Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c14.23

c14.23

Kunduz on a tributary of the Oxus was the site of British and French archaeological excavations and also the scene of activity of Soviet archaeologists. There coins of the Bactrian Greeks and of Kushāṇas were found. Here art specimens of the earliest Hellenistic type have been discovered including Graeco-Buddhist statuettes bearing strong Hellenistic influence. The stucco examples at Kunduz recall those of Hadda and are strongly hellenised and Greek influences are much accentuated. Here a treasure was found in the Oxus river containing objects of gold and silver which show the influence of Iran and the art of the Steppes, in particular the animal art of the Scythians. Some animal designs as the fawn are similar to those of Bactria and Sogdiana and the lions and the tigers bearing the designs of the regions of the lower Oxus which enjoyed wide defusion. The reminiscences of Greek art found in these objects travelled from the Greek colonies in Asia Minor to the ends of Scythian tribes along the Black Sea and South Russia. It was a centre of wide distribution of art motifs of Greek origin towards China and Mongolia. It was from the 2nd cent. A. D. to 4-5th cent. when Indian influences permeated the art objects at Kunduz, especially medallions of lotus flowers with petals on the borders. A scene depicting the Śasa-jātaka has been identified here and another perhaps representing Śiva.