Neill, Rebecca M.H. (2020) Empires, materials and entanglements: the power of material entanglements in the Gupta Political Formation. MPhil(R) thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/81918/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] EMPIRES, MATERIALS AND ENTANGLEMENTS The Power of Material Entanglements in the Gupta Political Formation DECEMBER 10, 2020 REBECCA M.H. NEILL, BA (HONS) A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED FOR THE FULFILMENT OF THE DEGREE OF MPHIL IN ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW 0 | P a g e Empires, Materials and Entanglements The Power of Material Entanglements in the Gupta Political Formation Rebecca Mary-Ann Hilary Neill, BA (hons.) Archaeology, School of Humanities, College of Arts, University of Glasgow December 2020 1 | P a g e Abstract The Gupta Political Formation has been called “the golden-age” of India yet little archaeological study has been done on the period. Through the ideas of new materialism, in particular Hodder’s (2012) Theory of Entanglement, and Katchadurian’s (2016) Satrapal Conditions, this thesis aims to explore three powerful materials: textile clothing, metals and spices. These materials appear influential and integral to the inner workings of the Gupta Political Formation (GPF) and so provide the opportunity to investigate the political, social and economic movements made by the rulers of the GPF in pursuit of these materials. It is the purpose of this thesis to shine a light on their influence in the movements of the political machine we know as the Gupta Political Formation and to explore the innerworkings of empire through material desires and dependencies. 2 | P a g e Contents Image List .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Tables ............................................................................................................................... 6 Maps .................................................................................................................................. 6 Figures .............................................................................................................................. 7 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 14 1.1: Why Material Entanglements in the Gupta Political Formation Matter? .... 14 1.2: The Standard Narrative....................................................................................... 16 1.3: The Standard Narrative and Indian Archaeology ............................................ 20 1.3.1: Changing the Narrative ................................................................................... 26 1.4: Chapter Overview ................................................................................................ 30 Chapter 2: Powerful Materials ..................................................................................................... 32 2.1: New Materialism and Assemblages ................................................................... 32 2.2: Entanglements ...................................................................................................... 35 2.3: The Political Dimensions of Assemblages ........................................................ 37 2.4: Powerful Materials – An Approach .................................................................... 43 Chapter 3: Textiles ........................................................................................................................ 45 3.1.1: Textiles as a Powerful Material ................................................................... 45 3.1.2: The significance of Textiles .......................................................................... 45 3.2: Methodology .......................................................................................................... 47 3.2.1: Theoretical Framework ................................................................................. 47 3.2.2: Identification of Articles of Clothing .......................................................... 51 3.2.3: Issues with Iconography ................................................................................. 54 3.3: Chronological Overview ....................................................................................... 55 3.3.1: The First Chronological Period (500BCE-0) ................................................ 56 3.3.1.1: Clothing in Vedic Times and the Haryanka Dynasty .......................... 56 3.3.1.2: Clothing of the Mauryan Empire (324-187BCE) .................................. 59 3.3.1.3: Clothing of the Shunga Dynasty (185-75BCE) ..................................... 64 3.3.2:The Second Chronological Period (1-500CE) ............................................... 70 3.3.2.1: Clothing of the Kushan Dynasty ............................................................ 70 3.3.2.2: Clothing of the Naga Dynasty ................................................................ 76 3.4: The Coinage of the Gupta Political Formation ................................................ 81 3.4.1: The Socio-Political context of Coinage ...................................................... 81 3.5: The Textile Clothing of the Western Territories in Pre-Gupta and Gupta Times ......................................................................................................................................... 95 3.5.1: Pre-Gupta Textile Clothing of the Western Territories .......................... 95 3 | P a g e 3.5.2: The Udayagiri Caves ...................................................................................... 98 3.6: The Ajanta Cave Paintings ................................................................................ 105 3.6.1: The Gupta-Vakataka Period ....................................................................... 107 3.6.2: The Paintings ................................................................................................ 109 3.6.3: Female Dress of the Ajanta Caves ............................................................ 115 3.6.4: Male Dress of the Ajanta Caves ................................................................. 122 3.7: The Textile Clothing of the Lichchhavis of Nepal in Pre-Gupta and Gupta Times .......................................................................................................................................... 127 3.7.1: Nepalese Clothing before the Guptas....................................................... 128 3.7.2: Nepalese clothing during the Gupta Period ............................................ 130 3.8: Comparisons and Conclusions ........................................................................... 136 Chapter 4: Metals ......................................................................................................................... 139 4.1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 139 4.2: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 139 4.3: Metal Use in India ............................................................................................... 139 4.3.1: Literary Evidence.......................................................................................... 140 4.3.2: Archaeological Evidence ............................................................................. 142 4.4: The use of Coinage in the Indian Subcontinent ............................................. 146 4.4.1: An Indian Coinage Tradition ....................................................................... 146 4.5: The importance of Guilds ................................................................................ 153 4.5.1: History of Guilds ........................................................................................... 154 4.5.2: Guilds in the Gupta Period ......................................................................... 156 4.6: Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 157 Chapter 5: Spices ......................................................................................................................... 160 5.1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 160 5.2: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 162 5.3: Spices in Literature ............................................................................................ 165 5.4: Growing Conditions of Spices