A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c12.s1: Section II. Northern India
A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c12.s1
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Section II. Northern India
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Except certain coins of high artistic quality, as judged by an Indian standard (*post*, Chap. X, Sec. 1), no work of art yet discovered can be referred to the reign of Samudragupta (A. D. *cir.* 335–75), the victorious general, and accomplished poet and musician, who has recorded his achievements on Asoka's pillar at Allahabad. The earliest known Gupta remains date from the beginning of the fifth century.
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The small cave-temples in the Udayagiri hill near Besnagar in the Bhopāl State, Central India, one of which bears an inscription dated A. D. 401, contain much vigorous sculpture, described and illustrated by Cunningham. The 'Chandragupta Cave', with the dated inscription, is entered by a portal with bell-capital pilasters, each supporting a river goddess standing on a *makara* or conventional crocodile.
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FIG. 111. River goddess; Udayagiri, Bhopāl. (Photo. 1376, I. M. *List*.) FIG. 112. The Ganges goddess, Besnagar. (A. S. photo., supplied by Prof. Macdonell.)
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One of these, a well-modelled naturalistic woman, surrounded by simple ornament in good taste, is shown in Fig. 111.
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Similar goddesses are found in many places, and are specially characteristic of the Gupta style. Often the Jumna on one side is personified by the female standing on a tortoise, while the corresponding figure, representing the Ganges, stands on a *makara*; but at Udayagiri both the figures alike are on *makaras*. In the earlier examples the goddesses are placed at the top and in the later at the bottom of the jambs.
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Plate XXXIV. Siva as an ascetic (*mahāyogī*); Dēogaṛh temple. (Photo. 752, I. M. *List*.)
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At the Tigawā temple in the Jabalpur District (*ante*, p. 32) the Ganges goddess is represented with attendants, in a composition more elaborate than that at Udayagiri, and, like it, deserving of praise for good naturalistic modelling, free from the exaggerations of the female form so common in Hindu art and so disagreeable to good taste.¹ River goddesses in the same style are to be seen on the tops of the jambs at the entrance to Cave XXII at Ajaṇṭā, dating from somewhere about a. d. 500, and approximately contemporary with the Tigawā temple.² But the best image of Gaṅgā known to me is that on a panel at Besnagar, which may be fairly called beautiful, and must be of about the same age as the Tigawā and Ajaṇṭā images (Fig. 112). It is, perhaps, worth noting that the Indian conception of a river goddess has nothing in common with the recumbent Greek river god.
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¹ Udayagiri is described by Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. x, pp. 48–56, Pl. XVI, XVIII, XIX. For Tigawā *see ibid.*, vol. ix, pp. 42–6, Pl. IX–XI; Bloch, *Progr. Rep. A. S., Eastern Circle*, 1907–8, p. 9; Cousens, *Progr. Rep. A. S., Western India*, 1903–4, p. 34.
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² *A. S. W. I.*, vol. iv, Pl. XXXII, Fig. 2.
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Although in the matter of style no distinctions based on the religious destination of particular images can be drawn, it will be convenient to finish the description of selected Brahmanical stone sculptures before proceeding to the discussion of the Jain and Buddhist works and the metal castings.
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The Indian Museum, Calcutta, possesses a remarkable group of Siva and Pārvatī (Km. 40) from Kosam in the Allahabad District, bearing an inscription dated a. d. 458–9. The consorts stand side by side, each with the right hand raised and the open palm turned to the front. The head-dress of the goddess is described as a most elaborate construction, which recalls that ‘of some Dutch women, and consists of a huge, transverse, comb-like ornament projecting beyond the side of the head, and terminating on both sides in large wheel-like ornaments, from the centre of which depends a large tassel. There are huge ear-ornaments and very massive bangles.’³
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³ Anderson, *Catal.*, Part II, p. 286; Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. x, p. 3; photo. 669 in I. M. *List*.
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A temple at Dēogarh, in the Lalitpur subdivision of the Jhānsī District, U. P., is adorned with sculptures of exceptionally good quality in panels inserted in the plinth and walls, which may date from the first half of the sixth century. That region probably escaped the Hun troubles owing to its remote situation. A panel on the eastern façade, representing Siva in the garb of an ascetic (*mahāyogī*), attended by another *yogī* and various heavenly beings hovering in the air (Plate XXXIV), may claim a place among the best efforts of Indian sculpture. The principal image is so beautifully modelled and so tastefully posed that we almost forget the inartistic excrescence of the extra pair of arms. The flying figures are admirably designed so as to give the appearance of aerial flight. The modelling of the feet and hands deserves particular notice, and the decorative carvings are in good taste. The close-fitting garments of all the figures and the wigs of some of the attendants are characteristic of the period.
