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English · हिन्दी · తెలుగు · தமிழ் · മലയാളം · मराठी · ಕನ್ನಡ

Rulers from the northwest, art and trade

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿವರಣೆ

India after the Mauryas and the Sangam age · Part 2 / 3 · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

The Indo-Greeks and Menander, the Shakas and Rudradaman's Junagadh inscription, the Vikrama and Shaka eras, the Parthians and Gondophares, the Kushanas and Kanishka; the Gandhara, Mathura and Amaravati schools of sculpture; guilds, the Silk Road and Indo-Roman trade; and the religious changes of the age.

Each idea is explained first in Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Kannada and revise it in English.

ಮೌರ್ಯರ ನಂತರ ಒಳಗೆ ಎದ್ದ ರಾಜ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ಭಾಗ 1ರಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿದೆವು. ಈಗ ವಾಯುವ್ಯದ ಬಾಗಿಲು — ಹಿಂದೂಕುಶ್ ಕಣಿವೆಮಾರ್ಗಗಳು. ಮನೆಯ ಬಾಗಿಲು ತೆರೆದಿದ್ದರೆ ಅತಿಥಿಗಳು ಒಬ್ಬರ ನಂತರ ಒಬ್ಬರು ಬರುವಂತೆ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಗುಂಪುಗಳು ಬಂದವು: ಇಂಡೋ-ಗ್ರೀಕರು, ಶಕರು, ಪಾರ್ಥಿಯನ್ನರು, ಕುಷಾಣರು. ಗೆಲ್ಲಲೆಂದೇ ಬಂದರು; ಆದರೆ ಕೊನೆಗೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ದೇವರು, ಭಾಷೆಗಳು, ಬಿರುದುಗಳನ್ನು ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿದರು. ಹೊಸ ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳು, ಹೊಸ ಶಿಲ್ಪ ಶೈಲಿಗಳು, ವಿದೇಶಿ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ಬೆಳೆದವು. (→ English: Indo-Greeks · Shakas · Parthians · Kushanas · हिन्दी: हिंद-यवन · शक · पह्लव · कुषाण)

In exam EnglishPart 1 followed the kingdoms that rose inside India after the Mauryan collapse: the Shungas and Kanvas in the Ganga valley, the Satavahanas in the Deccan and Kharavela in Kalinga. This part turns to the northwest, the old gateway through the passes of the Hindu Kush. Between the second century BCE and the third century CE four groups of rulers entered north-western and western India one after another: the Indo-Greeks, the Shakas, the Parthians and the Kushanas. Each came as a conqueror and ended up taking on Indian gods, languages and titles. Their rule brought new coins, new styles of sculpture and a sharp rise in trade with Central Asia and the Roman world.

ಇಂಡೋ-ಗ್ರೀಕರು ಬ್ಯಾಕ್ಟ್ರಿಯಾದ (ಉತ್ತರ ಅಫ್ಘಾನಿಸ್ತಾನ) ಗ್ರೀಕ್ ರಾಜರು. ಅಲೆಕ್ಸಾಂಡರ್ ನಂತರ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಉಳಿದ ಗ್ರೀಕರು, ಸೆಲ್ಯೂಕಸ್ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ ದುರ್ಬಲವಾದಾಗ ಬೇರೆಯಾದರು. ಡೆಮೆಟ್ರಿಯಸ್ ಹಿಂದೂಕುಶ್ ದಾಟಿ ಬಂದ. ನಮ್ಮ ಗ್ರಂಥಗಳು ಇವರನ್ನು 'ಯವನರು' ಎನ್ನುತ್ತವೆ. ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ರಾಜ ಮಿನಾಂಡರ್ — ಪಾಲಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಿಲಿಂದ, ರಾಜಧಾನಿ ಸಾಕಲ (ಸಿಯಾಲ್‌ಕೋಟ್). 'ಮಿಲಿಂದಪನ್ಹ'ದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜ ಕೇಳುತ್ತಾನೆ, ಭಿಕ್ಷು ನಾಗಸೇನ ಉತ್ತರಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ — ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚುರುಕಾದ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿ ಗುರುಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದಂತೆ. (→ English: Indo-Greeks · Menander · Milindapanha · हिन्दी: हिंद-यवन · मिनांडर · मिलिंदपन्ह)

