1

S. No

Title

P. No

1.

Introduction

2.

Vedic Period

3.

Development during 2nd century B.C

4.

Mauryan Period

5.

Origin of Buddhist Stupa

6.

Dharma Rajika Stupa

7.

Rock Cut activities

8.

Mauryan Art

10

9.

Indo Greeks

14

10.

Sirkap

15

11.

Jandial Temple

15

12.

Scythians

15

13.

Parthians

17

14.

Kushans

19

15.

Sirkap

20

16.

Shaikhan Dheri

20

17.

Kushan Art of Gandhara

21

18.

Gandharan Art and Buddhism

22

19.

Characteristic Features of Gandharan Art

23

20.

Foreign Influence on Gandharan Art

26

21.

Summery

27

22.

Conclusion

28

23.

Bibliography

29

2
Introduction
Architecture is the matrix of civilization, each great culture had made its own
particular architecture. All these are distinct from each other, for example, Roman
buildings are remarkable for their scientific construction, French Gothic reveals a
condition of passionate energy, in the same way the out standing quality of the
architecture of Subcontinent is its spiritual content. It is evident that the fundamental
purpose of buildings was to represent in concrete form of the prevailing religious
consciousness of the people. In these first buildings were produced by Vedic people.
The same story belongs to art, the Subcontinent art is mainly a religious art, first
produced during Mauryan.
Vedic Period
The Indus valley civilization was replaced by Aryans or Vedic people. These people
were widely different from the people of Indus. The people of Indus region were
mainly traders and town-dwellers, while the Vedic were wrestlers and working in the
fields and forests. When the Vedic people settled down in the plains of India, they
became partly pastoral and partly agricultural. They made their habitations
rudimentary structures of reads and bamboo thatched with leaves. These were not
developed from the fine houses of the Indus valley civilization. But these temporary
erections were developed to meet the needs of the forest dwellers and this is the
beginning of Indian Architecture.
Architecture
From different sources it is possible to visualize the kind of building that the early
settlers found suitable for their purpose. Considerable information is contained in the
Vedas, while indigenous vignettes depicting the life of the times are carved in bass
relief on the stupa railings of Barhut and Sanchi. In addition there is the significant
character of the subsequent architecture which reproduces in many of its aspects the
types of structure from which it originated. Supplied with this material we see the
people living in clearing cut out of the primeval forest, just as some of the small
cultivators at the present time in India, notably in parts of Bengal, still carve their
homesteads out of the bamboo jungle.

3
Palisade
The early immigrants or Vedic people want to protect themselves and their property
from the ravages of wild animals, and so they surrounded their little collection of huts
(grama) with a special kind of fence or palisade. This fence took the form of a
bamboo railing the upright posts (thabha) of which supported three horizontal bars
called suchi or needles, as they were threaded through holes in the up rights. In the
course of time this peculiar type of railing became the emblem of protection and
universally used, not only to enclose the villages, but as a paling around fields, and
eventually to preserve anything of a special or sacred nature. In the palisade encircling
the village, entrances also of a particular kind were devised. These were formed by
projecting a section of the bamboo fence at right angles and placing a gateway in
advance of it. And from this bamboo gate way derived the Buddhist archway known
as the torana.
Huts of Vedic people
The huts of the village people were of various shapes but the circular plan was
predominant, and it was the natural tendency of primitive man towards round form.
The foundations of the old city of Rajgriha in Bihar which probably flourished about
800 BC indicate that circular buildings were then common, in the Vedic village Huts
were of the beehive pattern made of a circular wall of bamboos held together with
bands of withes and covered either with a domical roof of leaves or thatched with
grass.
A remarkable illustration of this may be seen in the interior of the rock-cut Sudama
cell in the Barabar hill group, where every detail of the timber construction is copied
in the living rock. A later date in the evolution of the Vedic hut the circular plan was
elongated into an oval with a barrel roof formed on a frame of bent bamboos also
covered with thatch. Soon some of these huts were arranged in threes and fours
around a square courtyard and the roofs covered with planks of wood or tiles. In the
better class houses unbaked bricks were used for the walls, and the doorways were
square-headed, opining with double doors. One device to maintain the barrel shape of
the roof was to stretch a thong or withe across the end of the arch like the cord of a
bow. This contrivance constricted the chord of the arch and produced a shape
resembling a horse shoe, a type of archway commonly referred to as the chaitya or
sun-window. This became characteristic of the subsequent architecture of the

4
Buddhists. These houses were decorated by white colour applied on the mud walls. In
the remote areas of India like Orissa these white washed huts still can be seen.
Development during 2nd c. BC
During this age the social system of the Vedic community was so expanded that towns
arose at certain important centres, where the traditional structural features of the
village were reproduced on a larger scale and in a more substantial form. The Capitals
were strongly fortified with wooden palisades while within this enclosure the
buildings were also almost entirely of wood. The Vedic civilization now enters on an
era of timber construction. In the Rig-Veda the carpenter is recorded as holding the
place of honour among all artisans as all the village people depend upon him. Cities
largely of wooden construction and according to Dhammapala, the great Buddhist
commentator they were planned by an architect of the name of Mahagovinda who is
responsible for the lay-out of several of the capitals of northern India in the fifth
century BC These cities were rectangular in plan and divided into four quarters by
two main thoroughfares intersecting at right angles, each leading to a city gate, of
these quarters contained the citadel and royal apartments, another resolved itself into
the residences of the upper classes, third was the loss pretentious buildings of the
middle class, and the fourth was for the accommodation of traders with their work
shops open to view as in the modern bazaar. All these practices and designs were
continued for a long time and the interval of the two thousand years separates the
Vedic palace from that of the Mughals, both were built round an inner courtyard with
in the citadel and both had a large central window for the darshan or salutation of the
king. Both had a wing reserved for the royal ladies with pleasure gardens, having
fountains and ornamental waters attached. In each there was an official enclosure
containing audience and assembly halls. In that time all the building materials were of
temporary nature, the example of stone masonry can be seen in the city wall of
Rajagriha, the ancient capital of Magadha, now a vast area of ruins in the Patna
district of Bihar. This wall consists of a rough pile of massive undressed stones, each
between three and five feet in length, carefully fitted and bounded together the core
between is composed of smaller blocks and no mortar appear to have been used.
Above this wall a superstructure of wood and bricks or stone and bricks combined
were placed (Brown: 4).

