DOCSLIB.ORG

Silkroad Art and Archaeology I

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Silkroad Art and Archaeology I SILKROAD ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY I Elizabeth Errington Numismatic evidence for dating the "Kaniskat'reliquary 2002 Journal of the Institute of Silk Road Studies, Kamakura 10r Numismatic evidence for dating the 6'Kanbka" reliquary Elizabeth Errington Ever since 1908, when Shah-ji-ki-Dheri was first excavated by Spooner (1912, pp. 38-59) and positively identified as the legendary stupa erected by the Kushan king Kanigka, the gilded bronze reliquary recovered from the ruined monument has remained one of the key items (and one of the most controversial issues) in studies relating to the art of Gandhdra. Its history is well-known: in brief, the initial belief that "there is no doubt at all that this is Kanishka's casker" (Spooner 1912, p. 50) has been endlessly disputed, following subsequent readings of the inscription (Konow 1929, pp. 135-138;Mukherjee 1964,pp.39-46; Fussman 1986, pp. 78-82; Errington and Cribb 1992,pp. 194-191). A crucial piece of numismatic evidence from the relic deposit has now resurfaced, which throws new light on the questions surrounding the casket. This was disregarded in the excitement of its discovery almost a century ago and has been overlooked ever since. The evidence came to light during the reorganisation, by Michael Willis, of British Museum collections in the Department of Oriental Antiquities. In the process, he found a box of photographs that had been bequeathed to the Museum by Sir John Marshall. This archive had evidently been collected by Marshall during his term as Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India and includes several photographs of the ShAh-ji-ki-Dheri relic deposit, taken at the time of excavation. Duplicates of the same official Archaeological Survey of India Frontier Circle photographs (1908-1909, serial nos 386-392) also exist in the British Library India Office Collections, and are listed in Ihe Frontier Circle Annual Report 1908-09 (Spooner 1909, pp. 9-10, nos 84-91). Edited sections of the photographs in the Sh6h-ji-ki-Dheri excavation report (Spooner 1912, pls XII-XIID illustrate details of the bronze reliquary from all sides, but only one complete photograph of the entire relic deposit was ever published (Spooner 1914, pl. LX). This shows the bronze casket, a sealed crystal reliquary and a bronze coin (Fig. 1). According to the legend visible on the coin in the photograph (Figs 1, 3.1b), the deity depicted is the Kushan sun god Miiro. The obverse of this coin.(Fig. 3.la) is illustrated in one of the unpublished photographs (Fig. 2). Although the coin appears worn and uncleaned, the figure of a standing king is still easily recognisable and, together with the reverse image, confirms Spooner's identification of the object as a bronze coin of Kani5ka (of the same type as Fig. 3.2), which he says was discovered in the relic chamber close to the bronze casket. According to Spooner (I9I2,p.49), the hexagonal crystal reliquary (2.5 x 1.5 inches/63.5 x 38 mm) contained three small bone fragments, and was probably originally sealed with a piece of clay, before being placed inside the bronze casket. At the time of discovery, however, the bottom of the bronze reliquary "dropped out as the upper part was lifted". The "piece of clay" had been "partially dissolved by the infiltration of water", but it nevertheless still bore "traces of its original 102 S.R.A.A., VIII12002) device, namely, an elephant standing to the right, which we may assume was the impression of the king's seal". That it had actually been used as a sealing, as Spooner suggested, is uncertain, since it was found simply lying beside the crystal reliquary on the detached base of the bronze casket. In the second view of the relic deposit (Fig. 2), the image on the "clay sealing" is also illustrated. I first saw this photograph many years ago in the India Office archives, and accepted at the time, Spooner's identification of this particular item. But since then I have been lucky enough to benefit from the tuition of an expert numismatist, Joe Cribb. So when I saw the