In exam EnglishThe Indo-Greeks were Greek rulers from Bactria, the land between the Hindu Kush and the Oxus river in today's northern Afghanistan. Greeks had settled there after Alexander's campaigns, and when the Seleucid empire weakened in the third century BCE its Bactrian governors broke away. Early in the second century BCE a Bactrian king, Demetrius, crossed the Hindu Kush and seized territory in the northwest. Indian texts call these people Yavanas, from the word for Ionian Greeks. Their best-remembered king is Menander, called Milinda in Pali, who ruled from Sakala, the modern Sialkot in Pakistani Punjab, around the middle of the second century BCE. The Pali text Milindapanha ('the questions of Milinda') presents him in long conversation with the Buddhist monk Nagasena, and Buddhist tradition holds that the king was won over to Buddhism.

ಇಂಡೋ-ಗ್ರೀಕರ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಅವರ ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳಿಂದಲೇ ತಿಳಿಯುತ್ತದೆ — ಮೂವತ್ತಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ರಾಜರ ಹೆಸರುಗಳು ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತ್ರ. ಹಳೆಯ ಮುದ್ರಾಂಕಿತ ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳಿಗಿಂತ ಭಿನ್ನವಾಗಿ ಇವುಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ರಾಜನ ಹೆಸರು ಮತ್ತು ನಿಜವಾದ ಮುಖಚಿತ್ರ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ — ಇಂದಿನ ಫೋಟೋ ಗುರುತಿನ ಚೀಟಿಯಂತೆ. ಒಂದು ಬದಿ ಗ್ರೀಕ್, ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಬದಿ ಖರೋಷ್ಠಿ ಲಿಪಿ ಬಳಸಿ ಪ್ರಾಕೃತ — ಎರಡು ಬಗೆಯ ಜನರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮಾತು. ಅವರ ಕಲಾ ಅಭ್ಯಾಸಗಳು ಮುಂದೆ ಗಾಂಧಾರ ಶಿಲ್ಪಕ್ಕೆ ದಾರಿಯಾದವು. (→ English: Kharoshthi script · bilingual coins · हिन्दी: खरोष्ठी लिपि · द्विभाषी सिक्के)

In exam EnglishMuch of what is known about the Indo-Greeks comes not from books but from their coins. More than thirty Indo-Greek kings are known, most only from coins. These coins were a break from the older punch-marked pieces: each one carries the name of the ruler and a lifelike portrait of his head, often in a helmet or a diadem, with a Greek god on the other side. Many are bilingual, with a Greek legend on one face and the same title in Prakrit, written in Kharoshthi script, on the other. That pairing tells historians that the kings were addressing both Greek-speaking settlers and Indian subjects. The Indo-Greeks also brought Hellenistic artistic habits to the northwest; these mixed with Buddhist themes in the Gandhara region and helped shape the Gandhara style of sculpture discussed later in this part.

ಶಕರು ಮಧ್ಯ ಏಷ್ಯಾದ ಅಲೆಮಾರಿಗಳು; ಗ್ರೀಕರು ಇವರನ್ನು ಸಿಥಿಯನ್ನರು ಎಂದರು. ಯುಯೆಝಿ ಎಂಬ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಅಲೆಮಾರಿ ಗುಂಪು ಹಿಂದಿನಿಂದ ತಳ್ಳಿದಾಗ ಮುಂದಿನವರು ಮುಂದೆ ಸರಿಯುವಂತೆ ಶಕರು ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದರು. ವಾಯುವ್ಯದ ಮೊದಲ ರಾಜ ಮೋಗ (ಮಾವುಸ್). ಅವರ ರಾಜ್ಯಪಾಲರಿಗೆ 'ಕ್ಷತ್ರಪ' ಬಿರುದು; ಹಿರಿಯನಿಗೆ ಮಹಾಕ್ಷತ್ರಪ. ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಕ್ಷತ್ರಪರಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ಮನೆತನಗಳು: ನಹಪಾನನ ಕ್ಷಹರಾತರು, ಚಷ್ಟನನ ಕಾರ್ದಮಕರು (ಉಜ್ಜಯಿನಿ) — ಇವರನ್ನು ಗುಪ್ತರು ಕೊನೆಗೊಳಿಸಿದರು. (→ English: Shakas · kshatrapa (satrap) · Western Kshatrapas · हिन्दी: शक · क्षत्रप · पश्चिमी क्षत्रप)

