A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9.s1: Section I. The Age of Asoka
A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9.s1
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Section I. The Age of Asoka
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A short time after the death of Alexander in 323 B. C., the throne of Magadha, or South Bihār, then the premier kingdom of Northern India, was seized by Chandragupta, surnamed the Maurya, known as Sandrokottos to Greek authors. In the course of a victorious reign of twenty-four years this able prince made himself master of all India, at least as far south as the river Narbadā, and acquired from Seleukos Nikator, first his enemy and then his ally, the valuable provinces lying between the Indus and the Hindu Kush mountains which now constitute the major part of the kingdom of Afghanistan.
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Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusāra, who, in or about 273 B. C., transmitted the imperial sceptre to his son, Asoka, the third and most renowned sovereign of the Maurya dynasty. For forty-one years (273–232 B. C.) Asoka ruled his immense empire with great power and might, maintaining friendly relations with his neighbours, the Tamil states of the extreme south, and also with the island kingdom of Ceylon, and the more remote Greek monarchies of Macedonia, Epirus, Western Asia, Egypt, and Cyrene.
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Early in life the emperor became a convert to the Buddhist religion, and as the years rolled on his zeal increased, so that his energies and riches were devoted almost exclusively to the work of honouring and propagating the teaching of his Master, Gautama Buddha, the sage of the Sakyas. With one exception, he abstained from wars of conquest, and was thus free to concentrate his attention upon the task to which his life was consecrated.¹
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¹ For full discussion of the history of Asoka see the author's works *Early History of India*, 2nd ed., 1908, and *Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India*, 2nd ed., 1909. The view that he became a Buddhist early in life, though not yet universally accepted, is supported by the authority of M. Senart and Mr. F. W. Thomas, and confirmed by the latest researches.
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As explained in Chapter II, the earliest extant examples of architecture, as distinguished from mere engineering, and of the other fine arts, date from the days of Asoka. Nothing deserving the name of a work of art has yet been discovered which can be referred with confidence to an earlier time. His mighty father and grandfather must surely have built palaces, public offices, and temples suitable to the dignity of a powerful empire and proportionate to the wealth of rich provinces, but of such structures not a trace seems to survive. The best explanation of this fact is the hypothesis already discussed (*ante*, p. 23), that the early works of Indian architecture and art were mainly constructed of timber and other perishable materials ill fitted to withstand the ravenous tooth of time. Whatever be the true explanation, the fact remains that the history of Indian art begins with Asoka. 'But,' as Professor Percy Gardner observes, 'there can be no doubt that Indian art had an earlier history. The art of Asoka is a mature art : in some respects more mature than the Greek art of the time, though, of course, far inferior to it, at least in our eyes.'¹ With that mature art we must be content to begin our story, acknowledging the impossibility of tracing in detail the stages of its growth.
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¹ *Trans. 3rd Intern. Congress for the Hist. of Religions* (Oxford, 1908), vol. ii, p. 81.
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We can, however, affirm with certainty that many forms of Asokan architecture and plastic decoration were descended from wooden prototypes, and may also discern traces of the influence of lost works in metal, ivory, terra-cotta, and painting.² We may, moreover, feel some confidence in assuming that the sudden general adoption of stone as the material for both architecture and sculpture was in large measure the result of foreign and especially of Persian example. The fuller consideration of the foreign influences affecting Indian art will be more conveniently deferred and made the subject of a separate chapter (Chap. XI).
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² The pictorial character of the ancient Indian reliefs, 'histoires sans paroles', is obvious, and the affinity of much of the decorative work with the jeweller's art is equally plain. The sculpture on a pier of the southern gate at Sāñchī was actually executed by the ivory carvers of the neighbouring town of Vedisa (Bhilsā) (*Ep. Ind.*, ii, pp. 92, 378, inscr. No. 200 of Tope I = C. 189). Cunningham was unable to read this significant record, the interpretation of which is due to Bühler.
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But whether we concede much or little importance to the foreign elements of ancient Indian art, great weight must be allowed for the personal initiative of Asoka, a man of marked originality of mind, capable of forming large designs and executing them with imperial thoroughness. The direction taken by Indian art, like the diffusion of Buddhism, was determined in its main lines by the will of a resolute and intelligent autocrat.
