CHAPTER XV

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INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE.

An Aryan race of people came into India about B.C. 2000 across the Upper Indus. They settled in the first instance in the Punjab, in the watershed of the Sutlej and the Jumna, and finally in Oude and the east. After one thousand years they lost their purity of race by mixing with the aboriginal natives.

About this time the prophet Sakya Muni, or Buddha, arose, and apparently succeeded in converting nearly the whole of Northern India to Buddhism. He died in B.C. 543, and three hundred years after his death, or about B.C. 250, King Asoka proclaimed Buddhism as the state religion, and for about one thousand years after it continued as the state religion of India, although at the present day there are said to be no native Buddhists in India.

Historic art in India began in Asoka’s reign. The earlier rock-tombs and other architecture of Asoka’s time are evidently stone copies of still earlier wooden constructions.

Monuments consisting of edict columns or _lats_, peculiar to this period, have been found in isolated positions erected to the honour of Buddha in the neighbourhood of Allahabad and Delhi; they are above thirty-three feet in height, and have a curved, inverted, bell-shaped capital on which probably stood a wheel, the emblem, or a lion, the symbol, of Buddha. This capital is similar in form to the base of a Persian column, and some of the ornamentation around the neck of the column is composed of Greek and Assyrian forms, all of which proves that the early Indian art owes something to Assyria, Persia, and Greece (Fig. 324). Probably this came about by the subjugation of Persia by Alexander the Great, who is said to have pushed his conquests as far as the banks of the Indus.

[Illustration: Fig. 324.—Ornament from Asoka’s Pillar, Allahabad. (B.)]

The next great immigration that we hear about is that of the Southern Dravidian people, who crossed the Lower Indus to Guzerat, and in course of time had settled themselves in the southern angle of India, in the Madras Presidency. They were a great building race of people. Another immigration took place in the first or second century B.C., and continued for some centuries after the Christian era. These people occupied nearly the western half of India, and erected buildings from Mysore in the south to Delhi in the north. This architecture is known as the Chalukya and Jaina styles. The fourth great immigration was that of the Mohammedans from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries.

The four principal styles of Indian architecture are the Buddhist, the Dravidian, the Northern Hindoo, and the Chalukyan or Jaina.

In addition to the edict-pillars as illustrations of Buddhist architecture, many solid mounds of masonry, called topes, dagobas, or stupas, are found in some parts of the Punjab and north of India. These are relic-mounds, erected over the supposed relics of Buddha and of Buddhist priests, and are sometimes erected alone to the honour of Buddha. One of the most important is the Sanchi Tope in Bhopal, Central India (Fig. 325). Mr. Ferguson, in his “Study of Indian Architecture,” describes this remarkable monument as follows: “It was built probably (the tope) B.C. 500, the stone railing B.C. 250, and the gateways A.D. 19 to 37. The principal part of the building consists of a dome 106 feet in diameter and 42 feet in height. The fence by which this tope is surrounded is extremely curious. It consists of stone posts 8 feet 8 inches in height, and a little more than 2 feet apart, surmounted by a plain architrave, and between every two uprights three horizontal cross-pieces of stone are inserted.

Still more curious are the four stone torans or gateways, one of which—the eastern—is shown at Fig. 325. It consists of two square pillars covered with sculptures, and with bold elephant capitals, rising to a height of 18 feet 4 inches. Above these are four lintels slightly curved upwards in the centre, and ending in Ionic scrolls; they are supported by continuations of the columns, and three uprights are inserted between the lintels. All this construction is covered over with elaborate sculpture, and surmounted by emblems. The total height is 33 feet 6 inches.” Sir G. Birdwood says: “The symbols are the _trisula_, the _wheel_, and the _lion_, representing the Buddhistic triad, Buddha, the law, and the congregation. The ground plan of the stupas or topes, with the return railings and the projecting doorways or entrances, form a gigantic swastika (‘auspicious'’), the mystic cross (fylfot) of the Buddhists.” Ferguson says the Buddhist dagoba is a direct descendant of the sepulchral tumulus of the Turanian races, like those found in Etruria, Lydia, and among the Scyths of the Northern Steppes.

It is plainly seen that the details of Buddhistic ornament are derived from Greek and Assyrian sources mixed with Buddhist emblems; a few native ideas may be seen in the construction, and in the substituting of the Indian elephant for the Assyrian or Persian bull. A fine cast of the Sanchi gateway may be seen in the South Kensington Museum.

[Illustration: Fig. 325.—The Sanchi Tope, Bhopal, Central India.]

As an example of Hindu or Brahminical architecture the rock-cut temple at Ellora, called the Kylas, or “Paradise,” is one of the finest and most wonderful (Fig. 326). The interior of the temple is not only cut out of the solid rock, but the exterior also, with its wonderfully rich square porch, and its two great square pillars or deepdans (lamposts) left standing in front, all literally cut out of the solid rock.

[Illustration: Fig. 326.—Brahminical Rock-Temple at Ellora.]

The interior, which has excited the wonder and admiration of all travellers, is rectangular in plan; the pillars are square and very short in proportion to their breadth; the bases are composed of plinth, circular hollows, and a torus moulding; the square shaft is fluted, the upper extremity of which is convex and ornamented with foliage; and above this are rings, neck, and a capital in the shape of a depressed sphere. Above the capital are bracket supports, on which the beams rest. The roof is panelled, and each panel has a central floral decoration. The Kylas was supposed to have been cut out of the rock by the Southern Dravidians. The Hindu or Brahminical temples of the earliest type exhibit a marked imitation of timber construction in almost every detail (Fig. 327).