In exam EnglishThe Shakas, known to the Greeks as Scythians, were nomadic peoples of Central Asia. Pressure from another nomadic group, the Yuezhi, pushed them south and west in the second century BCE, and they reached India through Afghanistan and the lower Indus. Their first important king in the northwest was Maues (Moga), who ruled in Gandhara in the first century BCE. Shaka governors used the Persian-style title kshatrapa (satrap) (satrap), and a senior governor was a mahakshatrapa. Shaka lines ruled at Taxila, Mathura and elsewhere, but the longest lasting were the Western Kshatrapas of Gujarat, Malwa and the western Deccan. Two houses stand out: the Kshaharatas, whose ruler Nahapana was crushed by Gautamiputra Satakarni (Part 1), and the Kardamaka family founded by Chashtana, which ruled from Ujjain and lasted until the Guptas ended it around the end of the fourth century CE.

ಶಕರಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ರುದ್ರದಾಮನ್ (ಉಜ್ಜಯಿನಿ). ಜುನಾಗಢ್ ಶಿಲಾಶಾಸನ ಶಕ ವರ್ಷ 72ರದು — ಅಂದರೆ ಸುಮಾರು ಕ್ರಿ.ಶ. 150. ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತದ ಮೊದಲ ದೀರ್ಘ ರಾಜಶಾಸನ ಇದೇ. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಸುದರ್ಶನ ಸರೋವರದ ಕಥೆ: ಚಂದ್ರಗುಪ್ತ ಮೌರ್ಯನ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಪುಷ್ಯಗುಪ್ತ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ, ಅಶೋಕನ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ತುಷಾಸ್ಫ ಕಾಲುವೆ ಸೇರಿಸಿದ, ಬಿರುಗಾಳಿಗೆ ಒಡೆಯಿತು. ಪ್ರಜೆಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ತೆರಿಗೆ ಹಾಕದೆ, ಬಿಟ್ಟಿ ದುಡಿಮೆ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ರುದ್ರದಾಮನ್ ತನ್ನ ಖಜಾನೆಯಿಂದ ಮತ್ತೆ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ — ಊರಿನ ಗೌಡ ತನ್ನ ಹಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆರೆ ಏರಿ ಸರಿಪಡಿಸಿದಂತೆ. ಶಾತಕರ್ಣಿಯನ್ನು ಎರಡು ಬಾರಿ ಸೋಲಿಸಿದರೂ ಸಂಬಂಧಿ ಎಂದು ಬಿಟ್ಟುಬಿಟ್ಟ. (→ English: Rudradaman · Junagadh inscription · Shaka era · हिन्दी: रुद्रदामन · जूनागढ़ अभिलेख · शक संवत)

In exam EnglishThe most famous Shaka ruler is Rudradaman I, a grandson of Chashtana, who ruled from Ujjain in the middle of the second century CE. He is known from his rock inscription at Junagadh in Saurashtra, dated in year 72 of the Shaka era, that is about 150 CE. No older royal record of such length is composed in reasonably correct Sanskrit; before it, inscriptions were mostly in Prakrit. The record tells the story of the Sudarshana lake: it was first built under Chandragupta Maurya by his provincial governor Pushyagupta, fitted with channels in Ashoka's reign by the Yavana Tushaspha, and burst in a great storm. Rudradaman rebuilt it from his own treasury, without forced labour or extra taxes. The same record boasts that he twice defeated Satakarni, lord of Dakshinapatha, yet spared him because they were closely related. The lake was repaired once more under the Gupta king Skandagupta.

ಈ ಕಾಲದ ಎರಡು ಶಕೆಗಳು ಇಂದಿಗೂ ಬಳಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿವೆ. ವಿಕ್ರಮ ಸಂವತ್ ಕ್ರಿ.ಪೂ. 57ರಿಂದ — ಉಜ್ಜಯಿನಿಯ ವಿಕ್ರಮಾದಿತ್ಯ ಶಕರನ್ನು ಓಡಿಸಿದ ಎಂಬುದು ಜನಪದ ಪರಂಪರೆ; ಆದರೆ ಆ ಕಾಲದ ಶಾಸನವಿಲ್ಲ; ಮೊದಲು ಇದನ್ನು ಕೃತ, ಮಾಲವ ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಶಕ ವರ್ಷ ಕ್ರಿ.ಶ. 78ರಿಂದ — ಕನಿಷ್ಕನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಜೋಡಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ; ಆದರೆ ಅನೇಕ ಇತಿಹಾಸಕಾರರು ಕನಿಷ್ಕನನ್ನು ನಂತರದ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ಇಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಕ್ಷತ್ರಪರು ಶತಮಾನಗಳ ಕಾಲ ಬಳಸಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ಆ ಹೆಸರು. ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಪಂಚಾಂಗ 22 ಮಾರ್ಚ್ 1957ರಿಂದ ಇದನ್ನೇ ಆಧರಿಸಿದೆ. (→ English: Vikrama Samvat · Shaka era · national calendar · हिन्दी: विक्रम संवत · शक संवत · राष्ट्रीय पंचांग)

