The Penguin History of Early India

by Romila Thapar

  Classical sculpture reflecting a high aesthetic sensibility is visible, particularly in the Buddha images from Sarnath, Mathura, Kushinagara and Bodh Gaya. Doubtless this encouraged the portrayal of the more important Vaishnava and Shaiva deities as impressive icons. These images were often more symbolic than representational: thus, although the deity was anthropomorphic and took a human form, it may have been given four, eight or more arms, each arm carrying a symbol of an attribute associated with the deity. Vaishnava representations were either of the deity or of an incarnadon, which allowed a wider range of images. Shiva was most often represented as a lingam. This limited the scope for sculptural representation, except in the mukha lingas where a face or even a body was sculpted into the lingam, although other anthropomorphic forms were also evolving. The making of images was characteristic of the Puranic religion and was a departure from Vedic Brahmanism that had excluded icons.

  4. Vishnu temple, Deogarh: plan

  A popular medium for images was terracotta, which was more accessible to people. If stone sculpture required the patronage of the rich, forms in terracotta were readily available to the ordinary person throughout history. They are now being taken seriously as an articulation of popular culture. Both deities and human figures were depicted, some forms indicating considerable efficiency in the technical handling of the medium. Terracotta figures have been found in great abundance, particularly in the Ganges Plain and eastern India. Many are mould-made and were therefore mass-produced. Some of the figures were used in religious ritual, but many were of a more general nature and used as toys or decorative pieces. Some of the larger forms were images of deities, among which are the striking representations of the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna.

  5. Nagara-style temple: elevation

  Religious Formulations

  By this time the Indian subcontinent already hosted a range of religions. Theoretically, Buddhism was a rival to Vedic Brahmanism, but the rivalry more often took the form of confrontations with Shaivism. But in the ritual of worship and in practice the influence of the other religions was becoming more apparent. Buddhism had a following beyond the frontiers of India, in central Asia, China and south-east Asia. Religious practices current in these regions were accommodated in the practices of the newly established Buddhism. This sometimes required a reformulation of the pristine teachings.

  Jainism moved towards support from the merchant communities of western India, and the patronage of local royalty in Karnataka and the south. In the early part of the sixth century the Second Jaina Council was held at Valabhi, and the Jaina Canon was defined substantially as it exists today. The use of Sanskrit was on the increase, since it was now the prestigious language of the elite in many areas. But it had the same effect on the religions that used it, isolating the religious teachers from a wide following. The Jainas had also evolved a series of icons. The straight-standing rather stiff figures of Mahavira and others, or the cross-legged seated figures, became the pattern for depicting Jaina teachers.

  The mid-millennium saw the surfacing of cults that seem to have been substratum cults in many areas. These focused on the worship of female deities, associated with notions of fertility. Female deities became the nucleus of a number of rites, imbued with magical properties, which in a later form were foundational to Tantrism. The female deity was subsumed in the worship of the all-encompassing Devi. She was said to be the initiator of action, and of the power and energy – shakti – of Shiva. It was held that the male could only be activated through union with the female. That these ideas were influential can be seen from the temples dedicated to the yoginis, females endowed with magical power and sometimes linked to goddesses. The temples that have survived, mostly in central India, are somewhat later in time. They are circular in design, the circular wall lined with sculptures of various yoginis and open to the sky. Some of the mythology linked to the worship of the goddess was brought together in the text that acquired fame as the Devi-mahatmya.

  The Shakti-Shakta cult became not only the underlying belief in many religious sects, but gradually attained a dominant status. The consorts of male deities were worshipped in their own right, such as Lakshmi the consort of Vishnu, or Parvati, Kali and Durga who were various consorts of Shiva. This cult drew on the continuing worship of the goddess, which has remained a predominant feature of Indian religion, possibly since Harappan times. Since this could not be suppressed, it was given a priestly blessing and incorporated into popular belief and ritual. Yet, over the centuries, worshipping the goddess could be seen at some social levels as the counterpoint to subordinating women in society.

  Tantric beliefs and rites were also to influence Buddhism. A new school of Buddhism was to emerge, Vajrayana or the Thunderbolt Vehicle, with its centre in eastern India. Vajrayana Buddhists gave female counterparts to the existing male figures of the Buddhist pantheon. These counterparts were termed Taras and regarded as Saviouresses, and were especially popular in Nepal and Tibet. On a subcontinental scale Buddhism registered a decline in some areas in about the seventh century, and Hsüan Tsang noticed such a decline at Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and some other places. He mentioned the hostility of some rulers, such as Shashanka. That Harsha was a major patron points to its still having a substantial following, but Harsha was also a patron of its rival, Shaivism. If monasteries and monuments are an indication, its popularity in eastern India was on the rise.

