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The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c16: Chapter X

The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c16

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English

Chapter X

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THE GUPTA EMPIRE—VIKRAMÂDITYA’S STATECRAFT—INDIAN COLONISATION—CHINESE ACCOUNTS OF INDIA IN THE FIFTH AND SEVENTH CENTURIES—HARSHA OF THANESAR AND HIS GOVERNMENT — THE FEAST OF THE INDIAN TRINITY AT PRAYÂGA

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IN the beginning of the fourth century Pâtaliputra became again the seat of an empire under a new dynasty founded by the chieftain of one of the Indo-Aryan clans of Magadha, the Lichchhavi, which was closely allied to the Sâkiya clan, whose illustrious Prince Siddhartha was still venerated by all India as the Buddha. The name of the chieftain, Chandragupta, revived the glorious memories of the Mauryan line, and might well have inspired an ambitious youth to emulate the prowess of Asoka’s grandfather.

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It was not mere racial vanity, perhaps, but an ardent patriotic hope which made the head of the historic Indo-Aryan clan choose this proud name for his son. History was repeating itself in more ways than one. Alexander’s famous raid in the fourth century B.C. had roused the clans to the necessity of combination for national defence. In the fourth century of the Christian era, Aryâvarta, the holy land of the Aryans, was again threatened by dangers both from within and without. The existence of a foreign dynasty on the north-west frontier was a constant menace to Aryan India, even though these foreigners partially adopted Aryan institutions and the Aryan religion. Fresh hordes of semi-civilised tribes were pressing towards the Indus Valley from the highlands of Central Asia. The Kushan power was weakening and seemed unlikely to keep them at bay for long.

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The dangers from within were not less alarming. For centuries the overgrowth of monastic institutions and the popularity of the ascetic ideal, which not only orthodox Brahmans and Jains but the Buddhist Sangha preached and practised, had been slowly sapping the manhood of India and laying the country open to the barbarians of Asia. Indo-Aryan thinkers had for long realised the danger, and the doctrine of *karma-yoga*, attributed in the Bhagavad-Gîta to the hero of the Mahâbhârata, Krishna, was a clarion call to the Aryan people to face the realities of life and to defend their Dharma against the common foe.

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It is very typical of the errors of the Western historian that this movement has always been described as the beginning of the revival of Brahmanism and of the decadence of Buddhism. Brahman thinkers, as the intellectual aristocracy of India, may have been the most active leaders in propagating this mission of the fourth century; they had been equally active in spreading the message of the Buddha over Asia. The Bhagavad-Gîta did not denounce the teaching of Buddhism; it only taught that the Dharma of the Aryan people was to be readjusted to meet the changing conditions of every age. It was the ancient doctrine of Yoga restated. Besides the Yoga of Spiritual Knowledge (*jnâna-yoga*) which the Buddhists preached as a means of self-realisation, there was the Yoga of Action (*karma-yoga*). Now was the time for action, not for contemplation. The balance of the cosmos could only be maintained by perfect equilibrium of its three forces—sâttvic, râjasic, and tâmasic. The force of goodness, or truth (*sattvam*), alone could not maintain its order. The Buddha had been the inspired teacher of sattvam; the truth

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VISHNU SHRINE, BARWAR SAGAR, CENTRAL PROVINCES

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of his doctrines was not in question. But it was the hero, Krishna, as the incarnation of Vishnu, the Preserver, who was to be the patron saint of the new era.

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It was with such feelings that Chandragupta and the Lichchhavi clan set about the task of consolidating once more the material forces of Aryâvarta. In his short reign of five years, says Mr. Vincent Smith, "he extended his dominions along the Gangetic Valley as far as the junction of the Ganges and Jumna, where Allâhâbâd now stands; and ruled, during his brief tenure of the throne, a populous and fertile territory, which included Tirhût, Bihâr, Oudh, and certain adjoining districts."¹ In A.D. 326 Chandragupta died and his mantle fell upon his son Samudragupta, a young prince who had been thoroughly trained in the arts of war. And so successfully did he prosecute his father's mission that by the end of his reign, about 375, nine Râjas of the Gangetic plain, known as Aryâvarta, had become tributary to him. On the north, he ruled to the foot of the Himâlayas; on the south to the Narmada River; on the east to the Hooghly; and on the west to the Chambal River and the Jumna.² Moreover, by a tremendous raid through Southern India he had filled his treasury with the riches of Golconda and of the gold mines of Mysore.