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Another panel from the south façade of the same temple is equally good (Plate XXXV). The subject is Vishnu as the Eternal, reclining on the serpent [Figure: Plate XXXV. Vishnu on Ananta ; Dēogarh temple.
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Ananta, the symbol of eternity, with the other gods watching from above. The principal image is beautifully posed, and the extra arms most dexterously arranged. The wigs are very prominent in this fine group.¹
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¹ For Dēogarh antiquities see Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. x, pp. 100–4, Pl. XXXIII–VI. The groups of sculpture have not been published previously.
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A composition, nearly life-size, at Pathārī in the Bhopāl Agency, believed to represent the new-born Krishna lying by the side of his mother, who is watched by five attendants (Plate XXXVI), was rather extravagantly praised by Mr. Beglar as being 'the finest and largest piece of Indian sculpture'. But if that judgement be considered too enthusiastic, we may accept the more sober view of Colonel Waterhouse, himself an artist, who commends the 'beauty and artistic grace of the composition'. The style is much the same as that of the Dēogarh panels, and the group must be of nearly the same age. Several monuments bear testimony to the prevalence of Krishna worship in the Gupta period.² Interesting Brahmanical sculptures exist at many places, which cannot be noticed in detail.³
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² Pathārī is in 23° 56′ N., 78° 13′ E. Mr. Beglar and Rājendralāla Mitra erroneously supposed the group to be Buddhist (Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. vii, p. 70; Waterhouse, *Proc. A. S. B.*, 1878, p. 122, with photozincograph; Cousens, *Progr. Rep. A. S., W. India*, 1893–4, p. 17). For Krishna worship see Skandagupta's inscription on Bhitarī pillar (Fleet, *Gupta Inscriptions*, No. 13); and the remarkable reliefs at Mandōr near Jodhpur (*Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1905–6, pp. 135–140, fig. 1, 2).
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³ E. g. Sirpur in Rāipur District, C. P. (Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. vii, p. 168; vol. xvii, p. 23, with plates): Bilsar, in Etah District, U. P. (ibid., xi. 17): Pālī, N. W. of Gayā (ibid., xiv, p. 52): Pāroli, N. of Gwālior (ibid., xx. 105). See also Cousens (*Progr. Rep. A. S., W. India*, 1903–4). The sculptures at Nāchnā or Kūtharā in the Ajaygaṛh State, Bundelkhand, approximately contemporary with those of Dēogarh, are described by Cunningham (*Rep.*, xxi, 96) as 'being much superior to all mediaeval sculptures, both in the ease and gracefulness of their attitudes as well as in the real beauty of the forms'. Photographs are not available.
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FIG. 113. Female image, Rājgir. (A. S. photo., supplied by Prof. Macdonell.)
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The little-known ruins at Rājgir, the ancient capital of Magadha, include a relief of a female, facing front, which, to judge from its style, must be of Gupta age (Fig. 113).
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Several ancient sites in the south-western part of the Allahabad District have yielded to slight excavation many remarkable Buddhist sculptures in stone, proved by dated inscriptions to be assignable to the reigns of Chandragupta II, his son Kumāragupta I, and his grandson Skandagupta in the fifth century.
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[Figure: Plate XXXVI. Krishna and his mother; Pathārī.
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The vigorous, and at the same time refined, sculpture adorning the ruins of a Buddhist temple at Gaṛhwā, twenty-five miles south-west of Allahabad, is illustrated by Figs. 114 and 115, giving back and side views of one pillar. The panels on the front (Fig. 114) are arranged according to the ancient Indian fashion, and the style is related to the art of Sāñchī and Bharhut much more closely than to mediaeval art. There is no trace whatever of Gandhāran influence. The figures are well drawn, and modelled on purely naturalistic principles.
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FIG. 114. Buddhist pillar, front; Gaṛhwā. (Photo. 666, I. M. *List*.)
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FIG. 115. Buddhist pillar, side; Gaṛhwā. (Photo. 667, I. M. *List*.)
