2004]) The Gunakar Mahavihar (Chhusya Baha). Kathmandu. Baktay, E. (1950-51) ‘Recent Acquisitions of the Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts in Budapest’, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae I: 191-212.

The same museum has yet another image of the goddess (Fig. 15) following the iconography of SM 198 (Palace Museum 2002: 387, col.pl.). Here she sits in vajraparyaṅkāsana; only the sword in one of her right hands and the long chain-like noose ending in a vajra and a ring are preserved.

Bangdel, L.S. (1995) Inventory of Stone Sculptures of the Kathmandu Valley. Kathmandu. Béguin, G. (1990a) Art ésotérique de l’Himalâya. Catalogue de la donation Lionel Fournier. Paris. Béguin, G. (1990b) Miniatures et Rouleaux Enluminés du Népal et du Tibet. Genève.

Finally we should direct our attention to a small embossed tablet (Fig. 16), height 6.8 cm, made of bronze plate, now in the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, Budapest (inv. 50.117 S. I.). It belongs to a set of six similar plaques of the 18th or 19th century depicting six male and female deities.14 One of these is supposed to represent Mahāsāhasrapramardanī, although no other Rak·ā goddess has been included. If this set is complete, the absence of the remaining Rak·ās is quite astonishing. It may therefore be assumed that the set is incomplete and must originally have consisted of many more deities of the Lamaistic pantheon. Mahāsāhasrapramardanī has been identified by her iconographic features - one head, six arms, vajraparyaṅka, her right hand in varadamudrā, and the attributes bow, arrow, and sword. However, the roundish object held in her second left hand and the leaves (?) in

Bhattacharyya, B., ed. (1928) Sādhanamālā, Vol. II. Baroda. Bhattacharyya, B., ed. (1949) Ni·pannayogāvalī of 15 Some other enigmatic metal images, mostly from central Tibet, share certain iconographic features with Mahāsāhasrapramardanī, but show also a number of differences:

(1)

one head, eight arms; cf. Sotheby’s New York, March 28, 1996: lot 48 (‘Pancaraksa Goddess, Central Tibet, probably Densatil Monastery, c. 15th century AD’);

(2) one head, eight arms; cf. Mevissen 1999: 114, 118-19, no. 22, pl. 8.18 (‘Mahāpratisarā?’); (3) three heads, six arms; cf. Rossi & Rossi 1994: no. 22 (‘Goddess, Central Tibet, c. 1400’); Sotheby’s New York, November 30, 1994: lot 70 (‘Buddhist Goddess, Central Tibet, Densatil style, c. 15th century AD’);

13 Cf. Clark 1937/1965: 205, no. 6 A 57 / 96; Mallmann 1975: 294 (not illustrated).

(4) four heads, eight arms; cf. Christie’s New York, December 1st, 1982: lot 91 (‘Marichi, Nepal, 18th century AD’); Sotheby’s New York, March 21 and 22, 1990: lot 313 (‘Mahapratisara, Tibet, 17th century AD’);

14 See Baktay 1950-51: 198, 212, pl. XII ‘Mahāsāhasra-Pramardanī’ (bottom, left); Kelényi & Vinkovics 1990: 42, no. 74 ‘Mahasahasrapramardani’ (not illustrated). --- No. 73 in the same catalogue refers to a four-armed image that has repeatedly been published as ‘Mahāsāhasrapramardanī’; this identification has rightly been challenged by Kelényi 1998. --- In this connection it may be mentioned that the identification of two bronzes at Chitkul, Kinnaur, both inscribed ‘lha nā-ga-rā-dza’, as the RakΒā goddesses Mahāśītavatī and Mahāmāyūrī (cf. Thakur 2000: 73-76, fig. 3) is untenable.

Three other images have been referred to in Mevissen 1999: 123, note 65. 16

For bronzes of Mahāpratisarā see e.g. Mevissen 1991/92: pls IV 38, IV 44, V 45. Bronzes of Mahāśītavatī and Mahāmantrānusārinī will be dealt with in a future study.

216

HITHERTO UNIDENTIFIED METAL SCULPTURES OF THE PAÑCARAK·Ā GODDESS MAHĀSĀHASRAPRAMARDANĪ MahāpanΡita Abhayākaragupta. Baroda. Bhattacharyya, D.C. (1978) Studies Iconography. New Delhi.

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Mevissen, G.J.R. (1998) ‘Deliberate Coincidence or Accidental Purpose? Pañcarak·ā Sequences in Xylographs and Sketchbooks’, Berliner Indologische Studien 11/12: 307-64.

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Lokesh Chandra (2003) Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography. Volume 7 (Ma.bdud - Manjushiri). New Delhi.

Schroeder-Imhof, H. von (2006) Schritte zur Erkenntnis. Neuzugänge der Tibet-Sammlung der Berti Aschmann-Stiftung im Museum Rietberg Zürich. Zürich.

Mallmann, M.-Th. de (1975) Introduction à l’iconographie du Tântrisme bouddhique. Paris.

Shaw, M. (2006) Buddhist Goddesses of India. Princeton, Oxford.

Mevissen, G.J.R. (1989) ‘Studies in Pañcarak·ā Manuscript Painting’, Berliner Indologische Studien 4/5: 339-74, figs 0-10.

Sotheby Parke Bernet New York: Auction Catalogue cited according to date of sale. New York. Sotheby’s London: Auction Catalogues cited according to date of sale. London.

Mevissen, G.J.R. (1991/92) ‘The Indian Connection: Images of Deified Spells in the Arts of Northern Buddhism, Part II’, Silk Road Art and

Sotheby’s 217

New

York:

Auction

Catalogues

cited

Gerd J.R. Mevissen according to date of sale. New York. Thakur, L.S. (2000) ‘Buddhist Bronzes from the Hindustan-Tibet Road: An Appraisal of Recent Discoveries’, Oriental Art XLVI (1): 73-77.

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HITHERTO UNIDENTIFIED METAL SCULPTURES OF THE PAÑCARAK·Ā GODDESS MAHĀSĀHASRAPRAMARDANĪ

Fig. 3 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from Nepal (After Koller 65/3, 14/15 November 1987: Nr. 118).

Fig. 1 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from Nepal, now in Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena (Photo courtesy Norton Simon Museum).

Fig. 4 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from Nepal (After Sotheby’s New York, March 26, 1998: lot 78).

Fig. 2 - Mahāpratisarā from Nepal, now Berti Aschmann-Stiftung, Museum Rietberg Zürich (Photo courtesy Museum Rietberg).

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Fig. 5 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from Nepal (After Sotheby Parke Bernet New York, 10 December 1980: lot 15). Fig. 6 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from Nepal, now Museum Rietberg Zürich (Photo courtesy Museum Rietberg).

Fig. 7 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from Nepal, now in ‘Bri gung mthil monastery, Central Tibet (Photo courtesy U.v. Schroeder).

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HITHERTO UNIDENTIFIED METAL SCULPTURES OF THE PAÑCARAK·Ā GODDESS MAHĀSĀHASRAPRAMARDANĪ

Fig. 8 - Nepal, Svayambhūnāth, Hāratī temple, south torana, dated AD 1828/29, full view and detail of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī (Photo courtesy A.J. Gail).

Fig. 9 - Nepal, Svayambhūnāth, Hāratī temple, north torana, full view and detail of Mahāsāhasrapramardanī (Photo G.J.R. Mevissen).

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Fig. 10 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from Nepal (After Lempertz 592, 26/27 November 1982: Nr. 1119). Fig. 12 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī (?) from Tibet or Mongolia (After Lempertz 774, 4/5 June 1999: Nr. 342).

Fig. 11 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from Tibet or China (After Lempertz 732, 7/8 Juni 1996: Nr. 84)

Fig. 13 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from China (After Clark 1937/1965: 205, no. 6 A 57 / 96).

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HITHERTO UNIDENTIFIED METAL SCULPTURES OF THE PAÑCARAKṣĀ GODDESS MAHĀSĀHASRAPRAMARDANĪ

Fig. 14 - Mahāsāhasrapamardanī from China (After Palace Museum 2002: col. pl. on p. 386).

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Fig. 15 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī from China (After Palace Museum 2002: col.pl. on p. 387).

Fig. 16 - Mahāsāhasrapramardanī (?) from China or Tibet (Photo courtesy Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, Budapest).

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THROUGH PORTS, PASSES AND JUNCTIONS: RECONSIDERATION OF THE EXCAVATIONAL PATTERNS OF MINOR BUDDHIST CAVES IN WESTERN INDIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO JUNNAR Nobuo Nakatani, Fumitaka Yoneda, Aki Toyoyama & Akinori Uesugi Since the 19th century, Buddhist caves in the Western Deccan have attracted various academic fields such as archaeology, art history, and epigraphy (Fig. 1). While the initial extensive explorations came to take shape as thoroughgoing gazetteers, reports, and antiquarian lists, it was unavoidable that scholastic attention gradually became centred on a limited number of excavations such as Ajanta and Ellora as attested by a large number of available publications on them whereas a considerable number of smaller-scaled austere excavations – often mentioned as “minor” caves – became put aside.

the study of Buddhist caves as material study has not sufficiently revealed the substantial meaning of Buddhist monasticism in that period. It is possibly because individual cave sites have not experienced a throughout examination linked up between the stylistic analysis and historical perspective. Considering such circumstances, the present paper aims to re-visualise a substantial picture of an individual Buddhist rock-cut monastery in the Early Historic period, focusing on the Junnar caves including a newly discovered group by the present authors in March 2007.

Known as one of the biggest Buddhist cave complexes in India, Junnar (19˚ 11΄N, 73˚ 51΄E, Pune District) has been considered as a major site for those who are specialising in decipherment of inscriptions on one hand while as a minor site for those who are more interested in stylistic, structural and artistic elements on the other. One of the initial studies on Junnar is assigned to J. Stevenson, a member of the Bombay Cave-Temple Commission (1848-61), who documented the inscriptions of the site mainly in the Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Stevenson 1853, 1854). His contribution was expanded to a number of huge volumes of reports and antiquarian lists compiled by James Burgess (Burgess 1874, 1883). Throughout the latter half of the last century the site again enjoyed the attention by Indian scholars such as Vidya Dehejia, Suresh V. Jadhav, S. Nagaraju, and M.K. Dhavalikar (Dehejia 1969, 1972; Jadhav 1980; Nagaraju 1981; Dhavalikar 1984), among which it is noticeable that Jadhav’s work achieved a complete list of excavations at the site.

It has been understood that the Junnar caves consist of 329 excavations separated into nine lesser groups distributing around the hillocks surrounding the town of Junnar (Jhadav 1980). The groups are the Tulja Lena to the west; Lenyadri East and West to the north; Bhima Shankar, Ambika, and Budh Lena to the south; and Shivneri East, South, and West to the southwest. Each group except for the Shivneri West contains at least one caitya cave, based on which the relative chronology of the whole site that may show how the Buddhist rock-cut monasteries developed in the area was attempted. At Junnar, four types of caitya caves can be observed; the first type is represented by pillared apsidal halls covered with vaulted roof as seen at Lenyadri East and West, Ambika, and Budh Lena; the second type is a pillared circular hall as seen at Tulja Lena which is a single example of this type in the Western Deccan; the third one consist of quadrangular astylar halls as seen at Bhima Shankar, Lenyadri West, Shivneri East, and Shivneri South; and the last one is a quadrangular astylar hall fronted by an antechamber as seen at Shivneri East.

Historians have also given the significance to the site of Junnar in terms of ancient trading network because Naneghat, one of the most flourishing ancient passes, reached directly to Junnar, connecting between the Satavahana port of Kalyan and major inland settlements such as Paithan and Ter (Hebalkar 2001). It seems that the commercial force in the region was strengthened by both internal and external links of trade, the latter of which is particularly witnessed by archaeological evidence (Indian Archaeology – A Review, 1957-8: 67). Furthermore, recent opinions state that the socioeconomical expansion of the time underlay the agrarian force, reflected in clear evidence of the inscriptions mentioning land grants (Morrison 1995; Parasher 1989).

Of the four different types of caityas at Junnar, a circular plan seems to be the most archaic, separated from an antechamber which is frequently attached to a prototypical circular shrine. It appears that the other early stylistic development from a prototype was the emergence of an apsidal plan as the integration of a quadrangular antechamber and a circular shrine. These two plans seems to be almost contemporaneous, the latter of which gained the popularity. After the stylistic development of the apsidal plan, which included the attachment of a verandah in front and the complexity of pillars, a new plan of quadrangular type emerged, the interior of which was gradually changed from a single hall type into a more complex combination generally consisting of an antechamber and a stūpa shrine.

Although macroscopic perspectives in historical studies such as the Satavahana policy and the Indo-Roman Mediterranean trade have contributed to understand the motive of network formation in the Early Historic Western Deccan (Ray 1986; Begley and De Puna 1991),

Now the relative chronological order of the caitya caves at Junnar can be concretely revised. The circular Tulja 225

Nobuo Nakatani, Fumitaka Yoneda, Aki Toyoyama & Akinori Uesugi Cave 3 is the largest excavation of the Dudharya group and is located almost at the centre of the group, therefore it possibly represents the main part of this complex (Fig. 6). It has a wide forecourt and at the centre of its rear wall is a squarish hall. The contrast between the wide forecourt and the compact inner hall may show that the cave was originally intended for a residential complex in which a hall is encircled by cells on the sides. For example, Cave 5 at Kol shows the unfinished condition of such a residential unit, in which the hall is excavated on the rear wall of the wide forecourt, and the cells were intended on the left wall of the hall.

Lena Cave 3 therefore seems to be the earliest, followed by Lenyadri East 2 which is devoid of the frontal verandah and interior pillars. Although Budh Lena 40 lacks a verandah in front similar to Lenyadri East 2, its facade shows an advanced stage, finished as a blind arch instead of a real window. The first appearance of a verandah at Junnar may be seen in Ambika 26 while Lenyadri West 6 developed the pillar components both of exterior and interior in a fully embellishment. Whereas the outstanding feature of a blind window at Lenyadri West 6 is similar to Bhima Shankar 2, the latter may date to a slightly later period because it adopts the quadrangular plan first at Junnar. All the following caitya caves are of quadrangular type, amongst which Shivneri East 2 and Lenyadri West 14 may be earlier than Shivneri South 59 and Shivneri East 48, as the former two excavations have independent frontal porches whereas the latter share the porches with the neighbouring vihāras, seemingly constituting an integrated monastic complex. The latest example may be Shivneri East 48, where the inner quadrangular space is divided into an antechamber and a rear hall by horizontally arranged pillars and engaged columns.

Cave 4 is located about 5m to the left of the last one (Fig. 7). It is not possible to see this cave from the front because the forecourt is totally gone. The front is almost fully open and the interior of the cell is squarish in plan. There is trace of a projection at the bottom of the rear wall which was possibly intended for a bench. Cave 5 is similar in execution to Cave 1 (Fig. 8). The cave consists of a porch and a single squarish cell on the back. The doorway has sockets on the inner side possibly for the wooden screen. Similar to Cave 1, the interior of the cell is almost squarish in plan and there is no trace of any equipment such as bed or bench. Therefore it is not likely to have been a monastic residential unit.

As mentioned earlier, the present authors have found another group of caves on the hill named Dudharya at the site of Junnar in March 2007 (Fig. 3). Although the caves have been recognised by some locales, they have never been reported by precedent studies. The Dudharya hill is located about 4.5 km southeast of the present township of Junnar. This isolated hill is visible from the foot of the Manmodi hill, in which the Bhima Shankar, Ambika, and Budh Lena groups are located. Observed from the nearest village at the foot of the Dudharya hill, the caves are excavated on the northwest face of the hill. The authors accessed the caves from the southwest to northeast, accordingly numbered from the southwest temporarily.

To the left of Cave 5 is a sequence of three recesses, with partition walls partly damaged. The one on the extreme right is the best preserved example, a squarish hall with fully open front. There is a socket on the upper left part of the rear wall, and a low bench on the rear wall can be traced. The other two recesses have lower ceilings than the last one and the floor is silted up. The middle one has a pilaster-like mass of rock on the left rear corner, similar to the one in Cave 2. The function of these caves is not known, even though the fully open front and the bench on the back may suggest that it was intended for a rest.

Cave 1 is a single cell (Fig. 4). It has a wide porch, and there is a doorway at the centre of its rear wall. The upper right corner of the doorway is projected towards the ceiling, but not carved as symmetrical. The interior of the cell, almost squarish in plan, is smoothly finished except the floor, and there is neither decoration nor any equipment such as bed or bench. Even though it has no equipment for the residential purpose, Cave 1 seems a finished room because there is no trace of carving out any equipment, and also because it has smooth treatment of the wall. It may be possible that it was intended for other function such as a storehouse.

It is noticeable that the Dudharya group lacks three necessary elements of a Buddhist rock-cut monastery – caitya, cistern, and inscription. If the third element is frequently lacking in many other sites, it seems that the absence of the first two elements is quite unusual, because a caitya hall must have been indispensable for monastic activities. A cistern is also a vital factor to maintain a monastery as evidenced by the fact that many cave sites are facilitated with well-planned catchment areas in large scale, and a cistern was actually one of the most popular donative elements to the Buddhist saṅgha. As a matter of fact, there is no other cave group within Junnar lacking cisterns, although the Shivneri West has neither a caitya nor an inscription while the two earliest groups of Tulja Lena and Lenyadri East lack inscriptions.

Cave 2 has a limited depth (Fig. 5). Its forecourt has totally fallen possibly because of the natural cause, but the carving remains very clearly. A pilaster-like mass of rock on the left side seems to function as a partition between the frontal porch and the back recess. Such recess-type excavations are sometimes identified as ‘view-seats’ to overlook the valley and settlements when they have benches on the wall; however, there is no such a bench in this excavation, therefore the function is not clear.

The Shivneri West Group, excavated on the west face of the Shivneri hill, is the most inaccessible complex at Junnar (Fig. 9). Out of the ten caves in total, Cave 76 and 81 are the most noticeable. Cave 76 is considered as a manΡapa judged from similar examples which are referred to as such in inscriptions, while Cave 81 has the 226

THROUGH PORTS, PASSES AND JUNCTIONS centre of the ancient settlement as the archaeological research revealed. According to Jadhav, each group of caves faces towards particular direction where the early historic settlements are located. The Shivneri South group faces towards Kusur, Shivneri West group towards Nirgude, both of which are situated on the left bank of the river Mina. The promising archaeological sites are Padli, Junnar and Agar, all of which are located on the right bank of the river Kukdi. The Tulja Lena group faces towards Padli, and the Shivneri East group, three groups on the Manmodi hill, and two groups on the Lenyadri hill face towards Junnar and Agar (Jadhav 1980: 66-67) (Fig. 2). The Dudharya may be included in this Junnar-Agar connection.

typical plan of a vihāra that consists of a squarish hall with cells on three sides. It can be observed that this group was used for religious services by monks residing at the site, although there is no caitya cave. Compared with the Dudharya group in which there is no trace of any religious aspect, the Shivneri West group shows its religious motivation more clearly. Another remarkable feature of the Shivneri West group is that there are seven cisterns in addition to ten caves, a fact that makes this complex different from the Dudharya group, which has no cistern. The fact that the number of the cisterns in the Shivneri West group is quite high as compared to the number of the caves, may be due to that the water catchment occupied the significant part of the purpose of the complex. Moreover, the fact that most of cisterns, not only in the Shivneri West group but also in other groups, generally have recesses on the back wall above the mouth, giving a clear visibility to the cisterns, shows that the water catchment was a main concern for the execution of cave groups. However on the rock surface around the Dudharya group there is no such an indication of recess showing the location of a cistern. Therefore the character of the Shivneri West group may be quite different from the Dudharya group, even though they are similar in the absence of caitya and inscription. Whereas the Shivneri West group could be maintained as an independent monastic complex consisting of congregational space, residential units, and water catchment area, the Dudharya group cannot represent a monastery as it seems to have none of these components.

It can be pointed out that all of the cave groups except the ones on the Lenyadri hill are excavated on the hill ranges lying on the right bank of the river Kukdi. Focusing on the groups on the right bank of the river Kukdi, they appear to connect in a line along the valley whereas each of them is facing towards a particular settlement in different direction. In this arrangement, the Dudharya group and Shivneri West group play an important role and connect the separated hill ranges by facing towards other cave groups, possibly related to the Buddhist monastic strategy. In other words, the Dudharya group and the Bhima Shankar group on the Manmodi hill are facing each other, and the Tulja Lena group and the Shivneri West group are also facing each other. The Shivneri West group played a role in connecting the monastic institution with the Tulja Lena group as well as overlooking the settlement of Nirgude, and because it was only the group to watch the site of Nirgude, the Shivneri West group should have been as an independent and selfsufficient institution by itself. On the other hand, the Dudharya group played a role more strongly in the integrated monastic strategy that tried to administer the socio-economy around the Junnar area.

Widening the consideration to the whole region of the Western Deccan, there are several other sites lacking a caitya cave or a worship space containing a stūpa. Similar to the Dudharya and Shivneri West groups, the Kol caves situated in the Raigad District near the Mahad or Gandharpale caves completely lack a stūpa (Fig. 10). Consisting of two groups, one of which is located to the north of a village of the same name while another to the south, the Kol caves have not been paid much attention after the preliminary report by Fergusson and Burgess in the late 19th century. Half buried into the ground because of thick silt, it is not clear whether there was any recess identified as a cistern in the group; however the Kol caves tell us about the socio-economical condition in the Early Historic Western Deccan, interlinked with the Mahad inscriptions. It is particularly worth pointing out that the donor of Kol 5 is a father-in-law of the donor of Mahad 27, suggesting that these two sites were contemporaneously maintained by a same community (Burgess 1883: 88-89). The vivid contrast between the Kol caves lacking a caitya and the Mahad caves furnished richly with stūpas in various forms (Fig. 11) may be explained as their interconnection in which the latter functioned a sort of religious centre in the area including the former site. Similar monastic administration may be applicable in case of Junnar; that is to say, the Dudharya and Shivneri West groups, both of which lack a caitya, may gain substantial meaning of their opening at the site. It can be considered that the present township of Junnar, located on the right bank of the river Kukdi, was also the

To conclude, the location of the Dudharya hill may be quite strategic in this sense because it completes the monastic administrative line encircling the socioeconomic nucleus of the Junnar area. The direct administrative force of the monastic institution to Junnar could be put more strongly by the Shivneri and Manmodi groups, therefore the role of the Dudharya group may have been stressed more on completing the integrated administrative line rather than overlooking directly to the settlement. The incomplete facility of the Dudharya cave group may show its symbolic function of the Buddhist monastery at the site of Junnar. Although it is still a quite experimental hypothesis, further detailed analyses of individual sites will reveal the comprehensive and substantial process of the monastic development in the Early Historic Western Deccan.

Acknowledgements We should like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr Suresh Vasant Jadhav for allowing us to have complete 227

Nobuo Nakatani, Fumitaka Yoneda, Aki Toyoyama & Akinori Uesugi Stevenson, J. (1854) ‘Parting Visit to the Sahyadri Caves’, Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 5 (20): 426-28.

access to his unpublished Ph.D. thesis and its related material. Our gratitude is also expressed to Mr Sanjay Jambhulkar for his professional guidance throughout the fieldwork in the Western Deccan region. We are indebted to the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for providing the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research. In addition, the following people and institutions helped us with carrying out the fieldwork in India: in Mumbai: Dr K. Sankarnarayan, Dr Parineeta Deshpande, and Dr A.P. Jamkhedkar, K.J. Somaiya Centre for Buddhist Studies; in Pune: Dr Vasant Shinde and Dr Shreekant S. Jadhav, Deccan College PostGraduate and Research Institute; in Delhi: Dr R.S. Bisht, former Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India. Bibliographic References Begley, V. & De Puma, R.D. (1991) Rome and India: The Ancient Sea Trade. Madison. Burgess, J. (1873) Memorandum on the Buddhist Caves at Junnar (Archaeological Survey of Western India, 1). Bombay. Burgess, J. (1883) Report on the Buddhist Cave Temples and Their Inscriptions (Archaeological Survey of Western India 4). London. Dehejia, V. (1969) ‘Early Buddhist Caves at Junnar’, Artibus Asiae 31: 147-66. Dehejia, V. (1972) Early Buddhist Rock Temples. London. Dhavalikar, M.K. (1984) Late Hinayana Caves of Western India. Poona. Hebalkar, S. (2001) Ancient Indian Ports. New Delhi. Indian Archaeology – A Review (1957-8). Jadhav, S.V. (1980) Rock-Cut Cave Temples at Junnar: An Integrated Study. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Poona. Poona. Morrison, K.D. (1995) ‘Trade, Urbanism, and Agricultural Expansion: Buddhist Monastic Institutions and the State in the Early Historic Western Deccan’, World Archaeology 27 (2): 20321. Nagaraju, S. (1981) Buddhist Architecture of Western India. Delhi. Parasher, A. (1989) ‘Spread of “Civilization” in the Deccan: Some Theoretical Implications’, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 49: 122-27. Ray, H.P. (1986) Monastery and Guild. Delhi. Stevenson, J. (1853) ‘Sahyadri Inscriptions’, Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 5 (19): 151-78.

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Fig. 1 - Distributional Map of Buddhist Caves in the Western Deccan (Map authors).

Fig. 2 - Map of Junnar and Environs (Courtesy Dr Suresh V. Jadhav).

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Fig. 3 - Dudharya hill: Distant View (Photo authors).

Fig. 4 - Dudharya Cave 1: Entrance (Photo authors).

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Fig. 5 - Dudharya Cave 2: Overview (Photo authors).

Fig. 7 - Dudharya Cave 4: Overview (Photo authors).

Fig. 6 - Dudharya Cave 3: Forecourt (Photo authors).

Fig. 8 - Dudharya Cave 5: Overview (Photo authors).

Fig. 9 - Shivneri West Cave 76: Distant View (Photo authors).

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Fig. 10 - Kol South Caves: General View (Photo authors).

Fig. 11 - Mahad Caves 21 - 23: General View (Photo authors).

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11TH CENTURY WALL PAINTINGS OF ZHWA LU Helmut F. Neumann & Heidi A. Neumann standing on lotus pedestals and are encircled by mandorlas around the entire figure and separate halos around the head, all painted in different colours. Six halos consist of parallel wavy lines perhaps symbolizing radiation (Figs 2-3). Trees can be discerned between and behind the mandorlas, with stems, leaves and flowers in different shapes and colours, powerful forms of great diversity. This frieze contains the most accomplished of the early wall paintings in Zhwa lu.

The monastery of Zhwa lu in the Tibetan province Tsang is primarily renowned for the splendid wall paintings created after its renovation and substantial extension at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century. The most prominent surviving examples of these wall paintings are in two large chapels, each with the five Tathagatas as the main theme, in two large skorlams completely covered with wall paintings (Tucci 1949: 1789; Vitali 1990, figs 52-72; Kreijger 1992, 1997) and in a hidden chapel devoted to Şadakşarī Lokeśvara (Neumann 2001). They are by far the most important painting cycles which have survived in Tibet from that period. Their style is derived from the Newari art of the Kathmandu valley, except for a few wall paintings of Vaiśravaņa, dragon and phoenix, which were painted by artists trained in the Chinese style (Vitali 1990, figs 48-49; Neumann 2008).

There are fifteen figures on the South wall (Figs 1 and 3), ten on the West wall (Fig. 2) and 16 on the North wall (Figs 4 and 5). On the East wall, nine figures are recognisable, a mandorla of an additional figure on the East wall can still be discerned, but the space would allow four further figures which were destroyed when the window was broken into the wall. Consequently, of originally probably fifty-six figures, fifty lend themselves to a description and analysis. Twelve figures are wearing Tibetan dress (Fig. 1 fourth from left, Fig. 2 fourth from left, Fig. 3 second and sixth from left, Fig. 5 third from left) with wide sleeves, one figure wears a typical Tibetan chuba with a broad collar (Fig. 3 second from left). Only one of the figures in Tibetan dress appears to be female. The distinction between the two sexes in these wall paintings is particularly challenging. In the absence of recognisable female breasts or specific garments by which the sexes could be distinguished,1 crowns and hairstyles prove to be the only distinctive features. In these paintings female figures wear a small crown of the type of a diadem or tiara. They keep their hair flat on the head (Fig. 5 first, second and fourth from left, Fig. 9) or cover it with a wide bonnet (Fig. 2 second from left, Fig. 3 third from left). The male figures have larger crowns consisting of triangular elements (Fig. 4), often even doubled or tripled by superimposed similar, yet slightly smaller crown elements. Men bind the hair to conical forms (Fig. 1). The male figures who are wearing a Tibetan robe have their hair covered by a turban (Fig. 5 third from left). Despite great variation in the crowns and hairstyles, this difference between the sexes is consistent.

Zhwa lu was founded in AD 1027 by Lce btsun Shes rab ‘byung gnas, at this time already a fully ordained monk who had both the religious and lay power over the area and its inhabitants. From the time of its foundation a few wall paintings survived, of which two distinct small groups have been published so far. The first are paintings in which a seated Buddha is surrounded by monks and bodhisattvas, in a style derived from classical Pala prototypes, but probably repainted near the end of the 13th century (Vitali 1990, Figs 50-51; Kreijger 1997, figs 190-93). The second are paintings of dikpālas, navagrahas and nakśatras (Ricca & Fournier 1996) painted in a much less sophisticated, perhaps not entirely local style, since they are similar to wall paintings of the same period in the Mgon khang of Lcang Sgang kha in Bhutan (Neumann 2009). There is a third group of wall paintings from the period of the foundation of the temple in the 11th century. It has not been published so far, except for singular small photos, probably because of difficulties of access due to their position high up under the ceiling of one of the two chapels forming the sanctum of Zhwa lu, the so-called Northern Twin Chapel (Byang lhakhang, or Hayagrīva chapel – rta mgrin lha khang – as it is called by the monks nowadays). It is a painted frieze running around the chapel on all four walls below a threefold valance (Figs 1-5). There are no other paintings on the walls of this chapel except for a repainted seated Buddha above the entrance and 15 bodhisattvas who surround him, which are painted in the style of the 11th century, but are in rather problematic condition. The wall paintings below the ceiling are unique in the sense that no earlier wall paintings of similar merits have been preserved in the provinces of Ü and Tsang. They can be regarded as the precursors of the earliest surviving Tibetan paintings on cloth (thang kas). The frieze consists of standing figures, in Indian, some in Tibetan dress, exquisitely painted, in great variation, and fairly well preserved. They are

Thirty-eight figures wear Indian costumes. The lower garment is identical for both sexes: either a long dhotī (in one case a short dhotī, Fig. 1 middle) or long wide trousers. All male figures with Indian dress wear a sash or 1 Similarly in the earliest surviving Central Tibetan thang kas, female breasts become only slightly apparent (Tara, Kossak & Casey-Singer 1998: 55; Prajñāpāramitā, Kossak & Casey-Singer 1998: 74, mistaken for Mañjuśrī by the authors, since there is only a very faint line for the breasts). This contrasts with West Tibetan wall paintings which, from the very beginning in the 11th century AD show female breasts in pronounced rounded forms on bare upper bodies, for example in Tabo (Pritzker 1997: 154; Klimburg-Salter 1997: 109). This was continued even when the deities were shown wearing blouses as in Phyiwang (Neumann 1998: 54) and in Alchi (Goepper 1996: 75), where the blouses leave the breasts uncovered.

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Helmut F. Neumann & Heidi A. Neumann hairstyle that was used frequently in the depiction of bodhisattvas in early Tibetan thang kas in a similar way, almost stereotyped (Fig. 9). On the other side, turbans appear not to have been depicted on thang kas except in representations of Songtsen Gampo.

scarf on the otherwise unclothed breast. One part of the sash runs diagonally over the breast from the left shoulder. Another part, starting equally from the left shoulder, goes around it and to the back. The female figures have more choices for covering the upper body: a few wear a sash similar to the one of the male figures, others wear a cape covering their back and both shoulders. Two figures are dressed in a short cholī (Fig. 2 middle).

The most conspicuous part of the jewellery is the crowns. The largest crowns are worn by the male worshippers wearing Tibetan robes (Fig. 1 fourth from left), but also some worshippers in Indian dress (Fig. 1 middle) wear large crowns. The main elements of these crowns are three triangular parts, presumably made of gold and set with gemstones in different colours. They are connected by a gold band. The crown appears to be tied by a ribbon, the end of which is visible above the ears. Very similar crowns with three triangular parts as main elements are well known from 11th century Pala sculptures, primarily crowned Buddhas (Casey & Weldon 2004: 96).

Altogether the fifty figures give a fascinating insight into the variety of Indian and Tibetan dress of the period. Since these paintings are earlier than almost all surviving wall paintings and thang kas from the provinces of Ü and Tsang (the Western Tibetan Kingdom being an entirely different matter), it appears worthwhile to look at them in more detail and to compare the dress and jewellery worn by the fifty Zhwa lu figures with those shown on wall paintings and thang kas which followed them in time.

The crowns of both earlier and later Pala sculptures are different. It is remarkable but perhaps not surprising that the artists in Zhwa lu represented the Pala style and fashion of the period in their paintings. This tradition persisted in Central Tibet. In Western Tibet where the artists were influenced by Kashmir art the crowns mostly consist of crescent parts. A prominent example of crowns related to those of Zhwa lu are found in the wall paintings of Grathang, dated 1093. But in Grathang, two generations later than the Zhwa lu wall paintings, the bejewelled triangular elements, although quite similar in form, have become smaller (Figs 6-8).

In this context, the wall paintings of Grathang, painted towards the end of the 11th century, i.e. about half a century later than the Zhwa lu murals, are of particular importance (Figs 6-8; Henss 1997). Their main themes are congregations of bodhisattvas and monks around a central Buddha. In Grathang most of the bodhisattvas wear Tibetan dress. The bodhisattva on Fig. 6 is clad in a green Tibetan robe showing a flower design, contrasting with the broad collar and the rim of the sleeves. This type of Tibetan robe also occurs in Dunhuang wall paintings executed during the Tibetan occupation of Dunhuang in the 9th century, but is never seen on Tibetan thang kas except in very rare instances where donors are depicted wearing Tibetan dress (Kossak & Casey-Singer 1998: 116).

In the earliest surviving Tibetan thang kas, the crowns show similar triangular elements, but they have become even smaller than in Grathang and less elaborate. A good example is the a painting of Tara, generally believed to be one of the earliest thang kas, dated to the second half of the 11th century by some scholars (Casey & Kossak 1998: 55). This would correspond to the time of Grathang or even earlier. Since there is a clear development from the crowns in Zhwa lu to the crowns in Grathang and further to the crowns in early Tibetan paintings, it would appear that even the earliest thang kas must be later than the Grathang paintings.

The short dhotī worn by one of the figures (Fig. 1 middle) reminds us of seated and standing bodhisattvas on Tibetan thang kas from the 12th to 13th century (Fig. 10) with some continuation even into the 14th century. The sash which crosses the breast of all male figures wearing Indian dress (for example Fig. 2, the two outer deities) can also be found on thang kas, even if only in rare cases (Fig. 10; Pal 2003: 206). In Grathang, where except for two bodhisattvas, all figures have completely clothed bodies, one of the Buddhas wears a similar sash which starts from a hook positioned on the left shoulder.

Another type of crown is worn by some of the Zhwa lu figures: a double crown with triangular elements, smaller than that seen in the crown discussed first, but with a second similar crown higher up in the coiffure (Fig. 3 seventh from left). This type of crown is also known from Grathang as exemplified by a beautiful Mañjuśrī (Fig. 8) and became the most common type of crown in early Tibetan thang kas (Fig. 10).

The figures in Zhwa lu also show a great variety of hairstyles and headdresses. Most prominent are the turbans worn by all male figures in Tibetan dress. They go back to the 7th century, the time of king Songtsen Gampo (Srong btsan Sgam po), who is always pictured wearing such a turban. Perhaps the most beautiful painted examples of these turbans can be found in the wall paintings of Grathang (Fig. 7) but also, in a single instance in a wall painting in the Mgong khang of Zhwa lu, contemporary with the fifty figures in the Northern Twin Chapel.

All ear ornaments are variants of two types: The first type is a discoidal earring. In few paintings, like the one with the lady wearing a yellow cholī (Fig. 9), it is clearly shown that the disc is fitted into the hole of a much extended earlobe, in other cases it is also possible that the disc was attached to the ear. Discoidal earrings occur in Indian sculpture already in the pre-Mauryan and Mauryan period and were particularly popular in the Sunga and

The male figures wearing Indian dress do not have the hair covered by a turban, but just tied up. It is this type of 234

11TH CENTURY WALL PAINTINGS OF ZHWA LU Mas kyer gan la ‘jigs sngam Sal bo ? mtshar can Sgrib pa rnam sel Blo can snjing rjes gdungs pa Byams pa mngon tu byung ba Blo gros bsams yas Blo gros rnam rig Sa’ snjing po gyag na rig chen Bsam pa brtan pa Lha mo che/sa? can ma Dri myed ‘od Rin can cod pan can Gzhon nu dra pa can ‘Jam dpal Lha mo sla? can ma Lha mo nor can ma Nam mkha’ la gro ba Nam mkha’ la ‘byung Gos sna tshogs gyon ba

Kushan periods, for example in Chandraketugarh. Particularly beautiful examples of discoid earrings have survived from the Gupta period. They also appear on the Grathang wall paintings (Fig. 8). The second type of earrings worn by the Zhwa lu figures does not have a similar antiquity. It is a gold earring consisting of a flat piece set with gemstones of various colours to which a ring is attached for fixing it in the earlobe (Fig. 1 first from left, Fig. 3 middle). In addition to the crown and the earrings, the jewellery of the figures wearing Indian dress comprises necklaces, armlets, bracelets, anklets and a belt. Similar jewellery is also worn by most standing bodhisattvas in early Tibetan thang kas and even in very similar forms (Fig. 9). What is the meaning and significance of these figures in the religious context? The knowledge about the original religious function of these wall paintings in the framework of this chapel has unfortunately been lost. In a small book on Zhwa lu monastery (Xie 2005) written in Chinese with an underlying title in Tibetan (freely translated as: ‘The Architectural and Mural Art at the monastery of Zwha lu in Tibet’), the following explanation is given for the wall paintings discussed in this paper: ‘The paintings seemingly depict some ancestors of the lCe clan who had gone to India on pilgrimage or in search of teaching. The shape of the figures reveals a distinctly Indian style, their lovely tribhanሶga coming directly from the sculptures and murals of Indian cave temples. The bodhisattvas wearing Tibetan dress are perhaps ancestors of the lCe clan’. While this recent interpretation which gives the figures a historic rather than a religious meaning certainly has some charm, the alternative of a religious explanation appears worth investigating. To approach the question of the religious background of the paintings, a look at the clay statuary in this chapel appears indicated, followed by the inscriptions and an analysis of the mudrās of the figures and the emblems they are holding in their hands.

To our great disappointment, most of the inscribed names could not be found in any of the iconographic works consulted. Two figures could be identified: The first is ‘Jam dpal, Mañjuśrī. He is depicted as a majestic person in Tibetan dress, his hands joined in añjali mudrā. Several examples of Mañjuśrī in añjali mudrā are known (Chandra 1999-2005: 2199).2 The second inscription Sgrib pa rnam sel is written below a yellow bodhisattva holding a jewel between the thumb and index of his right hand, displaying vārada mudrā with his left. This corresponds well to the form of Sarvanivaranavi·kambhin described in Sādhanamālā 18 (Chandra 1999-2005: 3210), except that his body should be of ash colour. We have found Sarvanivaranavi·kambhin to be present in nine manΡalas, Mañjuśrī in twelve. There are five manΡalas in which Sarvanivaranavi·kambhin and Mañjuśrī are both present. Four of these cannot fit the deities of the Northern Twin Chapel, neither from the criteria of the number of the deities nor the central deities to whom they are dedicated: the 219-deity Dharmadhātu Vāgīśvara Mañjuśrī manΡala, the 37-deity Vajrasattva manΡala a and two different 32deity Guhjasamāja manΡalas. But one of the five manΡalas has Vairocana, the deity to which this chapel is dedicated, in the centre: The Samksiptakula Guhyaka Mañjuśrī manΡala. Its root text is the Mañjuśrījñāna Sattvasya Paramarthanamasamgiti (bSod mans rya mthso 1983: No 41A and B).

The original statuary of the chapel has been destroyed at the time of the Cultural Revolution. Judging from the situation in other temples, the mandorlas and lotus pedestals will have remained. It is therefore probable that when the monks undertook the reconstruction of the statues in the chapel, they copied the original iconography. The chapel, which measures 645 cm x 649 cm (h. 633 cm) is dominated by a seated golden Vairocana, crowned and bejewelled. He is accompanied by four standing golden bodhisattvas on each sidewall. The entrance to the chapel is guarded by large statues of green Hayagrīva on the left, blue Vajrapāņi on the right.

In the Samksiptakula Guhyaka Mañjuśrī manΡala a white Vairocana with four faces and two arms is surrounded by a first circle of the four other jinas, Akşobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, Amoghasiddhi and the four vajrīs, their female counterparts and a second circle of 16 bodhisattvas of the Vajra, Ratna, Padma and Karma

Below the painted frieze of the figures which runs around the walls of the chapel under the ceiling, is a narrow yellow band, carrying inscriptions in Ü-chen script for twenty-three figures. Despite the minute size of the script, high up on the wall, and the partially poor condition of the wall, nineteen inscriptions could be read, a few only partially:

2

The position of the inscription leads to some ambiguity in the way that it might be possibly refer to a different bodhisattva. But the characteristics of this other bodhisattva (holding a jewel between the index and thumb of his right hand, carrying a stem of a lotus utpala in his left hand) are not known for Mañjuśrī.

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Helmut F. Neumann & Heidi A. Neumann families. In the corner of the square which encloses the second circle (thereby delimiting the inner house) are four female offering deities, in the gates four guardian deities. The outer house is populated by a second group of sixteen bodhisattvas, the second group of four female offering deities in the corners and four guardian deities at the gates. A total of fifty-six deities surround Vairocana in this manΡala. Assuming that the row of deities in the Northern Twin Chapel continued where a window was broken into the wall above the entrance, the row of painted figures under the ceiling would have counted precisely fifty-six deities.

the body colours of these figures can only be clearly recognised for six green deities. A few can be guessed to be red, but a distinction of white and yellow is impossible and whether the grey skin colour was previously blue cannot be ascertained. While it is plausible that the text which attributed uncommon names to the deities might also have used uncommon representations of these deities, it cannot be excluded that the basis of this manΡala was not a variant of the Samksiptakula Guhyaka Mañjuśrī manΡala, but an entirely different one. It is worth remembering in this context, that for hardly any of the 11th/12th century manΡalas on wall paintings in Central and Western Tibet, the precise text on which it is based is known.

Thus the number of deities on this early wall painting in this chapel of Zhwa lu would be in agreement with the number of deities in the Samksiptakula Guhyaka Mañjuśrī manΡala. But is it possible to attribute the individual figures to corresponding deities in the manΡala? It might appear surprising that all deities are peaceful on the wall painting, since the guardian deities would be expected to have a wrathful aspect. This, however, is not always the case, particularly not in the early period. As recently pointed out in an analysis of a 12th century thang ka representing Amitābha and the deities which surround him in the Vajradhātu manΡala, the gate keeper VajrasphoΓā is represented as a peaceful deity, and even in a female form (Fig. 12; Luczanits 2001).

While the precise identification of the figures in their religious context has to remain a topic for continuing research, the fifty still recognisable figures high up on the walls of the Northern Twin Chapel show the widest variety of Indian and Tibetan costumes known in early art of Central Tibet. At the very beginning of this Tibetan paintings tradition, they display a diversity of forms, painted with a great sense for harmony and minute attention to the detail that was hardly ever surpassed in the following centuries.

So it is possible that the guardian deities are all shown in their peaceful aspect and some even might appear in their female form, as is plausible since fourteen deities could tentatively be assumed to be female on the basis of crowns and hairstyle, two more than would be expected: the four vajrīs and eight offering goddesses. The deities are not only difficult to identify on the basis of the inscribed names, but also on the basis of the emblems they are holding. Only half of the female deities carry emblems, many of which are difficult to recognise, only vajra and sword can be identified with certainty. This is in sharp contrast to most 14th century wall paintings in Zhwa lu on which all deities are easily identifiable on the basis of their emblems, e.g. the offering goddesses all hold precisely the emblems for which they are known. In the 11th century wall painting in the Northern Twin Chapel hardly any figure can conclusively be connected to one of the deities described in the standard iconographic works on the basis of the emblems. This is particularly the case for some of the most beautifully painted figures: a green figure carrying a manuscript with both hands, a yellow or white figure holding a large flag with both hands (Fig. 4 first from left), a figure in Tibetan dress holding a conch (Fig. 2 fourth from left), another a vase of long life (Fig. 3 sixth from left) in the right hand, but no emblem in the left.

Acknowledgements The authors thank Ed Hunter for the translation from Chinese of the title and relevant sentences in Xie Bin’s book.

Bibliographic References bLo gsal rgya mtsho (no year) dPal Zhwa lu gNas yig. Zhwa lu. bSod names rgya mtsho (1983) Tibetan ManΡalas, the Ngor Collection. Kyoto. Bunce, F.W. (1994) An Encyclopedia of Buddhist Deities, Demigods, Godlings, Saints and Demons. New Delhi. Casey, J.; Ahuja, N.P. & Weldon, D. (2003) Divine Presence, Arts of India and the Himalayas. Barcelona. Chandra, L. (1999-2005) Iconography. Delhi.

Dictionary

of

Buddhist

Henss, M. (1997) ‘The Eleventh-Century Murals at Drathang Gonpa’ in J. Casey-Singer and P. Denwood (eds), Tibetan Art, Towards a Definition of Style, 160-69. London.

On the other side, there are six figures holding a vajra. About the same number of deities in the Samksiptakula Guhyaka Mañjuśrī manΡala is described as carrying a vajra in one form or the other. But a clear identification of these figures with deities in the Samksiptakula Guhyaka Mañjuśrī manΡala is hampered by the fact that

Klimburg-Salter, D.E. (1997) Tabo, a Lamp for a Kingdom. Milan. Kossak, S.M. & Casey Singer, J. (1998) Sacred Visions, 236

11TH CENTURY WALL PAINTINGS OF ZHWA LU early Paintings from Central Tibet. New York. Kreijger, H. (1992) ‘Zhwa lu, de herontdekking van een Tibetaans klooster’ in R. Poelmeyer & R. Munnike (eds), Zhwa lu, de herontdekking van een Tibetaans klooster, 15-28. Leiden. Kreijger, H. (1997) ‘Mural Styles at Zhwa lu’ in J. CaseySinger & P. Denwood (eds), Tibetan Art, Towards a Definition of Style: 170-77. London. Liebert, G. (1986) Iconographic Dictionary of the Indian Religions. Delhi. Luczanits, C. (2001) ‘Methodological Comments regarding Recent Research on Tibetan Art’, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens XLV: 125-45. Neumann, H.F. (2001) ‘Zhwa lu’s Hidden Treasure: The Paintings of the Shadakshari Chapel’, Orientations 32(10): 33-43. Neumann, H.F. (1988) ‘The cave of the Offering Goddesses: Early Painting in Western Tibet’, Oriental Art XLIV (4): 52-60. Neumann, H.F. & Neumann, H.A. (2008) ‘The wall paintings of the Mgon khang of Lcang Sgang kha’ in Proceedings of the 10th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Oxford 2003. Neumann, H.F. & Neumann, H.A. (2009) ´Wall Paintings of the Arhat Chapel in the Monastery of Zhwa lu, Tibet: Notes on Iconography and Style’ in G. Mevissen & A. Banerji (eds), Prajñādhara, Essays on Asian Art, History, Epigraphy and Culture in honour of Gouriswar Bhattacharya, II, 510-14. Delhi. Pal, P. (2003) Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure. Chicago. Pritzker, T.J. (1997) ‘The wall paintings in the Dukhang of Tabo’ in J. Casey-Singer & P. Denwood (eds), Tibetan Art, Towards a Definition of Style, 15059. London. Ricca, F. & Fournier, L. (1996) ‘Notes Concerning the Mgon-khang of Zhwa-lu’. Artibus Asiae 6 (3-4): 343-46. Tucci, G. (1949) Tibetan Painted Scrolls. Roma. Vitali, R. (1990) Early Temples in Central Tibet. London. Willson, M. & Brauen, M. (2000) Deities of Tibetan Buddhism, the Zürich Paintings of the Icons Worthwhile to See (Bris sku mthon ba don ldan). Boston. Xie, B. (2005) Xizang Shalusi Jianzhu ji Bihua Yishu. Beijing.

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Fig. 1 - Zhwa lu, Northern Twin Chapel, wall painting south wall (Photo H.F. Neumann).

Fig. 2 - Zhwa lu, Northern Twin Chapel, wall painting west wall (Photo H.F. Neumann).

