Kushana Clay Art of Ganga Plaints- A Case Study of Human Forms From Khairadih (An Old & Rare Book)

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Clay, one of the most popular media of art and craft activities, has been utilized extensively time and again during the last three thousand years in the Indian sub- continent. Figure making, particularly human forms in this medium appear to cater to a number of socio-religious needs of past societies. The themes-the quality of modeling, quantities and skills-together mirror some of the important connotations inherent in the contemporary cultural setup. Thus, the study of tera cottas has much wider scope than the often attempted studies revolving around mere identification and stylistical descriptions. In the present book, the scope of terracotta study has been extended much beyond conventional studies, as it attempts to examine many aspects of the craft, which are responsible for the co-existence of both poor and high workmanship in one period, admixture of foreign and indigeneous themes, styles and techniques at one point of time, origins and survivals of noteworthy execution tendencies and craft skills acquired by artisans and the centre in the individual periods, etc.

During the first few centuries of the Christian era, the multi-dimensional clay modeling activities in the Ganga Valley appears to be of particular value. A number of factors such as, the growth of urban centres for politico-cultural reasons, long distance trades resulting in the exchange of ideas and techniques, adaptation and modification of some of the foreign elements, etc., appear to have influenced art and craft traditions immensely. For a proper understanding of these aspects it is imperative to have reliable data in the form of a group of antiquities coming from well stratified archaeological horizons. In accordance, the present monograph is based on major terracotta collections which have been obtained from the Kushana cultural levels of Khairadih and other important sites of the Ganga Valley.

Besides providing a comprehensive account of the terracotta human figurines of Khairadih, one of the recently excavated sites the book also con tains details on similar compositions from other contemporary sites of the Ganga Plains. The major modeling tendencies, frequent and less common themes, formulation, continuation of styles, etc., during the early Christian era in the region have been elaborated and discussed extensively. The general personality of Kushana clay modelling which was vague sofar, has been brought out clearly in this monograph. The generalizations made regarding the terracotta craft in this study and the evaluation of Khairadih as the terracotta producing centre gives new direction to the study of arts and crafts of ancient times.

Grand daughter of (Late) Dr Kashi Prasad Jayaswal, Dr VIDULA JAYASWAL (b. 1947) is presently teaching at the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Besides teaching and guiding research she is deeply involved in the studies of Ancient Indian History in general and Archaeology in particular. After receiving the degree of Ph.D. of the B.H.U. (1973), she carried out prehistoric investigations in the Chhotanagpur plateau of Bihar as a post-doctoral fellow of the University Grants Commission and the Indian Council of Historical Research. Dr Jayaswal was selected by the Government of India under the National Scholarship Scheme to study abroad (1982 83) and received specialized training in Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A. She served the Archaeological Survey of India, in the capacity of the Deputy Super intending Archaeologist between years 1977 and 1979.

Author of five books, three in English, Palaeo history of India, Chopper-chopping Component of Palaeolithic India and An Ethno-ar chaeological View of Indian Terracottas (in co-authorship) and two text books in Hindi, Bharati Itihas ke AdiCharan ki Ruprekha (Pura Prastar Yuga) and Bharati Itihas ka Madhya-Prastar Yuga, Dr Jayaswal has to her credit more than forty research papers, which have been published in the proceedings of International Symposia and various publications of repute. Her noteworthy field inves tigations are excavations of prehistoric habitation sites at Lahariadih in Mirzapur and Paisra in Munger districts and surveys of pottery and terracotta pro ducing centres of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Her recent discovery of the ancient quarries of Asokan times and subsequent periods, near Chunar is a sig nificant contribution to both archaeology and history art.

Clay figurines have a long history in the Indian sub-continent and have attracted the attention of both Art Historians and Archaeologists for more than a century. Our study of present day terracotta making tradition of East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (An Ethno- Archaeological View of Indian Terra cottas) reveals that clay figurines form as much a part of the potters' craft as pots and tiles production. Besides, this medium is also closely linked with the socio-religious needs of the common people. In fact the terracotta figurines, whether human or animal, are as much part of the total cultural milieu as any other pattern, and hence cannot be treated as isolated art objects. We are convinced that their study should be made in a much wider perspective than simple identification of the figurines and their stylistical descriptions.

The present monograph treats terracotta making as a craft and attempts to examine its various aspects against the total cultural set-up. Besides taking into account the traditional parameters the study also considers various other lines of enquiry: Do terracotta assemblages from a particular site, wholly represent the idea and techniques of the local craftsmen, or do they indicate, at least partly, a migration of ideas, moulds, techniques or even import of a few specimens? How far can stylistical considerations be made the basis of the entire study? Do the beginning and end of a style perfectly coincide with the tenure of a political dynasty or does it have its own course of history? Do the prevailing socioeconomic settings have any bearing on the number and varieties of the terracotta figurines? Are these specimens simply works of art, their forms being dependent on the whims and training of the artists, or do they represent socio-religious requirements of the people? How do we explain the existence of terracotta figurines of both poor and high workmanship in the same period? Is it possible to apply the basic principle of demand and supply to these craft objects also? These and several other similar questions have been taken up in the present study of terracotta human figurines of Khairadih and other centres of the Ganga Plains. It is well-known that the Middle Ganga Plains became the centre of various vicissitudes and cultural developments starting circa sixth century B.C. The process of urbanization which commenced around this date in this part of the Indian sub-continent brought about far-reaching changes in almost all spheres of life such as agriculture, industry, trade, art and craft, social structure, philosophical and religious ideas, etc. Both archaeological data and literary traditions testify to these changes. Although the process of urbanization started earlier, it is accepted on all hands that it reached its zenith in the early century of the Christian era, very often referred to as the Kushana period of Indian history. The site of Khairadih in district Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, the terracotta figurines of which form the basis of the present study, provides ample evidence for changes in the material milieu of this entire period.

