Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c11.3

c11.3

THE co-ordination of Church and State established by the Emperor Asoka was not long maintained after his death in 232 B.C., as the Mauryan empire itself broke up in 185 B C. and the greater part of the country reverted to Brahmanical rule. The nominal successors of the Mauryans were the Sungas, a power which was supreme mainly in the northern and western regions, and which lasted until c. 70 B.C The Sungas were supplanted by the Andhras, who had long been paramount in the west and south of India, assuming the title of "Lords of Dakshinapata", or the Deccan, until they also were overthrown about 150 A.D. Under both these Brahmanical dynasties the Buddhists on the whole appear to have been treated with toleration as the numerous monuments produced by them plainly testify. For more than three centuries, before and after the beginning of the Christian era, Buddhist architectural activity seems to have prevailed, and it has been found convenient therefore to classify the works of this period either as Sungan or Andhran according to the particular dynasty under which they were produced. For a space of time after the fall of the Mauryan rule a state of transition supervened while the form of Buddhism found by Asoka went through the process of changing its authority from the throne to the priesthood, the latter having been apparently organised with this in view. The art naturally followed the same course as the religion, there being a static interval between the cessation of the autocratic art of Asoka and the beginning of a new or hierarchic phase. The position of architecture at this stage may be defined.