Fig. 3 - Zhwa lu, Northern Twin Chapel, wall painting south wall (Photo H.F. Neumann).

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Fig. 4 - Zhwa lu, Northern Twin Chapel, wall painting north wall (Photo H.F. Neumann).

Fig. 5 - Zhwa lu, Northern Twin Chapel, wall painting north wall (Photo H.F. Neumann).

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Fig. 6 - Grathang, wall painting late 11th century AD, bodhisattva (Photo H.F. Neumann).

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Fig. 9 - Zhwa lu, Northern Twin Chapel, detail wall painting north wall (Photo H.F. Neumann). Fig. 7 - Grathang, wall painting late 11th century AD, head of bodhisattva (Photo H.F. Neumann).

Fig. 10 - Bodhisattva, detail of a 12th century AD thang ka, private collection (Photo H.F. Neumann).

Fig. 8 - Grathang, wall painting late 11th century AD, bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (Photo H.F. Neumann).

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Fig. 11 - Amitābha, detail of a 12th/13th century AD thang ka, private collection (Photo H.F. Neumann).

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ASPECTS OF BUDDHIST ARTEFACTS AND FEATURES FROM THE EXCAVATION OF GARAB-DZONG, DISTRICT MUSTANG, NEPAL. THE CASE OF THE ROOM 2 IN HOUSE 5: A MCHOD-RTEN? Corinne Pohl-Thiblet The archaeological field work (1994-1998) of the Preand Early Historical Archaeology of the University of Bonn which were undertaken in cooperation with the HMG Department of Archaeology in Kathmandu were part of a research programme ‘Archaeology of Castles and Fortified Settlements in Mustang’ dedicated to ‘The Settlement Processes and the Formation of States in the High Himalayas characterised by Tibetan Culture and Tradition’ sponsored by the German Research Council (Fig. 1).1

place which has been determined beforehand as a mChod-rTen4 (Seeber 1994: 86; Pohl 1997: 102). Concise Description of the three main Trenches on the Upper Plateau of Garab-Dzong Besides the investigation of the extant architectural remains (Fig. 4), the aim of the fieldworks was to uncover signs of older settlements in the centre of the upper plateau. Therefore, three main trenches were cut across the plateau covering the central place and the surrounding architecture (Fig. 3). In contrast to the settlement on the slope, which is to a great extent heavily damaged by erosion, undisturbed stratigraphic observations were expected on the plateau.

As one of the most important trade routes through the Himalayas, the Kali-Gandaki valley contains a large number of abandoned castles and fortified settlements built in strategic locations, which were controlling the routes traversing the main valley and its tributaries (PohlThiblet 2003: 278, fig. 2).2 Due to the change of the political situation, the strategic suitability of GarabDzong (Fig. 2) played no further role after the conquest of western Nepal by the Gorkha kings.3 The people gradually shifted their households to the present surroundings villages (Pohl-Thiblet 2003: 279, fig. 3). The dynamic process of the history of this transit area between Tibet and India, which underwent different breaks, had a far-reaching impact on the population. Mustang -being ‘near the extreme northern edge of Hindu influence in this part of the Himalayas and at the same time near the extreme southern edge of Buddhist and Tibetan influence’- (Messerschmidt 1992: 30) epitomize a cultural, ritual and religious border merging Hinduism and Buddhism.

Dendrochronological and C14 dating reveal that GarabDzong was founded in the second half of the 16th century AD and the configuration of the buildings within the upper enclosure shows that the construction followed a central plan (Pohl 1997: 99-115). Delineation of the House and of the Rooms Units The northern trench B LXII/B LII revealed a house no. 6 with two rooms which were directly connected to the enclosing wall. The C14 dates (1467 ± 47, 1540 ± 69, 1542 ± 69 cal. AD) show that this house belonged to the initial building phase of Garab-Dzong. Later this initial construction has been replaced with a single room house which stood 1.5 m away from the wall (Pohl 1997: figs. 23-25).

The traders crossed Scholars and Buddhists missioners who used the same passageway to reach Tibet. Until today, the crowds of pilgrims going to the Hindu- and Buddhist Sanctuary of Muktinath (Snellgrove 1979; Messerschmidt & Sharma 1981: 571-72) bear out the significance of this valley which should be seen as a transit area pertaining to the spreading of Buddhism.

In the mid-trench BI/B XI - B II/B XII - B III/B XIII, the central place and the houses standing on both sides were uncovered. On the west side the house no. 3 consist of three rooms which are fitting to the still standing walls (Pohl 1997: fig. 18). The house no. 2 has six rooms. The wall structures and some features lead to the conclusion, that this building has been rebuilt within its period of use. The central place between the house no. 2 and 3 revealed no kind of preserved constructions. Here, a number of uncovered overlapping pits, post holes and ritual deposits (Pohl 1997: 123-31) don’t lead to evidence of previous settlement activity. Like the house number 6, the C14 dates (1556 ± 69, 1572 ± 52, 1589 ± 59, 1585 ± 59, 1578 ± 57 cal. AD) show that these features are also belonging

This paper focuses on the analysis of the finds connected with a Buddhist facet found within the 3 main trenches of the upper plateau of Garab-Dzong and on one particular

1 For a comprehensive introduction see: Hüttel 1994: bes. 47-71. For preliminary reports of the Garab-Dzong excavation see: Pohl 1996, 1997; Pohl & Roth 1996; Pohl & Tripathee 1995. 2 For the importance of the North-South Trade route see: FürerHaimendorf 1975; to the Kali-Gandaki valley see: Graafen & Seeber 1992/93: 34-48, 1993: 674-79. 3 On mediaeval history of Mustang see in general: Jackson 1976: 39-56, 1978: 195-227; 1984; Vinding 1987: 167-211, 1988: 165-211; Schuh 1990, 1992, 1995a: 9-92, 1995b: 5-54. On the Gorkha see: Stiller 1973.

4 Tucci 19882: 13: ‘Mchod-rten literally means “receptacle, support of the offerings” and in fact it corresponds to the Sankrit caitya or stūpa’; Snodgrass 1985: 353-58.

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Corinne Pohl-Thiblet to the first constructing phase of the upper plateau. A clay floor which is attached to the preserved walls on both sides covers the pits and the deposits. Thus they are not dating later than the construction of the fortification and chronologically they belong to the fortified complex. Neither the stratigraphy nor the C14 and dendrochronological dating nor the analysis of the pottery of the northern trench and the features at the central place allow the assumption that there has been a previous settlement on the upper plateau.

attached to the bases and their stand-rings have been roughly smoothed in order to achieve a smooth surface with no visible seams between the stand-rings and the base. Both bases originally featured nine butterlamps. The bigger one with seven preserved butterlamps was initially provided with a double-figurine application on both ends (Fig. 8). The three preserved human figures are not elaborate and the morphological traits (eyes, nose and mouth) have been just roughly incised. The base is slightly concave. The smaller one with three preserved butterlamps ends unevenly straight and is almost plane (Fig. 9). One end features a damaged cone-shaped application that cannot be qualified.

The southern trench A XI - A XII - A XIII will be the object of a discussion in the last part of this article. Therefore let me just point out that the structures of the so called house no. 5 features four rooms adjacent to the enclosing wall.

Further three bigger butterlamps of the same fabric have been uncovered. Two of them have a chalice form and feature a central hole as wick holder (Figs. 10-11). The lip is rounded up to flatly rounded and the rim is straight or partially slightly everted. At the junction between the body and the stem as well as between the stand-ring and the body a groove is visible. Those are signs of the build up of the vessel. The surface is only slightly smoothed, cragged and shows dents. The foot is on the bottom light downcast and features on the border of the inner surface a few carved lines which are partially forming a zigzag pattern. The shape of the second one is regular, carefully hand-made and its surface is smoothed. Its lip is flat and outwards bevelled and the rim is diagonal. The third one (Fig. 12) belongs to another type which is carefully handmade and has a well smoothed surface. From the top it has the shape of a key-hole. One side featured a rest of a handle with a flat cross-section. The bottom is flat, the lip is rounded and the rim is straight and downcast.

General Outline of the finds The depiction of the finds displays the fact that GarabDzong has been gradually abandoned. Their grade of fragmentation is high and the quantity is rather low. The pottery 92% of the nearly thirty thousand pottery sherds belong to the one fabric which was basically used for any kind of domestic vessels but mainly for cooking, Chang5- and storage vessels (Pohl-Thiblet 2003: 277-89). As expected in an area characterised by the Tibetan culture, the portion of serving dishes is rather low. Comparisons with old vessels in the neighbouring village of Thini and the observation at the last used pottery kilns of Kunglithing (Pohl-Thiblet 2003: 278, fig. 2) strengthen the results of the pottery analysis.

Pottery with Graffitis and Applications Graffitis and applications on few potteries show also a Buddhist character. There are the 2 small hand-shaped bowls with a counter clockwise swastika on their bottom (Skt.: swastika, Tib.: gYung-drung or Geg-gSangs). One of them features a small pierced dot in each respective remained panel (Fig. 13). Many sherds feature different motives consisting of lines which probably most of the time represents stylized lotus blossom or clouds. One piece shows definitely an endless knot (Skt.: shrivatsa; Tib.: dPal Be’u or dPal-Gyi-Be-hu) (Fig. 14). Further the sun and crescent moon (Skt.: chandrabimba; Tib.: zlaba) decoration respectively application is found frequently. It appears on storage and miniature vessels as well. Two different types have been established: The plain motive has been found on miniature vessels (Figs. 15-16). The other with different kinds of impression is commonly found on the storage-vessels (Fig. 17).

The Artefacts All together 343 small finds have been uncovered. Expected objects, like jewellery or tools, are represented in the find complex. Within the total number of artefacts a small group detaches itself from the others because of their obvious Buddhist character. Besides the two five faced-Malla-Beads (Fig. 5), scores of small butterlamps have been discovered. Every single butterlamp is handmade and from the same fabric. They have a chalice-shape and the wick holder, which has been simply pinched from the rim, is more or less prominent and narrow. They are more or less carefully hand-shaped and the inner and outer surfaces are smoothed. Two groups have been defined: The most numerous group are the thin walled butterlamps with a narrow and pointed wick holder (Fig. 6). The second group consists of more compact, thick walled butterlamps with broader, shorter and rounded wick holders (Fig. 7). A few of them suit to the two butterlamp-bases who are not particularly accurate hand modelled. The lopsided longish base has a rectangular cross-section. The butterlamps have been 5

Icon, figurine or idol Furthermore single icon, figurines or idol have been uncovered. We have a hand-shaped caturmukhalinሶga or pañcamukhalinሶga (Fig. 18), a four or perhaps a fiveheaded idol6 made of clay which four heads, each one 6 On the top there is a 7 mm diameter break which could be a trace of a broken head.

Local beer brewed with barley.

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ASPECTS OF BUDDHIST ARTEFACTS AND FEATURES FROM THE EXCAVATION OF GARAB-DZONG earthenware disc. Projected we can assumed that there must have been altogether six of these thin rolls. It is conceivable that these objects could have served a purpose during a ceremony (Skt.: pūjā. Tib.: mChod-Pa). Workers from the village Thini told us that such discs are used by the Lamas during the pūjā as ‘coaster’ and that they are actually drawn on in pairs.

looking towards the four points of the compass. The bottom is flat and burnished so that it can be alleged that it is a single piece. The three conserved heads are joined with the body and the morphological details (eyes, nose and mouth) are simply incised. The other elements are fashioned with a thin sharp tool. The heads are partly damaged and their surface is rugged compared to the surface of the body.

Items which could be related to Buddhist facet Further a little handmade female figurine has been found (Fig. 19). Her face has been shaped by pinching the clay; the eyes, the ears are pierced and the mouth is impressed. The arms, the legs and the breasts are also pinched and definitely not applied. Both legs and the left hand are broken. On the left leg there is a non identifiable applied component. The representation of the pubic region has been done with a pointed object. On the back, respectively along the spinal column is situated a longish wedge-shape hollow. It is unclear if this has a functional purpose. Additionally, a fragment of a small terra cotta stylized foot has to be mentioned. There are no anatomic details and the front view revealed its curved shape which suggests that it could correspond to a sitting or riding position. The same fabric as the other items was used and the surface is slightly smoothed.

The following three artefacts are in all probability related to the Buddhist items. The first one is a damaged amulet forged respectively embossed of brass and copper (Fig. 23). It consists on two half capsules who are fitting together. Each of them has three small rings. Two rings are set directly in an opposite position of the single one. They were forged respectively embossed of brass and copper. The second one is a hand-shaped goblet (Fig. 24) which body has been set on the stand-foot and which is not particularly carefully smoothed. The bottom of the plain ring-foot is nearly flat. The fabric is identical to the main represented ware. The surface is burnished. This singledom vessel has been identified by the local people as a Γilaka-bowl (Skt.: Γilaka or Γika; Hindi: Γīkā).

Undefined items

The following artefact is even more difficult to interpret in the context of objects related to Buddhism at GarabDzong. The terracotta figurine represents a zebu (Fig. 25). The round impressed eyes are disproportionate in relation to the body. Above the eyes is a tiny bugle which is mostly damaged and one ear is preserved. Akin to the partly broken trapezoidal snout they have been pinched out of the unfired clay. The humps on the throat and the spine have also been pinched out of the unfired clay. The one on the throat is in the front view thin and elongated; in profile it is soft curved and slightly lopsided. The hump on the back is on his cross section rounded, thin and tapering into a small rounded point. Compared to the proportion and morphological shape of the torso the legs are rather short and stylised. One of the two front legs is slightly damaged. One of the hind legs is broken. The tail is also damaged on the lower part. The torso looks naturalistic regarding the shaping of the cheeks, humps, shoulders and hips. The transitions of the different body components are flowing. The surface has been burnished in moist state, most likely with a small wooden stab. This is particularly the case for the back and the neck. Furthermore the surface shows fine flaws. The fabric is the same as the one used for the butterlamps, the idols and the human figurine. It could be a Buddhist iconographic device related to the ‘red bull’ that is ridden by the class of deities kLu, ‘one of the protective deities of the Tibetan pantheon’ (Bunce & Capdi 1997: 150) As already underlined, the delineation of those uncertain definite items cannot be taken for granted. Within the artefacts with a Buddhist facet, some - e.g. the Γilakabowl and the mukha-linሶga - seem to divulge to a certain extent a Hindu facet. Like the other undefined items, the lack of analogical finds, emanating from excavations or

The classification of the next artefacts is the result of primary consideration; therefore it cannot be taken for granted. The first one may perhaps be defined as a ritual offering cake (Tib.: gTor-ma) used for destructive rituals which are commonly triangular in shape and coloured red or black (Fig. 20). This hand modelled artefact has a cross-section which looks like a triangle with two convex sides. On those sides there are symmetrical striations. The surface is lightly burnished, the border rounded and the foot is flat and smooth. The two following items are also indeterminate. There is a longish artefact where three of its longitudinal sides are flat and two of them are decorated with incised zigzag lines (Fig. 21). One decorated side differs slightly from the other: in the middle there is a U-shaped line around a sharp formed point. The fourth side shows a roughly Ushaped hollow. The surface of the hollow has been smoothed in moist state with the fingers. The two uneven flat ends seem to have been cut when the clay was still moist. The artefact is quite coarse made even if the longitudinal sides are burnished. The borders of the hollow are thin and round but rather irregular and parts of the surface are snapped. The second one is an earthenware ripped disc which was probably painted (Fig. 22) since the surface shows remains of a calcareous substance but also few reddish dyed spots. The bottom is flat, the face is elongated through unevenly ripped rolls and the intervals are roughly-shaped. This quite fragile artefact is broken into two pieces and the fracture shows the particular body structure. Under a thin layer of clay there are still four preserved ‘clay-pins’ which are directly lying on an 245

Corinne Pohl-Thiblet house unit no. 5 with four rooms adjacent to the enclosing wall (Fig. 26). The inner surface of the discussed room is about 2 m2. The east- and west wall are from the same quality of construction (Fig. 26 to 29: W. 30 and 31). The north delimitation has not been excavated but we assume that it is featured from the wall W. 34 which runs to the enclosing wall. The southern limitation of the room is a wall (Figs. 26, 29: W. 33) which seems to be of the same construction as the wall closing a previously existing entrance way (Figs. 26, 27: Feature GAR96-F. 202). Compared with the west- and east sides’ walls, their structure is not so well done and their bottom edges are higher than those of the side walls. The six wooden posts which have been recovered from the four corners date from AD 1606 to 1630 with one date of 1590. Therefore, I allege that the construction of this room took place in a second phase within the initial period of construction on the upper plateau.

from ethnological collections of this region or the neighboured areas, is a recurrent dilemma. The case of the Room 2 in House 5: a mChod-rTen? The geographer Dr Christian Seeber who surveyed Garab-Dzong qualified this part of the fortified settlement as a mChod-rTen: ‘The highest and central point is littered with the remains of a Chorten’ (Seeber 1994: 86). The archaeologist Dr Ernst Pohl argued the same way. On behalf of his preliminary report he wrote: ‘At the highest point of the upper plateau, a small area of about 2 m2 bears architectural remains, which can be considered as the central choerten of the settlement of Garab-Dzong. […] The square building is detectable down to the natural ground as a single-phased construction with one or two wooden posts vertically fixed at the inside of the respective quoins’ (Pohl 1997: 102). To check the hypothesis that those fundaments belong to a mChodrTen, let reassess the following arguments.

The artefacts Finally let’s take into consideration the findspot of the Buddhist artefacts which should give a steady upshot on the topic of the definition of this room-unit. 10.87% of those artefacts are surface finds and 10.85% are equally distributed between the north and middle trench. Over 78% of these finds come from the southern trench.

The location On the basis of the general ground plan of Garab-Dzong (Figs. 3-4), we can catch its spatial organisation. A main gateway lined with four mChod-rTen and Mani walls (Figs. 32-33) leads from the south to the hill rock. Even if important parts of the slope are severely damaged, a spatial reconstruction is possible. It is assumed that on the eastside the enclosing wall of the Upper plateau runs parallel to the front of the houses and like at the Westside we alleged that they were connected with it. At the south side there is probably the only entrance to the upper plateau which shows a certain fortified character. The ground plan reveals a bipartition of the settlement upon the upper plateau (Fig. 3). The arrangement of the southern part features a central place surrounded by four main residential units which shows a dense and smallscaled architecture. The area adjoining north of the square can only be entered through an entrance in the middle of a wall. It is thus obviously separated from the rest of the plateau. The walls belonging to this structure indicate that this was designed much more generously than the building on the southern part so that we may assume here some central buildings of the settlement. The room in discussion is situated at a central location within the dense south residential area, at the highest place of the mound and besides in close proximity of the main entrance.

All the small chalice-shaped butterlamps came out directly or from its immediate proximity and the items which could be associated with a pūjā has been also found in this context. Surely, the fact that scores of everyday objects like wooden spatulae, arrow heads or even a board and the ostentatious missing of Tsha-Tshas (votive mChod-rTen)7 might refute the statement of C. Seeber and E. Pohl. A further argument against the assertion of the thesis is given from the ground plan and the architecture in combination with the feature: there is no evidence of the presence of a path around the putative mChod-rTen. At this stage, this house unit could be matched up to the house of Pema Drolkar situated on the north-south street which runs through Kagbeni and facing the eastern wall of the castle (Harrison 2001: 147, fig. 1). This house presents a prayer room with a huge statue of Vairocana (Fig. 31). But on the belief of the oral communication of Prof. Angela von den Driesch who analysed the animal bones of the excavations, this attractive concept could be unsustainable. The numerous bones from this part of the trench have turned to be exclusively hind legs of goats. It is hardly plausible to be confronted with such a find complex in a prayer room or a family altar. This better stands in relation with a pūjā which probably deal with the struggle of a disease which decimates whole goat’s herds. Nevertheless, it is also quite improbable to be confronted with such a feature within a mChod-rTen. This fact has still to be underlined and thanks to the willingness of Prof. van den Driesch8 and Dr Henriette

The architecture and the features The houses excavated at the fortified settlement of GarabDzong were of the same type we can see until today in the region. The buildings had several, probably up to three storeys and walls of compressed mud rising over foundations constructed of stones and mud (Fig. 30) (Gutschow 1994: 23-50; 1998: 47-145; Harrison 2001: 147-59). The southern trench A XI - A XII - A XIII features a 246

7

Tucci 19882: 53-70; Snodgrass 1985: 358-59.

8

Former Curator of the Section: Palaeoanatomy, State Collection for

ASPECTS OF BUDDHIST ARTEFACTS AND FEATURES FROM THE EXCAVATION OF GARAB-DZONG Obermaier9 to publish the results of the osteological analysis within the next time, it will be possible to renew the study of this argument.

Gutschow, N. (1994) ‘Kagbeni: Structural Analysis of Dendrochronological Data’, Ancient Nepal. Journal of the Department of Archaeology 136: 23-50. Gutschow, N. (1998) ‘The Settlement Process in Lower Mustang (Baragaon), Nepal. Case Studies from Kag, Khyinga and Te’, Beiträge zur Allgemeine und Vergleichenden Archäologie 18: 47-145.

Conclusion The data of the location in combination with the architecture and the featured artefacts and bones do not allowed to assume the classification of this so called ‘House 5/Room 2’ as a mChod-rTen.

Haffner, W. & Pohle, P. (1993) ‘Settlement Processes and the Formation of State in the High Himalayas Characterized by Tibetan Culture and Tradition’, Ancient Nepal. Journal of the Department of Archaeology 134: 42-56.

On Garab-Dzong, there were six mChod-rTen. Four of them are standing along the main way which is leading to the upper plateau (Fig. 33) and one is located by the northwest slope area. The last one, a gate mChod-rTen (Fig. 33), is undocumented on the general plan because it is situated far away by the south foothill. As free-standing buildings, those mChod-rTen from Garab-Dzong belong to the classical repertoire of Tibetan Buddhist architecture. How the above presented feature within a dense residential area may have looked like, if we assume that there was a seventh mChod-rTen, is still indeterminate.

Harrison, J. (2001) ‘Kagbeni - House of Pema Drolkar: Structural Analysis, Kyong-Bur Painting technique, rammed earth construction’ in P. Pohle & W. Haffner (eds), Kagbeni Contribution to the Village’s History and Geography, Giessener Geographische Schriften 77: 147-59. Giessen. Hüttel, H.-G. (1994) ‘Archäologische Siedlungsforschung im Hohen Himalaja - Die Ausgrabungen der KAVA im Muktinath-Tal/Nepal 1991-1992’, Beiträge zur Allgemeine und Vergleichenden Archäologie 14: 47-147.

For the very last, let me give a brief account of a recent and unforeseen discovery. End of January, I found by Google Earth a beautiful panorama picture of GarabDzong. It shows the well preserved ruins, but it looks unfamiliar. While I was dealing with the question: mChod-rTen or not mChod-rTen, the local people have decided: mChod-rTen!10 Nevertheless and except additional knowledge, the room two within the house unit no. 5 ought to be a family altar respectively a prayer room.

Jackson, D.P. (1976) ‘The Early History of Lo (Mustang) and Ngari’, Contributions to Nepalese Studies. Journal of the Nepal and Asian Studies 4 (1): 3956. Jackson, D.P. (1978) ‘Notes on History of Se-Rib, and Nearby Places in the upper Kali Gandaki Valley’, Kailash. A Journal of Himalayan Studies 6 (3): 195-227.

Bibliographic References

Jackson, D.P. (1984) The Mollas of Mustang: historical, religious and Oratorical Traditions of the Nepalese-Tibetan Border. Dharamsala.

Bunce, F.W. & Capdi G.X. (1997) A Dictionary of Buddhist and Hindu Iconography -IllustratedObjects, Devices, Concepts, Rites and Related Terms. New Delhi.

Messerschmidt, D. (1992) Muktinath: Himalayan Pilgrimage, A Cultural & Historical Guide. Kathmandu. Messerschmidt, D & Sharma (1981) ‘Hindu pilgrimage in the Nepal Himalayas’, Current Anthropology 22 (5): 571-72.

Fürer-Haimendorf, C. von (1975) Himalayan Traders. Life in Highland Nepal. New Delhi. Gauchan & Vinding, M. (1977) ‘The History of the Thakaali according to the Thakaali Tradition’, Kailash. A Journal of Himalayan Studies 5 (2): 98-184.

Pohl,

Graafen, R. & Seeber, C. (1992/93) ‘Important Trades Routes in Nepal and their Importance to the Settlement Process’, Ancient Nepal 130-33: 38-48.

Pohl, E. (1997) ‘Excavations at Garab-Dzong, Nepal. Report on the Excavation campaigns 1994-1996 (with contributions from Angela von den Driesch, Henriette Manhart, Petra Maurer, Jussi Baade, Roland Mäusbacher, and Günther Wagner)’, Beiträge zur Allgemeine und Vergleichenden Archäologie 17: 87-131.

Graafen, R. & Seeber, C. (1993) ‘Alte Handelsrouten im Himalaya’, Geographische Rundschau 11: 674-79. Anthropology and Palaeoanatomy (Munich).

E. (1996) ‘Ausgrabung in Garab-Dzong. Siedlungsarchäologische Untersuchungen einer Microregion im südlichen Mustang Nepal’, Archäologisches Nachrichtenblatt 1 (4): 357-65.

Pohl, E. & Roth, H. (1996) ‘Ausgrabung in Nepal und Sri Lanka’, Bonner Universitätsblätter: 5-16.

9

Current Curator of the Section: Palaeoanatomy, State Collection for Anthropology and Palaeoanatomy (Munich). 10 See: http://static.panoramio.com/Photos/original/2093023.jpg

Pohl, E. & Tripathee, C. P. (1995) ‘Excavation at Garab247

Corinne Pohl-Thiblet Vinding, M. (1994) ‘Traditional Political System in Mustang, Nepal’, Contributions to Nepalese Studies. Journal of Research Centre of Nepal and Asian 21 (2): 169-90.

Dzong, District Mustang. Preliminary Report of the Campaign 1994’, Ancient Nepal. Journal of the Department of Archaeology 138: 95-106. Pohl-Thiblet, C. (2003) ‘Preliminary Result on the Pottery from Garab-Dzong, the Surroundings Settlements from Dzo-Khang and Bumche-Khang, District Mustang, Nepal’ in SAA 2003, 275-88. Ramble, C. & Vinding, M. (1987) ‘The Bem-chag village reccord and the Early History of Mustang District’, Kailash. A Journal of Himalayan Studies 13(1-2): 5-48. Schuh, D. (1990) ‘The Political Organisation of Southern Mustang during the 17th and 18th Centuries’, Ancient Nepal. Journal of the Department of Archaeology 119: 1-7. Schuh, D. (1992) ‘Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des südlichen Mustang’, Typed Manuscript, 110 pages; bibl. 111-15. Schuh, D. (1995a) ‘Investigations in the History of the Muktinath Valley and Adjacent Areas. Part I’, Ancient Nepal. Journal of the Department of Archaeology 137: 9-92. Schuh, D. (1995b) ‘Investigations in the History of the Muktinath Valley and Adjacent Areas. Part II’, Ancient Nepal. Journal of the Department of Archaeology 138: 5-54. Seeber, C. (1994) ‘Reflections on the Existence of Castles and Observation Towers in the Area under Investigation in South Mustang’, Ancient Nepal. Journal of the Department of Archaeology 136: 81-87. Snellgrove, D. (1979) ‘Place of Pilgrimage in Thag (Thakkkhola)’, Kailash. A Journal of Himalayan Studies 7 (2): 1-128; tib. Text 129-70. Snodgrass, A. (1985) The Symbolism of the Stūpa. New York. Stiller, L.F. (1973) The Rise of the House of Gorkha. A Study in the Unification of Nepal 1768-1816. New Delhi. Tucci, G. (1988) Indo-Tibetica I. Mchod-rten and Tshatsha in India and Western Tibet. Contribution to a study of Tibetan religious Art and its Significance. New Delhi (first ed. Rome 1932). Vinding, M. (1978) ‘The Local Oral Tradition about the Kingdom of Thin Garab Dzong’, Kailash. A Journal of Himalayan Studies 6 (3): 181-93. Vinding, M. (1984) ‘Making a Living in the Nepal Himalayas: The Case of the Thakalis of Mustang District’, Contributions to Nepalese Studies. Journal of the Research Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies 12 (1): 51-106. Vinding, M. (1988) ‘A History of the Thak Khola Valley, Nepal’, Kailash. A Journal of Himalayan Studies 14 (3-4): 167-211. 248

ASPECTS OF BUDDHIST ARTEFACTS AND FEATURES FROM THE EXCAVATION OF GARAB-DZONG

Fig. 1 - The High Himalayas as a spatial frame of the research programme and the particular research areas of Ladakh and Mustang (from Haffner & Pohle 1993: fig. 2).

Fig. 3 - Garab-Dzong, plan of the upper Plateau with the 3 main trenches and the delineation of the house units (after Pohl & Tripathee 1995: Appendix I).

Fig. 2 - Garab-Dzong, southern slope with the saddle to the surrounding terraces (Photo E. Pohl).

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Corinne Pohl-Thiblet

Fig. 4 - Garab-Dzong, general ground plan (from Pohl 1997: Plan 1).

250

ASPECTS OF BUDDHIST ARTEFACTS AND FEATURES FROM THE EXCAVATION OF GARAB-DZONG

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Corinne Pohl-Thiblet

Fig. 5 - Malla beads: Inv. no. GAR95/204. H. 5/R. 2, Area A XII, Square 44, Level 0. L. 1.5; Adiam. 1.7 cm, thread hole diam. 0.32-0.35 cm; weight: 3 gr. (Drawing A. Lennartz); Inv. Nr. GAR95/225. H. 5/R. 2, Area A XII, Square 44, Level 2. Adiam. 1.85 cm, thread hole diam. 0.27 cm; th. 1.6 cm; weight: 3 gr (Drawing U. Müssemeier).

Fig. 24 - Tilaka-goblet: Inv. no. GAR95/218. H. 5/R. 3, Area A XII, Square 74, Level 2. h. 10.3 cm; rdiam. 7,8 cm; bdiam. 8.1 cm (Drawing S. Schmies). Fig. 25 - Zebu (Bos taurus indicus): Inv. no. GAR95/257. H. 5/R. 3, Area A XII, Square 42, Level 4. l. 8.2 cm; h. 7.3 cm; w. 3.3 cm. weight: 99 gr (Drawing G. Michels).

Fig. 6 - Butterlamp: Inv. no. GAR95/402. H. 5/R. 2, Area A XII, Square 46, Level 8. h. 3.7 cm; rdiam. 3.2-5 cm; bdiam. c. 2.5 cm (Drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 7 - Butterlamp: Inv. no. GAR95/244. H. 5/R. 2, Area A XII, Square 44, Level 3. h. max. 3.3 cm rdiam. 2.5 cm; bdiam. 2.35 cm (Drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 8 - Clay base with Butterlamps: Inv. no.: GAR95/289, GAR95/291, GAR95/292, GAR95/295, GAR95/298 and GAR95/406. H. 5/R. 2, Area A XII. l. 17.5 cm; w. max. 2 cm; h. base max. 0.68 cm; h. with butterlamps max. 2.05 cm (Drawing G. Michels). Fig. 9 - Clay base with Butterlamps: Inv. no. GAR95/289, GAR95/291, GAR95/292, GAR95/295, GAR95/298, GAR95/406: H. 5/R. 2, Area A XII. L. 14.75 cm; w. max. 2.05 cm; h. base max. 0.92 cm; h. with butterlamps max. 2.53 cm (Drawing G. Michels). Fig. 10 - Butterlamp Inv. no. GAR95/256, H. 5/R. 3, Area A XII, Square 62, Level 4. h. max. 5.3 cm; rdiam. 4.8 cm, bdiam. 3.8 cm (Drawing S. Schmies). Fig. 11 - Butterlamp: Inv. no. GAR94/099. H. 3/R. 1, Area B XIII, Square 98, Level 3. h. 7,1 cm; rdiam. c. 7.0 cm, bdiam. 5.55 cm (Drawing U. Müssemeier). Fig. 12 - Butterlamp: Inv. no. GAR95/336. H. 4, Area B XLII, Square: 25, 26, Level 7, Feature: GAR95-F. 308: pit. h. max. 3.5 cm; l. max. 10.15 cm; w. max. 6.6 cm; bdiam. c. 4.5-5.0 cm.; th. w. max. 0.85 cm (Drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 13 - Miniature vessel with swastika motif Inv. no. GAR97/001, surface find, GAR97/001; M. 1: 2, rdiam. 8.6 cm (128) (Drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 14 - Pottery sherd with an endless knot motif: Inv. no. GAR95:7637. H. 5/R. 4, A XIII, Sq. 77, Level 3. Fig. 15 - Miniature vessel with sun and crescent moon application: Inv. no. GAR94/086. H. 2, Area B I. Square 6, under GAR94-F. 25: Sill. h. 5.15 cm; rdiam. c. 5.0 cm; bdiam. 4.5 cm; w. 5.25 cm (Drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 16 - Miniature vessel with sun and crescent moon application: Inv. no. GAR95/162: H. 2/R. 2, Area B XI, Square 8, Level 6. rdiam. c. 4.7 cm, bdiam. 5.3 cm (Drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 17 - Pottery sherd with sun and crescent moon application: Inv. no. GAR94:1905. H. 1, Area B XII, Square 64, Level 1 (Drawing C. Pohl- Thiblet). Fig. 18 - Caturmukhalinሶga or pañcamukhalinሶga: Inv. no. GAR95/287. H. 5/R. 4, Area: A XIII, Square 79, Level 4. h. 3.5 cm; diam. 1.9-2.0 cm; weight 17 gr (Drawing G. Michels). Fig. 19 - Human figurine: Inv. no. GAR95/211. H. 5/R. 2, Area A XII, Square 66, Level 3. h. 5.5 cm; w. midpoint 1.5 cm; th. midpoint 1.2 cm (Drawing G. Michels). Fig. 20 - Ritual offering cake? (Tib.: gTor-ma): Inv. no. GAR95/217. H. 5/R. 3, Area A XII, Square 74. Level 2. h. 6.4 cm; w. max. 5.2 cm; th. max. 3.7 cm (Drawing S. Schmies). Fig. 21 - Undefined Item: Inv. no. GAR95/206. H. 5/R. 2, Area A XII, Square 44, Level 0. l. 15.5 cm; w. max. 2.35 cm; h. max. 1.95 cm (Drawing A. Lennartz/C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 22 - Undefined Item: Inv. no. GAR95/286. H. 5/R. 4, Area A XIII, Square 69. Level 4. adiam. 10.2 cm; th. max. 1.5 cm (Drawing G. Michels). Fig. 23 - Amulett: Inv. no. GAR95/276. H. 5/R. 4, Area A XIII, Square 49, Level 1 (Drawing G. Höhn).

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Corinne Pohl-Thiblet Fig. 26 - Plan: Area A XI - A XII - A XIII. H. 5/R. 1 to R. 4 (Digital drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 27 - Profile: Area A XII, H. 5/R. 3, W. 30 from W and Feature GAR95-F. 202 (Digital drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 28 - Profile: Area A XII, H. 5/R. 1, W. 31, 32 and 33 (Digital drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 29 - Plan: Area A XII, H. 5/R. 2, after the removal of W. 33 and the feature GAR95-F. 202 (Digital drawing C. Pohl-Thiblet). Fig. 30 - Schema of a rammed earth construction (Harrison 2001: 159, fig. 10) and Photo E. Pohl: construction of a wall by Thini August 1998. Fig. 31 - Pema Drolkar house, the Red Lodge: section and assonometric view (Harrison 2001: 154, fig. 3, 4). Fig. 32 - Mani wall of on the main way to the upper plateau from Garab-Dzong (Photo E. Pohl 1994). Fig. 33 - The Gate mChod-rTen and the four mChod-rTen along the main way to the upper plateau of Garab-Dzong (Photo E. Pohl 1994).

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Corinne Pohl-Thiblet

TANTRA IN ASYLUM – THE VEIOVIS OF MONTERAZZANO’S THUNDERBOLT: HARBINGER OF INDIAN TANTRIC VAJRA? Massimiliano A. Polichetti « […] vajra, che in tibetano si chiama rdorje […]. È uno strumento di bronzo o ottone adoperato nelle diverse cerimonie iniziatiche: esso ricorda nella forma il fulmine impugnato da Giove e non è improbabile che in questa analogia ci sia una vera dipendenza »1

An easy survey of the iconographical historical development of the Indian vajra asserts the quality of the singularity entailed by this Roman god, that if read by a native Indian or Tibetan not versed in ‘classical’ studies could be quite easily misinterpreted as an exotic aspect of the ‘bearer of the vajra’, Vajrapāni8.

« Uno itinere non potest perveniri ad tam grande secretum »2

Acknowledgements I’m glad to can express here the feeling of my appreciation towards the friends of the Religio Romana Mailing List ([email protected]) for their help regarding important hints about Veiovis.

The intention of this brief note is to present the singular case of the shape of the thunderbolt held by the Veiovis3 of Monterazzano (Bartoccini 1959), a 1st-2nd century Roman bronze nowadays at the Museo Nazionale Etrusco Rocca Albornoz at Viterbo, 4 compared with the evolved form of the Indian tantric vajra. In order to find in the Indian subcontinent and surroundings areas a so precise shape of this pivotal element of tantric symbology and liturgy as well, we have actually to wait for quite late periods in comparison with the ‘vajra’ held by this Roman godhead (Figs 1-3).

Bibliographic References Bartoccini, R. (1959) ‘Il Veiovis di Monterazzano in agro di Viterbo’, Bollettino d’Arte, IV: 311-320. Colini, A.M. (1942) ‘Ædes Veiovis inter Arcem et Capitolium’, Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica del Comune di Roma, LXX: 5-15.

5

At Rome Veiovis had two temples: one located on the Tiber Insula (dedicated in 194 BC), the second, and earlier, temple was located in the saddle between the heights of the Arx and Capitolium. 6 Ovid associated his sacred grove with the Asylum by which Romulus and Remus gathered their original followers7. 1

Tucci, G. (1969) Teoria e pratica del Mandala. Roma.

Tucci 1969: 47, n. 1.

2

Symmachus, Q. A. (384 C.E.) Relatio tertia de repetenda ara Victoriae: X. 3 Also: Vediovis, Vedioves, or Veiove. This godhead has been generally considered related to Zeus/Juppiter in a chthonic context; the idea that Veiovis could be a chthonic form of Jupiter comes from a passage in Varro’s Lingua Latina, but Varro actually says that the aspect of Jupiter in the underworld is Dispater or Orcus. Where Varro refers to Veiovis, only says that he was one of the gods introduced to Rome from the Sabines by Titus Tatius. The etymology of this name could moreover indicate the ‘Jupiter who disappoints expectations’, since the prefix ueconveys that the function expressed in the stem word is conducted badly or in an undesirable fashion. In short, he can be considered an underworld deity who instils panic and terror.

May, he confused Veiovis with Jupiter. Elsewhere, Vediovis is counterpoised to Diovis. We see something of this in the ideas of L. Aelius Stilo, repeated by Varro, where celestial Diovis has an earthly son, Dius Fidius, who is a chthonic expression of the ‘sky father’: the germinating power of the celestial father (represented by rain falling on mother earth, personified in Varro by Jupiter and Juno) translates into the seminal seed that is Semo Sancus, or the ‘holy sower’.

4

But till few years ago hosted at the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia in Rome. 5 Veiovis is uniquely a Roman deity; only at Bovillæ is there any mention of his cultus being outside Rome, and it comes from a single dedicatory inscription of an altar by the Gens Iulia, particularly devoted to this godhead. 6 Inter duos Lucos is the name sometimes given to the depression between the Capitolium and the Arx, where the temple of Veiovis was erected. Still today in Capitolium, inside the Tabularium (the ancient sacred State Archive), are visible the remains of the shrine dedicated to Veiovis together with his statue (Colini 1942).

8 We can expect by a person educated in integral traditional contexts to admit formal and substantial links between different cultural environments. It came to become less obvious for the average person, constituting the general public of our lectures and papers, belonging to the ‘West’, nowadays the ‘North’ of the world. For this kind of person it is needed a not always simple line of reasoning just to carry him or her to the starting point of the mind frame of a good part of humanity.

7 Ovid specifically identifies Veiovis as ‘the young Jupiter’ on the Nones of March, while on the Kalends of January, and again for 21

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Fig. 1 - Veiovis of Monterazzano (after Bartoccini 1959: fig. 1).

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TANTRA IN ASYLUM – THE VEIOVIS OF MONTERAZZANO’S THUNDERBOLT

Fig. 3 - Veiovis of Monterazzano a detail (after Bartoccini 1959: fig. 1).

Fig. 2 - Veiovis of Monterazzano (after Bartoccini 1959: fig. 3).

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THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING Ellen M. Raven sake is common practice.3 It would be far more helpful if one would at least consider whether a particular label makes sense in the context of the overall iconography of a design and in the matrix offered by the concepts and beliefs of the age. As it happens, these touch stones for the applicability of labels are too often ignored.

‘Think big, mind the details’ would be a fitting motto for Gupta coin studies. In order to see the broad patterning of minting practice at Gupta mints, we need to unravel the nitty-gritty of particular coin designs. The first step to achieve this is proper classification.1 In 2001, at the South Asian Archaeology conference in Paris, I criticized the methods usually adopted for the classification of Gupta coins. I tested a new method, using as a case study the Lion-slayer coins of Candragupta II (Raven 2005). The rationale behind the new method is simple. Rather than focus on individual coin types and isolated elements of their devices,2 seek to understand the combinations of certain devices and legends, which may best be regarded as meaningful parts in a Gupta numismatic program. Understanding the choices that die carvers, mint masters and their patrons made, may bring us closer to fully appreciate these designs.

I shall illustrate this through a case study of the goddess seated on a throne, found on three out of the seven coin series that were created for Samudragupta (reigning between c. AD 350 and 375), namely his Sceptre, Archer and Battle-axe Types (Altekar 1957: 40-61; Raven 1994a: 201-72). She holds a fillet in her right hand and a cornucopia in her left hand.4 The ultimate aim of this paper is to test-drive the new methodology. The goddess with a cornucopia

What indeed generated the patterns that can be discerned beneath the typology of Gupta coins? This paper seeks to show that underneath this opulent numismatic imagery there is a consistent coupling, through successive reigns, of a specific idealized royal or royalty-related image on the obverse with a specific divine image on the reverse of the coin. Minor iconographic details may vary, but the intended identity of the figures does not. Such a specific combination of a royal or royalty-related image, a divine image and matching legends, once created to bring out a specific coin type, apparently became a basic ‘building block’ in the Gupta numismatic program.

The lady on the throne is a miniature version of the genre of seated goddesses of fertility and abundance, holding a horn of plenty, in the sculptural repertoire of ancient Northwest India.5 Depending on further details in her iconography and the sculptural context, such images may for instance have represented the Buddhist goddess Hārītī (either alone or together with her male companion Pañcika) or she may represent Ardoxšo, the goddess of Fortune, whose background is ultimately Bactro-Iranian. The American photographer Josephine Powell photographed a spectacular stone statuette in the round of such a goddess in the Kabul Museum (Fig. 1).6 The lady sits to front on a throne with backrest, her feet firmly planted on a low footstool. She wears a long dress tied with a narrow belt beneath the breasts.7 The pleats of her garment cover her legs in a symmetrical fashion. Her left foot is damaged, as is the lower part of the cornucopia resting against her left shoulder. In her right hand she

Within the parameters of a ‘building block’s basic design, a certain degree of variation was both accepted and manifest. Attributes and seats were among those variables, or the addition of new iconographic clues, such as the peacock introduced into designs upgraded for reuse in the time of Kumāragupta I (see below).

3

E.g., recently in descriptions of 15 Gupta coins displayed at the grand Gupta art exhibition in Paris in 2007. 4 In a paper read in February 2007 at the Bengal Art Conference, I discussed all seated goddesses figuring on Samudragupta’s coins (on a throne, a wicker stool, or a lion). Each of these iconographic formats requires its own analysis.

Labels While unravelling the ‘building block’ patterning, any indiscriminate use of conventional labels for the sake of convenience should be avoided. Such labels suggest that we understand what we see, but mostly we are simply repeating what we have read in a catalogue or web-based coin list. Unfortunately the labelling for convenience’s

5 The cornucopia is one of the most conspicious attributes shared by goddesses related to fortune, abundance and fertility in the Hellenized sculptural and numismatic arts of the Crossroads of Asia area. See for a few such sculptures e.g., Lyons & Ingholt 1957: figs 345, 347-48. On Ku·āna coins the cornucopia is Ardoxšo’s distinctive attribute. Cf. Bhaskar Chattopadhyay 1977: 145-47.

1

6

Philip Grierson and John Casey offer general guidelines on analysing design elements of coins (Grierson 1975: Chapter 4; Casey 1986: Chapter 9).

Size and exact provenance unknown, although attributed to ‘Afghanistan’ according to the description available with the photograph in the image database of the Kern Institute Leiden. It is not clear whether the image survived the destruction of the Kabul Museum collections.

2 Though written with evident appreciation of the iconographic detailing in the designs, Chhanda Mukherjee’s 1991 study of ‘Gupta numismatic art’ is greatly marred by her fragmentized treatment of the design elements as completely individualized facets.

7

Gérard Fussman examined the dress and its frequent occurrence in numismatic and sculptural imagery of Ardoxšo and other goddesses (Fussman 1988: 3-5).

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Ellen M. Raven in the Cross-roads area, such a horn of plenty characterized imagery of various female divinities with powers over fortune, wealth and fecundity, as we saw earlier (Fig. 1). There is no reason to exclude Śrī from that group, as is also corroborated by a schist statuette of a standing goddess with a tall cornucopia, now in the British Museum (B 1959-1-15.1). Gérard Fussman read the Gāndhārī inscription in Kharo·Γhī script on the pedestal as ‘[ś]iriye paΡima’, ‘image of Śrī’, and he proposed a 2nd century AD date for it.

clasps an as yet unidentified object with multiple globular shapes at the top and a flat, oblong, lower part.8 Her hair has been gathered on the top of her head, in a prominent bun tied with an ornamental band. The only other ornaments visible are double bracelets and double anklets. The remarkably detailed throne stands on latheturned feet and has been draped with a pleated cloth. Panels with lotus flowers decorate the vertical midsection below the armrests and perhaps also the back. The upper part of the backrest, sloping upwards towards the rear, appears to be comfortably upholstered and covered with a near-plain fabric.

Regarding the seated goddess on Samudragupta’s coins, other scholars were bothered not so much by the horn of plenty, but by the ‘un-Indian’ or ‘European’ throne on which she sits. A lady on a ‘non-Indian seat’ holding a ‘non-Indian’ attribute could not possibly represent the ‘truly Indian’ goddess Śrī-Lak·mī, whose iconography is usually infused with lotus symbolism and visual allusions to wealth that comes with regal power. One would expect her to be seen holding a lotus and showering coins on devotees attending on her.12 On Samudragupta’s coins there are no elephants bathing Śrī, no sacks of coins, no lotus seat. Still, in the cultural matrix of 4th century North India, she makes a much more likely candidate than Ardoxšo.13

The Gupta coin device of the goddess seated on a throne may have been indirectly inspired by such imagery from the North-West. The direct design prototype though, was offered by gold coins of the Ku·āna kings reigning after Vāsudeva I in the 3rd century AD.9 In that context the lady indeed represents Ardoxšo, a favoured dynastic protectoress of the Ku·āna kings. Her name has been written in Greek script in the field next to her (Fig. 2). For the Gupta coins the situation is different. There is still a legend, now in Brāhmī script of the period, but it refers to Samudragupta by one of several eloquent titles, e.g., parākrama- ‘(he of) bold advance’ (on the Sceptre coins, Fig. 3b) or ‘apratiratha-’, (he) with no equal’ (on the Archer coins, Fig. 4b). The identity of the female figure has to be inferred either from her iconography or from other ‘circumstantial evidence’. This allows for differences of interpretation, and for labels that may create iconographic confusion. Labels such as ‘European’ as in ‘European throne’ (supporting the goddess) and labels such as ‘non-Indian’ and ‘truly Indian’ to characterize the deity herself, as we shall see.

Apparently then the Gupta mint masters chose a popular visual formula manifest in North India’s image store through coins, sealings and sculptures, of a royaltyrelated goddess of wealth known to sit on a throne and expected to hold an investiture fillet and a horn of plenty.14 Discerning users of these coins may perhaps have wondered at some of her unfamiliar attributes, but it is unlikely that they would have wondered who she represented. For it was common belief that a righteous king enjoyed the support of both a mortal and a divine spouse. To quote a verse from the great poet Kālidāsa of the Gupta-VākāΓaka age: ‘Though his harem abounded in damsels, it is by that noble queen and the goddess of Royal Fortune that the king considered himself truly wedded’ (Rāghuvamśa 1.32, as translated by Sivaramamurti 1983: 17).