photographs again,I immediately realised that the so-called seal depicted, not a lone elephant, but an elephant rider (Fig. 3.3), of the kind commonly shown on the coins of HuviSka. The size and image moreover correspond so closely to issues of this ruler (Figs 3.4-3.5), that, at very least, it must be directly copied from the coin design. Personally, I am almost certain that it is not a clay seal at all, but a coin of HuviSka, coated with clay. A detail noted by Joe Cribb reinforces this impression: instead of being more or less round, one section is straight, which suggests that part of the object has been deliberately cut off. This can also be seen on the two other HuviSka bronze issues shown here (Figs 3.4-3.5). The practice only became commonplace in the latter part of Huviqka's reign as a means of adjusting coins to the correct weight, and therefore provides a similarly late date for the interment of the reliquary in the stffpa. The casket image depicts a king with a moustache and a high, rounded hat with earflaps and diadems, his cloak knotted at one side (Figs 2, 5). As Professor Tanabe very kindly pointed out to me, the left hand of the king is covered by a long sleeve. After he drew attention to this detail of the covered hand and the fact that it also occurs on coins, Joe Cribb noticed the same feature on two reliefs depicting Kushan donors, from Hdda and Shotorak respectively (Rosenfield 1967, p. 2I9, figs 94,98a), and on certain double staters of Vima Kadphises (Fig. 3.7). A significant parallel for the coin images is also found at Surkh Kotal (Schlumberger, Le Berre and Fussman 1983, p.114, no. M8, pl. 57.172-173), where one of the stepped merlons shows virtually the same representation of a male figure in Kushan dress, seated on a low stool and holding an indistinct object in his right hand: a similar club-like object is held by Huvi5ka on his coins, or perhaps a bunch of flowers is intended, as on the casket, but the detail in the photographs is not clear enough to confirm identification. More importantly, the left hand, like the coin portraits of Vima, is clearly covered by a long sleeve. The style of dress worn by the donors in all three reliefs and in the coin- portraits of Vima Kadphises and Kani:ka I appears very similar. This suggests either that they may be approximately of the same date, or, given the provenance of the reliefs, that this costume and the covered hand were largely fashions of the lands to the west of the Khyber Pass. Interestingly, the elongated sleeve is only shown on coins when Vima is depicted seated, either cross-legged on a rocky mountain top, or in European style on a throne (Gitbl 1984, types 10-11). On his portrait busts or when he appears standing before a fire-altar (Fig. 3.8), the left hand can be clearly seen extending from the sleeve (Gdbl 1984, types 4, 160-764).It is similarly visible on all the coins of his successors. Errington/Falk : Kaniqka Reliquary 103 The convention of the covered hand seems to derive from Iranian practices. Xenophon (Hellenica,lI.I.8; Historia Graeca Institutio Cyri, YIII.3.10), writing in the fourth century BC, records that hands were placed in the corA (a kind of long sleeve) or kandys in the presence of the Achaemenid king from the time of Cyrus the Great (c. 558-530 BC) onwards (Shahbazi 1983, pp. 262-263). Although Xenophon's interpretation of this custom has been questioned (Santoro 1973), it is clearly illustrated on the Greek "Vase of Darius" (c. 350 BC), which shows a figure with his left hand covered, facing the Persian king. The practice is also represented more ambiguously by four figures on the Parthian-style bone plaques from Olbia (Ghirshman 1962,p\s.351-352): one figure stands with both hands covered by elongated sleeves, while two have the left hand covered and hold a ring in the right. Masking the left hand because it was considered unclean is understandable, but the significance of the gesture seems more complex, for the fourth figure (seated and possibly representing the king) has his right hand covered and his left bared. Evidence of the covered left hand in a royal context continues in early Sasanian rock reliefs, as can be seen in the Naqsh-i