Dance Forms of India

 Dance Forms:
o the entire Himalayan region, from Kashmir to Darjeeling, folk dancers link arms and sway gracefully in undulating movements, celebrate the sowing of the wheat crop
o Dholak – South asean two-headed hand drum
 have traditional cotton rope lacing, screw-turnbuckle tensioning or both combined
 a folk instrument, lacking the exact tuning and playing techniques of the tabla or the pakhawaj
o Women perform the Giddha, also characterised by its spontaneous energy
o Rajasthani women, their faces covered with flowing veils, are swirls of colour as they pirouette in the Ghoomar dance
o In Gujarat women perform the famous Garba, dancing in a circle with batons and rhythmic clapping
 It popularly performed during Navratri
 Garbha Deep - light in the inner sanctum of the temple or lamp inside a perforated earthen pot
 Their men perform the Dandiya Ras, a more vigorous version of the same dance, leaping and crouching in twirling pattern
o Lavani Dance –combination of traditional song and dance, which particularly performed to the beats of Dholki
 noted for its powerful rhythm and erotic sentiment
 In the fishing communities of Maharashtra by women is notable for its unabashed sensuality
o Nautanki – Rajasthan, UP, Bihar
o Bhavai – Gujarath
o Tamasha – Maharastra
o Jatra – Bengali
o Yakshgana – Karnataka
o Theyyam – Kerala
o Kalaripayattu – Kerala
o Lazim – Maharastra
o Chhau dance – Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar
 Major Dance Forms (7):
o the first references come from the Vedas where dance and music have their roots
 classical Sanskrit drama which was an amalgam of the spoken word, gestures and mime, choreography, stylised movement and music
 Excavations have brought to light a bronze statuette from Mohenjodaro and a broken torso from Harappa
o Dance is considered to be having three aspects : Natya, nritya, nritta
 Natya highlights the dramatic element
 Nritya is essentially expressional, performed specifically to convey the meaning of a theme or idea
 Nritta is pure dance where body movements do not express any mood
o Navarasas – shringara, hasya, karuna, veera, roudra, bhayanak, bibhatsa, adbuta, shaanta
o Tandava - masculine, is heroic bold and vigorous’
o Lasya the feminine is soft, lyrical and graceful
o Abhinaya (expression) is achieved through angika (body & limbs), vachika (song & speech), aharya(costume & adornment), satvika(moods & emotion)
o The two modes of presentation of Natya are:
 Natyadharmi – Formalized presentation of theatre
 Lokadharmi – folk, realistic, naturalistic or regional
o Style or vrittis are classified into 3 types:
 Kaishiki - deft lyrical more suited to convey the lasya aspects
 Arbati - the energetic masculine
 Satvaki - used while depicting the rasas and the Bharati, the literary content
 Bharatanatyam – Tamil Nadu
o The Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikesvara is one of the main sources of textual material, for the study of the technique and grammar of body movement in Bharatnatyam Dance
o It is known as Ekaharya(one dancer takes many roles in single performance)
o The style was kept alive by the devadasis (young girls 'gifted' by their parents to the temples and who were married to the gods)
o Nattuvanar – the person who conducts the dance recitation
o It follow a regular pattern of steps:
 The first dance item is the alarippu (to adorn with flowers)
 Jatiswaram - short pure dance piece performed to the accompaniment of musical notes of any raga of Carnatic music
 Bharatnatyam leans heavily on the abhinaya or mime aspect of dance - the nritya
 Shabdam follows the jatiswaram – the accompanying song is generally in adoration of the Supreme Being
 varnam which is the most important composition of the Bharatnatyam repertoire, encompasses both nritta and nritya and epitomises the essence of this classical dance form
 After the strenuous varnam, the dancer performs a number of abhinaya items expressing a variety of moods
 Bharatnatyam performance ends with a tillana which has its origin in the tarana of Hindustani music
• a vibrant dance performed to the accompaniment of musical syllables with a few lines of sahitya
 finale of the piece is a series of well designed rhythmic lines reaching a climax. The performance ends with a mangalam invoking the blessings of the Gods

 Kathakali – Kerala
o Only Kathakali give emphasis to the ‘Natya’ aspect
o Chakiarkoothu, Koodiyattam, Krishnattam and Ramanattam – has influence on kathakali in its form and technique
o blend of dance, music and acting and dramatizes stories, which are mostly adapted from the Indian epics
o Four aspects of abhinaya (angika, aharya, vachika, satvika) – combined perfectly
o Codified hastamudras and facial expressions, closely following the verses (padams) that are sung
o Satvika characters are noble, heroic, generous and refined
Types of characters based on Aharya (as per tenets laid down by natyashastra) –
o In pacha, green colour dominates and kirita (headgear) is worn by all
 Indra, Arjuna and devas – Pacha characters
o Kathi – anti-heroes;
 Ravana, Kamsa, Sisupala – kathi charaters (for ex)
 moustache and the small knob called chuttippu fixed on "the tip of the nose and another in the centre of the forehead, is peculiar kathi char
o Thadi (beard) – Chuvanna(red), vellathadi (white), Karutha (black)
 Vellathadi – characters like hanuman
o Kari – make-up having a black base, black costume (hunter, dweller etc)