5
Mauryan Period
The foundation of the Maurya Empire was unique event in the history of ancient IndoPakistan, they united India from the Khyber to the Deccan, and ruled from 322 to 185
BC. Chandragupta was the founder of Mauryas, he was succeeded by his son
Bindusara. His title was amitraghta or slayer of foes. From it the scholars take the idea
that he was a warrior like his father. After the death of Bindusara, Asoka ascended the
throne, undoubtedly the greatest ruler of the Mauryan dynasty.
Architecture
In the Indian history of architecture the Mauryan architecture had a permanent place.
The city of Pataliputra capital city of some of the great Indian kings was a prosperous
city and had a lot of imperial architecture. Like the palace where a hypostyle hall of
wooden pillars, the palisade around Pataliputra, towers and gates of the city, but in the
present day only the fragments were found.
Palisade
Greeks historian and ambassadors gives us some important details about the palisade
of Pataliputra, this fortification wall were parallogram shape and is girded with a
wooden wall, pierced with lope-hole for the discharge of arrows. A ditch was also
made in front of fortification wall for defense and for receiving sewers of the city.
Ditch around the city 60 feet in breath and 30 cubits in depth. The wall was crowned
with 570 towers and 644 gates. The remains of wooden palisade have also been found
a very large area at Bulindibagh (Johns: 219).
Towers
Megasthenes mentioned 570 towers on the fortification wall but we have no idea
about the architectural features of these towers since none has been found so far. But
fortification does have towers and the towers have been spaced at 67 meters. It was
generally used by the archers.
Gateways
Here we also no clear idea about the gateways in the fortification wall there is only
one suspected case of an entrance in which the cross beam with octagonal cross

6
section was four meters in length with a few upright found a long with it. It may be
have made Torana or gateway, but evidence is too slender to be decisive in its favour.
Stupa
Stupa is a funeral mound, where in to shrine the relics of Buddha or Stupa is a funeral
place where relics of Buddha were placed or buried. The word stupa is derived from
the Prakrit word thupa, and from a Pali word thuka, means a burial mound. Chaitya is
another important word used for stupa, especially in northern India and Nepal, which
means a shrine.
Origin of Buddhist Stupa
Percy Brown relates Buddhism tradition, when Buddha was close to his death, one of
his disciples asked how to treat his dead body, Buddha answered to treat his body like
his ancestors, which were Aryans, who burnt their dead bodies and buried the ashes in
a heap called Thuba. The earliest stupas were built of un-burnt bricks like the famous
Bharut stupa. Even the great stupa of Sanchi was originally of this type. They were
round and raised hemispherical on the ground. This shape was probably derived from
Vedic secular Huts. With the passage of time the original hemi-spherical dome was
raised with layers of mud.
Railing around the stupa
The most ancient stupa was very plain but they were usually surrounded by stone
railing. Some time square and plain but more often circular. The railing was provide
for the protection of worship and serving as defense against evil spirits. The earliest
example of such railing at Sanchi is un-adorned copies of wooden post and rail fence
(Sehrai: 17).
Dharma Rajika Stupa of Taxila
Taxilas old name was Takshasila, situated between Indus and Jhelum rivers and in the
Shadow of the Muree hills or 20 miles north-west of the modern city of Rawapindi.
Dharmarajika (Law Lord) is one of those stupas which were erected by Asoka himself
and contains on the original relics of Buddha. The main stupa is approximately
circular in plane with a raised terrace around its base, which was ascended by four
flights of steps, one at each of the cardinal points. Its diameter overall, including the

7
terrace and steps but not including the procession path, is 150 feet. From east to west
by 146 feet and 6 in. The present height of the ruin is about 45 feet. The core is of
rough rubble masonry, strengthened by sixteen walls, from 3 feet to 5 feet in
thickness, radiating irregularly from the centre. The surviving foundations of the walls
probably go back to the Maurya period. Under the Kushans, probably in the reign of
Kanishka, there was a reconstruction of the terrace and four flights of steps at the base
of the stupa. The terrace is faced with an early type of semi-ashlar masonry, divided
into panels by shallow Corinthian pilasters, the details of which were modeled in
plaster. Above pilasters were small Hindu brackets and surmounting them a dentil
cornice, which carried the paving slabs of the berm and was returned as a raking
cornice down the outer sides of the four ascending flights of steps. Finally under the
Kidara Kushans in the late fourth or fifth century the base of the drum above the berm
was faced with a deep band of ornamental stone work, which is best preserved on the
eastern side. 1st most distinguishing features are the boldness of its mouldings and the
design of its niches, which are framed alternately by Trefoil arches and portals with
sloping jambs, and divided one from the other by Corinthian pilasters. The same type
of decoration is found on smaller stupas belonging to fourth and fifth centuries AD
(Marshall: 103).
Procession Path
The raised terrace and the open passage around the foot of the stupa served in ancient
days as procession paths (Pradakshina Patha), round which it was customary for the
faithful to process, keeping the stupa always on the right hand. Nowadays, the
Buddhist ordinarily process three times round a stupa, but in obedience to vows they
will process seven, fourteen or even 108 times.
The original floor of the procession path was composed of lime and river-sand plaster,
and part of it in the north-west quadrant was adorned in a curious fashion with shell
bangles imbedded designs. On the left of the steps on the eastern side of the stupa is
the lower part of a pillar, which probably once supported a lion capital, like the pillars
in Sirkap. Such pillars were doubtless imitated from the well-known pillars of Asoka,
which were frequently set up beside important Buddhist stupas.

Rock Cut Activities

8
The tradition of Rock-cut architecture was established by the Achamenians during
fourth century BC and 3rd century BC. Indian adopted this tradition from the west.
The earliest example of such architecture can be found at the famous hills of Barabar
and Nagarjuni. All these were carved out in living rocks.
Rocks cut caves are formed from the womb of live rock by digging into them. The
process of work was one of attacking the live rock from sides and top never from the
bottom. The architectural remains usually ascribed to Mauryan period very few are
artistically significant. The rock-cut architecture of India can be classified into two
groups such as Barabar hill group and Nagarjuni hill group, while another isolated
cave also reported called Sitamarhi cave.
Barabar hill group
These hills are situated in northern India, near Nepal. It consists of four caves.
Lomas Rishi cave
Sudama cave
Visva Jhopri cave
Karna Chaupar cave
Lomas Rishi Cave
It is the most famous cave in the series of Barabar hills. It is the early cave with
ornamental faade, faces to south. The cave has two chambers the outer one measure
9.4 and 5.4 meters, while the inner one measures 4.3 and 5.2 meters.
The outer chamber is polished while inner one remained unpolished. It is famous due
to its sculptured faade which is quoted as the earliest example of Indian Art and
Architecture. It is the imitation of wood in the stone architecture. The carving of the
faade is completely Indian. The carpenters handy work has indeed been copied in
stone in every detail from this faade can easily be reconstructed what wood built
structural Caityas had been like during this period, because it is an imitation in relief
sculpture in stone of the entrance of a free standing structure in wood and thatch. The
finial that surmounts the gable of the faade too, seems to have been translated from
either terracotta original or from wooden translation of a terracotta prototype. This is
the 1st representation of a type of building that most have existed in wooden forms of
the Vedic period (Ray: 44).
Sudama Cave