Rajab depiction (Tanabe 1983, p. l21,fig.4) of two figures attending the investiture of Ardeshir I (AD 224-239140). In the Bishapur III reliefs, tributaries bringing gifts to Shapur I (AD 241-272) are also shown this way (Herrmann 1998, p. 45, fig.3), as are women elsewhere: one offers Varhran II (AD 276-293) a lotus in the Sarab-i Qandil relief (Splendeur des Sassanides 1993, p.80, fig. 66); another offers the ring to Narseh (AD 293-303) in the scene of his investitureat Naqsh-i Rustam (for the identification of the latter as AnAhitd, see Shahbazi 1983, pp. 262-266, pls. 25 -26; Tanabe 1 986). The covered hand in a religious context appears to have strong links with Zoroastrian practices. Evidence for this exists already in the Achaemenid period, in the relief above the entrance to the tomb of Darius at Naqsh-i-Rustam, which shows the king standing before the fire altar.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet
    - ON THE <)|{I<; IN <>F TIIK INDIAN BRAHMA ALPHABET GEORG BtfHLKi; SECOND REVISED EDITION OF INDIAN STUDIES, NO III. TOGETHER WITH TWO APPENDICES ON THE OKU; IN OF THE KHAROSTHI ALPHABET AND OF THK SO-CALLED LETTER-NUMERALS OF THE BRAHMI. WITH TIIKKK PLATES. STRASSBUKi-. K A K 1. I. 1 1M I: \ I I; 1898. I'lintccl liy Adolf Ilcil/.haiisi'ii, Vicniiii. Preface to the Second Edition. .As the few separate copies of the Indian Studies No. Ill, struck off in 1895, were sold very soon and rather numerous requests for additional ones were addressed both to me and to the bookseller of the Imperial Academy, Messrs. Carl Gerold's Sohn, I asked the Academy for permission to issue a second edition, which Mr. Karl J. Trlibner had consented to publish. My petition was readily granted. In addition Messrs, von Holder, the publishers of the Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes, kindly allowed me to reprint my article on the origin of the Kharosthi, which had appeared in vol. IX of that Journal and is now given in Appendix I. To these two sections I have added, in Appendix II, a brief review of the arguments for Dr. Burnell's hypothesis, which derives the so-called letter- numerals or numerical symbols of the Brahma alphabet from the ancient Egyptian numeral signs, together with a third com- parative table, in order to include in this volume all those points, which require fuller discussion, and in order to make it a serviceable companion to the palaeography of the Grund- riss.
    [Show full text]
  • Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism : from Winternitz, Sylvain Levi
    LITERARY HISTORY OF Sanskrit Buddhism (From Winternitz, Syivain Levi, Huser) Ze G. K. NARIMAN ( Author of Religion of the Iranion Proples Sranian Influence on Muslim Literature ) Second Impremion. May 1923. Bombay: INDIAN BOOK DEPOT, 55, MEADOW STREET. FORT Linotyped and Printed by Mr. lhanythoy osabhoy at The Commercial Printing Press, (of The Tata Publicity Corporation, Limited,) 11, Cowasii Patell Strect, Fort, Jombay, and published by Indian Book lepot, 55, Meadow Street, Fort, Bonibay, LITERARY HISTORY OF SANSKRIT BUDDHISM (From Winternrrz, Syivain Tkevi, Huger) (Author of Religion of the Iranian Lranian May 1923. BOMBar: INDIAN BOOK DEPOT, G8, MEADOW STREET. FORT. OFFERED AS A TRIBUTE OF APPRECIATION TO Sir RABINDRANATH TAGORE THE POET SCHOLAR OF AWAKENING ORIENT. CONTENTS. FOREWORD, Paar, Introductory aes ‘sai aoe oe we CHAPTER I. ‘The two schools of Buddhism wee Essence of Mahayana... a eee «CHAPTER IL Sanskrit Buddhist canon oo ae on on . CHAPTER IIL. Mahavastu =... oe on ae oo on i Importance of Mahavastu ... ee tae so 18 Its Jatakas aes ove oe ove rE) Mabavastu and Puranas on on is More Mahayana affinities... one . 7 Antiquity of Mahavastu oo ae we on Ww CHAPTER Iv. Lalitavistara 4. oo oe o os 19 Extravagant imagery ... ae oo ae 20 Conception and Birth of Buddha... ase 20 Sin of unbelief - ne we oo te 22 Pali and Sanskrit. go back to an oldcr source 28 The Buddha at school aes oo 28 Acts of the Buddha ... oe oy 24 Component elements of Lalitavistara et Translation into Chinese and Tibetan “ee 25 Relation to Buddhist art ae - on 28 No image in primitve Buddhism ww 26 General estimate of Lalitavistara o “ 27 CHAPTER V.