  Three important aspects of Vaishnavism and Shaivism that had their roots in the changes of this period led to a different religious ethos from that dominated either by Buddhism or Vedic Brahmanism. The image emerged as the focus of worship and this form of worship, centred on puja, superseded the Vedic sacrifice. However, an offering to the image – often food or in some cases an animal – remained a requirement of the ritual. Some would argue that puja had its closest parallel in the rituals of the Buddhists. The reduction of the emphasis on the priest compared to his role in the sacrificial ritual of Vedic Brahmanism gradually led to devotional worship – bhakti – becoming the most widespread form of the Puranic religion. Worship of a deity became the main concern of the individual, as it was through bhakti that the individual could aspire to liberation from rebirth. The Vedic religion had well-defined rituals and was exclusive to the upper castes. The Puranic religion had a far wider appeal. Its accessibility lay in performing acts that required little investment – the giving of gifts however small, the keeping of fasts and vows, travelling collectively to places of pilgrimage and subscribing to local mythologies. This underlined the individual’s participation in the religion, as well as the cohesion of a sect while members were chosen not necessarily by birth but by faith, even if it tended to remain somewhat closed.

  Its emphasis on the individual’s relationship with a chosen deity was in part parallel to the heterodox religions that emphasized the individual rather than the clan or the caste. It would seem that although formal Buddhism was fading out in the post-Gupta period, it was nevertheless leaving an imprint on the Puranic sects as part of the Shramanic legacy. The centrality of the individual in the Shramanic religions was in a sense generic, inasmuch as these religions were historically rooted in urbanism within a society changing its social moorings. A similar but more complex paradigm had been witnessed in the early centuries AD, with the overarching state giving way to the insecurities of small kingdoms. Vaishnavism and Shaivism, even when assimilating a variety of cults and deities, strengthened the notion of bhakti as a form of worship focused on the individual.

  A few of the Puranas were written at this time, although it is difficult to date these precisely. They read somewhat like sectarian tracts, informing the worshipper about the mythology, rituals of worship and observances associated with the particular deity to whom the Purana was dedicated. As texts of the Puranic religion, they tended to be critical of those whom they regarded as heretics – the followers of the Shramana religions – despite the fact that some new sects were imitating the organization and strategy of the
Shramanas. At some levels they were attempts at propagating the religions of the sects through an oral tradition. Recitations were regular and intended for those who could not read the texts. Doubtless, even then the recitation would have required an explanation for many audiences.

  Where they claimed to be repositories of the past, the Puranas began with the creation of the universe and continued with what they projected as the historical past – the ancient kshatiya lineages and the later dynasties. The succession of dynasties was recorded in the form of a prophecy in order to enhance the power of die text. The list stopped with the Guptas, suggesting that it was compiled at this time. The Vishnu Purana has a section on genealogies and dynasties of the past – the vamsha-anu-charita. It is claimed as a record of the past but little of it is acceptable as history. It was an attempt at creating a historical tradition. The past was viewed in a specific pattern, largely invented but perhaps with a scatter of remembered history. Even if fabricated, this form of remembering the past recognized linear time and that gives it a hint of history. The format of solar and lunar lineages, and the recital of dynasties, were accessible to those who wished to latch on to any of these connections. Placing this information in a religious text gave it a legitimacy, but also ensured that it would be known.

  Thus, what began as popular memories of the past were revised and re-written as prophecy and became the brahmancial interpretation of the past. The sutas or bards, who had earlier immortalized their patrons in poems and narratives, were relegated to a low-caste status and their oral tradition was redrafted to serve other purposes. One of these was that the new dynasties emerging were given kshatriya status by the brahmans. This was done by linking them to the heroes of ancient times by stating that they were descended from the old, established kshatriyas. Dynasties therefore soon began describing themselves as being of either the Suryavamsha or the Chandravamsha lineage. The authors of the Puranas now had the power of legitimizing new dynasties as kshatriyas, irrespective of what the actual origin of the royal family may have been. Those who performed this function were handsomely rewarded. Using the past in this fashion for a political purpose, whether historically accurate or not, is common to many societies. This was similar in function to writing biographies of kings, and was parallel to the writing of chronicles in later times.

  The Puranic religion easily lent itself to the assimilation of new deities, mythologies and rituals. This was particularly useful when marginal societies were being incorporated into caste society, and the slotting in of their deities facilitated the change. This period witnessed not only the uprooting of the gana-sanghas, but also the gradual process of inducting societies from the forest and other marginal areas into caste society. The forest as a symbol changed from being the untamed and unknown pan of the wilderness, to being romanticized, with the establishment of ascetic hermitages in its midst, eventually becoming an area to be cleared for peasant cultivation. The latter process probably became more evident because the pressure on cultivated land was being felt in certain areas. Some inscriptions refer to the founders of dynasties overpowering forest rajas. The Harshacharita has a lengthy description of a village of Shabaras, pre-eminently a forest-people, now living as peasants.

  The social observances of earlier times were being regarded as sacred law, with rigid rules of exclusion for those who were not allowed to participate in caste society. Fortunately, many saw the difficulty of enforcing rules that were largely theoretical. Some tried to define the Four Aims of Man as Dharma (religion and the social law), Artha (economic well-being), Kama (pleasure) and Moksha (the release of the soul from rebirth) – the correct balance of the first three leading to the fourth. The description of the balance was left to those who framed the social code, but the demands of earthly life were adequately met in practice.