9
The most important cave in the Barabar hills is the Sudama. It is adjacent to the
Lomas rishi, facing the same direction fully finished. Doorway, the trapezoidal
doorway is marked by two sloping jambs, shown through a sunken rock cut recess,
1.98m square and 61m deep.
Chambers, the cave has two Chambers. The outer one is rectangular and measures
9.98 and 5.94m the inner chamber is on the other hand approximately circular in plan,
about 5.79m to 6.07m in diameter. The roof of the former is vaulted, 2.06m high at
sides and 3.73m high at the center, while that of the latter is hemispherical. It is
significant to note that it has a shallow unfinished recess in the wall opposite the hut.
The recess may have been planed as a niche, or else on entrance to another chamber.
This inner chamber imitates a circular thatched hut with a trapezoidal entrance. Both
the chambers are highly polished.
Inscription. On the eastern wall of the entrance recess, there is a dedicatory inscription
by Asoka. According to this the cave was offered to the Ajvikas, a very important
contemporary non-Buddhist sect whose existence was known as far as Ceylon in the
south and Gujarat in the west.
Visvakarma or Visva-Jhopri Cave
It is a smaller size cave, faces to south and consists of two chambers. A little way to
the east of the Lomas rishi this cave is situated. It consists of a rectangular outer
chamber and inner circular room, the outer chamber, in fact a portion, since it is cut
straight back from the rock face and full open from the front, measures 4.27 and
2.54m. The inner chamber was intended to be circular, 2.79m in diameter but it
remained un-finished. There is only a shallow alcove. The outer chamber is highly
polished and fully finished. The floor contains four socket holes meant apparently for
timber framing. On the right hand wall of the portico, there is an Asokan inscription
of 12th regional year. It also refers to the dedication of this cave to Ajvikas.
Karna Chaupar Cave
The fourth rock cut cave in the Barabar hills is called Karna Chaupar. It faces to north.
It has only one chamber 10.2 and 4.27 in size. It has provided a vaulted roof, 2.01m
high at sides and 3.05m high in the center. The entire cave bears lustrous polish except
the platform.
Nagarjuni Group

10
Nagarjuni hills are located a kilometer east of the Barabar hills. It has three rock cut
caves.
1

Gopi Cave

Vahijaka Cave

Vadalika Cave

Gopi Cave
The first of three caves excavated at Nagarjuni hill is called Gopi or Gopika cave. It
was tunneled out of the southern face of the hill at a height of about 15 to 18m above
the ground level. It is therefore approached by a flight of steps.
Chamber
The cave consists of a single rectangular chamber measuring 13.95 and 5.84 two ends
of the chamber are semicircular in thus on plan, it is elliptical. The walls at the sides
are 1.83m high while the ceiling at the center is 3.05m high. Its roof as in the Barabar
caves is also vaulted. The cave is completely polished. The walls as well as the
ceiling.
Vapi or Vahijaka Cave
This cave is located on the northern side of the hill in a low rocky ridge. The cave
consists of a single rectangular chamber like Gopi cave. The chamber measures 5.11m
and 3.43m. It has a small porch in its front which measures 1.83 and 1.68m. The cave
and the porch are thoroughly polished.
Vadalika Cave
The third and last cave of Nagarjuni series is also called Vahath cave. It is inside a
narrow defile and adjacent to the Vapi cave. The cave measures only 5.10 and 3.43m.
It is therefore smaller then the other two (Gupta: 189). The significant feature is noted
here is the walls are curved right from their rise at the floor, and consequently the
height of the chamber at centre was reduced to 2.43m just as it was in the Vapi cave.
As usual the trapezoidal doorway is marked by converging jambs, the entrance is
rather unusual. It is a narrow passage 2.28m long and 86cm wide it was originally
closed like the Visvakarma by a wooden door, the socket holes of which remain. The
entire surface is highly polished.

11

Sita Marhi Cave

It is an isolated cave, located 25 miles to the east of Gaya, like Lomas rishi, it has no
inscription records. The cave has been carved in a big boulder and is similar in size
than other Mauryan caves, being only 4.91m long, 3.43m broad and 2.01m in internal
height. As used the doorway is trapezoidal and narrow, the top of the entrance being
only 33cm wide and the door-sill 63cm wide. The ceiling it is significant to note is
semi elliptical in shape and not vaulted as such. In other words two curvatures start
from the base it sell and meet at a central point on the ceiling.
Mauryan Art
The earliest remains of monumental Art in India are ascribed to the Mauryan period.
All the product of the Mauryan Art were attributed by scholars to king Asoka, because
among all the Mauryan kings, Asoka felt the need for the propagation the ideas
through the medium of Art to the people. The principal products of Mauryan Art are
the pillars, lies in the finished surface.
Pillars
Asokas edicts, engraved on pillars, rock surfaces, in tablets have been found in
almost every region of India except the far south, and as far west as Kandahar (Harle
1986). The highly polished, tall and well-proportioned columns with slightly tapering
monolithic shafts and standing free in space, complete and independent by themselves
are admittedly the most eloquent representatives of the lowest art of Mauryas. The
number of original pillars which constructed reached to thirty. There are two groups
of these columns.
The columns that tear the edicts of Asoka include those of Delhi-mirut, Allahabad,
Lauria-Araraj, Lauriya Nandangarh, and Rampurva with lion capital Topra, Sankisa,
Sanchi and Sarnath.
The non-edict bearing columns known up till now include those of Rampurva with
bull capital, Basarah Bakhira (with single lion capital and Kosam capital not yet
recovered), of these the capitals of Basarah Bakhira and Lauriya Nandangarh pillars
are in situ.
Asoka planted these pillars to propagate Buddhism. They were placed their where a
monumental event of Buddha were took place. All those were pre standing and carved

12
out from chunar sand stone. We can divide the Asokan pillars in to four major parts,
Shaft, Capital, Abacus and Crowning animals.
Material
Chunar sand stone used for the columns. A huge block of stone was chisel out from
the monolithic rock. After finishing, lustrous polish was applied.
Shaft
The Shaft always plain and smooth, circular in section and slightly tapering upward,
without any base whats ever and always invariable chiseled out of one single piece of
stone.
Capital
The Capital of the shape and appearance of a gently arched bell formed of lotus
petals, the proportion ratio of breadth and height being variable from capital to
capital, and joined with the shaft by a copper bolt of cylindrical shape bulging in the
middle.
Abacus
The Abacus, square and plain in the earlier specimens and circular and decorated in
the later ones and of variable proportions (Ray: 19).
Crowning Animals
The crowning animals seated or standing, always and invariable in the round, and
always constituting a single piece with the abacus. The subject of their finial is usually
the lion, bull, or elephant, represented singly on the early capitals. But grouped on the
later ones.
Mauryan Sculptures
A number of independent figures sculptures in the round and of various size and
proportion, and a few fragment of relief have been ascribed to the Mauryan period
mainly on the ground of this having the so called Mauryan polish on them and there
being carved out of gray sand stone from chunar. The art of giving lustrous polish to
the stone, Mauryan artist learnt evidently from the Achamenians.