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¹ "Early History of India," p. 266.

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² Vincent Smith, "Early History of India," p. 271.

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It is extremely characteristic of Indian historical feeling that not only the martial exploits but even the name of this great warrior-king were completely forgotten by posterity; and the facts now recorded, as Mr. Vincent Smith says, are the most conspicuous illustration of the success gained by modern archæological research. Unfortunately the treatment of this material as historical evidence by Western writers has only added to the obscurity with which Indian history is still enshrouded.

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The details of the war and the name of the warrior were forgotten ; for such matters never impressed the mind of India. But the things which really mattered remained for ever graven on her heart. It was Samudragupta's son, Chandragupta II, still celebrated in Indian romance as the god-like hero Vikramâditya, who, like Asoka, completed his grandfather's task. Historians, deceived by their own categories, may describe Asoka as a " Buddhist," and Vikramâditya as a " Hindu " ; but such distinctions are only delusive. India recognises both as ideal Hindu sovereigns : the one of the sâttvic type, and the other of the râjasic type.

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Upon his accession, about a.d. 375, Vikramâditya's first undertaking was to push the boundaries of his empire right across to the Arabian Sea, through Malwâ and Gujerat, by the conquest of Surâshtra or Kâthiâwâr, where a dynasty known as the Saka had ruled since the beginning of the Christian era. It was probably as a consequence of this campaign that the Saka chieftains emigrated to Java, and, joining others of the same clan who had colonised the island in the previous centuries, began to build those wonderful monuments which are among the finest and most splendid creations of Indian art.¹

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¹ For a detailed description of the Bôrôbudûr and Prambânam sculptures, see " Indian Sculpture and Painting," by the author.

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This was not the first or only colonising enterprise of India. Ceylon had been brought under the influence of Aryan culture by Asoka's missionaries in the third century b.c. ; and according to tradition a Hindu Prince of Indraprashta, with a large number of followers, had gone farther east as early as the fifth century b.c., and founded the great colony of Cambodia which flourished until the fifteenth century a.d. These great Indo-Aryan colonies furnish some of the most glorious chapters in the history of Indian architecture, but they cannot be included in the present volume. The key to the understanding

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VISHNU TEMPLE, PUJÂRIPALI, CENTRAL PROVINCES

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of them, and of a great deal more in Asiatic art, is in the art of India itself.

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Vikramâditya, finally, to the highest degree the Indo-Aryan ideal of constitutional sovereignty that his memory was cherished, like that of Akbar, as Vishnu's Vicegerent on earth.

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What Vikramâditya did, as the champion of Indo-Aryan institutions, was to restore peace and order throughout his dominions, and revive the ancient traditions of popular self-government which was the original basis of Aryan civilisation where the true spirit of Aryan statecraft was ever able to assert itself. The Aryan clan to which the Guptas belonged was one of those which from time immemorial had been accustomed to self-government upon the principle of the Aryan village community. The head of each clan, the Râja, was the head of a confederation of villages—miniature republics as they have been aptly called. The Mahâ-Râja was the head of a confederation of clans, and Vikramâditya the suzerain of a larger confederation, over which he ruled, not as an autocrat, but as the upholder of the Dharma of the Aryan race. The grouping of clans which acknowledged his supremacy and paid the customary *vali* was not disturbed. The Râjas and Mahâ-Râjas recognised as loyal to Aryan institutions were not deposed: only those who were hated as Mhlechas, or enemies of the Dharma, were, as the records of the time say, "rooted out."

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It was not therefore a Brahmanical revival, in the narrow sectarian sense conceived by Western writers, which the great Vikramâditya inaugurated. It was a revival of Aryan culture and of Aryan polity, which, owing to the disturbed condition of Hindustan and the corruption of Aryan ideals, were becoming decadent and stood in need of revision. The profound peace which a firm central government established opened the highways of commerce, promoted a great activity in all the arts of peace, and brought about a general revival of Aryan learning—philosophy, science, poetry, and the drama—all

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VISHNU TEMPLE, SIRPUR, CENTRAL PROVINCES : DETAILS OF BRICKWORK

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of which sectarians include under the vague designation of "Hinduism."

