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 7 - Epilogue
2 (of 4)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
245
The present thesis has been specially oriented towards understanding
the Saka/Scythian elements in early Indian art. The interpretations proposed
here will not be accepted by all, as it depends on individual perspectives in
reading them.
The line of investigation pursued by us had thus been divided into two
distinct fields of enquiry. One was related to the Saka/Scythian identification
and the other to Saka/Scythian (Saka/Scythian) elements in early Indian art
with possible extensions. Accordingly, Chapter I deals with the scope, sources
and method of our study, keeping in mind the available historiography and
recent excavation findings. We have seen that the steppe nomads left behind
no written testimonies to their beliefs and practices. Scholars, therefore, in
their efforts to understand them depend on archaeological evidences, on
chronicles kept at royal courts in the Near East and China, and on Greek and
Roman authors most of whom wrote about what was interesting to them, not
necessarily to art historians and archaeologists today. Often, the archaeological
evidence is at odds with the written. Connected with this, is the geographical
connotation of Saka/Scythia, which we have dealt with in Chapter II. In
Chapter III we have determined the advent and rule of the Sakas and Åšaka-
Pahlavas in the Indian subcontinent. Before dealing with the Saka/Scythian
elements in early Indian art, we have dealt with Scythian-Siberian-Saka art of