13
Like the Mauryan pillars the Mauryan sculptures and art motifs have two distinct
sources of inspiration, indigenous and west Asian. The outstanding example of the
indigenous type is the Dhauli rock cut elephant while the examples of the west Asian
types include a number of male heads from Sarnath and Patna for which we have used
the term late Mauryan. The term denotes a slightly later date for these sculptures. We
place them in the 2nd c, BC, and include them in Didarganj yakshi.
Yaksa/yaksi
They are the will objects of Hindus, they made it for the purpose of abundance. These
sculptures are in human size or some time 4 or 5 meter high. These sculptures were
installed for economic prosperity and for more sons.
Didarganj yakshi
Artistically the Didarganj yakshi is the best and most sophisticated its height is 1.63m
its body forms is voluptuous and ornamented with heavy jewellary. The modeling is
sure and precise with emphasis on anatomical idealization. The narrow waist and full
round breasts with necklace hanging between the breast, the broad hips, the shapely
legs tapering down to the thin ankles decorated with fully jeweled ornaments. The
style of drapery transparent folds double incised lines. Plastically fully round, is found
by no low of frontality and is meant to be seen from all sides. It had the Mauryan
polish. The flywhisk is realistically drawn. The face is terse and calm and devoid of
all feminine feelings of joy, beauty and voluptuousness.
Patna yaksha
This statue is found from Pataliputra the height of this is 1.62m, the body is so
weighty and firmly planted on earth. Seeing frontly stone matrix based on feet, and
wearing drapery, like female figure from Didarganj. The drapery had double incised
lines it had strong muscles, the statue is like attendant figure because it had a flywhisk
but now damaged.

Male torso from Lohanipur

14
This male torso is found from Lohanipur and belong to 3 rd c BC the height is 67.3cm
and carved in sand stone now in Patna museum. Near this torso a small statue was
also found, but large sculpture is free and round has the high Mauryan polish, while
the smaller one identical in appearance and style and of the same material has no
polish. Due to polish some said that it belong to Mauryan period while the smaller
belong the later period. They are very important because they are the earliest known
sculptures of Jain tirthankaras.
The Elephants on the Lomas rishi faade
The Elephants on the Lomas rishi faade is in low relief and smaller in proportion
when compared with Dhauli Elephant. The march of time that separates the two and
yet the invisible thread which binds them is clearly brought out in these examples.
Special attention may pay to the modeling of the body. The emphasis bat diffused line
emerging from within the abdomen. Similarly the raised trunk of the Elephant sitting
on its hind legs is a beautiful example of animated art (Gupta: 189).
Bull on the Rampurva Pillar
In Mauryan art the Bull on the Rampurva pillar is most magnificent than the
Elephants carved out of a single piece of rock. Both the Dhauli Elephant and
Rampurva Bull are the earliest example of truly Indian art. The Bull had its full
weight on the ground. The modeling is vigorous but not conventional. Plastic and
linear sense is fully mature but not schematized. A dynamic naturalism which is found
here no where in the bulls of Western Asia.
Lion on the top of Lauriya Nandangarh Pillar
The lions available to as in sculpture more in number then the Bull and Elephants.
The best example is on the top of the Lauriya Nandangarh pillar. Best in this sense
that although it is formal and conventional, the distinct of naturalness around it is not
found in any specimen from West Asia. The legs of the lion are somewhat thin and
clumsy. The face is heralding, the whiskers are linear, and the locks of hair are short,
combed and arranged schematically. Sitting on it haunches like a dog, it is extremely
formal and sophisticated. It is however neither monstrous nor ferocious like the
Achamenians examples.
Lion from Vaisali

15
The lion of Vaisali was developed like the Lauriya Nandangarh. The Vaisali lion is
terse with a short body having tense muscles and knotted fingers showing full grip
over the base it is a lot different. It is positively cruder with stumpy forelegs, coarse
facial features and a few add flesh folds on the nose.
Conclusion
In short we can conclude the whole topic by saying that Mauryan played a vital rule in
the development of Indian art and architecture because this was a period of great
prosperity, trade and constant intercourse with foreign countries, what we know as the
art of Mauryan period is but continuation of the earlier indigenous art of the country
and the official court which Asoka patronage.
Indo Greeks
During 245-42 BC., one of the Greek colonist, Diodotus I, established a kingdom in
Bactria, located on the bank on Oxus River. Later, these Bactrian Greeks under
Demetrus I laid the foundation of Indo-Greeks rule in the vast Gandhara region,
replacing the Mauryan in 190 BC. And founded their capital at pushkalavati (Bala
Hisar, Charsadda). Dani suggests that Menandar laid the foundation of the Greek
cities of Pushkalavati at Shaikhan Dheri and Taxila at Sirkup. As confirmed from the
coins unearthed from these cities. The Indo Greek ruled here for about one hundred
years (190 BC till 90). The Indus-Greeks not only strengthened the region politically
but also established various cities at different localities, like the cities of Sirkap
(Taxila), Bala Hisar, Shaikhan Dheri (Charsadda). The Indus Greeks were defeated by
Sakas (Indus Scythians) during 90 BC.
Art and Architecture
In the art and architecture of Indo Greeks we have very limited evidences. The
material culture of the Greeks in this region, show that it was on the same general
level as that of the Hellenistic world of the West. The Greek city of Sirkap at Taxila
was laid out on the same chessboard pattern and fortified with the same kind of
bastioned stone-walls as were then in vogue among Hellenistic town-planners
elsewhere. And the Greek temple at Jandial outside the north gate of Sirkap city
exhibits a surprisingly pure type of Ionic capital, which in the second century BC
would have done credit to an Athenian architect. But the stability and continuity of

16
Greek art in Gandhara and North-West is best illustrated by striking series of coins
issued in those areas. These coins were not, be it said up to the standard of the
magnificent Greek coins of Bactria, unsurpassed by any in the ancient world, but they
were well up to the average standard of contemporary Hellenistic coins in Western
Asia, and they show that there were local coin engravers of ability capable of carrying
on the art from generation to generation.
Sirkap
The Sirkap city built by Bactrian Greeks in the beginning of the 2 nd century BC,
occupies the extreme western spurs of the Hathial ridges together with the small welldefined plateau on their northern side. Excluding these suburbs, the Sirkap defense
wall was nearly 3.5 miles in circumference and was built of solid, coursed stone
rubble. In accordance with the Hellenistic principle of defense, the defense wall
included within its perimeter a considerable area of hilly ground as well as a well-laid
out city on the Greek chessboard pattern, with streets cutting one another at right
angles and regularly aligned blocks of buildings. Notwithstanding that the settlement
was several times destroyed and rebuilt and that many changes were made in
individual buildings, this Greek lay-out remained well preserved down to the end of
the 1st century AD.
Jandial Temple
At Jandial less than half a mile from the north gate of Sirkap, there are the remains of
a building which resemble a Greek style. In two respects, however, the building is
different from its western analogues. Instead of the surrounding colonnade, it had a
continuous outside wall pierced by window-like opening and behind the main shrine
was a solid platform approached from the back by steps. This was presumably carried
up to some sort of a tower. Sir John Marshall conjectured from this evidence and also
from the absence of images that the temple belongs to the Zoroastrians. It enabled the
faithful to offer prayers in praise of the Sun, Moon and all other elements which led
their thoughts to Natures God. On this supposition the main shrine would presumably
have contained a fire-alter. The building is ascribed, by the character of its masonry, to
the Scytho-Parthian period of about 1st century BC to 1st century AD.
The Indo Greeks were over thrown by Scythians. And the Scythians art was nothing
but the continuation of the Greek art.