o Minukku – women and sage characters
o Make up of kathakali classified into three types –
 Teppu – self done makeup
 Chuttikuthu – makeup done by experts
 Uduthukettu – wearing of huge bellowing skirts
o Tirasseela – curtain held on the stage before the performance of main dancers
o No other dance style is the entire body used so completely as in Kathakali
o Kalasams – pure  dance sequences of actor to express himself and his skills
o Begins with Kelikottu – calling audience for attention
 Todayam – devotional no performed to invoke blessings of god
 Purappadu  - nritta sequence following todayam
 Melappada – musicians and drummers hold stage entertaining audience
 Tiranokku – debut of all characters other than pacha or minukku
 Follows the particular scene choosen to play
o Music followed in kathakali –traditional ‘Sopana Sangeet’
o Ilakiattam - part of the performance when the characters get an opportunity to demonstrate their excellence in ‘abhinaya’
o Most part of the performance dancers engage in chodiattam - acting in strict conformity to the words in the padams sung by musicians

 Kuchipudi – Andhra Pradesh
o Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh
o Yakshagana – andhra’s long tradition of dance drama
o 17th century Kuchipudi style of Yakshagaana was conceived by Siddhendra Yogi
o It is said that Siddhendra Yogi had a dream in which Lord Krishna asked him to compose a dancedrama based on the myth of the bringing of paarijaata flower for Sathyabhaama –Bhaamakalaapam
o Taarangam – solo dancing inspired by Krishna-leela tarangini
o To show the dexterity of the dancers in footwork and their control and balance over their bodies, techniques like dancing on the rim of a brass plate and with a pitcher full of water on the head was introduced
o There are two forms of kuchipudi - traditional musical dance-drama and the solo dance
o Steps of a kuchipudi dance –
 recital of Kuchipudi begins with an invocatory number, as is done in some other classical dance styles (Earlier only ‘Ganesh Vandana’ now other gods also)
 followed by nritta, that is, non-narrative and abstract dancing
• Usually jatiswaram is performed as the nritta number
 Next is presented a narrative number called shabdam
• One of the favorite traditional shabdam is ‘Dashaavataara’
 Shabdam is followed by a natya number called Kalaapam
• entry of Satyabhama from the traditional dance-drama Bhaamaakalaapam
 Next in the sequence comes a pure nrityaabhinaya number based on literary-cum musical forms like padam, jaavli, shlokam, etc
• Eeach of the sung words is delineated in space through dance (Drishya-kavita)
 Kuchipudi recital is usually concluded with tarangam
• Excerpts of Krishna-leela-tarangini are sung with this number
• In this the dancer usually stands on brass plate locking feet in shakatavadanam paada & moves plate rhythmically with great dexterity

 Kathak – UP
o Kathak – katha (a story) – kathakars (story-tellers)
o It probably started as an oral tradition – mimea & gestures added later to make it eff
o Raslila – Important development of Kathak mainly in Braj region (Mathura, UP)
 It combined in itself music, dance and the narrative
 Dance in Raslila is an extension of basic mimes and gestures of kathakars
o The weight of the body is equally distributed along the horizontal and vertical axis
 The full foot contact is of prime importance where only the toe or the ball of the foot are used, their function is limited
 There are no deflections and no use of sharp bends or curves of the upper or lower part of the body
o Dance sequences –
 Dancer commences with a sequence ‘That’ - soft gliding movements of the neck, eyebrows and the wrists, are introduced
 Followed by conventional formal entry known as the Amad (entry) and the Salami (salutation)
 Then follow the various combinations of rhythmic passages all punctuated with and culminating in a number of pirouettes
 The nritta portion of Kathak is performed to the nagma
 In the mime portions (nritya or abhinaya), words are not used in simple numbers called the gata, which is performed in a lyrical manner to gentle rhythm
• These are short narrative pieces which portray a brief episode from Krishna's life
o The interpretative and the abstract dance techniques are interwoven into each other, and the dancer's greatness lies in his capacity for improvisation on the melodic and metric line on the one hand and the poetic line on the other
o Kathak is the only classical dance of India having links with Muslim culture representing the unique synthesis of Hindu and Muslim genius in art

 Odissi – Orissa
o In Natyashastra south-eastern style mentioned as ‘Odra Magadha’ – precursor of odissi
o Maharis – original temple dancers centuries ago
o Gotipuas – a class of boys trained in the art, who danced in temples and also general
o Facial expressions, hand gestures and body movements are used to suggest a certain feeling, an emotion or one of the nine rasas
o Two basic postures of odissi are – chowk and tribhanga
 Chowk - position imitating a square - a very masculine stance with the weight of the body equally balanced
 Tribhanga - very feminine stance where the body is deflected at the neck, torso and the knees
o Bhangis - units of movement ending in one particular stance
o Steps of dance sequence are –
 Opening item is Mangalacharan where the dancer slowly enters the stage with flowers in her hands and makes an offering to mother earth
