| Pillars of Ashoka | |
|---|---|
 One of the Pillars of Ashoka, inVaishali | |
| Material | Polishedsandstone |
| Period/culture | 3rd century BC |
Known locations of the Pillars of Ashoka[1] | |
Thepillars of Ashoka are a series ofmonolithic columns dispersed throughout theIndian subcontinent, erected—or at least inscribed withedicts—by the 3rdMauryan EmperorAshoka the Great, who reigned fromc. 268 to 232 BC.[2] Ashoka used the expressionDhaṃma thaṃbhā (Dharmastambha), i.e. "pillars of theDharma" to describe his own pillars.[3][4] These pillars constitute important monuments of thearchitecture of India, most of them exhibiting the characteristicMauryan polish. Twenty of the pillars erected by Ashoka still survive, including those with inscriptions of his edicts. Only a few with animal capitals survive of which seven complete specimens are known.[5] Two pillars were relocated byFiruz Shah Tughlaq toDelhi.[6] Several pillars were relocated later byMughal Empire rulers, the animal capitals being removed.[7] Averaging between 12 and 15 m (40 and 50 ft) in height, and weighing up to 50 tons each, the pillars were dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to where they were erected.[8]
The pillars of Ashoka are among the earliest known stone sculptural remains from India. Only another pillar fragment, thePataliputra capital, is possibly from a slightly earlier date. It is thought that before the 3rd century BC, wood rather than stone was used as the main material for Indian architectural constructions, and that stone may have been adopted following interaction with thePersians and theGreeks.[9] A graphic representation of theLion Capital of Ashoka from the column there was adopted as the officialState Emblem of India in 1950.[10]
All the pillars of Ashoka were built at Buddhist monasteries, many important sites from the life of theBuddha and places of pilgrimage. Some of the columns carry inscriptions addressed to the monks and nuns.[11] Some were erected to commemorate visits by Ashoka. Major pillars are present in the IndianStates ofBihar,Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh and some parts ofHaryana.
Ashoka ascended to the throne in 269 BC inheriting theMauryan empire founded by his grandfatherChandragupta Maurya. Ashoka was reputedly a tyrant at the outset of his reign. Eight years after his accession hecampaigned in Kalinga where in his own words, "a hundred and fifty thousand people were deported, a hundred thousand were killed and as many as that perished..." As he explains in his edicts, after this event Ashoka converted toBuddhism in remorse for the loss of life. Buddhism became a state religion and with Ashoka's support it spread rapidly. The inscriptions on the pillars set out edicts about morality based on Buddhist tenets.[15][16]They were added in the 3rd century BC.
The traditional idea that all were originally quarried atChunar, just south ofVaranasi and taken to their sites, before or after carving, "can no longer be confidently asserted",[17] and instead it seems that the columns were carved in two types of stone. Some were of the spotted red and whitesandstone from the region of Mathura, the others of buff-colored fine grainedhard sandstone usually with small black spots quarried in the Chunar near Varanasi. The uniformity of style in the pillar capitals suggests that they were all sculpted by craftsmen from the same region. It would therefore seem that stone was transported from Mathura and Chunar to the various sites where the pillars have been found, and there was cut and carved by craftsmen.[18]
The pillars have four component parts in two pieces: the three sections of the capitals are made in a single piece, often of a different stone to that of themonolithic shaft to which they are attached by a large metaldowel. The shafts are always plain and smooth, circular in cross-section, slightly tapering upwards and always chiselled out of a single piece of stone. There is no distinct base at the bottom of the shaft. The lower parts of the capitals have the shape and appearance of a gently arched bell formed of lotus petals. The abaci are of two types: square and plain and circular and decorated and these are of different proportions. The crowning animals are masterpieces ofMauryan art, shown either seated or standing, always in the round and chiselled as a single piece with the abaci.[19][20] Presumably all or most of the other columns that now lack them once had capitals and animals. They are also used to commemorate the events of the Buddha's life.
Currently seven animal sculptures from Ashoka pillars survive.[5][22] These form "the first important group of Indian stone sculpture", though it is thought they derive from an existing tradition of wooden columns topped by animal sculptures incopper, none of which have survived. It is also possible that some of the stone pillars predate Ashoka's reign.[23]
There has been much discussion of the extent of influence fromAchaemenid Persia,[24] where the column capitals supporting the roofs atPersepolis have similarities, and the "rather cold, hieratic style" of the SarnathLion Capital of Ashoka especially shows "obvious Achaemenid andSargonid influence".[25] India and the Achaemenid Empire had been in close contact since theAchaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley, from c. 500 to 330 BC.