17

Scythians 140/120
The Scythians of Shakas were a war like Central Asian people who had wandered
about with their horses and fought their way to different regions. One important area
of their later habitation was known Shakastan (Sistan) from where they moved SouthEast to Sindh and Gujarat. In this region Shakas ruled about four centuries until they
were ousted by Chandragupta Vikramaditya of the Imperial Gupta dynasty in about
400 AD. Mauses (80 BC) the most important Scythian ruler of India. Who came
through Gilgit rout and founded a kingdom for himself in the Punjab. He also
conquered Peshawar and Taxila. At Taxila his inscription has been found in which his
name was written as Moga. In this inscription he assumed the title of Maharaja. Large
number of his coins in silver and copper are found in this area (Dani: 122).
In West Pakistan and Afghanistan the Sakas or Scythians were defeated by another
nomadic and war like people who are known as Parthians. But in the other parts of
India the Sakas continued to rule for about 400 AD, when they were finally defeated
by Chandragupta II of Gupta dynasty.
Architecture and Art
The Sakas at Taxila followed Greek ideas in town planning, copied Greek prototypes
in their architecture and were inspired by Greek forms in minor arts and crafts.
Among Saka buildings at Taxila the temple at Jandial has a typical Greek plan with
classical moulding and Ionic columns. Greek in concept are the small stupas dated by
coins to the period of Azes I and II. Marshalls analysis shows that the Sakas initially
used Greek ornamental features only, and at Jandial a plan typical of a Greek temple
in mainland Greece with basically the same methods of construction and mouldings,
and stupa decoration used classical acanthus leaves. Subsequently Indian influence
became increasingly noticeable, and there is mingling of Greek and Indian motifs.
The stupa of the double headed eagle has Corinthian pilaster and niches of three types
two with the pediment characteristic of Greek buildings, some with Indian ogee
arches and other in the form of early Indian toranas. Marshall sees the same creeping
Indianization in the minor arts. For axample, the stone toilet trays retain Greek
models, but introduce Indian motifs.
Gandhara art came into being in the last century before the Christian era, when the
Sakas were ruling in the North-West. As we talk about the toilet trays, all these toilet

18
trays made of stone were found in their natural stat in Gandhara at Sirkap city of
Taxila, none of them were found in the neighbourhood of Taxila. Usually the trays are
divided into two or more compartments and adorned with scenes or figures carved in
relief. The subjects portrayed are few in number and all of a secular character. They
comprise a pair of lovers in an erotic scene, figure reclining on couch with attendant
females, drinking and dancing scenes. Male and female holding drinking-cups, lions,
leogryphs, winged stags, hippocamps and the like with and without riders, and
geometric and floral designs. Most of these subjects are clearly Hellenistic. This type
of toilet-tray was introduced with Hellenistic culture from the West, local influence
however may possibly be seen in the lotus leaves or rosettes used as an accessory
ornament and in the makara-like treatment of some of the sea-monsters. Two features
of the figures on a tray which merit special notice are the wig-like treatment of their
hair and their wide open staring eyes. These features are found in several other trays
dating from the late Saka-Parthian period and they are peculiarly characteristic, as we
shall see presently, of the earliest sculptures of Gandhara.
The other figures which belong to the earliest phase of Gandhara art were also found
from Taxila at Sirkap site. Its special value lies in the fat that it is the oldest of all
pictorial reliefs of the Buddhist school of Gandhara, and that the composition and
handling of the figures show the closest dependence on the Early Indian School. The
Jataka story which it illustrated has not yet been identified. In the foreground a young
anchorite is being born along, suspended head downwards, on a pole which is carried
on the shoulders of two of his companions. Looking on from the background are five
other anchorites, the one on the extreme right headless. All have long hair and are
distinguished by their staring eyes. Two are young and clean-shaven, one is bearded,
another wears a moustache. The one on the left holds a flask in left hand. Two of the
older men have spotted deer-skins over their left shoulder. This relief is a product of
the Gandhara School is proved by the variety of local Gandhara schist of which it is
made, and that it dates from the Saka period is suggested by the character of the
carving and the peculiarly distinctive treatment of the hard, staring eyes of the
anchorites.

Parthians

19
Towards the end of the first century BC a line of kings with Iranian names, usually
known as Palavas or Parthians, attack on the north-west part of India. Originally they
belong to Parthia (modern Khurasan in Iran). With the passage of time they conquered
Iran and Afghanistan and also parts of India. According to the Takhbahi inscription
Gondophares was the great king of Parthians. During his time the Parthians
established trade relations with western Asia and they patronized local art and
religion. During their time Buddhism spread far and wide in West Pakistan. The
Sirkap city of Taxila was built by them, they also contributed in the beginning of
Gandhara art.
Gondophares ruled for at least twenty six years and died in about 45 AD. After his
death the Parthians kingdom disintegrated and small kingdoms came into being in
Taxila and other parts of North West India. Until they were finally defeated by
Kushanas.
Art and Architecture
The evidences of Parthian art and architecture were found from the city of Taxila. In
the early years of 1st century AD, about the time of the Parthains conquest by
Gondophares, Taxila suffered a great earthquake. When the city was rebuilt, new
building methods were introduced, including a strong form of diaper masonry that
was much more durable than the early rubble construction. Buildings were reduced in
height, and houses were limited to two storeys, the lower one in the form of a
basement. The legend of St Thomas, skilled in architecture and all type of work in
wood and stone, being sold in Syria to merchant called Habban and being brought to
the court of Gondophares, are set against the background of skilled craftsmen from
Western Asia being commissioned to do work for the Parthians.
A favorite theme in secular art was the drinking scene adopted for the decoration of
Buddhist stupas such as the drinking party of nine figures, probably from Swat, of
purely Hellenistic character. The men wear either a short Greek chiton or a simple
himation, the women a long chiton and himation. The man in the centre holds a metal
tankard, while others hold goblets of a distinctive type with horizontal flutings and a
disproportionately small base of the kind found in Pahlava levels at Taxila. Other
reliefs now in the Peshawar Museum retain Hellenistic characteristics, the form and
posture of the figures are Greek rather than local, though they wear local dress and all
carry lotuses, while a Corinthian pilaster frames the group on each side.

