Indian art is
the term commonly used to entitle the art of the Indian subcontinent, which
includes the present political divisions of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Although a relationship between political history and the history of Indian art
before the advent of Islam is at best problematical, a brief review will
provide a broad context. The earliest urban culture of the subcontinent is
represented by the Indus Valley civilization (c. 2500-1800 BC), which possessed
several flourishing cities not only in the Indus Valley but also in Gujarat and
Rajasthan. The environments in which this culture came to an end are obscure.
Although there is no clear proof of historical continuity, scholars have
noticed several striking similarities between this early culture and features
of later Indian civilization. The period immediately following the urban Indus
Valley civilization is marked by a variety of essentially rural cultures. A
second urbanization began to occur only around the 6th century BC, when
flourishing cities started to resurface, particularly in the Gangetic Basin.
The Buddha lived and preached in this period, which culminated in the great
Maurya Empire, whose relatively few works are the earliest surviving remnants
of monumental art. The Maurya dynast Ashoka (died 238 BC) is considered the
greatest of Buddhist kings; and the majority of the monuments of the next 500
years appear to be dedicated to the Buddhist faith, though iconographical and
other details suggest that the art also drew heavily on popular religion.
The Maurya
Empire spread over almost all of what is modern India and Pakistan. Territories
as extensive were never possessed by any other dynasty. With its fall, the
empire broke up into a number of states ruled by many dynasties, some of which
acquired considerable power and fame for varying periods of time. Among these,
the Shungas (c. 2nd-1st century BC) in the north and the longer-lived
Satavahanas in the Deccan and the south are particularly noteworthy. Though
these kings were Hindu by religion, Buddhist monuments form the great majority
of surviving works.
Toward the end
of the 1st century BC, northern India was subjected to a series of invasions by
Scythian tribes, resulting finally in the establishment of the vast Kushan
(Kusana) empire, of which Mathura was an important centre. The new rulers
seemed to have followed Indian faiths, the great emperor Kaniska (c. AD 78)
being a devout Buddhist. The schools of Gandhara and Mathura flourished during
their rule, and, though much of the work is dedicated to the Buddhist religion,
the foundations of later Hindu iconography were also laid in this period. While
the Kushan dynasty was sovereign in the north, the Satavahanas continued to
rule in the south. The bulk of the work at Amaravati was produced during their
hegemony. (see also Index: Gandhara art, Mathura art)
Around the
mid-4th century, the Gupta dynasty, of indigenous origin, rapidly expanded its
power, uprooting the last remnants of foreign rule and subsequent in bringing
almost all of northern India under its sway. In the Deccan there arose at the
same time the equally powerful Vakatakas, with whom the Guptas appear to have
had friendly relations. The period extending from the 4th through the 5th
centuries is marked by the most flourishing artistic doings. In addition to the
Buddhist monuments, there are the first strong indications of specifically
Hindu patronage. Works of remarkable beauty and elegance were produced in this
period, which is commonly called the Golden Age of India.
The
disintegration of these two empires toward the close of the 5th and the 6th
centuries ushered in what has been called the medieval period (c. 8th-12th
centuries), marked by the appearance of a large number of states and dynasties,
often at war with each other. Their rise to power and their decline was part of
a constantly recurring process, for none of them was able to hold onto a
position of even relative paramount for any extended period of time. In the
north, the great dynasties were the Gurjara-Pratiharas, whose empire at its
greatest equaled that of the Guptas; the Palas, who ruled chiefly over
northeastern India; and various other dynasties, such as the Kalacuris, the
Candelas, and the Paramaras of north central India, the Cahamanas of Rajasthan,
the Calukyas of Gujarat. In the Deccan, also, several dynasties rose and fell,
the most powerful of which were the Calukyas of Badami, the Rastrakutas, and
the Calukyas of Kalyani. They were often at war not only with their powerful
neighbours to the north but also with the great Pallava and Cola kingdoms of
southern India. Most of the dynasties of medieval India were Hindu, though some
Jaina and a very few Buddhist kings are also known. The various faiths,
however, existed in comparative harmony; and Buddhist and Jaina monuments
continued to be built, though most of the surviving works are Hindu.
Although the
effects of constant struggle were not as devastating as one might expect,
largely as a result of the institutionalization of war and its confinement to
appropriate castes, the Hindu kingdoms fell easy prey to the Islamic invasions,
which began as early as the 8th century AD but gathered strength only in the
11th century. By the end of the 12th century, almost all of northern India had
been conquered. Islamic advances in the south were checked for a while by the
Vijayanagara dynasty, but with its collapse almost all of India fell under
various degrees of Islamic hegemony. Large Hindu kingdoms enjoying differing
degrees of independence continued to exist chiefly in Rajasthan and portions of
southern India, but overall political supremacy was vested with the Islamic
states. The Muslim powers were also divided into many kingdoms, despite
attempts made by the sultanate of Delhi, and later by the Mughals, to achieve
paramountcy over large portions of India. These attempts were successful only
for short periods of time. Although the initial impact of Islam on Indian art
was generally destructive, Islamic influences entering India were gradually
transformed in the new environment and eventually resulted in the flowering of
an extremely rich and important aspect of the Indian genius.
The ascendency
of the European powers in the 18th century, culminating in the establishment of
the British Empire, laid the foundation of modern India's contacts with the
West. As a whole, the European advent was marked by a relative insensitivity to
native art traditions, but rising nationalism attempted a conscious revival of
Indian art toward the end of the 19th century. In modern times, the absorption
of European influence is a more natural, freer process that affects artistic
development in a vital and profound way.
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