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The beautiful ornament on the side (Fig. 115), is described by Cunningham as consisting of
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‘the undulating stem of a creeper, with large curling and intertwining leaves, and small human figures, both male and female, climbing up the stem, or sitting on the leaves in various attitudes. The whole scroll is deeply sunk and very clearly and carefully carved; and ... is one of the most pleasing and graceful specimens of Indian architectural ornament.’¹
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¹ The Gaṛhwā remains are fully described and illustrated by Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. iii, pp. 53–61; vol. x, pp. 9–15, with plates.
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A. *Tiringi talai* pattern, Ceylon. (From the *Ceylon Natl. Review*, 1907, p. 304. By permission.)
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B. Dhamēkh *stūpa*; decoration on west face, right-hand half. (From *Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1904-5, Pl. XXIII.)
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C. Decoration south-east side. (A. S. photo.)
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PLATE XXXVII. Decoration of Dhamēkh *stūpa*.
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The commendation is fully justified; nothing better can be found in the earlier work at Mathurā, and the Gaṛhwā design would do credit to an Italian fifteenth-century artist.
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The later Gupta style of ornament, a century or more posterior in date, although pretty enough, is not at all equal in merit to the work at Gaṛhwā. An example from a monastery at Sārnāth is here reproduced in Fig. 116 with Mr. Marshall's comment:—
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‘Pilaster (Pl. XXVI, 7) 3′--2″ high, decorated in the style of the later Gupta period, of which the treatment of these designs is peculiarly characteristic. The imitative jewel work, the garland-bearing birds, the *makara*, the flower vase with palmettes at the corners, the rosette border, and the little figure in the niche below are all *motifs* well worth noticing.’
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[Figure: FIG. 116. Pilaster; Sārnāth. (*Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1906–7, Pl. XXVI, 7.)]
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Recent investigation has proved that the celebrated Dhamēkh *stūpa* at Sārnāth is of Gupta age, and that Cunningham was about right long ago when he referred the building to the sixth century.¹ The intricate scroll-work on the western face is one of the most successful examples of the decoration of a large wall surface to be found in India. The pattern is essentially identical with that called *tiringi talai* in Ceylon, where the design is used by the artistic craftsmen in the native drawing schools as a test of a pupil's power in the freehand execution of curves, and is also applied with suitable modifications to a variety of decorative objects, that is to say, that although the circular *tiringi talai* as a whole is not used for ornamental purposes, its motives, or component parts, are. The artist who traced the wonderfully complex spirals on the western stone facing of the Dhamēkh *stūpa* must have undergone prolonged and rigorous training on the Ceylonese lines. The different pattern on the south-eastern side is equally excellent. Plate XXXVII exhibits the two Dhamēkh designs with the *tiringi talai* for comparison.
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¹ Marshall, *J. R. A. S.*, 1907, p. 1000. The remarks in the new edition of Fergusson, *Hist. Ind. and E. Archit.*, vol. i, p. 75, are not up to date. Dhamēkh (from *dharmekshā*) is the correct spelling.
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Among the numerous excellent sculptures of Gupta age, disclosed by recent excavations at Sārnāth, the most pleasing, perhaps, is the seated Buddha in white sandstone, 5¼ feet in height (Plate XXXVIII).
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The deer-park at Sārnāth having been the place where the Wheel of the Law was first turned, or, in other words, the doctrine of the Buddhist way of salvation was first publicly preached by Gautama Buddha, his effigy is naturally represented with [Figure: PLATE XXXVIII. Seated Buddha, Sārnāth.
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the fingers in the position (*mudrā*) associated by canonical rule with the act commemorated. The wheel symbolizing the Law and the five adoring disciples to whom it was first preached are depicted on the pedestal. The woman with a child on the left probably is intended for the pious donor of the image. The beautifully decorated halo characteristic of the period is in marked contrast with the severely plain halos of the Kushān age. The style, marked by refined restraint, is absolutely free from all extravagance or monstrosity. Allowance being made for the Hindu canon prohibiting the display of muscular detail, the modelling must be allowed to display high artistic skill. The angels hovering above may be compared with the similar figures at Dēogarh (*ante*, p. 162). The close-fitting smooth robe is one of the most distinctive marks of the style, which is singularly original and absolutely independent of the Gandhāra school. The composition is so pictorial that it may have been designed after the model of a painted fresco.