Hellenistic influence has also been suggested.[26] In particular theabaci of some of the pillars (especially theRampurva bull, theSankissa elephant and theAllahabad pillar capital) use bands of motifs, like thebead and reel pattern, theovolo, theflame palmettes,lotuses, which likely originated from Greek and Near-Eastern arts.[21] Such examples can also be seen in the remains of the Mauryan capital city ofPataliputra.
It has also been suggested that 6th century Greek columns such as theSphinx of Naxos, a 12.5m Ionic column crowned by an animal in the religious centre ofDelphi, may have been an inspiration for the pillars of Ashoka.[27] Many similar columns crowned by sphinxes were discovered in ancient Greece, as inSparta,Athens orSpata, and somewere used as funerary steles.[27] The Greeksphinx, a lion with the face of a human female, was considered as having ferocious strength, and was thought of as a guardian, often flanking the entrances to temples or royal tombs.[28]
Some scholars such asJohn Irwin emphasized a reassessment from popular belief of Persian or Greek origin of Ashokan pillars. He makes the argument that Ashokan pillars representDhvaja or standard which Indian soldiers carried with them during battle and it was believed that the destruction of the enemy's dhvaja brought misfortune to their opponents. A relief of Bharhut stupa railing portrays a queenly personage on horseback carrying aGarudadhvaja.[29]Heliodorus pillar has been called Garudadhvaja, literally Garuda-standard, the pillar dated to 2nd century BC is perhaps the earliest recorded stone pillar which has been declared a dhvaja.[30]
Ashokan edicts themselves state that his words should be carved on any stone slab or pillars available indicating that the tradition of carving stone pillars was present before the period of Ashoka.[citation needed]
John Irwin also highlights the fact that carvings on pillars such asAllahabad pillar was done when it had already been erected indicating its pre Ashokan origins.[31]
Though influence from the west is generally accepted, especially thePersian columns of Achaemenid Persia, there are a number of differences between these and the pillars. Persian columns are built in segments whereas Ashokan pillars aremonoliths, like some much later Roman columns. Most of the Persian pillars have a fluted shaft while the Mauryan pillars are smooth, and Persian pillars serve as supporting structures whereas Ashokan pillars are individual free-standing monuments. There are also other differences in the decoration.[32] Indian historianUpinder Singh comments on some of the differences and similarities, writing that "If the Ashokan pillars cannot in their entirety be attributed to Persian influence, they must have had an undocumented prehistory within the subcontinent, perhaps a tradition of wooden carving. But the transition from stone to wood was made in one magnificent leap, no doubt spurred by the imperial tastes and ambitions of the Maurya emperors."[33]
Whatever the cultural and artistic borrowings from the west, the pillars of Ashoka, together with much ofMauryan art and architectural prowesses such as the city ofPataliputra or theBarabar Caves, remain outstanding in their achievements, and often compare favourably with the rest of the world at that time. Commenting on Mauryan sculpture,John Marshall once wrote about the "extraordinary precision and accuracy which characterizes all Mauryan works, and which has never, we venture to say, been surpassed even by the finest workmanship on Athenian buildings".[34][35]
Five of the pillars of Ashoka, two atRampurva, one each atVaishali,Lauriya Araraj andLauria Nandangarh possibly marked the course of the ancient Royal highway fromPataliputra toNepal. Several pillars were relocated by laterMughal Empire rulers, the animal capitals being removed.[7]
The two Chinese medieval pilgrim accounts record sightings of several columns that have now vanished:Faxian records six andXuanzang fifteen, of which only five at most can be identified with surviving pillars.[36] All surviving pillars, listed with any crowning animal sculptures and the edicts inscribed, are as follows:[19][37]
TheAmaravati pillar fragment is rather problematic. It consists of only six lines inBrahmi which are hardly decipherable. Only the wordvijaya (victory) can be made out, arguably a word also used by Ashoka.[38]Sircar, who provides a detailed study, considers it as probably belonging to an Ashokan pillar.[39]
| Complete standing pillars, or pillars with Ashokan inscriptions | |
| |
There are also several known fragments of Ashokan pillars, without recovered Ashokan inscriptions, such as theAshoka pillar in Bodh Gaya,Kausambi,Gotihawa,Prahladpur (now in theGovernment Sanskrit College, Varanasi[41]),Fatehabad,Bhopal,Sadagarli,Udaigiri-Vidisha,Kushinagar,Arrah (Masarh)Basti,Bhikana Pahari,Bulandi Bagh (Pataliputra),Sandalpu and a few others, as well as a broken pillar inBhairon ("Lat Bhairo" inBenares)[42] which was destroyed to a stump during riots in 1809.[43][44] The Chinese monksFa-Hsien andHsuantsang also reported pillars inKushinagar, theJetavana monastery inSravasti,Rajagriha andMahasala, which have not been recovered to this day.[43]
| Fragments of Pillars of Ashoka, without Ashokan inscriptions | |
| |
There are altogether seven remaining complete capitals, five with lions, one with an elephant and one with azebu bull. One of them, the four lions ofSarnath, has become theState Emblem of India. The animal capitals are composed of alotiform base, with anabacus decorated with floral, symbolic or animal designs, topped by the realistic depiction of an animal, thought to each represent a traditional directions in India.
