Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c5.22

c5.22

Before the post-Mauryan school of sculpture came to an end in India, a new school of sculpture arose in Afghanistan and the Western Punjab, which directly or indirectly influenced all classes and schools of sculpture of later date, throughout India. Though this art had no direct contact with the Eastern School of Mediæval Sculpture, its influence on the evolution of images or bas-reliefs, representing particular incidents of the life of the Buddha, was undoubtedly very great and a few words about it would not be out of place here. This new school of sculpture known as the Indo-Greek or Gandhāra School came into being in the last two centuries before the birth of Christ and has left numerous specimens of its production scattered over the Northwestern districts of India. Its influence was so very great that it has left an indelible impress on the plastic art even of that desert country between Afghanistan and China, once thickly populated as well as irrigated, which was included within the zone of influence of Indian civilisation at that date. The productions of this school of sculpture are mainly Buddhistic and portray scenes from the life of the Buddha or the Jātakas. The motifs and styles of its artists continued to guide the later sculptors during the twelve or thirteen centuries after its disappearance, i.e., up to the period of the Muhammadan conquest of Northern India and the consequent cessation of all artistic activity. The date of the most flourishing period of this school depends upon the date of Kāṇishka. The late Dr. V. A. Smith wrote "whenever the date of Kāṇishka, the celebrated king of Gandhāra, shall be determined, that of the best period of the Hellenistic sculpture will also be known. Many of them undoubtedly are contemporary with him, though some are earlier and others later. Without going into complicated antiquarian discussions, it may suffice to say here that none of the sculptures are later than 600 A. D., few, if any, later than 400 A. D. and that in all probability extremely few are earlier than the Christian Era."¹ This date of the Gandhāra School has not been universally accepted. The Peshawar relic casket, inside which some bones of the Buddha were found, proves definitely that the great Northern School of Gāndhāra had certainly declined in Kāṇishka's time. The stūpa at Peshawar was not erected by a private person but the great Scythian Emperor himself, and an Indian Greek was in charge of the work.² The principal characteristics of the Gandhāra sculptures are :—