20
The rebuilt Parthian city of Taxila produced a rich range of finds, particularly gold
jewellery, silver plate and bronze vessels, probably buried when the debris of
buildings destroyed at this time include ornaments of personal use, household
utensils, implements and arms, many of strongly Hellenistic character. Some objects
seem to have been imported from the West such as a head of Dionysus in silver
repousse, a cast bronze statuette of the Egyptian child-god, Harpocrates, and a buffcolored terracotta female head with delicate and sensitive modeling, all very fine
specimens of Hellenistic art (Puri : 206).
Kushans
The Kushan were a branch of the Yuch-chi tribe who was living in the second century
BC. in China. Here they were defeated by another people called Hiung-nu about 170
or 160 BC. and driven out from their homes. From their, they went to westward,
defeated the Shakas and occupied the country near Jaxarter. Later they conquered the
northern region of the Oxus valley and after some time Bactria, Kabul valley and
Gandhara.
Kadphises I. In course of time the Yuch-chi horde lost their nomad habits and
occupied the Bactrian lands, and divided in to five branches, with the passage of time
Kushan section of the Yuch-chi tribe attained a predominant position over the other
sections of the horde, under the leadership of king Kadphises I about 40 AD, they
conquered Kabul, Gandhara and Taxila on the east of the Indus. Kadphises I was
succeeded by his son Kadphises II. According to Chinese account like his father he
was also a great worrier.
Kanishka. Kanishka was not the son of Kadphises II, he was a member of another
branch of Yuch-chi tribe. Nothing is on the record to show how the scepter was
transferred from the hands of Kadphises II to Kanishka. Kanishka is described as a
king of Gandhara. The capital of his Indian domains was Purushapura or Peshawar,
where he erected remarkable Buddhist buildings. Kanishka in his earlier years
annexed the valley of Kashmir, consolidated his government in the basins of the Indus
and Ganges and warred with the Parthians. At a later date he avenged his
predecessors defeat in Chinese Turkistan. He subdued the chiefs or petty kings in the
Khotan, Yarkand and Kashgar regions.
In the latter part of his career he becomes an active and liberal patron of the Buddhist
church. The Buddhist historians call him as a second Asoka, like Asoka he also

21
convening a council of theologians to settle disputed questions of Buddhist faith and
practice. The decrees of the council took the form of authorized commentaries on the
Canon which were engraved on sheets of copper, enclosed in a stone coffer, and
placed for safety in a stupa erected for the purpose at the capital of Kashmir where the
council met.
Huvishka. Huvishka succeeded his father Kanishka, during 162 AD little is known
about the events of his region. Huvishkas successor was Vasudeva I, in whose time
the empire began to break up. And he was the last monarch to maintain an extensive
empire until his death. In India their rule continued till Sassanians in 226AD. in Kabul
and neighboring countries they exist till fifth century AD. and invaded by Huns.
While some principalities survived even until the Arab conquest of Persia in the
seventh century.
Art and Architecture of the Kushan period
During the Kushan period, the ancient cities grew faster than ever before and urban
life flourished. The Kushan followed Central Asian, Hellenistic and Indian town
planning. Archaeological excavations provide important evidences about the cities of
their layout, and architecture and material culture. One of the most thoroughly studied
sites is Taxila, where John Marshall carried out extensive excavation between 1913
and 1934.
Sirkap
The Mauryan city of Taxila on the Bhir Mound was replaced under the GreecoBactrians in the second century BC. by a new city at Sirkap, this remained in use up
to the early Kushan period. The city at Sirkap has the shape of an irregular Trapezium,
stretching 1,300m from north to south and 900m from east to west. Topographically it
is divided into two unequal parts, a lower northern and an upper southern city.
Remains of walls along the dividing line between them still survive. The city was
intersected from north to south by the main street with side-streets running off at right
angles. Each of the spaces between the side-streets (which were 36.5m or slightly
more apart) contained blocks of buildings, occasionally divided by small alleyways.
Both sides of the main street were lined with shops, as well as some shrines,
especially stupas. Behind the shops and the shrines were the dwelling houses. East of

22
the main street was the royal palace and, near by some more opulent looking twostorey dwellings.
In the city and the surrounding areas, there were Buddhist stupas, monasteries and
shrines. Some 650m outside the north gate was the non-Buddhist Jandial Temple.
Early under the Kushans the city was again transferred to a new site at Sirsukh. This
new Kushan city founded under the nameless king Soter Megass, covered an area of
1370 x 1000m, but has not yet been excavated.
Shaikhan Dheri
Shaikhan Dheri is the 2nd city of Charsadda, was laid out in a similar manner. The city
was divided by a network of parallel streets some 36.5m apart. Between the two
central thoroughfares in the city centre was a sanctuary, probably a Buddhist stupa,
and in between the streets were blocks of buildings.
Subsequent excavations have established that this city was occupied from the second
century BC. to the second century AD.
Royal Palaces and Community Walls
The residence of the ruler was located in the centre of the city, an area that also
contained the more fashionable and better-built multi-storey buildings, which were
not permitted to rise higher than the rulers palace. Here too, were many public
buildings, including several picture galleries (citrasala), open to the public and visited
regularly. Such buildings were well constructed, special care being taken to ensure
that the lighting was good. A picture gallery usually occupied a number of rooms
linked together by passage-ways and staircases. The walls of the main gallery were
covered with paintings of the heavenly world, episodes from the epics or astrological
signs. Some galleries belonged to rich city-dwellers and some even to prosperous
courtesans. The royal palaces contained magnificent picture galleries, far superior to
those owned by private individuals. The palace had a special music room and many
rooms were decorated with sculptures, carving and paintings.
Kushans art of Gandhara
Although the beginning of Kushans art in Bactria can be traced, as is shown by the
excavation, very little work has been done so far to establish its origin in Gandhara
proper. This is because the Kushan art of Gandhara has so far been studied from a