Various foreign influences have been described in the design of these capitals.[47] The animal on top of a lotiform capital reminds ofAchaemenid column shapes. The abacus also often seems to display someinfluence of Greek art: in the case of theRampurva bull or theSankassa elephant, it is composed ofhoneysuckles alternated with stylizedpalmettes and smallrosettes.[48] A similar kind of design can be seen in the frieze of the lost capital of theAllahabad pillar. These designs likely originated in Greek and Near-Eastern arts.[49] They would probably have come from the neighboringSeleucid Empire, and specifically from a Hellenistic city such asAi-Khanoum, located at the doorstep ofIndia.[23] Most of these designs and motifs can also be seen in thePataliputra capital.
TheDiamond throne ofBodh Gaya is another example of Ashokan architecture circa 260 BC, and displays a band of carvings withpalmettes andgeese, similar to those found on several of the Pillars of Ashoka.[50]
Based on stylistic and technical analysis, it is possible to establish a tentative chronological orders for the pillars. The earliest one seems to be theVaishali pillar, with its stout and short column, the rigid lion and the undecorated square abacus. Next would follow theSankissa elephant and theRampurva bull, also not yet benefiting fromMauryan polish, and using a Hellenistic abacus of lotus andpalmettes for decoration. The abacus would then adopt theHamsa goose as an animal decorative symbol, inLauria Nandangarh and theRampurva lion.Sanchi andSarnath would mark the culmination with four animals back-to-back instead of just one, and a new and sophisticated animal and symbolic abacus (the elephant, the bull, the lion, the horse alternating with theDharma wheel) for the Sarnath lion.[51]
Other chronological orders have also been proposed, for example based on the style of the Ashokan inscriptions on the pillars, since the stylistically most sophisticated pillars actually have the engravings of theEdicts of Ashoka of the worst quality, namely, very poorly engravedSchism Edicts on theSanchi andSarnath pillars, their only inscriptions. This approach offers an almost reverse chronological order to the preceding one.[52] According to Irwin, theSankissa elephant andRampurva bull pillars with their Hellenistic abacus are pre-Ashokan. Ashoka would then have commissioned the Sarnath pillar with its famousLion Capital of Ashoka to be built under the tutelage of craftsmen from the formerAchaemenid Empire, trained in Perso-Hellenistic statuary, whereas the Brahmi engraving on the very same pillar (and on pillars of the same period such asSanchi and Kosambi-Allahabad) was made by inexperienced Indian engravers at a time when stone engraving was still new in India.[52] After Ashoka sent back the foreign artists, style degraded over a short period of time, down to the time when theMajor Pillar Edicts were engraved at the end of Ashoka's reign, which now displayed very good inscriptional craftsmanship but a much more solemn and less elegant style for the associated lion capitals, as for theLauria Nandangarh lion and theRampurva lion.[52]
| Known capitals of the pillars of Ashoka Ordered chronologically based on stylistic and technical analysis.[51] |
|
Of theAllahabad pillar, only the abacus remains, the bottom bulb and the crowning animal having been lost. The remains are now located in theAllahabad Museum.
