Essay name: Scythian Elements in early Indian Art
Author:
Swati Ray
Affiliation: University of Calcutta / Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture
This essay studies Scythian Elements in early Indian Art—a topic that has not garnered extensive scholarly attention. Although much research has focused on various aspects of Saka/Scythian culture, such as politics and numismatics, their contribution to Indian art remains underexplored. This essay delves into archaeological evidence, historical texts, and art forms from Eurasian steppes to decipher the Scythian impact.
Chapter 1 - Introduction—Scope, Sources and Method of Study
4 (of 13)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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south-east of the Hindu Kush was within its limit), ArachosiaÂą (south-eastern
Afghanistan around Ghazni and Kandahar) and Gedrosia² (in a part of
Baluchistan). The territory of Afghanistan outside the Hindu Kush was
generally called Ariana. Therefore, “Scythian Elements in Early India Art"
would be of considerable help to ascertain the importance of the Saka
/Scythian elements in the formation of the composite nature of Indian culture.
The historiography devoted to the Scythians and their art is vast. The
"animal style" was the chief characteristic of the art of the Scythians, Scytho-
Siberians, Ĺšaka and other Eurasian nomads. Throughout the twentieth
century, this “animal style� has been studied in specialist and general works
like The Scythians and Greeks by E.H.Minns, Scythian Art by G. Borovka,
Iranians and Greeks in South Russia by M. I. Rostovtsev, The Splendour of
Scythian Art by M. I. Artamonov and others. Minns' book is invaluable for the
study of Black Sea antiquities of the Scythians. Texts representing museum
exhibitions or publications of major burials (as for example, L. K. Galanina's
work on Kurdzhipskiy Kurgan, 1980 etc.) are mostly in Russian or Ukrainian,
and they contain the heart and matter of Scythology. Veronique Schiltz in Les
1 Geog. Cla. Pt., p. 147.
² Ibid., p. 148.