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I now proceed to a summary description of the principal works of art surviving in India and Ceylon from the times of Asoka and his successors down to about a. d. 100. The buildings having been already noticed, and the art of painting being reserved for another chapter, this chapter will be confined to sculpture. Most of the extant works were executed in honour of Buddhism, which became the State religion in the empire of Asoka and was introduced during his reign into independent Ceylon. Although we know that both Jainism and Brahmanical Hinduism continued to attract multitudes of adherents during the Maurya period, hardly any material remains of works then dedicated to the service of those religions have survived.
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The art of the times dealt with in this chapter is characterized by frank naturalism. It is thoroughly human, a mirror of the social and religious life of ancient India, apparently a much pleasanter and merrier life than that of the India of later ages when the Brahmans had reasserted their superiority and imposed their ideas upon art and upon every branch of Hindu civilization. The early sculptures, while full of the creatures of gay fancy, are free from the gloom and horror of the conceptions of the mediaeval artists. The Buddhism with which nearly all of them are concerned was, as already observed in the Introduction, the popular creed of men and women living a natural life in the world, seeking happiness, and able to enjoy themselves. The recent critics of the 'nationalist' school, in their anxiety to secure adequate recognition for the merits of the mediaeval Brahmanical art, sometimes appear to believe that it alone truly expresses Indian thought. It is well to remember that for several centuries Indian thought was content to find its artistic utterance in a fashion much more human and cheerful.
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The known existing monuments of art dating from Asoka's reign are not very numerous, but it is not improbable that more may be discovered. His buildings having perished, our direct knowledge of the art strictly contemporary with him is derived from his inscriptions, the carvings and sculptures on his monolithic columns, and some independent statuary. The inscriptions are mentioned on account of their beautiful execution. The most faultless example is the brief record on the Rummindēī Pillar, which is as perfect as on the day it was incised;¹ but, almost without exception, all are models of careful and accurate stone-cutting. The craft of the skilled mason and stone-cutter, so closely akin to fine art, reached perfection in the days of Asoka, as appears from every detail of the work, and especially from examination of the beautifully polished surface of the monoliths and the interior of the cave dwellings dedicated by him and his grandson in the hills of Bihār.
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¹ *Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India*, Pl. II.
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The best evidence of the state of the art of sculpture, both in relief and in the round, during the reign of the great emperor is afforded by the capitals of the numerous monolithic columns erected between 250 B. C. and the end of the reign in 232 B. C., as briefly described and illustrated in Chapter II (*ante*, p. 20, Plate II). The capital of each pillar, like the shaft, was monolithic, comprising three principal members, namely, a Persepolitan bell, abacus, and crowning sculpture in the round. The junction between the shaft and the abacus was marked by a necking, the edge of the abacus was decorated with bas-relief designs, and the crowning sculpture was occasionally a sacred symbol, such as a wheel, or more commonly a symbolical animal, or group of animals. Sometimes the inanimate and animal symbols were combined.
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Within the limits thus determined the artists enjoyed considerable latitude, and in consequence the surviving capitals vary widely in detail. The abacus might be either rectangular or circular so as to suit the form of the sculpture above. The edge of the abacus of the beautiful Lauriyā-Nandangarh pillar is decorated by a row of flying sacred geese in quite low relief. The abaci of the pillars at Allahabad and Sankisa (Fig. 28) and the newly discovered bull pillar at Rāmpurwā exhibit elegant designs composed of the lotus and palmette or honeysuckle. Whatever the device selected, it is invariably well executed, and 'chiselled with that extraordinary precision and accuracy' which characterize the workmanship of the Maurya age, and have never been surpassed in Athens or elsewhere.²
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² E. J. Marshall, in *Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1906–7, p. 89.