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The travels of the Chinese pilgrim, Fa-Hien, have given to the world some very interesting glimpses of India in the early part of the fifth century A.D., from the sectarian point of view. The object of his journey was to obtain copies of the Vinaya-pitaka, or rules of discipline of the Buddhist Sangha, and his chief interest as he went through the land of the Lotus of Good Law was to follow the footsteps of the Master, to recount the wondrous legends of His life, and to describe the great monasteries and temples built in His honour. What struck him most in secular matters was the security and tranquillity in which the people lived, their prosperity, piety, and benevolence. The great towns of Magadha, famous in Buddhist history, were mostly deserted or in decay; others rich and prosperous which had sprung up in other places did not interest him. Buddhism as a sect was declining, but the spirit of the Master's teaching prevailed everywhere.

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This is a picture of India as seen by a fifth-century Chinese globe-trotter: "Throughout the whole country people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or garlic. The only exception is that of the Chandâlas."¹ The administration of justice was mild and humane. The law was generally maintained without decapitation or severe corporal punishment. Only in repeated attempts at rebellion the right hand of criminals was cut off. The king's officials received regular salaries and did not vex the people. The latter "have not to register their households, or attend to any magistrates and their rules; only those who cultivate the royal land have to pay a portion of the gain from it. If they want to go, they go; if they want to stay on, they stay."²

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¹ Fishermen and hunters.

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² Fa-Hien's Travels, Legge's translation, p. 42.

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Here is the explanation why Vikramâditya was and is remembered as the great hero of Hindustan, while the very name of his father, Samudragupta, was forgotten.

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General Cunningham, Dr. Burgess, and others have laboured assiduously to reconstitute from buildings, which from inscriptions can be dated about the fifth or sixth centuries, what they call a "Gupta style," and cite instances to prove the popular archæological thesis that whenever Indian art was great it was owing to contact with Europe. It need not be disputed that Vikramâditya, like the Mauryan and Mogul emperors and their modern Viceregal representatives, might have had an architectural hobby, and that in riding it he may have made use of foreign as well as native craftsmen who were attracted to his court. But that his dilettante efforts affected in the smallest degree the general character of Indian building there is not the slightest proof; nor is it at all probable that this was the case.

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The archæological evidences put forward to support the case are as irrelevant as any of Fergusson's stylistic classifications. If anything can be safely asserted about the temples which the Guptas built and of those which were characteristic of the period, it is that they would be dedicated to Vishṇu, the Ishta-Deva of the Gupta dynasty. But in General Cunningham's analysis of the characteristics of the "Gupta style" the first and principal item is "Flat roofs, without spires of any kind," *i.e.* the instances cited are all Siva temples! Further comment is needless.

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As an architectural landmark the Gupta period, so far as the north of India is concerned, must be identified with the beginning of that great epoch of Vishnu temple¹ building which, both before and after the Gupta dynasty ended, produced many

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¹ The reader must always carefully distinguish between a Vishnu temple as a symbol and a Vaishnava temple belonging to the Vaishnava sect.

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A VISHNU TEMPLE, CHAMBA CITY

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splendid shrines in Orissa, Rajputâna, Khajurâho, and many other places in Central India. The râjasic Aspect of Ishwara—Vishnu—was the dominant cult of the Gupta period, as the sâttvic Aspect—Buddha or Brahmâ—had been the prevailing cult in the Mauryan period. The holy Mount of Vishnu therefore became the usual temple symbol within the boundaries of Vikramâditya's empire instead of the glorified stûpa which marked the orthodox philosophy of the Buddhist and Saivaite cults.

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I have little doubt that when archæologists turn back from the blind alley into which Fergusson led them, a great deal more material will be found to fill up the blanks in Indian architectural history. In the meantime the great temples of Bhuvaneshwar in Orissa may be taken to represent very accurately the real characteristics of the "Gupta style."

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But as Vikramâditya was no more a religious bigot than Asoka had been, and every sect was free to follow its own way of thinking, building activity in the Gupta period was not confined to one type of religious edifice. The almost unbroken peace and prosperity which Hindustan enjoyed for nearly a century under the Guptas seems to have extended over the whole of India, and no doubt stimulated the arts of the builder in the provinces beyond Vikramâditya's dominions.