23
limited perspective. Gandhara art studied only for the sake of its sculptural wealth and
Buddhist religion or to detect Western influence, never with a view to studying the
civilization of which the sculptures were a part.
Gandhara
The word Gandhara is the combination of two Sanskrit words Gand meaning
fragrance and Hara mean land or region. Thus, the term Gandhara literally signifies
the land of fragrance. Gandhara is a mountainous region located below the meeting
point of the Hindu Kush and Himalaya mountain ranges (Zwalf: 14). Situated
between India, Central and Western Asia, the geographical location of Gandhara was
very favorable for the development and promotion of cultural interaction across these
regions of the old world. In simple words Gandhara was the ancient name of the tract
of country on the west bank of the Indus River which comprises the Peshawar Valley
and the modern Swat, Buner and Bajaur. It was a country with rich, well-watered
valleys, clear-cut hills and a pleasant climate.
Gandharan Art and Buddhism
The Kushan sculptures from Gandhara are predominantly Buddhist. Although the
Buddha himself never visited Gandhara, with the passage of time the area became a
veritable holy land for his followers. Early Buddhism introduced here by Asoka (third
century BC), till that time Buddha was never represented in human form.
Kanishka is said to have convened the fourth Buddhist Council at Kashmir, as a result
Mahayana a liberal and progressive school of Buddhism flourished in Gandhara and
laid emphasis, among other things, on the transformation of the Buddha into a great
mythological, almost eternal, god, and on the deification of future Buddha as holding
providences. In the visual arts the Buddha was permitted for the first time to be
represented in human form. It is a moot point where and when the first image of
Buddha was made in Gandhara or at Mathura. Probably, it developed simultaneously
at both places, one developing directly out of indigenous Indian art and the other
(Gandhara) borrowing its type from the West. It is said that the earliest Buddha
images belong to Kanishkas period. But in new excavations at Swat by Italian
Archaeological Mission and Taxila led the scholars to push back the date even to the
first century BC.
The development of the Buddhist Art

24
During the Kushan period Buddhism found a sudden liberation which was a signal for
the development of Buddhist art in Gandhara and it soon reached its peak. But it is
wrong to say that the profusion and popularity of Gandhara art owes its existence to
the state-owned Church or that its distinctive appearance is indebted to the mechanical
product of higher craftsmanship from the West. As a matter of fact, Gandhara art
simply expresses the socio-religious fervour of its people. An indigenous socioeconomic stratum of cultivated state-the merchants, bankers, caravaners and minor
officials and not the Kushan nobility may have provided the main impetus for its
development. The Kushan themselves never extended any official patronage to it.
They were eclectic in religion, fire-worshippers in Bactria, Buddhism in Gandhara
and Hindus in Mathura.
Sculptures
Gandhara is mainly known from the wealth of sculptures recovered from the
numerous Buddhist stupas and monasteries throughout Gandhara. Standing and seated
statues of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva Maitreya, and stone slabs depicting in low
relief the legend of the Buddhas birth stories or Jatakas, abound. Most of these
statues and panels were carved out of locally available grey or blue slate stone called
schist, but stucco was also used for making statues and reliefs. Clay and terracotta
were used relatively sparingly. The change of medium from schist to stucco gave
more freedom, diversity and cheapness. And due to this it is more convenient and
cheaper to increase production.
Figure of the Buddha
The Buddha in Gandhara is an idealized figure having a delightful face unaffected by
age or affliction. Standing barefoot or seated cross-legged he is always shown
wearing an undergarment and a monks robe. Among the signs of a
mahapurusalaksana (great man), the usnisa, urna and dharmacakra are usually visible.
His Apollo Belvedere type of face, though just one among the numerous types known,
in no doubt the earliest to provide a model for others. The model of a standing
Buddha might have been copied from a Greek god or a hero or even from a Roman
emperor wearing pallium or toga, as the Kushan definitely had diplomatic and
commercial relations with these countries. But seated Buddha and the figure of the
seated or standing Bodhisattva, the latter a peculiar invention of Gandharan artists

25
have no classical or Indian precedent. Statues of Pancika, the commander of the lords
army, and his consort Hariti are also local figures. Further more almost all Gandhara
statues were carved in the round (Puri: 364).
Characteristic Features of Gandhara art
The most characteristic feature of Gandhara sculptures is their frontality. Figures
normally stare fixedly into ones eyes or are turned completely to right or lift. There is
seldom movement in their bodies. This can be understood in the light of the Kushan
sculptures from Khalchayan. These are not strictly frontal but turn slightly with
restrained emotions. They are a step towards frontality and a sharp contrast to the
highly emotional images of Hellenistic world and the complete side views of
Achaemenid sculpture. The fixed, unemotional frontality of the Kushan art of
Gandhara has obviously been brought from Khalchayan. In Bactria and in Mathura
the portraits of Kushan rulers and nobility are numerous, but are no such presence of
the Kushan nobility in Gandhara sculptures, not even of the figures of the Buddha and
Bodhisattva.
Jatakas Stories
The Gandhara panels narrate the Jatakas, or birth stories of Buddha, in a simple, clear
and lucid way which is in sharp contrast to the confused style of earlier schools, seen
at Bharhut and Sanchi. Although the number of events is limited, the art of narration
is simple and easy to understand. Figures in a panel stand out in correct relation to one
another with proper spacing between them. Sometimes even perspective is
emphasized. In this way a minimum number of figures are needed to narrate a
complete story. When more than one story is required on a panel, each is separated
from the other with the help of vertically arranged columns, pilasters and recessed
panels, or horizontally arranged cornices and mouldings. Normally the actors of a
story are arranged in single file and move from right to left.
Religious Architecture
We are fortunate in having a better knowledge of the development of religious
architecture in Gandhara. The Kushan contribution is substantial. Except for Shrine
(8) at Taxila, almost all Kushan monuments in Gandhara are Buddhist. Shrine (8) is a
square building with in an enclosed wall measuring 37x37m relieved with buttresses

26
on each side and nine inter-communicating chambers. One study has associated this
shrine with the Kushan occupation of the area, though its exact date and purpose
cannot be ascertained.
Stupas and monasteries were the principle buildings of the period, as Hsuan-tsang
notices in his account of the Great Vihara built by Kanishka at Peshawar. It is said to
have been built as a thirteen-storey tower with a total height of 213m. Nothing of the
monument survives except the famous inscribed Kanishka casket, now in the
Peshawar Museum, and a few sculptures. Among standing monuments, the remains at
Takht-i-Bahi, Jamal Garhi, Tharelli and the sites of Jaulian, Mohra-Muradu, Pipala,
etc. in the Taxila valley are the best examples of the Kushan contribution to Gandhara
architecture.
Gandhara Stupas and Monasteries
The basis of the Gandhara monastery is a court or a series of courts open to the sky
and surrounded either by cells for monks or by niches to place devotional objects.
Connected with the court are usually an assembly hall, refectories and a room for the
chief priest on one side and the main stupa encircled by votive stupas of varying sizes
on the other. Gandhara monastic establishments were built exclusively in stone dipper
masonry typical of the Kushan period. The entire surface of the walls was covered
with a thick coating of lime plaster. The roofs were mainly vaulted and doors and
windows were either trabeated or corbelled. By the first and second centuries A.D.
this type and pattern of monastic architecture had emerged and became fixed all over
northern India. Taxila can boast of some of the earliest permanent monasteries.
Although the development of monasteries in Gandhara antedates the arrival of the
Kushan (the Dharmarajika stupa), it was here that the pattern of monastic
establishment was perfected and became popular. A large number of such
establishments in Gandhara, their sizes, cultural content, elaborate facilities and
architectural embellishments, clearly point to the economic prosperity of the period
and the patronage accorded to the development of art.
Ornamentation
The Gandhara stupa with its carved base, circular drum and spherical dome, together
with its sculptural embellishments, marks a development from the primitive types
known at Sanchi and Bharhut and at Dharmarajika (Taxila) Shankaradara (Swat) and