The identity of the lady Who may we expect to sit on the throne? The most likely candidate is Śrī-Lak·mī or Rājya-Lak·mī, the goddess of Royal Fortune.10 However, the goddess looks like Ardoxšo on Ku·āna coins, and this has led some numismatists to indeed label her Ardoxšo; primarily, so it seems, because of the ‘un-Indian’ cornucopia in her left hand.11 In the symbolic language of sculpture and coins

The choice of such an existing visual formula then may have been largely done for practical reasons. By retaining an existing numismatic device, now operating in a Gupta context, the mint masters could help smoothen the acceptance of the new gold issue, which is always a coin issuer’s concern. This choice for the reverse die in fact matches their acceptance of the Ku·āna-style obverse device of a standing king holding a sceptre and offering

8 Contrary to the standard placement of the cornucopia in the left hand, there is a surprising variation in the gestures and/or attributes of the opposite hand in representations of these seated goddesses. 9 This was pointed out long ago by John Allan (1914: lxx). Gritli von Mitterwallner describes and illustrates enlarged images of later Ku·āna coins with Ardoxšo seated on a high-backed throne (Mitterwallner 1986). Savita Sharma offers colour illustrations from specimens kept in the Bharat Kala Bhavan collection in Varanasi (Sharma 1999: pls 3-5). Robert Göbl describes and illustrates a large number of standing and seated Ardoxšo devices in his corpus of Ku·āna coins (Göbl 1984: 40). 10 One of the earliest, and still outstanding, articles on Śrī-Lak·mī’s iconography is by A.K. Coomaraswamy (1929). Among many other relevant publications I mention only a few prominent ones: the studies by Moti Chandra, Niranjan Ghosh and C. Sivaramamurti (Chandra 1948; Ghosh 1979; Sivaramamurti 1982). Bhagwant Sahai uses (without crediting) and expands Chandra’s data (Sahai 1975). 11

cornucopia on Samudragupta’s coins of Kāca Type (Altekar 1957: 7889) and the goddess seated on a throne, with cornucopia, as Ardoxšo (Gupta 1981: 11). 12 By the Gupta period the image of Lak·mī or Gajalak·mī distributing wealth to devotees had become one of the most popular devices for administrative seals (Thaplyal 1970; Thaplyal 1972: 176-89). 13 14

Gonda 1954: 46; Pal 1988; Stoler Miller 1992; Raven 1994: 42-44.

Vikram Chand and Joe Cribb (2003: 24-35) illustrated these iconographic links from Roman through Ku·āna to Gupta coinage with gold coins from the Chand collection.

E.g., by P.L. Gupta, who identifies the standing goddess with

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THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING remains an iconographic enigma awaiting a satisfactory explanation.

oblations on an altar. The mint masters’ practical approach is sometimes criticized as ‘numismatic conservatism’, but might better be styled ‘numismatic pragmatism’, which in this case was matched by a keen sense of artistic innovation as well.

The wicker stool Even in new designs created for Samudragupta, such as the Lyrist Type (Altekar 1957: 73-77), a new building block in our interpretation model, the goddess retains the same attributes found in the Sceptre and Archer Types: she extends the investiture fillet with her right hand, and balances the cornucopia on her left shoulder (Fig. 5b). This time we see her from aside in three-quarter view, seated on a wicker stool. Because of her attributes, P.L. Gupta, contrary to Altekar, insisted on identifying her as Ardoxšo (Altekar 1957: 76; Gupta 1981: 13).

The investiture fillet and the noose Most numismatists accept that it is indeed Śrī-Lak·mī who sits on the throne, donning attributes inherited from her predecessor in that position. Following, or more probably just copying, the great A.S. Altekar’s description (1957: 48), many numismatists still label the small and winding fillet in her right hand a noose (pāśa). By doing so, they follow an Indianizing interpretation of the device (see below), which ignores that Gupta coin imagery is still firmly rooted in Ku·āna sculptural and coin imagery. There the conferral, by a deity, of an investiture wreath with a fillet is the ultimate symbolic gesture to express divine support for the ruling king.15

Although he identified the divine companion as ŚrīLak·mī, Altekar considered her appearance together with a wicker stool ‘rather an unusual motif in the Hindu art’ (Altekar 1957: 28). On close inspection, however, the choice of a wicker stool for this design makes perfect sense when we consider in what role Śrī-Lak·mī has been cast here. The obverse presents the king seated on his throne, while playing the vīnā. Among the relatives and courtiers surrounding him is Royal Lak·mī herself, invisible indeed to the human eye, but attending on the king as his second spouse and seated close to him (in this case on the reverse of the coin) on a round wicker stool, as Samudragupta’s mortal queen Dattadevī would be. Such court scenes were quite popular in Indian art. An exquisite medallion from the Great Stūpa at Amaravati (AP) illustrates such a gathering from the Mandhātā jātaka. It shows King Mandhātΰ and the god Śakra sharing a wide throne. They are surrounded by a flock of court members, musicians and dancers, both seated and standing. One of the royal ladies enjoying the performance sits on a wicker stool with backrest.17 In case we would doubt that such a seat indeed fits ladies of all ranks, another scene from the Buddha’s life, also from Amaravati, confirms that it does. It shows Queen Māyā, seated on a wicker stool next to Śuddhodana’s throne, listening to the explanation of her vision of the descending White Elephant (Fig. 6). Apparently then Royal Lak·mī’s iconography as upgraded for the Lyrist Type perfectly fits the bill.

Nobody seems to have had any second thoughts about giving Śrī- Lak·mī a noose, whereas such an instrument meant for punishment and forceful restraint makes no sense at all; neither in her mythic profile, nor in her iconography of the Gupta period, or any other period for that matter. Or are we to visualize that the goddess would sneak up and tie down the cakravartin king whenever his behaviour would require her divine intervention? If not a noose, what is the intended meaning of this fillet in the Gupta design? One might presume it is a mere obsolete remainder of an old iconography soon to be discarded. But in fact, the fillet keeps returning in ŚrīLak·mī’s images, also in devices of several other coin types created for later Gupta kings. A ceremonial handing over of a diadem ribbon during the coronation ceremonies is not testified in the Indian textual sources.16 Possibly the connection between the fillet and a royal rite of investiture was still acknowledged in the Gupta period? For the time being the persistent presence of the fillet throughout the period of Gupta numismatic design 15 The motif was also used by mint masters of the Indo-Greeks. Some of their coin designs show a winged Nike conferring a laurel wreath with a fillet. In Parthian and Sasanian sculptural arts we see deities blessing the king in this way, e.g., in rock-side reliefs from Taq-e Bostan and Naqshe Rostam. Several other portraits of gods and goddesses on Ku·āna coins illustrate the same gesture of extending an investiture fillet to the king. Cf. Rosenfield (1967: 74-76). Savita Sharma misinterprets the fillet of Ardoxšo as a pāśa (Sharma 1999: 66).

More gradual modifications: The Battle-axe Type Let us now turn to the ‘building block’ usually labelled ‘King with Battle-axe Type’ (Altekar 1957: 56-61; Raven 1994a: 141-43). It accommodates three, slightly different, iconographies for Śrī-Lak·mī:

16 Jan Gonda discusses the consecration of kings in ancient India. The Vedic rites involved in royal consecration include anointment, ascending the throne, striding like ViΒnu, and a chariot race. In the coronation ceremonies of the post-Gupta period, the king is anointed with various auspicious substances, adorned with the royal robes, the sacred thread, and various ornaments. He is led to the consecration hall which is furnished with the emblems of empire (including the throne). After being garlanded and anointed, he mounts an elephant and circumambulates the city. Gold, cows, maidens, brāhmanas and men with sweetmeats pass in front of the new king. Priests sprinkle the heroking with holy waters, and the denizens of heaven cooperate in this act (Gonda 1966: 79-93).

1.

Lak·mī, seated on a throne, stretches out her right hand, palm upwards, in varadamudrā,

17 Knox 1992: 78, fig. 23. Image available at the British Museum website http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia /l/roundel_of_the_mandhata_jataka.aspx

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2. 3.

upon South Asian cultural values, while the Gupta period was India’s true ‘Classical Age’ (Raven 2006a).

dropping coins. The billowing fillet attribute has been replaced by a billowing scarf on her arm. In her left hand she holds a cornucopia (Fig. 7b). As under 1, but in her left hand she holds a lotus (Fig. 8b). In a third variety the throne is invisible, and only the huge lotus under the feet of ŚrīLak·mī remains, suggesting it serves the goddess as a seat. She holds a fillet and a cornucopia (Fig. 9b).

C.S. Roy held a very outspoken view on the ‘Indianization’ of Gupta coinage (Roy 1982): ‘Never before had there been a more national monarchy in India than that of the Guptas’. In the Gupta period at last ‘religion […] was no longer dominated by deities of distant lands’. Instead, the Gupta age is characterized by ‘a sense of national awakening in which Indian traditions and feelings have found a prominent place and have either supplanted or absorbed the marked foreign elements which dominated life in previous periods’ (p. 144). Roy explains the borrowing as evidence for the profoundness of Gupta genius rather than the lack of it. ‘The Guptas inherited a well-established monetary system and they wanted to retain it in the interest of having a stabilized economy. They wanted to continue a tradition and strike coins with only such minor variations that the new issues, because of their akinness with the old, would be easily acceptable to the people. In bringing new coin-types, […] the Guptas deliberately went slow because they did not want to inflict new ideas unless the time was ripe for those’ (Roy 1982: 151).

Now how are we to understand such iconographic differences? How to interpret and then to label these? Allan suggested that the cornucopia was unintelligible to the Hindus, and that its resemblance to a flower led the coin designers to replace the cornucopia by a lotus (Allan 1914: lxxii). He thus interpreted the change as resulting from misinterpretation by coin designers. How might we reconcile this with the existence of many Gupta coin devices showing a very un-lotus like, quite explicit horn of plenty as an attribute? Vessels brimming with vegetation are a common theme already in early Indian art, so the overt symbolism of the overflowing cornucopia probably was not lost on ‘the Hindus’ as well.18

Parallel iconographies I do agree with Roy that retaining the iconography of Ardoxšo-like images for the earliest Gupta coin issues was indeed a smart decision of the mint masters. For the slightly later ‘building block’ of the ‘King with Battleaxe’, in which he is accompanied by Śrī as described above, three alternative iconographies were employed for her device (not necessarily all at the same mint):

The more common approach is to label these different images gradual, ‘transitional stages in the transformation of the ‘non-Indian’ goddess Ardoxšo into the ‘Indian’ goddess Śrī-Lak·mī (Gupta 1981: 12; Mukherjee 1985: 23; Mukherjee 1990: 15). Yet, no numismatist has been quite explicit on how we should envision such a ‘gradual transformation’. Do they mean a gradual change in concept, visualized or documented through changed attributes and seats? Was the goddess at any stage deemed neither fully Iranian nor genuinely Indian? Are we seriously to believe that a Hindu handling the coins would perhaps recognize Ardoxšo in the goddess on the Sceptre coins, would doubt her true identity when handling Battle-axe coins, and would only be convinced of her true identity as Śrī-Lak·mī when seeing her holding a lotus attribute and sitting on a lotus?

1. 2. 3.

varadamudrā dropping coins / cornucopia / throne (Fig. 7b); varadamudrā dropping coins / lotus / throne (Fig. 8b); investiture fillet / cornucopia / lotus seat (Fig. 9b).

It is unlikely that the patterning would have allowed for Battle-axe building blocks with two different goddesses (Ardoxšo and Śrī-Lak·mī). Although her iconography was flexible, the identity of the goddess was not. Apparently a building block could accommodate several parallel iconographies without change of intended meaning.

‘Indianization’ Attributing a double identity to the seated goddess on Samudragupta’s coins more likely reflects the shortcomings of our analytic approach rather than religious praxis of the early Gupta period. The persistent rationale to visualize such a transformation process probably stems from a 20th century explanation model seeking evidence for an active process of ‘Indianization’. In such a model the Ku·ānas and everything else from the North-West was deemed ‘foreign’ and basically intruding

This iconographic process entailed more than simply replacing one attribute by another: we are witnessing a power struggle between the demands of two conflicting processes. On the one hand there is the long-term retaining of design elements (the ‘numismatic pragmatism’ I mentioned earlier) aimed at improving the acceptance of coins as money; on the other hand there is the process of iconographic optimization through consecutive ‘updates’ or ‘upgrades’, a kind of actualization of the iconographic characteristics of an existing visual design.

18 Both Vasudev Sharan Agrawala and Moti Chandra compared the cornucopia with the bull’s horn (śΰṅga) which was used in ancient India for special libations, for instance at a royal coronation (Agrawala 1965: 53-54; Chandra 1966).

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THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING Peacocks for Kumāragupta I

Candragupta II’s new and now rare coins of Couch Type, illustrating one of the first new building blocks of his time, retain parallel iconographies for Śrī-Lak·mī with a few surprising innovations (Altekar 1957: 133-38; Raven 1994a: 75-79). Both the king and his divine consort are seated on a throne. The variables are: 1. Śrī sits to front on a throne with lathe-turned legs. She holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh; Fig. 10); 2. Śrī sits to front on a throne with lathe-turned legs. She displays varadamudrā with her extended right hand; the fillet is now a piece of clothing on her shoulders waving in the left field. With her left hand Śrī raises a lotus to her face (Fig. 11).19 3. Śrī sits to left on a low, backless throne with small steps below. A lotus-leaf cushion indicates the divine nature of its occupant. The goddess lifts a lotus, on a fairly thick, long stem, to her face; with her left arm she supports herself. The fillet, draped across her shoulders, waves towards the legend in the right field (Fig. 12).

The addition of a peacock in most reverse designs for Kumāragupta’s Horseman (Figs 14-15) and Tigerslayer Types (Fig. 16) may best be regarded as smart tactics to upgrade two existing designs in order to get across the dynastic message of the age: King Kumāragupta could be put on a par with Kūmara (Kārttikeya), the young and valiant general of the gods. The king also used titles that include the element ‘mahendra’, another name of Kārttikeya. And unique for Kumāragupta’s time is the issue of dīnāras bearing top-quality images of, on the obverse, King Kumāra feeding a peacock, and on the reverse Kārttikeya seated on peacock (Fig. 17). How much closer can you get?21 One of the most telling illustrations of the iconographic upgrading of a specific building block in the mature Gupta period is offered by rare coins of Lyrist Type created for Kumāragupta I (Altekar 1957: 211-13; here Fig. 18). His mint masters in fact revived the Lyrist Type of Samudragupta discussed earlier (Fig. 5a-b). P.L. Gupta thought that the lady seated on the wicker stool with Samudragupta represented Ardoxšo, because of her cornucopia. Others did not venture further than to label her ‘a goddess’. Above I have argued that she is no other than Śrī in a courtly setting, who may then be expected to stay part and parcel of this building block through time. Her iconography on these coins of Kumāragupta I confirms this. She sits not on a wicker stool, but on a low throne with backrest, quite like the seat on which the king himself sits. But there are more signs of the iconographic upgrading through which Gupta coin designing had gone since the time of Samudragupta. Śrī-Lak·mī no longer holds an investiture fillet and cornucopia, but the fillet now serves her as a scarf draped around her shoulders; and in her right hand she lifts a lotus to her face.

Apparently the cornucopia was no longer part of her iconography here, although we cannot be entirely sure, as so very few Couch Type coins have survived. The next new building block, for Candragupta’s newly invented coins of Horseman Type (Altekar 1957: 121-26; here Fig. 13), reveals an iconographic upgrading of a design that had been used earlier for Samudragupta’s Lyrist Type (Fig. 5b). Śrī sits on a wicker stool usually covered with a lotus-leaf cushion to mark her special status (as in the contemporary Couch Type device discussed above). The investiture fillet persists in the design, but instead of a cornucopia she now holds a lotus in her left hand.

There was never any doubt about this goddess’ true identity in the minds of the subjects of Samudragupta and his successors handling Lyrist Type coins. But we, as modern interpreters outside the Gupta cultural matrix, can easily be beguiled by the flexibility of the iconographic language.

There does not seem to have been an obvious contextual reason for the designer to choose a wicker stool as an appropriate seat for the divine lady ‘escorting’ the king on horseback. Perhaps the device was simply ‘borrowed’ from the Lyrist Type building block. Still, the pair of king on horseback and goddess on wicker stool persists in the numismatic program also under Kumāragupta I in two parallel manifestations (Altekar 1957: 174-83). In one Horseman Type design Śrī-Lak·mī holds a boldly waving investiture fillet, as on the Horseman coins of Candragupta II (Fig. 14). But much more often she is seen feeding grapes to a peacock at her feet, an ingenious upgrading of the ‘parent’ designs (Fig. 15; cp. with figs 5b and 13b).20

Archer coins The divine identity of the lady with the lotus in hand and seated on a lotus, as found on the Archer coins from the time of Candragupta II onwards, has never been an issue with numismatists, as lotuses had characterized ŚrīLak·mī’s iconography from the very start. It is quite understandable that her image with such utterly familiar features eventually surpassed the other portraits of ŚrīLak·mī within the Gupta coin program.

19

Quite exceptionally, this reverse design is shared with certain early Archer Type coins of Candragupta II, proving that they came from the same mint in approximately the same period (Raven 1994a: 75-76). This is also borne out by other mintidiomatic features, including the legend next to Śrī, the shape of the symbols in the left field, and the fabric of the coins.

iconography of Śrī-Lak·mī (Mukherjee 1991: 40). 21 Altekar argued that the type ‘was intended to pay homage to that deity’ [Kumāra] (Altekar 1957: 203). I would instead suggest that the Gupta propaganda machine killed two birds with one stone, as the coin type carries prominent images of both Kumāras.

20 The presence of the peacock in several designs confused Chhanda Mukherjee, who points out that this is not part of the regular

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Ellen M. Raven issued (Fig. 26), and the type survives into post-Gupta coin design as well.23 It goes to show: never change a winning team.

Ultimately descended from the Sceptre Type, the Archer coins were still rare under Samudragupta, and retain the throne for Śrī-Lak·mī. With the change of power into the hands of Candragupta II, the lotus-seated Lady of Fortune makes her appearance on coins of Archer Type (Fig. 19), next to a version in which she still sits on a throne (Altekar 1957: 91-105; Raven 1994a: 308-66). Judging from the huge number of Archer coins that have survived from this period, and their remarkably rich design variety, the Archer Type acquired the status of a dynastic issue shortly after its iconographic updating with the lotusseated Śrī.22

Bibliographic References Agrawala, V.S. (1965) Studies in Indian Art. Varanasi. Allan, J. (1914) Catalogue of the Coins of the Gupta Dynasties and of Śaśāṅka, King of GauΡa. London. Altekar, A.S. (1954) Catalogue of the Gupta Gold Coins in the Bayana Hoard. Bombay.

Henceforth the Archer Type building block remained paramount in the numismatic program for every king. In the time of Kumāragupta I (reign c. AD 420-450), the iconographically close Swordsman king was also matched with the lady on the lotus (Fig. 20a-b).

Altekar, A.S. (1957) The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations (Corpus of Indian Coins 4). Varanasi. Casey, J. (1986) Understanding Ancient Coins: an Introduction for Archaeologists and Historians. London.

For the issue of the – now rare – coins of King-andQueen Type for Kumāragupta I, the mint masters upgraded the original image of Śrī-Lak·mī – with fillet and cornucopia and seated on a lion – found on coins of Samudragupta (Fig. 21b) by replacing the fillet with a lotus. We can already witness a similar iconographic change in rare Lion-slayer coins of Candragupta II, where Śrī-Lak·mī, with a prominent lotus in her right hand, sits astride a lion that faces left (Fig. 22). The frontal rather than sideward placement of the goddess on the King-andQueen coins of Kumāragupta may have been inspired by the design of specific, and again rather rare, Archer coins in his name (Fig. 23), as was already suggested by Altekar (1954: 306-07; Altekar 1957: 244-47; Raven 1994a: 405, fig. c139).

Chandra, M. (1948) ‘Our Lady of Beauty and Abundance: Padmaśrī’, Journal of the United Provinces Historical Society 21: 15-42. Chandra, M. (1966) ‘Nidhiśΰiṅga (Cornucopia): a Study in Symbolism’, Prince of Wales Museum Bulletin 9: 1-33. Chandra, V. & Cribb, J. (2003) Ancient Indian Coins from the Chand Collection in the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore. Singapore. Chattopadhyay, B. (1977) Coins and Icons: a Study of Myths and Symbols in Indian Numismatic Art. Calcutta.

From the time of Skandagupta (reign c. AD 455-467) onwards, no new reverse portraits of the Divine Lady of Good Fortune were developed, but several existing images were re-employed or updated. Śrī, holding fillet (rh) and lotus (lh), and seated on a lotus, accompanies Skandagupta both as a Royal Archer and in those designs where the king appears together with a lady of uncertain identity, who might represent his mother, his divine spouse Śrī-Lak·mī, or his queen (Allan 1914: pl. 19; Altekar 1957: 240-47; Raven 1994b: 441-51; Raven 2006b; here Fig. 24). For the extremely rare coins of Chattra (Parasol) Type of Skandagupta, of which only one specimen was recovered in the Bayana hoard, the mint masters re-employed the Chattra Type building block previously devised for coins of Candragupta II (Altekar 1957: 127-33; Raven 2001). Śrī appears standing to left on a lotus support, while holding a long, waving fillet in her right hand, and a lotus in the opposite hand (Fig. 25).

Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1929) ‘Early Indian Iconography II. Śrī-Lak·mī’, Eastern Art: a Quarterly 1 (3): 175-89. Fussman, G. (1988) ‘Une statuette gandharienne de la déesse Śrī’, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale 48: 1-9. Ghosh, N. (1979) Concept and Iconography of the Goddess of Abundance and Fortune in Three Religions of India. Burdwan. The Golden Age of Classical India: the Gupta Empire. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, April 4-June 25, 2007. Paris. Göbl,

For the kings after Skandagupta that occupied the throne in the tumultuous final decades of Gupta rule, only Archer coins, with Śrī-Lak·mī seated on her lotus, were

R. (1984) System und Chronologie der Münzprägung des Kušānreiches (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften; PhilosophischHistorische Klasse; Veröffentlichungen der Numismatischen Kommission). Wien.

Gonda, J. (1966) Ancient Indian Kingship from the Religious Point of View. Leiden. 23 I would consider the Horseman coins of ‘Prakāśāditya’ (Allan 1914: pl. 22) to fall outside the scope of imperial Gupta coinage, but cannot substantiate this at present with a detailed enquiry. They were most likely issued for a Hūna patron, as was suggested earlier by Göbl.

22

Candragupta II’s Archer coins are usually hugely overrepresented in Gupta coin collections. Of the recovered part of the Bayana hoard, 44 % belonged to this type.

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THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING Sivaramamurti, C. (1982) Śrī Lakshmi in Indian Art and Thought. New Delhi.

Grierson, Ph. (1975) Numismatics. London. Gupta, P.L. & Srivastava, S. (1981) Gupta Gold Coins. Varanasi.

Sivaramamurti, C. (1983) Numismatic Parallels of Kālidāsa. New Delhi (First ed. 1945).

Knox, R. (1992) Amaravati: Buddhist sculpture from the Great Stūpa. London.

Thaplyal, K.K. (1970) ‘Gajalak·mī on Seals’ in D.C. Sircar (ed.), Foreigners in India and Lak·mī and Sarasvatī in Art and Literature, 112-25. Calcutta.

Lyons, I. & Ingholt, H. (1957) Gandhāran Art in Pakistan. New York.

Thaplyal, K.K. (1972) Studies in Ancient Indian Seals: a Study of North Indian Seals and Sealings from Circa Third Century B.C. to Mid-Seventh Century A.D. Lucknow.

Mitterwallner, G.M. (1986) Ku·āna Coins and Ku·āna Sculptures from Mathurā (Government Museum, Mathurā, Growse Memorial Lectures 4). Mathurā. Mukherjee, B.N. (1985) Art in Gupta and Post-Gupta Coinages of Northern India. Lucknow. Mukherjee, B.N. (1990) The Indian Gold: an Introduction to the Cabinet of Gold Coins in the Indian Museum, with the assistance of T.N. Raychaudhuri. Calcutta. Mukherjee, C. (1991) Gupta Numismatic Art: an Artistic and Iconographic Study. Delhi. Pal, P. (1989) ‘The Chrowrie-bearing Goddess on the Aśvamedha Type of Samudragupta’s Coin’, Ars Orientalis 18: 197-205. Raven, E.M. (1994a) Gupta Gold Coins with a GaruΡaBanner: Samudragupta to Skandagupta. 2 vols (Gonda Indological Studies 1). Groningen. Raven, E.M. (1994b) ‘Invention and Innovation: Royal Gupta Gold Coins’ in M.L. Carter (ed.), A Treasury of Indian Coins, 39-56. Bombay. Raven, E.M. (2001) ‘Defining Gupta Mint Idioms: the Chattra (Parasol) Coins of Candragupta II’ in M.J. Klokke & K.R. van Kooij (eds), Fruits of Inspiration: Studies in Honour of Prof. J.G. de Casparis, on the Occasion of his 85th Birthday, 389-406 (Gonda Indological Studies 11). Groningen. Raven, E.M. (2005) ‘Candragupta II, the Lion-Slayer’ in SAA 2001, vol. II, Historical Archaeology and History, 615-22. Paris. Raven, E.M. (2006a) ‘Ku·āna Echoes and the “Indianization” of Early Gupta Gold Coin Design’ in F. De Romanis & S. Sorda (eds), Dal Denarius al Dinar: L’Oriente e la Moneta Romana, 201-37 (Istituto Italiano di Numismatica, Studi e Materiali 12). Roma. Raven, E.M. (2006b) ‘A Ring for the King’. Journal of Bengal Art 9-10: 71-88. Rosenfield, J.M. (1967) The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans. Berkeley. Roy, C.S. (1982) ‘Foreign Elements in the Coinage of the Guptas’ in A.M. Shastri (ed.), Foreign Elements in Indian Indigenous Coins, 144-52. Varanasi. Sahai, B. (1975) Iconography of Minor Hindu and Buddhist Deities, esp. chapter XIII on ‘Lak·mī’. New Delhi. 265

Ellen M. Raven

Fig. 2a-b - Vāsi·ka, Sceptre Type. The king, with sceptre (lh), offers on an altar; Ardoxšo, seated on a throne with backrest, holds an investiture fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

Fig. 1 - Goddess of Fortune on a throne. Afghanistan, formerly Kabul Museum. Ku·āna period.

Fig. 3a-b - Samudragupta, Sceptre Type. The king, with sceptre (lh), offers oblations on an altar; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, holds a fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

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THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING

Fig. 4a-b - Samudragupta, Archer Type. The king stands next to a GaruΡa-banner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne.

Fig. 5a-b - Samudragupta, Lyrist Type. The king, seated, plays the vīnā; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

Fig. 6 - Interpretation of the dream of Queen Māyā. Amaravati Stūpa. Limestone, c. 1st-2nd century AD.

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Fig. 7a-b - Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. The king, armed with battle-axe (lh), stands with an attendant holding a crescent banner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, shows varadamudrā dropping coins, with billowing scarf (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

Fig. 8a-b - Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, shows varadamudrā (rh) and lotus (lh).

Fig. 9a-b - Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, with fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

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THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING

Fig. 12 - Candragupta II, Couch Type. The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a low throne with steps below, holds a lotus (rh).

Fig. 10 - Candragupta II, Couch Type. The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; ŚrīLak·mī, seated to front on a throne, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh).

Fig. 11 - Candragupta II, Couch Type. The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; ŚrīLak·mī, seated to front on a throne, shows varadamudrā (rh) and holds a lotus (lh).

Fig. 13 - Candragupta II, Horseman Type. The king rides to right on a horse; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh).

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Ellen M. Raven

Fig. 14a-b - Kumāragupta I, Horseman Type. The king rides to right on a horse; ŚrīLak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, holds fillet (rh) and lotus (lh).

Fig. 15 - Kumāragupta I, Horseman Type. The king rides to right on a horse; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, feeds grapes to a peacock (rh) and holds a lotus (lh).

Fig. 16a-b - Kumāragupta I, Tigerslayer Type. The king, standing to left (his right), shoots an arrow at a tiger; Śrī-Lak·mī, standing to left on a lotus, feeds grapes to a peacock (rh) and holds a lotus (lh).

Fig. 17a-b - Kumāragupta I, Kārttikeya / Peacock Type. The king, standing to left, feeds grapes to a peacock; Kārttikeya, riding on his peacock mount, displays varadamudrā (rh) dropping coins and holds a spear (lh).

270

THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING

Fig. 19 - Candragupta II, Archer Type II.9. The king, with bow (lh) and arrow (rh), stands to left next to a GaruΡa-banner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh).

Fig. 20a-b - Kumāragupta I, Swordsman Type. The king, standing to left, offers on an altar at his feet; a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds fillet (rh) and lotus (lh). Fig. 18 - Kumāragupta I, Lyrist Type. The king, seated on a low throne, plays the vīnā; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a wicker stool, holds a lotus (rh).

Fig. 21a-b - Samudragupta, King-and-Queen Type. Candragupta I and Kumāradevī standing together; the king shows a small round object (not visible on this specimen) to his queen (rh) and holds a crescent staff (lh); Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a recumbent lion, holds fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

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Fig. 22 - Candragupta II, Lion-slayer Type. The king, standing to right, shoots an arrow at a lion while trampling it; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a recumbent lion, holds a lotus (rh).

Fig. 24a-b - Skandagupta, King-and-Queen Type. Skandagupta and a royal lady of uncertain identity stand on either side of a GaruΡa-banner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus.

Fig. 25 - Skandagupta, Chattra (Parasol) Type. The king, beneath a parasol held up by a dwarfish attendant, offers oblations (rh); Śrī-Lak·mī, standing to left, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh).

Fig. 23a-b - Kumāragupta I, Archer Type. The king, standing to left, holds bow (lh) and arrow (rh); a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a lotus (rh).

Fig. 26a-b - Kumāragupta II or III, Archer Type. The king stands to left; in the left field a GaruΡabanner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, with fillet (rh) and lotus (lh).

272

THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING Fig. 14a-b. Kumāragupta I, Horseman Type. Obv.: The king rides to right on a horse; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.07 g (124.5 grains); diameter: 2 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G3 (Photo E. M. Raven).

List of illustrations All coins illustrated are gold dīnāras Obv.= obverse side; Rev.= reverse side

Fig. 15. Kumāragupta I, Horseman Type. Obv.: The king rides to right on a horse; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, feeds grapes to a peacock (rh) and holds a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.09 g (124.8 grains); diameter: 1.85 cm. Lingen collection (Photo J. Lingen).

Fig. 1. Stone image in the round of a goddess seated on a throne with backrest and lathe-turned legs. She holds a cornucopia (lh) and an unknown object (rh). Dimensions unknown. Afghanistan, formerly Kabul Museum. Ku·āna period. Photograph Josephine Powell, Rome, AFI-214. (Photo courtesy Kern Institute Leiden. © Josephine Powell / Documentation Center Fine Arts Library, Harvard University).

Fig. 16a-b. Kumāragupta I, Tigerslayer Type. Obv.: The king, standing to left (his right), shoots an arrow at a tiger at his feet; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, standing to left on a lotus, feeds grapes to a peacock (rh) and holds a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.09 g (124.8 grains); diameter: 1.9 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G28 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 2a-b. Vāsi·ka, Sceptre Type. Obv.: The king, with sceptre (lh), offers on an altar; Rev.: Ardoxšo, seated on a throne with backrest, holds an investiture fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.95 g (122.7 grains); diameter 2.2 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen K12 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 17a-b. Kumāragupta I, Kārttikeya / Peacock Type. Obv.: The king, standing to left, feeds grapes to a peacock; Rev.: Kārttikeya, riding on his peacock mount, displays varadamudrā (rh) dropping coins and holds a spear (lh). Weight: 8.2 g (126.5 grains); diameter: 1.95 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1695. Bharat Kala Bhavan Varanasi, acc. no. 114, cat. no. 192 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 3a-b. Samudragupta, Sceptre Type. Obv.: The king, with sceptre (lh), offers oblations on an altar; a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, holds a fillet and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.56 g (116.7 grains); diameter 2.05 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G16 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 18. Kumāragupta I, Lyrist Type. Obv.: The king, seated on a low throne, plays the vīnā; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a wicker stool, holds a lotus (rh). Weight: 8.12 g (125.3 grains); diameter: 1.91 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1810 (After Altekar 1954: pl. 31.4).

Fig. 4a-b. Samudragupta, Archer Type. Obv.: The king, with bow (lh) and arrow (rh), stands next to a GaruΡa-banner; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, holds a fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.58 g (117 grains); diameter 2 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G14 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 19. Candragupta II, Archer Type II.9. Obv.: The king, with bow (lh) and arrow (rh), stands to left next to a GaruΡa-banner; Rev.: ŚrīLak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.0 g (123.5 grains); diameter: 1.9 cm. Formerly Dufour collection no. 16 (Photo E.M. Raven).

Fig. 5a-b. Samudragupta, Lyrist Type. Obv.: The king, seated on a low throne, plays the vīnā; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.71 g (119 grains); diameter 2.1 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G8 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 20a-b. Kumāragupta I, Swordsman Type. Obv.: The king, standing to left, offers on an altar at his feet; a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 7.969 g (123.0 grains); diameter 1.9 cm. Patna Museum, acc. no. 18564 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 6. Interpretation of the dream of Queen Māyā. Narrative relief on a coping stone from the Amaravati Stūpa. Limestone, c. 1st-2nd century AD. Now Government State Museum and National Art Gallery, Chennai (Photo Kern Institute Leiden, Digibeeld no. 16762. Courtesy Friends of the Kern Institute).

Fig. 21a-b. Samudragupta, King-and-Queen Type. Obv.: Candragupta I and Kumāradevī standing together; the king shows a small round object (not visible on this specimen) to his queen (rh) and holds a crescent staff (lh); Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a recumbent lion, holds a fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight: 7.60 g (117.3 grains); diameter 2.1 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 7a-b. Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Obv.: The king stands, armed with battle-axe, an attendant on his right side holding a crescent banner; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, with varadamudrā dropping coins, billowing scarf (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.55 g (116.5 grains); diameter 1.97 cm. Bharat Kala Bhavan Varanasi, acc. no. 7143, cat. no. 41 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 22. Candragupta II, Lion-slayer Type. Obv.: The king, standing to right, shoots an arrow at a lion while trampling it; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on recumbent lion, holds a lotus (rh) and supports herself with her left hand. Weight: 7.891 g (121.8 grains); diameter: 2.02 cm. Lingen collection (Photo J. Lingen).

Fig. 8a-b. Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Obv.: similar to fig. 7a; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, with varadamudrā, billowing scarf (rh) and lotus (lh). Weight 7.43 g (114.7 grains); diameter 2.14 cm. Bharat Kala Bhavan Varanasi, acc. no. 8675, cat. no. 44 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 23a-b. Kumāragupta I, Archer Type, Variety III.2.2. Obv.: The king, standing to left, holds bow (lh) and arrow (rh); a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus; holds a lotus (rh) and rests her left hand on her thigh. Weight: 8.194 g (126 grains); diameter 1.8 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1308. National Museum New Delhi, acc. no. 51.50/45 (Photo courtesy National Museum New Delhi).

Fig. 9a-b. Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Obv.: similar to figs 7a and 8a; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, with fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight: 7.57 g (116.9 grains); diameter: 2.0 cm. Patna Museum, acc. no. 18550 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 24. Skandagupta, King-and-Queen Type. Obv.: Skandagupta and a royal lady of uncertain identity (possibly the queen-mother; see Raven 2006b) stand on either side of a GaruΡa-banner. The lady shows a ring on her finger to the king (rh); in the left hand she holds a lotus, which suggests that she could be Śrī-Lak·mī; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.467 g (130.7 grains); diameter 1.9 cm. Lingen collection (Photo J. Lingen).

Fig. 10. Candragupta II, Couch Type. Obv.: The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus (rh); Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to front on a throne, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 7.74 g (119.4 grains); diameter: 2.03 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1191 (After Altekar 1954: pl. 18.13). Fig. 11. Candragupta II, Couch Type. Obv.: The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to front on a throne, shows varadamudrā (rh) and holds a lotus (lh). Weight: 7.43 g (114.7 grains); diameter: 2.03 cm. British Museum London, cat. no. 102 (After Allan 1914: pl. 6.8).

Fig 25. Skandagupta, Chattra (Parasol) Type. Obv.: The king, standing beneath a parasol held up by a dwarfish attendant on his left, offers oblations (rh); Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, standing to left, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Bayana hoard no. 1821. Weight 8.42 g (130 grains); diameter: 2.03 cm (After Altekar 1954: pl. 31.15).

Fig. 12. Candragupta II, Couch Type. Obv.: The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a low throne with steps below, holds a lotus (rh). Weight: 7.68 g (118.5 grains); diameter: 2.03 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1189 (After Altekar 1954: pl. 18.11).

Fig. 26a-b. Kumāragupta II or III, Archer Type. Obv.: The king, standing to left, holds bow (lh) and arrow (rh), in the left field a GaruΡabanner; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight 9.65 g (148.9 grains); diameter 2.09 cm. Bharat Kala Bhavan Varanasi, acc. no. 8654, from the Kalighat hoard (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 13. Candragupta II, Horseman Type. Obv.: The king rides to right on a horse; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 7.8 g (120.4 grains); diameter: 2.0 cm. Formerly Dufour collection no. 30 (Photo E. M. Raven).

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Corinne Pohl-Thiblet

SUBSISTENCE AND THE SAṀGHA: THE ROCK CUT MONASTERY AT KARĀЏ AND ITS HINTERLAND Gethin Rees There is little evidence for the direct involvement of the Buddhist monastic saṁgha in agricultural production during the Early Historic period in South Asia. It has, therefore, been typically assumed that their subsistence requirements were met by the redistribution of a surplus produced by lay sections of society. This article will investigate this provision of subsistence and its constituting role in relations between settled population and the saṁgha living within rock cut monasteries in the vicinity of the ancient town of KarāΡ.

Settlement Pattern The ancient town of KarāΡ is located at the confluence of the Krisna and Koyanā rivers. It is clear that KarāΡ grew and profited from its location on the trade route. The town was a centre of economic activity, producing its own coins issued by a local dynasty, the Kumaras, who resided there (Bhandare 1998: 230). It has been suggested, perhaps incorrectly, that its inhabitants donated toward the construction of Buddhist monuments as far afield as Bhārhut (Dhavalikar 1984: 29; Lüders 1912: nos 705, 763, 767, 809, 891) and small scale excavations by Bharata Itihasa Samshodhan Mandal (1949) in the 1940s have shown that KarāΡ possessed the typical traits of a Sātavāhana settlement including mass produced and imported products. An examination of the extent of Early Historic pottery by the Krisna river at Pantāchā KoΓ indicates that a reasonable estimate of the size of Early Historic KarāΡ would be at the very minimum 20 ha and more likely over 30 ha. The size of the Early Historic town, together with the evidence from numismatics and craft production, suggests that KarāΡ was inhabited by people who were not directly involved in subsistence production. This would suggest that KarāΡ was, to some degree, ‘urban’.

The ancient town of KarāΡ, in the past known as KarahāΌata, is situated to the east of the Western Ghāts mountain range, towards the south of the modern state of Mahārā·Γra. The town was positioned at the eastern end of the Koyanā valley which led to the Kumbhārli and Māla Ghāts, the former a westerly descent which constitutes the most efficient route of access to the Konkan coast between the Bor Ghāt and the modern state of Goa. The route led to an ancient port (Fig. 1), referred to as Palaipatmai in the Periplus (Casson 1989), which may have been located at Pālshet, Dābhol or Harnai (Casson 1989: 297; Gaur et al. 2007; Gogte 2004; Ray 1986: 63). A number of rock cut Buddhist monasteries are positioned along this route, and the route itself appears to have been an important influence on their location (Fig. 1). On the western side of the mountains lie the Buddhist monasteries of Ciplūn (Gazetteer 1886: 236) and Panhāle-Kāji (Deshpande 1986). Midway along the pass we find two monastic complexes at Tamkhāne (Wilson 1853: 58 calls Tamkhāne Phaitan) and Yerphāle (Dhavalikar 1984: 33). A further two complexes have been recently discovered in the vicinity of Patān at YerāΡvāΡī and DigevāΡī (Efurd 2006).

The Early Historic settlement pattern in the Upper Krisna basin has been documented using a village to village survey methodology by Niranjan Kulkarni (2003). Pottery found on the surface of exclusively settlement mounds has been used by Kulkarni to establish a general Early Historic date for the settlements based on a typology developed by faculty of the Deccan College at settlements such as Nevāsa (Sankalia et al. 1960). Based on the distribution of this pottery, Kulkarni has estimated the extent of Early Historic habitation, and has provided settlement sizes in hectares. There are limitations to the methodology used, and the dating and estimates of the size of settlements provided by Kulkarni. The survey methodology has two main drawbacks. Firstly, it does not attempt to account for the diverse range of archaeology in the study area. Secondly, the size of the area under study made it impossible to carry out intensive survey leading to the possibility that Early Historic settlements which do not exist as mounds today could have been missed. The accuracy with which the settlements have been dated is hardly satisfactory although this problem cannot be solved without re-evaluation of ceramic sequences from excavations. Finally, estimating the size of a settlement in antiquity is difficult and furthermore Kulkarni makes no attempt to make his methodology explicit. In the Upper Krisna basin, post-depositional disturbances are compounded by modern habitation which overlies many ancient settlements. Despite these limitations, the results of the settlement survey do provide a general picture of the overall pattern of Early Historic habitation in the

To the south of the town of KarāΡ lie four Buddhist monasteries (Fig. 2), cut into Agāśiv hill close to two villages, JakhinvāΡī and Cacegāon (Frere 1848; Dhavalikar 1984: 29-33). The use of the general term, ‘the monastery at KarāΡ’ to refer to these monasteries collectively will be continued here and when referring to individual monasteries, the terms ‘Cacegāon’, ‘J JakhinvāΡī South’ and ‘J JakhinvāΡī West’ will be used. This article will evaluate the relationship between Buddhists living in these monasteries and the lay population living in the immediate area around each monastery with the intention of determining which settlements in the surrounding area the monastery interacted with. This will be carried out through a comparative analysis of two key components: the monastery itself and the settlement pattern in its hinterland.

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Gethin Rees subsistence needs of the saṁgha at Junnar was more sophisticated than ‘begging for alms’. Furthermore, epigraphic evidence of land grants can also be found at a number of other large monastic complexes, such as Nāsik (Lüders 1912: nos 1124, 1125, 1130) and Kānheri (Lüders 1912: no. 1,000).

study area. This is appropriate for the broad analyses conducted in this paper, although the limitations of the original data should be taken into consideration when interpreting the results. The Monastery

In studying rock cut monasteries, we are fortunate, as the extant preservation of the superstructure allows maximum populations to be assessed relatively easily. The monastery at KarāΡ contained 166 habitation cells. Plans of these have been drawn during fieldwork carried out in February 2007, as part of the author’s doctoral research. The size of the cells suggests that each could have housed a single monk, but there are also large open areas included in the caves which may have housed more monks at particular times of year, for example during monsoon. The process of cave excavation was laborious, and therefore it seems unlikely that it would have been carried out without demand for further monastic space. Based on a reading of a number of different Vinayas, Gregory Schopen (2004: 26) suggests that funding the construction of a vihāra would only lead to the attainment of merit for the donor if a particular code was followed. This included the reciting of verses each day in the vihāra to honour the donor and the occupation of the vihāra for at least part of the day. The acceptance of a donation therefore placed an obligation on the saṁgha to occupy donated monastic structures.

A substantial body of scholarship examining epigraphy, architecture and sculpture has provided a detailed framework for the dating of Buddhist cave architecture (Burgess 1880, 1883; Dehejia 1972; Dhavalikar 1984; Dikshit 1942; Nagaraju 1981). While it is beyond the scope of this article to discuss this in a detailed manner, these interpretations place the cutting of the majority of caves at KarāΡ to between the mid 2nd century AD and the end of the 3rd century AD. Scholarship concerning the caves’ inscriptions has focused on what were presumably large monetary donations which funded the cutting of rock cut caves (Burgess & Pandit 1881; Gokhale 1991; Lüders 1912). Once cut, however, the community that inhabited the caves had to be supported through a parallel system involving the regular donation of staple items such as food and cloth. It is such regular, sustaining support which will be the subject of this article. Small monasteries could be sustained without formalised arrangement as the burden of feeding a small number of monks could simply be spread amongst people living in the vicinity of the monastery. Yet the rock cut monasteries that developed in the Western Deccan by the 2nd century AD were often large.

At its zenith, sometime in the mid 2nd century AD, we might assume that the monastery at KarāΡ was fully occupied, accommodating about 166 monks. This makes it the third largest rock cut monastery in the Western Ghāts after Junnar and Kānheri, and therefore in need of the type of sophisticated system of redistribution described earlier in order to feed its inhabitants. Previous examinations of the monastery at KarāΡ have noted the presence of five or six caityas (Dhavalikar 1984: 29-33; Efurd 2006; Frere 1848), perhaps used in religious events involving lay Buddhists, such as the well documented uposatha ceremony (for example Cohen 1995: 150).

For example, at Junnar, the most extensive cave complex in the Western Ghāts, a number of inscriptions refer to land grants that attest to the sophistication and regularity of the arrangements through which subsistence was acquired by the saṁgha. This example is taken from the Ambikā caitya, Junnar and dates to the early 2nd century AD. Six gifts from villages around Junnar to the Gidha vihara. First gift is of the duty of fifty ploughs by a dyer named Sarvasana of Kakaputa. Second is by a guild of goldsmiths of two nivatanas in a field in Danagara village. Third is by a woman named Simita of the rent and duty of ploughs in Panakavachhara village. Fourth is by the same Simita (Gift cannot be made out). Fifth is by Simita of two nivatanas of mango groves in Olana village. Sixth gift is of a field of 8 nivatanas in Kisirvalava to the east of Virhanghara. (Gazetteer 1885: 173-74).

However three caves at the monastery which have not been planned previously, also appear to have functioned as halls for some type of assembly. Located close to the main caitya, in the most accessible part of the JakhinvāΡī South cave complex, the hall shown in (Fig. 5) was one of the first caves to be encountered when accessing the monastery. The hall was not designed for habitation; the shape of the two cells is indicative of a storage function, perhaps for food. The large cisterns in front of the cave might also indicate a domestic function (Nagaraju 1981: 173). Feasts are often mentioned in Buddhist texts such as the Vinayas (e.g. Rhys-Davids and Oldenberg 1882: 109, 124, 142) and Nikayas (e.g. Rhys-Davids and Carpenter 1967: 149-150). These particular caves may have been used to accommodate these feasts. Such feasts are described as highly symbolic occasions, constituting a form of gift exchange between the saṁgha and lay devotees (Bailey & Mabbett 2003: 233). They offered an opportunity for the saṁgha to invite the laity to the

This land grant inscription indicates that the farming communities living in the vicinity of monasteries in the Western Ghats produced a surplus which was distributed on a regular basis to monasteries. The content of the inscription also implies that donors whose professions were not directly associated with agriculture, such as craftspeople, had the ability to organise the redistribution of a surplus produced by farming communities. Therefore, the system that was used to provide for the 276

SUBSISTENCE AND THE SAṂGHA: THE ROCK CUT MONASTERY AT KARĀḌ AND ITS HINTERLAND scattered settlements before a cluster is reached. It was noticed during fieldwork that regions with less dense settlement corresponded with areas of poor soil quality.

monastery, encouraging the donation of subsistence in the process. Conversely, The actual process of collecting contributions in money or in kind was (also) probably through itinerant monks doing the rounds of their parish demarcated by the boundaries of each monastic institution (Thapar 1992: 30).

Ethnographic analyses suggest that in agrarian village contexts greater volumes of subsistence products would have been produced in areas where a larger population existed. This is provided that products were not brought in from elsewhere and that sufficient land of the appropriate type was available (Kramer 1982: 241-46). Clearly, the volume of subsistence produced is not directly proportional to the quantity of surplus produced and the nature of the correlation for a specific region in antiquity can only be established through a broader study including analyses of consumption, soils, archaeobotanical and climate data. Such data is also required to determine the arable land requirement of the monastery with any precision.

Both these methods required monasteries to be located in the vicinity of concentrations of population. Pilgrims or merchants travelling on trade routes would not have been able to provide the quantities of subsistence on a sustained basis that a large monastery required. An assumption that underlies the foregoing analysis is that monasteries were more likely to have consumed subsistence goods that were produced at settlements located closer. Furthermore, the inhabitants of settlements located closer to monasteries were more likely to have been involved in funding the redistribution of these goods to monasteries than those that were located further away.

