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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.
- (OF.172)
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