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鈥攁 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 3 - Advent of the Sakas and the Saka-Pahlavas
17 (of 18)
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started long before the date of his Geographike Huphegesis i.e. the second or
third quarter of the second century A.D. Thus the advent of the Sakas in the
territory concerned might have taken place even before the dawn of the
Christian Era.鹿 There is no evidence of a Saka migration to the lower Indus
area in the period of the Achaemenids of Persia. So the Arsacid dynasty or the
Imperial Parthians of the East, which ruled from c. 250 B.C. to c. A.D. 227 or
A.D. 228/29, after ousting the Greek successors of the Achaemenids and
Alexander, witnessed the first 艢aka activities in the lower Indus country.
Ptolemy's provinces of Indo-Scythia coincides with two of the three territories
indicated in the Jaina K膩lak膩ch膩rya-kath膩naka which were colonized by the
Sagas虏 or 艢akas by the first century B.C. before the latter settled in Saurashtra.
Also the Periplous Tes Erythras Thalasses (or the Periplus Maris Erythraei), a
text probably of the first century A.D. locates Scythia in the lower Indus area.鲁
Thus, the testimonies of the K膩lak膩ch膩raya-kath膩naka and Geographike
Huphegesis not only indicate the presence of a Saka colony on the lower Indus
including Patalene probably under the rule of the Imperial Parthians but also
the activities of the Sakas or Scythians in Saurashtra.
'E. H. Bunbury, A History of Ancient Geography [2nd edition], Vol. II, p.548.
2 虏 N. Brown, The Story of K膩laka, Washington, 1933, p.40.
3 Periplus, Section 38, translated by W. H. Schoff, New York, 1912.