[Illustration: Fig. 327.—Temple of Biskurma at Ellora.]

Brahminical architecture has three varieties—the Dravidian, which is common to the Dakhan, south of the Kistna; the Chalukyan, between the Kistna and the Mahanuddi; and the Indo-Aryan, which prevails in Hindustan. The Dravidian temple is characterized by a horizontal system of storied towers, and has a grand and imposing look of solemnity. Examples of Dravidian architecture occur in the temples at Seringham, Tinnevelly, Madura, Perin, Vellore, &c.

The Chalukyan is distinguished by its star-like plan and pyramidal tower. The great double temple of Siva at Hullabeed, Mysore, is an example of this architecture. It is remarkable for its rich system of sculptured friezes. The building is raised from the ground by a terrace five or six feet in height; above this is an extraordinary frieze of two thousand sculptured elephants; the next frieze above is composed of lions, then a band of rich floriated scroll-work; above this is a frieze of horsemen, then another band of scroll-work; and over this appears the frieze with the conquest of Ceylon by Rama; other friezes and bands above this are divided by mouldings, and have celestial birds and beasts; a scroll-work cornice over all supporting a rail divided into panels, in each of which are two figures. Windows of pierced stone are over these, and groups of sculptured gods of the Hindu pantheon at regular intervals. The usual towers are wanting in this wonderful building, and doubtless would have been added afterwards had not the work been stopped owing to the Mohammedan invasion in A.D. 1310. Other temples of the Chalukyan style are seen at Somnathpur, at Baillur, in Mysore, and at Buchropully.

The Jainas sect makes its appearance in India about the seventh or eight century. They did not believe in the divine inspiration of the Vedas, or sacred books of the Hindus, but as long as they observed caste and acknowledged the gods of the Hindu pantheon—which they strictly did—the Brahmans did not question any other of their particular beliefs, and refrained from persecuting them. If the Buddhists, for instance, had only conformed to the observance of caste, they would never have been driven out of India by the Hindu devotees of caste.

The Jainas are peculiar in their worship of their four-and-twenty saints called “Jins.”

The architecture of the Jainas began when the Buddhist was dying out. One of the characteristics of Jaina architecture is the horizontal archway, and another is the bracket form of capital (Fig. 328).

[Illustration:

Fig. 328.—Pillar and Bracket, Doorway of a Pagoda. ]

Jaina temples are found at Palatina and Girnar in Gujarat, and the famous “Tower of Victory,” erected to commemorate the victory of the Rajput raja Khambo over Mahmud of Malwa, A.D. 1439.

An interesting illustration of the transition of Indian architecture to Mohammedan forms occurs in the Mosque of Moháfiz Khan, at Ahmedabad. This mosque was built in the sixteenth century, and is Hindu in character, with a Saracenic influence in the decoration and other details. The great omissions in the sculptures are the animal and figure forms, so dear to the Hindu artist, but the Moslem religion forbids the representation of these, and in place of figures in the window spaces we see some of the first indications of Saracenic tracery, executed most likely by Hindu workmen. These windows are typical of, and similar to, the exceedingly fine tracery of the windows of the Buddha at Ahmedabad, which consist of beautiful stems and floral tracery.

From the eighth to the eighteenth centuries India was subject to the invasions of the Arabs, the Afghans, and Mongols, who devastated the country and sacked and pillaged many of the finest Hindu shrines, and, on the other hand, built some magnificent mosques and palaces, in which the Saracenic influences are predominant.

The palace of Delhi was built in 1627-1658 by the Mongol Emperor Shah Jehan, the king who built the present city of Delhi, which city contains the finest examples of the Mohammedan style in India. The Dewanne Khas, or principal hall of the palace of Delhi (Fig. 329), is a very rich and ornate example of this style. It is vaulted like a Gothic cathedral and is inlaid throughout with rich marbles and mosaic work. It has a niche inlaid with precious stones in which once stood the famous peacock throne of Delhi. The throne was made in enamelled work, in the shape of a peacock with a spread-out tail, and was set with diamonds and precious stones to imitate the natural colours of the peacock. It was carried off by Nadir Shah at the sacking of Delhi, A.D. 1738.

[Illustration: Fig. 329.—Interior of the Palace at Delhi; Seventeenth Century.]

Around the frieze of one of the halls of this palace runs the famous inscription, “If there is a heaven on earth, it is this, it is this.”

One of the loveliest and most impressive buildings in India is the Taj Mehal at Agra, on the river Jumna. It is in Mohammedan style with domes and minarets, and is erected on a platform 300 feet square and 18 feet in height. It was erected by the Emperor Shah Jehan about 1645 as the tomb of his favourite wife. The Emperor himself is also buried in the Taj. On the centre of the platform is the tomb, 186 feet square, with the corners cut off; over this rises the dome, 58 feet in diameter and 80 feet in height. The outside of the building is faced with white marble, inlaid with beautiful designs in coloured marbles and precious stones. The effect of this beautiful building in its dazzling whiteness surrounded by luxuriant vegetation, as seen under a moonlit sky, is said to be enchanting and beyond description.

The industrial arts of India will be noticed in the second volume of this work.

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