 followed by an invocation to the deity of the dancer's choice (gen. ganesha)
• Item ends with nritta seq with salutations to God, Guru & audience
 next item is called Batu where the basic concepts of the Odissi nritta technique are highlighted bringing out the duality of the masculine and the feminine through the basic stance of the chauk and tribhanga
• This is danced in praise of batukeshwar Bhairav or Shiva
 After this comes flowering and ornamentation of music and movements in Pallavi
 followed by the rendering of abhinaya
• Here dance of ‘Ashtapadis’(Jayadeva’s Gita govinda) was performed
 The concluding item of the repertoire, which may consist of more than one pallavi and items based on abhinaya, is called moksha
 Manipuri – Manipur
o Manipur have been protected from outside influences, and this region has been able to retain its unique traditional culture
o It is performed as a ceremonial offering while Lai Haraoba (Merrymaking of gods) festival
o Popular forms of Manipur dance – Ras, Sankirtana and Thang-Ta
o Ras costume consists of a richly embroidered stiff skirt which extends to the feet
o In Sankirtana, male dancers play the Pung and Kartal while dancing
o In Thang-Ta, martial dances of Manipur (swords, spears and shields) is performed
o Manipuri dance incorporates both the tandava and lasya
o Manipuri abhinaya does not play up the mukhabhinaya very much – but there is use of whole body to convey certain rasa – sarvangabhinaya
o Rhythmic complexities are usually overlooked as the dancers do not wear ankle bells to stamp out the rhythms in a theatrical display, as this interferes with the delicate body movements
o Nat – Manipuri classical style of singing

 Sattriya – Assam
o This dance form was introduced by vaishnavite saint Mahapurusha Sankaradeva
o For centuries, nurtured and preserved with great commitment by the Sattras i.e. Vaishnava maths or monasteries
o Ojapali dances (folk dance) are still prevalent in Assam
 Two forms – Sukanni(Maroi) Ojapali (Sakti cult) & Vyah Ojapali(Vaishnava cult)
 The dancers in a Oja paali chorus not only sing and dance but also explain the narration by gestures and stylized movements
o As far as Devadasi dance is concerned, resemblance of a good number of rhythmic syllables and dance postures along with footwork with Sattriya dance is a clear indication of the influence of the Devadasi on Sattriya
o Other visible influences on Sattriya dance are those from Assamese folk dances namely Bihu, Bodos etc. Many hand gestures and rhythmic syllables are strikingly similar in these dance forms
o Sattriya dance is laid down with respect to hastamudras, footworks, aharyas, music

Music of India:
 Hindustani Classic Music –
o Music of India was more or less uniform before the 13th century. Later it bifurcated into the two musical systems
o Two systems of classical music – Hindustani , Carnatic
 Carnatic music is confined to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala
 The classical music of the rest of the country goes under the name, Hindustani Classical Music
o grama is itself perhaps derivable from the idea of group or sect: a village, for instance. This probably lead to a set of svaras or notes being called grama
 There were two gramas prevalent –
 Shadja and Madhyama Grama
• The difference between the two was only in one note, the panchama
• The panchama in madhyama grama was one sruti lower than the panchama in shadja grama
o sruti thus is the unit of measure or small difference between the various consecutive pitches within a grama or a scale
 For all practical purposes they are said to be 22 in number
o The subsidiary scales derived from each grama are called moorcchanas
 There are seven basic notes in a scale, hence there can be seven moorcchanas
o In the Natya Shastra of Bharata are found descriptions of melodic forms called jati
 Every one of these jatis could be put in some moorcchana or the other
 They were distinguished by chars like graha(starting pt) nyasa(note on which phrase stops), range of notes – from low to high pitch and so on
o Tala is a cyclic arrangement of time units
 The basic units of time division are laghu, guru, and pluta
 Laghu comprises one syllable,guru two, and pluta three
o A theka is the definition of a tala by the stroke of a table
 Each stroke on the drum has a name called a bol or syllable. For instance, dha, ta, ghe. Etc
o Anibaddha sangeeta is one which is not restricted by meaningful words and tala. It is a free improvisation
 Alaap  is the finest form of Anibaddha sangeeta
o Nibaddha Sangeeta – closed or bound form of music
 prabandha is often used as a generic term to indicate any nibaddha song
 They were set to definite ragas and talas
o Dhrupad – Form of Nibaddha Sangeet
 It is believed to be an elaboration of prabandha structure
 Its name is derived from ‘Dhruv’ and ‘pada’(verse)
 It denotes both verse form of poetry and the style in which it is sung
 In structure dhrupad has two parts, the anibaddha section and the sanchari dhrupad proper
• The first is a free alap
• The dhrupad proper is a song in four parts: the asthayee, the antara, the Sanchari and the abhoga
 The instruments Been and Pakhawaj were closely associated with the dhrupad
o Present day place in Hindustani music is occupied by Khyal (imagination)
 Scholars believe its roots in ancient Indian roopaka alaps
 Two types – Vilambit (slow) and Drut (fast) khyal
 Comparable to the vanis of the dhrupads, we have gharanas, in the khyal.