    [Show full text]
  • Yonas and Yavanas in Indian Literature Yonas and Yavanas in Indian Literature
    YONAS AND YAVANAS IN INDIAN LITERATURE YONAS AND YAVANAS IN INDIAN LITERATURE KLAUS KARTTUNEN Studia Orientalia 116 YONAS AND YAVANAS IN INDIAN LITERATURE KLAUS KARTTUNEN Helsinki 2015 Yonas and Yavanas in Indian Literature Klaus Karttunen Studia Orientalia, vol. 116 Copyright © 2015 by the Finnish Oriental Society Editor Lotta Aunio Co-Editor Sari Nieminen Advisory Editorial Board Axel Fleisch (African Studies) Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (Arabic and Islamic Studies) Tapani Harviainen (Semitic Studies) Arvi Hurskainen (African Studies) Juha Janhunen (Altaic and East Asian Studies) Hannu Juusola (Middle Eastern and Semitic Studies) Klaus Karttunen (South Asian Studies) Kaj Öhrnberg (Arabic and Islamic Studies) Heikki Palva (Arabic Linguistics) Asko Parpola (South Asian Studies) Simo Parpola (Assyriology) Rein Raud (Japanese Studies) Saana Svärd (Assyriology) Jaana Toivari-Viitala (Egyptology) Typesetting Lotta Aunio ISSN 0039-3282 ISBN 978-951-9380-88-9 Juvenes Print – Suomen Yliopistopaino Oy Tampere 2015 CONTENTS PREFACE .......................................................................................................... XV PART I: REFERENCES IN TEXTS A. EPIC AND CLASSICAL SANSKRIT ..................................................................... 3 1. Epics ....................................................................................................................3 Mahābhārata .........................................................................................................3 Rāmāyaṇa ............................................................................................................25
    [Show full text]
  • A Point in Palaeography
    1041 MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS. A POINT IN PALAEOGRAPHY. My recognition of the letter H'with the value ^instead of M, m, on the coins of a certain ruler in Northern India (see page 1029 above), has removed the difficulty in the way of finding identically the same name on both the obverse and the reverse of the coins. The Indian legend in KharoshthI characters on the reverse gives the name as Kharaosta; as also do the inscriptions A. and E. oil the1 Mathura lion-capital (page 1025 f.). The Greek legend on the obverse had been taken as giving the name Kharamostis (Cunningham), Kharamosta (Buhler and B.apson)j or Charamostis (V. Smith): and, the question of identity, both of name and of person, had been argued on both sides,— the chief difficulty being the supposed M. That question is now settled by my reading, XAPAHLJCTEly in the place of the previously accepted XAPAMLUCTEI. This gives us,; against Kharaosta as the native form of the name,1 a Greek form, Kharahostes, which exactly matches it except for the h, which was probably inserted because, otherwise, the alpha and omega, coming together, might be pronounced as- au, aw. • ' :..; .....',.' There is no room for doubt about this matter.; On the coin presented by Rapson in this Journal, 1905. 814, plate, fig. 9, the word is XAf AHU/CTEt • There is no question of reading a given M as meaning H —h in order to serve a purpose: we simply take asi H = h an undeniable H which 1 The third syllable seems to be distinctly o, not ho, both in the inscriptions and on the coins.
