temporary jewellers who have made their mark in India This incredible catalogue will serve as an ideal ref-
and indeed all over the world. The fabulous designs of erence for those looking for a visual introduction to the
the late Munnu Kasliwal of Gem Palace, Jaipur, and the
Mughal-inspired chic creations from India’s haute jewel-
ler, Viren Bhagat, attest to the enduring genius and lega-
cy of the jeweller’s art in India.
An Appendix by Olga Vecherina further details
the methods of gem cutting and setting, and finally
the Glossary, Bibliography and Indexes of places and
names altogether make this volume a ready reference
for the uninitiated looking to delve deeper into the art
of jewellery-making and develop more than just a basic
understanding of the subject. It might also have been a
worthwhile exercise for the authors to have included a
few notes about the contemporary patrons whose collec-
tions made this exhibition possible, so as to provide the
different contexts in which these modern-day treasuries
are being or have been built.
n Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture
of Early Southeast Asia, by John Guy, with
essays by Pierre Baptiste, Lawrence Becker,
Bérénice Bellina, Robert L. Brown, Federico Carò,
Pattaratorn Chirapravati, Janet G. Douglas,
Arlo Griffiths, Agustijanto Indradjaya, Le Thi Lien,
Pierre-Yves Manguin, Stephen A. Murphy,
Ariel O’Connor, Peter Skilling, Janice Stargardt,
Donna Strahan, U Thein Lwin, Geoff Wade,
U Win Kyaing, Hiram Woodward and
Thierry Zéphir. New York: The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, 2014. Hardcover, xviii +
318 pages with 360 illustrations. us$ 65.
The middle centuries of the first millenni-
um ce witnessed an unprecedented efflo-
rescence of “Hindu-Buddhist” art in South-
east Asia. The emergence of sophisticated
86 Marg • Vol. 67 No. 1
084-91 Book Reviews.indd 86
subject of the history of Indian jewellery, with its formi-
dable line-up of rare objects, artefacts and information;
however it is considerably more expensive than the oth-
er books on the subject mentioned earlier in this review.
This and its limited availability will be a deterrent to ac-
cessibility. In conclusion, this catalogue serves as a trib-
ute to the tradition of jewellery-making in India, an ode
to the skill and craftsmanship of the unnamed artists
who fabricated these magnificent pieces and to the pa-
trons who supported their creation through the ages, as
well as to modern-day collectors who have meticulously
and painstakingly collected, documented and preserved
them for future generations to admire and study. This
catalogue is sure to be an object of desire among experts
and novices alike.
ӇӇ Anjali Devidayal
Southeast Asian polities with Hinduism and Buddhism
as state religions led to an elite culture having strong
links with India, localized and integrated in distinctive
Southeast Asian contexts. Early research on the subject
during the 19th and 20th centuries grew out of antiquar-
ian interests in Southeast Asian colonies then ruled by
European powers. The markedly Hindu-Buddhist con-
tent of ancient Southeast Asian art forms and the prolific
use of Indic scripts, language and literature led pioneers
in the field to view the dynamics of cultural interaction
largely in terms of “Hinduization” or “Indianization” of
Southeast Asia, thereby marginalizing the importance of
Southeast Asian cultures.
Fresh research, explorations and excavations over
the past few decades have offered valuable correctives to
perceptions of cross-cultural encounters between South
and Southeast Asia, and Lost Kingdoms marks an impor-
tant milestone in our continued quest to understand the
intricacies of these interactions. This is a sumptuously
illustrated, well-researched and elegantly produced vol-
ume published to accompany an international exhibi-
tion curated by John Guy at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York. The volume’s title refers to the ancient
kingdoms of Pyu, Funan, Zhenla, Champa, Dvaravati,
Kedah and Srivijaya, which once occupied large parts of
present-day Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand,
Malaysia and Indonesia. Reflective of the aesthetics, pol-
itics, religious beliefs and other aspects of early South-
east Asian societies, the surviving sculptures from these
kingdoms are among our most significant sources for
understanding Southeast Asia’s past.
