Cahiers d’Asie centrale 1/2 | 1996 Inde-Asie centrale : routes du commerce et des idées Begram: along ancient Central Asian and Indian trade routes Sanjyot Mehendale Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/asiecentrale/419 ISSN: 2075-5325 Publisher Éditions De Boccard Printed version Date of publication: 1 June 1996 Number of pages: 47-64 ISBN: 2-85744-870-8 ISSN: 1270-9247 Electronic reference Sanjyot Mehendale, « Begram: along ancient Central Asian and Indian trade routes », Cahiers d’Asie centrale [Online], 1/2 | 1996, Online since 01 February 2011, connection on 19 April 2019. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/asiecentrale/419 © Tous droits réservés Begram: along ancient Central Asian and Indian trade routes Sanjyot Mehendale One of the important factors in the rapid development of Silk Road1 trade during the early Common Era as the establishment and gro th of the Kushan Empire, hich had a profound effect on the political and economic stability of much of Central Asia. Descendents of nomadic tribes from the steppes of the Tienshan and Altai mountains, ho ere pushed est ards by rival groups and ho settled in the region of ancient Bactria in the second century BCE, the Kushans' territorial expansion2 brought under their control a large area stretching from modern Uzbekistan in the north to the Indian ,anges -alley in the south. .acilitated by the international trade emphasized by both the /an Dynasty in China and the Roman Empire, the Kushans' o n trade0 based economy ensured a steady flo of goods, people and attendant cultures throughout the region. The combination of a large heteroge0 neous empire plus a trade0enhancing policy of unrestricted movement of merchandise and persons resulted under the Kushans in a commin0 gling of varied religious and artistic ideas. Kushan numismatics clearly demonstrate a mi(ture of religious images hich dre upon deities from Rome, /ellenized Central Asia, Iran and India, a cooptation hich can be vie ed as part of an attempt to pacify sub1ect peoples and legitimize Kushan rule by reflecting the varied beliefs current across their CA/IERS D'ASIE CE2TRA3E 24 102, 1556 48 / Sanjyot Mehendale empire. Similarly, the arts of the Bactrian, ,andh7ran and 8athur7 schools demonstrate varying styles hich ere allo ed to flourish simultaneously ithin the Kushan Empire. 3ike ise, the architectural features of both religious and secular structures, hile demonstrating certain commonalities, ere clearly permitted to display regional dif0 ferences. .rom each type of evidence, then, it seems that the Kushan state imposed no strict control over the development of art and architecture3 ithin its empire but rather stimulated regional variety in religious and artistic activity. The aspects of ancient Silk Road trade and e(change most often considered by archaeologists and historians are those hich might be categorized as :official; and/or commercial trade. The focus usually remains on actual commodities traded, on the organization of that trade – that is, through governments or private merchants – and on the methods and particular routes by hich such commodities trave0 led. Only to a lesser degree is e(amination made of the nature and e(tent of indirect cultural e(change hich often, if less obviously, occurs alongside official or commercial trade. What ideas ere e(chan0 ged along ith ob1ects hen peoples met during the course of e(ten0 ded cross0cultural contacts? What ne forms, images, constructions spar0 ked the imagination of artisans and technicians such that they ere moved to incorporate them in their ork? One of the more fascinating but sadly neglected sites dating from the Kushan period is the ancient ruins situated near modern Begram4. Begram is particularly interesting in light of the theme of this conference volume, hich seeks to e(amine commercial and cultural e(changes bet een Central Asia and India. Ob1ects found at this ancient site of Begram, in modern Afghanistan, offer a rare opportunity to e(amine the region's trade. In one location ere discovered artifacts of broad international progeny: Chinese lacAuers, Roman bronzes, glass are and plaster models and IndianesAue ivory and bone ob1ects. But more than 1ust official trade, the Begram ivory and bone ob1ects in particu0 lar offer an e(cellent opportunity to vie elements of the region's indi0 rect cultural e(change. Begram is situated at the confluence of the ,hurband and Pan1shir Rivers of eastern Afghanistan, C0 kilometers north of Kabul and appro(i0 mately 2E0 kilometers north est of the legendary Khyber pass. 3ooking at a topographic map of the region, the location of the site at Begram Begram: along ancient Central Asian routes / 49 is particularly striking. To the south, the Kohdaman Plains stretch all the ay to Kabul. To the southeast, the Pan1shir River and -alley flo do n to ard the Falalabad Plains from hich it is a relatively easy 1ourney to