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The topmost sculpture in the round was most often one or other of the four animals symbolizing respectively the four quarters of the world—namely, the elephant, the guardian of the east; the horse, of the south; the bull, of the west; and the lion, of the north. All these animals, except the horse, are actually found on extant capitals, and it is recorded that a horse once crowned the pillar at Rummindeī, the Lumbinī garden. On the sides of the abacus of the Sārnāth capital all the four creatures are carved in relief, evidently signifying that the monument, although specially connected with the north by its position and the symbolical lions, was designed to commemorate the proclamation of the Good Law to the Church of the four quarters.¹
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¹ This explanation of the symbolism was suggested by the discovery of rude symbolical bronze figures of the four animals in Ceylon (*post*, chap. vii, sec. 7). See the author's paper 'The Monolithic Pillars of Asoka' in *Z. D. M. G.*, 1911. The lion was also regarded as a symbol of Buddha himself.
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FIG. 28. Capital of Sankisa pillar. (Photo. 680, I. M. *List*.)
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The elephant of the Sankisa capital is well modelled, but unhappily badly mutilated. The two pillars at Rāmpurwā bear respectively the bull and lion, guardians of the west and north.² Monasteries occupied by western and northern communities may have existed in the neighbourhood.
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² *J. R. A. S.*, 1908, p. 1085, Pl. I.
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The magnificent Sārnāth capital discovered in 1905, unquestionably the best extant specimen of Asokan sculpture, was executed late in the reign between 242 and 232 B. C. (Plate XIII). The column was erected to mark the spot where Gautama Buddha first 'turned the wheel of the law', or in plain English, publicly preached his doctrine. The symbolism of the figures, whether in the round or in relief, all refers to the commemoration of that event for the benefit of the Church Universal. The four lions standing back to back on the abacus once supported a stone wheel, two feet nine inches in diameter, of which only fragments remain.³
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³ Discovered by Mr. F. O. Oertel and described by him in *Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1904–5, pp. 68–70, Pl. XX. His account of the excavations has been reprinted in a separate volume entitled *Buddhist Ruins of Sārnāth near Benares*, 1904–5.
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It would be difficult to find in any country an example of ancient animal sculpture superior or even equal to this beautiful work of art, which successfully combines realistic modelling with ideal dignity, and is finished in every detail with perfect accuracy. The bas-reliefs on the abacus are as good in their way as the noble lions in the round. The design, while obviously reminiscent of Assyrian and Persian prototypes, is modified by Indian sentiment, the bas-reliefs being purely Indian. Mr. Marshall's conjecture that the composition may be the work of an Asiatic Greek is not supported by the style of the relief figures. The ability of an Asiatic Greek to represent Indian animals so well may be doubted.
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PLATE XIII. Capital of inscribed Asoka pillar at Sārnāth. (A. S. photo.)
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The only rival to the artistic supremacy of the Sārnāth capital is the replica which once crowned the detached pillar at Sānchī engraved with a copy of the Sārnāth edict denouncing schism. So far as can be judged from Maisey’s drawing, the Sānchī capital is little inferior to that at Sārnāth, and it is possible that both works may proceed from the hands of a single artist.¹ A century or so later, when an inferior sculptor attempted to model similar lions on the pillars of the southern gateway at Sānchī, he failed utterly, and his failure supports the theory that the Sārnāth capital must have been wrought by a foreigner. Certainly no later sculpture in India attained such high excellence.
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¹ Maisey, *Sānchī and its Remains*, Pl. XIX, 2. I have not seen a photograph.
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[Figure: FIG. 29. Asoka pillar at Bakhirā, Muzaffarpur District. (A. S. photo. supplied by Prof. Macdonell.)]
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The perfection of the Sānchī and Sārnāth lions on the edict-pillars must have been the result of much progressive effort. The uninscribed pillar at Bakhirā (Fig. 29) seems to be one of the earlier experiments of Asoka’s artists. The clumsy proportions of the shaft contrast unfavourably with the graceful design of the Lauriyā-Nandangarh column (*ante*, Plate II), which bears a copy of the Pillar Edicts, and may be dated in 242 or 241 B. C., while the seated lion on the summit is by no means equal to the animals on the edict-pillars of Sārnāth and Sānchī erected between 242 and 232 B. C. I am disposed to think that the Bakhirā column was set up soon after 257 B. C., the date of the earliest Rock Edicts.