The volume is organized thematically into five sec-
tions, underlining influential historical narratives that
15/09/15 3:14 PM

shaped early regional Southeast Asian identities. Cata-
logue entries are prefaced with insightful essays by art
historians, historians, curators, archaeologists and epig-
raphists, who introduce the reader to recent perspec-
tives on the subject. The first section, eponymous with
the book’s title, opens with two essays by John Guy, who
provides a succinct introduction to the complex milieu
in which Hindu and Buddhist monumental architec-
ture, religious icons and rituals gained favour among
the elites of emerging Southeast Asian polities. Aided
by key illustrations, these essays provide vital links for a
more coherent and grounded interpretation of the sculp-
tures described in the catalogue.
Recent finds at Tra Kieu (Vietnam), Lopburi (Thai-
land), Palembang (Sumatra) and other sites have helped
fill important gaps and pushed the antiquity of In-
dia-Southeast Asia connections further back. Indeed, ar-
chaeology and, next, the Chinese dynastic annals are our
earliest sources for understanding Southeast Asia’s past,
and these are appropriately addressed in the first section.
Bérénice Bellina surveys new archaeological research
which revises earlier hypotheses and accords Southeast
Asia a more active role in processes of state formation
and socio-economic organization. Geoff Wade’s careful
readings of select classical Chinese texts from the 2nd
century ce onwards yields valuable insights into the hy-
brid and cosmopolitan practices of Southeast Asian soci-
eties at an early stage. The catalogue entries for this part
showcase early art imports from India placed alongside
artefacts reflective of local nature cults. Such a juxtapo-
sition goes well beyond object descriptions and aesthet-
ic appraisals: it is evocative of the nature of dialogue at
work where Indian influences were selectively adopted
and adapted to suit Southeast Asian concerns. “Minor”
objects such as a Roman coin and a 4th-century Indian
clay seal depicting a ship at sea find place next to mas-
terpieces like a 5th–6th century Sarnath Buddha.
The next section, “Emerging Identities”, begins with
Arlo Griffiths’ systematic discussion of early Indic in-
scriptions from Southeast Asia—their scripts, languag-
es, stylistics, materials, and their relationship to local
languages and histories of art. Peter Skilling’s careful
reading of Buddhist citation inscriptions from South-
east Asia opens up a world of monuments and objects
empowered by inscribed texts rich in the Buddha’s
teachings, pointing to Southeast Asia’s role in an ancient
Buddhist culture that thrived beyond political bounda-
ries. Fortunately, sufficient tangible traces have survived
the ravages of time and vandalism to bear testimony to
the rich milieu in which the transmission of ideas and
knowledge systems took place. Among these traces is the
tantalizing discovery in 1926–27 of a sealed Buddhist
relic chamber on the Khin Ba mound in present-day My-
anmar, by the Burma Circle of the Archaeological Survey
BOOK REVIEWs 87
084-91 Book Reviews.indd 87
book reviews
1  Bodhisatva Avalokiteshvara, south Vietnam, c. 7th–8th century.
Musée National des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet, Paris.
Photograph: Thierry Olivier © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource NY.
2  Devi, eastern Cambodia, c. mid-7th century.
National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.
Photograph: Thierry Olivier.
(of India) led by Charles Duroiselle. Sacred objects from
this treasure, including a stone relic chamber and a rel-
iquary in gilded silver, are part of the catalogue. These
precious artefacts are contextualized through a lucid ac-
count of the early history of the ancient city of Sri Kshet-
ra (Myanmar) and its Buddhist culture, by U Thein Lwin,
U Win Kyaing and Janice Stargardt. And Pierre Baptiste
offers a useful survey of the stylistics of early Cham art,
beginning with (arguably) the earliest Sanskrit inscrip-
tion found in all of Southeast Asia, at Vo Canh in Vi-
etnam. The catalogue for this part includes 38 artefacts
spanning an admirable range—from steles, sealings, rel-
iquaries, relic caskets, relic deposits and funerary urns to
bronze and stone Buddhas from Southeast Asia, with a
special focus on Myanmar.
The world of Hindu divinities comes alive with 51 ex-
quisite icons and symbols. Miniature crystal lingas con-
verse with colossal stone ones and their exquisite cer-
emonial metal sheaths (linga-koshas); inscribed trident
steles, footprints and tiny seals engage with tall stone
statues of deities; and word and image come together in
some of the art works. As elsewhere in the volume, here
too, Guy summons an admirable range of visual vocabu-
lary to interweave comparable image-types across South
and Southeast Asia and situate the artefact in its larger
historical milieu. Erudite essays on maritime exchange
and the emergence of coastal Southeast Asian states by
Pierre-Yves Manguin and Agustijanto Indradjaya expli-
cate the context further. Art styles and iconographies
from the “lost” kingdoms are the subject of articles by
15/09/15 3:14 PM
 Hiram Woodward and Le Thi Lien. Such an integrated
approach successfully employs art as a lens to under-
stand the “roots” and “routes” of trans-regional interac-
tion, yielding nuanced interpretations of the presence
and distribution of specific image types at particular
times in these early kingdoms.