In exam EnglishTwo eras from this period are still in use. The Vikrama Samvat begins in 57 BCE. Popular tradition links it to a king Vikramaditya of Ujjain who is said to have driven out the Shakas, but no inscription of such a king from that time has been found, and early records call the era by other names, Krita and Malava, before it came to be called Vikrama. The Shaka era begins in 78 CE and is often connected with the accession of the Kushana king Kanishka, though many historians now place Kanishka later. It got its name because the Western Kshatrapas used it for centuries. Independent India adopted a calendar based on the Shaka era as its national calendar, in use from 22 March 1957 alongside the Gregorian calendar.

ಪಾರ್ಥಿಯನ್ನರನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮ ಗ್ರಂಥಗಳು 'ಪಹ್ಲವರು' ಎನ್ನುತ್ತವೆ. ಇವರಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ರಾಜ ಗೊಂಡೋಫರ್ನಿಸ್ — ಕ್ರಿ.ಶ. ಒಂದನೇ ಶತಮಾನ; ಶಕರ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳನ್ನು ವಶಪಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ. ಪಾಕಿಸ್ತಾನದ ತಖ್ತ್-ಇ-ಬಾಹಿ ಬೌದ್ಧ ವಿಹಾರ ಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ಶಾಸನ ಅವನ 26ನೇ ವರ್ಷದ್ದು. ಒಂದು ಹಳೆಯ ಕ್ರೈಸ್ತ ಗ್ರಂಥ ಸಂತ ಥಾಮಸ್ ಅವನ ಆಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದರು ಎನ್ನುತ್ತದೆ — ಇದು ಊರ ಹಿರಿಯರು ಹೇಳುವ ಕಥೆಯಂತಹ ಪರಂಪರೆ, ಸಾಬೀತಾದ ಸತ್ಯವಲ್ಲ. ನಂತರ ಕುಷಾಣರು ಬಂದರು. (→ English: Parthians (Pahlavas) · Gondophares · Takht-i-Bahi · हिन्दी: पह्लव · गोंडोफर्नीज़ · तख़्त-ए-बाही)

In exam EnglishGondophares is the best-known king of the Indo-Parthians, called Pahlavas in Indian texts. The Parthians were rulers of Iran, and a branch of them set up a kingdom in Arachosia, Gandhara and the Indus region in the first century CE, taking over lands that had been held by Shakas. An inscription found at Takht-i-Bahi, a Buddhist monastery site near Mardan in present-day Pakistan, is dated in the twenty-sixth year of Gondophares and helps fix him in the first half of the first century CE. His name has an unusual afterlife: an early Christian text, the Acts of Thomas, says that the apostle Thomas came to the court of a king called Gudnaphar, usually identified with Gondophares. This is a tradition, not a fact proved by Indian evidence. Parthian rule soon gave way to the Kushanas.