  India and Asia

  Religion found an ally in commerce to carry the Indian way of life outside India. In this, Buddhism took the initiative by introducing Indian culture into various parts of Asia. Buddhism found support in central Asia, with monasteries endowed by local rulers and merchants in oases that became trade centres. The closeness of culture between Afghanistan and India continued, especially at the once magnificent sites of Hadda and Bamiyan. The adoption of Indian scripts and the use of Indian languages would have assisted Indian merchants, providing openings for these with literacy. Indians began to settle in central Asia, among them Kumarajiva, the Buddhist philosopher who lived at Kucha in the fourth century AD, where his father had married into a local family of rank. Nearer home, Tibetan interest in Buddhism was encouraged by its King Srong-tsam-gampo, ruling in the seventh century. He used Buddhism to strengthen the foundations of kingship, in a situation where powerful clans had not reconciled themselves to central rule. It also enabled him to make contact with the world beyond Tibet.

  Indian Buddhists took missions further afield to China. By AD 379 Buddhism was an accepted religion in China, supported by the state, which swelled the following. However, it had its tribulations, since later centuries saw the persecution of Buddhists. Chinese Buddhist monks were interested in obtaining copies of the original Buddhist scriptures. Fa Hsien, Sung Yun, Hsüan Tsang, and later I Tsing/Yi Jing, all travelled and worked in India, the earlier ones braving the rigours and dangers of a central Asian journey. Judging by their descriptions, this was still an uninviting area apart from the oases. Indian elements began to be introduced into Chinese culture. The most visual was the initial use of Indian techniques in sculpture and painting in Buddhist monasteries. The most striking of these in range and aesthetic expression are at Dun Huang – a virtual historical museum of Chinese painting. Other monastery sites, such as Miran, Kucha and Turfan, have also provided an array of murals. Astronomy, alchemy and medical knowledge were enriched by this interaction. The expansion of the Indian maritime trade to south China increased Sino-Indian contacts. During the T’ang period (AD 618-907) Indian merchants resided at Canton, and Tang coins from the seventh century have been found in south India. Buddhist missions went to Japan from China.

  Commerce in central Asia also touched on trade with the eastern Mediterranean and this involved west Asia. The Arabian peninsula was tied into the Ethiopian-Byzantine trade, with Arab camel caravans as the carriers. The wealth and activities of this trade are linked to the rise of Islam.

  The demands of trade with the eastern Mediterranean had encouraged Indian enterprise in south-east Asia, since it provided many of the essential commodities such as spices and semi-precious stones. Having once discovered the potentialities of south-east Asia, Indian traders – Buddhist and Hindu – developed these links. Trade led to settlements, and to closer interactions. Indian cultural forms entered the local pattern of life, particularly in the regions known today as Thailand, Cambodia and Java.

  Chinese annals of the time, referring to Indian activities in south-east Asia, mention Funan (the Mekong Delta) as the first sphere of activity. Small settlements were also made in the Malay peninsula, since it was connected with east-coast maritime centres of India. Ships sailed from Tamralipti and Amaravati to Myanmar, Martaban and Indonesia. The ports of south India sent ships to Tenasserim, Trang, the Straits of Malacca and Java. The ports along the western coast also came to participate in this trade.

  The nature of the Indian connection varied according to the region from where it came and the kind of relations it had with the host society. The process was probably similar to the mutation of peripheral societies in relation to the mainstream in the subcontinent. However, with the absence of a heavy overlay of caste much of the indigenous social form continued. Sanskrit influenced the languages of elite cultures, probably because it was the language of the formal rituals introduced by Indian functionaries. Some of the finest Sanskrit inscriptions come from these areas. Geographical place-names associated with the Indian cultural tradition were adopted: for example, Ayuthia, the ancient capital of Thailand, was named after Ayodhya, the capital of the kingdom of Rama, this being one amo
ng many instances of the popularity of the Indian epics. Indian iconographic norms were fused with local forms in the images. The particular style of intertwining Buddhism and the Puranic religion, so representative of sites in south-east Asia, evolved later in its most creative forms at Angkor Vat and the Bayon in Cambodia, and the stepped stupa at Borobudur and the Prambanam temple, both in Java.

  Yet these societies retained much of their indigenous culture. The Indian impact is understandable in terms of certain advanced technologies arriving in the area and the local elite adopting new patterns. The presence of Indian traders also assisted the change, introducing an exchange economy that benefited them and allowed them to participate at various levels of power. However, to refer to south-east Asia during this period as ‘Greater India’ is a misnomer. The local culture was visible in all aspects of life. The Javanese version of the Ramayana retained only the bare bones of the Indian story, the rest being the incorporation of traditional Javanese legends. The conception of the god-king among the Khmer rulers of Cambodia drew from a pre-Indian source, although in a later period Indian concepts were also brought in.

  The existence of Buddhism in south-east Asia, in about the seventh and eighth centuries AD, would have been contemporary with its adoption in Tibet. Local modifications in both cases were so strong that the forms of Buddhism in Cambodia and Java, for example, were distinctively different from those of Tibet. In court circles the imitation of things Indian or Chinese (in areas close to China) was recognizable, but the rest of society in these countries maintained its own identity despite its assimilation of certain imported customs.