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In A.D. 455, when Europe was being desolated by wild hordes of Asiatic nomads, Vikramâditya's grandson, Skandagupta, once more upheld the banner of Aryan civilisation against the Turanian invader, and stayed the savage descent of the White Huns into the Indus valley, after they had overrun the Kushan dominions. The struggle continued at intervals until about 495. Then the Gupta power was broken for a time by the Hun leader, Torâmana, who became the ruler of Mâlwâ in Central India, apparently without destroying the political institutions which he found there, as he assumed the Indo-Aryan title of "King of Kings."

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But the savagery of his successor, Mihiragula, drove the clans into revolt, and a confederacy under Narasimha-gupta of Magadha and Yasô-dharman of Central India defeated the Hun tyrant, who was taken prisoner. The magnanimity of the Aryan race was shown in the way they treated the bloodthirsty enemy of their Dharma, whose fiendish cruelty, especially to Buddhists, had exasperated the clans. He was only banished from Aryâvarta, and a younger brother was allowed to succeed him.

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Various dynasties then shared between them the sovereignty of Vikramâditya's dominions until A.D. 606, when Harsha Vardhana, of Thanesar, famous in the Mahâbharata as the land of the Kurus, repelled another Hun invasion, and reconstituted the supreme government of Aryâvarta in a new confederacy, with Kanauj as its capital, which covered most of the territory formerly ruled by the Guptas. His reign is memorable in history for the visit to India of another famous Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen-Tsang, who, like Fa-Hien, left a record of his adventures, incidentally throwing much light upon the state of India at the time in its political, social, and religious relationships.

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The principal purpose of Hiuen-Tsang's mission was to study the science of Yoga, which, although regarded as heretical by Buddhists of the old school, was generally accepted by Mahâyânists. From very early times Indian philosophers had laid down the theory that knowledge was of two kinds: The first, *sruti*, acquired by intuition, was that which was revealed by the Higher Intelligence which governs the universe; the second, acquired by the reasoning faculties, was scholarship or traditional learning (*smriti*).

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In its earliest conceptions the practice of Yoga in India probably consisted only of the rhythmical physical exercises with which the Kshatriyas, like their Hellenic brothers, maintained a *mens sana in corpore sano*. The next stage of Indo- This page is completely blank; there is no text or printed matter to transcribe.

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Aryan culture was the consecration of mind and body for communion with the Higher Intelligence by a special series of exercises, both mental and physical. Patanjali was the chief exponent of this science of mysticism, which gradually became one of the fundamental doctrines of Indo-Aryan religion. The miraculous powers attributed to those who were expert in the science naturally led to much charlatanism and abuse; and even the most saintly of Hindu men and women have sometimes failed to recognise that, just as Reason without Intuition may tend to spiritual blindness, so the finest intuitive faculties without the complementary reasoning intelligence may be as a sharp razor in the hands of a child.

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Harsha emulated Vikramâditya in his zeal for fulfilling the duties of an Indian King of Kings, as laid down in the most ancient Hindu codes of law, and in the great Aryan epics—the science of government which every youthful Indian aristocrat was taught as the Dharma of his caste. The imperial revenue, according to ancient Aryan custom, was derived first from the cultivation of the Crown lands, a certain proportion of the common lands of the Aryan community which belonged to the Kings of Kings by right. They were leased out at a fixed rent, reckoned upon the produce¹; the cultivation being superintended by one of the imperial officers. The next source of revenue was the *vali*, or customary offering, which was due from every village to the Râja or the head of its tribe. The latter had also a share of the common lands for the maintenance of himself and his retinue, and passed on to the Mahâ-Râja—the head of a confederation of tribes—the proportion of the vali due to him. The vali payable by a village was generally reckoned at one-sixth of the agricultural produce. Mines, and also the manufactures derived from them, were an imperial monopoly; but they were sometimes leased to private persons in payment of rent and royalties. Subsidiary revenue was derived from duties on pearls, corals, shells, salt, and tolls upon other merchandise collected by a Department of Commerce, which fixed prices and arranged suitable markets. A Department of Navigation and Fisheries controlled the traffic by sea and river, collected harbour dues, ferry tolls, and a vali of one-sixth upon the fisheries. Forests were also included in the imperial domains; special officers were in charge of their conservation, and supervised the cutting of timber and the use of it for defensive and other purposes. Elephant forests were specially protected. Two other very important departments were those of Irrigation and Roads, for the chief function of the Head of the State, after the charge of military defence and the administration of justice, was to provide for and keep in order public reservoirs and other irrigation works, to maintain the King’s highway, and protect travellers upon it.¹

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¹ In the Kautilîya-artha-sâstra, one of the earliest manuals of Indian political economy, the proportion was as follows: One-fifth of the grain grown by manual irrigation; one-fourth of the grain irrigated by water carried on the shoulder; one-third of that irrigated by pumps; and one-fourth of that irrigated by water derived from rivers, reservoirs or wells, with an additional one-fourth or one-fifth of the total produce ("Antiquities of India," by Dr. L. D. Barnett, p. 102).