ಕುಷಾಣರು ಯುಯೆಝಿ ಜನರ ಐದು ಶಾಖೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು. ಕುಜುಲ ಕಡ್ಫಿಸೆಸ್ ಆ ಶಾಖೆಗಳನ್ನು ಒಂದುಗೂಡಿಸಿದ — ಬೇರೆಬೇರೆ ಕುಟುಂಬಗಳನ್ನು ಮನೆಯ ಯಜಮಾನ ಒಟ್ಟುಗೂಡಿಸಿದಂತೆ; ಅವನ ತಾಮ್ರ ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳು ರೋಮನ್ ಮಾದರಿ. ವಿಮ ಕಡ್ಫಿಸೆಸ್ ಉತ್ತರ ಭಾರತದವರೆಗೆ ವಿಸ್ತರಿಸಿ, ಎತ್ತಿನೊಂದಿಗಿರುವ ಶಿವನ ಚಿತ್ರದ ಚಿನ್ನದ ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇರಳವಾಗಿ ಹೊರಡಿಸಿದ. 1993ರಲ್ಲಿ ಅಫ್ಘಾನಿಸ್ತಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ರಬಾಟಕ್ ಶಾಸನ (ಬ್ಯಾಕ್ಟ್ರಿಯನ್ ಭಾಷೆ, ಗ್ರೀಕ್ ಅಕ್ಷರ) ಕನಿಷ್ಕನ ವಂಶಾವಳಿ ಹೇಳುತ್ತದೆ. ಬಿರುದುಗಳು: ಮಹಾರಾಜ, ರಾಜಾತಿರಾಜ, ದೇವಪುತ್ರ. (→ English: Kushanas · Vima Kadphises · Rabatak inscription · हिन्दी: कुषाण · विम कडफ़िसेस · रबातक अभिलेख)

In exam EnglishThe Kushanas were one of the five branches of the Yuezhi, a people who had been driven west from the borders of China and settled in Bactria. Kujula Kadphises brought the branches together in the first century CE and pushed into the Kabul valley and Gandhara; his copper coins copy Roman designs. Vima Kadphises, a later king, extended Kushana rule into northern India and issued gold coins in large numbers, many showing the god Shiva with a bull, which suggests his own devotion. Their family tree became clearer with the Rabatak inscription, found in northern Afghanistan in 1993. Written in the Bactrian language in Greek letters, it was set up by Kanishka and names his ancestors: Kujula Kadphises, Vima Taktu and Vima Kadphises. Kushana kings took grand titles such as maharaja, rajatiraja and devaputra ('son of god').

ಕುಷಾಣರಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಕನಿಷ್ಕ — ಮಧ್ಯ ಏಷ್ಯಾದಿಂದ ಗಂಗಾ ಕಣಿವೆವರೆಗೆ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ; ರಾಜಧಾನಿ ಪುರುಷಪುರ (ಪೆಶಾವರ್), ಮಥುರಾ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಕೇಂದ್ರ. ಅವನ ಕಾಲ ವಿವಾದದಲ್ಲಿದೆ: ಹಳೆಯ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಕ್ರಿ.ಶ. 78 (ಶಕ ವರ್ಷದ ಆರಂಭ); ಈಗ ಅನೇಕರು ಎರಡನೇ ಶತಮಾನ ಎನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಕಾಶ್ಮೀರದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಲ್ಕನೇ ಬೌದ್ಧ ಸಂಗೀತಿ, ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷ ವಸುಮಿತ್ರ, ಅಶ್ವಘೋಷ ಪ್ರಮುಖ — ಮಹಾಯಾನ ಉದಯದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧ. ಚರಕ, ನಾಗಾರ್ಜುನ ಅವನ ವಲಯದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದರು ಎಂಬುದು ಪರಂಪರೆ. ಮಥುರಾ ಬಳಿ ಮಾಟ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ತಲೆಯಿಲ್ಲದ ಪ್ರತಿಮೆ — ಉದ್ದ ಕೋಟು, ಭಾರೀ ಬೂಟು, ಚಳಿನಾಡಿನವನಂತೆ. (→ English: Kanishka · Shaka era · fourth Buddhist council · Mahayana · हिन्दी: कनिष्क · शक संवत · चौथी बौद्ध संगीति · महायान)

In exam EnglishKanishka is the greatest Kushana ruler. His empire ran from Central Asia to the Ganga valley, with Purushapura (Peshawar) as its main capital and Mathura as a major centre. His date is debated: the old view puts his accession in 78 CE, the start of the Shaka era, while many scholars now prefer a date in the first half of the second century CE. He is remembered as a patron of Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, the fourth Buddhist council was held in Kashmir under his patronage, with Vasumitra presiding and Ashvaghosha, author of the Buddhacharita, as a leading figure; it is linked with the rise of Mahayana. Tradition also places the physician Charaka and the philosopher Nagarjuna in his circle. A headless stone statue from Mat near Mathura, inscribed with his name, shows him in Central Asian dress: a long coat and heavy boots.