o Thumri – It is a love song and hence the textual beauty is very important
 Very lyrical in its structure and presentation
 Two styles of thumri singing – Poorab or Banaras (slow), Punjab style
o Tappa – It consists of songs uttered in fast note patterns
 It is a difficult composition and needs much practice

 Musical Instruments of India –
o In Natyashastra (by Bharata muni) divided musical instruments into four types –
 Tata vadya or chordophones – stringed instruments
 Sushira vadya or aerophones – wind instruments
 Avanaddha vadya or membranophones – percussion instruments
 Ghana vadya or Idiophones – solid instruments which don’t require tuning
o Tata vadya –
 Veena types – Ekatantri and sata-tantri etc. and Chitra (seven strings), Vipanchi(9 strings)
 Santoor – stringed instrument similar to Sata-tantri veena – famous in J&K
 Bowed instruments are usually used as an accompaniment to vocal music – Geetaguna
• Divided into two categories – upright and inverted
• Upright - fingerboard is held straight up as in the case of Sarangi
• Inverted - he board or resonator is held towards the shoulder and the fingerboard dandi is held across the arm of the player as in the case of the Ravanhastaveena, the Banam, the Violin
 Kamaicha –
• bowed lute played by the manganiars of west Rajasthan
• Whole instrument is one piece of wood, the spherical bowl extending into a neck and fingerboard
• Resonator is covered with leather and the upper portion with wood with four main strings & no of subsidiary ones passing through thin bridge
 Different parts of stringed instruments –
• resonator- Toomba of most stringed instruments is either made of wood or from a specially grown gourd
• Over toomba there is a wooden plate known as Tabli
• The resonator is attached to the fingerboard-Danda at the top end of which are inserted the pegs – Khoontis, for tuning the instrument
• On the Tabli there is a bridge made of ivory or bone
• The main strings pass over the bridge, some instruments also have a number of sympathetic strings below the main strings (Tarab)
• Some stringed instruments are plucked with the fingers or by using a small plectrum called the Kona
o Sushira Vadya –
 Sound is produced by blowing air into an hollow column – flutes, Reed Instr.
• There is reference in the Vedas to an instrument-the Venu
• Used as an accompaniment to chanting and recitation
 Flutes –
• Single or double flutes with only one hollow tube with finger holes for controlling the pitch of the note are very common
• Long horizontal flutes with a larger diameter are used to play slow passages such as Alap of the lower registers
• Smaller and shorter flutes, sometimes held vertically, are used for Taans, the faster passages, and also for producing higher pitches of sound
• The double flutes are mostly played by musicians of the tribal and rural areas and are rarely found on the concert platform
 Reed Instruments (Shehnai, nadaswaram)–
• have one or two reeds inserted in the hollow beak or tube of the instrument, these vibrate when air is blown into them
• Shehnai is a reed instrument in which there are seven holes along the tube which are used for playing the melody
o Ustad Bismillah Khan is credited for popularizing this instr.
o Avanaddha Vadya –
 Sound is produced by striking the animal skin which has been stretched across an earthern or metal pot or a wooden barrel or frame
 Types of these drum family - Oordhwaka, Ankya, Alingya and the waisted or the Damaru
 Oordhwaka - drums are placed vertically before the musician and sound is produced by striking them with sticks or the fingers
• Tabla pair or chenda
 Tabla –
• right side is called the Tabla and the left, the Bayan or Dagga
• Tabla has a wooden body with a covering of animal skin, this is held together with leather straps
• Between straps and wooden body, oblong wooden blocks are placed
• There is a syahi paste applied in the centre of the animal skin
• The tabla can be tuned accurately by striking the rims with a hammer
 Ankya –
• Ankya drums are held horizontally before the musician and usually both sides are covered with animal hide
• Sound is produced by striking both sides with sticks or fingers
o Mridangam, Pakhawaj, Khol, etc
 Alingya –
• These drums have the animal hide fixed to a wooden round frame and are embraced or held close to the body with one hand while the other hand is used for playing on the instrument
o Duff, Dufflies, etc
 Damaru (waist drum) –
• It ranges from small Huddaka of Himachal Pradesh to the larger instrument known as Timila of the southern region
o Ghana Vadya –
 earliest instruments invented by man are said to be the Ghana Vadya
 Once constructed, this variety of instrument do not need special tuning prior to playing
• pots and pans, jhanj, falams, etc
Theatre Forms of India:
 Traditional theatre forms of India –
o Traditional theatre forms incorporate not only the common man’s interests but there is also a classical element in them
o In traditional theatre forms there are special styles of dance portraying the entry on to the stage or platform, narrative and descriptive roles