The cluster which surrounded the monastery consists of twenty-six settlements. With the inclusion of the large Early Historic settlement at KarāΡ in this group, it would be reasonable to assume that the monastic population of 166 could easily have been fed by a surplus produced within its catchment, as the total settlement size is between 97 and 107 hectares. Based on a population estimate of 50 people per hectare, the minimum estimated population of this catchment is 5,000 (Kramer 1982: 159). This is the smallest estimate found in the relevant literature. Indeed, most studies estimate that on average over 100 people would have occupied one hectare of settlement (Adams 1965: 23-25; Fairservis 1967: 33; Webley 1972: 179; Johnson 1973: 64) providing a population estimate for the catchment of 10,000. Although these figures represent very rough estimates, even using the smallest population estimate, the monastic population would constitute only 3% of the total population. It can therefore be stated that feeding the inhabitants of a seasonally occupied monastery would be possible if even small a surplus was produced in this catchment.

The study of how and from whom, the saṁgha at KarāΡ obtained their subsistence will proceed in the following stages: •

• • •

Define an area of study, consisting of a catchment of settlements in the vicinity of the monastery which could have produced its subsistence requirements. Examine the distribution of settlements around the monastery. Determine whether the monasteries were located within a concentration of population. Evaluate the type of settlement the monastery interacted with in order to obtain subsistence.

The Monastic Catchment The general area in which the food which monasteries consumed was produced will be described here as a monastic catchment. This catchment is likely to have been constituted by a number of settlements. Certainly, it would be impracticable for the JakhinvāΡī monasteries to rely solely on the nearest village, Nandlāpur, as it was only a few hectares in size. Rules surrounding the size and constitution of monastic catchments are outlined in the Mahāvagga Vinaya. The members of the laity who attended the uposatha ceremony had to live within a specific region around the monastery and the boundaries of this region were carefully governed (Rhys-Davids and Oldenberg 1882: 256-58).

To allow the population that a monastery housed to grow, the area surrounding it must have produced the surplus foodstuffs required to feed the larger population. Therefore, it would be reasonable to expect monasteries which grew to a large size to have been located within areas of relatively concentrated population, provided there was enough land suitable for the production of foodstuffs available. As the monastic population only constituted a small proportion of the overall population, the quantity of arable land required would also have been small and it would therefore seem likely that such a small increase in land use could have been accommodated in the Upper Krisna basin.

A visual analysis of the Early Historic settlement pattern shown in (Fig. 3) suggests that there is a relatively sparse area of settlement around 15 km to the south of the monasteries, not considering topography. To the north and west of the monasteries, topography creates a bottle neck with hills either side. It is highly unlikely that such narrow strips of habitable land could support anything other than a dispersed settlement pattern of the type seen to the south. In this southern region, there are some

Monastic Interaction with its Catchment Previous interpretations of the factors that determined the successful expansion of rock cut monasteries have vaguely discussed their proximity to urban centres; here, 277

Gethin Rees of the hill placing the monastery in proximity to a greater number of settlements. Although there are several villages situated in the vicinity of the caves at Cacegāon, the town of KarāΡ is also located in close proximity to the monastery.

the intention is to examine the monastery’s position in relation to a comprehensive settlement pattern. To test this association and how it related to subsistence requirements, an assessment of total settlement size in the vicinity of each of the different monasteries will be undertaken.

The preceding analysis has shown that a concentration of settlement is first encountered within a relative cost distance of between 8 and 11,000 from the JakhinvāΡī and Cacegāon monasteries. The town of KarāΡ makes up between two thirds and three quarters of the total settlement within these initial areas and is either the nearest or second nearest settlement to all three monasteries. Within the cluster as a whole, KarāΡ totals around one third of the combined settlement size as no settlement is larger than 6 ha. From this miniature ‘primate’ settlement distribution, we can tentatively suggest that KarāΡ was heavily integrated in a redistribution network with the surrounding villages. The limitations in using only a portion of any settlement pattern, and the need for further comparative data, should be noted before such a claim can be fully substantiated (see Pearson 1980, Smith 2005). The town’s proximity to the Buddhist establishments would give us little reason to believe that it did not also have a redistributive role for these monasteries.

At this stage, it would be prudent to consider two models which describe the interaction between the monastic community and settlements in the surrounding area. Model A (Fig. 6) illustrates a situation in which the monastery interacted with a number of different settlements in obtaining subsistence, with relationships built up directly with farming communities. Model B (Fig. 7) illustrates a situation in which the monastery interacted with a single, large centre for example KarāΡ, which redirected surplus which was not necessarily produced by its inhabitants towards the monastery. The latter model does not necessarily imply that food stuffs physically passed through the town but, instead, that the inhabitants of KarāΡ, or people visiting KarāΡ, procured and influenced their redistribution to the monastery. Distribution of Settlements within the Catchment The monastery at KarāΡ is divided into three parts, JakhinvāΡī South, JakhinvāΡī West and Cacegāon. The latter consists of two monasteries which, although separate, are located close enough to be considered a single monastery in this analysis. The two JakhinvāΡī groups were cut within the Agāśiv hill and therefore deliberately at a distance from the urban settlement of KarāΡ where political and economic activity took place (Heitzman 1984: 132). This can be seen clearly in (Fig. 8) which displays the total size of settlements encountered compared to their cost distance from the different monasteries.

Comparative Geological Study In order to develop our argument, a comparative study involving a null hypothesis will be undertaken. With reference to the cutting of rock cut caves in the Western Ghats, Burgess and Fergusson are of the opinion that: The explanation of the phenomenon is the prosaic fact that the trap rocks which overlie the country and form the hill sides everywhere in the west are exceptionally well suited for the purpose (Burgess & Fergusson 1880: 169).

Caves can only be excavated where an expanse of rock is exposed of sufficiently uniform quality to excavate sculptures and large chambers safely. Examining (Fig. 9) a photograph of Sivneri hill, Junnar, the location is ideal for cutting, with compact basalts producing a large face of rock with few vesicles and joining suitable for sculpting (Jadhav 2002: 19-25). The hills around KarāΡ are generally of poor quality for cave excavation both in terms of the quality of rock available and the scarps that are exposed. In the KarāΡ area, therefore, even the locations which have been used for extensive cutting are far from ideal. In fact, contra Burgess and Fergusson, in the southern area of cave excavation, there are very few locations which are suitable for excavating caves. My explorations have identified the hills marked on (Fig. 3) with black crosses as possessing suitable geology. The area around these locations can provide another measurement of local settlement density for comparison.

The relative cost values displayed in this graph were generated using cost distance tools in ESRI ARCGIS software and an SRTM digital elevation model. Cost distances were generated using a function of the total change in slope multiplied by distance to produce the relative cost value (Howey 2007). Routes which used higher degrees of slope were discriminated against in our analysis by taking the tangent of the slope (Connolly and Lake 2006, 220). This prioritisation of routes which involved travel over lower gradients compensates for the methods of transport used. The main method of transporting large quantities of food in the Early Historic period was by bullock cart or pack animal and the effort involved in carrying food over steep topography must have prohibited the effectiveness of movement. Within 8,000 cost units from each monastery, there is only the single hectare village of Nandlāpur. The ancient town of KarāΡ is situated between 8,000 and 11,000 cost units (around 8 to 13 km), close enough to facilitate day to day contact, but still isolated. Cacegāon (marked in unadorned black on the graph) is located on the north side

What is not being suggested, however, is that a straightforward choice between these locations was involved or even available to monks who founded the monasteries at KarāΡ. On foundation, a monastery was a 278

SUBSISTENCE AND THE SAṂGHA: THE ROCK CUT MONASTERY AT KARĀḌ AND ITS HINTERLAND small entity and had different requirements to the monasteries which existed by the 2nd century AD. The monks did not possess a teleological vision of future monastic development and the settlement pattern may have changed between the foundation of a monastery and the culmination of its development. The situation is compounded by the synchronic form which Kulkarni’s data takes.

KarāΡ indicates that a large agricultural surplus must have been produced in its hinterland. No doubt, the villages around KarāΡ were more productive than those in the southern cluster and today, the soils in the north are more fertile, making the location ideal for a large monastic population to inhabit. The issue warrants further attention as does the influence of the trade route on the monastery and KarāΡ.

Nevertheless, these limitations do not detract from the central proposition of this article: that a monastery could only thrive and grow in a location which provided conditions that allowed the monastic community to subsist. The monastery at KarāΡ grew in a manner which nearby monasteries, to the south, at Pohāle and Panhala and to the north, at Wāi and Pandāvagād, did not. Furthermore, one could feasibly suggest that areas of population concentration would remain constant throughout the period in question. The geological positions can be viewed as an interesting foil to the assessment of settlement density closer to the monastery. For the central, sparsely populated section, the geological features marked with black crosses will be evaluated (see Fig. 3). The first location lies between the two clusters close to the settlement called Shirāmbe. An examination of the settlement pattern in the vicinity of the geological feature indicates that, as we would expect, the area is less densely populated than that to the north, where the caves were located. This is unsurprising as the feature is located between clusters. The second geological location in question is located within the southern cluster close to a village named Shirambe. This geological location has a greater concentration of settlement in its vicinity than Karve as (Fig. 8) indicates. Shirambe presents a settlement pattern which differs only slightly from that in the region of the JakhinvāΡī monasteries. The only recognisable difference between the settlement pattern around the JakhinvāΡī monasteries and that around the geological features, Karve and Shirambe, is the presence of the town of KarāΡ in close proximity to the monastery.

A monastery could only thrive, and therefore grow, in a location which could create a surplus, thus allowing the monastic community to subsist. The findings of this article indicate that furthermore, the presence of an urban centre in proximity to a monastery and the implications this had for marshalling and redistributing surpluses must have been important for both the support and growth of a monastic community. Many Buddhist monasteries in the Deccan such as Junnar, Nāsik and Amaravati are also located in the vicinity of large, urban settlements. Although further investigation is needed, this paper indicates that they too were also reliant on direct interaction with the urban centre.

Acknowledgements Thanks must go firstly to Dr N. Kulkarni, whose advice and help in the field made this article possible. Thanks to Prof. D.K. Chakrabarti and Dr C. Petrie of Cambridge University, the latter for his comments and help with the maps used in this paper. Also the help of Prof. V. Shinde, Dr S. Ganwir, Dr S. Jadhav, A. Kulkarni and P. Shirwalkar has proven invaluable. Thanks also to Dr L. Pechey and J.M. Gomez-Connor for their comments on a draft of this paper. Finally thanks to INTACH UK Trust, Nehru Trust for the India Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Smuts Memorial Fund for funding the fieldwork on which this article is based.

Conclusion Bibliographic References

Based on this analysis, we can state that the density of settlements under 10 ha in size in the vicinity of the monastery at KarāΡ is broadly similar to other clusters situated in the Upper Krisna basin. Where the two patterns differ is in the presence of an urban centre in the region in which the monastery was established and thrived. The findings of this article provide an indication that the second model described previously applies to this case study. It seems likely that the monastery was primarily interacting with KarāΡ in order to facilitate the redistribution of its subsistence requirements, relying on inhabitants of the town to procure food produced in the surrounding area, which would then be sent in the direction of the monastery. In turn, this suggests that support for the monastery came from people who were not involved in farming, which is corroborated by epigraphic evidence from other monasteries in the Western Ghats. The presence of an urban centre like

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SUBSISTENCE AND THE SAṂGHA: THE ROCK CUT MONASTERY AT KARĀḌ AND ITS HINTERLAND

Fig. 1 - Kumbhārli Ghat Trade Route (Image: Zulu Landsat/SRTM USGS).

Fig. 2 - KarāΡ Monasteries (Image: Zulu Landsat/SRTM USGS).

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Fig. 3 - Settlement Pattern (After Kulkarni 2003. Image: SRTM USGS).

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SUBSISTENCE AND THE SAṂGHA: THE ROCK CUT MONASTERY AT KARĀḌ AND ITS HINTERLAND

Fig. 4 - Plan of Vihāra, Cacegāon East (Plan G. Rees).

Fig. 5 – Plan of Assembly Hall, Cacegāon East (Plan G. Rees).

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Fig. 6 - Model A (Image: Zulu Landsat / SRTM USGS).

Fig. 7 - Model B (Image: Zulu Landsat /SRTM USGS).

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SUBSISTENCE AND THE SAMGHA: THE ROCK CUT MONASTERY AT KARĀЏ AND ITS HINTERLAND

Fig. 8 - Graph. A (After Kulkarni 2003).

Fig. 9 - Sivneri Hill, Junnar, location of caves marked in black. (Photo G. Rees 2007).

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TRACING A NEGLECTED HERITAGE OF PLAY: REPORT FROM A FIELD DOCUMENTATION OF ENGRAVED GAME BOARDS AT THE ANCIENT SITE OF VIJAYANAGARA, KARNATAKA, SOUTH INDIA (C. AD 1350-1565) Elke Rogersdotter research especially intriguing to approach (see e.g. the edited volumes by de Voogt 1995a; Finkel 2007).

This paper presents some results and reflections on a systematic field documentation of engraved game boards, a commonly overlooked type of remain in general, but a particularly neglected group of artefacts when appearing at such a large, splendid and well-known site as Vijayanagara. The former capital of the South Indian Hindu empire, Vijayanagara (c. AD 1350-1565), in the state of Karnataka, attracts today as in ancient times national as well as international visitors with its spectacular, moon-like landscape of rocky hills and heaps of colossal granite boulders and its numerous remains of temples and palaces. While climbing the ruins, however, most visitors will most probably, though presumably without noticing it since the city’s size and scenic setting will absorb much attention, step upon yet another kind of a most unexpected remain. This will indeed be quite likely since about 900-1,000 engraved game boards are found within the old city’s core area. Humble and warped in appearance, the finds may perhaps at a first glance stand out as absurd little contrasts against the former capital’s splendour. Such a view, however, may though likewise be taken to express common thoughts of traditional archaeology concerning daily, everydayobjects in general, as well as remains of play and gaming specifically.

Context Vijayanagara Coming to existence around c. AD 1350, Vijayanagara represented the largest Hindu empire in southern India. At its peak, it included the diverse populations of today’s Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Its capital was built close to its northern frontier in a rocky area next to the river Tunghabhadra, on the other side of which lay disputed borderlands separating the river from the sultanate kingdoms to the north. In a geologically outstanding setting of boulders and steep hills of granite, the city was surrounded by massive fortification walls approximately 6-7 metres high in places and built so as to take advantage of existing cliffs and hills for their outlines. At regular intervals, magnificent gateways opened up the walls for important thoroughfares (Fig. 1). The city functioned as the empire’s trading hub and centre for royal manifestations and was successively endowed with five large temple complexes, royal palaces and vibrant bazaar areas (Fig. 2). Built on and in-between steep ridges, the ‘core’ area of the city covered about 25 km2. During the empire’s ‘heyday’ under the kings Krishnadevaraya (AD 1509-29) and Achyutaraya (AD 1529-42), its population amounted to about half a million inhabitants. It attracted a marked mixture of people, both Hindus, Jains and Muslims from the lands absorbed by the empire, as well as people from foreign countries near and afar (for translations of contemporary, foreign visitors’ written accounts, see Sewell 2006). The exposed position turned though at the same time the fortified capital a target for recurrent raiding attempts. Finally, in AD 1565, after a lost battle against an alliance formed by the Deccan sultans, the city was captured, burnt down and subsequently abandoned. Never re-built, it became overgrown by jungle until, in the mid 19th century, the British came, cleared it and re-proclaimed its splendour. Archaeological excavations at the site started in the 1970s. Since 1987, it is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site (for deepened aspects on this short summary, see e.g. Fritz 1986; Stein 1989; Michell 1995; Verghese 2000; Fritz & Michell 2001; Kotraiah & Dallapiccola 2003).

Traditional neglect of play- and gaming remains Gaming remains, or, described in other words, artefacts belonging to the sphere of play and pleasure, have to a large part been neglected within established archaeology. This follows in line with a general neglect of the phenomenon of play within science. Strands of play research stress the reason for the step-mother treatment of play within Western thinking as originating in the placing of play on an equal footing with that what is non-serious and illogical. Becoming an opposite of that what is serious and logical, that is, science, play is accordingly bounded to expulsion from the latter (e.g. Bauer 1995; Huizinga 1955; for more on this neglect, see Rogersdotter 2006, 2007). At best, gaming remains may in a number of archaeological reports be mentioned as ‘fun’ objects showing that past people liked to amuse themselves. Morphologically focused, object-centred perspectives common to a number of traditional studies on ancient board games, being to a large part devoted to inquiries on origin and patterns of diffusion, tentatively appear as yet another consequence of this view (e.g. Bell 1979; Decker 1992; Fittà 1998). More recently, though, studies on ancient board games have gained renewed attention in various interdisciplinary fields, turning this area of

In 1980-81, the international, archaeological-architectural project the ‘Vijayanagara Research Project’ (VRP) started a large scale mapping of the site (see e.g. Fritz et al. 1984; http://www.vijayanagara.org/). The core area became divided into broad zones that, shortly summoning, include the Sacred Centre in the north, the 287

Elke Rogersdotter drawings with help of transparent overhead sheets were made of a number of boards (Fig. 3).

Royal Centre in the south (remains of royal buildings and noblemen’s quarters), and, to the east of the latter, the Urban Core (supposed location of the ‘main’ city). Between the Sacred Centre and the Royal Centre-Urban Core, going in southwest-northeast direction, are the Northern Ridge and, to its north, the Irrigated Valley. The Islamic Quarter, finally, lies in the eastern part of the Northern Ridge (large numbers of Muslim mercenaries were employed in the Vijayanagaran army and came to form a significant part of the population).

Types of game boards: the question of classification The game boards show up in different sizes and types, some made up of pits, others of lines. Of initial concern for the documentation was the issue of how to term and classify the boards. The definitions presented by Harold James Ruthven Murray in his well-known work, in which he strived to cover and order all the known board games of the world according to a uniform classification system (1951), were all guided by distinguishable differences seen in ways of playing as to moves, captures and so on. Following this, Murray established five main types termed as, in turn, ‘War-games’ (e.g. Chess); ‘Games of Alinement and Configuration’ (e.g. Merels); ‘Huntgames’ (e.g. Fox/Tiger and geese); ‘Race-games’ (e.g. Ludo), as well as ‘Mancala games’. According to Murray, it is only in southern Asia that all five types are traditionally found (Murray 1951: 4-5). Whether this may be true or not, all of these types of games appear on the basis of the documented boards, and following the ordering of boards by Murray, to have been prevalent at Vijayanagara.

Besides the well-preserved temple complexes and the palace remains, the area of today is dotted with smaller temples, shrines, pavilions, watchtowers and gateways, as well as still standing parts of the fortification walls. Apart from these stone structures, no traces can be seen though of ordinary citizens’ supposedly straw- or wood-built dwellings. Purposes and process of field documentation Along with other surface features, numerous engraved game boards were recorded during the extensive mapping of the site by the VRP. This was however done in an unsystematic way and a number of boards were furthermore for different reasons not included at all. The present field documentation therefore aimed at locating and documenting these systematically. Framed by the VRP and in agreement with Professor John M. Fritz, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania and Head of the VRP, the work has accordingly included the documentation in the field of previously recorded boards, of the identification and documentation of noted but not classified boards, as well as of the location, identification and documentation of previously ‘unknown’ boards, partly in areas not surveyed by the VRP mapping project. Special concern was given to context and formal variation.

In course of the documentation, it soon became clear that a majority of boards followed the outline of one out of totally seven different types. Listed below, it must be emphasized that the terminology as yet represent preliminary ‘working labels’ that, partly based on Murray’s classifications, were used by the author during the field work primarily so as to distinguish the boards in easiest way. Therefore, the terms are somewhat inconsequently referring to either the outline of the board or to the type of game(s) supposedly played on the latter: • • • • • • •

Deepened research on the game boards taking into account details of the entire assemblage has previously to the present work not been undertaken. Parts of the boards have been dealt with in a few articles focusing on diverse aspects of the subject (e.g. Vasantha 2003; Fritz & Gibson 2007).

Merels board (Fig. 4) Triangle board (Fig. 4) Alquerque board (Fig. 5) Blocade board (Fig. 6) Mancala board (Fig. 7) Single track board, lines (Fig. 8) Single track board, pits (Fig. 9)

Besides these main types, other types of boards appeared as well, though in markedly less numbers, such as the 8 x 8 grid pattern, the pentagram, the cross-formed grid commonly associated with the game of Pachisi, and others. All in all, and with a few excepted cases being too faded to become identified with certainty, the documented boards could be sorted into 14 different, main types.

The field work was undertaken by the author and concentrated on the 25 km2 large core area of the site where game boards have been engraved into both sheer bedrock as well as a variety of structural basements. The systematic documentation consisted of taking measurements of the boards and of the writing down of observations concerning size and straightness, type, possible variations and/or unique features, way of engraving, condition and others. Notes were also made on locations of boards, focusing on the environment, on exposure, closeness to other boards and/or to other archaeological features and the like. Each board as well as each location of board(s) were photographed, preferably in the morning or evening for best light. Additionally, rubbings by use of carbon paper and/or

The definitions by Murray has become criticized by more recent researchers on ancient board games (see e.g. de Voogt 1995b) for its inconsequence while sometimes referring to the outline of the board, sometimes to the type of game for which it is supposedly intended. Since a particular board may be used for several kinds of games, and since there is no way of knowing for certain what 288

TRACING A NEGLECTED HERITAGE OF PLAY games may have been played on a specific board of ancient time, it becomes at least for technical reasons essential to distinguish between ‘game boards’, and the ‘board games’ that may or may not have been played on these. While the author was documenting a board of a ‘merels’ type, for example, usually seen as a grid for ‘games of alinement’ (as defined by Murray), a local woman came by and demonstrated how on this board a variant of the Tiger and geese-game could be played as well (a game referred to by Murray as a ‘hunt-game’).

features some of these may more likely have been engraved into the ground before the construction of the particular structure. Time period: An essential issue pertained to whether the game boards belonged to the Vijayanagara period of time. Though this could of course not be determined for each individual board, a pattern subsequently emerged that on the interrelated basis of location, board type and way of engraving made it possible to do some broader conclusions and to suggest most of the boards to probably belong to the Vijayanagara period. These conclusions took among other things advantage of the city’s abandonment. A small number of boards apparently belonging to later times turned moreover up recurrently displaying different, sometimes more elaborate grids than the majority of boards. At the same time, the former were mostly engraved in a much more crude way while the latter tended to exhibit markedly regular, more deeply cut engravings.

Grasped from a different perspective though, occasions such as these came simultaneously to illustrate the meaninglessness inherent in classifying these objects too persistently. Considering the game boards from the viewpoint of play, as items for daily use and amusement, the keeping to a single concern for classifying appeared to risk ‘killing’ the particular, dynamic dimension of the remains. The number of comments expressed by locals as well as national and international tourists passing by in course of the field work, in the end pointing at a variety of games possible to play on the relatively few types of boards, came to serve a constant reminder of this most important detail.

Modified approach: tenacious places for play? The above represent a few of a number of intriguing features resulting from the documentation. Of particular interest not the least in contrast to the marked regularity displayed by the majority of boards emerged in addition in course of the work the immediate locations of the latter, especially from the view of these as places for play. While at first sight seemingly spread out at random, the work has indicated some distinguishable patterns among the boards. One consists of the frequency of board clusters, with two or more boards being found markedly close together (Fig. 10). In some instances, boards even appear as engraved into each other, sometimes on the expense of the outline of one of the boards (Fig. 11). In addition, different degrees of fadedness can usually be seen among boards of the same cluster. This could be taken to suggest that same locations were continuously utilized as ‘place for play’ for a prolonged period of time. While this may indicate the preference for different kinds of game boards (different kinds of games) during different time intervals, it may likewise inform us that, firstly, much time was probably spent at these locations, and secondly, that the creators of the boards must have been sure of going to spend considerable time there. Albeit unknown to us in which ways, this may provide the locations strengthened roles and meanings. Other features of interest refer to exposure. Whether situated in temples or among boulders, the locations of the game boards are for example commonly found to be (or once to have probably been) more or less effectively protected from sun.

Preliminary results Number: By completion, the documentation amounted to about 850 game boards. Since some areas of the site had to be left due to time pressure and others, the total number has been estimated to cover about 950-1,000 boards. In other words, the ancient city points at quite outstanding numbers of engraved game boards. Variety: Despite the marked number of boards, and with the exception of a few, unique outlines, the variety of board types, both in relation to main types as well as to internal variations or sub-groups, stands out as significantly meagre. Attempts of determining period of time for the boards have in fact to a large part been based on the repetitive appearance displayed by most of them (see below). The few formal variations include for instance the appearance/absence of a pit in the middle of the grid of the ‘merels’ type of board or the framing of some of the boards of the ‘alquerque’ type by a circle. Both types, however, turn in general and apart from these features up with identical outlines, respectively, in case after case. The ‘mancala’- as well as the two ‘single track’ types display though slightly more variations. Locality: Game boards appear within all the major zones of the core area. As concerns boards in structures, these are most frequently occurring within temple areas and in gateways and to a lesser degree in foundations of palace buildings. Boards are however generally not found adjacent to the former bazaar streets or inside buildings or caves (away from daylight). No significant differences can be noted in board type or the like in-between the different zones or between boards engraved in bedrock and boards found in connection with structures. Occasionally, game boards may seemingly appear as engraved within buildings, while on the basis of specific

Particularities of the locations can be suggested to spur an emphasis on utilization. By this, the game boards tentatively come forward not preliminary as objects in themselves (by an object-centred approach), but as traces of play practices. In agreement with the relatively small field of play research stressing play as fundamental human activity, this may awaken a deepened inquiry into the nature and specific qualities characterizing play. 289

Elke Rogersdotter growing toilet- and garbage areas. Other boards, particularly the significant number appearing in or near to the ancient gateways, are today heavily exposed to increasing traffic pollution. This may on one hand point to the exposure of the site in general to competing and conflicting interests. On the other though, methodological dilemmas such as these can likewise be suggested to indicate the low value, and hence low protection, that is commonly attributed to this kind of daily, play- or game related remains. If, however, these sorts of remains, pertaining to the immanent sphere of play and pleasure, are not taken into serious account, one may risk overlooking a fundamental factor of past social structures. While documenting and analyzing engraved game boards, parts of history may come forward that are commonly not included in traditional historic accounts, in prolongation perhaps contributing to the turning upside down of a number of (ingrained) conceptions of ours. It is an urgent task, not only to focus on this neglected heritage, but to do this in a slightly alternative way while not solely regarding the remains as amusing curiosa, but as meaningful traces of human life and interaction.

According to some play theorists, playing a game is for example accentuated to create a space of ‘here and now’, separated from the ordinary and characterized by freedom, transformation and particular forms of abstractions, leading into different kinds of regulations. Play is furthermore stressed as not necessarily directed by such conditions as social status, common language or shared culture, since the sole requirement for playing a certain game is a basic understanding of its rules, whereby linguistic differences or cultural gaps become of reduced importance. The playing of board games is also claimed to strongly improve personality and provide space for individuality (Scheuerl 1954; Fritz 1992; Lönnqvist 1992). Following the idea of play and amusement as constituting something immanent for humans, the marked presence of engraved game boards at Vijayanagara may thus not only be taken as some ‘fun’ remains of past enjoyments, but as traces of practices intricately embedded into social environments and interactions of essential. That is, as something fundamental that actually needs to be there, inherent in that daily life that once permeated the city. The visible patterns hinted at by the documentation can hence be suggested to intersect the site’s landscape in distinct ways. This from an archaeological point of view noticeably complicated picture awakens inquiries as to the meanings and nature of the locations of the game boards. What kind of places are we looking upon? Who were the creators and users of the boards?

Acknowledgements For enabling my documentation of the engraved game boards at Vijayanagara, particular gratitude goes to Prof. John M. Fritz at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, and Head of the ‘Vijayanagara Research Project’ (VRP), as well as to the support of Mr Surendra Kumar, Hampi, co-operator of the VRP. For useful methodological advice, I thank Dr Åsa Fredell, Regionmuseum Västra Götaland. The field work and successive analysis, as well as the preliminary writing up of results and conclusions, has become possible thanks to funding from the VRP, as well as from Gunvor och Josef Anérs stiftelse and Helge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse.

This furthermore highlights what seems to be a traditional tendency of parting the site of Vijayanagara according to the opposition of structure versus nature (or, culture versus nature). Tentatively, this may be seen as a ‘survivor’ of old-fashioned, rather one-sided approaches focusing mainly on the well preserved temples and the like, while comprehending these as outstanding dots in an otherwise empty, meaningless nature (e.g. Longhurst 2006; Sewell 2006). In contrast to an ‘empty nature’, however, there emerges with a thorough look into the ‘forgotten’ corners of the site a landscape considerably dotted with traces and signs in the form of carvings, reliefs, inscriptions, grinding holes, remains of roads, steps and so forth. This accentuates the necessity of grasping the site as a whole, as the ruins of one and the same, once interconnected city of ancient. Still today, much effort appears to be laid on the ‘magnificence’ by which Vijayanagara is traditionally defined, ultimately giving prominence to a few (splendid) buildings, while a large number of remains of less spectacular appearance – though nevertheless essential for our understanding of the settlement – tend to fade away.

Bibliographic References Bauer, G.G. (1995) ‘Play and research: a contradiction?’ in A.J. de Voogt (ed.), 1995a: 5-8. Bell, R.C. (1979) Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations. New York (first ed. 1960). Decker, W. (1992) Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt. New Haven (first ed. 1987). de Voogt, A.J. (ed.) (1995a) New Approaches to Board games Research: Asian origins and future perspectives (Working papers series/International Institute for Asian Studies 3). Leiden.

Conclusion: the essential heritage of play While crisscrossing the landscape, the daily field work came simultaneously to serve a revealing illustration of the vulnerability of the gaming remains. A number of boards previously mapped by VRP were for example found to be lost today due to expanding settlements and

de Voogt, A.J. (1995b) ‘A classification of Board games’ in de Voogt 1995a: 9-15. Finkel, I.L., ed. (2007) Ancient Board Games in perspective. London. 290

TRACING A NEGLECTED HERITAGE OF PLAY Vasantha, R. (2003) ‘Board games from the city of Vijayanagara (Hampi), 1336-1565: a survey and a study’, Board game studies: international journal for the study of board games 6: 25-36.

Fittà, M. (1998) Spiele und Spielzeug in der Antike. Unterhaltung und Vergnügen im Altertum. Stuttgart. Fritz, J. (1992) Spiele als Spiegel ihrer Zeit: Glücksspiele – Tarot – Puppen – Videospiele (Edition Psychologie und Pädagogik). Mainz.

Verghese, A. (2000) Archaeology, Art and Religion: New Perspectives on Vijayanagara. New Delhi. Vijayanagaraorg (2005) Vijayanagara Research Project, http://www.vijayanagara.org/

Fritz, J.M. (1986) ‘Vijayanagara: Authority and Meaning of a South Indian Imperial Capital’, American Anthropologist 88 (1): 44-55. Fritz, J.M. & Gibson, D. (2007) ‘Game Boards at Vijayanagara: A Preliminary Report’ in Finkel 2007: 110-15. Fritz, J.M. & Michell, G., eds (2001) New Light on Hampi: Recent Research at Vijayanagara. Mumbai. Fritz, J.M.; Michell, G. & Nagaraja Rao, M.S. (1984) The Royal Centre at Vijayanagara: Preliminary Report. Melbourne. Huizinga, J. (1955) Homo Ludens: a Study of the Playelement in Culture. Boston (first ed. 1938). Kotraiah, C.T.M. & Dallapiccola, A.L. (2003) King, Court and Capital: An Anthology of Kannada Literary Sources from the Vijayanagara Period. New Delhi. Longhurst, A.H. (2006) Hampi Ruins. Described and illustrated. New Delhi (first ed. 1917). Lönnqvist, B. (1992) Ting, rum och barn: Historiskantropologiska studier i kulturella gränser och gränsöverskridande (Things, Space and Children) (Kansatieteellinen arkisto 38). Helsingfors. Michell, G. (1995) The New Cambridge History of India I: 6. Architecture and art of Southern India: Vijayanagara and the successor states. Cambridge. Murray, H.J.R. (1951) A History of Board-Games other than Chess. Oxford. Rogersdotter, E. (2006) The Forgotten: an Approach on Harappan Toy Artefacts (Archaeology and Environment 20). Umeå. Rogersdotter, E. (2007) ‘The Precious Pottery Disc: Harappan toy artefacts as traces of momentary encounters’ in P. Cornell and F. Fahlander (eds), Encounters - Materialities - Confrontations: Archaeologies of social space and interaction, 215-41. Cambridge. Scheuerl, H. (1954) Das Spiel: Untersuchungen über sein Wesen, seine pädagogischen Möglichkeiten und Grenzen. Weinheim. Sewell, R. (2006) A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India. New Delhi (first ed. 1900). Stein, B. (1989) The New Cambridge History of India I: 2 Vijayanagara. Cambridge. 291

Elke Rogersdotter

Fig. 1 - One of the imposing gateways once leading into the city of Vijayanagara (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

Fig. 2 - The Tiruvengalanatha or Achyutaraya’s temple, one of the large temple complexes of Vijayanagara (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

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Fig. 3 - Drawing of a board using transparent overhead sheets (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

Fig. 4 - Engraved game boards of ‘merels’ type (above) and ‘triangle’ type (below) (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

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Fig. 5 - Engraved game board of ‘alquerque’ type (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

Fig. 6 - Engraved game board of ‘blocade’ type (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

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Fig. 7 - Engraved game board of ‘mancala’ type (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

Fig. 9 - Engraved game board of ‘single track, pits’ type (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

Fig. 8 - Engraved game board of ‘single track, lines’ type (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

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Fig. 10 - Cluster of engraved game boards found in the Northern Ridge, Vijayanagara (water bottles and other items were used to mark the specific locations of individual boards) (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

Fig. 11 - Detail of a board of ‘mancala’ type and a board of ‘single track, lines’ type being partly engraved into each other (Photo E. Rogersdotter).

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MARBLE FROM THE PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III IN GHAZNI Martina Rugiadi With the reign of MaΉmūd b. Sebüktigin and later, with his successors, Ghazni underwent a vast building activity, which concerned palaces and gardens, mosques, madrasas, funerary monuments, minarets, bridges. In the Ghaznavid period the city saw a unique and thriving production of carved marble, which was widely employed in the decorative apparatus of its monumental buildings, as is suggested by the literary sources1 and confirmed by archaeological data. Marble was employed in a variety of decorations and with different shapes, especially in wall facings, carved dadoes being the most common feature.

of single items, such as miΉrābs, and of narrow friezes panels, while the first occurrence of a larger and wider wall facing in carved marble appears in Samarra, with a dado decorating the throne-room of the Jawsaq al-Khāqānī palace (Herzfeld 1914: 202). As for the 10th and 11th centuries, in Nishapur, under Ghaznavid control from 1017 until 1037, an alabaster-like stone was probably employed for dado facings;7 moreover, the finding of a painted dado (in stucco) with panels inspired by the quarter-sawn marbles witnesses to the fact that this older tradition was not forgotten.8 In Afghanistan a more extensive employment of marble became common only in later period: under the Timurids, Herat became famous for its pinkish-white marble, quarried in the surrounding area and largely employed for the decoration of religious and funerary monuments.

We owe our knowledge of Ghazni marble – around one thousand artefacts of architectural decoration (Rugiadi 2007) in addition to several hundreds of funerary elements2 – above all to the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan (IsMEO, today IsIAO) between 1957 and 1970 (Bombaci 1957, 1966; Scerrato 1959):3 the surveys carried out all over the territory of Ghazni documented the large number of marble artefacts reemployed in mosques, ziyārat and cemeteries, and in recent buildings, while the excavation of a large palace, attributed by the archaeologists to the Ghaznavid sovereign Mas’ūd III (AD 1099-1115), yielded 569 marbles (56 of which in situ); finally, the excavation of a private residence (so-called ‘house of lustre-wares’) unearthed 2 marble finds.

As for the Ghaznavid and Ghurid period, marble was either employed only occasionally or not employed at all in the Ghaznavid summer capital, Lashkari Bazar, since not a single fragment of this material was recovered from the extensive French excavations (Schlumberger 1950, 1952, 1978);9 the same is true for the surveys carried out in the Afghan Sistan10 and at Jam, in the Ghor region (Maricq & Wiet 1959; Thomas, Pastori & Cucco 2005).11 Only a selective and occasional use of marble in the decorative apparatus of Ghaznavid palaces located far from the capital seems to be suggested by the historical sources: for example, the garden of MaΉmūd at Balkh (the so-called Bāgሶ-i Naw) was decorated with a pool ‘similar to marble’.12 As for the funerary architecture, the situation is slightly different, since a small number of marble tomb elements of Ghurid epoch was found in the vicinity of Lashkari Bazar at Bust,13 at Jam,14 and at

This distinctive, and extensive, use of marble has no parallels in other coeval Islamic or pre-Islamic sites in Afghanistan. Before the Ghaznavids, carved marble4 is known to have been employed in the Eastern Islamic lands since the Umayyad5 and early Abbasid period6 in the form

panelling on the qibli wall of the Great Mosque of Damascus, reportedly in marble, and other carved marble panels once employed in the same building (Flood 2001: 59, fns 11-12, figs 28-9).

1 The historian al-’Utbī, who lived in Ghazni between the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century AD, illustrates the rich marble coverings of the ‘Arūs al-Falāk mosque (Bride of Heaven, built by MaΉmūd in 1019) that he probably saw personally (see translation by Bombaci 1964: 25, 31-32). For a discussion of the type of stone (marble or alabaster) described by al-’Utbī and of its provenance, see Rugiadi 2007: 1053-55.

6

See for example the miΉrāb of the Jāmi’ al-Khāssakī in Baghdad, today at the Iraq Museum of Baghdad, dated by Herzfeld (1910: 33 ff.) to c. 762 AD. Sandstone carved column drums were found in the Great Mosque of Wasit (beginning of the 8th century AD; Creswell & Allan 1989: fig. 22).

2 Since 1957 the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan recovered an extensive documentation on the marble funerary slabs scattered in the area of Ghazni; those attributed to the 10th-15th centuries have been published by Roberta Giunta (2003 with previous bibliography).

7

From Vineyard Tepe (Wilkinson 1986: fig. 2.9; see also fig. 2.10: the fragments all show traces of blue paint on the backgrounds); at Nishapur alabaster might have been employed also with inset-technique (‘a lozenge-shaped inset’ was found at Tepe Madrasa, ibid.: 116, fig. 1.118).

3 In 2004, the IsIAO promoted the establishment of an Islamic Ghazni project, directed by Roberta Giunta, aimed at the final study and publication of the mostly unpublished documentation collected in Ghazni in the 1950s and 1960s. 4 As for quartered marble in the Eastern Islamic lands, it was often employed for wall facings, following the long established Byzantine tradition which highlighted the veins of marble with appropriate extraction and cutting techniques: artisans skilled in these techniques were brought from Byzantine lands to Samarra (al-Ya’qūbī 1937: 49). 5

8

From Tepe Madrasa (Wilkinson 1986: figs 1.200-2, 1.206-12).

9

Yet, see below for the finding of marble funerary elements.

10

See Ball 1982, with previous bibliography.

11

See below for the finding of marble funerary elements.

12

See Farrukhī, Italian translation in Bargigli 1995: 143-45; Allchin & Hammond 1978: 328.

13

See for example the frieze that ran above the quartered marble

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Seven slabs, dated from the end of the 12th century AD to the first

Martina Rugiadi Mazar-i Sharif near Balkh:15 nevertheless none of these sites shows, as in Ghazni, such wide cemeterial areas, and so rich in marble funerary elements. The marble dado friezes and panels which were distinctive of the religious and palatial buildings in Ghazni were substituted elsewhere with plasterwork, wall paintings and panels of cut baked bricks.

commonly worked in a flat bas-relief, which may have two variants, usually found together: a slightly bevelled and a rounded bas-relief. Only two kinds of tools were identified, employed both for bas-reliefs and for the few sculpted artefacts: pointed tools of different sizes (for extraction, sketching, preliminary incisions of the motif and incisions of the details) and one type of flat chisel (c. 1 cm wide, employed with the usual inclination for hard stones, 60°-70°). It is significant that toothed tools, typical of the Iranian territory, were not employed; this absence connects the working technique found on Ghazni marbles to that in use in Gandhāran art, developed broadly in the same region, and more generally to that employed in the Indian-Pakistani region, rather than to the Iranian region.20

Thus, although this production developed in a territory where marble deposits abound16 and where a more ancient tradition of stone working already existed,17 at the state of research we can suppose that in the Ghaznavid and Ghurid period marble played an important role in civil and religious architectural decoration only in Ghazni. A first, solid reason for this peculiarity lays in the existence of a marble quarry only five kilometres from Ghazni, near the ziyāra of Sakī, where evidences of extraction are documented by some photographs of the IsIAO archives:18 the presence of this quarry permitted the extraordinary flourishing of Ghazni’s distinctive marble production, while, most probably, the high costs of transportation would have prevented a wide expansion of marble decoration outside the province of Ghazni.

The excavated artefacts represent more than a half of all the marbles known to come from Ghazni originally employed as architectural decoration, and the excavations represent a unique opportunity to establish a connection between the hundreds of artefacts recovered outside their original context and their original employment. The marbles from the excavation of the palace of Mas’ūd III in Ghazni are a testimony to the extent of the use of this material within a single building, to its relation to other decorative features, such as the baked bricks and stucco facings, and to the overall polychrome effect that was the result of rich colours and gilding applied on all the materials, including marble. Interestingly enough, none of the famous Ghazni figurative slabs come from the excavation of the palace;21 human and animal figures are attested in the finds of the palace only on two fragments of carved brick22 and on several glazed tiles.23

The observation of the tool marks on the Ghazni artefacts led to the identification of the working technique and of the tools used in the carving.19 The surface is most half of the 13th century AD, were found in a ziyāra near Bust (SourdelThomine 1956, with no specification of the type of stone; according to Fischer it is marble; Fischer 1978: 354); the carving technique seems not substantially different from that employed on Ghazni marbles. 14 Fragments of tomb elements in white marble, related in technique and style to the funerary typology in use at Ghazni in the Ghurid period, were found not far from the minaret of Jam, where probably once stood the Ghurid capital Firuzkuh. I wish to thank here the Minaret of Jam Archaeological Project (www.arch.cam.ac.uk/~alg1000/mjap) for allowing me to use this unpublished information.

To produce such observation specific light conditions are required (Rockwell 1989, 1993): c. 45% of our entire corpus was observed with raking light at c. 20°-25°.

15

A tombstone ‘of highly polished white marble’. Literary and palaeographic evidence dates this object at the first half of the 12th century AD, after 530/1135-6 (Golombek 1977: 340); its carving technique seems to be different to that of the marbles from Ghazni (deeper and narrower carving, possible use of drill) and thus would not support the hypothesis of a common artistic/cultural origin.

20 Rockwell 2006: 168: ‘It should be noted that [the absence of tooth chisel traces] is true of all stoneworking traces east of Persia’. The absence of rasps, abrasives and drills in the stoneworking technique in Ghazni is furthermore paralleled in Gandhāran art. 21

As reported in the original inventories; nevertheless, Scerrato (1959: 42, fn. 50) reports that some of the carvings that were at the time in the Museums of Kabul and Rawza came from the site of Mas’ūd III’s palace in Ghazni, while others came from an area west of the river. Forty-eight marble artefacts known as coming from Ghazni (transennas, dadoes, drains, basins etc.) show figurative scenes. I am currently working on a study of all the figurative artefacts in marble from Ghazni. For the published material see, in particular: Diez 1923: fig. 70; Bombaci 1958: pls 4, 6-7; Bombaci 1959: figs 1-7, 10a-b, 11-12; Gullini 1960: nos 251, 256-57, 259-61, pls XXXI, XXXIII.1-2; Baer 1965: figs 82-83; Bombaci 1966: pl. XLI, fig. 142; Rowland 1966: nos 98-99; Rowland 1971: nos 168-72; Kalter, Kussmaul & Luschey 1982: figs D37-D39; von Folsach 1990: fig. 273, back cover; Grube 1995: pl. 11; von Folsach 2001: nos 394-95; Giunta 2005: fig. 13; Grube & Johns 2005: fig. 52.4; Fontana 2005; and Rugiadi 2007: nos 151, 615, 620-22, 673-75, 677-79, 681-83, 740, 793, 799-800, 802-04, 806-810, 819-21, 865-71, 873, 875, 878-86, 983 (thirty-two of them being published here for the first time).

16

The geological bibliography of Afghanistan compiled by Orris & Bliss (2002) lists around eight sites where various minerals are enclosed in marble rocks; at least in thirteen sites marble is indicated as significant material (the historical quarry of Ghazni is not included in this bibliographical listing; see below). In 1946, twelve quarries (including both marble and alabaster quarries) were still active in Afghanistan (Rosset 1946: 5; none of these exploited deposits seems to be of white marble as that of Ghazni). 17

In the Śāhī period (7th-10th century AD) a statuary of highly advanced technique was developed (full relief statues with polished surfaces); the production was restricted to a small elite and was not aimed at architectural decoration (MacDowall & Taddei 1978: 289, 295).

18

Dep. Neg. CS L514/23 to L514/27 and L514/29 to L514/30; R669/5F to R669/11F; R670/6F to R670/12F.

19 The observation of tool marks allows the recognition of the extraction and carving techniques and of the tools employed (Bessac 1993); this approach, widely used in classical and medieval Western archaeology and in the study of the architectural reliefs of Achaemenid and postAchaemenid Iran (see for example Nylander 2006; Tilia 1968, 1978; Colledge 1979), was rarely applied on Islamic lapidary production: our study is the first one attempted on Islamic material of the Iranian region.

22 Both unpublished: inv. C1134, bearing an animal sequence; inv. C1122, with a gryphon. I would like to thank Simona Artusi, who is presently studying the architectural decoration in baked brick for a doctoral thesis at the University of Udine, for this and other information. 23

298

See Scerrato 1962, who suggests a Ghurid date for these finds.

MARBLE FROM THE PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III IN GHAZNI The palace was arranged axially around a large central courtyard, with a four īwāns plan (Fig.1); the entrance was situated on the North side, while its most important ceremonial area was on the South, with a domed throne room behind the Southern īwān; a room identified as the prayer hall was on the North-West area.

inscription. The central section of this dado bears a sequence of trilobated arches (see below fn. 31) on a field of vegetal patterns carved inside and in between the arches, while the lower register shows, a common feature in Ghazni, a sequence of two interlaced and rolled up scrolls.

In the palace thirteen marble morphological types have been identified, serving five main functions (Rugiadi 2007: 1071-72):

The hypostyle plan of the prayer hall resulted from the eight marble bases found in situ (Fig. 4), which most probably supported wooden columns (Rugiadi 2007: 1103, sub-type base of column 4, nos 834-41). The bases, composed of a truncated pyramid (with a square base) and a cylindrical tambour of impost, show a bas-relief decoration whose vegetal motif and carving technique recall those of the dadoes of the court. Neither the floor, paved with baked bricks, nor the walls of the prayer hall were decorated with marble;25 as for the miΉrāb, a flat niche, it was probably framed by alabaster panels (Scerrato 1995: 95).

• • • • •

dado panels, panels, frames, and floor slabs employed as wall and floor facings respectively; transennas and ‘arches’ employed as architectural decorative elements (different than facings);24 bases of columns and capitals employed as structural pillars; basins, well curbs and manhole covers employed as water system elements; -finally, the unearthing of hinges and of hinge washers in the excavated area reveals the use of marble objects also as architectural functional elements.