ಹಿಂದೆ ಬುದ್ಧನನ್ನು ಪಾದಚಿಹ್ನೆ, ಖಾಲಿ ಆಸನ, ಮರದಂತಹ ಸಂಕೇತಗಳಿಂದ ಮಾತ್ರ ತೋರಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು; ಈಗ ಮನುಷ್ಯರೂಪದ ಮೂರ್ತಿಗಳು ಬಂದವು. ಗಾಂಧಾರ ಕಲಾ ಶೈಲಿ — ವಾಯುವ್ಯ, ಬೂದು ಬಣ್ಣದ ಕಲ್ಲು, ಗ್ರೀಕ್-ರೋಮನ್ ಛಾಯೆ: ಗುಂಗುರು ಕೂದಲು, ಆಳವಾದ ನೆರಿಗೆಯ ಉಡುಪು. ಮಥುರಾ ಕಲಾ ಶೈಲಿ — ಚುಕ್ಕೆಗಳ ಕೆಂಪು ಮರಳುಗಲ್ಲು, ದೇಶೀ ಪರಂಪರೆ, ದೃಢಕಾಯದ ನಗುಮುಖದ ಬುದ್ಧ; ಜೈನ, ಹಿಂದೂ ದೇವತೆಗಳು, ಕುಷಾಣ ರಾಜರ ಪ್ರತಿಮೆಗಳೂ. ಅಮರಾವತಿ ಕಲಾ ಶೈಲಿ — ಕೃಷ್ಣಾ ಕಣಿವೆ, ಬಿಳಿ ಸುಣ್ಣದಕಲ್ಲು, ಕಥೆ ಹೇಳುವ ಉಬ್ಬುಶಿಲ್ಪಗಳು, ಚಿತ್ರಕಥೆಯ ಪುಸ್ತಕದಂತೆ. (→ English: Gandhara school of art · Mathura school of art · Amaravati school of art · हिन्दी: गांधार कला शैली · मथुरा कला शैली · अमरावती कला शैली)

In exam EnglishUnder Kushana and Satavahana patronage three schools of sculpture grew up, and all three showed the Buddha in human form, where earlier art had used only symbols such as a footprint, an empty seat or a tree. The Gandhara school of art flourished in the northwest, around Peshawar, Taxila and eastern Afghanistan. Working mostly in grey schist and later in stucco, its sculptors drew on Greek and Roman models: the Buddha has wavy hair, a calm, idealised face and a robe with heavy, deep folds. The Mathura school of art used the local spotted red sandstone and grew from older Indian traditions of yaksha figures. Its Buddhas look robust and cheerful, and the same workshops carved Jain tirthankaras, Hindu deities and portrait statues of Kushana kings. The Amaravati school of art, in the lower Krishna valley under the Satavahanas and later the Ikshvakus, worked in white limestone (often called marble) and excelled at crowded narrative reliefs. Historians still debate whether the first Buddha images were made in Gandhara or at Mathura.
Three schools of sculpture compared
GandharaMathuraAmaravati
RegionNorthwest: Peshawar, Taxila, eastern AfghanistanMathura in the Ganga-Yamuna doabLower Krishna valley (Andhra Pradesh)
MaterialGrey schist; later stuccoSpotted red sandstoneWhite limestone, often called marble
StyleGreek and Roman influence: wavy hair, heavy drapery foldsIndian roots in yaksha figures; robust, cheerful figuresLively narrative reliefs crowded with figures
SubjectsMainly BuddhistBuddhist, Jain and Brahmanical images; Kushana royal portraitsMainly Buddhist: stories from the Buddha's life and the Jatakas
Main patronsKushanas (and Shakas)KushanasSatavahanas, then the Ikshvakus