    [Show full text]
  • Art. IX.—On a Newly Discovered Bactrian Pali Inscription; and on Other Inscriptions in the Bactrian Pali Character
    Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland http://journals.cambridge.org/JRA Additional services for Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland: Email alerts: Click here Subscriptions: Click here Commercial reprints: Click here Terms of use : Click here Art. IX.—On a newly discovered Bactrian Pali Inscription; and on other Inscriptions in the Bactrian Pali Character J. Dowson Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland / Volume 20 / January 1863, pp 221 - 268 DOI: 10.1017/S0035869X00165281, Published online: 14 March 2011 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/ abstract_S0035869X00165281 How to cite this article: J. Dowson (1863). Art. IX.—On a newly discovered Bactrian Pali Inscription; and on other Inscriptions in the Bactrian Pali Character. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 20, pp 221-268 doi:10.1017/S0035869X00165281 Request Permissions : Click here Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/JRA, IP address: 128.218.248.209 on 17 Mar 2015 221 ART. IX.—On a newly discovered Bactrian Pali Inscription; and on other Inscriptions in the Bactrian Pali Character. By Professor J. DOWSON, Royal Staff College. [Read 16ik February, 1863.] IN January, 1862, Mr. A. A. Eoberts, of the Bengal Civil Service, presented to the Society two copper plates inscribed with Bactrian Pali characters, said to have been found at Hussun Abdal, near Rawal Pindee, in the Punjab. These plates were submitted to the examination of Mr. Norris, and that gentleman at once picked out the names of Takha&la nagara (Taxila) and &akya- muni, proving the inscription to be one of more than ordi- nary importance.
    [Show full text]
  • Kushana Coins 5.1 Do You Know? 5.2 Timeline
    Kushana Coins 5.1 Do you know? Description Image Source Kushanas issued coins imitating the coins of Roman ruler Augustus Kushana coins portrayed the figure of Siva and Uma on their coins Dinara the name of the Kushana gold coins comes from term used for designating the Roman silver coins denarius 5.2 Timeline: Succession List Timeline according to 78 Succession List taking Timeline according to taking CE as Year 1 of the 127 CE as 127 CE as the Year 1 of 78 CE as Kushana Era commencement of Kushana Era commencement Kushana Era of Kushana Era Yuezhi: Heraos/ Yuezhi: Heraos/Miaos? st Miaos? c. 1 century BCE c. 1st century CE KujulaKadphises c. end of 1st century KujulaKadphises c.30-80 CE BCE – early 1stcentury CE VimaTaktu VimaTaktu c. 1st century CE c. 1st – 2nd century CE VimaKadphises VimaKadphises c.1st century CE c.2nd century CE Kanishka I (yrs. 1-24) Kanishka I 78 CE –101 CE c. 127—150 CE Vasishka Known dates 20,22, 28 Huvishka (yrs. known from 98- 100-106 CE inscriptions28-64) – Conjoint ruler with c.155-191 CE Kanishka I Huvishka (yrs. known from Vasudeva I (yrs.67-98) inscriptions28-60) c.194—225 CE c.106-138 CE Kanishka II Known date 41 (c.119 Kanishka II (Year 4-20) CE) c.227-247 CE Conjoint ruler with Huvishka Vasudeva I Known dates 67-98 i.e. Vashiska Year 22-28 145- 176 CE c. 249-255 CE Kanishka III Kanishka III Known dates 141 ? 268 CE Vasudeva II 230-250 or 262 Vasudeva II Last quarter of 3rd century c.
    [Show full text]
  • Taxila Inscription of the Year 136
    Taxila Inscription of the year 136 BY RAMAPRASAD CHANDA OIR JOHN" MARSHALL'S interpretation of ayasa in the Taxila silver scroll inscription of the year 136 as " of Azes " has been the subject of adverse criticism by some of the most eminent antiquarians since the publication of the record in 1914. The latest is by Professor Sten Konow in the Epigraphia Indica, xiv, p. 286. Professor Konow revives two of the objections to Sir John's explanation : (1) "the word (ayasa) could hardly be the name of a king, because no royal title is used " ; (2) " if ayasa were really the name of a king, it would place the inscription in the reign of this king, who would then most likely have to be identified with the Khushana mentioned in 1. 3. " I hope to show in this note that these objections are not a§ insuperable as they are supposed to be. (1) Professor Konow says : " The absence of every royal designation is so extraordinary that I think we must abandon Sir John's explanation of the word ayasa altogether." If the assumption on which the second objection is based were correct, if the explanation of ayasa in the sense of "of Azes " would place the inscription in the reign of Azes himself, the absence of the royal designation could justify the total rejection of Sir John's explanation. But if ayasa may mean " of (the era of) Azes " and not " (during the reign) of Azes ", why should the omission of royal designation in the year 136 of the era of Azes, so long after his death, and probably some time after the destruction of the Saka-Parthian dynasty by the Kushans, be considered " so extraordinary " ? In the inscriptions dated in the Gupta and Saka eras the usual practice, of course, is the addition of a royal title with the terms Gupta and Saka.