The excavations brought to light two transennas (Figs 56)26 in the foot path in the North-Western area of the court, in front of the prayer hall of the palace.27 They show a central openwork motif, framed by a cursive epigraphic band; both bear the date ‘1 ramaΡān 505 H.’ (i.e. 1-2 march 1112), which was identified as the date of construction of the palace.28 It is worth mentioning that their back side, roughly worked, was not meant to be visible, so that they were most probably attached to a wall as panels;29 the top face of both bears two holes each (Fig. 9) for the insertion either of fixing joints or, most likely, of vertical decorative elements, so that the transenna was probably not inserted in a wall but leaned to it. The arrangement, on the transennas, of the epigraphic bands, which run on the front face and on one of the narrow sides, suggests that they were probably set on the two sides of a passage, either parallel (Fig. 7), creating a sort of passageway (in which case the epigraphic bands of the two narrow sides would be seen and read simultaneously, giving the beginning and the end of the building text), 30 or in a line (Fig. 8). The latter hypothesis, less likely for our transennas, recalls a solution that occurs, with stucco instead of marble, in the

Each morphological type may have decorative variations identified as sub-types: 27 sub-types are attested in the palace (Rugiadi 2007: 1073-74, 1277-83). A more exact understanding of how marbles were displayed inside the palace of Mas’ūd III is facilitated by the finding of several artefacts belonging to two subtypes in their original position: the dadoes of the courtyard and the column bases of the prayer hall, in addition to the floor slabs which paved the central courtyard; for the other marbles, not found in situ, we will suggest some hypothesis related to their original setting. The unearthing of 44 dado panels with a Persian inscription in their original collocation (Fig. 2) represents perhaps the most extraordinary achievement of the excavations. They constituted the dado frieze which ran around the 32 niches that opened onto the central court (about 50,6 × 31,9 m; Bombaci 1966: 6) and that might have also decorated the īwāns, for a maximum length of 250 m. Beside these 44 artefacts found in situ, other were excavated in different areas of the palace (336 in total), while a certain number was recovered during the surveys of the Ghazni area: altogether the artefacts belonging to this dado are 417, 116 of them being complete objects (Rugiadi 2007: 1078-80, sub-type dado 14, nos 181-596). This was far the most ambitious program of marble decoration of the palace, set in the latter’s crucial area. Its importance is paralleled by the content of its inscription in foliated Kufic, which contained a poem in Persian praising the Ghaznavid dynasty; this inscription was partially read by Alessio Bombaci (Bombaci 1966), but we could implement his documentation with another 44 inscribed dado panels that were unknown to him, making more urgent the need for a new reading of the whole

25 Three marble fragments were found during the excavations in the prayer hall, but they are related to a later re-employment (Rugiadi 2007: nos 339-41, all belonging to the sub-type dado 14). 26 Rugiadi 2007: 1078-80, sub-type transenna 4, nos 796-7; no. 797 was found broken in more fragments and was restored in 1999 by the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale ‘G. Tucci’ in Rome, together with a matching fragment found in room XXX (Pl. 1.1), adjacent to the Western wall of the palace (Rugiadi 2007: no. 798). 27

Bombaci 1966: 64. The original inventories report incorrectly that these two transennas were found in the ‘courtyard, South-East corner’. 28

The epigraphic band of the transenna no. 797 has been chiselled off. For the epigraphic issues related to this transenna and to the other marble artefacts from the palace of Mas’ūd III, see the contribution by Roberta Giunta in this volume. 29 The term ‘transenna’ was chosen in consideration of the openwork carving.

24 See below for the problematical interpretation of the original position of the transennas found in the palace.

30 This hypothesis is based on the assumption that in the palace were not employed other unretrieved items of sub-type transenna 4.

299

Martina Rugiadi Ghaznavid palace in Lashkari Bazar (the ‘southern palace’), where the podium in room II 10 (immediately adjacent to the throne room) was delimited by stucco panels with a composition very similar to that of our transennas; in particular, two stucco panels were set on the sides of the entrance to the podium (Schlumberger 1978: pl. 74.c-e).

octagons and vegetal motifs, framed by an epigraphic band in Kufic script, in Arabic. Only two panels excavated in the palace preserve portions of inscriptions complete enough to be read:34 the first has a historical content ‘celebrating possibly the construction or restoring of an unknown building’ (Giunta 2005: 546, fig. 14), while the second is undeciphered, being cut off in the upper part of the band and thus supporting the idea that it contained a text with a ‘political’ meaning, which had to be cancelled at a later period (Rugiadi 2007: no. 703).35 The historical meaning of the inscriptions and the considerable height of the facing (not less than 1,5-2 m) suggest its use in one of the ceremonial halls of the palace.

In the Northern area (which includes the façade, the entrance, the rooms leading to the īwān, and the so-called waiting halls) none of the original marble decoration was found in situ; nevertheless the frequent occurrence, in the excavated material of this area, of dado panels with cursive Arabic inscriptions (Rugiadi 2007: 1075, sub-type dado 2, nos 2-149), rarely found in other areas, supports the hypothesis that this dado facing was probably located in the entrance hall leading to the Northern īwān and, according to Umberto Scerrato (Scerrato 1995: 96), as an exterior decoration of the façade of the palace (Fig. 3). The sequence of Arabic benedictory words carved in the upper band of the dadoes would have suitably accompanied the visitors allowed to enter the sovereign’s palace. The central section of this dado shows a simple sequence of trilobated arches, without the elaborate vegetal pattern featured on the dado of the courtyard,31 while the lower register bears the sequence of two interlaced and rolled up scrolls.

We do not know the exact provenance of a small ‘arch’ containing Mas’ūd III’s titles (Fig. 10) (Bombaci 1959: 20, fig. 17; Gullini 1960: 58, no. 205; Bombaci 1966: 3, 20, pl. XXXVII, fig. 131; Giunta 2005: 541-42, fig. 10; Rugiadi 2007: 1102, sub-type arch 2, no. 816), which is nevertheless evidence of the attribution of the palace to this sovereign. The archaeologists found this object in the ziyāra Sultan IbrāΉīm, but it had been unearthed before by the guardian of the site in the Eastern area of the palace (Bombaci 1966: 20). It is a small pointed ‘arch’ with a polilobated inner outline; the epigraphic bands run around the front and the lateral side. The missing parts, where pattern and inscriptions are interrupted, both in the left side of the front side and in the lateral side, demonstrate that it belonged to a composite structure, pavilion-like, which was completed with at least two similar items.36 We can thus reject the hypothesis that it was employed as a miΉrāb or as a simple arch, as was believed before.

Much less is known of the marble decoration of the Southern area of the palace, where none of the items was found in its original setting: we can only postulate that some of the sub-types found in the excavations might have been employed in the rooms of this ceremonial area. I am referring in particular to two large rectangular panels with a whirl motif (Scerrato 1959: 37, fig. 33. Rugiadi 2007: 1090, sub-type panel 9, nos 728-9): according to Scerrato, they constituted the decoration of at least two pillars of the main (i.e. the Southern) īwān (Scerrato 1962: 269).32 They show a carved bas relief decoration with a whirl modular pattern in the main field, framed by a lateral epigraphic band in Kufic script, in Arabic (undeciphered).

There are few testimonies of the original water system of the palace;37 marble was employed for carved basins,38 for a well curb inscribed with the name of Mas’ūd III (Giunta 2005: 542; Rugiadi 2007: no. 888), and for plain manhole covers (Rugiadi 2007: nos 889-90), whose original setting is uncertain.39

Among the marbles bearing no evidence of their original settings within the building, but which nevertheless witness to the richness of the marble decorative apparatus, is a high facing with octagon motifs (Figs 1112) (Rugiadi 2007: 1088, sub-type panel 3, nos 694708).33 This facing was assembled with rectangular and L-shaped panels and it showed a modular pattern of

34 Six items excavated in the palace bear inscriptions, four of them showing only few extant letters. 35 As for the artefacts of sub-type panel 3 that do not come from the excavation of the palace, three bear inscriptions: one has probably a religious content (reading by Giunta in Rugiadi 2007: no. 706), the second shows a portion of a titulature, possibly of Mas’ūd I (Giunta, 2005: 543-44, fig. 12; Rugiadi 2007: no. 705); the last one is undeciphered (Rugiadi 2007: no. 707). 36

A small fragment belonging to another arch of the same sub-type was excavated in the palace (Rugiadi 2007: no. 817).

31 The sequence of trilobated arches in the middle section of the dadoes is one of the most frequent motifs on Ghaznavid marbles, especially on dado panels and funerary elements (one of the earliest examples of a single trilobated arch being carved on the tomb of MaΉmūd), while we do not find it in the architectural decoration of other Ghaznavid palatial sites, such as Lashkari Bazar. I will discuss this motif in a forthcoming study.

37 A well was excavated in the small courtyard (court III), another well was excavated in room IV (Pl. 1.1); both might pertain to later phases of the palace. 38 Three basins and two small fragments of basins were found in the excavation of the palace (Rugiadi 2007: nos 850: sub-type basin 3; 853: sub-type basin 5; 856: sub-type basin 6; 919 and 925: fragments, no sub-type).

32 Both were found in later re-employments: one as a miΉrāb in a late oratory, the other in a late construction within the courtyard (Rugiadi 2007: 1090). 33

39 One basin (Rugiadi 2007: no. 856) is reported as found in the niche XII, in situ (Pl. 1.1): this is possibly a reemployment.

Four of these were found during surveys of the Ghazni area.

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MARBLE FROM THE PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III IN GHAZNI The original decoration of the palace was not limited to the extensive use of marble: in fact, this was always associated in wall facings with panels in carved brick and plaster. Furthermore, the great part of the architectural decorative elements (marble, brick and plaster) were polychrome, as it is attested by traces of blue, red and yellow paint. The hypothesis of a gold gilding, supported by Scerrato, is not to be rejected, especially in consideration of a passage of al-’Utbī’s Ta’rīkh alYamīnī, in which the historian describes the splendour of the mosque ‘Bride of Heaven’ (Bombaci 1964: 28, 32); moreover, traces of a gold-like covering were recently found on a fragment of brick decoration stored in Rome.40

Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan’, East and West 10: 3-22. Bombaci, A. (1964) ‘La Sposa del Cielo’ in A Francesco Gabrieli. Studi orientalistici offerti nel sessantesimo compleanno dai suoi colleghi e discepoli (Università di Roma, Studi orientali 5), 21-34. Roma. Bombaci, A. (1966) The Kūfic Inscription in Persian Verses in the Court of the Royal Palace of Mas’ūd III at Ghazni (IsMEO Reports and Memoirs V). Rome. Callieri, P., ed. (2006) Architetti, capomastri, artigiani. L’organizzazione dei cantieri e della produzione artistica nell’Asia ellenistica. Studi offerti a Domenico Faccenna nel suo ottantesimo compleanno (Serie Orientale Roma C). Roma.

The major role that marble played in the decoration of this palace, either with merely decorative or functional use, is evident. While the palace certainly went through several occupational phases, in the course of which marble objects were often removed from their original position and employed elsewhere in the building, the comparative study of all the Ghazni marbles, and the data resulting from the archaeological, epigraphic and palaeographic research pointed out that the excavated marble finds are very homogenous and that none of them seems to belong to a post-Ghaznavid era.

Colledge, M.A.R. (1979) ‘“Sculptors” Stone-Carving Techniques in Seleucid and Parthian Iran, and Their Place in the “Parthian” Cultural Milieu: Some Preliminary Observations’, East and West 29: 221-40. Creswell, K.A.C. & Allan, J.W. (1989) A Short Account of Early Muslim Architecture. Revised and supplemented by J. W. Allan. Aldershot. Diez, E. (1923) Persien. Islamische Baukunst im Churâsân (Schriften-Reiche Kulturen der Erde. Material zu Kultur- und Kunstgeschichte aller Völker XX). Hagen i. W.–Darmstadt–Gotha.

Bibliographic References Allchin, F.R. & Hammond, N., eds (1978) The Archaeology of Afghanistan from Earliest Times to the Timurid Period. London–New York–San Francisco.

Fischer, K. (1978) ‘From the Rise of Islam to the Mongol Invasion’ in Allchin & Hammond 1978, 301-55. London–New York–San Francisco. Flood, F.B. (2001) The Great Mosque of Damascus. Studies on the Making of an Umayyad Visual Culture. Leiden–Boston–Köln.

Baer, E. (1965) Sphinxes and Harpies in Medieval Islamic Art. An Iconographical Study. Jerusalem. Ball, W. (1982) Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan. Catalogue des sites archéologiques d’Afghanistan, 2 vols. Paris.

Folsach, K. von (1990) Islamic Art. The David Collection. Copenhagen.

Bargigli, R., ed. (1995) I poeti della Pleiade ghaznavide. Milano.

Folsach, K. von, ed. (2001) Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection. Copenhagen.

Bessac, J.-C. (1993) ‘Traces d’outils sur la pierre: problématique, méthodes d’études et interprétation’ in R. de Francovich (ed.), Archeologia delle attività estrattive e metallurgiche: 5° ciclo di lezioni sulla ricerca applicata in archeologia, Certosa di Pontignano (SI), Campiglia Marittima (LI), 9-21 settembre 1991, 143-76. Firenze.

Fontana, M.V. (2005) ‘La fortuna di un ‘ajā’ib?’ in M. Bernardini & N.L. Tornesello (eds), Studi in onore di Giovanni M. D’Erme (Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’, Series Minor 68), 2 vols, I, 441-56. Napoli.

Bombaci, A. (1957) ‘Ghazni’, East and West 8: 247-58.

Giunta, R. (2005) ‘Testimonianze epigrafiche dei regnanti ghaznavidi a Ġaznī’ in M. Bernardini & N.L. Tornesello (eds), Studi in onore di Giovanni M. D’Erme, (Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’, Series Minor 68), 2 vols, I, 525-55. Napoli.

Giunta, R. (2003), Les inscriptions funéraires de Ġaznī (IVe-IXe/Xe-XVe siècles) (Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’, Series Maior 8). Napoli.

Bombaci, A. (1958) Enciclopedia Universale dell’Arte, VI: 5-16, s.v. Ghaznavidi. Roma. Bombaci, A. (1959) ‘Introduction to the Excavations at Ghazni. Summary Report on the Italian 40

Golombek, L. (1977) ‘Mazar-i Sharif – A Case of Mistaken Identity?’ in Studies in Memory of Gaston Wiet, 335-43. Jerusalem.

Unpublished (provenance: room XVIII, B II); see fn. 22.

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Grube, E.J. (1995) ‘Realism or Formalism: Notes on Some Fatimid Lustre-painted Ceramic Vessels’ in E.J. Grube, Studies in Islamic Painting: 26-34. London.

Scerrato, U. (1959) ‘Summary Report on the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan. The First Two Excavation Campaigns at Ghazni, 19571958’, East and West 10: 23-55.

Grube, E.J. & Johns, J. (eds) (2005) The Painted Ceilings of the Cappella Palatina (Suppl. 1 to Islamic Art). Genova–New York.

Scerrato, U. (1962) ‘Islamic Glazed Tiles with Moulded Decoration from Ghazni’ East and West 13: 26387.

Gullini, G., ed. (1960) Attività archeologica in Asia. Mostra dei risultati delle Missioni in Pakistan e in Afghanistan 1956-1959. Torino–Roma.

Scerrato, U. (1995) ‘Giuseppe Tucci, l’archeologia islamica ed altri parerga’ in B. Melasecchi (ed.), Giuseppe Tucci. Nel centenario della nascita, Roma 7-8 giugno 1994 (Conferenze IsMEO 8): 85-111. Roma.

Herzfeld, E. (1910) ‘Die Genesis der islamischen Kunst und das Mshatta-Problem’, Der Islam 1: 27-63. Herzfeld, E. (1914) ‘Mitteilungen ueber die Arbeiten der Zweiten Kampagne von Samarra’, Der Islam 5: 196-204.

Schlumberger, D. (1950) ‘Les Fouilles de Lashkari Bazar. Les résultats de la deuxième campagne’, Afghanistan 6 (4): 46-56.

Kalter, J.; Kussmaul, F. & Luschey, H. (1982) ‘VI. Die Ghasnawiden. Islamische Kunst im umkreis Ghasnis’ in Ferne Völker frühe Zeiten, Kunstwerke aus dem Linden-Museum Stuttgart, Staatliche Museum für Völkerkunde, II, Orient, Südasien, Ostasien, 55-58. Stuttgart.

Schlumberger, D. (1952) ‘La grande mosquée de Lashkari Bazar’, Afghanistan 7 (2): 1-4. Schlumberger, D. (1978) Lashkari Bazar, une Résidence royale ghaznévide et ghoride. 1A: l’Architecture (Mémoires de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan 18). Paris.

MacDowall, D.W. & Taddei, M. (1978) ‘The Pre-Muslim Period’ in Allchin & Hammond 1978, 233-99. London–New York–San Francisco.

Sourdel-Thomine, J. (1956) ‘Stèles arabes de Bust (Afghanistan)’, Arabica 3: 285-306.

Maricq, A. & Wiet, G. (1959) Le minaret de Djam. La découverte de la capitale des sultans Ghorides (XIIe-XIIIe siècles) (Mémoires de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan 16). Paris.

Thomas, D.C.; Pastori, G. & Cucco, I. (2005) ‘The Minaret of Jam Archaeological Project (MJAP)’, Antiquity 79 (303, March; online publication). Tilia, A.B. (1968) ‘A Study on the Methods of Working and Restoring Stone and on the Parts Left Unfinished in Achaemenian Architecture and Sculpture’, East and West 18: 67-95.

Nylander, C. (2006) ‘Stones for King: Stone-working in Ancient Iran’ in Callieri 2006: 121-36. Orris, G.J. & Bliss, J.D. (2002) Mines and Mineral Occurrences in Afghanistan, Pdf, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

Tilia, A.B. (1978) Studies and Restorations at Persepolis and Other Sites of Fārs II (IsMEO Reports and Memoirs XVIII). Rome.

Rockwell, P. (1989) Lavorare la pietra. Manuale per l’archeologo, lo storico dell’arte e il restauratore. Roma.

al-Ya’qūbī (1937) Les Pays. Le Caire (transl. G. Wiet). Wilkinson, C.K. (1986) Nishapur: Some Early Islamic Buildings and their Decoration. New York.

Rockwell, P. (1993) ‘Tools in Ancient Marble Sculpture’ in R. de Francovich (ed.), Archeologia delle attività estrattive e metallurgiche: 5. ciclo di lezioni sulla ricerca applicata in archeologia, Certosa di Pontignano (SI), Campiglia Marittima (LI), 9-21 settembre 1991: 177-93. Firenze. Rockwell, P. (2006) ‘Gandharan Stoneworking in the Swat Valley’ in Callieri 2006: 157-81. Rosset, L.F. (1946) ‘Les marbres afghans’, Afghanistan 1 (2): 5-12. Rowland, B.Jr. (1966) Ancient Art from Afghanistan. Treasures of the Kabul Museum. New York. Rowland, B.Jr. (1971) Art in Afghanistan. Objects from the Kabul Museum. London. Rugiadi, M. (2007) Decorazione architettonica in marmo da Ghazni / Marble architectural decoration from Ghazni, Ph.D. thesis, Università degli Studi di 302

MARBLE FROM THE PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III IN GHAZNI

Fig. 1 - Plan of the palace of Mas’ūd III in Ghazni with localization of sub-types dado 14 and column base 4 (found in situ), dado 2 (hypothetical). Copyright IsIAO.

Fig. 2 - Sub-type dado 14 (Drawing IsIAO).

Fig. 3 - Sub-type dado 2 (Drawing IsIAO).

303

Fig. 4 - Sub-type column base 4 (Drawing IsIAO).

Martina Rugiadi

Figs 5-6 - Sub-type transenna 4 (from the right: nos C2975 and C2976) (Photo IsIAO).

Fig. 7 - Sub-type transenna 4, set parallel.

Fig. 8 - Sub-type transenna 4, set in line.

Fig. 9 - Sketch drawing of transenna no. C2976 (here drawn upside down) showing the hollows for joints or vertical decorative elements in the top face (Drawing IsIAO).

304

MARBLE FROM THE PALACE OF MAS’ŪD III IN GHAZNI

Fig. 10 - Sub-type arch 2, front face and lateral face, with hypothetical partial reconstruction (Photo IsIAO).

305

Martina Rugiadi

Fig. 11 - Sub-type panel 3, hypothetical reconstruction (Drawing and photo IsIAO).

Fig. 12 - Items of Sub-type panel 3 (Photo IsIAO).

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DWELLINGS IN THE SNOW: LIVING TRADITIONS IN THE BRALDU VALLEY (BALTISTAN) Ilaria E. Scerrato The Baltistan region is in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. It borders to the north with China and to the south with a territory disputed with India, known as Jammu and Kashmir. This region is famous for its glaciers that are among the largest in the world and its peaks of the Karakoram mountain range that are over eight thousand meters and include K2 and Gasherbrum. This area was known by the Chinese as the Great Bolor (Po-lu-lo) while in Islamic sources it was referred as the Small Tibet (Jettmar 1977: 414-15; Petech 1977: 9). In the Past, thanks to the strategic location of Baltistan, several commercial routes passed through its territory creating an economic lifeline for all the people who traded with Eastern Turkestan, China, Central Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and Tibet.

of this route are known, the older which was utilized until 1835 and a newer one that was closed in 1887 (Dainelli 1924: 198-208). Based on oral tradition, we learned that these passes were very dangerous. The danger derived from the difficulty of the terrain as well as the presence of marauders. In 1836, the marauders came from the Hunza valley through the Hispar hill route and looted the villages in the Braldu valley, stealing men, women and live stock.2 There is no doubt that the Braldu Valley was often attacked from the routes that went through the glaciers. A clear sign of this is the presence of a fortification built halfway between the Biafo glacier and the Askole village. The existence of this fortification was reported by Giotto Dainelli during 1913 expedition (ibid.: 198). The local inhabitants told him that the fortification was built to protect them from incursions from marauders from Hunza. Today there are only few ruins of this fortification but it still appears on maps.3

The IsIAO, in collaboration with The Everest-K2-CNR Committee, participates in a project whose objectives are the recovery and valorisation of the cultural and natural assets of the Central Karakoram National Park. In September 2006, IsIAO conducted the first survey in the high Braldu valley that is the way to access the Biafo and Baltoro glaciers that lead to some of the highest peaks in the world.1

An ancient trail allows to climb on foot the high part of the Braldu valley from the village of Chongo (2965 m) to Askole (3048 m), the last village before the glaciers. The valley is arid and rocky. It is crossed by the Braldu river and punctuated half way up the side of the valley with various oasis of poplars and weeping willows (Fig. 2). There are many terraces cultivated with cereals, irrigation canals, water operated flower mills, hay-lofts, pastures, and cemeteries surrounding the traditional villages inhabited by people who speak Balti, a Tibetan dialect. The inhabitants of this valley were Buddhist, about the 15th century they converted to Islam. Local tradition states that the Islamic religion came to Baltistan from Kashmir. Every inhabited centre in the valley has a village leader called tram pa. He makes political and economic decisions in conjunction with four other men,

I would like to provide with the highlights of some of the most important findings that were observed while in situ and were derived from interviews with the inhabitants of the valley. The data gathered help us better understand the valley’s ‘reality’ and the best way to preserve it. Additionally this data also provides us with a more in depth cultural and anthropological knowledge of the Baltistan region that is not yet entirely known. In spite of its arduous topography, the Karakoram mountain range was crossed by ancient pathways that connected places that were far apart from each other. We know a lot of information about these routes because of reports by the travellers in the late 19th century and early 20th century (Conway 1893; Dainelli 1924; Vigne 1981; Drew 2002). Two of these routes that are of particular interest are the Hispar and Mustagh hills (Fig. 1): -

2 In Askole, Conway collected information from a man whose father had told him that a band from Nagar, near Hunza, came in late October looking for food during a particularly bad crop year. They all died except for their leader Wazir Hollo (Conway 1894: 415-16).

The Hispar hill route followed the Biafo and Hispar glaciers connecting the Braldu e Hunza valleys. This route was used until approximately 1840. The Mustagh route connected Yarkand (Chinese Turkestan, currently Chinese Shashe along the southern Tarim basin) with Kashmir, through the Braldu valley. This route was utilized by merchant originating from Kashgar. Two separate variations

1

The research was carried out by the author and by Danilo Rosati, draughtsman, accompanied by Riaz ul-Hassan, Ev–K2-CNR Committee Resident Representative in Skardu.

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3 The construction of this fortification dates back to the mid-14th century AD after the invasion of Baltistan by the Yarkand’s Sultan Said Khan who razed the territory in 1532 ( Hashmatullah Khan 1987: 102). After this violent assault, the Sultan of Shigar established diplomatic relations with Yarkand. To stabilize the situation the Sultan agreed to let some nomad tribes from Yarkand settle in the Braldu valley’s villages of Teste and Askole. This action helped to formalize the border along the Karakoram mountain range that was acceptable to both parties. As a result of these agreements, the Mustagh hill route that connects the Yarkand with Kashmir, via the Braldu valley, became a widely used commercial thoroughfare in spite of the difficulties deriving from having to go through glaciers. The history of the migration of groups that originated in Yarkand is part of the oral tradition of Askole. In this tradition, three brothers, Sangar, Goud, and Chow, came via the Mustagh route to settle in Askole. From them originated the three principal Askole’s families that still today bear their names.

Ilaria E. Scerrato the lora pa, who help him in the management of economic, social and juridical issues. The tram pa inherits his position, while the lora pas are selected by the tram pa and serve for a year, from March to the following March. The head of the Askole village has also another important position. He is the chairman of the valley in the Union Council, that is responsible for the administration of the high and low Braldu valleys. The climate can be extreme and it affects the social life and the architecture of the houses. The local population has conserved the tradition of a life tied to an economy based on exchange of goods derived from irrigated agriculture and transhumant stock-raising. The rhythm of the season defines their activities. The principal crops grown on the terraces are wheat, buckwheat, and turnips. The harvest of the grain occurs once a year in September. Near every village there are small family run flower water mills. Another important activity is the breeding of ovine, cattle and goats. From April to September these animals are led to the high pastures where there are some temporary shelters. An important agricultural activity is also the growing of fruits that include apricots, peaches, grapes, apples, and nuts. Oral tradition traces back these cultivation to Yarkand, Hunza and Nagar. They were imported to Shigar area at the beginning of 1500 and then expanded to all other surrounding areas. Women’s activities are strictly limited to domestic work in the interior of their homes. These homes have retained their traditional aspects more than any other structures. The only activities that induce women to leave their homes are to fetch water and collect wood for their fire places which is stored in large quantities on their roofs. When they go out, their heads are always covered with a typical red felt hat adorned with small pearls, shells and coins. In the 19th century, an additional source of income to the Karakoram communities derived from the visits of soldiers, fortune hunters, travellers, and European mountain climbers. They utilized local porters and coolies to transport their supply in difficult terrain. Initially these activities were unpaid work required of the local inhabitants by the local tram pa. During the 20th century, an autonomous economy of portering emerged. However, because of its sporadic nature this activity does not guarantee a predictable income to the villages.

room of the mosque employs the centralized ground plan, that includes one central pillar and arcaded veranda located in the front of the prayer room. The central room of the Imambara is situated between two wings that are reserved for women. These two wings are protected by wooden lattice work panels. The roof is sustained by four wooden pillars (Fig. 4). The pillars, the capitals, and in general all the wooden parts are decorated with great skill and simplicity respect for the decoration style found in the major religious centres. Homes have not been influenced by the Kashmirian style (Fig. 5). Their structures and decorations of wooden items reflect the pre-Islamic style. ‘The walls, as in general in the domestic rural Karakoram structures, are built with stone rubble of variable quality found locally and placed rather haphazardly in point to point to contact. Between the stones thick irregular mortar mud is then placed or thrown to fill the gaps and increase structural stability’ ( Hughes 2005 : 104). Homes are usually inhabited by families of about ten people. Until recently, two brothers might live together with both of their families. The Braldu’s homes, called in Balti nang, have the same pattern of construction that is influenced by the local weather. The houses have three levels: -

a basement – cača – that is used in the Winter season; an intermediate – balti – that is the Summer quarter; the flat practicable roof – hundoc – which is covered by a removable structure – sela – made of braided benches of weeping willows, is used as a bed in warm summer days (Fig. 6).

The three levels are connected through an opening on the roof that has a peg staircase. This central roof opening of the house derives from an overlay of three narrowing, diagonally superimposed layers of beams. This entrance structure style is widely used throughout the Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges. It is the main entrance to the dwelling. Additionally, it is the source of light for the housing unit and serves as a chimney to dissipate the smoke from the fire place. The winter level, buried or partially buried, has a quadrangle central room with a central pillar surmounted by a bracket capital richly decorated (Fig. 7). This room has no windows to insure that no heat from the fire place is lost during the long harsh winter season. The winter level is laid out in such a way that the cold will not reach any portion of this floor. The winter house has additional rooms that are located at opposite sides to the central room. On one side there is a storehouse and on the other side there are the stables that

The villages which we visited, Chongo, Tongol, Srongo and Askole, lie on the right bank of the Braldu river. They are characterized by houses clustered together, separated by small streets which are often crossed by small channels that bring water from the mountains. The heart of the village is made up of religious buildings, the mosque and the Imambara, the typical Islam Shi’a congregational centre (Fig. 3). These centres are affected by the Kashmirian influence even though they are produced in simpler fashion by local artisans.4 The prayer 4

After the establishment of Islam, the Baltistan region had intense cultural, religious and artistic ties with Kashmir, where we find a highly consolidated artistic tradition. It is significant the architecture of the mosques, mausoleums and fortresses in the Shigar valley, Shyok Valley (Shigar, Kiris, Tagas, Kapalu) and in Skardu (Scerrato 1983: 327-28, figs 11-13, 26-33; Klimburg 2005). These buildings testify to a sophisticated architectural style that is even more apparent as a result of

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the recent restorations financed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (Bianca 2005). Religious buildings display stone walls inserted into wooden frames which follow the construction technique called “cator and cribbage” widely used in the whole of Karakoram and Hindu Kush (Hughes 2005: 99). Usually in the Imambara and in the mosques we find a typical ‘pagoda’ (or pyramid), a Kashmirian roof style. This roof style culminates with a central lantern called qubbah, a kind of cuspidate lantern.

DWELLINGS IN THE SNOW: LIVING TRADITIONS IN THE BRALDU VALLEY (BALTISTAN) There is a significant difference between the decorations used in homes versus those used in religious buildings:

have an outside door. The animals live in close contact with the family in the house, especially the small goats that are in the part of the stables next to the fire place. During the harsh winter months, all daily activities, such as meal taking and greeting guests occur around the fire place. The provisions, accumulated during the spring and summer, are stored in shelves enclosed by wooden panels with carved decorations. Small sleeping quarters are obtained by using decorated wooden partitions. The first floor is used during the summer. It is accessible from the exterior from the two extremities of the house. This floor is always at a level higher than the street (Fig. 8). Its rooms are set around a quadrangle verandah supported by four pilasters. At the centre of this room there is the opening with the pegs staircase that leads to the roof floor. In the verandah there is the summer kitchen. Like the winter quarters, the rest of the division of the house are wood and woven willow partitions. The last level, the roof, in addition of being used in the warm season as a sleeping area, it is also used to store wood and roots that can be used as fuel for the fire place. In the last few years there have been many new additions to the arched verandas of these buildings. Bricks made of clay have been used in these new additions that close parts of the first floors. The presence of winter and summer quarters has been established as characteristic of the Baltistan, especially in Hunza Valley, and Ladakh regions. The homes in Ladakh are bigger and more sophisticated (Dainelli 1924: 27-35; Cheema 2005: 182, fig. 179). The current architectural situation in Baltistan needs to be investigated. In 1913-1914, at the time of Dainelli expeditions, there was a significant variety of architectural exteriors and building styles (Dainelli 1924: 58-60). The study that we are conducting in the valley of Braldu is directed to the re-qualification of the cultural patrimony of this area. To date, we have been able to observe that the current domestic architecture dates back to the beginning of the last century and is still well conserved. The structure of the homes in Braldu represents a specialization of the style of architecture that fulfils basic needs: -

-

In this occasion we would focus on home decorations. In general, we could say that among the main decorations carved in panels, columns and capitals are abstract and floral designs. Human beings and animal are not part of these decorations (Fig. 9). An interesting decoration is the endless knot that appears in the Braldu homes as decorative frame or as the dominant theme of the carvings (Fig. 10). The endless knot is also found in the Indian Subcontinent. Tablets coming from Mohenjo-Daro, and Rojdi in Gujarat bear this ornament. Additionally, the endless knot appears in the reefs along the banks of the river Indo, near Chilas. These carvings date back from 300 BC to AD 300. This decorative style continues to be used even today (Kenoyer 2004: 108-10). Another very well known decoration is the swastika that is frequently represented on seals and tablets of the 3rd millennium BC coming from the Indus valley’s civilization. From antiquity to the present day, the swastika is a widely used symbol in all Northern Pakistan (ibid.). In the wooden panels that are in the homes of the Braldu Valley, the swastika is always counter clockwise.5 It appears in the centre of the panel as the most important element of the carving. Its hooks stretch out in soft scroll, or are repeated to infinity inside of a latticework where each swastika is connected to the others by the stretching of the four hooks (Fig. 11).

to concentrate heat in the winter residence; to live many months in the Winter space while waiting to start outdoor farming activities; to have easy access to the supplies.

Another ornamental approach is to carve several swastikas to form continuous frames that surround other decorations. Among the most common are lattice featuring rosettes and the scroll motifs that are well known and widely used in the Gandhāra’s art (Faccenna & Filigenzi 2007: 120-1, 123).

Currently the community expresses an ambivalent attitude toward their homes. On one side they demonstrate a strong attachment to their ancestral homes, on the other side they are eager to live in better condition, particularly in the winter season when, to protect themselves from the cold, they must live in the lower houses that have no windows and sanitary facilities.

There are also great carvings of radiant motif within circular forms that remind us of the solar symbols. These symbols are carved in the capital of the central column of the winter homes and of the mosque. Lastly, there is the interlaced pattern, that is widely used in Nuristan and in

A last consideration is the issue of getting the wood decorations that are integral part of the winter home: -

home decorations include a significant variety of ornaments that are part of a rich indigenous, PreIslamic tradition; religious buildings are influenced by the architectural style based on the Kashmirian tradition. This style has much more sober decorations and uses many more latticework panels.

5 The meaning of this complex and ancient symbol probably derives from the Indian Solar Symbolism as well as the Tibetan Lamaism. In the Indian Solar Symbolism the hooks are oriented clockwise in the same way the sun moves. In the Tibetan indigenous Bon religion the hooks are counter clockwise in the same direction as the Prayer Mills and the ceremonial circle of the Temples (Tucci 1976: 297-98; Arif 1992).

the bracket capitals on the central pillars; the panels that are part of the pantries placed near the fire places. 309

Ilaria E. Scerrato Pakistan’, Zentralasiatische Studien 11: 411-48.

areas not yet converted to Islam such as the Kafir valleys of Chitral (Edelberg 1984: figs 108, 173; Scerrato 2003) (Figs 12-13). Also we find purely geometric carving, depicting squares, rumbles, octagons and circles.

Kenoyer, J.M. (2004) Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. Karachi-Islamabad (first ed. Oxford 1998).

The traditional wood carving activity was active until 20 years ago. Unfortunately these skills have been lost in recent years. This can be traced to the lack of economic activities in these villages. In spite of this decline, we have identified four artisans who are still active, one at Askole and three at Chongo. However, they mainly do maintenance work.

Klimburg, M. (2005) ‘Traditional Art and Architecture in Baltistan’ in Bianca 2005, 149-64. Torino. Petech, L (1977) The Kingdom of Ladakh c. 950-1842 A.D. Roma. Scerrato, U. (1983) ‘Survey of Wooden Mosques and Related Wood Carvings in the North-West Frontier Province, 3rd Report-1982 and 4th Report-1983’, East and West, 33: 325-28.

Our current study objectives are to increase the awareness and understanding of the cultural patrimony, tangible and intangible, contribute to the reconstruction of the history and the economic cultural relations with the nearby regions. This effort is part of the interdisciplinary project that aims at saving the territory in a sustainable way interacting with the local authorities and communities.

Scerrato, I.E. (2003) ‘Motivi decorativi convenzionali e figure naturalistiche: note su alcuni oggetti lignei kafiri’ in M.V. Fontana & B. Genito (eds), Studi in onore di Umberto Scerrato per il suo settantacinquesimo compleanno, 769-80. Napoli. Tucci, G. (1976) Le religioni del Tibet. Roma (First ed. Die Religionen Tibets, Stuttgard 1970). Vigne, G.T. (1981) Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo. New Delhi (first ed. London 1842).

Bibliographic References Arif, M. (1992) ‘Swastika in Baltistan’, Journal of Central Asia 15 (3): 63-71. Bianca, S., ed. (2005) Karakoram. Hidden Treasures in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Torino. Cheema, Y. (2005) ‘Towards an Inventory of Historic Buildings and Cultural Landscapes’ in S. Bianca (ed.), Karakoram. Hidden Treasures in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, 165-214. Torino. Conway, W.M. (1894) Climbing and Exploration in the Karakoram-Himalaya. London. Dainelli, G. (1924) Le condizioni delle genti. Spedizione italiana De Filippi nell’Himalaia, Caracorum e Turchestan cinese (1913-1914), vol. VIII. Bologna. Drew, F. (2002) The Jummo and Kashmir Territories. A Geographical Account. New Delhi (first ed. London 1875). Edelberg, L. (1984) Nuristani Buildings. Aarhus. Faccenna, D. & Filigenzi A. (2007) Repertorio terminologico per la schedatura delle sculture dell’arte gandharica. Repertory of Terms for Cataloguing Gandharan Sculptures (IsIAO Reports and Memoirs, New Series 5). Roma. Hashmatullah Khan, A.-H. M. (1987) History of Baltistan. Islamabad (Translation of the 1939 Urdu version). Hughes, R. (2005) ‘Vernacular Architecture and Construction Techniques in the Karakoram’ in Bianca 2005, 99-132. Torino. Jettmar, K. (1977) ‘Bolor – A Contribution to the Political and Ethnic Geography of North 310

DWELLINGS IN THE SNOW: LIVING TRADITIONS IN THE BRALDU VALLEY (BALTISTAN)

Fig. 1 - Karakoram Map showing the routes from Hunza and from Yarkand to Braldu (from Karakoram Maps, sheet 2, Leomann Maps 1990; processed by D. Rosati).

Fig. 2 - Braldu Valley (Photo I.E. Scerrato).

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Ilaria E. Scerrato

Fig. 3 - Imambara in Askole (Photo I.E. Scerrato).

Fig. 5 - House in Askole (Photo I.E. Scerrato).

Fig. 4 - Askole Imambara sketch ground plan (Drawing D. Rosati)

Fig. 6 - Section of house in Braldu Valley (Drawing D. Rosati)

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DWELLINGS IN THE SNOW: LIVING TRADITIONS IN THE BRALDU VALLEY (BALTISTAN)

Fig. 10 - Decorations on a panel beside the fireplace in a house (Photo I.E. Scerrato). Fig. 7 - Sketch of the ground floor (left) and upper floor (right) of a house in Askole (Drawing D. Rosati).

Fig. 8 - House in Askole (Photo I.E. Scerrato).

Fig. 11 - Swastika motif on wooden panel in a house (Photo I.E. Scerrato).

Fig. 9 - Carvings on a capital in a house in Askole (Photo I.E. Scerrato).

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Ilaria E. Scerrato

Fig. 12 - Circular motifs on wooden panel in a house (Photo I.E. Scerrato).

Fig. 13 - Interlaced pattern and radiant motifs on wooden panel in a house (Photo I.E. Scerrato).

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ONGOING TYPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF BODHISATTVA IMAGES FROM GREATER GANDHĀRA: FOUR JAКĀMUKUКA CONVENTIONS FOR IMAGES OF THE MAITREYA-TYPE Carolyn Woodford Schmidt Accordingly, Śākyamuni states that when Maitreya, after dwelling in the TuΒita Paradise, returns to earth, he will be born into the family of the Brahman purohita, or chaplain, in his earthly paradise, Ketumatī, modern Varanasi (Rosenfield 1967: 232 & 312, n. 71). In this same body of literature, it is explained that, by paying homage to Śākyamuni, practioners will be rewarded implicitly with salvation through instruction from Maitreya Bodhisattva in TuΒita and rebirth in Ketumatī at the time of Maitreya Buddha (Rosenfield 1967: 233-34 & 312, n. 82, citing Levi, Mélanges Linossier, vol. II, p. 395).

While remarkably rich in its wealth of sculptured imagery with diverse iconographic forms, Greater Gandhāran Buddhism continues to present enthralling issues for both Buddhist scholars and art historians primarily due to the paucity of evidence to support interpretation. Faith (śraddha) in Maitreya as a Bodhisattva and as the next future earthly Buddha has been a major feature of Buddhism since the earliest recorded periods in Buddhist history. Its importance in Greater Gandhāra has also been recognized from the time it was first identified in the early part of the twentieth century, when serious research efforts to understand the Buddhist traditions and art of the region began to develop. This essay, focused on jaΓāmukuΓa conventions, represents a unique effort to add definition to the role of Maitreya in the northwest through an analysis of the multiple ways he was represented in art and in the related patterns of association with other iconographic elements.

Archaeological Record and Pilgrimage Reports In discussing the images under study, it seems appropriate to reference the initial stages of exploration in the Northwest, as much of the general information concerning them is derived largely from these archaeological efforts. One of the most captivating summaries of the process was presented by Francine Tissot at the EASAA conference in 1983 (Tissot 1985: 567-616). The highlights of Tissot’s recounting begin with the 1864 report by Dr. H.W. Bellew and the recovery of two extraordinary Bodhisattva statues from Dhamāmi mound, Sahrī-Bāhlol (Tissot 1985: 575; Bellew 1864: 137-43). The first was an approximately twenty-inch, technically refined Maitreya-type image in black schist, generally referred to as an image of Siddhartha. The second was a colossal, standing, blueschist image of Maitreya, reaching approximately eight feet, even without sectors of his lower legs, feet, and base (Fig. 4f; with little background information available, the figures were identified as kings or important lay donors; Cunningham 1875: vol. 5; Rowland 1961: 6-12; Tissot 1985: 567, 573, 576-77). From that time through succeeding decades, multiplicities of regally adorned Maitreya-type figures in stone, stucco, and metal continued to be recovered from sites throughout the region. Additionally, although most of the historical evidence produced in ephemeral materials has been lost, eyewitness reports of Chinese pilgrims record the use of sandalwood plated with gold for a colossal image in Darel (Toli or Daliluo).

Maitreya: History and Functional Capabilities in Literature Prior to discussing the complex topic of jaΓāmukuΓa conventions for Maitreya Bodhisattva in Greater Gandhāra, it is of value to summarily review the history and functional capabilities of Maitreya, ‘Benevolent One,’ as known from early Buddhist literary references. The first reference to Maitreya is found in the Sutta Nipāta, one of the oldest texts of the Pāli Canon, where he is identified as one of the sixteen disciples of the Brahman ascetic, Bāvari, who are converted to Buddhism by Śākyamuni (Lamotte 1988: 775-77; Rosenfield 1967: 312, n. 72; Sutta Nipāta 5.1 ff.). In additional early references, inconsistencies occur as to the details of his life and his place of birth, either in the north or in the south, and there is no allusion to a messianic role (Lamotte 1988: 777). In due course, based on a prediction by Śākyamuni, it is universally acknowledged that the next mānuΒi or earthly Buddha will be Maitreya. Prophecies of his future Buddhahood are found in the Nikāyas and Āgamas, and described at length in the Maitreyavyākarana texts, which had been transported to China and first translated into Chinese by Dharmaraksa, working between 265 and 313 CE (Lamotte 1958: 77779, 779 n. 4 gives the references for five Maitreyavyākarana texts in Chinese translation; for Dharmaraksa, see: i. T 453). The essential, expanded relationship between Brahmanical caste and Maitreya’s career is given comparatively uniform series of passages in Maitreyavyākarana texts (Rosenfield 1967: 312, n.

While the Chinese reports related to Maitreya are noticeably brief and varying in their details, the accounts do attest to the importance of Maitreya imagery in the region. The first eyewitness description, that of the sandalwood figure in Northern Areas of modern Pakistan, is found in the biography of Baoyun, who left for India in AD 397 (Ming-seng Chuan, xxvi; see Lee 1983: 189, n. 400, citing Soper 1959: 268). Given the Baoyun account,

the in a the 71). 315

Carolyn Woodford Schmidt there can be no doubt that, sometime during the fourth century, a sandalwood image of Maitreya Bodhisattva, described as eighty feet tall and covered with gold plates, had been installed in the Darel Valley (Soper 1959: 268). The presence of this massive seated image, shrouded in pious legends of visits to Maitreya in Tu·ita by the individuals or individual responsible for its creation, is confirmed by the subsequent pilgrimage documents both by Faxian from the early 5th century and, again, by Xuanzang from the early 7th century (Lee 1983: 190-92 citing Daizōkyō, 51: 857c-858a; Beal 1884: vol. 1, p. 15; Ming-seng Chuan, xxvi; Soper 1959: 268).

images might represent other Bodhisattvas, such as Śvetaketu and Mahāsthāmaprāpta of early Mahāyāna, although it may not be possible to develop sustainable arguments for such assessments. This effort is focused on images that have been widely accepted as images of Maitreya. The Four Distinctive JaΓāmukuΓa Conventions During the Kushan era, four distinctive conventions for jaΓāmukuΓas were used for Maitreya-type images: a double loop, a rondure or u·nī·a-like bun, a kaparda (tresses spiraling upward like the top of a shell), and a square-knot (nodus herculeus) (Figs 1a-1d). The chignons are typically adorned with strands of beads, probably pearls, configured in various ways and to which, on occasion, a limited number of symbols have been attached. The list of ornaments includes: a nandyāvarta or triśūla, a crescent moon, a large faceted jewel, an image of a flower genius (upper part of a human being emerged from a lotus flower) holding the ends of the strands of beads in the headdress, and a faceted jewel on a lotus dais (Figs 2a-2e; see Quagliotti 1994: esp. 130 n. 5). The reasons for distinctions in jaΓāmukuΓa styles and varying inclusions of symbolic ornamentation are not clearly understood, making it difficult to interpret the characteristics precisely. The jaΓāmukuΓa convention, however, should be considered a primary, distinguishing attribute.

Bodhisattva Imagery: Typological Research Categories Greater Gandhāra, an area that includes sectors of eastern Afghanistan and much of north-western Pakistan, is a vast, topologically diversified region with a heterogeneous cultural heritage, marked by numerous transformations resulting from political change and vibrant stylistic and iconographic developments within the Buddhist school. At the same time, it retained a remarkable level of continuity, seemingly reflective of the conservative dispositions within Indic Buddhist communities. It was during the second and third centuries, the time when the region was at the height of its Buddhist period, that the tradition of Bodhisattva image making proliferated. As a corporal part of a highly conventionalized Gandhāran formal system, Bodhisattvas were adorned in the aristocratic, South Asian manner of the period, their princely accouterments to dress (bodhisattvābharna) bearing characteristics of South Asian, Graeco-Roman, Iranian, and Central Asian nomadic preferences.

The Double-looped JaΓāmukuΓa The double-looped jaΓāmukuΓa, perhaps the oldest convention used for images of Maitreya, is characterized by tresses on the top of the head having been secured into two symmetrically configured loops (Figs 3a-3f). Images displaying this type of chignon, which seems to have been a Greater Gandhāran convention, date from approximately the late 1st century BC through the periods of stylistic florescence and decline for the tradition in stone. There are forty-nine images of this type in the research corpus. In examples sculpted after c. the middle of the 2nd century AD, a double strand of beads secures the topknot, while additional strands of beads, inset with faceted jewels and fashioned as some type of net, complete the ornamentation (Figs 3d-3f). Some examples also include a symbol or symbols (Fig. 3d).

These Bodhisattva images can be divided into two, broad, typological research groupings, distinguished by their attributes: their hand gestures or mudrās, hand-held objects, and by hairstyle and headdress, often the signifiers of identity and functional capability (Saunders 1960: 9; Schmidt 2008a; Schmidt 2008b). The first group, classed as the Siddhartha-AvalokiteśvaraPadmapāni-type, is shown with a turban and with the proper left hand placed on the hip or holding a lotus or floral wreath. The second group, classed as the Maitreyatype, is shown with a long hairstyle fashioned with the tresses on top of the head drawn-up, wrapped or knotted, and secured in a chignon, generally referred to by the Sanskrit term jaΓāmukuΓa (technically an ascetic’s matted-locks crown). Typically in this grouping, the Maitreya-type holds, in his proper left hand, a kamanΡalu, (water jar or flask, especially of an ascetic).

The earliest images are from Swat and recall, in technical skill, the earliest extant images of Śākyamuni, which also appear to be from that region. These early Maitreya figures display ordered rows of tightly curled hair both across the forehead and at the sides. A number of relief images of Maitreya in Tu·ita also display this tightly curled fashion with the double-looped jaΓāmukuΓa, as seen on a false-gable panel from a private collection (Fig. 3c).

Due to condition and paucity of information, the identifications and functions of most Bodhisattvas, who are among the most numerous of the surviving large images from Greater Gandhāra, remain hypothetical. The term Maitreya-type is used for research purposes due to the fragmented state of some images, the selection of various jaΓāmukuΓa styles for Brahman and Brahman ascetic individuals, and the possibility that some of the

As with the double-looped jaΓāmukuΓa, the use of ringlets was continued, over time the tightly ordered rows giving way to a more relaxed ringlet treatment both at the sides 316

ONGOING TYPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF BODHISATTVA IMAGES FROM GREATER GANDHĀRA time, different fashions were introduced for the unsecured locks of hair across the forehead and at the sides, the rondure- or u·nī·a-like jaΓāmukuΓa was retained (Figs 4e and 4f).

and across the forehead (Figs 3d-3e). Although, as far as is known, the double-looped-style jaΓāmukuΓa was first developed in Swat, it was subsequently used throughout the region. Some figures, such as the image of Maitreya seated on a lotus pericarp and displaying dharmacakra mudrā, show characteristics often associated with Mahāyāna iconographic advancement (Fig. 3e). While new hairstyles, some influenced by Graeco-Roman traditions, were introduced, the double-looped jaΓāmukuΓa was continued, as is attested by the extraordinary head from the Guimet collection, the refinement in skill and meticulous attention to detail making it one of the finest pieces to have been recovered from the northwest (Fig. 3f).