ಕುಶಲಕರ್ಮಿಗಳು — ನೇಕಾರರು, ಕುಂಬಾರರು, ಗಾಣಿಗರು — ಶ್ರೇಣಿ ಎಂಬ ಸಂಘಗಳಾಗಿದ್ದರು; ಇಂದಿನ ಸಹಕಾರಿ ಬ್ಯಾಂಕಿನಂತೆ ಅವು ಹಣವನ್ನೂ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು. ಉಷವದಾತ ನೇಕಾರರ ಶ್ರೇಣಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಣ ಇಟ್ಟು, ಬಡ್ಡಿಯಿಂದ ಭಿಕ್ಷುಗಳಿಗೆ ಬಟ್ಟೆ ಸಿಗುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡಿದ. ಭೂಮಾರ್ಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಷಾಣರು ರೇಷ್ಮೆ ಮಾರ್ಗದ ಮೇಲೆ ಕುಳಿತಿದ್ದರು — ಹೆದ್ದಾರಿಯ ಟೋಲ್ ಗೇಟ್ ಅವರ ಕೈಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಂತೆ. ಸಮುದ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಂಗಾರು ಗಾಳಿ ಬಳಸಿ ರೋಮ್ ಜೊತೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿತು: ಮೆಣಸು, ನಯವಾದ ಹತ್ತಿ ಬಟ್ಟೆ, ಮುತ್ತು ಹೋದವು; ಚಿನ್ನದ ನಾಣ್ಯ, ಮದ್ಯ, ಗಾಜು ಬಂದವು. ಅರಿಕಮೇಡು, ರೋಮನ್ ನಾಣ್ಯ ನಿಧಿಗಳು ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ. (→ English: shreni (guild) · Silk Road · Periplus · Arikamedu · हिन्दी: श्रेणी · रेशम मार्ग · पेरिप्लस · अरिकामेडु)

In exam EnglishCrafts and commerce boomed. Weavers, potters, oil-pressers and other artisans were organised in guilds, each a shreni (guild) with its own head and rules. Guilds also acted as banks: a Nasik cave inscription of Ushavadata, Nahapana's son-in-law, records money placed with weavers' guilds so that the interest would pay for robes for monks. Overland, the Kushanas sat across the Silk Road, so Chinese silk passed through their lands. By sea, sailors had learned to use the monsoon winds across the Arabian Sea, and trade with the Roman empire grew sharply in the first century CE. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greek guide written by an unknown merchant in that century, lists ports such as Barygaza (Bharuch) and Muziris on the Kerala coast, and the Roman writer Pliny the Elder grumbled that the eastern trade drained Rome of large sums. India sent pepper, fine cotton cloth, pearls and precious stones, and received gold and silver coins, wine and glassware. Roman coin hoards in south India and Roman pottery at Arikamedu near Puducherry confirm the trade.

ಧರ್ಮದಲ್ಲೂ ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ಬಂತು. ಮಹಾಯಾನ ಬಲಗೊಂಡಿತು — ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಬೋಧಿಸತ್ವ ಎಂದರೆ ತನ್ನ ಮುಕ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಮುಂದೂಡಿ ಇತರರಿಗೆ ನೆರವಾಗುವವನು; ದೋಣಿ ಮುಳುಗಿದಾಗ ಎಲ್ಲರನ್ನೂ ದಡ ಸೇರಿಸಿದ ಮೇಲೆಯೇ ತಾನು ಇಳಿಯುವ ಅಂಬಿಗನಂತೆ. ಬುದ್ಧ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಪೂಜೆ ಶುರುವಾಯಿತು. ವಾಸುದೇವ-ಕೃಷ್ಣ (ಭಾಗವತ), ಶಿವ ಭಕ್ತಿಯೂ ಹರಡಿದವು. ವಿದೇಶಿ ರಾಜರು ಇಲ್ಲಿಯವರೇ ಆದರು: ಮಿನಾಂಡರ್ ಬೌದ್ಧ, ಹೆಲಿಯೊಡೊರಸ್ ಭಾಗವತ, ರುದ್ರದಾಮನ್ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ. ರಾಜಕೀಯ ವಿಭಜನೆ ಎಂದರೆ ಅವನತಿಯಲ್ಲ. ಮುಂದೆ ಭಾಗ 3ರಲ್ಲಿ ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಭಾರತ. (→ English: Mahayana · bodhisattva · Bhagavata · हिन्दी: महायान · बोधिसत्व · भागवत)

In exam EnglishReligion changed as much as politics. In Buddhism the Mahayana way grew strong: it placed the ideal of the bodhisattva, a being who delays his own release to help others, at the centre, and it encouraged the worship of the Buddha's image. Devotional worship of Vasudeva-Krishna (the Bhagavata cult) and of Shiva also spread, as the Heliodorus pillar of Part 1 and the Shiva coins of Vima Kadphises show. Foreign rulers did not stay foreign: Menander is remembered as a Buddhist, Heliodorus called himself a Bhagavata, Rudradaman wrote in Sanskrit, and the Kushanas took Indian titles and gods. These centuries show that political division did not mean decline: coins, sculpture and trade all grew richer. The far south, linked to the same sea trade, is the subject of Part 3.