A few more possibly Ashokan capitals were also found without their pillars:
It is also known from various ancient sculptures (reliefs fromBharhut, 100 BC), and later narrative account by Chinese pilgrims (5-6th century AD), that there was a pillar of Ashoka at theMahabodhi Temple founded by Ashoka, that it was crowned by an elephant.[55]
The same Chinese pilgrims have reported that the capital of theLumbini pillar was a horse (now lost), which, by their time had already fallen to the ground.[55]
The inscriptions on the columns include a fairly standard text. The inscriptions on the columns join other, more numerous, Ashokan inscriptions on natural rock faces to form the body of texts known as the Edicts of Ashoka. These inscriptions were dispersed throughout the areas of modern-dayBangladesh,India,Nepal, Afghanistan andPakistan and represent the first tangible evidence of Buddhism. The edicts describe in detailAshoka's policy of Dhamma, an earnest attempt to solve some of problems that a complex society faced.[56] In these inscriptions, Ashoka refers to himself as "Beloved servant of the Gods" (Devanampiyadasi). The inscriptions revolve around a few recurring themes: Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism, the description of his efforts to spread Buddhism, his moral and religious precepts, and his social andanimal welfare program. The edicts were based on Ashoka's ideas on administration and behaviour of people towards one another and religion.
Alexander Cunningham, one of the first to study the inscriptions on the pillars, remarks that they are written in eastern, middle and westernPrakrits which he calls "the Punjabi or north-western dialect, the Ujjeni or middle dialect, and the Magadhi or eastern dialect."[57] They are written in theBrahmi script.
These contain inscriptions recording their dedication, as well as the Schism Edicts and the Queen's Edict. They were inscribed around the 13th year of Ashoka's reign.
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Asoka's 6 Major Pillar Edicts have been found at Kausambhi (Allahabad), Topra (now Delhi), Meerut (now Delhi), Lauriya-Araraj, Lauriya-Nandangarh, Rampurva (Champaran), and a 7th one on the Delhi-Topra pillar.
These pillar edicts include:[59]
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The most celebrated capital is the four-lion one atSarnath (Uttar Pradesh), erected by Emperor Ashoka circa 250 BC. Four lions are seated back to back. At present the column remains in the same place whereas the Lion Capital is at the Sarnath Museum. This Lion Capital of Ashoka from Sarnath has been adopted as theNational Emblem of India and the wheel "Ashoka Chakra" from its base was placed onto the centre of theflag of India.
The lions probably originally supported aDharma Chakra wheel with 24 spokes, such as is preserved in the 13th century replica erected atWat Umong nearChiang Mai,Thailand by Thai kingMangrai.[60]
The pillar at Sanchi also has a similar but damaged four-lion capital. There are two pillars at Rampurva, one crowned with a bull and the other with a lion.Sankissa has only a damaged elephant capital, which is mainly unpolished, though the abacus is at least partly so. No pillar shaft has been found, and perhaps this was never erected at the site.[61]
TheVaishali pillar has a single lion capital.[62] The location of this pillar is contiguous to the site where a Buddhist monastery and a sacred coronation tank stood. Several stupas suggesting a far-flung campus for the monastery have been discovered. The lion faces north, the direction Buddha took on his last voyage.[63] Identification of the site for excavation in 1969 was aided by the fact that this pillar still jutted out of the soil. More such pillars exist in this greater area but they are all devoid of the capital.
InPrayagraj there is a pillar with inscriptions fromAshoka and later inscriptions attributed toSamudragupta andJehangir. It is clear from the inscription that the pillar was first erected atKaushambi, an ancient town some 30 kilometres west of Allahabad that was the capital of theKoshala kingdom, and moved to Allahabad, presumably under Muslim rule.[64]
The pillar is now located inside theAllahabad Fort, also the royal palace, built during the 16th century byAkbar at the confluence of theGanges andYamuna rivers. As the fort is occupied by theIndian Army it is essentially closed to the public and special permission is required to see the pillar. The Ashokan inscription is inBrahmi and is dated around 232 BC. A later inscription attributed to the second king of theGupta empire,Samudragupta, is in the more refinedGupta script, a later version of Brahmi, and is dated to around 375 AD. This inscription lists the extent of the empire that Samudragupta built during his long reign. He had already been king for forty years at that time and would rule for another five. A still later inscription inPersian is from theMughal emperorJahangir. The Akbar Fort also houses theAkshay Vat, anIndian fig tree of great antiquity. TheRamayana refers to this tree under which LordRama is supposed to have prayed while on exile.
The column atLauriya-Nandangarh, 23 km fromBettiah inWest Champaran district,Bihar has single lion capital. The hump and the hind legs of the lion project beyond the abacus.[19] The pillar at Lauriya-Areraj inEast Champaran district,Bihar is presently devoid of any capital.