o In traditional theatre forms there are certain conventions of presentations depending upon and changing according to the form and size of the stage or the platform and other available situations
 No formal setup governing entry and exit of actors
 Depending on the situation or context, the actors enter into the stage and enact their role without being formally introduced
 After a particular event or incident is over, all the artists make an exit
o Traditional theatre forms have definitely been influenced by industrial civilization, industrialization, and urbanization
o Characters keep changing their place on the stage to be more impressive and to give the situation a greater significance
o Nautanki – Traditional theatre centre in Kanpur
 Different forms of Traditional Theatre –
o Bidapat Naach –
 emphasis is not on beauty but on acting itself and narrative and descriptive skills
 Bhand Jashn –
 The art of making the entry by dancing has been perfected in this J&K theatre form
 The way each character walks and enters the platform, identifies him
o Bhand Pather –
 Traditional theatre form of Kashmir; combination of dance, music & acting
 Satire, wit and parody are preferred for inducing laughter
o Swang –
 Mainly music based, gradually prose too
 The softness of emotions, accomplishment of rasa alongwith the development of character can be seen in this theatre form
 Two styles – Rohtak(lang – Haryanvi) and Haathras(lang – Brajbhasha)
o Nautanki –
 Popular traditional centre in UP in Kanpur, Lucknow and Haathras
 Meters used in the verses are: Doha, Chaubola, Chhappai, Behar-e-tabeel
 Previously only men acted, but now-a-days women also started
o Raasleela –
 Based exclusively on Lord Krishna legends
 Nand Das wrote the initial plays based on the life of Krishna
o Bhavai –
 Traditional theatre form of Gujarat(Kutch and Kathiawar)
 Instr used in Bhavai – bhungal, tabla, flute, pakhaawaj, rabaab, sarangi, manjeera
 Rare synthesis of devotional and romantic sentiments
o Jatra (Bengal)–
 Krishna Jatra became popular due to Chaitanya's influence
 Earlier form of Jatra has been musical. Dialogues were added at later stage
o Maach (MP) –
 Maach is used for the stage itself as also for the play
 In this theatre form songs are given prominence in between the dialogues
 Term for dialogue – bol; rhyme in narration – vanag; tunes of theatre – rangat
o Bhaona (Assam) –
 Presentation of Ankia Naat; cultural glimpses of Assam, Bengal Orissa, Mathura and Brindavan can be seen
 Sutradhaar – narrator of story (Begins in Sanskrit then Brajboli or Assamese)
o Tamaasha (Maharastra) –
 Traditional folk evolved from Gondhal, Jagran and Kirtan
 In tamaasha, female actress (Murki) is the chief exponent of dance movements
 Classical music, footwork at lightning-speed, and vivid gestures make it possible to portray all the emotions through dance
o Dashavatar (Goa and Konkan regions) –
 performers personify the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu
 Apart from stylized make-up, the Dashavatar performers wear masks of wood and papier mache
o Krishnattam (Kerala) –
 Krishnattam is a cycle of eight plays performed for eight consecutive days
 The plays are Avataram, Kaliamandana, Rasa krida, kamasavadha, Swayamvaram, Bana Yudham, Vivida Vadham, and Swargarohana
 The episodes are based on the theme of Lord Krishna - his birth, childhood pranks and various deeds depicting victory of good over evil
o Mudiyettu (Kerala) –
 celebrated in the month of Vrischikam (November-December)
 performed only in the Kali temples of Kerala, as an oblation to the Goddess
 triumph of goddess Bhadrakali over the asura Darika
o Theyyam (Kerala) –
 God’s dance; tradition of worshipping of spirits of ancestors, folk heroes, and deities of various diseases and ailments can be traced back to ancient times in South India
o Koodiayaattam (Kerala) –
 The characters of this theatre form are: Chakyaar or actor, Naambiyaar, the instrumentalists and Naangyaar, those taking on women's roles
 The Sutradhar or narrator and the Vidushak or jesters are the protagonists
 Only Vidushak delivers the dialogues
o Yakshagana (Karnataka) –
 Theatrical arts based on mythological stories
 The most popular episodes are from the Mahabharata i.e. Draupadi swayamvar, Subhadra vivah, Abhimanyu vadh, Karna-Arjun yuddh and from Ramayana i.e. Raajyaabhishek, Lav-kush Yuddh, Baali-Sugreeva yuddha and Panchavati
o Therukoothu (TN) –
 Means Street play; Mostly performed at the time of annual temple festivals of Mariamman (Rain goddess) to achieve rich harvest
 there is a cycle of eight plays based on the life of Draupadi
 Kattiakaran, the Sutradhara of the Therukoothu performance, gives the gist of the play to the audience; Komali entertains the audience with his buffoonery
Puppet Forms of India:
 Puppet Forms –
o Silappadikaaram - earliest reference to the art of puppetry is found in Tamil classic
o Puppetry throughout the ages has held an important place in traditional entertainment
o Puppetry has been successfully used to motivate emotionally and physically handicapped students to develop their mental and physical faculties
 String Puppets –
