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Situated on the border between what is now
Pakistan and Afghanistan, the kingdom of
Gandhara contained several notable cities that
flourished between the 6th century B.C. and the
11th century A.D. It saw enormous changes with
the ebb and flow of contemporary superpowers.
It also became a center of learning (notably with
the invention of the Kharosti alphabet) and of
religious pilgrimage, as this is where the holy
scriptures of Buddha were kept. Prior to this in
the 6th century B.C. Gandhara was absorbed into
the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire. The collapse of
this dynasty led to a series of power struggles
that ended with the crushing of native armies by
Alexander the Great in 327 B.C. This was
followed by the attack by Demetrius of Bactria,
and while the area was Graeco-Bactrian for some
time, it eventually gained independence under
King Menander in the mid 2nd century B.C. The
final effects of Greek colonialism were eroded by
about 50 B.C. under a fierce campaign headed by
the Parthians. While catastrophic to social order
at the time, the cultural diversity of the region
was greatly enhanced by the appearance of the
Greeks, especially in terms of artistic production.
Even after the Greeks had gone, their legacy
endured in the aesthetics that makes Gandhara
art unique.
The golden period of Gandharan art dates to c.
100-200 A.D. with the arrival of the Kushans, a
Central Asian group under whose governorship
the arts and sciences flourished as never before.
The mixture of different cultures produced a
completely unique set of architectural and artistic
traditions. Their greatest monarch, Kanishka,
encouraged the arts, and under his reign totally
new conventions were to develop including the
earliest depictions of the Buddha in human form.
The cultural syncretism between eastern themes
and western styles has become known as Greco-
Buddhism, and is one of the most remarkable –
and successful – examples of cultural fusion in
history. Everything from architecture to
sculpture, coinage and even jewelry developed in
new and extraordinary ways. Myths and figures
from Greek mythology – such as Atlas, or
Dionysus – are also found in some friezes and
paintings. The Buddhas resemble Greek kings in
ersatz togas, sitting in houses influenced by the
Corinthian model, while Bodhisattvas and other
religious figures are often depicted with startling
realism as bare-chested Indian princes.
- (SF.077)
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