Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c4.10

c4.10

With the rise of the Senas and the last attempt of the Pālas to re-assert their authority over the lost provinces of the empire under Rāmapāla we find Bihar and Eastern Bengal once more taking the lead in the field of artistic activity. Sculpture of the 12th century is degraded, mean, disproportionate and impeded in its movement by hide-bound tradition, yet the artists employ their skill in depicting a smile or in imparting to the countenance of Lokeśvara an expression of ethereal grace. The slavish obedience to the rules of the Śilpa-śāstras gradually levelled all peculiar characteristics of the locality and in the 12th century it is impossible to distinguish a Bihar image from an Eastern Bengal example. With the fall of the stronghold of Uddaṇḍapura (modern Bihar) and the sack of the celebrated University of Nālandā in 1199 by the predatory bands of Musalman Turks under Muhammad bin Bakhtyār Khaljī, the history of Magadhan art comes to a sudden end. Even after the collapse of the Pālas the artists of Magadha continued their activity. Patronage was rare and images few and far between; but the sudden blow at the vast monastic establishments of Nālandā and Vikramaśilā paralysed all artistic activity. Magadha ceased to have a separate existence either on the political map of India or in the long and varied history of its later plastic art.