o String puppets or Marionettes - jointed limbs controlled by strings allow flexibility
o Kathputli (Rajasthan) –
 accompanied by a highly dramatised version of the regional music
 Oval faces, large eyes, arched eyebrows and large lips are some of the distinct facial features of these string puppets
 These puppets wear long trailing skirts and do not have legs
o Kundhei (Orissa) –
 Orissa puppets have no legs but wear long flowing skirts
 They have more joints - more versatile, articulate and easy to manipulate
 puppeteers often hold a wooden prop, triangular in shape, to which strings are attached for manipulation
o Gombeyatta (Karnataka) –
 They are styled and designed like the characters of Yakshagana
 Gombeyatta puppet figures are highly stylized and have joints at the legs, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees
 These puppets are manipulated by five to seven strings tied to a prop
o Bommalattam (TN) –
 Bommalattam combine the techniques of both rod and string puppets
 They are made of wood and the strings for manipulation are tied to an iron ring which the puppeteer wears like a crown on his head
 Bommalattam puppets are the largest, heaviest and the most articulate of all traditional Indian marionettes
 Shadow Puppets –
o Shadow puppets are flat figures
o They are cut out of leather, which has been treated to make it translucent
o They are pressed against the screen with a strong source of light behind it
o Togalu Gombeyatta (Karnataka) –
 These puppets are mostly small in size
 he puppets however differ in size according to their social status, for instance, large size for kings and religious characters and smaller size for common people or servants
o Tholu Bommalata (AP) –
 puppets are large in size and have jointed waist, shoulders, elbows and knees
 Colored on both sides – hence throw colored shadows on the screen
 music is dominantly influenced by the classical music of the region
 themes are drawn from Mahabharata and Ramayana and Puranas
o Ravanachhaya (Orissa) –
 puppets are in one piece and have no joints
 They are not coloured, hence throw opaque shadows on the screen
 manipulation requires great dexterity, since there are no joints
 puppets are made of deer skin and are conceived in bold dramatic poses
 Rod Puppets –
o Putul Nautch (WB) –
 Rod-puppets used to be of human size like the Bunraku puppets of Japan
 These puppets have mostly three joints (Head & hands joined to rod at neck)
o Yampuri (Bihar) –
 These puppets are made of wood
 these puppets are in one piece and have no joints
 Glove Puppets –
o head is made of either papier mache, cloth or wood, with two hands emerging from just below the neck
o the first finger inserted in the head and the middle finger and the thumb are the two arms of the puppet
o In Orissa, the puppeteer plays on the dholak with one hand and manipulates the puppet with the other
o Pavakoothu (Kerala) –
 influence of Kathakali, the famous classical dance-drama of Kerala
 The manipulator puts his hand into the bag and moves the hands and head of the puppet
 The musical instruments used during the performance are Chenda, Chengiloa, Ilathalam and Shankha the conch

Indian Literature:
 Ancient Indian Literature:
o Vedas – Are essentially archetypal poetry of high literary value. They are mythical in nature and of symbolic language
 Yajna – means worship of divine, co-ordination and giving (sacrifice)
 Division of contexts of vedas are twofold – ritualistic injunction and discussions on meaning of vedic ritual and all that is related of it
o Purana (that which renews the old) – illustrates and expound truth of the vedas
 No of puranas – 18
 Classical Sanskrit Language –
o Kavya – more care on form, such as the style, figure of speech, conceits, descriptions, etc., and the story-theme is pushed to the background
 Pali Literature –
o Pali is the archaic Sanskrit – combination of various dialects
o Buddha gave sermons in Pali and the ‘Tripitakas’ were written in Pali language
 Vinaya Pitaka – monastic rules of the Order of Buddhist monks
 Sutta Pitaka – collection of speeches and dialogues of Buddha
 Abhidamma Pitaka – deals with ethics, psychology or theory of knowledge
 Dravidian Literature –
o Indian languages speak four different speech families – Austric, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European
 Austric -
 Dravidian Literature – Telugu, Tamil (oldest), Malayalam, Kannada
 Sino-Tibetan –
 Indo-European –
 Medieval Literature –
o The powerful trend of medieval indian literature (1000 to 1800CE) is devotional (Bhakti)
o Basavanna, Allam Prabhu are bhakti poets of Kannada language
o Gyaneswar (Dhyaneswar) – first and foremost bhakti poet in Marathi
o Eknath, Tukaram are other poets who cast their spell all over Maharashtra
o Kabir(Hindi), Namdev(Marathi), Guru  Nanak(Punjabi) – other famous poets
o Tulsidas, Surdas, Meera bhai belong to same period – 15th to 16th century

o Women poets of Bhakti –
 Ghosha, Lopamudra, Viswawara, Gargi, Maitreyi, Apala, Romasha – wrote few texts in vedas – called as ‘Brahmavadini’ (expounder of veda)
 Medieval Lit. by women -
• Songs of Buddhist Nuns – Mutta, Ubiri, Mettika (Pali Lang)