As with a number of examples, a British Museum falsegable scene displays an image wearing this type of jaΓāmukuΓa above a scene from the life of Śākyamuni (Fig. 4d; according to W. Lobo, the Bodhisattva is Śvetaketu; see Zwalf 1996: 218, n. 2). Of equal iconographic interest is a three and one-half foot carving of a Bodhisattva seated in simhāsana and displaying dharmacakra mudrā (Fig. 4e). Between the legs on the lion dais is a relief, the focus of which is a colossal representation of a kamanΡalu, indicating that the Bodhisattva can be none other than Maitreya (see Huntington 1984: 146-47). Where it not for his conventionalized Bodhisattva hairstyle and jewelry, this second half of third or fourth century figure would be classed as a Buddha image. Also worthy of consideration is colossal scaling. Even though the late second or third century figure from Dhamāmi is missing sectors of its legs, feet, and base, this image is approximately eight feet tall, perhaps making it the largest Bodhisattva image in stone to have been recovered from Greater Gandhāra (Fig. 4f; cf. Metropolitan Museum torso of a Bodhisattva, no. 1995-419).

The Rondure-Style JaΓāmukuΓa The second style, the rondure-style jaΓāmukuΓa, is fashioned from long strands of hair from the top of the head, which are drawn up and secured in such a way as to form a rounded bun. Typically, in examples sculpted after c. the middle of the 2nd century, the topknot is secured by a strand of beads, while additional strands, inset with faceted jewels, are fashioned as a chaplet or as some type of net. An attached symbol or symbols may also be found (Fig. 4d and 4f). Bodhisattva images displaying the rondure-style jaΓāmukuΓa date from approximately the 1st century AD through the periods of stylistic florescence and decline. There are eighty-one images of this type, the largest grouping of Maitreya-type images in the research corpus. For the Buddhist school of Greater Gandhāra, the similarities between rondure-style jaΓāmukuΓa and topknot fashions adorning images of Buddhas are well recognized, with images of the Maitreya-type being distinguished by long unsecured locks at the back and sides of the head, and by elaborate jewelry, in addition to the flask (cf. Figs 4c with 4e and 4f).

The Kaparda-style JaΓāmukuΓa The third style, the kaparda-style jaΓāmukuΓa, is composed of locks of hair that are wrapped in a spiral fashion on the top of the head similar to a kaparda or snail shell (Figs 5a-5c). The Greater Gandhāran examples are relatively loosely wrapped, as seen in an image from the Peshawar district and now part of Chandigarh Museum collection (Fig. 5a). Only three examples of this type are found among the one hundred and eighty-eight images in the research corpus, seemingly none created before the late 1st or early 2nd century. There are very early examples, however, associated with images of Brahman ascetics and Brahma, such as this image of Brahma seen in a stele from the Wali of Swat Collection (Fig. 5d). The kaparda-style jaΓāmukuΓa also adorns one of the earliest, c. late 1st or early 2nd century AD, fasting images of Śākyamuni (Fig. 5e). It was recovered from Jamāl-Garhī. The three Bodhisattva examples in the research corpus vary greatly in style and presentation. Although the kaparda-style jaΓāmukuΓa was very important to iconographic development in the Mathura region, as attested by this end-of-the-first or second century stele from KaΓrā Mound, it never gained importance for Bodhisattva imagery in the northwest (Fig. 5f).

For Buddha images, the rondure is referred to as a u·nī·a, a term that originally signified the raised part of the coiffure (Fig. 4c). Later, it came to be regarded as a topknot of enlightened wisdom or kind of protuberance, signifying a state of omniscience and emblematic of a Buddha’s advanced knowledge and consciousness. In Greater Gandhāra, the stylistic development of the rondure or u·nī·a-like jaΓāmukuΓa for Maitreya-type images parallels the development of the topknot or u·nī·a for Buddha images. What appears as one of the earliest examples of this type jaΓāmukuΓa is found on a c. first-half of the 1st century AD fragment, possibly from an image of a Bodhisattva, from Sirkap (Fig. 4a). The characteristics of the chignon worn by this example in stucco compare well with those worn by early images of Śākyamuni from Swat (see Kurita 1988: 77, 78, 125-31). Similarly, an image of Maitreya on a early-to-mid 1st century gold relic casket from Bīmaran in the British Museum compares favorably with a first century Buddha image, adorned with rounded topknot, in the Lahore Museum (Figs 4b and 4c). A multitude of additional parallels with Buddha images sculpted over the centuries can be cited, and while, over

Knot of Herakles-Style JaΓāmukuΓa Reminiscent of the Hellenistic krobilos, the fourth style, the knot-of-Herakles- or nodus-herculeus style jaΓāmukuΓa, is fashioned of long clustered strands of hair from either side of the head, which are drawn up and secured on the crown of the head by what is commonly 317

Carolyn Woodford Schmidt known as the square knot, as in an example from SahrīBāhlol (Fig. 6a). Bodhisattva images displaying this type chignon date from approximately the middle of the 2nd century AD through the periods of decline for the tradition in stone. The research corpus includes fifty-five images adorned with this self-securing knot. Typically, the images are further adorned with the conventionalized chaplet composed of multiple strands of beads inset with faceted jewels.

of two female images with a young child from Thareli (Fig. 6c). The c. 1st century AD date for the relief is confirmed by the recovery of trumpet-ended gold necklaces and bracelets, of the type adorning the female figure on the left, from excavations at both Tillya Tepe and Sirkap, Taxila (see Sarianidi 1985: 238; Schmidt 1995: 23; Marshall 1951: pl. 195). The square knot, the nodus herculeus, appears to have been introduced for Bodhisattva images during the second half of the 2nd century. At some point, in addition to Graeco-Roman influenced hairstyles, it was accepted for images with ringlet fashions. The later examples are notable for the emphasis given to an uΒnīΒa-like feature below the knot, a feature which became more prominent over time (Fig. 6d and 6f).

The popularity of the square knot throughout the millennia reflects its practical functionality (the greater the stress placed on it the more tightly it binds), and the apotropaic values of averting evil, accrued to it over time in Greek and Greek influenced societies. Symbolically, by the Roman period, it was considered binding for eternity. In Greek culture, the name, nodus herculeus, seems to have been derived from its use as the knot that secured the forelegs of the magically impenetrable Nemean lion’s skin around the shoulders of the Greek hero Herakles (Nicgorski 1995: 66). In Western culture, the nodus herculeus hair style became increasingly popular in Greek and Greek influence societies after the end of the 4th century BC for images of the Greek god Apollo in his capacity as the divine protector of young men during their transition into maturity, his presence in this form assuring successful achievement of the new status. In other capacities, Apollo also offered prophetic wisdom, healing and purging of malevolent forces (Nicgorski 1995: 66, 161, 187, 200, 226-27; Burkert 1985: 144-45, 211; Harrison 1927: 376-81, 439-44; Boardman et al. 1990: 185; Bieber 1961: 63). The use of this fashion for images of Apollo is widely recognized today due to the famous Roman copy of the type known as the Apollo Belvedere in the Vatican Museum collection (see Metropolitan Museum of Art et al. 1982: 62).

Programmatically, this Maitreya-image type is most frequently found with a turban-wearing Bodhisattva as one of a complementary pair (Figs 6d and 6e). The association is confirmed by both the archaeological record and by comparisons with hierarchical, paradise or ‘Pure Land’ stelae, where this Maitreya type is repeatedly shown as one of a complementary pair of primary Bodhisattvas reflexes of a teaching Buddha seated of a lotus dais (Fig. 6e). While this convention was used for some of the most extraordinary images, as exemplified by an image from the Lahore Museum, the knot-ofHerakles-style jaΓāmukuΓa appears not to have been sustainable beyond the confines of Greater Gandhāra (Fig. 6f). Conclusion During the vibrant, cosmopolitan period of flourishing traditional schools and the emergence of Mahāyāna in Greater Gandhāran Buddhism, matters of communication through art related to Maitreya Bodhisattva became increasingly complex (see Rhi 2006, esp. 170-76). Initial organizational efforts related to Maitreya imagery were undertaken in 1984 and 1985 as a facet of dissertation research (see Schmidt 1991: 218 ff., pls. 565-812). This essay represents a synopsis of information from one part of a set of more recent studies focused on Maitreya-type imagery, which clearly establish the importance of jaΓāmukuΓa conventions as primary organizing characteristics. The stylistic treatments of the unsecured locks of hair, including the newly introduced fashions, as well as the eyes and other physical, ornamental, and symbolic characteristics, show morphological changes over time. For Maitreya, who played a major role in the well-established schools as well as in developing Mahāyāna traditions, analyses of these characteristics and their changes, in conjunction with choices in postures, gestures, and dais types, will undoubtedly produce increased accuracy in the interpretation of the imagery. With regard to the challenges of interpretation, a number of provocative essays have been written in recent years. Those of particular interest are by Yu-Min Lee, John Huntington, Anna Maria Quagliotti, Christian Luczanits and Juhyung Rhi (Lee 1983; Huntington 1984; Quagliotti 1994; Luczanits 2005; Rhi 2006).

The values associated with the square knot in Western societies must have become well recognized in Greater Gandhāra during the 1st century AD. Three reliefs from about the middle of the first century attest to the importance and adaptation of the knot to Buddhist values (Fig. 6b, top to bottom). A sculpture from Butkara displays two friezes, one with a grapevine scroll and one with lotus scroll, both prominently bound to form a square knot or nodus herculeus at centre front. Similarly, a frieze from the Taxila Museum is sculpted with two, intertwined grapevine stems forming a nodus herculeus, while a frieze from Peshawar Museum displays intertwined pīpal-tree branches forming the same knot. It was also used as a coiffeur restraining band for a first century image of a Buddha in the Lahore Museum and significant enough within Buddhist iconography at this time to have been transmitted to Khotan in Central Asia, where it serves the same function on two fragmented Buddha images in gilt bronze (Fig. 4c; for the bronze images from Khotan, see Rowland 1974: 134 and Institute of Silk Road Studies 1993: 92). As a hairstyle feature, perhaps the earliest or one of the earliest applications is to be found on a freestanding relief 318

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Beal, S., transl. (1884) Si-yu-ki. Buddhist Records of the Western World. Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (A.D. 629). Delhi (repr. 1981).

Marshall, J. (1951) Taxila: An Illustrated Account of Archaeological Excavations Carried Out at Taxila Under the Orders of the Government of India between the Years 1913 and 1934. 3 vols (repr. Varanasi 1975).

Bellew, H.W. (1864) General Report on the Yusufzai. Lahore (repr. 1977).

Marshall, J. (1960) The Buddhist Art of Gandhāra. Karachi.

Bieber, M. (1961) The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age. New York.

Metropolitan Museum of Art et al. (1982) The Vatican Collections: The Papacy and Art. New York.

Boardman, J. et al. (1990) ‘Herakles’, Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae 5, 185. Zurich.

Nakamura, H. (1987) Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes. Delhi.

Bibliographic references

Nicgorski, A.M. (1995) The Iconography of the Herakles Knot and the Herakles-Knot Hairstyle of Apollo and Aphrodite. Chapel Hill. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Burkert, W. (1985) Greek Religion.. Cambridge (transl. J. Raffan). Bussagli, M. (1984) L’arte del Gandhāra. Torino. Cunningham, A. (1875) Archaeological Survey of India. Report for the Year 1872-73, vol. 5. Calcutta.

Nippon Hoso Kyokai (1984) Gandhara Art of Pakistan. Tokyo.

Danielou, J. (1964) Primitive Christian Symbols. London (transl. D. Attwater).

Quagliotti, A.M. (1994) ‘Nandyāvarta and Crescent on Gandhāran Bodhisattvas’, Annali dell’ Istituto Orientale di Napoli 54: 129-49.

Dayal, H. (1932) The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. London. Foucher, A. (1905-51) L’art gréco-bouddhique du Gandhāra. Étude sur les origines de l’influence classique dans l’art Bouddhique de l’Inde et de l’Éxtrême-Orient, 2 vols. Paris.

Rhi, J. (2003) ‘Bodhisattvas in Gandhāran Art: An Aspect of Mahāyāna in Gandhāran Buddhism’ in P. Brancaccio & K. Behrendt (eds), Gandhāran Buddhism: Archaeology, Art and Texts, 151-82. Vancouver.

Harrison, J.E. (1927) Themis: A Study of the social origins of Greek Religion. Cambridge.

Rosenfield, J.M. (1967) The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans, Los Angeles.

Huntington, J.C. (1984) ‘The Iconography and Iconology of Maitreya Images in Gandhāra’, Journal of Central Asia, 7: 133-78.

Rowland, B. (1961) ‘Bodhisattva or Deified King’, Archives of Chinese Art Society of America, 15: 612.

Ingholt, H. & Lyons, I. (1957) Gandhāran Art in Pakistan. New York.

Rowland, B. (1974) The Art of Central Asia. New York. Sarianidi, V. (1985) The Golden Hoard of Bactria from the Tillya-tepe Excavations in Northern Afghanistan. New York.

Institute of Silk Road Studies (1993) The Mr. and Mrs. Hirayama Collection: The Buddha and Buddhist Images along the Silk Routes. Kamakura.

Saunders, E.D. (1960) Mudrā: A Study of Symbolic Gestures in Japanese Buddhist Sculpture. New York.

Kurita, I. (1988) Gandhāran Art 1: The Buddha’s Life Story. Tokyo.

Schmidt, C.W. (1995) ‘The Sacred and the Secular: Jewellery in Buddhist Sculpture of the Kushan Period’ in S. Strong (ed.), The Jewels of India, 1536. Bombay.

Kurita, I. (1990) Gandhāran Art II: The World of the Buddha. Tokyo. Lamotte, E. (1958) History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Śaka Era. Paris (transl. S. Webb-Boin; repr. 1988).

Schmidt, C.W. (1991) Bodhisattva Headdresses and Hair Styles in the Buddhist Art of Gandhāra and Related Regions of Swat and Afghanistan. Ann Arbor.

Lee, Y. (1983) The Maitreya Cult and Its Art in Early China. Columbus. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The Ohio State University, Columbus.

Schmidt, C.W. (2002) ‘Buddhist Art of Ancient Gandhāra: Reassembling Long-Separated Buddha Triads and Iconographic Programs’ in SAA 1997, 1101-124. Rome.

Lobo, W. (1991) ‘The Bodhisattva with the Flask: Siddhārtha or Maitreya?’ in G. Bhattacharya, ed., AkΒayanīvī: Essays Presented to Dr. Debala Mitra (Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica 88), 95-104. Delhi.

Schmidt, C.W. (2005) ‘Aristocratic Devotees in Early Buddhist Art from Greater Gandhāra: Characteristics, Chronology, and Symbolism’,

Luczanits, C. (2005) ‘The Bodhisattva with the Flask in Gandhāran Narrative Scenes’, East and West 55: 163-88. 319

Carolyn Woodford Schmidt South Asian Studies 21: 25-45. Schmidt, C.W. (2008a) ‘The Gandhāran Wreath-Bearing Bodhisattva: Further Typological Studies’ in SAA 1999, 317-35. Groningen. Schmidt, C.W. (2008b) ‘Symbols of Royalty and Divinity: Stylistic and Iconographic Characteristics of Turbans Worn by Images of Bodhisattvas from Ancient Greater Gandhāra’ in International Conference Proceedings: Gandhāra at the Cross Roads of Civilizations - Art and Architecture, Department of Archaeology, University of the Punjab. Lahore. Sharma, R.C. (1984) Buddhist Art of Mathurā. Delhi. Soper, A.C. (1959) Literary Evidence for Early Buddhist Art in China. Ascona. Stein, A. (1911-12) Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, Frontier Circle. Peshawar. Tissot, F. (1985) ‘The Site of Sahrī-Bāhlol in Gandhāra’ in SAA 1983, 567-614. Naples. Watson, B., transl. (1993) The Lotus Sutra. New York. Whittick, A. (1960) Symbols, signs and their meaning. Newton. Zwalf, W. (1996) A Catalogue of the Gandhāra Sculpture in the British Museum. London.

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Figures 1a-1d - Drawings of jaΓāmukuΓa conventions by C.W. Schmidt.

Figures 2a-2e - Drawings of symbolic ornaments by C.W. Schmidt.

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ONGOING TYPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF BODHISATTVA IMAGES FROM GREATER GANDHĀRA Double-Looped JaΓāmukuΓa

Rondure-Style JaΓāmukuΓa

Fig. 3a - Detail of fragment of a Bodhisattva image, probably Maitreya. Swat. c. 1st or early 2nd century AD. Green schist. H. c. 45 cm. Archaeological Museum, Saidu Sharif. Wali of Swat Collection, no. WS 57 (Photo C.W. Schmidt).

Fig. 4a - Head, possibly of a Bodhisattva. Sirkap, Apsidal temple complex, block D, c. first half of the 1st century AD. Stucco. H. c. 13 cm. National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi. (Photo courtesy of J. & S. Huntington).

Fig. 3b - Relief with image of Maitreya. Butkara I. c. 1st century AD. Schist. H. c. 56 cm. Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (now IsIAO), Roma, no. 1192 (Photo courtesy of J. & S. Huntington).

Fig. 4b - Detail of a relic casket. Gold inset with garnets. Early to mid1st century AD. H. 6.5 cm. British Museum, OA 1900.2-9.1 (Photo courtesy of the British Museum). Fig. 4c - Detail of an image of a Buddha, shown with a Herakles-knot restraining band at base of top-knot. Gandhāra, c. 1st century AD. Schist. H. 53 cm. Lahore Museum. (Photo C.W. Schmidt).

Fig. 3c - Detail of a relief caving, thought to be of Maitreya in TuΒita. Probably from Swat. c. 1st or early 2nd century AD. Gray schist. H. 30 cm. Private collection (Photo courtesy of I. Kurita, after Kurita, 1990, fig. 46).

Fig. 4d - False gable panel with three friezes. Gandhāra, c. 2nd or 3rd century AD. Schist. H. 78.8 cm. British Museum, OA 1880219 (Photo courtesy of the British Museum, after Zwalf 1996, fig. 251).

Fig. 3d - Detail of a standing image of a Bodhisattva. Gandhāra, c. second half of 2nd or 3rd century AD. Schist. H. 104.14 cm. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Avery Brundage Collection, no. B60 S597 (Photo courtesy of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco).

Fig. 4e - Image of a Bodhisattva seated in siṁhāsana and displaying dharmacakra mudrā. Sahrī-Bāhlol, Second half of the 3rd or 4th century AD. Schist. H. 107.95 cm. Peshawar Museum, no. 1435. (Photo C.W. Schmidt).

Fig. 3e - Image of a Bodhisattva seated in padmāsana and displaying dharmacakra mudrā. Gandhāra. c. 3rd century AD. Schist. H. 42.55 cm. Formerly in the Mr and Mrs John Gilmore Ford Collection (Photo courtesy of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche after Trungpa, Visual Dharma: The Buddhist Art of Tibet, pl. 9).

Fig. 4f - Detail of a colossal, standing image of Maitreya Bodhisattva. Sahrī-Bāhlol, monastery precinct at Dhamāmi, c. late 2nd or 3rd century AD. Bluish schist. H: c. 243 cm. Lahore Museum, no. 1 (G-380). (Photo C.W. Schmidt).

Fig. 3f - Head from image of a Bodhisattva. Buner. c. second half of 2nd or 3rd century AD. Grey schist. H. c. 31.8 cm. Musée Guimet (Photo C.W. Schmidt).

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ONGOING TYPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF BODHISATTVA IMAGES FROM GREATER GANDHĀRA Kaparda-Style JaΓāmukuΓa

Knot-of-Herakles Style JaΓāmukuΓa

Fig. 5a - Seated Bodhisattva. Peshawar district, c. 2nd century AD. Grey schist. H. 40.64 cm. Chandigarh Museum, no. 1107 (Photo courtesy of J. and S. Huntington).

Fig. 6a - Head from image of a Bodhisattva. Sahrī-Bāhlol, mound A. c. second half of 2nd or 3rd century AD. Grey schist. H. c. 30 cm. Peshawar Museum (Photo C.W. Schmidt).

Fig. 5b - Standing image of a Bodhisattva. Gandhāra, c. 3rd century AD. Stone. H. 46.99 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, no. 13.96.15 (Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Fig. 6b (top) - Detail of a frieze with grape-vine stems forming a nodus herculeus above a frieze of lotus rhizomes forming a nodus herculeus. Butkara, no. 1683. 1st century AD. Green schist. H. 30 cm. National Museum of Oriental Art, Rome. (Photo courtesy of Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, now IsIAO, Roma).

Fig. 5c - Image of a Bodhisattva seated in padmāsana and displaying abhaya mudrā. Taxila, c. 3rd century AD. Phyllite. H. c. 32 cm. Taxila Museum (Photo C.W. Schmidt).

Fig. 6b (middle) - Fragment of a frieze with grape-vine stems forming a nodus herculeus. Middle or third-quarter of the 1st century AD. Dharmarājikā. Schist. H. 10.8 cm. Archaeological Museum, Taxila (Photo courtesy of Department of Archaeology, Government of Pakistan, after Marshall 1960, fig. 81).

Fig. 5d - Relief with an image of a Buddha seated and displaying dhyāna mudrā. Swat. c. end of 1st century BC through first half of the 1st century AD. Green schist. Wali of Swat Collection (Photo courtesy of Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, now IsIAO, Roma). Fig. 5e - Image of the Buddha fasting. Jamāl-Garhī. c. 1st or 2nd century AD. Schist. H. 30.3 cm. National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi (Photo courtesy of Isao Kurita, after Kurita, 1990, p. 103, pl. 195).

Fig. 6b (bottom) - Detail of a frieze with pīpal tree branches forming a nodus herculeus. Gandhāra, 1st century AD. Schist. H. 21.6 cm. Peshawar Museum, no. 15 (Photo courtesy of Department of Archaeology, Government of Pakistan, after Ingholt & Lyons, 1957, fig. 463).

Fig. 5f - Stele with image of a Buddha seated in abhaya mudrā. KaΓrā Mound, Mathurā. c. end of 1st or 2nd century AD. Spotted red sandstone. H. 72 cm. Mathurā Museum, no. A.1 (Photo courtesy of Government Museum, Mathurā).

Fig. 6c - Two women and a boy, perhaps illustrating the ‘Mahāummaga Jātaka’. c. 1st century AD. Thareli. Phyllite. H. 20 cm. Archaeological Museum, Taxila (Photo courtesy of Nippon Hoso Kyokai, after Nippon Hoso Kyokai 1984, fig. II-2). Fig. 6d - Heads from two images of Bodhisattvas. Sahrī-Bāhlol, mound c. end of 2nd or 3rd century AD. Schist. H. c. 25.4 cm. Peshawar Museum (Photo courtesy of the British Library). Fig. 6e - Stele. Sahrī-Bāhlol C. Schist. Peshawar Museum. End of 2nd or 3rd century AD. H. c. 47 cm (Photo courtesy of the British Library). Fig. 6f - Detail of a standing image of a Bodhisattva. Sikri, c. second half of the 2nd or 3rd century AD. Schist. H. 132 cm. Lahore Museum, no. G129 (Photo C. W. Schmidt).

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ROAD NETWORKS AND TRADE ROUTES IN THE GOLCONDA KINGDOM (AD 1518-1687) Robert Simpkins previously unreported structures. The outcome of these efforts has been the production of a single updated, verified data-base of surviving structures associated with the kingdom linked to an archive of digital photos, GPS locations and, where possible, high-resolution satellite imagery.

Following the death of Shihabu’d-din Mahmud Shah in AD 1518, the Bahmani Empire of the Deccan fragmented into five independent polities. One of these was based at Golconda, capital of the Telingana province, and governed by Sultan-Quli Qutb’ul-Mulk. Sultan-Quli, as an independent ruler, became the first of a dynasty of eight rulers to control a large part of the central and eastern Deccan. After his son Ibrahim adopted the title Qutb Shah in AD 1550, they became known as the Qutb Shahi Dynasty (Sherwani 1971). In this paper, the polity over which the dynasty maintained control until its end in AD 1687 will be referred to as the Golconda Kingdom.

Roads and Routes Of particular interest within the data set of the Golconda Kingdom I developed during my research are structures that occur along the major roads in use during the kingdom’s existence. Of course, all structures in use during a given period are linked to each other in some way; these connections are often assumed, and are only the subject of archaeological investigation inconsistently - most commonly, among those polities where the roads are highly developed, such as the Roman Empire, the ‘Silk Road’ under the Han and Tang Dynasties, and in India, among the Mughals. In all these examples, the empire behind the roads may be described as ‘highly integrated’ in Carla Sinopoli’s terminology (Sinopoli 1994). The bias in existing research toward the study of roads only among ‘highly integrated’ empires leads to a neglect of other kinds of polities, and other forms of integration among sites and territories. In the context of South Asian archaeology, a monumental effort to correct this bias was initiated by Jean Deloche (1993), but is still not standard.

Research on the Golconda Kingdom has been based on historical, epigraphic, and archaeological/architectural sources, including periodic efforts to synthesize all data to that point (Siddiqui 1956; Sherwani 1971; Nayeem 2006). These works, although laudable, reveal several shortcomings in the existing research. Among them are: 1) a lack of attention to the stylistic evolution of architecture, resulting in errors in the dating of some structures; 2) neglect of minor and ruined structures that can be associated with Kingdom on basis of stylistic criteria, creating a biased corpus and misrepresentative patterns of geographic distribution; 3) neglect of structures outside the capital, and a general lack of exploration for such structures. The situation with respect to the Bahmani Empire and its successors differs significantly from the attitude toward earlier kingdoms in the Deccan, in which detailed records and surveys are made of sites, ruins, and inscriptions. This difference in perception is not simply chronological, because far more interest has been generated in the monuments of the Mughal Empire, throughout their geographic distribution. It is most likely a reflection of a modern bias against the Deccan Sultanates, which are seen both as less legitimate subjects of archaeological research than earlier periods, and not as interesting as larger, or perhaps more famous kingdoms, both to the north and south.

Understanding the road network of a polity is important not only because it reveals the individual places of significance within that polity’s territory, but also the specific paths by which those places were connected. Knowing the paths is significant, because places located along paths between major nodes on a network are likely to contain evidence of the traffic they supported, such as by providing goods and services, as well as the economic consequences that come from fortuitous location. A newly developed road between major locations will reflect this, for example, in the form of buildings that date to the period in which the road came under increased or new use. In this paper, a road is defined as any path between two sites of cultural activity. A route is a specific path between sites favoured during one or more periods over other possible roads. A road network is the total system of roads and routes within a polity, or even over a larger region, that defines the extent of human movement and interaction.

My own research since 2003 has attempted to rectify some of these biases, and emphasize the place of the surviving, standing architecture of the Golconda Kingdom in creating or testing hypotheses about the evolution of the kingdom. Proper use of this category of data required three efforts: 1) creation of a single, authoritative list of reported structures from a combination of historical sources and epigraphic and archaeological reports; 2) evaluation of the sources from new, empirical observation of the sites themselves; and 3) exploration of additional, ‘high probability’ sites or areas to determine the presence or absence of additional,

The subject of roads in the Golconda Kingdom has been addressed in other recent historical syntheses (Sherwani 1971; Deloche 1993), although these accounts are primarily based upon contemporary historical accounts, 327

Robert Simpkins as a serai (Reddy-Pringle 2003), as had another structure in the village of Hayatnagar, on the eastern border of modern Hyderabad (Reddy 2003). These two structures are quite different, with one (Sheikhpet) having a long row of rooms in a block with two levels, and the other (Hayatnagar) having a rectangular enclosure or quadrangle around a central plaza. This immediately suggested at least two major designs or types - referred to here as block and quadrangle - to compare to other structures found in explorations. A third example known within Hyderabad is the enclosure associated with the mosque of Miyan Mishk, located on the northern end of the Purana Pul, the bridge built by Ibrahim Qutb Shah in AD 1578 across the Musi River. This enclosure is somewhat irregular in shape, but is attested as a serai from historical sources and contains rooms facing the central area, although it is smaller than the other examples (Sherwani 1971). Historical accounts by European travellers refer to serai, but do not generally describe them in sufficient detail to be certain of the diversity of architectural designs that they might have.

particularly those of European travellers like JeanBaptiste Tavernier. Such accounts are presumed to focus on the primary, or trunk roads in use during the Qutb Shahi Dynasty, which in the context of this paper would be considered the routes favoured at the time. There are problems with the use of these accounts, including: 1) the acceptance of the source as authoritative; 2) the assumption that the route the author used is a standard one; 3) the tendency of modern historians to use multiple accounts from different periods to build up a single image of the kingdom throughout its history, or to use an account from one period as a proxy for other periods during which evidence is lacking. This is especially significant with the use of the European accounts, in which the majority of them date to the later decades of the dynasty, during the rule of Abdullah (AD 1626-72) and Abul Hasan Qutb Shah (AD 1672-87). The consequence is to homogenize the kingdom, rather than see it as an evolving, adapting socio-economic system. It is unlikely that over the one hundred and sixty-nine years of the kingdom’s existence the same routes were in use, supported or patronized in the same way. These problems can be rectified in part through a more critical examination of and organization of existing evidence, but this does not resolve the bias in data caused by the neglect of minor and ruined structures, and the lack of archaeological survey work for structures of this period outside the capital alluded to previously. Only by examining the evidence along the roads themselves and the changes in that evidence throughout the kingdom’s duration, does a clearer picture emerge of the kingdom’s history, and its changing pattern of integration as reflected in its road network.

Mosques in the ‘Qutb Shahi’ style are the most common and easily identifiable form of architecture associated with the kingdom, and are abundant within the capital. Although there are mosques associated with the serai at Sheikhpet and Hayatnagar, there are additional mosques in other locations not associated with other extant architecture, but likely to indicate former stopping points on roads, or even vanished villages. Based on my 2003 visit, I was aware of at least three along the National Highway 9 between Hyderabad and Vijayawada past Hayatnagar, and expected more along this, and potentially other roads. Also unclear was the precise dating of the mosques.

Evidence of Standing Architecture along Golconda Kingdom Roads

Kos minar are a category of architecture with a clear association with roads, since their primary function is to serve as road markers. Kos minar are well-known in Northern India, dating to the time of the Mughal Empire, but their existence in the Deccan is not widely recognized (Deloche 1993). According to Deloche, based on historical accounts and personal observations, kos minar in the Deccan are only found on the route between Hyderabad and Masulipatnam, the port in the delta region of Andhra Pradesh (Deloche 1986, 1993). Deloche was of the opinion that these road markers must date to the 18th century and time of Mughal occupation, since they are mentioned in the accounts of Europeans in the region at that time, but not in the 17th century AD, widely-known accounts of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (Ball 1995) and Jean de Thevenot (Sen 1949). They are clearly referred to in the account of Dutch VOC employee Daniel Havart, who visited the region multiple times during the reign of the final Qutb Shahi ruler, Abul Hasan, and as such they must date to no later than the 1670s; defining a more precise date or period for their construction is one of the goals of this project. Havart reports that as one travels to the kingdom from the port city of Machilipatnam, they first appear on each side of the road after the village of Oepul, and then are found at regular intervals for the rest of the journey to Hyderabad (Havart 1693).

The evidence of standing architecture along Golconda Kingdom roads can be discussed according to three categories: A) typology, B) chronology, and C) geography. Each of these is discussed in detail below. A - Typology Prior to more extensive exploration of the Golconda Kingdom’s road network in 2006 and 2007, my early expectations for the types of architectural remains I might encounter were based upon a combination of previous historical and archaeological writings (principally Bilgrami 1927; Yusuf 1953; Sherwani 1974; Shorey 1984; Desai 1989), and personal observations from a brief visit to Andhra Pradesh made in 2003. From this, I expected evidence from the kingdom’s rulers along their roads to take three major forms: 1) caravanserai; 2) mosques; and 3) kos minar, each of which are explained below. Caravanserai associated with the kingdom had already been reported from several locations around the capital. A large structure in the village of Sheikhpet, north of Golconda Fort, had been described in previous literature 328

ROAD NETWORKS AND TRADE ROUTES IN THE GOLCONDA KINGDOM (AD 1518-1687) 2 - Mosques Over one hundred Qutb Shahi-style mosques were identified in the course of my research, at least half of which do not appear in other records examined of Qutb Shahi architecture. Approximately three-quarters of these were within the Greater Hyderabad area (the extent of modern Hyderabad city and its suburbs), but in the era of the Golconda Kingdom, some of these were beyond the strongly nucleated areas of settlement, and may reflect formerly outlying villages, or stopping points on roads leading outside of the city. Nevertheless, once one gets beyond this core area, Qutb Shahi style mosques are rare in the territory of the Golconda Kingdom. In terms of those located in places that might imply an ‘official’ route, one only finds such a sequence of structures along the road leading east from the city to Machilipatnam. They occur with some regularity along the current National Highway 9, such as at the aforementioned Hayatnagar, and subsequently at Toofranpet, Almaspet, and Choutappal. After this point, on the modern highway, nothing is found from the Golconda Kingdom for some distance, which is consistent with the European itineraries. The road in that era appears to have turned south, toward Panagal and Nalgonda, before turning east again, eventually reconnecting with the modern highway near the village of Goojaluru (Thevenot’s Gougelou, identified by Sherwani as Gurglur).

It is possible that other categories of structures exist, but in the absence of inscriptions or diagnostic stylistic elements, their attribution to a specific period may be difficult. Although space does not permit a detailed discussion of the results of my explorations in various locations within Andhra Pradesh, in general, I verified the continued presence of several known structures, and identified several additional structures associated with the kingdom on the basis of stylistic criteria, as well as a large number of other structures of potential interest but either of unclear date or possessing diagnostic elements clearly pre-dating or post-dating the kingdom. 1 - Caravanserai Structures similar to those found at Sheikhpet and Hayatnagar were found in several locations. Although their precise function as a serai cannot be established with certainty, reasoning by way of analogy, at least two other structures can be compared to the ‘block’ type of serai, and three others can be compared to the ‘quadrangle’ type. The block type was also found with a mosque just outside the northern part of the enclosure for the royal necropolis area. It is on land owned by the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh, and thus is known to local archaeologists, but is not listed in publications, and is not obvious to visitors of the tombs due to obstructions. Here it will be referred to as the ‘Qutb Shahi tombs serai’. A very similar serai, also with an attached but larger mosque, was found in a remote portion of Nalgonda district south of Suriapet. This location has no nearby settlements, and is located along unpaved paths. It may be the location referred to by Thevenot as Sarchel-Quipentche, identified by Sherwani as Sirkipeta (Sherwani 1971: 581). The village of Sirikipeta is listed on US Army Corps of Engineers 1954 maps in a location consistent with Thevenot and Ball’s description, but in the present day, no village can be found at this location. There is only a large mosque in the Qutb Shahi style, adjacent to which is a block type caravanserai. It will be referred to here as the ‘Sirikipeta serai’.

Panagal does contain a Qutb Shahi mosque, and another occurs east of it just before the Musi River at Amangala, consistent with Thevenot and Havart’s route. Not far across the river is the aforementioned mosque at Sirikipeta. Although a small number of other early mosques are known as one continues toward the delta, none are unambiguously in the Qutb Shahi style, and some may be just before or just after the Golconda Kingdom’s era. In addition, inscriptions suggest at least a few more structures were once extant, but have not survived, such as at Guduru and Machilipatnam itself (Desai 1989). In the Machilipatnam and delta region, the effects of severe monsoons have generally impacted early examples of standing architecture, including a major one in AD 1800 (Arasaratnam & Ray 1994), which may have destroyed or increased the damage to Golconda Kingdom monuments in this area. 3 - Kos minar Consistent with the account of Daniel Havart, kos minar beyond the Greater Hyderabad area are only found along the Hyderabad-Machilipatnam road (modern NH9). No evidence of kos minar was found beyond the point of this road noted by Deloche in his 1986 study (Deloche 1986), which is consistent with Havart’s contemporary account. The only specific kos minar observed in my explorations on this road were already noted by Deloche in 1986. I did locate one pair of kos minar not in Deloche’s report, however, found within Hyderabad itself. This pair is in the Gudi Malkapur neighbourhood, in the midst of a modern shanty town and not far from the later temple of Jham Singh; this is likely to be the same pair noted by Sherwani as being in the Kulthumpura area (Sherwani 1971: 445). This location is surprising, and may have

The quadrangle type serai has analogous structures found within Hyderabad itself in the Karwan area, enclosing the Kulthumpura mosque, and in the Old City area at Dar Ush shifa. The former, although within the city itself, is in a suburb of Hyderabad on the road one used to pass between the fort area and the old city, and where merchants are known to have stayed while doing business in the city. The latter, according to historical tradition, was built as a hospital during the time Hyderabad was first erected under the reign of Muhammad-Quli, but reportedly functioned as a serai as well (Sherwani 1971). In addition, far to the south at the fortress of Gandikota in Cuddapah District, a substantial and well-preserved quadrangle enclosed another mosque in the Qutb Shahi style. The mosque is mentioned in some publications (Michell & Zebrowski 2000), but the enclosure is not. 329

Robert Simpkins the plaster decoration survives, the only clue as to style is in the presence of a single row of simple petals along the bottom of the minaret dome. Many mosques contain a double-row of petals below the minaret domes, but the domes over the tombs of the early rulers of the dynasty, Sultan-Quli, Ibrahim, and Muhammad-Quli have a similar single row of petals. We can at least hypothesize, then, that the likely earliest date for the kos minar is the reign of Muhammad-Quli, although another date cannot be eliminated.

implications for dating the kos minar, which are not mentioned in any indigenous sources to my knowledge. B - Chronology None of the structures discussed from my explorations can be dated by inscription - none were identified, although more detailed examination of the sites and interviewing of local populations is still required. Some, such as the quadrangle at Gandikota, can be roughly dated by inference from historical accounts of activity at the site - Tavernier visited the fort in AD 1652, and shortly after its conquest by Abdullah’s Mir Jumla Muhammad Said, associated with the expansion into the Karnatic region in this period (Ball 1995; Sherwani 1971). Most, however, can only be dated by comparison with other structures whose dates are known from inscriptions or unambiguous historical reference.

C - Geography If we return again to the significance of the pair of kos minar in the Gudi Malkapur neighbourhood of Hyderabad, we can ask why they would have been placed along this particular road. From their location, this road appears to lead, heading southeast, to the Purana Pul bridge built by Ibrahim Qutb Shah in AD 1578, and used subsequently to cross the Musi River to the new capital of Hyderabad after AD 1591. Heading northwest, it appears to lead to the Qutb Shahi tombs complex or just north of it, in the eventual direction of Bidar, the later capital of the Bahmanis and their successors there, the Barid Shahis. This is significant because most later accounts assume that the main 17th century AD route through this part of the city passed through the Karwan suburb, along which numerous Qutb Shahi-style buildings can be seen today, including the Toli Masjid, dated by inscription to AD 1671, and a smaller nearby mosque dated to AD 1633. These two dates fall within the reign of Abdullah. In contrast, the road on which the kos minar are found contains no such monuments from this ruler’s reign. The only Qutb Shahi-style building that might be associated with this road in the vicinity of the kos minar is a small, dilapidated mosque in the earlier style consistent with the reign of Ibrahim or possibly the early reign of Muhammad-Quli (i.e., between AD 1550 and 1590).

Although a more detailed statistical analysis of diagnostic stylistic elements is planned as part of this project, at this writing it has not yet been completed. In general, however, comparison with other structures suggest that the mosques at Toofranpet, Almaspet, Choutappal, Sirikipeta, are likely to date to the 17th century in general, and are best compared to other structures dated to the period between the 1630s and 1650s. This is significant, because this is the period in the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah after his coming of age (his mother, Hayat Bakshi Begum, ruled on his behalf from AD 1626 to AD 1632, after the early death of her husband, Muhammad Qutb Shah), and during which time the kingdom was wealthy but subject to a ‘deed of submission’ under the Mughal Empire signed in AD 1636. Further conflict after AD 1656 caused Abdullah to retreat to Golconda Fort, which had been largely unused after the construction of the new capital of Hyderabad in AD 1591.

If the kos minar are associated with the reign of Abdullah, as Sherwani (1971: 445) suggests, it seems strange that there would be no other structures on this road from his reign, particularly as this is the road that would appear to lead into the capital from the west. It is equally strange that the Karwan road, roughly parallel and just to the south, which links Hyderabad to Golconda Fort, would have mosques dating to Abdullah’s reign, but not the kos minar. This discrepancy, combined with the features of the petals on the kos minar that imply an earlier date, suggest that the kos minar themselves may pre-date Abdullah’s reign. Because the road on which they are found does not appear to be linked to the fort, but rather passes north of it, and just north of the area of the royal tombs as well, it seems unlikely that the markers are in any way connected to the fort’s period of use. This means they are most likely from the period in between the fort’s two main eras of use, i.e. between AD 1591 and AD 1656. If they are additionally not associated with Abdullah’s reign, this further reduces the range to the period between AD 1591 and AD 1626, or during the reigns of Muhammad-Quli and Muhammad.

It is worth noting, however, that there is little clear evidence of the Qutb Shahi style during the reign of Muhammad Qutb Shah, beyond the unfinished Mecca Masjid and his own tomb. Features found on a structure from the 1630s might, therefore reflect a style that developed in the 1620s, for which no known examples survive. In this context, the assertion of Havart that the mosque at Almaspet was built by Muhammad Qutb Shah is significant (Havart 1693). The presence of the kos minar along the same road as these mosques might suggest that they are contemporary. There is nothing in their style that demonstrates a clear connection to these mosques, however, other than the fact that tall minarets on Qutb Shahi mosques, which are much the same as the kos minar themselves, are not found on any dated mosque in this region before the reign of Muhammad-Quli Qutb Shah (AD 1580-1611). In fact, one such mosque found at Mirpet, dated to AD 1610, as well as a few other, undated examples, has simple minarets of this sort, without the projecting arcaded galleries found on most other Qutb Shahi-style mosques (Michell & Zebrowski 2000). On those kos minar where 330

ROAD NETWORKS AND TRADE ROUTES IN THE GOLCONDA KINGDOM (AD 1518-1687) Of all the structures discussed, only one falls outside this main east-west route through the capital - the quadrangle and mosque within Gandikota Fort, clearly associated with a specific and dated historical event. The remaining structures, however display stylistic variation, even when - in the case of mosques and serai - their function is the same. Only the kos minar are identical, strongly implying that they were all conceived and constructed in a short time span under a single plan. The other structures are more likely to have accumulated over time. But collectively, they demonstrate a strong interest in the patronage of this primary route through the kingdom, and a consistency in the use of that route over time.

probably more likely - do not survive because they were not built to survive, having been built in the vernacular style, such as with wood and mud brick as is common still today. Returning to the significance of the structures which do survive today, then, we cannot interpret them in a simple presence/absence way. Their presence does not simply indicate an ‘imperial’ presence, and their absence does not simply indicate a lack of an ‘imperial’ presence. Rather, their presence seems to imply something different, and perhaps of a more symbolic nature. Choosing to build deliberately in the ‘imperial’ style may have served the function of a political statement, serving multiple audiences (Bawa 2002). For residents of the capital itself, it was a further expression of the wealth and style of the city, reaching out into the distant countryside. For the residents of the outlying areas it was a reminder of the imperial presence and their connection to it. For long-distance traders, such as Europeans beginning in the reign of Muhammad-Quli, and increasing dramatically in the decades to come, it was both an introduction to the style to be found at the capital, an indication that they were on the right path, and an expression of power.

Conclusions Although the rulers and other elites of the Golconda Kingdom were responsible for a variety of structures found within their territory, evidence for those found along roads in a pattern that suggests a route are rare. The locations of many sites and their known historical significance suggests that traffic must have passed along the roads between there and the capital or other important centres, but the evidence in the form of standing architecture - so abundant in the capital - is not found. Although some structures in the style of the capital may have been lost to time, and some may continue to exist unidentified, the overall pattern suggests that such structures were simply not built. In this respect, the account of Thomas Bowrey, who visited the Golconda Kingdom in the 1670s, is enlightening:

In this sense, it is worth noting a journey undertaken by Abdullah in AD 1639. With what amounted to a travelling city of royalty, advisors, soldiers, and servants, Abdullah devoted two months to the round trip journey from Hyderabad to the port city of Machilipatnam and back. H. K. Sherwani, in describing the trip, interpreted its significance as follows:

One thinge more I must needs Mention for the honour and Praise all travelers ought to give it, (beinge what is it’s desert) I meane the Kingdome in General, through out which great care is taken both for the Safety wee Enjoy, and for relieve all travailers may have, which is first it is blessed with good and cleane Roades, and Upon Every common of aove 4 or 5 miles in length, there is built a Small house or two where, if the travailer is thirsty, a thinge frequent in these warme climates, he may have milke or Congy, which is water boyled very well with Some rice in it, at the King’s charge, and the people demand nothinge for it, but if any man will give them a penny or two, they have the wit to receive it very thankfully.

The journey to Masulipatnam […] served the double purpose of showing the might of Haiderabad to the restive population of the east coast and exhibiting the magnificence and viability of the State to European factors (Sherwani 1971: 504)

Although such tours might be effective on a grand scale, they were also ephemeral. Monuments, however, were lasting, and made a similar statement to the population in each place in a more permanent way. What is significant for the Golconda Kingdom, then, is the desire to mark this route, and doing so, distinguish it from all others in their kingdom, perhaps as a kind of ‘royal road’. This also suggests that in terms of the two-part typology used by Sinopoli (1994, 1995), there is room for additional categories beyond ‘weakly integrated’ and ‘highly integrated’ empires. In this case, the Golconda Kingdom seems to show features in its road network not seen in its contemporary, neighbouring Deccan Sultanates, but found in its northern neighbour, the Mughal Empire. The symbolic, imperial elements of the road network are less widespread, however, and primarily concentrated in the capital and along its main road, the route from Hyderabad to its port city of Machilipatnam.

Moreover, att Every 12 miles End a house or two, (accordinge as the Roade is frequented) are built and kept in repaire (att the King’s charges) for the conveniency of lodgings, for any comers or goes, the first come first Served, without any respect of Persons, which are fine conveniences for them, more Especially for that the Idolatrous people who inhabit most of the Countrey Villadges dare not admit of any of another Cast to enter their doors (Temple 1967: 117).

This account suggests that the Golconda rulers, or at least one of them, took a strong interest in providing for travellers along their roads. We cannot be sure if this description is true of all the routes in use at this time, but regardless, the evidence known today in terms of architecture in the style of the capital does not match this description. This means that a variety of structures were built which either have not been identified, or - and

Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the support of the George Franklin Dales Foundation and the College of Social Sciences 331

Robert Simpkins Havart, D. (1693) Op- en ondergang van Cormandel. .ook Op- en ondergang der Koningen, die zedert weynige jaren, in Golconda, de hoofd-stad van Cormandel geregeerd hebben (3 parts in 1 vol.). Amsterdam.

Research Fund at San Jose State University in conducting my research, and a University of Wisconsin-Madison Vilas Travel Grant enabling me to present this research in Ravenna. I would additionally like to thank the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Departments of Anthropology at UW-Madison, San Jose State University and DeAnza College, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Garuda Tourism in Hyderabad, the management of the Athithi Inn in Hyderabad, and the American Institute for Indian Studies, as well as numerous individuals including my advisor, Joe Elder, and V. Narayana Rao, Preeti Chopra, Phil Wagoner, Richard Eaton, John Fritz, George Michell, Jean Deloche, Gijs Kruijtzer, Ian Wendt, Helen Philon, Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Heather Miller, V. K. Bawa, M. A. Qaiyum, Ranga Reddy, Srinivas Rao, Adrian Simpkins, Tina Fordham, and Jennifer Simpkins, as well as the European Association for South Asian Archaeologists. Special thanks to Gijs Kruijtzer for translation assistance with the account of Daniel Havart.

Michell, G. & Zebrowski, M. (2000) The New Cambridge History of India 1:7 – Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates. Cambridge. Nayeem, M.A. (2006) The Heritage of the Qutb Shahis of Golconda and Hyderabad. Hyderabad. Reddy, P.A. (2003) ‘Sarai Hayat Ma Saheba’, INTAC Heritage Awards Annual 2003: 15-18. Reddy-Pringle, U. (2003) ‘Sheikpet Sarai – Golconda’, INTAC Heritage Awards Annual 2003: 25-28. Sen, S., ed. (1949) Indian Travels of Thevenot and Careri. New Delhi. Sherwani, H.K. (1971) History of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty. New Delhi. Shorey, S.P. (1984) In Search of Monuments: An Atlas of Hyderabad’s Protected Monuments. Hyderabad.

Bibliographic References

Siddiqui, A.M. (1956) History of Golconda. Hyderabad.

Arasaratnam, S. & Ray, A. (1994) Masulipatnam and Cambay: a history of two port-towns 1500-1800. New Delhi.

Sinopoli, C. (1994) ‘The Archaeology of Empires’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 23: 159-80. Sinopoli, C. (1995) ‘The Archaeology of Empires: A View from South Asia’, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 299/300: 3-11.

