A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c14.s2.4

c14.s2.4

In 1879 paintings to a greater or lesser extent remained in sixteen caves, Nos. I, II, IV, VI, VII, IX, X, XI, XV, XVI, XVII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, and XXVI. The most important fragments were then to be seen in nine caves, Nos. I, II, IX, X, XI, XVI, XVII, XIX, and XXI, those in Cave XVII being the most extensive.¹ The most ancient excavations, Nos. VIII, XII, and XIII, have no paintings. No. XIII, perhaps the earliest of all, has polished walls, and may date from 200 b. c. Six of the caves, Nos. VIII, IX, X, XI (with some sculpture possibly later), XII, and XIII are concerned with the early Hīnayāna form of Buddhism, and may be considered to cover a period of about three and a half centuries from 200 b. c. to a. d. 150. All the others were dedicated to the Mahāyāna forms of worship. Nos. VI and VII may be assigned to the century between a. d. 450 and 550. The rest, namely Nos. XIV to XX, XXI–XXIX, and I–V seem to have been excavated between a. d. 500 and 642, several having been left incomplete. No. I was held by Fergusson to be the latest of the completed works.