• Alwar like Andal – gave expression to their love for divine
• Lal ded (Muslim Poetess, Kashmiri) – represented sant tradition of bakti
• They all wrote small lyrics or poems of devotional fervour, metaphysical depth, and with a spirit of dedication and utmost sincerity
o Other Trends –
 Heroic poetry in Punjabi known as – Kissa and Var
• Najabat’s Var – Nadir Shah
 Love ballads – Hir Ranjha – Warris Shah (Muslim poet, Punjabi)
 Amir Khusro – Sufi Poet – exp. with Persian & Hindi (Hindavi) mix. poetry – Urdu
 Modern Indian Literature –
o Emergence of Nationalism –
 Bankim Chandra chatterjee – Durgesh Nandini, Anand Math
 Revivalism and reformism were natural corollaries of the newly emerging idea of nationalism
 Tagore made Federalism as important part of his concept of national ideology
 Mod Indian pluralism is multi-lingual, multi-cultural, secular, national-state conc
o Literature of Nationalism, Revivalism, Reformism –
 Rangalal in Bengali, Mirza Ghalib in Urdu and Bharatendu Harishchandra in Hindi expressed themselves as the patriotic voice of that era
 MM Dutt wrote first modern epic in Indian language, and naturalized blank verse in Bengali
 First Tamil Novel(Pratap Mudaliyar Charitam – Samuel Pillai), Telugu(Sri Rangaraja Charitra – Krishnama Chetty), Malayalam(Indulekha – Chandu menon
o Progressive Literature –
 Chhayavad was challenged by a progressive school that came to be known as Pragativad (progressivism)
 Nagarjun was undisputedly the most powerful and noted Hindi poet of the progressive group
 The critical norms of progressive literature were established by the pioneer of this phase in Punjabi by Sant Singh Sekhon
 The progressive writers’ movement attracted the attention of eminent poets of Urdu, like Josh Malihabadi and Faiz Ahmad Faiz
o Dalit Literature –
 Dalit movement was started in literature by Marathi, Gujarati and Kannada writes under the leadership of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
 It came into the limelight because of progressive literature moving nearer to the downtrodden
 literature of militant protest against upper caste literature upholding Brahmanical values
 It challenges the tone and context of existing literary canons and decentralises the whole process of a literary movement
 It creates an alternative aesthetics and extends the linguistic and generic possibilities of literature
o The present-day crisis in India is the conflict between expediency and universality, and as a result, a large number of writers are in the process of identifying a pattern of problem-solving within the traditional system, vigorous enough to generate and sustain an indigenous process of modernization, which does not need readymade external solutions, and is in accord with indigenous needs and attitudes

 Some famous books:
o Natyashastra – Bharata Muni (2nd century BC – 2nd century AD)
 the date of the work is between the 2nd century B.C.E- 2nd century C.E
 Natyashastra is also known as the fifth veda
 he has evolved this veda by taking words from the Rigveda, music from the Samaveda, gestures from the Yajurveda and emotions from the Atharvaveda
o Sangeeta Ratnakara – SarangaDeva (13th century AD)
o Kamasutra – Vatsayana
o Malavikagnimitram, Vikramorvasiam, Abhigyana Shakuntalam – Kalidasa
o Mricchakatika – Sudraka
o Uttara-Ramacharitam – Bhavabhuti
o Gitagovida – Jayadeva
o Panchatantra – Vishnu Sharma
o Hitopadesha – Narayan Pandit
o Buddhacharita – Aswagosha
o Gathasaptasathi – Hala
o Ramcharitamanas – Tulsidas
o Naurasnama – Ibrahim II
o Advent of Printing Press in India – William Carey – at Serampore, Bengal

Indian Architecture:
 Indus Civilization –
o Building activity during Indus valley Civilization –
 Town planning was excellent, burnt bricks used, roads were wide and at right angles, city drains were laid out, corbelled arch and baths were constructed
o Two important remains of the oldest times are fortifications of the old Rajagriha town, in Bihar and the fortified capital of Sisupalgarh
o Lomas Rishi cave in the Barabar Hills of Bihar – Ajivika sect during Asokha period
 Buddhist Architecture –
o Chaitya – Prayer hall; Vihara – dwelling place for monks
o The Buddhist Stupa is another form of architecture, comprising a hemispherical dome, a solid structure into which one cannot enter
 The stupa is a glorified, beautified, enlarged funerary mound (once the resting place of the bones and ashes of a holy man)
o The railing and gateways at Bharhut, Sanchi and Bodh Gaya are the most famous in the north and at Amravati and Nagarjunakonda in the South
o On these surfaces are carved the favourite symbols of Buddhism, the lotus, elephant, bull, lion and horse and some of the Jataka stories of the previous births of Buddha, depicted in low relief with such exuberant details that they are considered a land-mark in the story of Indian art
 Temple Architecture –
o Earliest structural temple still standing in its original condition is the one constructed at Aihole in Karnataka
 little structure built of huge almost boulder-like blocks of stones