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An uninscribed colossal statue of a female, 6 feet 7 inches in height, and found near Besnagar adjoining Bhīlsā in the Gwālior State, Central India, a locality associated by tradition with Asoka, is attributed to his reign on account of the style and costume. The image, now illustrated for the first time (Plate XIV), has suffered so severely from violence and exposure that it is difficult to estimate its aesthetic quality, but, so far as can be judged from what is left, the statue was a good naturalistic figure, probably intended for a Yakshī, or minor deity.¹
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¹ It is now in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. It was found on the bank of the Betwā, to the north-east of the town site (Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. x, p. 44). It is not included in Anderson's *Catalogue*. Several works of reference erroneously place Bhīlsā (Bhēlsā) in the Bhopāl State.
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Plate XIV. Colossal female statue from Besnagar. (Photo. 1304, I. M. *List*.)
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A second colossal female statue, 7 feet high, locally known as the Telin, or Oil-woman, exists within the walls of Besnagar. I do not quite understand Cunningham's description, and therefore abstain from quoting it or from attempting to fix the age of the work.² It is desirable that this image should be re-examined and photographed. Cunningham mentions the existence in his time at Besnagar of several other remarkable sculptures apparently of Maurya age, including a polished sandstone elephant with rider, which seem to merit careful illustration. No site appears to equal Besnagar in the number of sculptures dating from the Maurya period.
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² Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. x, p. 40.
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The Indian Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, exhibits the torso of a male statue about 3 feet in height, lent by Major-General Kincaid, which is labelled as having 'formerly crowned one of the several detached columns erected by Asoka', and as having been found in front of the western gateway at Sāñchī. The material is highly polished reddish Udayagiri sandstone. The figure wears a sash across the breast, a rich collar, and an elaborate belt, all of which are finished with exquisite care and minuteness. This notable work appears to be correctly ascribed to the Asokan age.³ The figure looks like that of a Bodhisattva.
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³ Publ. as full-page Plate 142, vol. xiii, *J. I. A. I.*, in order to illustrate the rich jewellery.
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A mutilated colossal standing statue of a male, perhaps representing the Yaksha demi-god Kuvera, god of wealth, found at Parkham in the Mathurā District, and now in the Mathurā Museum, is proved by its inscription to date from the Maurya age. The material is polished grey sandstone similar to that used for the Asoka pillars. The height, including pedestal, is 8 feet 8 inches, and the breadth across the shoulders is 2 feet 8 inches. The excessively bulky body is clothed in a waistcloth (*dhōtī*) held round the loins by means of a flat girdle tied in a knot in front. A second flat girdle is bound round the chest. The ornaments are a necklace and a torque from which four tassels hang down on the back. The clumsiness of the modelling suggests that the prototype must have been a figure carved from a log of wood. Some praise may be given to the treatment of the drapery.⁴
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⁴ Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. xx, p. 40, Pl. VI, back and front views; Sten Konow *Ind. Ant.*, xxxviii (1909), p. 148; Vogel, *Catal. Archaeol. Museum, Mathurā* (Allahabad, 1910), p. 83, Pl. XII. The inscription, which is imperfect, appears to state that the statue was made by Bhadapugarin and [dedicated] by Gomitra, pupil of Kunika.
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A broken statue of a man which once crowned one of the detached columns at Sāñchī was regarded by Cunningham as a singularly successful effort of Indian art. The figure, which is nude save for a scanty waistcloth and has a small nimbus round the head, appears to be that of some Buddhist saint. Cunningham thought that it might be an effigy of Asoka himself, who was and is venerated as a saint. But Asoka, if represented as a religious person, would be clothed in a monastic robe, not in a waistcloth. Moreover, it is doubtful if the nimbus was used in India in his time. The statue, although of early date, probably is considerably later than Asoka's age. The published sketches are hardly sufficient to justify a judgement on the aesthetic merits of the work.¹
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¹ Maisey, *Sānchī*, Pl. XXXII, 1; Cunningham, *Bhilsa Topes* (1854), p. 197, Pl. X.
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FIG. 30. The Heliodoros pillar, Besnagar. (A. S. photo.)
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FIG. 31. Fan-palm capital, Besnagar. (Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. x, Pl. XIV, Fig. 1.)