Ball, V. (1995) Jean Baptiste Tavernier, Travels in India, translated from the original French edition of 1676 with a biographical sketch of the author, notes, appendices, &c. New Delhi (first ed. 1925).

Temple, R., ed. (1967) A Geographical Account of Countries Round the Bay of Bengal 1669 to 1679 by Thomas Bowrey. Nendeln-Lichtenstein.

Bawa, V.K. (2002) ‘The Politics of Architecture in Qutb Shahi Hyderabad: A Preliminary Analysis’ in M.A. Nayeem; A. Ray & K.S. Mathew (eds), Studies in the History of the Deccan, Medieval and Modern: Professor A.R. Kulkarni Felicitation Volume, 329-41. Delhi.

Yusuf, S. (1953) Antiquarian Remains in Hyderabad State. Hyderabad.

Bilgrami, S. (1992) Landmarks of the Deccan: A Comprehensive Guide to the Archaeological Remains of the City and Suburbs of Hyderabad. New Delhi (first ed. 1927). Deloche, J. (1986) ‘Bornes Milliaires de l’Andhra Prades’, Bulletin de l’École française d’ExtrêmeOrient, 75: 37-42. Deloche, J. (1993) Transport and Communications in India Prior to Steam Locomotion, Vol. 1: Land Transport. New Delhi. Desai, Z. (1989) A Topographical List of Arabic, Persian and Urdu Inscriptions of South India. New Delhi.

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Fig. 1 - The mosque at Hayatnagar, contained within a quadrangle with dozens of rooms. This village is associated with Hayat Bakshi Begum, daughter of Muhammad-Quli Qutb Shah, wife of Muhammad Qutb Shah and mother to Abdullah Qutb Shah (Photo R. Simpkins).

Fig. 2 - Sheikhpet serai, north of Golconda Fort in Hyderabad. This structure and mosque are associated with the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah (Photo R. Simpkins).

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Robert Simpkins

Fig. 3 - The Qutb Shahi mosque at Gandikota Fort, enclosed within a large quadrangle quite similar in many ways to serai at other sites. The Qutb Shahi-style structures most likely are associated with the use of this fort as a southern base by the kingdom’s Mir Jumla after 1652, following his conquests in the Karnatic region (Photo R. Simpkins).

Fig. 4 Sirikipeta serai, in Nalgonda District south of Suriapet. This mosque (the minaret for which can be seen in the background) and serai were found while looking for the place name ‘Sirikipeta’, hypothesized by Sherwani to be equivalent to the village of ‘Sarchel-quipentche’ identified by Thevenot on his route through the Kingdom (Photo R. Simpkins).

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ROAD NETWORKS AND TRADE ROUTES IN THE GOLCONDA KINGDOM (AD 1518-1687)

Fig. 5 - Qutb Shahi Tombs serai, north of the main royal tombs in Hyderabad. This is a ‘block type’ serai, similar to the Sirikipeta serai and Sheikhpet serai, although the latter is a more complex structure (Photo R. Simpkins).

Fig. 6 - Qutb Shahi kos minar along National Highway 9 in Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh. This road marker is one of two flanking the sides of the old road near the current highway connecting Hyderabad to Machilipatnam. The scale of these structures is indicated by my assistant/driver, Mr. K. Rajender Reddy (Raju) (Photo R. Simpkins).

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Robert Simpkins

Fig. 7 - Map of selected major sites during the period of Golconda Kingdom. The route connecting Hyderabad with Bidar to the west and Machilipatnam to the east is shown approximately. The territorial boundary shown is that of modern Andhra Pradesh, the borders of which are quite similar to the territory controlled by the Qutb Shahis in the final decades of the dynasty (Drawing R. Simpkins).

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INVESTIGATIONS AT THE EARLY HISTORIC CITY OF SISUPALGARH, INDIA 2005-07 Monica L. Smith & Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Introduction 1) The characteristics of the soil on top of the underlying architecture needs to be taken into account. At Sisupalgarh, the top 30-80 cm of deposit have a very high density of potsherds, tiles and brick fragments. Because these baked clay items create their own magnetic signal, they obscure the readings of subsurface architectural patterns. We conducted one experiment in which we removed soil 10 cm at a time in a 10 x 10 m area and collected gradiometry data each time. The removal of soil did not result in a stronger signal of underlying materials in this small space, although continued excavation did reveal the presence of brick alignments and laterite blocks within 60 cm of the ground surface (i.e., within the reading capacity of the device). It appears that the brick alignments were too narrow and the individual laterite blocks too indistinct relative to the surrounding soil to be discerned through gradiometry. A more successful approach consisted of using the gradiometer to cover much larger contiguous areas (i.e. 1 ha or more in size). At this scale, the cumulative effect of features could be discerned more easily, including the detection of the linear features coming in from the gateways and stretching over 300 m long towards the interior of the site.

Sisupalgarh is a large Early Historic urban centre measuring over 1.2 km2 in size and surrounded by a rectilinear formal rampart with eight equally-spaced gateways. The site also has numerous water reservoirs and monolithic laterite pillars within the rampart. The site was excavated for the first time in 1948 by Prof. B.B. Lal (Lal 1949), in which habitation areas, a section of the rampart, and one of the site’s formal gateways was exposed. From 2000-2003 a systematic surface survey was carried out to document the surface remains including pottery, architectural remains, wells, and the rampart surface (Smith 2002a, 2002b, 2005, 2006). The research demonstrated that remains of habitation could be found throughout the site, indicating that Sisupalgarh was a fully-occupied urban zone. Starting in 2005, our joint Deccan College and UCLA team has conducted a series of renewed investigations at the site under permission from the Government of India and in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India (Mohanty & Smith 2005, 2006a, 2006b, 2007; Mohanty, Smith & Matney 2007; Mohanty, Smith, Matney et al. 2007; Smith & Mohanty 2007a, 2007b). Our investigations consist of an integrated research design that includes geophysical survey, topographic mapping, horizontal excavations and deep soundings to investigate site chronology, household organization and the construction of monumental architecture.

2) Soil conditions and time of year can make a difference in the best choice of methods. At Sisupalgarh, electrical resistivity was impractical because the ground surface was very hard and compact by the time of the winter fieldwork season. The probes of the resistivity metre could not be poked into the ground easily. We resolved this problem by pouring a small amount of water on the ground prior to inserting the probes, but this added considerable time to the process of data collection.

Geophysical Survey through Gradiometry and Resistivity At Sisupalgarh, the architectural remains of houses and streets can be found within 1 m of the present ground surface. Geophysical methods of magnetic gradiometry and electrical resistivity were utilised in 2006 and 2007 to record subsurface patterns of architecture. These methods provide a picture of urban organisation for a much larger area than could possibly be excavated. The geophysical survey, which has now covered more than 10% of the site area, reveals areas of positive and negative readings that appear to correspond to substantial subsurface features. The most distinct of these readings reveal long alignments coming into the site from the eight gateways. The detection of this feature fulfilled a prediction earlier made by B.B. Lal (1991:18-19) about the existence of roads linking the formal gateways. The geophysics results also show the presence of a large (2.1 ha) rectilinear feature surrounding the monumental pillars near the centre of the site.

3) The choice of methods should be suited to the types of personnel available. The method of data collection with electrical resistivity can be easily taught to those who are unfamiliar with the equipment, providing important learning opportunities for local students and scholars. However, collecting data with a magnetic gradiometer is a specialised skill and data collection typically requires more practice than can be easily gained in one field season. Hence, it is important for the gradiometry operators to be well-versed with the technology of data collection, downloading and manipulation prior to the start of the research work. Topographic Mapping

For others interested in undertaking geophysical survey research in South Asia, our experience may provide some useful starting points:

At very large sites such as Sisupalgarh, it can be challenging to make a topographic map of the site’s surface particularly when there are large features such as 337

Monica L. Smith & Rabindra Kumar Mohanty predictable placement of doorways or of the partitions in multi-roomed structures. The architecture was only one or two courses thick and clearly served as the basis for pisé (puddled mud) architecture. The pisé contained a high proportion of ceramics and other debris deliberately selected by the ancient inhabitants for the construction of walls. As the walls disintegrated they became part of the surrounding matrix and this debris could again be mixed and re-formed into structures. As a result the fine-grained investigation of ceramics at the site can be challenging; however, there were areas of definite primary deposit as signalled by the recovery of large sherds between buildings, in areas that had been used for trash deposition. A small deep trench investigating one of these areas of trash deposition at the end of the season in 2007 revealed what appears to have been a ritual or special-purpose deposit in the form of a whole shed deer antler associated with several nestled cups and a metal finger ring.

ramparts that prevent line-of-sight visibility. At Sisupalgarh our team utilised a pole-mounted Trimble brand Pro-XRS receiver with Trimble Recon Handheld data logger and Trimble GPS antenna unit to create a three-dimensional map of the site utilizing the software ArcGIS. The map will serve as a base map for the survey and excavation data. The three-dimensional data from the rampart also will allow us to calculate the total volume of this feature, as a basis for estimating the number of people and amount of time required to create the rampart. For the most part, the topography of the interior of the site shows the same slope as the surrounding alluvial plain. The site’s gradient slopes downwards from the northwest to the southeast, meaning that the buildup of the site through cultural deposits was relatively uniform. There is some slight mounding visible today in the centre and northern areas of the site within the rampart perimeter, ranging from 1-2 m high relative to the rest of the cultural deposits.

While structural outlines were clearly visible in the excavations, other components of household archaeology were difficult to discern. The heavy rains of the annual monsoon meant that ancient inhabitants were constantly repairing walls and pavements using available materials such as bricks and broken tiles to create courtyards between houses. We did not recover any floors or other coherent domestic deposits within structures, nor were any such floors visible in the sections. It appears that domestic materials were either removed for reuse elsewhere or decomposed naturally.

Excavation of Habitation Areas The earlier excavation work at Sisupalgarh had been conducted on the western side of the site, where B.B. Lal excavated one of the gateways, a portion of the rampart, and an area of habitation (Lal 1949, 1991). Our team began the initial 2005 excavations with Operation 1, an 8 x 10 m horizontal exposure immediately to the west of the 1948 excavation of the habitation area. Operation 1 contained two phases of architecture within the top 1 m of deposits: a lower phase of architecture of rectilinear laterite blocks that corresponded in type and depth to Lal’s exposed laterite block structures, and an upper, ephemeral phase of architecture made of irregularly shaped laterite blocks and broken bricks.

Rampart Excavations A total of three areas of the rampart have been investigated through excavation: two small trenches on the uppermost portion of the eastern rampart and one trench through the northern rampart. In 2006 we opened two areas (4 x 4 m and 5 x 5 m) on top of the rampart on the eastern side south of the rampart’s northeast corner (Operation 2). The shallow excavation confirmed the presence of a linear feature made of bricks and laterite blocks on the top of the rampart.

In 2006 and 2007, excavations took place on the northern part of the site adjacent to the interior portion of rampart (Operation 3). This is the only place where the cultural deposits on the interior of the site are level with the top of the rampart. In this area, we recovered at least four phases of architecture consisting of one or two courses of reused brick and laterite blocks. In the very uppermost deposits of this area we recovered pottery decorations consisting of an extremely rapid appliqué type of design on low-fired, unslipped pottery. Underneath this were deposits typical of the upper assemblage from elsewhere in the site (low-fired unslipped red wares with shapes including string-cut bowls and plain everted rim jars). We suggest that this northern area therefore includes a slightly later occupational phase and that it was perhaps the last portion of the site to remain intensively occupied.

In 2007 we excavated a long strip 2 m wide and 55 m long extending from the open excavation of Operation 3 across and through the rampart to the exterior. The purpose of this trench was to link the architecture of the rampart with the architecture of the domestic habitation area. It was found that domestic structures and trash deposits went right up to the rampart, and that there was no ‘empty’ area between the rampart and the habitation zone. The trench revealed that the rampart was added onto throughout the lifespan of the site, with bands of different soil matrix successively placed on the rampart. Two brick walls also were documented in the uppermost phases of this section of the rampart, one made of 13 courses in a regular and well-laid alignment, and a later wall made of reused bricks in five haphazardly laid courses.

Although the perimeter ramparts and linear alignments indicate a high degree of planning for some elements of urban life, the architecture of the habitation areas appears to have been made by households to suit their own needs and capacities. In the habitation areas that we excavated, individual walls were made of broken bricks and reused, irregularly shaped laterite blocks. There was no 338

INVESTIGATIONS AT THE EARLY HISTORIC CITY OF SISUPALGARH, INDIA 2005-07 to confirm that there were no more cultural deposits. In both of the deep soundings, water-sieving was done of the deposits enabling the recovery of substantial quantities of botanical remains and small bones.

Excavation Test of Geophysics Results In 2007, we conducted a trial trench measuring 2 x 10 m on the interior of the rampart wall on the eastern side of the site (Operation 4). The goal was to test the subsurface of an area identified as a long linear anomaly in the magnetic gradiometry survey. Our trench revealed a soil that was almost completely devoid of ceramics, bricks, tiles or other materials and thus very unusual in texture compared to the Operation 1 and Operation 3 habitation areas, where the ratio of such materials was consistently high. Continued excavation in this area reached the water table at 1.5 m below modern ground surface, which stopped the excavation.

At the midpoint of each of the deep soundings there were significant changes in material culture. In addition to botanical and faunal remains, the lower half of the deposit included graffiti on burnished pottery sherds and several distinctive burnished pottery types (see Ceramics, below). In the upper half of the deposit came the appearance of bricks and tiles. The only examples of coinage came from this phase as well (consisting of several extremely worn and unreadable lead and copper examples). Exactly at the transition point, which was also unfortunately just below the water table, came the only examples of script (on a clay sealing with several letters of Brahmi script in CS-3).

Excavation of Monumental Architecture In 2007 in cooperation with the local landowner we conducted a small trial trench on the top of the mound of monumental laterite pillars in the centre-west of the site. This small (3 x 3 m) excavation showed the presence of two previously-unknown columns in an extremely compact soil matrix. The pottery from this excavation was like that of the uppermost habitation deposits elsewhere in the site, but the pottery itself was extremely abraded and in small fragments. Thus it appears that the fill of the pillar mound did not consist of domestic trash as was the case in the habitation areas. It is likely that the fill, consisting of laterite gravel, waterworn pebbles in the two cm size range, and very abraded pottery, was brought in from the surrounding area to create a sturdy fill on which pillars could be placed. The discovery of previously-unknown pillars in this area indicates the substantial potential for the recovery of more monumental architecture in this portion of the site.

Although the water table at the site is clearly a challenging problem that will preclude the horizontal exposure of the site’s earliest deposits, its appearance indicates that a common-sense understanding of water is not applicable to deep, complex archaeological deposits. The rate of water infill appears to depend on the localised nature of subsurface archaeological remains. In CS-1 on the western side of the site, water came out at a very high rate of pressure through voids in the surrounding matrix; in CS-3, water infilled more slowly through a seeping action. Ceramics The deep soundings enable us to illustrate how the ceramics represent a pattern of change throughout the site’s occupation. At the bottom of the sequence, representing the first half of the site’s occupation, the pottery is characterised by high-fired burnished wares in both reduced (black) and oxidised (red) versions. Some black burnished bowl forms of this early phase have small conical bumps on the upward-facing interior, a form characterised by Lal as ‘knobbed ware’. In the course of the early phase, this ‘knobbed’ decoration is replaced by a rouletted design, again on the upwardfacing interior of shallow incurved-rim bowls. While this pottery is well-made and sometimes has post-firing graffiti marks, we would not characterise any of the black-burnished wares as being of Northern Black Polished (NBP) type. Instead, the range of burnished wares from the earliest phases of the site’s occupation should be interpreted as part of a regional tradition of pottery production. In the upper half of the occupational sequence, pottery ceases to be slipped and burnished, and there are new forms that appear to be of the ‘use and throw’ variety (for example, string-cut cups and shallow ledge-rim bowls with no signs of use-wear). This may indicate substantial economic changes as the city grew, with shifts in pottery use that indicated changes in cooking and eating habits that in turn would have impacted fuel consumption, labour organization and the provision of ingredients to

Deep Soundings As a complement to the horizontal excavations and to examine the stratigraphic sequence of the site, in 2005 and 2006 we conducted two deep soundings to natural soil. One of these (CS-1) was southeast of Operation 1 in the southeast corner of the walled, protected zone of the 1948 excavations, and the second (CS-3) was 40 m south of Operation 3. Because the dense clay of the encircling rampart retains water, the water table on the interior of the site is higher than on the exterior of the site. By using a series of pumps and generators, we were able to continuously remove the water enabling the excavations to proceed. The CS-1 excavation, measuring 1.5 x 1.5 m, encountered the water table at 2.0 m below modern ground surface, and virgin soil was reached at 5.6 m below modern ground surface. In the following year, on the advice of local workers, we excavated CS-3 as a round trench (2 m diameter) to provide greater stability to this deep, narrow sounding. The CS-3 excavation encountered the water table at 2.6 m below modern ground surface and virgin soil was reached at 6.7 m below modern ground surface. In CS-3 a 10-cm diameter auger was utilised to dig another 1.1 m below virgin soil 339

Monica L. Smith & Rabindra Kumar Mohanty are encompassed in the location of wells, pathways, and the upkeep of the rampart. The rampart was augmented on a regular basis but did not present exactly the same upper architecture throughout the site. Urban-level configurations include the planning of the original rampart outline, the gateways, and maintenance of the long roads that link the gateways. The ceramics and other economic evidence from the deep soundings indicates that the city sustained significant changes at the midpoint of occupation but continued to thrive in this new configuration. Finally, the very low quantity of imported goods at the site further confirms that the longevity of the city was built upon a robust local economy rather than long-distance exchange, a model of urban success that may be applicable to other Early Historic cities in the subcontinent.

households. In all of the habitation areas excavated thus far, the horizontal exposure comprises the upper half of the ceramic sequence. In the habitation areas, there is an abundant quantity and diversity of ceramic forms including bowls and jars of all sizes in low-fired, unslipped oxidised (red) sandy fabrics. Outlying areas and ‘suburbs’ of Sisupalgarh Within view of Sisupalgarh’s southern rampart is the hill of Dhauli, site of an Asokan inscription dating to the 3rd century BC. To the northwest at 8 km are found the Jain caves at Udayagiri, where there is also located the Hathigumpha inscription of the ruler Kharavela, dated to the second half of the 1st century BC (Sahu 1984: 1). In this inscription, the ruler discusses the major events of his life, including the repair of ‘the gate, rampart and structures of the fort of Kalinganagari,’ a city that is likely to be identifiable as Sisupalgarh given its proximity (Sahu 1984: 334). Limited reconnaissance in the area north of Sisupalgarh has revealed cultural deposits stretching out at least 200 m beyond the rampart. Recent archival research has confirmed that early excavations in this same area produced what appears to be a stūpa (Ota 2007). The exterior of the rampart area was therefore utilized for ritual and social activities. On the outside of the rampart there was also the nearby Daya River for commerce and the alluvial plains for agriculture and animal husbandry. The growth of modern Bhubaneswar has obscured some of the surrounding landscape but there is still considerable scope for a project examining the urban hinterlands of the site.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Archaeological Survey of India for permission to work at Sisupalgarh, and for the logistical support provided throughout by the Bhubaneswar Circle. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to Prof. B.B. Lal, Dr. P.R. Mehendiratta, Purnima Mehta, and the American Institute of Indian Studies for their support of the project. In the past three years several dozen students from Deccan College, Utkal University, and other Indian institutions have participated in the research, and we would like to thank them for their excellent and cheerful teamwork. We also greatly appreciate the help and cooperation of the local residents of Sisupalgarh. Funding for this project has been provided by the National Science Foundation; the National Geographic Society; the American Institute of Indian Studies/National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ahmanson Foundation; and the Academic Senate, the Department of Anthropology and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.

Chronology A comprehensive series of radiocarbon dates is underway and will be reported in due course. In 1949, B.B. Lal assigned the site a date of 300 BC to AD 350 (Lal 1949: 72). Our preliminary results suggest that the site dating is likely to be extended in both directions, resulting in an occupation that may be two or three centuries earlier than previously known, and extend for another two or three centuries into the middle of the 1st millennium AD. Given that the area of Old Town Bhubaneswar is within 2 km of the walled portion of the site, it appears likely that the site did not suffer a dramatic collapse at the end of the Early Historic period. Instead, population and architectural investment focused towards the area of Old Town, where the earliest temples date to the first part of the 7th century AD (Panigrahi 1981: 28).

Bibliographic References Lal, B.B. (1949) ‘Sisupalgarh 1948: An Early Historical Fort in Eastern India’, Ancient India 5: 62-105. Lal,

B.B. (1991) ‘Planned Cooperation Between Archaeologists and Scholars of Ancient Literature -- A Crying Need’, Man and Environment 16 (1): 5-21.

Mohanty, R.K. & Smith, M.L. (2005) Sisupalgarh Excavations 2005 Field Report. On file, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi.

Conclusions The 2005-07 research programme at Sisupalgarh has built upon previous research at the site to investigate urban activities at the household, neighbourhood and urban scale. Household activities throughout the site appear to be remarkably uniform, with the same types of ceramics, architecture and occupational patterns repeated in the different habitation areas. Neighbourhood-level activities

Mohanty, R.K. & Smith, M.L. (2006a) ‘Excavations at Sisupalgarh 2005’, Man and Environment 31 (1): 27-32. Mohanty, R.K. & Smith, M.L. (2006b) Sisupalgarh Excavations 2006 Field Report. On file, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi. 340

INVESTIGATIONS AT THE EARLY HISTORIC CITY OF SISUPALGARH, INDIA 2005-07 Mohanty, R.K. & Smith, M.L. (2007) Sisupalgarh Excavations 2007 Field Report. On file, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi. Mohanty, R.K.; Smith, M.L. & Matney, T. (2007) ‘A Preliminary Report of the Archaeological Investigations at Sisupalgarh 2006’, Man and Environment 32 (1): 57-66. Mohanty, R.K.; Smith, M.L.; Matney, T.; Donkin, A. & Greene, G. (2007) ‘Archaeological research at Sisupalgarh 2007: An Early Historical City in Orissa’, Purātattva 37: 142-54. Ota, S.B. (2007) ‘Evidence of a Stupa at Sisupalgarh, Orissa: Re-interpreting Earlier Excavation Data’, Man and Environment 32 (1): 67-73. Panigrahi, K.C. (1981) Archaeological Remains at Bhubaneswar, second edition. Cuttack. Sahu, N.K. (1984) Kharavela. Bhubaneswar. Smith, M.L. (2002a) ‘The Role of Local Trade Networks in the Indian Subcontinent During the Early Historic Period’, Man and Environment 27 (1): 139-51. Smith, M.L. (2002b) ‘Systematic Survey at the Early Historic Urban Site of Sisupalgarh, Orissa’ in G. Sengupta & S. Panja (eds), Archaeology of Eastern India: New Perspectives, 109-25. Kolkata. Smith,

M.L. (2005) ‘Archaeological Research at Sisupalgarh, an Early Historic City in Eastern India’, in SAA 2003, 297-306. Aachen.

Smith, M.L. (2006) ‘The Archaeology of South Asian Cities’, Journal of Archaeological Research 14 (2): 97-142. Smith,

M.L. & Mohanty, R.K. (2007a) ‘New Investigations at an Old City: Research at Sisupalgarh, India’, Backdirt: 54-59.

Smith, M.L. & Mohanty, R.K. (2007b) ‘Excavations at Sisupalgarh 2005-2006: A Brief Report’, Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute 66-67: 191-98.

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Fig. 1 - Top: areas of excavation by the Deccan College/UCLA team; note that the 1948 excavations were carried out at the gateway, rampart and habitation area in the vicinity of number 1 on this map. Bottom: areas covered by gradiometry survey (Drawing M.L. Smith & R.K. Mohanty).

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Fig. 2 - Clockwise from top left: a. Operation 1 trench with domestic architecture and 1948 excavation area in the background; b. Late-phase pottery on exterior of building; c. Foundation of brick structure; d. Ceremonial deposit below trash discard area; e. Households and open spaces in an area of domestic architecture; f. Pavements and courtyards adjacent to domestic architecture (note: b-f all are from Operation 3) (Photos M.L. Smith & R.K. Mohanty).

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Fig. 3 - Clockwise from top: a. Northern rampart at Sisupalgarh; b. Operation 2 excavations, showing alignment of laterite blocks and bricks at the top of the eastern rampart; c. Operation 3 cross-section of northern rampart, showing two phases of brick wall construction; d. Operation 5 trial trench of monumental pillar architecture; e. Deep sounding on northern portion of the site, showing presence of robust architecture at 3.3 m below modern ground surface (Photos M.L. Smith & R.K. Mohanty).

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FESTIVITY AND SACRED AURA THOUGHTS ON THE ORIGINS AND MEANING OF THE GARLAND MOULDING IN THE ORNAMENTATION OF GANDHĀRAN STŪPAS1 Martina Stoye From the earliest testimonies of Buddhist art on, vegetal garlands belong to the decoration of stūpas. Already the stūpa representations from Bhārhut and Sāñcī show undulating garlands adorning the curvature of the anΡa. Wreaths and garlands draped around ancient Indian shrines should be seen as part of the offerings which were usually made to sanctuaries during pūjā-like worship rituals. 1

the sense of a sentence, that Heimo Rau once coined, namely that sacred architecture is the trace of ritual acts petrified and fixed in space (Rau 1986: 86). That is − in a very general outline − what the native culture associated explicitly with the garland on the stūpa. Henceforth one has to bear this Indian frame of reference in mind as a background to the incorporation of any kind of garland into stūpa decoration.

The regular use of mālās as an essential element in the Buddhist cult of the stūpa from the early periods onwards can be substantiated not only through pictorial representations but also through a large number of references in numerous ancient Buddhist texts.2 Not only do these textual sources explicitly express the function of the garlands as a dāna or ritual offering, they also clarify its eschatological meaning, since they always state the karmic merit (punya) that was expected with the donation of a garland, especially in later texts. Thus, the second Avalokitasūtra of the Mahāvāstu says:

When we now come to Gandhāran stūpa decoration we notice that on the one hand the old established tradition of undulating garlands on the body of the stūpa (which we already know from Bhārhut and Sāñcī) continues, albeit in Gandhāra with strong western overtones (Coomaraswamy 1971: vol. II, p. 60; Buchthal 1942-43: 22-26; Ingholt 1957: 154, ad no. 380; Zannas 1961; Ackermann 1975: 40-43; Bromberg 1988; Errington & Cribb 1992: 130, ad no. 132; Rahman 1995; Swāti 1997). On the other hand we find that a new, hitherto unknown garland variant was introduced into the stūpa ornamentation.

Verily, he who, turning his thoughts to enlightenment, makes a garland of flowers and places it on a tope, is not destroyed. For when he passes hence and dies, he goes to Trāyastrimśa devas, and there speedily obtains a brilliant bejewelled mansion. He […] enjoys among the Trāyastrimśa devas gabled palaces thronged by Apsarases. He shall have a celestial lotus-pond full of perfect water, with a floor of golden sand bestrewn with beryl and crystal. And when […] he passes away from the deva world and becomes a man of wealth, he […] becomes even a universal king, […] Whosoever turns his thoughts towards enlightenment and makes a booth of garlands, his becomes the good fortune which has been extolled by Buddhas.3

This is the rigid or elongated scaled leaf garland (Fig. 1). Basically it is a torus moulding that consists of slightly abstracted overlapping rhombic leaves which recalls the tightly-bound foliage of a wreath or a leaf garland. This garland profile can be seen on numerous fragments of Gandhāran stūpa panels. Most often it runs horizontally above narrative friezes.4 Thus it ties together the various relief panels below into a single unit. In nearly all cases of such horizontal applications, the leaves of the garland point from right to left, in the reading direction of the narrative friezes. Thus the garland itself performs a pradak·ina. However, we also find the garland applied vertically; it then usually rises from below along the sides of narrative scenes which are arranged one upon the other, for example in vertical picture steles or nāsika gables. In the latter case the garlands finally converge in an ogive above the lunette.5 The scaled leaf garland also appears as a frame to trapezoidal or rectangular single scenes.6 Very rarely it is found as a torus moulding of a profiled base.7

In consideration of such desirable prospects, we can clearly deduce what an auspicious role the offering of a mālā could have played, particularly, for lay worshippers. To the lay person who could not follow the monk’s path in the sense of an ideal path to salvation, the possibility of earning such enormous rewards by means of a comparatively modest and easily available gift must have appeared as an unexpected leap towards a happier stage of life, closer to salvation. Thus it is not at all surprising to find that garlands were not only regularly offered during the actual rituals connected with the stūpa, but that they also became a very commonly encountered motif in the architectural ornamentation of stūpas − probably in

If it decorates flat surfaces, it is most often arranged in

1 For a much more detailed and comprehensive essay on the same subject in German language see Stoye 2007.

4

e.g. ibid.: nos 147, 215, 318, 420 etc. (vertical); 322, 452, 453, 575, 589, 591 etc. (nāsika)

2

On the mālā as dāna in the Mahāparinirvānasūtra, in sections of the Vinaya, Mahāvāstu, Avadānas, Vimānavatthu and of the Mahākarmavibhanሶga see ibid.: 245-56, Berges 1986.

3

e.g. Kurita 2003: vol. I, nos 16, 21, 39, 68, 74 etc.

5

Senart 1882-90: vol. II, p. 362 ff.; Jones 1949-56: vol. II, p. 329 ff.

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6

e.g. ibid.: nos 150, 267.

7

e.g. ibid.: nos 24-27.

Martina Stoye around the altar in preparation for a sacred ritual.11

two symmetrically opposed pieces that converge in the middle. The meeting point in the centre is then almost always decorated with a small ornament, a band or, in most cases with a rosette.8

Various scholars of Classical studies have discussed the significance of the garland in Western antiquity: according to them garlanding was the most important element of consecration. On the one hand, the wreath marked the exceptional and festive moment, the festive joy, on the other hand the act of garlanding persons or things singled someone or something out and awarded them a sacred character. The wreath protected, sanctified, strengthened and drew a magic circle around the wearer. Wreaths and garlands were so inseparably integrated with the cult that they became noted symbols of the intact world of the sanctuary.12 Thus their presence always suggests a sacred aura.

Although the scaled leaf garland is ubiquitous in Gandhāran art and could actually be considered as a characteristic mark of Northwest Indian ornamentation, it has scarcely ever been discussed in any detail or scrutinized with regard to its origins or its special meaning. Indeed although some authors have pointed out the existence of Western parallels (Foucher 1905-51: vol. I, p. 240; Boardman 1994; 131 f.; Zwalf 1996: 288, ad no. 448), however, no one has as yet devoted a detailed study to it, in order to answer the following questions: Where did this ornament that suddenly appeared in Gandhāran art come from? What were its prototypes? And how can we evaluate the wealth of information available about those prototypes in order to arrive at a new understanding of the semantic role of the rigid scaled leaf garland within the context of Gandhāran stūpa decoration? What were the contexts in which the prototypes were integrated and what the associations connected with them there? Is it possible that the rigid scaled leaf garland was imported to Gandhāra because one was aware of these foreign associations and one consciously wished to apply them also within the new Indian context? What would this then mean for our understanding of Gandhāran ornamentation in general? Which new meanings would add themselves to the already existing indigenous ideas connected with the garlands? Can we develop new principles for a broader view on Gandhāran art from this?

Within the context of the consolidation of the Hellenistic form vocabulary in the 3rd century BC, there was a general search for new ornamental motives. Within this process stone masons began to give permanence to the until then only temporary festive decoration of a sanctuary by carving garland friezes into stone. The earliest friezes always showed undulating garlands arranged over sacrificial objects (for example rests of sacrificial animals).13 There (as in many later examples also) the scaled leaf garland was (by the insertion of laurel berries in between the gussets of two lozengeshaped leaves) clearly defined botanically as a laurel garland − since it was the laurel that was especially reserved for ceremonial use or purposes.14 Originally developed for sacred architecture the garland frieze was soon transferred to circular altars, a widespread type of funerary monument in later Hellenism.

Scouring the ornamentation of ancient Western art one notices almost immediately that related scaled leaf garlands can be found in large numbers and in numerous variations on sacral structures and small monuments around the Mediterranean that offer a wealth of interesting and comparable material: we find scaled leaf garlands on temple architraves, in base mouldings of temple walls and columns, on altars and funerary monuments, even around synagogue portals and Palmyrene cult niches.

In their ornamentation we can observe simplifications in the design of the laurel wreath, with a strong schematization, that clearly brings it closer to the Gandhāran version of the scaled leaf garland (Fig. 3).15 Through the transfer of the garland frieze from sacred architecture to the circular altars which were actually tomb monuments, the laurel wreath motif found its way from the sanctuary into the funerary realm. Dietrich Berges, who has done extensive research on the circular altars, wrote:

The history of the tradition of this ornament begins in the 3rd century BC in the Hellenistic temples of Asia Minor.9

Erleichtert wurde diese Übertragung durch die gleichsam sakrale Aura, die den Grabbereich seit alters umgab. […] der Girlandendekor [evozierte] jene feierliche Stimmung, die man

Until then, Greek sanctuaries were decorated with real garlands made of fresh greenery on festive occasions such as the performance of a sacrifice. It was customary to decorate the main altar with garlands. However, very often the decoration could also extend across the entire sanctuary.10 On a circular altar from Delphi (Fig. 2) you can see women in the process of draping a leaf garland

11 Further references on the decoration of sacred furniture and ritual places with garlands: ibid.: 277 f. 12 For the meaning of garland decor see ibid.: 272 ff. with further references. 13 On the beginning of sculpted garlands in Hellenistic art, with further references, see ibid.: 279.

8

e.g. ibid.: nos 267, 453, 575, 589, 591 etc. On the first sculptured garlands from Asia Minor, see Stoye 2007: 279, fn. 59, 60. 9

14 On the semantics of laurel garlands in particular, with further references, see ibid.: 274 f.

10 For the use of real garlands in Greek sanctuaries see ibid.: 273 with further references.

15 On the garlands on circular altars compare ibid.: 280 ff., with further references.

346

FESTIVITY AND SACRED AURA stets mit Gottesdienst und Heiltum verband, und übertrug diese auf den Grabbereich (Berges 1986: 4832: 34).16

The garlands here still had the function to evoke a sacred aura.

Thus, the character of the garland frieze remained sacred on the circular altars as well.

Sarcophagi from Attica and Asia Minor present another group of related funerary monuments which feature rigid scaled leaf garlands in their base mouldings.22

On Hellenistic cult buildings soon the laurel leaf garland appears also in an abstracted variant which − as a torus moulding − had taken on the character of a functional member of architectural ornamentation: the elongated or rigid scaled leaf garland.

From a formal point of view, the scaled leaf garland did not encompass the bases of these last mentioned monuments in a one-way-direction as, for example, on the ring toruses of the column bases. In fact the leaf garlands here were divided into two opposed halves. They either ran towards each other in the middle of the front side or departed from the centre. The meeting or departing point in the centre of the side in view was specially decorated with a band or rosette. With a band in the case of the compitum and funerary altars, or with a band or rosette in the case of the sarcophagi. The same principle we find applied with architrave decorations from Roman Imperial times.23

The oldest known extant example of a rigid scaled leaf torus moulding is found on the walls of the Apollo temple at Didyma (from the end of the 2nd century BC).17 Here, as also in all the following examples, the rigid scaled leaf garland was always part of the base cornice. From the 3rd century BC onwards laurel leaf toruses appeared also as rings around the bases of columns in varying quality of execution in Hellenistic and Roman pomp buildings (Fig. 4).18

Within the Mediterranean region and its immediate periphery the scaled leaf garland was also transferred to sacral monuments of foreign religions. At Palmyra it framed the cult niches of the local cults there,24 in Galilea it crowned the portals of an ancient synagogue.25

Later on, in Roman times, the laurel leaf moulding is found primarily on small sacral and sacral-sepulchral monuments, such as compitum altars, funerary altars and sarcophagi. In the Roman tradition compitum altars were an important means of disseminating the Emperor cult. They advertised the sacredness of the authority of Emperor Augustus. On these altars one finds elongated scaled leaf garlands around some bases.19 The same applies to the use of the rigid scaled leaf garland in the base profiles of Roman funerary altars (from the 1st and 2nd century AD).20 Here too, the main purpose of the iconographic program was to convey a sacred aura. Dietrich Boschung informs:

With the last mentioned monuments we have now reached the end of the 2nd century and the beginning of the 3rd century AD, the same period which saw the mass production in Gandhāra. Turning to the associations connected with the garland, let us ask: Did the laurel leaf garland continue to have the same significance after 600 years of development as in the beginning? I believe it did. The significance of the laurel leaf garland in the 2nd/3rd century AD most clearly emerges from the writings of Tertullian, who warned the Christians against idolatry.26 Amongst other things he turned against hanging laurel garlands on the front doors of houses, something all Roman citizens were required to do as a sign of reverence for the emperor. According to Tertullian this act amounted to the worship of an idol. He complained that with such homages the Emperor was honoured instead of God. It raised the honoured person above the level of human tributes and bestowed divine majesty on him. This however, to Tertullian, meant idolatry and superstitious worship. Thus Tertullian warned his fellow believers to never decorate their doors with laurel garlands. Tertullian calls out to them: ‘If you have renounced the temples, do not make a temple of your door’ (Waszink & Van Winden 1987: 53). This sentence makes completely clear the capability of the

Grabaltäre sind Grabstein in Altarform. Ihre Dekoration und ihre Gestaltung leitet sich von den Götteraltären ab. […] Durch die consecratio in formam deorum […] werden bestimmte Eigenschaften […] eines Gottes […] für den Toten in Anspruch genommen […] der Verstorbene sollte von den übrigen Sterblichen abgehoben und in die Nähe der Götter gerückt werden (Boschung 1987: 49).21

16 Translation: This transfer was facilitated by the quasi sacred aura that surrounded the funerary sphere from ancient times. […] here too, the garland decoration [evoked] that ceremonial atmosphere that one always associated with worship and sanctuaries and transferred it to the funerary realm. 17

See Stoye 2007: 284 f.

18

Ibid.: 285 ff.

19

Ibid.: 288 f.

20

Ibid.: 289 ff. 22

21

Translation: Funerary altars are tombstones in the form of altars. Their decoration and design are derived from altars for the gods […] Through the consecratio in formam deorum […] specific qualities […] of a god […] were claimed for the dead person […] the deceased was to be raised above ordinary mortals and placed in proximity of the gods […] In this manner, the funerary monument became a place of solemn elevation which complied with the endeavours to heroize the dead.

See Stoye 2007: 292 f.

23

For the rigid scaled leave garland as an architrave decoration see ibid.: 293 f. 24 Ibid.: 294 f.

347

25

Ibid.: 295 f.

26

Ibid.: 276 ff.

Martina Stoye garland to convey a sacred aura even in the 2nd/3rd century AD.

of Buddhist stūpas. Thus, our ornament illustrates that the garland not only represented a religious offering in the Buddhist sense but also identifies the stūpa − according to the logic of western pictorial tradition as a festively decorated place of intact sacredness. Thus this kind of garland is a visual device with bilingual expressiveness. In the future we should ask whether not each part of Gandhāran stūpa decoration, if developed from an imported motif, possesses such an underlying double meaning which carefully equilibrates two different pictorial languages. In order to verify this, further research should be carried out.

Now then, what can we learn from the shown material and the quoted sources? What are our conclusions? The Gandhāran scaled leaf garland was definitely imported from the West. However, Gandhāran artists did not adopt the elaborate versions but simpler forms. With regard to the placement on the monument the Gandhāran stone masons freed themselves almost completely from western practices. The scaled leaf garland appears only rarely in base profiles like on most of the monuments in the West. Rather, it was relocated to the relief decoration surrounding the narrative friezes. The preferred position was in close proximity to the scenes from the life of the Buddha.

Bibliographic References

A special contribution of the Gandhāran artists was the development of the vertical usage on vertical image steles and nāsika gables. On even surfaces the Indian artist like the Western one turned to the principle of arranging parts of the garlands in opposite directions. The way in which the meeting point was decorated with bands and rosettes clearly betrays strong ties with Western prototypes from the Roman Imperial period.27 Interestingly, Indian motifs were never used in the decoration of the meeting points.

Ackermann, H.C. (1975) Narrative stone reliefs from Gandhāra in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London: catalogue and attempt at a stylistic history (IsMEO Reports and Memoirs 17). Rome. Berges, D. (1986) Hellenistische Rundaltäre Kleinasiens. Dissertationsschrift Freiburg: Albert-LudwigUniversität. Freiburg i. Br. Berges, D. (1996) Rundaltäre aus Kos und Rhodos (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Athen). Berlin.

Due to the simplification of the design of the scaled leaf garland, the botanic determinability of the Gandhāran version of the scaled leaf garland (by insertion of laurel berries in the ‘gusset’ of two leaves) was not given any more. However, it appears that the artists were clearly aware of the significance of the laurel leaf garland in the West.

Boardman, J. (1994) The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity. London–Princeton. Boschung, D. (1987) Antike Grabaltäre aus den Nekropolen Roms. Bern. Bromberg, C.A. (1988) ‘The Putto and the Garland in Asia’, Bulletin of the Asia Institute N.S. 2: 67-85.

It is striking that even though Indian tradition would have actually demanded pu·pamālās (flower garlands) in this place, the artists, when using imported motifs to enrich the Indian ornamentation, did not resort to flower or fruit garlands which were also widespread in the Western tradition. This must be because these would have contributed a different meaning. To me it seems very probable that with the integration of the motif they consciously wanted to introduce these Western associations into the Buddhist pictorial program.

Buchthal, H. (1942-43) ‘The Foundations for a Chronology of Gandhāra Sculpture. Paper read by Dr. Hugo Buchthal on 4th November, 1942’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society 1942-43: 21-32. Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1971) YakΒas, Part I & II. New Delhi (first ed. 1928). Errington, E.C. & Cribb, J., eds (1992) The Crossroads of Asia. Transformation in Image and Symbol in the Art of Ancient Afghanistan and Pakistan. Cambridge.

We have seen that the scaled leaf garland imparted connotations of solemnity and sacredness. It conveyed a sacred aura and signalled a particular religious sphere, the association of a holy space and devotion on festive occasion. We recall: garlanding was the most important element of consecration. On the one hand, the wreath marked the exceptional and festive moment, the festive joy, on the other hand the act of garlanding persons or things singled someone or something out and awarded them a sacred character.

Foucher, A. (1905-51) L’Art gréco-bouddhique du Gandhāra. Paris. Ingholt, H. (1957) Gandhāran Art in Pakistan. New York. Jones, J.J. (1949-56) The Mahāvāstu. London. Kurita, I. (2003) Gandhāran Art I. The Buddha’s life story. Tokyo.

I would like to suggest that all these connotations and associations were consciously invited in Gandhāra when this foreign ornament was integrated into the decoration 27

Rahman, A. (1995) ‘Garland Bearer Reliefs from Shrine C at Butkara III (Swāt)’, Lahore Museum Bulletin 8(1): 5-15.

See Stoye 2007: 305.

348

FESTIVITY AND SACRED AURA Rau, H. (1986) Stilgeschichte der indischen Kunst. Graz. Senart, É. (1882-90) Le Mahāvastu. Paris. Spawforth, T. (2006) The Complete Greek Temples. London. Stoye, M. (2007) ‘Serta Laurea zu Ehren Buddhas - Zur gestreckten Lorbeerblattgirlande im Reliefdekor gandhārischer Stūpas’, Berliner Indologische Studien 18: 241-318. Swāti, M.F. (1997) ‘Garland Bearer Reliefs from Butkara III, Swāt’, Āthāriyyāt (Archaeology): 115-30. Waszink, J.H. & Van Winden, J.C.M., transl. (1987) Tertullianus: De Idolatria. Critical Text, Translation and Commentary. Leiden. Wegner, M. (1965) Schmuckbasen des antiken Rom (Orbis Antiquus 22). Münster. Zannas, É. (1961) ‘De Pergame au Gandhāra’, Arts Asiatiques 8: 67-74. Zwalf, W. (1996) A Catalogue of the Gandhāra Sculpture in the British Museum. London.

349

Martina Stoye

Fig. 1 - Rigid scaled leave garland; Asian Art Museum Berlin; South, Southeast and Central Asian Art Collection inv. no. I 459; (Photo M. Stoye).

Fig. 2 - Detail of a circular altar from Delphi (After Spawforth 2006: 103).

350

FESTIVITY AND SACRED AURA

Fig. 3 - Circular altar (after Berges 1996: pl. 5).

Fig. 4 - Scaled leave garland around a Roman column base (After Wegner 1965: pl. 19a).

351

A LINK BETWEEN THE DAREL VALLEY AND GILGIT, THE KHANBERY VALLEY. FIELD RESEARCH IN NORTHERN PAKISTAN TRACING FAXIAN’S ROUTE FROM PAMIR TO DAREL 2005 & 2006 Haruko Tsuchiya Gilgit was a Buddhist centre, also, as testified by the rock-cut Buddha at the mouth of the Kargah Valley as well as the well-known Gilgit Manuscript, both dated approximately from the 5th to the 6th centuries AD. The well-preserved Sanskrit manuscripts written on birch bark and kept in a wooden case were discovered at the Naupur stūpa in the south-western edge of Gilgit, containing, among others, the oldest examples of a portion of the Lotus Sutras (Dutt 1939). The importance of the discovery of the Gilgit manuscripts was well expressed by Aurel Stein who wrote that ‘No single “find” of such magnitude has ever been made there, and in India. I do not know of any find of this kind’ (Mirsky 1977: 469-70). Darel, as recorded by Faxian, was well known as an important Buddhist centre, where a colossal wooden image of Maitreya Buddha drew pilgrims from all over the Buddhist world. Faxian writes that

This paper presents the latest field work carried out in the Khanbery Valley in Northern Pakistan, as part of Tsuchiya/Amjad field research conducted over the last decade tracing Faxian’s route from Pamir to Darel. Faxian travelled from Pamir to Darel, on his way to Swat, Gandhāra and India in AD 401. In ‘A record of Buddhist Kingdoms’, Faxian stated that from Tashqurghan [the travellers] went westward towards North India, and after being on the way for a month, succeeded in getting across and through the range of the Onion mountains [Pamir]…..When [the travellers] got through, found themselves in a small kingdom called T’o-li, where also they were many monks, all students of the Hinayana (Legge 1886: 24).

T’o-li is identified as the present-day Darel by Cunningham (Cunningham 1924: 84), Shiratori (Shiratori 1941: vol. 1, 386), Stein (Stein 1928: vol. 1, p. 6, 30), Kuwayama (Kuwayama 1990: 50), and Miyaji (Miyaji 1992: 40).

the statue was eight zhang or eighty cubits in height [24 meters]….. On fast-days it emits an effulgent light. The kings of the [surrounding] countries vie with one another in presenting offerings to it. Here it is – to be now [AD 401] as of old (Legge 1886: 26-27; Taisho no. 51: 854; Miyaji 1992: 302; Levi 1932: 364).

Initiated in 1991, our field research has been pursuing the possible identity of Faxian’s route from Pamir to Darel. The importance of its identification lies in the fact that this route can also be considered one of the major ways Buddhism was disseminated from India to China.

The popularity of Darel as one of the major places of Buddhist pilgrimage as well as the development of Gilgit as an important Buddhist centre obliged us to pay particular attention to the Gilgit-Darel route via the Kargah Valley. There must have been a route connecting these two centres, although our hypothesis does not include Gilgit as part of Faxian’s route from Pamir to Darel (Fig. 2). Our point is that if Faxian visited Gilgit on his way to Darel, it is impossible for him to ignore Gilgit. The very absence of the mention on Gilgit in Faxian’s record made us consider that Faxian took the direct route from Pamir to Darel without touching Gilgit.

Based on Faxian’s record that after crossing Pamir, he reached Darel and that he never mentioned Gilgit, we made an assumption that there must have been a route bypassing Gilgit and directly reaching Darel. Intensive field research led us to propose a hypothesis concerning Faxian’s route: via the Khora Bhort Pass crossing from Pamir to north India, enter the Karambar/Ishkoman valleys to Gakuch on the Gilgit River, and then through the Singal Valley to the Darel Valley. The established opinion (Fig.1) commonly asserts that Faxian travelled from Pamir via Hunza and Gilgit to the Darel Valley. According to this opinion, Faxian, leaving Tashqurghan, crossed either the Kilik or Mintaka Pass, and via Gilgit, travelled through the Kargah Valley to reach the Darel Valley. Both Gilgit and Darel were well known historically as recorded in the Chinese Records.

Despite these differences, it was necessary to conduct our exploration between Gilgit and Darel in order to obtain an accurate picture of traffic in this area in ancient times. It has been commonly said that Gilgit and Darel were linked by the Kargah Valley, but maps indicate that these two Buddhist centres are not directly connected by the Kargah Valley. The Gilgit/Kargah route to Darel crosses another valley, the Khanbery Valley.