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It is very difficult, as already hinted, to discover any plausible explanation of the rise of the distinct Gupta style of sculpture, which is reflected in the figure types of a few coins dating from a little before and after 400 A. D. (*post*, Chap. X, Sec 1), and showing clear evidence of Western, chiefly Roman, influence. The statuary, however, presents nothing distinctly Roman or Hellenic, unless it be the 'refined restraint' above mentioned, which is not quite Indian. Can it be that in the Gupta age some forgotten sculptor of genius succeeded in absorbing the Greek spirit of beauty from study of the best Hellenic models, and founded a school by transfusing that spirit into Indian forms? Who can tell? The conquest of Western India by Chandragupta Vikramāditya about 390 A. D. undoubtedly brought the north into renewed touch with the Western world through the ports, and I entertain a strong belief that the efflorescence of Indian literature, science, and art during the Gupta period was largely due to the clash of ideas resulting from the extension of the northern empire to the shores of the Arabian Sea, and the active intercourse with foreign countries both to the east and west, which unquestionably characterized the times¹.
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¹ 'The period when mathematics flourished in India commenced about 400 A. D. and ended about 650 A. D., after which deterioration set in. This period is characterized by quite an extraordinary amount of intercourse between India and foreign countries' (Kaye, *J. R. A. S.*, 1910, p. 759). Many Indian 'embassies' to China and the Roman empire are recorded during this period. All that is of value in the Hindu mathematics of the time, according to Mr. Kaye, is Greek.
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An excellently inscribed standing Buddha of the fifth century in the Mathurā Museum, height 7 feet 2½ inches = 0·81 m. (Fig. 117), while clearly related to the Sārnāth seated image in several respects, differs widely in the treatment of the drapery, which at Mathurā shows a reminiscence of Hellenistic forms. The skill with which the body is shown through the transparent garments is characteristic of the best Gupta sculpture. No doubt careful study of an adequate number of examples would disclose the existence of several well-marked local schools of sculpture during the Gupta period, as in other ages; but it would be premature at present to attempt such refinement in the treatment of a subject which needs to be first sketched on broader lines.
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The unique copper colossus of Buddha, about 7½ feet high, now in the Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham (Fig. 118), is, perhaps, more closely akin to the Sārnāth than to the Mathurā image, the robes being almost smooth, with the folds marked very faintly. The transparency of the garments is clearly marked. This remarkable work, which I had some difficulty in tracing, deserves further notice. The statue was
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[Figure: FIG. 117. Buddha; Mathurā Museum, A. 5, *Catal.*, p. 49, Pl. IX. (Photo. 846, I. M. *List*; also publ. by Growse, *Mathurā*, 3rd ed., p. 172.)]
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[Figure: FIG. 118. Colossal copper statue of Buddha, Sulṭānganj; Birmingham Museum. (Photo. supplied by Curator.)]
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excavated by certain railway engineers in 1862 from the hall of a ruined monastery situated between the modern mart and the railway station at Sulṭānganj (25° 18′ N., 86° 45′ E.), on the Ganges, in the Bhāgalpur District, Bengal. One of the discoverers brought it home, and some years later presented it to the Birmingham Museum. The image was found lying on the ground, having been wrenched from its massive granite pedestal; but was practically perfect, except that the left foot was broken off above the ankle. The approximate date is fixed by the style and the discovery in an adjoining *stūpa* of a coin of the last Western Satrap of Surāshtra, accompanied by one of his conqueror, Chandragupta II, Vikramāditya, who annexed his dominions about A. D. 390. The statue, therefore, may be dated approximately in A. D. 400, and is among the earliest known Gupta works of art.
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According to Rājendralāla Mitra, the material is 'very pure copper', cast in two distinct layers, the inner of which was moulded on an earthy, cinder-like core, composed of a mixture of sand, clay, charcoal, and paddy (rice) husks. The segments of this inner layer were held together by much corroded iron bands, originally three-quarters of an inch thick. The outer layer of copper seems to have been cast over the inner one, presumably by the *cire perdue* process. It was made in several sections, one of which consisted of the face and connected parts down to the breast.
