The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans

$91
Item Code: IAB69
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
Author: John M. Rosenfield
Edition: 1993
ISBN: 8121505798
Pages: 395 (B & W Illus: 167, Figures: 30, Maps: 3)
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 11.2" X 9.0"
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Book Description
About The Book:

The princes of the Kushan dynasty ruled a vast empire which, in the first three centuries of the Christian Era, stretched from the Ganges River Valley into the oases of Central Asia. This empire, here called the Kushanshahr, was created by nation of former nomads whose language and culture were probably Iranian. The Kushan princes themselves seem to have been cast in much the same mold of Iranian heroic princely ideals as Darius and Xerxes, or Timur and Akbar-creator of great polyglot empires from a welter of semi-nomadic tribes, conquered kingdoms, and allied states. Through the Kushanshahr the Buddhist faith began its triumphal spread into Afghanistan, central Asia, and China. The Kushan nobility became its ardent patrons and builders of vast sanctuaries. The period of Kushan supremacy paralleled that of the Roman Empire in its prime; men, ideas and artistic motifs moved freely along the trade routes linking the Kushans, the Parthians, China and the Roman West, creating an atmosphere of extraordinary cosmopolitanism and prosperity. Yet the record of this dynasty virtually faded from history until a hundred year ago, when scholars became increasingly aware of the in the development of the art, religion, and statecraft of the time.

This book brings together the major forms of evidence for the cultural role of the Kushans - their goldcoinage and imperial portraits in stone, their appearance as donors and devotees in religious carvings, the inscription written during their reign. It gives the general outline of the history of the dynasty with an account of its major princes, princes whose portraits are found in India and Afghanistan as traces of a cult of deified kings, and demonstrates that the strong affiliation between the dynasty itself and Parthian civilization had a profound impact upon the development of Buddhist art both in India and the Far East.

About The Author:

John M. Rosenfiled is Professor of Fine Arts at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Universtiy, Cambridge, Masssachusetts.

