My interest in the Amaravati stupa started long ago and I owe the completion of this book to many mentors, colleagues and friends. When I studied History of Oriental Art at Osaka University in Japan, Takashi Koezuka first introduced me to the Amaravati stupa and its sculptures. His lectures and guidance during my undergraduate and graduate studies opened my eyes to the fascinating world of early Indian Buddhist art. After finishing my MA., a Monbusho or Ministry of Education scholarship generously provided me with three years of study at the College of Art in New Delhi. Rajeev Lochan, my supervisor, warmly supported my fieldtrips to Andhran Buddhist sites and significantly expanded my knowledge and interest in Indian art, history and culture. I owe an immense debt to them for establishing my intellectual foundation for this project.
When I studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). writing my Ph.D. dissertation, which eventually developed into this book. Daud Ali, my dissertation supervisor, provided unlimited support to almost all aspects of my research and gave many insightful suggestions, which immensely helped to integrate the archaeological and art-historical data I collected through fieldwork with larger historical arguments. For my research on the Amaravati collections and related documents in the British Museum, I received continuous strong support from the Department of Asia. I owe an enormous debt to Robert Knox for allowing me to join the department as a temporary research assistant and to study the collections. I am also greatly indebted to Michael Willis for his supervision of all my work in the museum and for spending many hours with me to discuss the materials with such interest and enthusiasm. Michael kindly made all the arrangements to publish these materials, including unpublished ones, and provided digitized images for this book as well. For examining the Amaravati materials in the British Library, special assistance was provided by Jennifer Howes. Her knowledge of the Amaravati drawings and India Office records was an immense help for my survey on the early excavations at Amaravati. For studying numismatic data, I am indebted to Joe Cribb at the British Museum and Shailendra Bhandare at the Ashmolean Museum.
The Andhra region, located in south-east India, has a long tradition of Buddhism probably dating back to the Mauryan period (ca. 300-200 BCE). In the post-Mauryan and the Satavahana-Iksvaku periods (ca. 200 BCE- 300 CE), the people of the region warmly supported Buddhism as shown by the numerous stupa-s and monastic remains in the lower Godavari and Krishna river valleys.
Among the many Andhran Buddhist establishments built or extended in these periods, the stupa at Amaravati in the lower Krishna valley was no doubt one of the most remarkable (Map. 1, Fig. 1. Pl. 1). The stupa, founded possibly around the Mauryan period, was enlarged and richly embellished with numerous sculptures between ca. 200 BCE-250 CE and even later. So far excavations and incidental finds have revealed more than five hundred pieces of sculpture and some three hundred inscriptions Numerous pottery fragments, coins and other archaeological objects have also been found at the site. These objects are so far the richest archaeological and epigraphic discoveries among the Andhran Buddhist sites. There is little doubt that Amaravati was not only one of the oldest stupa-s in this region, but also a very important Buddhist centre.
Despite its historical importance, however, studies of the monument have hardly proceeded in a straightforward manner. A major reason for this is that the site was discovered too early to benefit from proper surveys and excavations. The stupa, which was found as early as the end of the 18th century, was one of the first Buddhist stupa-s confirmed in British India. At that time, there existed neither professional archaeologists nor academic institutions which could deal with the monument properly. The early surveys of Amaravati may thus be seen as attempts to understand the nature of this mysterious monument, and to manage the abundance of archaeological objects. While these attempts eventually led to the establishment of Indian archaeology as an academic subject, the process of its establishment inevitably brought considerable confusion, which un- fortunately resulted in the destruction of the site. As we will see below, these developments established a particular tendency for studying the stupa which still affects our current views of the site.
Before starting our study of the Amaravati stupa, therefore, we must first examine these early surveys and the subsequent historiography they engendered in order to understand how current knowledge of the Amaravati stupa was formed, and assess its limitations. With this aim, this introductory chapter will be divided into three parts. First, I will trace the process of discovery and the early excavations of the stupa in order to clarify how these early surveys affected subsequent studies of the monument. Second, I will examine the former historiography of the stupa and outline its methodological problems. Third, I will propose possible approaches to overcome these problems.
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