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Lumps of copper ore found close by indicate that the smelting and casting were done on the spot. The hand of another large copper statue was picked up, and three small Buddhas of the same metal were discovered. One, nearly destroyed by rust, was seated, the three others were standing, with halos broken and detached. Small basalt images of Buddha, in the style of the big statue and found near it, are shown in the lithograph published in the *Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal*. The smooth transparent robe and the object held in the left hand (? a palm-leaf book) connect the colossus with the tiny gold image in the British Museum (*post*, Chap. X, Sec. 4), which I am disposed to assign to the sixth century.¹
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¹ The Sultānganj discoveries are described in *J. A. S. B.*, vol. xxxiii (1864), pp. 361 seqq. with lithograph: Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. x, p. 127; xv, p. 126: Anderson, *Catalogue, I. M.*, Part II, p. 481. In the draft *Illustrated Handbook* of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery the statue is erroneously described as 'bronze' and is wrongly dated. The modern *cire perdue* process of casting bronze over a core made of modelling clay mixed with pounded brick and plaster of Paris is described, ibid., p. 85. The Sultānganj process seems to have been essentially the same, with the addition of a second layer of copper. I am indebted to Mr. Whitworth Wallis, Curator of the Birmingham Museum, for a photograph of the colossus and a copy of the *Illustrated Handbook*.
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The existence of such a colossal statue, weighing nearly a ton, is good evidence of Indian proficiency in metallurgy at the beginning of the fifth century. Still stronger testimony to that skill is borne by the celebrated Iron Pillar of Delhi, set up about A. D. 415 by Kumāragupta I in honour of his father, Chandragupta II, Vikramāditya, which originally stood on an eminence elsewhere, probably at Mathurā (Chap. XII, *post*). The total length of the pillar from the top of the bell capital to the bottom of the base is 23 feet 8 inches, and the diameter diminishes from 16·4 inches below to 12·05 inches above. The material is pure malleable iron of 7·66 specific gravity welded together, and the weight is estimated to exceed six tons. 'It is not many years since the production of such a pillar would have been an impossibility in the largest foundries of the world, and even now there are comparatively few where a similar mass of metal could be turned out.' The statue originally surmounting the pillar having disappeared, the marvellous metallurgical triumph does not further concern a history of fine art.²
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² V. A. Smith, 'The Iron Pillar of Delhi (Mihrauli)' (*J. R. A. S.*, 1907, pp. 1–18). The passage quoted is from V. Ball, *Economic Geology of India*, p. 338, 1st ed., 1881.
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Among the Buddhist sculptures found at Bīthā and Deoriyā, ten miles south south-west of Allahabad, the most noticeable is a portion of a twelve-spoked wheel with the felloes completely covered by mango foliage and fruit. The presence of a tenon at the top proves that the wheel must have stood upright.¹
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¹ Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, x. 6.
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At the adjoining village of Mankuwār a very perfect seated Buddha of unusual type was found (Fig. 119), bearing a dedicatory inscription dated in the year 129 g. e. = a. d. 448–9. The peculiar head-dress, if it be a head-dress, is, as Cunningham remarked, like that now worn by the Abbots of Bhutān, and the image may be the work of a northern artist.² The webbed hand was one of the traditional marks of a Buddha, according to some schools. The wheel below symbolizes the turning of the Wheel of the Law, that is to say, the preaching of the doctrine destined to traverse the world like the chariot wheels of a conquering monarch. The expression of the face differs from that of most images, and the work undoubtedly is a notable example of fifth-century sculpture. The clothing is merely the Indian waist-cloth, quite different from the robe of the ordinary Buddha.
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² According to Dr. Bloch (*J. A. S. B.*, vol. lxvi, Part I, p. 283), what looks like a close-fitting cap really is a conventional arrangement of the hair.
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Fig. 119. The Mankuwār Buddha. (Photo. 670, *I. M. List*.)
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Fig. 120. Brass Buddha from Kāngrā District. (From a photograph.)
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A remarkable brass Buddha, obtained at a rest-house (*dharmsāl\=a*) at a village named Fathpur, in the Kāngrā District, Panjāb, is one of the most valued possessions of the Lahore Museum (Fig. 120). The height of the image is 30 cm. = 11·8 inches. While the drapery shows a faint reminiscence of ancient Gandhāran models, the head-dress, or hair-arrangement, like that of the Mankuwār statue, suggests a connexion with Tibet or Bhutān. The technical workmanship is exquisite, but the style decadent. The script of the dedicatory inscription indicates the date as being the sixth century. The open-work pedestal is of elaborate, if rather barbaric, design. The eyes of the image and the minor figures are inserted in silver, as is the *ūrn\=a*, or protuberance, on the forehead, one of the traditional Buddha marks; while certain other details are picked out in red copper.¹ A statuette of four-armed Vishnu, obtained at the same time and place, is of later date and inferior workmanship.
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¹ *Guide to Lahore Museum*, 1908, p. 19: special article, with Plate XXXV, back and front views, by Dr. Vogel in *Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1904–5, pp. 107–9.