the Khyber Pass, today connecting Afghanistan ith Pesha ar in Pakistan. To the north, a number of passes and river val0 leys lead to the plains of ancient Bactria, along sites such as Surkh Kotal and Bactra, the capital of ancient Bactria. These passes of the estern /indu Kush mountains ere reno ned lines of communication bet0 een Bactria and India, hich carried along their paths not only people and materials but also the cultures attendant thereon. These passes also connected the area of Begram ith stations along the Silk Roads from China to the 8editerranean. In total, Begram's geographic location provides a suggestive conte(t for a study of the nature of the settlements there and of the finds: Begram's :crossroads; locale can be easily conceived of not only as particularly ell0suited to development as a trading center but also as ell0placed for strategic military defense, enhancing the likelihood that the site ould have been chosen for significant trade and perhaps pro0 duction, and the attendant storage of goods and materials. The ruins of Begram constituted a substantial urban settlement incorporating t o fortified enclosures: to the north, hat as called the :Old Royal City; by .oucher (.oucher 152E: 266) and as locally kno n as the :Bur10i Abdullah;I and to the south, hat has been referred to as the :2e Royal City;, here most e(cavations have taken place. The site as initially identified by A. .oucher in the 1520s as the ancient K7pisJ, summer capital of the Kushan emperors (.oucher 152E: 2E5, 266I 1531: 342). Although subseAuent research, in this ri0 ter's opinionE, has failed to confirm this identification, it gave early impetus to archaeological investigations of the site hich ere carried out by the .rench Archaeological Delegation bet een 1536 and 1546 (/ackin 1535, 15E4I ,hirshman 1546I /ackin, Carl K 8euniL 15E5). Architectural investigations by Roman ,hirshman indicated to him that the lo est levels of that part of the site called the :2e Royal City; are to be dated in the ,raeco0Bactrian/Early Kushan period, that is, the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CEI that the subseAuent t o strata correspond to the period of the ,reat Kushans, up to the 3rd century CEI and the topmost stratum to the 3rd to 4th/Eth centuries CE, the later Kushan period (,hirshman 1546: 55010C). ,hirshman's asser0 50 / Sanjyot Mehendale tions ere based on analysis of the architectural levels and the numis0 matic evidence. It should be noted that several scholars6 have Auestio0 ned his theories concerning dating of the strata, and one should thus be cautioned against accepting them, standing alone, as precise. The Begram site is most famous for the discovery during the 1537 and 1535 campaigns (/ackin 1535, 15E4), under the direction of Foseph /ackin, of a large number of e(traordinary ob1ects neatly stored in t o, apparently anciently sealed0off, rooms in that part of the :2e Royal City; hich the e(cavators came to refer to as the :Palace;. As ill be discussed shortly, ho ever, the appellation :Palace; for this structure, and the e(cavators' reference to the finds as a royal :treasure; or :hoard;, may result from a misapprehension by these early resear0 chers concerning the nature and the dating of the finds. The ob1ects found in these sealed0off rooms consisted of numerous pieces hich evinced a high degree of artisanship and hich, fascina0 tingly, had their origins in various and distant parts of the orld: among them, an IndianesAue piece of earthen are referred to as the :Kinnari; pot7, ,raeco0Roman ob1ects such as a bronze satyr head, painted glass beakers ith analogies to Roman Ale(andria, pillar0moulded bo ls found also in several sites of the Arabian peninsula and in Arikamedu in India, and plaster medallions. Also found ere fragments of Chinese lacAuer ob1ects the decoration of hich is similar to ones found in 2oin0ula, 8ongolia and in 3o0lang, Korea, as ell as numerous car0 ved ivory and bone ob1ects generally thought to originate either from north0central or southern IndiaC. Since their discovery in 1537 and 1535, the ivory and bone ob1ects in particular have been the sub1ect of e(tensive stylistic analyses (Auboyer 154C, 15E4, 1571I Kurz 15E4I Stern 15E4I Davidson 1571, 1572I Rogers 15E2) in an attempt both to indicate their place or places of origin ithin India and to date the pieces. Since the archaeological evidence seems to indicate that the stratum of the finds corresponds to the broad period of the ,reat Kushans, initial efforts at stylistically dating the ob1ects permitted placing several pieces t o or three centu0 ries apart. This led some scholars to believe that the ob1ects probably had been gathered over several centuries, a hypothesis hich simulta0 neously supported and as confirmed by the assertion that the artifacts as a hole ere a royal :treasure; or :hoard;, and the particular por0 tion of the site a summer Kushan imperial :palace;.