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 4 - Scythian / Saka Art
104 (of 115)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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degeneration of animal forms which we may call transmutation. The
compactness lost much of its significance in the eastern section, where
animal art was a tool for ornamentation in the micro. The macro aspect in
the west lost much of its relevance, as there were further changes in
mediums. Significantly, gold was not much used. The narrative aspect, as
seen from vessels of silver gilt found at Chastyye Mogily and Solokha, has
not been seen in the eastern section. Objects from the Solokha barrow
revealed the disappearance of archaic elements and there was somehow a
vital Hellenization of virtually all the motifs. The panther is altogether
replaced by the lion, the eagle by the griffin. Horses and boars appear with
deer as prey; all are treated with the same idealized realism apparent in the
handling of the predators. Graceful tendrils interwoven with flowers emerge
as significant ornamental motifs. They and the birds and insects that adorn
them represent the closest Scythian art comes to a deliberate reference to a
landscape. Most important, however, is the appearance of human
representation: idealized, vigorous, and apparently narrative in import.
A careful reading of the style and technology of many of the best
objects in the western section of the Scythian art indicates a merging of
the Hellenic with Scythian elements and an application of Hellenized