Gilgit was already recorded in the Han Shu, the official annals of the Han Dynasty (200 BC – AD 7) in the Section of the Western Region, as Nantou, a point of strategic importance as well as a relay area. From Gilgit, the Tarim Basin is to the north, Kashimir and Gandhāra to the south, Tibet to the east and Bactria to the west.

The Khanbury River, flowing through the Khanbury Valley, is one of the tributaries of the Indus River, in the area between Chilas and Sazin, where the Indus had to turn its course west because of the massive presence of Nanga Parbat Mountain (8125 m). The Khanbery Valley lies between the Hodur Valley to its east and the Darel 353

Haruko Tsuchiya The Chorjode Valley, a side valley of the Khanbery, provides the shortest access between Gilgit and Darel, via the Kotogah and then to the Bari Gah, as observed. The climb to the Chorjode Valley was gradual and easy. In the middle of the way to the Chorjode Pass, we found several settlements at Mayoon Mulla’s Ather, in the middle of the rich pastureland, surrounded by thick forests. The ascent toward the Chorjode Pass was gentle, but was greatly hampered by heavy rain and later by snow. The Chorjode Pass, in the midst of rugged rocks, was partially covered by snow.

Valley to its west, all running from north to south. The Khanbery River is about 60 km long, having its source at the glacial lake of Naronamal, running south of Kinichish Mountain and draining into the Indus, about 50 km west of Chilas. The Khanbery Valley has remained little known. In comparison to the popularity enjoyed by Gilgit and Darel, the Khanbery Valley is obscure. Prior to our field work, the valley had not been explored. Sir Aurel Stein, in 1913, at the beginning of his third expedition to East Turkistan, crossed the Khanbery on his way to the Darel Valley. Coming from the Hodur Valley, he just crossed the middle course of the Khanbery Valley at Demot (Stein 1928: vol. 1, p. 17), and did not have a chance to trace the valley.

The Chorjode Pass (Fig. 4) is a divide between the Kargah and the Khanbery rivers and is the very head of the Kargah Valley, called the Takoribas Nalla. The gradual descent from the Chorjode Pass led us to a pasture, Kargah Sager, where we had the first contact in the Kargah Valley at Sadri’s Ather. A steep descent started after Sadri’s Ather in a narrow valley and then the valley broadened when we reached the junction of the Takoribas and the Shengah, a side valley. The trail along the main Kargah Valley, now called the Shengah, was easy, continuing through the midst of forests and pines and cedars. When the Shengah met the Chillali Gah, a large side valley, the valley finally is called the Kargah Valley. At Majnay, at the junction of these valleys, stood the ruins of a watch tower, Shikari (Fig. 5), constructed during the British time to protect people and livestock from attacks by the Darel and Khanbery people. At Majnay, the permanent police post is still installed because Majnay still is an important junction. Those who want to go to the middle or down streams of the Khanbery take the Chillali route, whereas those who want to reach the up streams of the Khanbery River or want to go to the Darel Valley will take the Shenga/Tokoribas Chorjode route. Going down the Kargah Valley was very easy and we reached Jut without any difficulty. From Kanne, close to Jut, a vehicle was made available up to Basin at the mouth of the Kargah Valley in the vicinity of Gilgit.

In order to gain a broader perspective, we approached the Khanbery Valley from different routes. In 2005, our field work started from the very head of the Khanaby Pass down to the first left side valley, the Chorjode, to trace the shortest access from Darel to Gilgit. In 2006, the field work began from the mouth of the Kargah Valley, tracing up the valley to take in an important side valley, the Chilleli, which reaches the middle stream of the Khanbery River. A new route through the Ishkobar Valley was surveyed. In August 2005, we reached the head of the Khanbery Valley on the fourth day of our field work, coming from the mouth of the Singal Valley and reaching its head to cross the Parosar Pass into Maja Sagar, a beautiful grassland at the top of all the valleys: Darel, Batraith, Glumit, Singal and Khanbery. While the gates to the Darel Valley, such as the Batakhun and the Yajey passes, lie towards the southwest, the Khanbery Pass lies towards the southeast, close to the glacier-covered Kinichish Mountain and Maja Sar, a glacial lake at the foot of the Kinichish. Climbing to the Khanbery Pass was not easy with loose gravel and snow on the path. The view from the top (Fig. 3) was spectacular, as the broad valley of Khanbery was entirely covered by rich grass, and a stream was flowing out of the Naronamal Lake in the middle of the grassland.

The total distance covered by the 2005 field work is about 90 km covered mostly on foot. This breaks down as: 1) 30 km from the mouth to its very head of the Singal Valley and then to the top of the Khanbery Pass, 2) 60 km from the Khanbery Pass via Chorjode/ Takuribas/Majanay to Basin.

Below the lake, at Naronamal Sagar (pastureland), we found the first settlement in the Khanbery Valley, which is called Mahzoob Khan’s Ather (hut). Mahzoob Khan, an influential figure in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, keeps his cattle in this grassland, which is considered the richest in the entire Khanbery, Darel and Tangir area. Only a man like Mahzoob Khan is able to keep the grazing rights to such a pasture.

As a result of the 2005 field work, it has been ascertained that the Kargah Valley does not link directly with the Darel Valley. The Khanbery Valley sits in the midst of the Kargah and the Darel valleys. The shortest route from Gilgit to Darel goes through the very head of the Kargah Valley at the Chorjode Pass, and then via the Chorjode Valley and Kotogah/Barigah route reaches the upper Darel Valley at Matic. The trails are mostly gradual and easy. Good pastures promise summer settlements, so the routes are not kept as a no-man’s-land which must have provided a good environment for the travellers in ancient times.

Going downhill from Mahzoob Khan’s Ather, the descent was gradual and easy. The Kotogah, a side valley gradually ascended towards the Bari Gah, which provides the shortest access to the Darel Valley. Further down on the left bank, Kaliodat, a large settlement, was at the junction of the Chorjode Nala (valley) and the Khanbery Valley. The tree line started just before Kaliodat, providing very scenic views along the Khanbery Valley. 354

A LINK BETWEEN THE DAREL VALLEY AND GILGIT, THE KHANBERY VALLEY. The field work in July 2006 started at the mouth of the Kargah Valley and went up stream. At Majnay, the junction of the main Kargah Valley, called Shengah and the Chillali Valleys, we took the Chillali route, which was left unexplored during the field work in 2005. The Chillali Valley at its mouth is broad with some trees scantily standing along the stream of the Chillali River. The vegetation was rather poor in this valley. Even in the upper valley, not many trees were observed. Still the harai, summer settlement, started to appear in the upper land. A small bridge went over the Chillali River. The Chillali Valley opens up wide at the Chillali Sagar (Fig. 6), a rich pastureland surrounded by mountains. The Chillali Pass was covered by rocks and rubble. This is the pass where the Kargah Valley ends and the Khanbery Valley starts by its side valley, the Ghoutoo. Near the top of the Chillali Pass, the Ghoutoo Valley is wide with some vegetation partially covering the ground. Where a mountain slope ends, a clear outline of a rectangular shape emerged, indicating a site of a polo ground.

The Darelis, holding rights for grazing in the Khanbery Valley, are only interested in using the grazing ground at the heads of the valleys drained by the Khanbery River. The main source of income of the Darelis is the timber business which is heavily dependent on ‘the magnificent forest growths found from Khanbari and Tangir.’ (Stein 1928: vol. 1, p. 18). Like Stein, we crossed a wooden bridge over the Khanbery River (Fig. 7) and entered a side valley, the Wai Budi (Fig. 8). The steep slopes were covered by grass and thick forests. The sharp incline continued until we reached the Wai Budi Sagar, a rich pastureland watered by many streams. Many cattle were grazing in the pasture which continued up to the foot of the Wai Budi Pass. The pass itself was covered by green grasses. From the Wai Budi Pass, the Barigah Pass could be viewed towards the northwest on the ridgeline much higher than the Wai Budi Pass. On our way to the Barigah Pass, we passed the Itty Sagar, a pastureland, scantily covered by vegetation. Stein referred to it as Ity Nullas (Stein 1928: vol. 1, p. 19). After a steep climb over the rugged rocks and rubble, we arrived at the Barigah Pass where more rocks with sharp edges and large boulders were scattered everywhere. If one takes the Barigah, the trail will reach Matic in the upper Darel Valley, beyond Darband.

Instead of following the whole Ghoutoo Valley, a different route via the Narai Pass was taken in order to make a new approach to the Darel Valley. The Narnai Valley, a side valley of the Khanbery, has its mouth 7 km downstream from Kaliodat, at where, in 2005, we started to take the Chorjode Valley course towards the Kargah Valley. From the top of the Narnai Pass, the peak of the Kinichish Mountain could be viewed, standing high among the panoramic scenery of the Gilgit Mountain Range. As we descended, the Narnai Valley narrowed and the forest grew thicker.

Instead of taking the Barigah, the Ishkobar Valley was chosen, as we were told that the valley goes down directly to reach the last permanent village in the Darel Valley, Yashot. The Ishkobar Pass could be spotted in the distance from the Barigah Pass. The Ishkobar Pass, as it was called by the local people, could also be called the Chayagal the name found on many maps or Phunophuno, as Stein called it (Stein 1928: vol. 1, p. 19).

Reaching the main Khanbery Valley at the point, about 19 km from the Khanbury Pass or the head of the Khanbery Valley, or about 14 km upstream of Demot, where Aurel Stein touched the Khanbery Valley just by crossing it, coming from Chilas via Hodur on his way to Darel in 1913, forests of deoders, cedars, firs and pines became even thicker. When Stein crossed the Untai Pass, the watershed between the Hoder and the Khanbery Valley, he noticed two of the characteristic features,

The Ishkobar Valley could be reached by a well-trodden trail. The Ishkobar Sagar (Fig. 9), just below the pass, is a large pastureland with rich vegetation. A stream is flowing out of the pastureland down towards the valley, sometimes forming small ponds framed by thick lawns. As we went down the Ishkobar Valley, the volume of the water and speed of the river increased, gushing down the middle of the broad valley. In the lower valley, there is a sharp descent where the valley narrowed down and where the thick tree line started. The Ishkobar Valley got even narrower as it got close to its mouth. Rubble and boulders filled the valley, piling up, while the sides of the valley were covered with thick forests (Fig. 10).

Luxuriant conifer forest, at an elevation of 2100 meters to 3300 meters, far thicker than any seen since leaving the Kashanaganga, clothed the steep slopes towards the Khanbari [Khanbery] river, while at the head of the valley could be seen extensive open uplands right up to the watershed range towards Gilgit (Stein 1928: vol. 1, p. 15).

Stein conjectured, though our line of travel did not allow me to touch the main Khanbari [Khanbery] Valley anywhere, except at Domot, both the views gained from subsequent survey points higher up and the information collected showed conclusively that along the Khanbari River itself and in the upper side valleys there is abundant ground sufficiently open for cultivation and an ample water supply for its irrigation (Stein 1928: vol. 1, p. 17)

Yashot, the last permanent village in the Darel Valley, is on the right bank of the Ishkobar River which drains to the Darel Valley. The information collected by the previous field research in the Darel Valley, that the strongest and most courageous and vicious people live in Yashot is quite understandable, as having this approach route from the outside world directly lead to their backyard.

Stein noticed the scarcity of people in this valley, despite these favourable conditions, which seems to be still true now.

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Haruko Tsuchiya The total distance covered by the 2006 field work is about 87 km. This breaks down as

Bibliographic References Cunningham, A. (1924) Ancient Geography of India. Calcutta.

1) 42 km from the mouth of the Kargah Valley via the Chilelli Valley to the Ghoutoo Valley, 2) 45 km from the Narnai Pass via the Narhai, Wai Budi valleys, the Bari Gah and Ishkobar passes and the Ishkobar Valley to Yashot in the Darel Valley.

Dutt, N. (1939) Gilgit Manuscript, 4 vols (Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies 71). Srinagar. Kuwayama, S. (1990) Kapisii=Gandhara Shi no Kenkyu [On the History of Kapisi and Gandhāra]. Kyoto.

The field research conducted in 2005 and 2006 enabled us to gain a new perspective on the route between Gilgit and Darel, where the Khanbery Valley is playing an important role in providing several optional routes.

Legge, J. (1965) A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms. New York (first ed. 1886). Levi, S. (1932) Maitreya Le Consolateur (Le Musée Guimet, Études d’Orientalisme II). Paris.

The 2006 field work was conducted on different routes from that of 2005. It covered an important side-valley of the Kargah Valley, the Chillali, to reach the middle valley of the Khanbery Valley. The route goes via the Chillali Pass, and enters into the Ghoutoo Valley, a side valley of the Khanbery (which is called the Telkush Valley in the down valley) and then drains to the Khanbery River at Khu. Having observed the full course of the Chillali subvalley, the field work traced the Narnai Valley, another side-valley of the Khanbery Valley, in order to take the Wai Budi side valley route to the Darel Valley.

Mirsky, J. (1977) Sir Aurel Stein, Archaeological Explorer. Chicago. Miyaji, A. (1992) Nehan to Miroku no Zuzogaku [Iconology of Parinirvana and Maitreya from India to Central Asia]. Tokyo. Shiratori, K. (1941) Saiiki no Kenkyuu [A study on the Western Region], Vol. 1. Tokyo. Stein, M.A. (1981) Innermost Asia, Vol. 1. New Delhi (first ed. 1928).

The field research conducted in 2005 and 2006 enabled us to comprehend the general status of routes between Gilgit and Darel. Without the passages provided by the Khanbery Valley it is not possible to have functioning routes. The Khanbery route plays a vital role in regards to the route connecting Gilgit and Darel. The route via the Khanbery Valley is lengthy and crosses many passes high above the tree line. Still this route is much more preferable to the Indus River course, which was dangerous, desolate and longer. Having worked on the Khanbery Valley, particularly on its function as a route between Gilgit and Darel, we feel certain that the Khanbery Route provided safety and ease without being precarious. The lavish richness of summer pastures and thick forests must have drawn villagers to their summer settlements with their livestock. The presence of summer population in the area must have provided accommodation and board for the travellers heading to these Buddhist centres in Darel or in Gilgit. The Khanbery Valley must have played an essential role in connecting the two important centres, Gilgit and Darel.

Acknowledgements The present field research was directed by Haruko Tsuchiya and Amjad Ayub, and was assisted by Taj Rehmat, field assistant. Editorial assistance was provided by Patrice Fusillo and the maps were prepared by Tokutaro Matsuda.

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A LINK BETWEEN THE DAREL VALLEY AND GILGIT, THE KHANBERY VALLEY.

Fig. 1 - The two routes from Pamir to Darel (Map T. Matsuda).

Fig. 2 - Routes to Darel (Map T. Matsuda).

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Haruko Tsuchiya

Fig. 3 - The Khanbery Pass (Photo H. Tsuchiya).

Fig. 4 - The Chorjode Pass (Photo H. Tsuchiya).

Fig. 5 - Shikari (watch tower) at Majnay (Photo H. Tsuchiya).

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A LINK BETWEEN THE DAREL VALLEY AND GILGIT, THE KHANBERY VALLEY.

Fig. 6 - The Chillali Sagar (Photo H. Tsuchiya).

Fig. 7 - The Khanbery River (Photo H. Tsuchiya).

Fig. 8 - The Wai Budi Valley (Photo H. Tsuchiya).

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Fig. 9 - The Ishkobar Sagar (Photo H. Tsuchiya).

Fig. 10 - Near the mouth of the Ishkobar Valley (Photo H. Tsuchiya)

360

THE CITADEL OF TISSAMAHARAMA AND THE TORRENTS OF SPRING Hans-Joachim Weisshaar & Senerath Dissanayake The inhabitants of the burnt house set up a new building on the same spot in the same alignment. This time they choose brick walls as foundation. A door opened towards the rampart and postholes were in the line of bricks for wooden poles to carry the roof (Fig. 4). A small pit was dug from the level of this house down into the debris of the former structure in the 1st century BC. The shallow pit contained a hoard of about 820 tiny Lakshmi plaques and fragments. They are all of the same size. Some are poor but others are of a superb quality. It is still disputed among the numismatists, whether these objects are truly coins or served as votive plaques (Walburg 1997; 2001: 274; in print).

The Ancient Ruhuna Project is a joint venture of the Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka and the Commission for Archaeology of Non-European Cultures of the German Archaeological Institute. Since 1992 the excavations at the Citadel of Tissamaharama, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Ruhuna are part of this program (Weisshaar, Roth & Wijeyapala 2001; Weisshaar & Wijeyapala 1994, 2000, 2005). The Citadel is situated on the eastern bank of the Tissawewa (Weisshaar & Wijeyapala 2000: 636, fig. 2; Weisshaar, Schenk & Wijeyapala 2001: 9, fig. 3, 10 fig. 4). The reservoir was built in the second century BC according to the ancient chronicle Mahāvamsa and reconstructed by the British administration at the end of the 19th century.

The investigation of almost 800 m2 near the western border of the citadel presently displays a settlement of private areas and houses that belonged to noble families of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC.

After research in the Workmen’s Quarter of the Citadel (= Tissa 1) and a living area of noble families in the modern Court’s Garden (= Tissa 2) the excavation of recent years focused on a living quarter in the premises of the Sarvodaya Area (= Tissa 3) at the western border of the citadel.

Two narrow streets are joining each other in the centre of the excavation area (Fig. 5). Their grey and muddy soils were easily to distinguish from the red-brown areas of the dwellings. Long brick walls bordered both lanes and enclosed properties of square or rectangular shape.

Mahagama, the Tissamaharama of today, was founded in the 3rd century BC according to literary sources. It had a surrounding rampart like all planned urban structures, built of successive layers of clay and soil. Stone slabs were placed from time to time to fasten the slope of the embankment. To the inside joined an open space of about four to eight meters in front of the first buildings that probably served as a public pathway.

Most of the houses had brick foundations and wooden posts carried the roof. The roofs were not thatched with tiles. Fragments of tiles were very rare in these layers in contrary to later periods where collapsed roofs often built a sealing layer of tiles covering the structures. The narrow streets in the settlement were not only meant as pathways but also for funnelling rainwater down the slope. They were on a lower level than the living areas on either side. The streets must have been very muddy and even today one notices a foul and unpleasant smell at the junction on a wet day. The settlers had placed several bricks as stepping stones into the mud to improve the passage (Fig. 6).

A section of the wall revealed only a few artefacts of which two rim sherds indicate an early date, at least the 3rd century BC. The earliest layers at the Workmen’s Quarter (Tissa 1) showed that the beginning of habitation dates back to c. 400 BC. A house of wattle and daub near the surrounding wall was completely destroyed by fire in the 2nd century BC (Fig. 1). The debris on top of the walking floor were more than 40 cm thick. Some wooden posts left bright spots in the black and dark red scorch marks. A step of loam surrounded the building comparable to modern dwellings in rural areas. Central posts carried a roof without tiles. One of the posts had a flat slab as base. The interior of the house was divided into several rooms.

The local pottery of these layers is ‘Red Ware’ and ‘Black-and-Red-Ware’. They dominated the pottery production not only on the island but on most of the Indian subcontinent as well. New types of the imported ‘Fine Grey Pottery’, to which ‘Rouletted Ware’ belongs (Schenk 2006), came to light in these layers of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC (Fig. 7). Up to now they are apparently rather unique.

The inhabitants left in a hurry and a lady that lived there lost several necklaces. They were found in situ and one of them consisted of more than 500 flat red beads (Fig. 2). Moreover, the unfortunate lady lost her toilet set, too. A bronze flask, a container for eye-liner, and three kholsticks were found together on the floor (Fig. 3).

The settlement of ancient times suffered heavily by flooding after downpours. So we did during the excavation (Fig. 8). But for us it was only a single rainy day. One can only imagine how the settlement of the early Historical Period looked like during the monsoon season. So as in January of 2007, when the town of 361

Hans-Joachim Weisshaar & Senerath Dissanayake found so far. Much more are said to originate from the Citadel area (modern: ‘Akurugoda’). They can be seen in private collections or in the local art market (Bopearachchi & Wickremesinhe 1999). This extraordinary large amount gives proof to an efficient administration, an established hierarchy of the society and the prosperity of the inhabitants.

Tissamaharama faced heavy flooding. Many houses were damaged and - as the suburb of the Citadel is on higher ground - many people had to live in tents and makeshift huts around the excavation area for some time. And they returned to their dwellings only shortly before the excavation commenced. The ancient living compounds, although higher than the streets, were affected by water. In some areas a sedimentation is indicated by thin, almost fluvial layers. When the levels of the courtyards rose due to the accumulation, the walls were overhauled. From time to time new lines of bricks were placed upon the old walls and finally they served not only as borderlines of the property, but rather as retaining or terrace walls.

The large amount of animal bones of past seasons was examined by Norbert Benecke during the excavation. Especially the layers of BC-periods revealed a high percentage of about 80% of game. A hint, who might have been the hunters, gives the rib of an axis deer of the 1st century BC from the Workmen’s Quarter (Tissa 1) in the southern part of the Citadel (Weisshaar & Wijeyapala 1994; Weisshaar, Schenk & Wijeyapala 2001: 12-26). The fragment of an arrow point of quartz was still embedded in the bone (Fig. 11). However, no microlithic stone tools are among the finds of the site. The deer had not been killed by the settlers. It was brought from outside into the village.

The walled areas remained unchanged and were maintained over a long period of time. They are an indication of a private property that was passed on within the family for several generations.

We know of a Mesolithic tradition that lasted up to the Iron Age since the research of the Sarasins and of the Seligmanns in the 19th and early 20th century (Sarasin 1886, 1908; Seligmann 1908, 1911; Kennedy 1994). A microlithic stone industry was also observed in the layers of the Early Historical Period at the Upper Rock Shelter of Pidurangala (Moser 1994). This tradition is been carried on by the Veddas in the Central Hills to these days. The vagrant Veddas traded the meat with the settlers and got other goods in exchange. And with the meat the arrow point reached the settlement of Tissamaharama.

Many shafts filled with pebbles and bricks were scattered all over the excavation area. They were meant as drainage to allow the water to trickle away more easily. Small covered channels directed surplus water from the private areas to the streets. The flow of rainwater in the streets must have been considerable at the rainy season and the settlers had to take care of their terrace walls. At first, the settlers built slender gutters of bricks along the walls and later bricks or tiles standing upright in front of the foundations to keep the water away. Finally, all precautions were in vain. The subsoil of the streets was too muddy due to heavy rain, foundations dislocated and the walls tending towards each other gave way and fell into the streets.

The Arabic geographer Alberuni described the barter of both population groups in the 11th century (Dharmadasa 1990: 39). The Englishman Robert Knox, who was a prisoner on the island in the 17th century, talked about the ‘wild men of the jungle’, who supplied the venison (Knox 1681: 61). And Jacob Haafner, when travelling on foot on the island in the early 19th century, took a note on the Veddas giving ivory, honey, wax, and deer, in exchange for cloth, iron, and knives (Haafner 1821: 55).

As a last resource, the families decided to leave the dwellings and they moved to other places of the citadel. Apparently, the inhabitants had to proceed with the relocation in all urgency. Again a lady among the settlers was ill-fated and lost a toilet set of a bronze flask, several khol-sticks (Fig. 3) and a bronze mirror. The mirrors are well known on the subcontinent from Mahasthangarh in the east to Taxila in the northwest (Bernard et al. 2001: 114; Leshnik 1974: 186, Typ VIIA1; Marshall 1951: vol. III, pl. 182, nos 208 & 211; Singh & Singh 2004: pl. XIX-B). They have a pronounced rim and are plain on both sides, whereas the find from Tissamaharama has a central knob or omphalos boss. This type is more connected to Iran and Central Asia (De Puma 1992: 98101 & f. 5.23-31). Not far away was a carved ivory stand, most probably for the bronze mirror (Fig. 9).

The site was abandoned not for a long time. After levelling new structures were set up, but they did not belong to a living quarter. An enormous amount of grinding stones and stone tables for herbal medicines gave proof of a hospital area, the oldest one so far on the island (Weisshaar & Wijeyapala 2005). The seasonal heavy rainfall did not affect the hospital as much as it affected the dwellings a hundred years before. The hospital was set up on a higher level due to backfill and levelling and a number of new sewers had been built.

One of the houses had a locked and sealed door or a large wooden casket. In the course of excavations the sealing with the impression of several seals had been found (Fig. 10). All impressions belong to the same seal, depicting the vase of plenty (pūrnaghaΕa). It belongs to a large number of seals and sealings with different motives from the Citadel over the centuries. About 65 pieces have been

While examining the pottery of these layers, Heidrun Schenk came across some green glazed fragments that are usually taken for Sasanian or in the case of younger layers as early Islamic imports. For the first time fragments of thick-walled containers occurred in features of the 2nd century AD (Schenk, in print), providing a 362

THE CITADEL OF TISSAMAHARAMA AND THE TORRENTS OF SPRING Royal Asiatic Society of Ceylon IX: 38.

Parthian dating. They give proof to the fact, that the western long distance trade was not only directed towards the Red Sea and ancient Rome but likewise towards the Persian Gulf via Southern Arabia.

Sarasin, F. & P. (1908) Ergebnisse naturwissenschaftlicher Forschungen auf Ceylon, Band 4: Die Steinzeit auf Ceylon. Wiesbaden.

The excavation of the 2006 and 2007 seasons gave a good insight into the early settlement pattern of the ancient citadel and into the living conditions of its inhabitants in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC.

Schenk, H. (2006) The Dating and Historical Value of Rouletted Ware’, Zeitschrift für Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen 1: 123-52.

Bibliographic References

Seligmann, C.G. (1908) ‘Quartz Implements from Ceylon’, Man 8: 113.

Schenk, H. (in press) ‘Parthian Glazed Pottery from Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean Trade’, Zeitschrift für Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen 2.

Bernard, V.; Boussac, M.-F.; Breuil, J.-Y. & Salles, J.-F. (2001) ‘Excavation at the Eastern Rampart Area (1993-1998). Preliminary Report of the French Team’ in Sh. Alam & J.-F. Salles (eds), FranceBangladesh Joint Venture Excavations at Mahasthangarh: first interim report, 1993-1999, 74-160. Dhaka.

Seligmann, C.G. (1911) The Veddas. Oosterhout. Singh, P. & Singh, A.K. (2004) The Archaeology of Middle Ganga Plain. New Perspectives (Excavations at Agiabir). New Delhi. Walburg, R. (1997) ‘The “maneless lion coins” of ancient Sri Lanka: a revision’, Beiträge zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archäologie 17: 135-46.

Bopearachchi, O. & Wickremesinhe, R. M. (1999) Ruhuna - An Ancient Civilisation Re-visited. Nugegoda.

Walburg, R. (2001) ‘Coins from Tissamaharama, Godavaya and Ambalantota (1995–1998): an annotated catalogue’ in Weisshaar, Roth & Wijeyapala 2001, 262-78. Mainz.

De Puma, R.D. (1992) ‘The Roman Bronzes from Kolhapur’ in V. Begley & D. De Puma (eds), Rome and India. The Ancient Sea Trade, 82-112. Delhi.

Walburg, R. (in press) ‘Ancient Coins in Ceylon. Being a critical survey of the coins and coin-like objects unearthed in the Island, based on a thoroughly annotated catalogue of finds,and supplemented by an analytical appendix’ in H.-J. Weisshaar, S. Dissanayake & W. Wijeyapala (eds), Ancient Ruhuna. Sri Lankan – German Archaeological Project in the Southern Province, Vol. 2, (Forschungen zur Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen 5). Wiesbaden.

Dharmadasa, K.N.O. (1990) ‘Veddas in the History of Sri Lanka: A Introductory Sketch’ in K.N.O. Dharmadasa & S.W.R. de A. Samarasinghe (eds), The Vanishing Aborigines, 34-47. New Delhi. Haafner, J. (1821) Travels on Foot Through the Island of Ceylon. London (repr. New Delhi/Madras 1995). Kennedy, K.A. (1994) ‘When the Wild Veddas Came to Edinburgh: A Nineteenth Century Episode in the History of Sri Lankan Palaeoanthropology’ in J.M. Kenoyer (ed.), From Sumer to Meluhha: Contributions to the Archaeology of South and West Asia in Memory of George F. Dales, Jr. (Wisconsin Archaeological Reports 3), 281-313. Madison.

Weisshaar, H.-J.; Roth, H. & Wijeyapala, W., eds (2001) Ancient Ruhuna. Sri Lankan – German Archaeological Project in the Southern Province, Vol. 1 (Materialien zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archäologie 58). Mainz. Weisshaar, H.-J.; Schenk, H. & Wijeyapala, W. (2001) ‘Excavations in the Citadel at Akurugoda: The Workmen’s Quarter (Tissa 1) and the Court’s Garden (Tissa 2)’ in Weisshaar, Roth & Wijeyapala 2001: 5-39. Mainz.

Knox, R. (1681) An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East India. London (repr. Colombo 1983). Leshnik, L.S. (1974) South Indian “Megalithic” Burials. The Pandukal Complex. Wiesbaden.

Weisshaar, H.-J. & Wijeyapala, W. (1994) ‘The Tissamaharama Project 1992-1993 (Sri Lanka): metallurgical remains of the Akurugoda Hill’ in SAA 1993: 803-14. Helsinki.

Marshall, J. (1951) Taxila. An Illustrated Account of Archaeological Excavations, 3 vols. Cambridge (repr. Delhi 1971; repr. Varanasi 1975).

Weisshaar, H.-J. & Wijeyapala, W. (2000) ‘Tissamaharama Project (Sri Lanka): Excavations in the Citadel Area’ in SAA 1997: 633-45. Rome.

Moser, J. (1994) ‘Excavations at Pidurangala: The Lithic Inventory of the Upper Rock Shelter’, Beiträge zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archäologie 14: 285-323.

Weisshaar, H.-J. & Wijeyapala, W. (2005) ‘Excavations in the Citadel of Ancient Mahagama (Tissamaharama/Sri Lanka)’ in SAA 2003: 351-56. Aachen.

Sarasin, F. & P. (1886) ‘Outline of Two Years of Scientific Research in Ceylon’, Journal of he 363

Hans-Joachim Weisshaar & Senerath Dissanayake

Fig. 1 - Tissamaharama. Burnt House of the 2nd century BC near the western rampart (Photo H. Wittersheim).

Fig. 2 - Tissamaharama. String of more than 500 flat red beads from the floor of the burnt house, 2nd century BC (Photo H. Wittersheim).

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THE CITADEL OF TISSAMAHARAMA AND THE TORRENTS OF SPRING

Fig. 3 - Tissamaharama. Toilet items of the 2nd century BC: a bronze flask (left) and three khol-sticks (nos 1, 2 and 4) from the burnt house and a flask (centre) and a khol-stick (no. 3) from the buildings in the centre of the excavation area (Photo H. Wittersheim).

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Fig. 4 - Tissamaharama. House with brick foundation near the western rampart, 1st century BC (Photo H. Wittersheim).

Fig. 6 - Tissamaharama. Junction of two narrow streets with stepping stones in the mud, 2nd century BC (Photo H. Wittersheim).

Fig. 5 - Tissamaharama. Living quarter of noble families in the Citadel, 2nd and 1st century BC (Photo H. Wittersheim).

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Fig. 7 - Tissamaharama. New types of imported “Fine Grey Pottery” of 2nd and 1st century BC (Drawings and photo H. Schenk).

Fig. 8 - Tissamaharama. Rainy Day at the excavation, March 2007 (Photo H. Wittersheim).

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Fig. 10 - Tissamaharama. Sealing, depicting the ‘Vase of Plenty’, 2nd century BC (Photo H. Wittersheim).

Fig. 9 - Tissamaharama. Carved ivory stand of a bronze mirror, 2nd century BC (Photo H. Wittersheim).

Fig. 11 - Tissamaharama Citadel, Workmen’s Quarter ( Tissa 1): rib of an axis deer with embedded arrow point of quartz, 1st century BC (Photo H. Wittersheim).

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THE PURCHASE OF JETAVANA IN AN AMARAVATI-RELIEF

THE PURCHASE OF JETAVANA IN AN AMARAVATI-RELIEF Monika Zin schools,4 and in two Buddha biographies.5

Recently, part of a relief was discovered in the depository of the Archaeological Site Museum in Amaravati. The object was uncovered during a photographic session for a research project; the project, financed by the German Research Society (DFG), aimed to produce a new publication about reliefs from the so called Amaravati School of Sculptures. Like all the reliefs stored in the museum depository in Amaravati Site, relief No. 405 (Fig. 1) was covered in a thick layer of dust. Dust aside, however, the depository is well-protected and dry, thanks to the diligence of the Curator, Mr D. Kanna Babu. In fact, the reliefs are in a much better condition than the pieces kept in the Government Museum in Chennai as the latter are exposed to the humid air of the coastal city.

The story relates how AnāthapinΡada met the Buddha for the first time on a visit to the town of Rājagΰha where he invited the Buddha to Śrāvastī. The Buddha came to know that there was no monastery in Śrāvastī, and he described the sort of area which would make a suitable site to build one on. AnāthapinΡada realised that the only appropriate place was a park which belonged to prince Jeta. He asked the prince if he could buy it but Jeta, wanting to deter AnāthapinΡada named an exorbitant price: he stipulated that the entire area of the park be covered in coins laid side by side. AnāthapinΡada, not put off answered, ‘It’s a deal!’. Jeta, however then replied that he actually had no intention of selling the park. AnāthapinΡada took Jeta to court, and the judge ruled that as a price had been named and duly accepted, the transaction had been completed. All the vinayas narrate this episode of A AnāthapinΡada and Jeta in court. Only sometimes the special condition of prince Jeta is added: he agrees to the sale providing that the monastery is called Jetārāma. In the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya the Four Kings of the Directions turn into the judges to help AnāthapinΡada purchase the park.

Relief No. 405 (Fig. 1) which was previously – fully inadequately as no details are to be seen – published as a “Fragment of chaita-slab” from Gummadidurrru (Rao 1984: Pl. 350), is a fragment from a pillar from the stūpa railing, it comprises a part of the left register, and a part of the middle register of the fluted area below a central roundel as well as a tiny fragment of the scene inside a medallion. Two registers on the fluted area belong together and form one scene; the scene is set in an open area among trees. All the depicted figures are male and simply dressed without turbans, except for one. One of the figures is holding a basket in the air, another is pouring the contents of a similar basket out onto the ground. Three other figures are kneeling on the ground: they are holding tiny objects in their fingers and putting them on the ground next to each other. The iconography seems clear: the relief depicts the purchase of Jetavana by the merchant AnāthapinΡada (Pali: AnāthapinΡika). A commonly known story relates how AnāthapinΡada purchased a park by covering the entire area of the park with coins. Later he donated the park, in which a monastery was built, to the Buddha. In our relief, the person who wears a turban is a clerk noting down the number of coins.

The meaning of the word koΕisantharenā which is used in the Cullavagga in the inscription in Bharhut (koΕisantharenā: cf. Lüders 1963: 105) and in the later Pāli tradition6 and in is not clear but it must have been something like ‘the spreading out of millions’: it had always been used in this sense, since in visual representations of the story in Bharhut (Coomaraswamy 1956: pl. 26, fig. 67) and Bodhgaya (Coomaraswamy 1935: pl. 51, fig. 2), the purchase of Jetavana was depicted by the laying down of the coins to cover the park; the coins are square, as are the old kar·apanas. The Cullavagga explicitly mentions that the coins were brought by oxen cart. In all ‘Northern’ versions, by contrast, the coins are packed onto elephants and horsedrawn carts. All the versions, apart from the Mahīśāsakavinaya, relate how the park was covered with coins. It seems unlikely, therefore, that this episode could have been represented in Gandhara without the characteristic elements of the laying down of the coins as Alfred Foucher (1905-51, vol 1, p. 473-75) claimed. There is no reason to identify the purchase of Jetavana in

The story of AnāthapinΡada ‘s donation of Jetavana to the Buddha is included in the textual traditions of several schools; it exists in Pāli1 and it is preserved in Sanskrit in the vinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivāda School (which is also preserved in Tibetan and Chinese);2 Chinese translations of the story also survived in the Mādhyamāgama,3 in vinayas of the Dharmaguptaka, Mahīśāsaka, Sarvāstivāda

4 Vinaya of the Dharmaguptakas (Sseu fen liu, T 1428, ed. Vol. 22: 939b); of the Mahīśāsakas (Mi cha sö pou ho hi wou fen liu, T 1421, chap. 25, ed. Vol. 22: 167 a-b); of the Sarvāstivādas (Che song liu, T 1435, chap. 34, ed. Vol. 23: 244a).

1 Cullavagga VI. 4. 4-10, ed.: Vinaya II: 158-9; for further references to Jetavana in Pāli literature cf. Malalasekera 1937-8, Vol. 1, pp. 963-67 and Law 1959. 2

Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya, Sanskrit: ed. Gilgit Mss, Vol III. 3: 133-44; Tibetan: ed. Vol. 41: 314. 1,8; Chinese: Ken pen chouo yi ts’ie yeou pou p’i nai ye p’o seng che, T 1450, chap. 8, ed. Vol. 24: 139c-142b.

5

Tchong hiu mo ho ti king = * Mahāsammatarājasūtra? T 191 (ed. Vol. 3, No. 191: 966c-967a) and Tchong pen k’i king (T 196, chap. 2, ed. Vol. 4: 156b).

3 Madhyamāgama, Tchong a han king, T 26, chap. 6, ed. Vol. 1: 460c461a).

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Nidanakatha, ed.: 92; transl.: 125.

Monika Zin the relief that Foucher refers to. It may be that the episode simply disappeared from the depictions at some point when square coins were no longer in circulation. The coin-covered park is not found in the late adaptation of the story in Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā7 (11th century) nor in the objects of art based on it (Tucci 1949, vol. 2, p. 466; vol. 3, pl. 107).

means of pouring out water from a round jug. Let us have a closer look at the scene above the medallion (Fig. 3). Sivaramamurti (1942: 191) interpreted the scene as Ajataśatru setting out to visit the Buddha in the mango grove. ‘In the central panel a king is seated on a couch, attended by his men with fan and chauri, conversing with the ministers, counsellors and friends.’ Sivaramamurti, however, was not aware of the context of Jetavana and explained the scene with reference only to the worship of the Buddha in the medallion. In the context of the scenes below it, the upper fluted area of the pillar would be explained better as a part of the Jetavana story – it may show negotiations between AnāthapinΡada and Jeta which play an important part in all text versions. On the right-hand side there is an elephant and a horse, these may perhaps just be waiting for AnāthapinΡada’s visit to the Buddha, but they may also be waiting to carry the load of coins, as described in all ‘Northern’ versions of the story. The ‘Northern’ sources specifically mention that the coins were packed onto elephants and onto horse drawn carts – in contrast to the oxen-carts in Pāli. As already noted (Zin 2004) in several other cases, the Amaravati reliefs frequently follow the ‘Northern’ Sanskrit tradition rather than the versions as they are known from Pāli sources.

The ‘spreading out of millions’ was depicted, however, in reliefs in southern India: one pillar in the Museum of Amaravati (No. 62)8 (Fig. 2), shows the workers putting down the coins. The inscriptions clearly indicate that the setting is Śrāvastī. In addition there are two unpublished reliefs from Kanganahalli, in which it seems as if this iconographic element not only ‘tells’ the story, but also serves as the means of setting the scene. What may be concluded from the above analysis is that our relief, No. 405 in the Site Museum in Amaravati which can be dated back to the late 2nd century, is the latest of all the surviving examples. Our fragment contains a small portion of the large central roundel. Inside the medallion it is possible to see trays laden with gifts and also the legs of kneeling women. It is not hard to imagine a scene of Buddha worship in the centre of the medallion. The medallion is bordered with a lotus-petal pattern and a narrow band of tiny lotus rosettes in flat relief. This series of little flowers is extremely rare as a decorative motif in Amaravati and it is this which allowed us ultimately to conclude what was in the medallion. The flower motif led to the discovery of the upper part of the same pillar which survives as relief No. 147 in the Government Museum in Chennai9 (Fig. 3). Not only does it feature the rare floral pattern on the edge of the medallion, but inside the medallion at its centre can be seen the Buddha’s throne, and this matches the fragment from the Museum in Amaravati exactly.

On the ground, on the right-hand side of the relief, is a round vessel which might have been one of the containers holding coins. Unfortunately this part of the relief is seriously damaged and so we are denied final proof that the scene depicts the loading of the generous AnāthapinΡada’s coins onto pack animals. Nevertheless, thanks to the DFG-Project, it has been possible to explain the context of the pillar: this is the purchase of Jetavana through ‘the spreading out of millions’ of coins and the donation of the park to the Buddha. Perhaps one day both parts of the pillar will be displayed together – and not only as a computergenerated image.

The scenes in medallions do not necessarily have to be from the same story as the scenes below or above; nevertheless in this case it seems that the medallion does continue the same story, showing its climax. The worship of the aniconically depicted Buddha is taking place next to monastery buildings, among trees in the park. Some figures are worshipping the Buddha with their hands put together in añjali, but one man is standing on the righthand side, near the throne holding a round jug in his hands. He must be AnāthapinΡada, who – by pouring water out of the jug – is showing that he is donating Jetavana to the Buddha. Likewise, in the well known depiction of the story in the Bharhut relief (Coomaraswamy 1956: pl. 26, fig. 67), AnāthapinΡada, who stands next to the mango tree, shows that he is donating the park and the monastery to the Buddha by

Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to Mr Chanwit Tudkeao, a graduate student of the University of Munich, for cooperation on this article and for providing me with the Chinese references mentioned in fn 2-5.

Bibliographic References Bodhisattvadānakalpalatā, ed. Vaidya, P.L. (1959). Durbhanga.

7

Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā XXI, ed.: 153-7.

Cullavagga, ed. Oldenberg, H. (1880) The Vinaya PiΓakam: One of the Principal Buddhist Holy Scriptures in the Pali Language, vol. 2, London; transl.: Rhys Davids, T.W./Oldenberg, H. (1882-

8

Published before by Ghosh & Sarkar 1964-65, ibid. readings and explanations of the inscriptions. 9 Published before: Burgess 1887: pl. 12.3; Bachhofer 1929: pl. 121.4; Stern & Bénisti 1961: pl. 36a.

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THE PURCHASE OF JETAVANA IN AN AMARAVATI-RELIEF Stern, P. & Bénisti, M. (1961) Évolution du style indien d’Amarāvatī (Publications du Musée Guimet, Recherches et documents d’art et d’archéologie 7). Paris.

5) Vinaya Texts = Sacred Books of the East Series, 17, 20. Oxford. Malalasekera, G.P. (1937-38) Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, 1-2, London.

Tucci, G. (1949) Tibetan Painted Scrolls, 1-3. Rome.

Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya, Chinese: T = Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō, ed. Takakusu, J. / Watanabe, K., Tokyo 1924-34.

Zin, M. (2004) ‘The Mūkapaṅgu Story in the Madras Government Museum: The Problem of the Textual Affiliations of the Narrative Reliefs in Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda’, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale 64: 157-80.

Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya, Sanskrit: ed. (extr): Dutt, N. (1947-50) Gilgit Manuscripts, 3. 1-4. Srinagar. Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya, Tibetan: Tibetan Tripitaka, Peking Edition, ed. Suzuki, Daisetz T., Kyoto 1955-1961. Nidānakathā, in: Jātaka, ed. Fausbøll, V. (1877), vol. 1, London: 1-94; transl: Jayawickrama, N.A. (1990) The Story of Gotama Buddha, The N° of the JātakaΓΓhakathā. Oxford. T T = Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō, ed. Takakusu, J./Watanabe, K./Ono, B. (1924ff) Tokyo .

Bachhofer, L. (1929) Early Indian Sculpture. MünchenNew York (repr. 1972). Burgess, J. (1887) The Buddhist Stupas of Amaravati and Jaggayyapeta in the Krishna District, Madras Presidency, Surveyed in 1882 (Archaeological Survey of Southern India 1). London (repr. Varanasi, 1970). Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1935) La Sculpture de Bodhgayā (Ars Asiatica 18). Paris. Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1956) La sculpture de Bharhut (Annales du Musée Guimet, Bibliothèque d’Art, N. S. 6). Paris. Foucher, A. (1905-51) L’art gréco-bouddhique du Gandhāra, Étude sur les origines de l’influence classique dans l’art bouddhique de l’Inde et de l’Extrême-Orient, 1-2. Paris. Ghosh, A. & Sarkar, H. (1964-5) ‘Beginnings of Sculptural Art in South-East India; A Stele from Amaravati’, Ancient India 20-21: 168-77. Law, B.C. (1959) ‘Prince Jeta’s Grove in Ancient India’, Journal of Indian History, 37: 341-65. Lüders, H. (1963) Bharhut Inscriptions (Corpus Incriptionum Indicarum 2.2). Ootacamund. Rao, R.P.R. (1984) Andhra Sculpture, Hyderabad. Schlingloff, D. (1987) Studies in the Ajanta Paintings, Identifications and Interpretations. New Delhi (repr. New Delhi, 1988). Sivaramamurti, C. (1942) Amaravati Sculptures in the Madras Government Museum (Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum, N. S. 4). Madras (repr. 1956, 1977, 2000). 371

Monika Zin

Fig. 1 - Archaeological Site Museum in Amaravati, depository No. 405 (Photo M. Zin, kind permission of the Archaeological Survey of India - F. No. 18-4/2006-Museum).

Fig. 2 - Archaeological Site Museum in Amaravati, No. 62 (Photo M. Zin, kind permission of the Archaeological Survey of India - F. No. 18-4/2006-Museum).

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THE PURCHASE OF JETAVANA IN AN AMARAVATI-RELIEF

Fig. 3 - Computer-generated image combining photographs of relief No. 147 in the Chennai Government Museum and relief No. 405 in the Archaeological Site Museum in Amaravati, © Dominik Oczkowski (Photo M. Zin, kind permission of the Archaeological Survey of India F. No. 18-4/2006-Museum).

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SAA 1971

South Asian Archaeology, ed. N. Hammond. Papers from the First International Conference of South Asian Archaeologists, held in the University of Cambridge. London 1973.

SAA 1975

South Asian Archaeology 1975, ed. J.E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw. Papers from the Third International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held in Paris. Leiden 1979.

SAA 1977

South Asian Archaeology 1977, ed. M. Taddei. Papers from the Fourth International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held in the Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples. 2 vols, Naples 1979.

SAA 1979

South Asian Archaeology 1979, ed. H. Härtel. Papers from the Fifth International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held in the Museum für Indische Kunst der Staatlichen Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz Berlin. Berlin 1981.

SAA 1981

South Asian Archaeology 1981, ed. B. Allchin (with assistance from R. Allchin & M. Sidell). Papers from the Sixth International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held in Cambridge University, 5-10 July 1981. Cambridge 1984.

SAA 1983

South Asian Archaeology 1983, ed. J. Schotsmans & M. Taddei. Papers from the Seventh International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held in the Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels. 2 vols, Naples 1985.

SAA 1985

South Asian Archaeology 1985, ed. K. Frifelt & P. Sørensen. Papers from the Eighth International Conference of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held at Moesgaard Museum, Denmark, 1-5 July 1985. London & Riverdale, MD, 1989.

SAA 1987

South Asian Archaeology 1987, ed. M. Taddei with the assistance of P. Callieri. Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice. 2 vols, Rome 1989.

SAA 1989

South Asian Archaeology 1989, ed. C. Jarrige with the assistance of J.P. Gerry & R.H. Meadow. Papers of the Tenth International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held in the Musées National des Arts Asiatiques - Guimet, Paris, France, 3-7 July 1989. Madison Wisconsin 1992.

SAA 1991

South Asian Archaeology 1991, ed. A. Gail & G.J.R. Mevissen with the assistance of B. Zehmke. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held in Berlin, 1-5 July 1991. Stuttgart 1993.

SAA 1993

South Asian Archaeology 1993, ed. A. Parpola & P. Koskikallio. Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, held in Helsinki University, 5-9 July 1993. 2 vols, Helsinki 1994.

SAA 1995

South Asian Archaeology 1995, ed. R. Allchin & B. Allchin with the assistance of G. Elston & O. Starza-Majewski. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, Cambridge 5-9 July 1995. 2 vols, New Delhi 1998.

SAA 1997

South Asian Archaeology 1997, ed. M. Taddei & G. De Marco. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, held in the Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, Palazzo Brancaccio, Rome, 7-14 July 1997. 3 vols, Rome 2000 (Serie Orientale Roma, XC, 2) .

SAA 1999

South Asian Archaeology 1999, ed. E.M. Raven. Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, held at the Universiteit Leiden, 5-9 July, 1999. Groningen 2008 (Gonda Indological Studies, 15).

SAA 2001

South Asian Archaeology 2001, ed. C. Jarrige & V. Lefévre. Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, held in Collège de France, Paris, 2–6 July 2001. 2 vols, Paris 2005.

SAA 2003

South Asian Archaeology 2003, ed. U. Franke-Vogt & H.J. Weisshaar. Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, Bonn, 7–11 July 2003. Aachen 2005.

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