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FIG. 121. Budhagupta pillar; Eran, Sāgar District. (Photo. A. S.)
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The old Asokan practice of erecting isolated monumental columns, usually monolithic, was revived in Gupta times. Samudragupta, perhaps the most brilliant of an able dynasty, does not seem to have erected pillars of his own, and was content to record the history of his reign on a pillar of Asoka, now at Allahabad (Prayāga), which, apparently, has been removed from Kausāmbī. The Delhi Iron Pillar of about A. D. 415 has been already noticed (*ante*, p. 172). The earliest extant stone pillar of Gupta age is that erected at Bhitarī in the Ghāzīpur District, U. P., by Skandagupta about A. D. 456 to commemorate his wars with the Huns and Pushyamitras. The next, set up at Kahāon in the Gorakhpur District, U. P., in A. D. 460–1, early in the reign of the same king, by a private member of the Jain community, is adorned with the images of five Jain saints, one in a niche at the base, and four on the summit. The statues, as usual with the Jains, are conventional and of little artistic interest.
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The third in date is the fine monolithic pillar, 43 feet high, set up at Eran in the Sāgar District, C. P., as ‘the flag-staff of *four-armed* Vishnu’, in A.D. 484–5 (Fig. 121). The statue now on the top is a *two-armed* male figure with two faces and a radiated halo—a form not easy of interpretation.
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Two great monolithic columns, the better preserved of which is 39 feet 5 inches long, excluding the detached abacus, lie at Sondaṇī or Songnī, near Mandasōr in Sindhia’s Dominions, and bear inscriptions recording the decisive defeat of the Huns by King Yasodharman about A. D. 528. Several specimens of good contemporary sculpture adjoin.
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[Figure: Fig. 122. Mañjuśrī; from Sārnāth. (*Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1904–5, Pl. XXVIII *c*.)]
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Another great monolithic column, with a worn inscription of late Gupta age, and 47 feet high, stands at Pathārī (*ante*, p. 164), about thirteen miles to the south-west of Eran.
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The Gupta form of capital is generally characterized by a large square abacus of twice the breadth of the shaft, surmounted by two lions sitting back to back, sometimes with a tree or human figure between them. The Budhagupta column has four lions, one at each corner. The process by which the mediaeval capital was evolved from the Persepolitan through the Gupta forms is explained by Cunningham as follows:—
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‘The old bell-capital of the Asoka period has now been considerably altered by bands of ornament and the addition of foliated turn-overs. In later times these turn-overs were greatly increased in size, while the body of the bell was lessened until it resembled a water-vessel or *kumbha*, which eventually became its well-known designation. This curious change from the old bell-capital of Asoka to the water-vessel of the mediaeval temples is very clearly traceable in the different examples of the Gupta period.’¹
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¹ *A. S. Rep.*, x. 88. References for the pillars are:—*Bhitari*—Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. i, p. 38, Pl. XXIX, XXX: Fleet, *Gupta Inscr.*, No. 13. *Kahāon*—Cunningham, *Rep.*, vol. i, p. 92, Pl. XXX: Fleet, *op. cit.*, No. 15. *Eran*—Cunningham, *Rep.*, vol. vii, p. 88; x, p. 81, Pl. XXVI: Fleet, *op. cit.*, No. 19. *Sondanī*—*Ind. Ant.*, 1908, p. 107, with plates: Fleet, *op. cit.*, Nos. 33-5. *Pathāri*—Cunningham, *Rep.*, vol. vii, p. 67; x, p. 70: not in Fleet. Smaller pillars or *stelae* of Gupta age exist at several places.
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The foregoing select illustrations will, it is hoped, be considered sufficient to establish the claims of the Gupta sculpture of Northern India to favourable consideration on its merits as art. It is, as Mr. Marshall observes, endowed with ‘freshness and vitality’, while the designs are singularly refined and the technical execution of the best pieces is exquisite. The series may be closed with a delicately wrought figure of the Bodhisattva Manjusrī from Sārnāth (Fig. 122), bearing an inscription of the sixth or seventh century, which serves to mark the transition from Gupta to mediaeval art. Students who desire to pursue the subject farther will find more material in the publications noted below.²
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² *J. R. A. S.*, 1907, pp. 996-1000: *Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1903-4, pp. 213-26; 1904-5, pp. 43-58 and 59-104; 1905-6, pp. 61-85 and 135-40; 1906-7, pp. 44-67 and 68-101.