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. The Indo-Greek king Menander, who appears in the Milindapanha, ruled from

  1. Sakala
  2. Purushapura
  3. Ujjain
  4. Pratishthana
Show answer

Answer: A. Sakala

Answer (a). Menander ruled from Sakala, modern Sialkot. Purushapura (b) was Kanishka's capital; Ujjain (c) was the seat of the Kardamaka Shakas such as Rudradaman; Pratishthana (d) was the Satavahana capital.

Q2. Consider the following statements:
1. Rudradaman I had his record at Junagadh composed in Sanskrit rather than Prakrit.
2. According to that inscription, the Sudarshana lake was first built in the reign of Ashoka.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Answer (a). Statement 1 is correct: it is the earliest long inscription in fairly correct Sanskrit. Statement 2 is wrong: the lake was first built under Chandragupta Maurya by Pushyagupta; under Ashoka the Yavana Tushaspha only added channels. So (b) and (c) fail, and (d) wrongly rejects statement 1.

Q3. Match List I (inscription) with List II (ruler it is chiefly associated with):
List I: A. Rabatak inscription B. Takht-i-Bahi inscription C. Junagadh inscription
List II: 1. Rudradaman I 2. Kanishka 3. Gondophares
Select the correct code:

  1. A-2, B-3, C-1
  2. A-3, B-2, C-1
  3. A-1, B-3, C-2
  4. A-2, B-1, C-3
Show answer

Answer: A. A-2, B-3, C-1

Answer (a). Rabatak was set up by Kanishka; the Takht-i-Bahi inscription is dated in Gondophares' reign; Junagadh records Rudradaman I. Option (b) swaps Rabatak and Takht-i-Bahi; (c) gives Rabatak to Rudradaman and Junagadh to Kanishka; (d) swaps Takht-i-Bahi and Junagadh.

Q4. Since 22 March 1957 India has officially used a national calendar alongside the Gregorian one. Which era does that national calendar follow?

  1. Vikrama Samvat
  2. Shaka era
  3. Gupta era
  4. Hijri era
Show answer

Answer: B. Shaka era

Answer (b). The national calendar is based on the Shaka era, which begins in 78 CE. The Vikrama Samvat (a) begins in 57 BCE and is used in many regional calendars but is not the national one; the Gupta era (c) and the Hijri era (d) were never its basis.

Q5. Consider the following statements:
1. The Mathura school of sculpture worked mainly in spotted red sandstone.
2. The Mathura school made only Buddhist images.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Answer (a). Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: Mathura workshops also carved Jain tirthankaras, Hindu deities and Kushana royal portraits. So (b) and (c) accept a false statement, and (d) rejects a true one.

Q6. According to Buddhist tradition, the fourth Buddhist council, held in Kashmir under Kanishka, was presided over by

  1. Mahakassapa
  2. Moggaliputta Tissa
  3. Vasumitra
  4. Nagasena
Show answer

Answer: C. Vasumitra

Answer (c). Vasumitra presided, with Ashvaghosha as a leading figure. Mahakassapa (a) presided over the first council at Rajagriha; Moggaliputta Tissa (b) over the third council at Pataliputra under Ashoka; Nagasena (d) is the monk who answers Menander in the Milindapanha.

Q7. Consider the following statements:
1. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea was written by the Roman author Pliny the Elder.
2. Excavations at Arikamedu near Puducherry have yielded Roman pottery.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: B. 2 only

Answer (b). Statement 1 is wrong: the Periplus is a Greek guide by an unknown merchant; Pliny wrote separately and complained about the drain of money to the East. Statement 2 is correct. So (a) and (c) accept the false statement, and (d) rejects the true one.

Q8. Which Kushana ruler first issued gold coins on a large scale, many of them showing Shiva with a bull?

  1. Kujula Kadphises
  2. Vima Kadphises
  3. Gondophares
  4. Menander
Show answer

Answer: B. Vima Kadphises

Answer (b). Vima Kadphises issued gold coins in large numbers, many with Shiva and a bull. Kujula Kadphises (a) is known for copper coins copying Roman designs; Gondophares (c) was an Indo-Parthian, not a Kushana; Menander (d) was an Indo-Greek king.

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