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¹ All of these details are not mentioned by Hiuen-Tsang, but it may be taken for granted that the chief duties of Indo-Aryan kingship, as stated by Hindu law-givers, were fulfilled by Harsha as they had been by Asoka, Vikramâditya and other great Aryan sovereigns.

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The effects of the Hun invasions were still evident in Harsha’s reign in the greater severity of the punishments awarded to criminals and in the unsafe condition of some of the public roads. As in Fa-Hien’s time, the slaughter of animals and the eating of flesh was forbidden to the higher castes. Hiuen-Tsang found also public hospitals and rest-houses, at which necessitous travellers could obtain gratuitous medical aid and food and drink.

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PORCH OF VISHNU TEMPLE, PATHARI, BHOPAL

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Harsha, like the Guptas, was a great patron of letters, and himself an author of high distinction. He was devout in religious matters, and, as a pious Hindu ruler, paid respect to all sects, and listened to the arguments of all the schools of philosophy which conformed to the rules of logic prescribed by the Sâstras. As a double the amount of those given on the two following days; but his somewhat narrow sectarian view did not permit him to understand the religious spirit which animated Harsha and the great multitude worshipping the Buddha as an incarnation of Brahmâ, the Creator.

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The rest of the festival, which lasted seventy-five days, was devoted to the distribution of all the surplus of Harsha’s treasury which had accumulated since the last festival had been held, five years before. Everything except what was required “for maintaining order and protecting the royal estate” was given away; first to members of the Buddhist Sangha, then to Brahmans, then to Jains and devotees of various minor sects, and lastly to the poor and destitute generally. Harsha set the example of benevolence by giving away “his gems and his goods; his clothing and necklaces; ear-rings, bracelets, chaplets, neck-jewel and bright head-jewel”; and when he had nothing left he put on a mendicant’s robe which he had begged from his sister, and paid worship to all the Buddhas, rejoicing that “his treasure had been bestowed in the field of religious merit.”

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Hiuen Tsang, taking with him all his treasures of Buddhist relics, images, and manuscripts which he had collected, besides costly presents from Harsha, who sent a royal escort to accompany him to the frontier, shortly afterwards left India on his way back to China.

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Indian historians have always felt it superfluous for the study of their civilisation to follow the whole succession of kings and dynasties throughout the centuries; they rightly considered chronology and events the most illusory factors in history. I will not therefore trouble the reader with the names and dates of other rulers in Northern India who followed Harsha in fulfilling, more or less successfully, the duties of Indo-Aryan kingship. From the seventh century until the An empty page.

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VISHNU TEMPLE (RÂJARÂNÎ), BHUVANESHVAR, ORISSA (ELEVENTH CENTURY)

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conquest of Babar, the first of the Great Moguls, the political history of northern India was a continuation of the struggle of Indo-Aryan civilisation to maintain itself against the hordes of Huns, Arabs, Pathâns, Mongols, and other more or less civilised nomads who were tempted to plunder and devastation by the wealth and prosperity of India under her Aryan constitution.

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The particular cult of Indo-Aryan religion favoured by individual sovereigns of the different dynasties is also a matter of minor interest. The epoch from the beginning of the fourth to the end of the eighth century A.D., which was the golden age of Indian literature, when, as is generally believed, the great Indo-Aryan epics were given their present literary forms, and the Bhagavad Gîta, India's Bible, was written as a synthesis of the religious teaching of the time—an age when the classics of Indian drama, poetry, painting, and music were produced, brought to a close by the appearance of the great philosopher of the Vedânta, Sankarâcharya—will be most fitly summarised architecturally by a description of the rock-cut vihâras and chaitya-houses of Ajantâ, which formed during this period one of the famous universities of India.

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