The Pillars of Ashoka may have been erected using the same methods that were used to erect the ancientobelisks. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehrner conducted severalobelisk erecting experiments including a successful attempt to erect a 25ton obelisk in 1999. This followed two experiments to erect smaller obelisks and two failed attempts to erect a 25-ton obelisk.[65][66]
A number of the pillars were thrown down by either natural causes or iconoclasts, and gradually rediscovered. One was noticed in the 16th century by the English travellerThomas Coryat in the ruins ofOld Delhi. Initially he assumed that from the way it glowed that it was made of brass, but on closer examination he realized it was made of highly polished sandstone with upright script that resembled a form of Greek. In the 1830sJames Prinsep began to decipher them with the help of Captain Edward Smith andGeorge Turnour. They determined that the script referred to King Piyadasi which was also the epithet of an Indian ruler known as Ashoka who came to the throne 218 years after Buddha's enlightenment. Scholars have since found 150 of Ashoka's inscriptions, carved into the face of rocks or on stone pillars marking out a domain that stretched across northern India and south below the central plateau of the Deccan. These pillars were placed in strategic sites near border cities and trade routes.
TheSanchi pillar was found by F.O. Oertelin in 1851 in excavations led by SirAlexander Cunningham, first head of theArchaeological Survey of India. There were no surviving traces above ground of the Sarnath pillar, mentioned in the accounts of medieval Chinese pilgrims, when the Indian Civil Service engineerF.O. Oertel, with no real experience in archaeology, was allowed to excavate there in the winter of 1904–05. He first uncovered the remains of aGupta shrine west of the mainstupa, overlying an Ashokan structure. To the west of that he found the lowest section of the pillar, upright but broken off near ground level. Most of the rest of the pillar was found in three sections nearby, and then, since the Sanchi capital had been excavated in 1851, the search for an equivalent was continued, and theLion Capital of Ashoka, the most famous of the group, was found close by. It was both finer in execution and in much better condition than that at Sanchi. The pillar appeared to have been deliberately destroyed at some point. The finds were recognised as so important that the first onsite museum in India (and one of the few then in the world) was set up to house them.[67]
_and_the_Sanchi_pillar_capital_(bottom).jpg)
According to legend, Ashoka built 84,000stupas commemorating the events and relics of Buddha's life. Some of these stupas contained networks of walls containing the hub, spokes and rim of a wheel, while others contained interior walls in aswastika (卐) shape. The wheel represents the sun, time, and Buddhist law (the wheel of law, or dharmachakra), while the swastika stands for the cosmic dance around a fixed centre and guards against evil.[15][16]
Ashoka also built theDiamond Throne inBodh Gaya, at the location where theBuddha had reached enlightenment some 200 years earlier.[68][69] This purely Buddhist monument to the Buddha is a thick slab of polished greysandstone withMauryan polish[70]
The sculpted decorations on the Diamond Throne clearly echo the decorations found on the Pillars of Ashoka.[71] The Diamond Throne has a decorative band made ofhoneysuckles andgeese, which can also be found on several of the Pillars of Ashoka,[50] such as theRampurva capitals or theSanchi capital.[70] The geese (hamsa) in particular are a very recurrent symbol on the pillars of Ashoka, and may refer to the devotees flocking to the faith.[69] The same throne is also illustrated in later reliefs fromBharhut, dated to circa 100 BC.[72]
The 6th-century pillar at the tomb of Xiao Jing, orEmperor Jing of Western Liang, is similar to the Ashoka pillar.[73]
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It can also be suggested that Lāțs topped by animal figures also have an ancestor in the sphinx - topped pillars of Greece of the Middle Archaic period (c.580-40 B.C), Delphi Museum at Delphi, Greece, has an elegant winged sphinx figure sitting on an Ionic capital with side volutes. It was the Naxian sphinx pillar datable to about 575-560 BC. Many more sphinx-pillars have been found from different parts of Greece like Sparta, Athens and Spata (Attica). Rowland traces western Asiatic inspirations in the addorsed animal capitals of Aśokas Lāțs. But the inspiration for the single animal figure Lāțs, should be traced in the sphinx pillars of Greece. Asoka's direct link with his contemporaneous Greek states of Western Asia , Africa and Greece itself can result in the conception of single animal topped Lățs , from the Delphi type sphinx pillars. Such a possibility should not be ruled out in Mauryan Age.
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