Preface xi
Acknowledgments and Credits xiii
A Note on Pronunciation and Transliteration of Sanskrit xix

Introduction xxiii

Geographical Considerations xxiii
The Problem of Dating xxv
Art and Culture xxvi

PART ONE: Foundations of Indic Civilization: The Prehistoric and Protohistoric Periods

1. Antecedents of Indic Civilization 3
Stone Age Painting and Sculpture 3
Early Neolithic Art 5
Conclusion 8

2. The Indus (or Harappa) Civilization (ca. 2300 to 1750 BC) 9
The Cities and Towns 10
Sculpture 12
Seals 18
Pottery 24
The Eclipse of the Indus Civilization 25

3. The Vedic and Upanisadic Periods (ca. 1500 to 450 BC) 26
The Indo-Aryans 26
Literary Evidence: The Vedas (ca. 1500 to 800 BC) 27
Literary Evidence: The Upanisads (ca. 800 to 450 BC) 28
Other Literary Evidence: The Puranas and Epics 30
Mahavira, Sakyamuni Buddha, and the Rise of Magadha 31
Archaeological Evidence 33
Other Indigenous Trends: Megalithic Remains of Southern India 34
Conclusion 36

PART TWO: Period of the Early Dynasties

4. The Maurya Period (ca. 323 to 185 BC) 41
Edicts and Pillars 43
Rock-cut Architecture 48
Other Asokan Monuments 50
Maurya-period Sculpture from Pataliputra 51
Maurya-period Terra-cotta Sculpture 54
Conclusion 55

5. The Sunga Period and Related Developments (ca. Second Century to First Century BC) 56
Vidisa in the Sunga Period 57
The Mathura Region During the Sunga Period 60
Buddhist Art of the Sunga Period: Free-standing Architectural Monuments 61
Rock-cut Architecture of the Sunga Period: The Western Deccan 74
The Eastern Deccan: The Andhra Pradesh Region 85
Sunga-period Terra Cottas 88
Conclusion 89

6. Regional Developments (ca. Late First Century BC Through First Century AD) 90
The Vidisa Region: Sanci 91
Buddhist Rock-cut Architecture of the Western Deccan: Bedsa 100
Eastern India: Khandagiri/Udayagiri 105
Conclusion 108

7. The Saka and Parthian Kingdoms in the Indic Sphere (ca. First Century BC to Mid-First Century AD) 109
Introduction to the Bactro-Gandhara Region 109
The Kapisa Region 110
The Gaudhara Region 116
The Swat Valley (Ancient Uddiyana) 119
Northern India (The Mathura Region) 122
Conclusion 123

8. The Northwest and Northern Regions Under the Kusanas (ca. Late First Century to Third Century AD) 125
Royal Shrines 126
The Bactro-Gandhara Region: Architecture 130
The Bactro-Gandhara Region: Sculpture 133
Northern India: Mathura and Related Sites 150
Non-Buddhist Sculpture at Mathura 159
Conclusion 162

9. Regional Developments in the Deccan (ca. Second and Third Centuries) 163
The Western Deccan Caves 163
The Eastern Deccan: The Andhra Pradesh Region Under the Later Satavahanas and Iksvakus 174
Conclusion 183

PART THREE: Dynasties of the Middle Period

10. The Gupta Period (Fourth to Sixth Centuries) 187
Hindu Art of the Early Gupta Period 188
Buddhist Art of the Fifth Century: North-Central India (Sanci) 196
Buddhist Art of the Fifth Century: North India (Mathura and Sarnath) 200
Buddhist Art in the Northwest 205
Hindu Temple Architecture 206
Brick Temples and Terra-cotta Art 213
Metal Images 218
Conclusion 218

11. The Gupta Aftermath 220
The Disintegration of the Empire 220
Outgrowths of the Gupta Idioms (ca. 550 to 700) 222
Eastern India 223
Buddhist Art in the East 223
Hindu Art in the East 227
Western Indian Developments 229
Conclusion 236

12. Buddhist Cave Architecture (Fifth Through Seventh Centuries) 239
Ajanta 239
Bagh 260
Kanheri 262
Aurangabad 265
Ellora 268
Conclusion 274

13. Hindu Rock-cut Architecture of the Deccan (Kalacuri and Early Western Calukya Phases) 275
The Early Kalacuri Period 275
Caves of the Early Western Calukyas 282
Conclusion 290

14. Southern Developments Under the Pallavas and the Pandayas 291
The Pallavas 291
The Early Pandayas 319
Conclusion 321

15. The Early Western Calukya and Related Schools of the Deccan 322
Structural Temples of the Early Western Calukyas 322
The Eastern Calukyas 337
The Nojambas 338
Conclusion 340

16. Hindu Rock-cut Architecture of the Western Deccan 341
Ellora (Ratrakuta Phase) 341
Conclusion 350

PART FOUR: Later Northern Schools

17. Kasmir and Related Schools 353
Pre-Karkota Remains 354
The Karkota Period (ca. 625 to 855) 357
The Utpala Dynasty (ca. 855 to 939) 365
The Two Lohara Dynasties and the Last Hindu Kings (Tenth to Fourteenth Centuries) 368
Kasmiri Ivories and Metal Images 368
The Art of Adjacent Regions: Western Himalayan Foothills and Western Tibetan Cultural Region 374
Conclusion 385

18. Bihar and Bengal Under the Pala and Sena Kings 387
Buddhist Art 389
Hindu Art 407
Conclusion 413

19. Orissa and Related Regions 415
Sripura (Sirpur) and Rajim: Madhya Pradesh 415
Hindu Art and Architecture of Orissa 421
Buddhist Art of Orissa 444
Conclusion 448

20. North-Central and Northwestern India: The Art of the Rajput Clans 449
The Gurjara-Pratiharas of Kanauj (ca. 730 to 1027) 452
The Haihayas (or Kalacuris) of Tripuri 462
The Candellas of Bundelkhand 466
The Paramaras of Malwa 480
The Solankis of Gujarat (ca. 950 to 1304 [961–1244?]) 483
The Gahadvalas of Varanasi (ca. 1075 to 1200) 499
Manuscript Painting 500
Conclusion 502

PART FIVE: Later Schools of the Deccan and the South

21. The Cola and Related Schools of the Tamil South (Mid-Ninth to Thirteenth Centuries) 509
Conclusion 538

22. Later Deccan Schools 540
The Western Gangas of Talakad (Tenth Century) 541
The Later Calukyas of Kalyani (973 to ca. 1189) 543
The Yadavas of Devagiri (1191 to 1311) 548
The Kakatiyas of Hanamkonda and Warangal (ca. Mid-Eleventh Century to ca. 1325) 549
The Hoysalas of Southern Karnataka (ca. 1006 to 1346) 555
Conclusion 572

23. The Vijayanagar Period (ca. 1336 to 1565) 573
Conclusion 586

24. The Nayak Period 587
Conclusion 600

25. The Keraja Region 601
Conclusion 615

Afterword 617
Notes 619
Select Bibliography 659
Glossary 715
List of Maps 733
Illustration Index 735
Index 747