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    1 Introduction The English word “museum” comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as “museums” (or rarely, “musea”). It is originally from the Ancient Greek (Mouseion), which denotes a place or temple dedicated to the Muses (the patron divinities in Greek mythology of the arts), and hence a building set apart for study and the arts, especially the Musaeum (institute) for philosophy and research atAlexandria by Ptolemy I Soter about 280 BCE. The first museum/library is considered to be the one of Plato in Athens. However, Pausanias gives another place called “Museum,” namely a small hill in Classical Athens opposite the Akropolis. The hill was called Mouseion after Mousaious, a man who used to sing on the hill and died there of old age and was subsequently buried there as well. The Louvre in Paris France. 2 Museum The Uffizi Gallery, the most visited museum in Italy and an important museum in the world. Viw toward thePalazzo Vecchio, in Florence. An example of a very small museum: A maritime museum located in the village of Bolungarvík, Vestfirðir, Iceland showing a 19th-century fishing base: typical boat of the period and associated industrial buildings. A museum is an institution that cares for (conserves) a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic,cultural, historical, or scientific importance and some public museums makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. The State Historical Museum inMoscow. Introduction 3 Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities, towns and even the countryside.
    [Show full text]
  • The Character of the Indian Kharosthi Script and the "Sanskrit Revolution": a Writing System Between Identity and Assimilation
    THE CHARACTER OF THE INDIAN KHAROSTHI SCRIPT AND THE "SANSKRIT REVOLUTION": A WRITING SYSTEM BETWEEN IDENTITY AND ASSIMILATION Ingo Strauch Introduction The history of writing in India is extraordinary from different points of view. First, there is the fact that writing as a cultural technique was intro­ duced into Indian culture at a rather late point in its history. It was long after large amounts of its literature had already been created. Not only the Veda but also the late Vedic literature and even considerable portions of the Buddhist and Jain canons were already in existence when India saw its first attempts to fix language to a writing system.1 Remarkably, this introduction did also postdate the early Indian state formation pro­ cesses in the sth century BC, and consequently it was also later than the urbanization which accompanied this state formation in the Ganges val­ ley (cf. Strauch 2005). The focus of my paper will be dedicated to another peculiar feature of the Indian history of writing. From its very beginning two rather dif­ ferent scripts were in use: the Kharo~thi, a script which prevailed in the Indian North-West, i.e. modem North-West Pakistan, and spread from there to Northem Bactria and Central Asia, and the Brahmi which began ' The question of the introduction of writing in India has been controversially dis­ cussed. An excellent survey of this academic debate and a plausible scenario of this pro­ cess was presented by Falk (1993). Other valuable contributions concerning this problem are von Hiniiber (1990) and Falk (1996).
    [Show full text]
  • VIII. the Inscription on the Piprahwa Vase
    105 VIII. THE INSCRIPTION ON THE PIPEAHWA VASE. BY J. F. FLEET, I.C.S. (EETD.), PH.D., C.I.E. II. T HAD not intended to write anything more about the inscription on the Piprahwa relic-vase, treated by me in this Journal, 1906. 149 ff., until I should have completed my examination of the tradition about the corporeal relics of Buddha,1 and should be able to offer a facsimile of the record.2 And it is only recently that the occasion has arisen for presenting sooner any further remarks, as the result of the criticism of my interpretation of the record advanced by M. Senart in the Journal Asiatique, 1906, 1. 132 if., and by M. Barth in the Journal des Savants, 1906. 541 ff. That two such distinguished scholars should differ from me so radically, is an important matter. And I wish that I had seen M. Senart's remarks sooner; but, though issued early in the year, they did not become known to me until towards the end of September. M. Barth's paper, issued in October or November,— in which he has reviewed all the principal previous treatments of the record and suggestions made regarding it, and has endorsed M. Senart's conclusions except in the grammatical analysis of the compound sukiti- bhatinam,— reached me after the writing of this article, but in time for me to make a few additions to it. 1 The concluding instalment of this inquiry is held over in consequence of want of space. 2' There have been unexpected difficulties in the way of doing this; one of them being, that, of the two casts before me, the, cast that belongs to this Society is the one that should be reproduced, but unfortunately at some time or another it was broken into six pieces.
