The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

ART UNDER THE KUSHANS: GANDHARA •135
ring to the first year of Kanishka's reign. The
sovereign referred to may have been Kanishka
II or III, who ruled in the late second and early
third centuries a.d. The ornamentation of the
lower band of the drum consists of representations
in relief of garland-bearing erotes and a
Kushan sovereign, presumably Kanishka, between
the divinities of the sun and moon; on
the side of the lid is a zone ofhamsa, emblems of
the spread of Buddhism. To the top of the
cover are fastened free-standing statuettes of
the Buddha, flanked by Indra and Brahma. The
style of these images in the round and of the
repousse reliefs is extremely crude, and m^re
closely related to imitations of Gandhara sculpture
at Mathura; so that, actually, the reliquary
might have been imported to Peshawar. 22 The
most Classic feature of the object is the Greek
name of the maker, Agesilas, probably a Eurasian
in the employ of the Kushan court.
An even more interesting fragment of Gandhara
metal-work is the so-called Bimaran reliquary
in the British Museum [74]. It is a round
73. Reliquary of King Kanishka
from Shah-ji-ki-Dheri.
Peshawar, Archaeological Museum
box of pure gold repousse, inlaid with rubies.
This also was a container for fragments of Buddhist
relics. It in turn was enclosed in a stone
box, when discovered by that pioneer in Indian
teenth century, when treasure-hunters and amateur
archaeologists first began to open the stupas
or topes of north-west India and Afghanistan,
there have come to light a number of reliquaries
containing corporeal fragments of Buddhist
saints, some of which are of considerable
importance for the history of art in this noman's-land
between East and West. The official
excavation of the ruins of the principal stupa
of King Kanishka at Shah-ji-ki-Dheri, near
Peshawar, resulted in the discovery of what is
believed by many to be the actual metal relic
box deposited by this greatest of Kushan sovereigns.
The object itself is a round pyxis, made
of an amalgam of precious metals [73]. It bears
an inscription that has been interpreted as refer-
74. Reliquary from Bimaran.
London, British Museum U *