The author expresses her gratitude to Prof. K.K. Sinha and Dr. Birendra Pratap Singh, the excavators of Khairadih for entrusting her with the task of preparing a report on the terracotta human figurines of the site, which she submitted about a year back. This exercise and subsequent perusal of the published accounts of other sites of the Ganga Valley and her own observations on the Khairadih material, convinced the author that some generalizations are possible about the baked clay figurines of the Ganga Valley. This is the raison de etre for this monograph. The entire study has been divided into six chapters. The first chapter, 'Introduction,' is aimed at outlining stratigraphical and other features of Khairadih and other sites of the Ganga Plains. The second chapter, 'Prelude,' deals with the terracotta making tradition of pre- Kushana pe riods. The third, fourth and fifth chapters are devoted to the study of human figurines of the Kushana Period. The non-stylistical forms are those which have been variously described as 'Archaic' or 'Ageless' terracottas. On the contrary, the stylistical forms discussed in the fourth chapter include specimens which exhibit typical Kushana style. Side by side there were some other forms also which either follow terracotta making traditions of the pre-Kushana times or depict some such features as are generally associated with the Gupta period. All these specimens form the subject matter of the fifth chapter. The last chapter, 'Deductions,' contains the conclusions of the author's study and some generalizations. The monograph takes into account the evidence for human terracotta figurines of all the periods of Khairadih, though it is rather scanty in the pre-Kushana periods at this site. However, as far as the Kushana period is concerned the number of terracotta figurines not only increases substan tially, but they also exhibit significant discernible features. Obviously they form a large part of our study. Considering the significance of the cultural achievements of the Kushana period in general and terracotta figurines in particular, the evidence from several other centres of the Ganga Valley has also been taken into account side by side with Khairadih for better com prehension. Though some aspects of Kushana material have been studied, the typical Kushana style in the terracotta figurines has remained rather vague so far. Our study reveals that it is definitely discernible in certain examples. Moreover, it appears to be a period of transition when the earlier traditions of terracotta making were also continuing, though with some modifications and some new features, which culminated subsequently into the famous Gupta idiom, were also emerging side by side.

Throughout this study, the stratigraphic occurrences of the baked clay figurines from Khairadih have been strictly followed, for which the author has accepted the verdict of the excavators in toto. The Kushana levels of Khairadih have been excavated horizontally. This has given us a unique opportunity to carry out a contextual study of the terracotta human figurines of the site. The dispersal patterns of these clay figurines in this Kushana township, have enabled us to make certain significant observations with regard to those socio-religious functions which baked clay figurines appear to have performed, The theme of this study was discussed by the author with Shri Karl Khanda'awala, Professor K.K. Sinha and Shri Munish Chandra Joshi, and developed in an article.

On Shri Joshi's suggestion, the article was sub mitted to Shri Khandalawala who accepted it for publication in Lalit Kala (No. 24). It was also suggested that this theme should be expanded in the form of a monograph. Professors K.K. Sinha, J.N. Tiwari, Purushottam Singh and P.C. Pant supported the idea and helped the author in various ways. Professor K.K. Sinha discussed and improved upon the draft. Pro fessor J.N. Tiwari helped in finding out some very valuable literary refer ences for this study. Besides giving suggestions for improving upon the draft, Professor Purushottam Singh, (Professor and In-charge of Archaeol ogy) was kind enough to arrange for assistance from the technical staff of archaeology. Frequent discussion and encouragement by Professor P.C. Pant has contributed substantially in formulating some of the hy potheses and ideas elaborated in this study. The author is beholden to all of them.

The author, further wishes to acknowledge the help and assistance received from the other members of the department with gratitude. To Shri O.P. Khaneja for preparing photographs; to Sarvashri Lalta Mishra, Madhur, Shiva Kumar for preparing the line drawings; to Shri S.C. Ghildayal for taking keen interest in finding reading material from the departmental library; to Dr. (Mrs) Pratibha Prakash for giving information about animal figures; to Drs. Ravindra Kumar and (Miss) Renu Bala (Post-Doctoral research scholars) for preparing the dummy of the manu script and to Sri Rajesh Mishra and Madan Mohan Jana for helping in cleaning, measuring and arranging the specimens. The Director General of Archaeology in India was kind enough to give permission to the author to consult the photo-library of the Archaeological Survey of India, Janpath, New Delhi. She could also avail of a couple of photographs of Ahichchhatra excavations showing the find spot of a group of large sized terracotta figures. One of these has been included in this publication (Pl. XVII). The author is extremely grateful to him. The author is indebted to Professor K.D. Tripathi, her teacher in Sanskrit, the knowledge of which has helped her a lot in study of ancient writings. He has also written the invocation to the monograph. The author, who is an alumnus of the Banaras Hindu University, and is presently teaching there, dedicates this monograph to her Alma Mater, on the occasion of its Platinum Jubilee. The author feels honoured that Prof. R.P. Rastogi, the Vice-Chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University has very kindly written the foreword for this monograph, and is specially beholden to him. And last but not the least, the author wishes to thank Dr. Agam Prasad of Agam Kala Prakashan, Delhi, for bringing out this book so well and so quickly.

**Contents and Sample Pages**