    [Show full text]
  • Contributions of Sanskrit Inscriptions to Lexicography
    SHASTRI INDO-CANADIAN INSTITUTE 92, GOLF LINKS, NEW DELHM10003. INDIA CONTRIBUTIONS OF SANSKRIT INSCRIPTIONS TO LEXICOGRAPHY Contributions of Sanskrit Inscriptions to Lexicography S.P. TEWARI Allahabad Museum, Allahabad 1987 AGAM KALA PRAKASHAN DELHI-110052 First Published 1987 SHITALA PRASAD TEWARI (b. 1944) c* Published by : Dr. Agam Prasad, M.A., Ph.D., Diploma in Muscology for AGAM KALA PRAKASHAN 34, Central Market, Ashok Vihar, Delhi-1 10052, Phone 7113395 Printed by : Print India, A-38/2, Maya Puri, Phase I, New Delhi-1 10064 Nijopajna prajnd prasara parivisphara mukurl, Pad-arthanam s-arthah pratiphalati yesham-avitathah. Giram gramo ylsham-adharam-adhisetl svayam-ayam, Namas-tlbhyo sadbhyas-tilakita jagadbhyah kim-aparam. x x Indras-Chandrah Kasakritsn-Apisall Sakatciyanah, Paniny-Amara-Jainlndm Jayanty-ashtadi sabdikah. Dedicated as a tribute to the pioneering works of James Prinsep, George Biihler, E. Hultzsch, J.F. Fleet, F. Kielhorn, H. Liiders, D.R. Bhandarkar, V.V. Mirashi and D.C. Sircar. CONTENTS Page Preface ix 1. Introduction : Significance of Epigraphs in Relation to Lexicography 1 2. The Words Referred to in the Inscriptions but not Included in Dictionaries so far 3. The Words Used in the Inscriptions with a Different Shade of Meaning than Defined in Dictionaries 24 f 4. The desi Words Used in their Sanskritized Forms 75 5. The Words which have been Improperly/Mistakenly Deciphered by the Epigraphists 86 Appendix I : The Lexicographical Import of 93 Certain Words Explained in Bigger Details ; (0 Ashfapushpikd, 93 (ft)
    [Show full text]
  • Problems of Chronology in Gandhāran Art
    Rienjang and Stewart (eds) Problems of Chronology in Gandhāran Art Edited by Wannaporn Rienjang Peter Stewart Problems of Chronology in Gandhāran Art Since the beginning of Gandhāran studies in the nineteenth century, chronology has been one of the most significant challenges to the understanding of Gandhāran art. Many other ancient societies, including those of Greece and Rome, have left a wealth of textual sources which have put their fundamental chronological frameworks beyond doubt. In the absence of such sources on a similar scale, even the historical eras cited on inscribed Gandhāran works of art have been hard to place. Few sculptures have such inscriptions and the majority lack any record of find-spot or even general provenance. Those known to have been found at particular sites were sometimes moved and reused in antiquity. Consequently, the provisional dates assigned to extant Gandhāran sculptures have sometimes differed by centuries, while the narrative of artistic development remains doubtful and inconsistent. Building upon the most recent, cross-disciplinary research, debate and excavation, this volume reinforces a new consensus about the chronology of Gandhāra, bringing the history of Gandhāran art into sharper focus than ever. By considering this tradition in its wider context, alongside contemporary Indian art and subsequent developments in Central Asia, the authors also open up fresh questions and problems which a new phase of research will need to address. Problems of Chronology in Gandhāran Art is the first publication of the Gandhāra Connections project at the University of Oxford’s Classical Art Research Centre, which has been supported by the Bagri Foundation and the Neil Kreitman Foundation.
    [Show full text]