27
Manikyala. The Kushan contribution lies in the overall sculptural ornamentation of
the bases and drums of stupas. Apart from stone reliefs fixed on the largest stupas, the
smaller votive stupas were usually embellished with stucco figures of the Buddha,
Bodhisattvas and devotees set in niches, and with figures of Atlantes, elephants, lions,
caryatids, yaksis, etc, crouching under cornices and supporting the load of each
receding terrace of the stupa base. A variety of arches, pediments, debased Corinthian
capitals, dentils, merlons, rosettes and lotuses abound in both stone and stucco. The
debased example of an Ionic capital in stucco is known from the Pipala stupa at
Taxila. Sometimes figures of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas were set in the foliage of
Corinthian capital carved in stone. Huge Corinthian capitals, set up on pilasters or a
round column, are known from Taxila and elsewhere. Most of the columns and
pilasters used as architectural pieces were probably made either of wood or of some
other perishable material because except for a miniature fluted column with a
Corinthian capital, now in the Taxila Museum, and an Ionic column also from Taxila,
now in Lahore Museum, no such column has survived.
Terracotta Figurines
The Kushan craftsmen inherited the art of making figurines in terracotta or clay from
their predecessors, the Mauryas, Indo-Greeks, Scythians and Parthians. Their
figurines included human, animal and other toy models. The figurines were either
hand made or wheel turned to make a hollow body that was later moulded by hand to
a human or animal shape. Figures were also cast in single as well as double moulds.
Sometimes, faces were moulded and fixed to hand-made bodies. Almost all these
types began with the Indo-Greeks and continued through the Parthian period up to the
end of the Kushans. According to Dani, the real Gandhara terracotta human figurines
with well formed heads and beautiful faces were developed during the Middle Kushan
period.
Among animal figurines, bodies were either solid or hollow. Bulls, horses, elephants,
camels, monkeys, dogs, rams and goats were the most popular, but we also find tigers,
snakes, crocodiles, pigs, birds, bird chariots and toy carts.

Jewellary

28
The Gandhara jewellary displays a variety of styles and techniques. The
representation of jewellary on statues throws light on the Kushan fashion of
bedecking individuals with ornaments. Men wore jewellary as much as women,
whereas before and after the Kushan, the wearing of personal ornaments was the
prerogative of ladies alone. The richness of ornaments depended on the status of the
person wearing them. Bodhisattva, kings and queens, men and women of noble birth
wore samples of ornaments or none at all.
The foreign influences on Gandharan jewellary are very prominent. As the Taxila
collection of jewellary is predominantly Graeco-Roman in character, Gandhara
jewellary generally shows the same range of classical, Iranian, Sarmatian and Indian
forms and techniques that we see in the art of Gandhara. The commonest types of
Gandhara jewellary include earrings of leech-and-pendant type, necklaces, neckbands,
bangles, bracelets and armlets, anklets, girdles, hairpins, amulets of great variety, etc,
and usually worn by Bodhisattvas.
Foreign Influence on Gandhara art
Gandhara art is the product of cultural interaction due to invasions, immigration,
emigration, diplomatic links and trade communications. Together these factors led to a
unification of an array of various stylistic traditions obtained from Greeks, Romans,
Byzantines, Persian, Central Asian, Chinese and Indians. It is significant that foreign
cultural interaction influenced local traditions from the prehistoric period on wards.
The Achamenians in 6th, 5th and 4th centuries B.C, Greeks and Indus-Greeks from 190
to 90 B.C, all giving new dimensions to the art and craft of the area. However the
earliest source that influenced local art of Gandhara was undoubtedly the Hellenistic
approach that improved the local style. Foucher and Marshall also claimed an
eastward cultural movement that disseminated Hellenistic art across Iran as the
Greco-Iranian style. He further suggested that both Taxila and Charsadda were in a
sense comparable to Palmyra and Dura-Europe in the west. In this regard, Foucher
proposed that the Greco-Syrian sculptures who founded the Greco-Iranian art style
also subsequently influenced Greco-Buddhist art in the region (Ali: 15).
Professor Sehrai is of the opinion that the people said that Gandhara art developed
from Greek or Roman art, but actually this art style was already present in Gandhara
from the time of the Bactrian Greeks. It is from them that the Kushan inherited the
tradition of this art.

29
The school of Gandhara art manifest clear evidence of Hellenist influence, displays a
greater mastery over technical difficulties, and introduces new and foreign motifs.
Though from of the art is strongly Hellenistic, the subject matter is local, for many
Indian motifs are incorporated virtually unchanged into this Hellenistic framework.
A large number of foreign motifs such as caryatids, atlants, Persepoliton, Corinthian,
Doric and Ionic pilasters, drinking scenes, dresses, Buddha Dhuni (fire alters), wine
scrolls, acanthus leaves, marines deities, the god of Olympus, the entourage of
Dionysus and many others from Persian and Greek art were regularly incorporated
into Gandhara art. Gandhara art shows very clearly influences from Chinese, Persian,
Greek and Roman art. Thus in this regard, it can be claimed that the art that flourished
in the Gandhara valleys was a blend of different cultures, gathered at a specific
geographical setting due to the prosperity of the region as well as the consequence of
royal patronage and the religious zeal. Through various evolutionary phases these
multiple influences grew into a uniform school of art.
Summery
The Kushan art of Gandhara was a living art open to influence from within and
without. It absorbed the earlier Greco-Bactrian traditions current in the area and was
also receptive to ideas and trends of the contemporary West through international
trade and commerce. Gandhara acted as the hub from which Kushan art spread in
many directions to places such as Mathura, Devnamori and Amravati in India and
towns in Afghanistan and Central Asia. As a result of recent discoveries, it is clear that
some form of Hellenistic school lay behind Gandhara art, but it is wrong to call it an
example of Western art. It has its own individuality, reflecting the socio-religious
aspirations of its people. Economic prosperity and peace remained the basis of its
popularity and development, and when that was no longer the case the art could not
sustain itself, it languished and then disappeared.
Conclusion
The evolution of Art and Architecture starts from the Vedic period. Before them the
civilization of Indus valley has a very advance village life and town planning but that
was not continued after that period. Architecture of Subcontinent developed from
Vedic huts. Mauryans added into it stone which was more durable material. Art was
also developed in this period with influence of Indo Greeks. With the passage of time

30
foreign invasions, trade and commerce brought more new elements amalgamated with
the local art and architecture which reached to its climax during Kushans.

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