CONTENTS



INTRODUCTION 1
I. THE CREATION OF THE EMPIRE
   THE NAME AND LANGUAGE OF THE KUSHANS / 7
   THE KUSHANS BEFORE THEIR ENTRY INTO INDIA / 9
        THE NOMADIC PERIOD
        SETTLEMENT IN THE OXUS REGION
        CREATION OF THE KUSHAN EMPIRE
    KUJULA KADPHISES / 11
        KUJULA'S COINAGE
        EPIGRAPHIC EVIDENCE
        HERAOS, HYRKODES, PHSEIGACHARIS
    VIMA KADPHISES /17
       SOTER MEGAS
       VIMA'S GOLD COINAGE
       EPIGRAPHIC REFERENCES
       VIMA'S COIN TYPES
7
II. KANISHKA LEGENDS AND IMPERIUM
    THE KANISHKA LEGENDS / 28
        KANISHKA'S SUPER NATURAL POWERS
        KANISHKA AS A BUDDHIST
        KANISHKA AND THE KASHMIRI ARHAT
        THE COUNCIL IN KASHMIR
        KANISHKA AND ASVAGHOSHA
        KANISHKA AND THE JAINA STUPA
        KANISHKA AND THE IMAGES OF DEVAS
        THE LETTER TO KANISHKA FROM MATRICETA
        THE KANISHKA STUPA AND VIHARA AT PESHAWAR
        KANISHKA PASSION AND HIS PHYSICIAN
        THE CHINESE HOSTAGES
        KANISHKA'S WARS, PENITENCE, AND DEATH
        KANISHKA'S AFTERLIFE
    DYNASTIC MATTERS / 39
        KANISHKA'S NAME
        KANISHKA'S ORIGIN
    THE EXTENSION OF THE KUSHAN EMPIRE / 41
        TARIM BASIN
        SOGDIANA
        BACTRIA AND BACTRA
        TUKHARISTAN ACCORDING TO HSUAN-TSANG
        KHWAREZM
        KHURASAN
        KAPISA
        KABUL
        JELALABAD DISTRICT
        ARACHOSIA AND SEISTAN
        GANDHARA AND UDDIYANA
        TAXILA AND THE WESTERN PANJAB
        KASHMIR
        THE UPPER GANGETIC PLAIN
        THE LOWER GANGETIC PLAIN
        MURUNDAS
        MALWA AND GUJARADESA
    KANISHKA'S COINAGE / 54
    VASISHKA / 57
    KANISHKA II / 58
27
III. HUVISHKA AND THE KUSHAN PANTHEON
    THE TWO-HUVISHKAS THEORY /60
    THE HUVISHKA COINAGE / 60
        FIRST GROUP
        SECOND GROUP
        THIRD GROUP
        HUVISHKA'S OBVERSE TYPES ON COPPER COINS
    HEADDRESS FOUND IN KUSHAN COINS ONLY / 66
        THE KUSHAN CREST ORNAMENT
    DEITIES ON THE COIN OF KANISHKA AND HUVISHKA / 69
        ARDOXHO
        ASHAEIXSHO
        ATHSHO
        BODDO
        SAKAMANOBOSDO
        BAGOBOSDO
        ELIOS
        EPHAISTOS
        ERAKILO
        LROOASPO
        MAASENO
        MANAOBAGO
        MAO
        MAO-MIIRO
        MIIRO
        MOZDOOANO
        OORMAZDO
        NANA (VARIANTS NANO, NANAO)
        NANASHAO
        SHAONANA
        NANAIA
        OADO
        OANINDO
        OAXSHO
        OESHO
        OESHO-NAN
        OESHO-OMMO
        ORLANGNO
        PHARRO
        RISHNO OR RION
        SALENE
        SARAPO
        SHAOREORO
        SKANDO-KOMARO
        (MAASENA) BIZAGO
    BLUNDERED OR UNIDENTIFIED TYPES / 100
    KUSHAN SEALS / 101
60
IV. VASUDEVA I AND HIS SUCCESSORS
   THE HISTORICAL SITUATION / 105
   COINS OF VASUDEVA I AND HIS IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS /106
        THE VASUDEVA COINS
        COINAGE OF KANISHKA III
        ASSIGNMENT OF THE VASUDEVA TYPES
   SUCCESSION TO KANISHKA III IN INDIA / 112
        THE ERJHUNA YASAGA
        THE END OF KUSHAN DOMINION IN GANGETIC INDIA
   THE SASANIAN INTRUSION / 116
        EVIDENCE FROM IRAN
        KUSHANO-SASANIAN COINAGE /117
        VAHARAM TYPES
104
V. SAKAS AND PARTHIANS
   ORIGINS OF THE SAKAS / 122
   THE NORTHERN GROUP OF SAKAS / 124
        MAUES
        AZES I
        AZILISES
        AZES II
        GONDOPHARES
   THE SOUTHWESTERN GROUP SAKAS / 130
        THE DYNASTY OF NAHAPANA
        THE DYNASTY OF CASTANA
   THE MATHURA SATRAPS / 133
        RAJUVULA AND THE LION CAPITAL
        THE MAHAKSHATRAPA SODASA
        SODASA'S SUCCESSORS AT MATHURA
121
VI. THE MATHURA PORTRAITS
    THE MAT SHRINE / 140
        THE EXCAVATION
    THE GOKARNESVARA SITE 142
    OTHER SOURCES OF KUSHAN PORTRAITS / 143
    IDENTIFICATIN AND RELATIVE DATING OF THE PORTRAITS / 144
        THE PORTRAIT OF KANISHKA
        THE PORTRAIT OF VIMA
        THE CASTANA STATUE
        A PORTRAIT OF HUVISHKA
        THE PORTRAIT HEAD
        THE GOKARNESVARA COLOSSUS
        TWO TORSOS
    THE NATURE OF THE MAT SHRINE/149
        THE MORA SANCTUARY
    NANAGHAT
138
VII. OTHER ROYAL PORTRAITS, KUSHAN AND IRANIAN
    THE TEMPLE AT SURKH KOTAL /154
        THE PORTRAIT STATUES AND THEIR PLACEMENT
        THE INSCRIPTIONS
        THE STUCCO FIGURES
        THE "INVESTITURE" SCENE
        CHRONOLOGY
        RITUALS
    SHAMI/163
    FURTHER EXAMPLES OF ROYAL PORTRAITURE IN THE IRANIAN
    MANNER/164
        NIMRUD DAGH
        KUH-KHWAJA
        TOPRAK KALA IN KHWAREZM
        HATRA
154
VIII. STYLISTIC AND ICONOGRAPHIC ASPECTS OF THE MATHURA IMPERIAL PORTRAITS
    ROYAL PORTRAITURE IN INDIAN ART / 174
        THE CAKRAVARTIN
    CLOTHING AND ARMAMENT / 176
        CLOTHING PLAQUES
        KANISHKA'S SWORD
        KANISHKA'S MACE
        CASTANA'S PLAQUE BELT
    THE LION THRONE / 183
        THE "EUROPEAN" POSITION
        THE TALL KUSHAN CROWN
    SOLAR SYMBOLISM / 189
        PRE-KUSHAN SOLAR DEITIES IN INDIAN ART
        OTHER EVIDENCE OF THE SOLAR CULT
        WESTERN PARALLELS OF INDIAN HELIOLATRY
    HALOS AND FLAMING SHOULDERS / 197
        KHVARENO
        FLAMES AND THE BUDDHA PRINCIPLE
    A SUMMIT OF ROCKS OR CLOUDS /201
    THE DEIFICATION OF KUSHAN KINGS / 202
        THE KING AS A DIVINE EPIPHANY
        RITUALS AND CEREMONIES
        RELIGIOUS CONTENT OF THE ROYAL CULTS
    FRONTALITY IN KUSHAN PORTRAITS / 208
173
IX. KUSHAN FIGURES AS DONORS AND DEVOTEES IN BUDDHIST SCULPTURE
    EXAMPLE OF INDO-SCYTHIAN DONOR FIGURES / 216
        THE BUNER RELIEFS
        THE SAHRI-BAHLOL PORTRAITS
        OTHER DONOR PORTRAITS
    BUDDHIST NARRATIVE SCULPTURE / 220
        TRAPUSA AND BHALLIKA
        WORSHIP OF THE BUDDHA'S
        ALMS BOWL (PATRA)
        THE GREAT DEPARTURE
        GUARDS
        OTHER EXAMPLES
    THE CULT OF THE BODHISATIVAS / 227
        MAITREYA
        MAITREYA AND SAKYAMUNI COMBINED
        THE TEACHING MAITREYA
        OTHER PARADISE SCENES
        BODHISATTVA MAHASATTVA
    KUBERA-PANCIKA / 245
        PHARRO AND ARDOXSHO
        HSUAN-TSANG'S REPORT
215
    Appendix I. The Era of Kanishka
        THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 78
        THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 128
        THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 144
        THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 110-115
253
    Appendix II. The Kanishka Reliquary
        THE FINDING OF THE RELIQUARY
        THE COSTUME OF THE KING
        OTHER STYLISTIC AND SYMBOLIC DETAILS
260
   Appendix III. Inscription Pertaining to the Indo-Scythian Dynasties at Mathura 263
NOTES 276
BIBLIOGRAPHY 317
INDEX 350


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