The section on “State Art” is prefaced by three the-
matic essays, with a focus on Thailand. The chakra
(wheel), a potent symbol of Buddha’s law, of kingship
(as in the figure of the chakravartin or universal rul-
er), and an important attribute of Vishnu and Surya,
finds representation in the exhibition through large-
sized dharmachakras from 8th-century Thailand, and
also forms the subject of Thierry Zéphir’s engaging
discussion. Robert Brown’s expertise in the arts of
Dvaravati translates in his essay, which gives impor-
tant insights into the spread of Buddha image types
across Southeast Asia. And Stephen Murphy’s arti-
cle focuses on Buddhist monastic architecture and
the emergence of ritual spaces marked by boundary
(sema) stones in ancient Thailand. The objects in this
part highlight, among other things, the representa-
tion of kingship—enthroned Buddhas, throne cross-
bars, the wheel of law, preaching Buddhas, lions and
the leonine motif.
n World of Khusrau:
Innovations & Contributions,
edited by Shakeel Hossain. Ahmedabad: Aga
Khan Trust for Culture in association with Mapin
Publishing, 2014. Softcover, 180 pages with 177
colour illustrations. ₹ 995.
The catalogue of exhibitions held across
venues in New Delhi, Rampur and Lucknow
as part of the Alam-e-Khusrau 2013 Project,
sponsored by the Aga Khan Trust for Cul-
88 Marg • Vol. 67 No. 1
084-91 Book Reviews.indd 88
The cult of Bodhisatva Avalokiteshvara was wide-
spread in Southeast Asia and his role as a protector
of all beings against perils and pitfalls led to an un-
paralleled popularity of this bodhisatva. The final
section of the catalogue, on saviour cults, is expect-
edly rich in Avalokiteshvara imagery, accompanied
as it is by Guy’s meticulous comments and prefaced
by Pattaratorn Chirapravati’s essay on the transfor-
mation of religious imagery in Thailand.
This catalogue is exemplary in the way it stitches
together the early sculptural wealth of a large part of
Southeast Asia while at the same time according due
place to the distinctiveness of its sub-regions. Not
only does it bring together some of the most priceless
and rare ancient art works scattered across museums
in Southeast Asia, the United States and Europe, it
also provides the most updated surveys of their con-
nected histories. The maritime trade routes and the
transformative nature of the processes that underlay
the transmission of ideas, objects and people come
alive with these tangible traces of early Asian en-
counters in ways that at once fill the eyes and fuel the
mind. Undoubtedly, the volume is an important re-
source for scholars, students and connoisseurs alike.
ӇӇ Parul Pandya Dhar
ture with co-funding from the Ford Foundation, is an art
book of a high order. Even as it celebrates the multifac-
eted genius of Amir Khusrau (1253–1325) as versatile
poet, master of Persian language and verse forms, schol-
ar, musician and composer, and mystic, it aims to pro-
mote research on the impress left by this iconic figure on
Indo-lslamic art and culture, more so in “a historical and
contemporary cultural perspective”.
A dynamic courtier who served several rulers and
noblemen of the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) between
1290 and 1325, Khusrau who consistently expressed a
tremendous love for India is seen to have brought to-
gether two streams, the Indian and the Islamic, to build
a distinctive Hindustani aesthetic culture. As he struck
cultural approximations in the Indian context and an in-
digenization of language, he wove models and elements
from Persian and Arabian traditions into the contempo-
rary scene in his narratives.
The book, arranged in clear-cut chapters in chrono-
logical order, covers Khusrau’s principal works—Persian
masnavis (narrative verse), his Khamsah (quintet of ro-
mantic verse), his five Diwans (collections of poems,
etc.), Ijaz-i-Khusrawi (specimens of elegant prose in five
volumes)—as also his Persian ghazals, Hindavi paeans,
and the qauls and taranas of his spiritual path with
which the Nizamuddin Awliya sanctuary resounds to
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