 temple consists of a simple square cell (garbhagriha)or sanctum sanctorum, in front of which there is a covered verandah, a portico, which consists of four heavy pillars supporting a stone roof
 The entire structure is heavy, bulky and clumsy
 this was constructed near about 300 to 350 A.D
o The Ladkhan temple of Aihole belongs to about 5th century A.D
 Here the architect has tried to give attention to the circumambulation path which is enclosed by means of a wall allowing devotees to have pradakshana
o The Durga temple at Aihole is an apsidal temple of about 550 A.D. in which the architect has made immense improvements upon his previous attempts
 To make this construction doubly strong, he hit upon the 'idea of making brackets, an essential element in Hindu and Buddhist architecture in India and used much earlier in China; a slanting piece of stone emerging as it were from the pillars or posts, reaching out like an arm to hold the lintel or beam steadily
 This kind of construction is known by the architectural term, trabeate, as distinct from accurate which was later made use of by the Muslims
o Rock cut temples are found at Mahabalipuram known as Ratha (or Chariots)
o Nalanda had become the principal centre of Mahayana learning and a famed University town with numerous shrines and monasteries which attracted scholars
 Nalanda was an important centre of Pala sculptures and bronzes and has also yielded seals and sealings of great historical significance
o Vimana – The temple tower over the main shrine in Orissa is one of the most glorious inventions of architecture in India and is functionally a much finer conception than the south Indian Gopuram
 chhatra or the crown on top of the spire or tower
 The round stone at the pinnacle of the horizontal slabs is amlaka
o The early Indian temple was provided with a flat roof and there was a problem of letting out accumulated rain water
 In the Aihole temples of Ladkhan and Durga, the roof slabs have been given a slant and these slabs of large stones which were used in the early Orissan temples
 Sun temple at Konark which was constructed by the eastern Ganga ruler Narasimha Varman (1250)
• vast & wonderful struct, magnificently conceived as a gigantic chariot
o Dravidian style of temple architecture –
 from the 8th century to about the 13-14 century A.D
 Natamandaps – dance halls
 Bhogamandapas – hall of offerings
 Brihadesvara temple which was erected about 1000 A.D. is a contemporary of the Rajarani temple of Bhubaneswar
• structure is adorned with beautiful sculpture and paintings
• Dedicated to Shiva - consists of the sanctum sanctorum
 Kailasa temple at Ellora is in a class by itself because it is a rock-cut temple complex, which in many respects resembles the various rathas at Mahabalipuram
• constructed during the reign of the Rashtrakuta King Krishna
 gopuram, is the tower, an oblong quadrangle, sometimes a square, with a passage through the centre and is situated on the entrance gateway unlike in the north
o Khajuraho, twenty five miles North of Panna and twenty seven miles of Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh is an important place because of the exquisite temples built there by the Chandellas
 They are cruciform in plan with the long axis from East to West
 these temples have a soft texture and a most pleasing colour
 he temples at Khajuraho have a circumambulatory passage also
 Panchayatana - a temple that has a central shrine surrounded by four other shrines
o Chaunsat Yogini Temple – the only temple made entirely of granite and dedicated to sixty four yoginis
o The Style/Shapes of temple architectures in India are –
 Nagara - The tower/shikhar is beehive/curvilinear shaped
• Earliest Nagara temples are in Karnataka
• Galaganath at Pattadakal
 Dravida - The tower/shikhar consists of progressively smaller storeys of pavilions
• Teli-ka-Mandir at Gwalior
 Vesara – Once common in Karnataka, which is a combination of two styles
• Classic Hindu temples of India and Southeast Asia, such as Angkor Wat, Brihadisvara, Khajuraho, Mukteshvara, and Prambanan


 Indo-Islamic Architecture:
o The most important factors common to both forms of architecture, especially in respect of mosques and temples, were that to both styles, ornamental decoration was very vital and that the open court in many cases was surrounded by colonnades
o The prayer chamber of the mosque was spacious, whereas the shrine of the temple was comparatively small
 Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque - Qutub-ud-din Aibak
 Qutub Minar of Mehrauli – started by Qutubuddin 1199 & compl by Iltumish
 Alai Darwaja – Allauddin Khilji
 Din-i-illahi – New eclectic religion created by Akbar
 Agra Fort – Akbar (1565-74)
 Panch mahal (fatehpur sikri, Agra) – trabeate structure – Akbar
 Foundation of Shahzanabad – Shahjahan
 Red Fort – irregular octagon – 1639-48 – Shahjahan
 Hawa Mahal – Jaipur, Rajasthan –Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh
Indian Sculpture
 Indus Civilization –
o urban culture is the bust portrait of a bearded nobleman or high priest, from Mohenjodaro, weaving a shawl with trefoil pattern
 It bears a close resemblance to a similar figure discovered in the Sumerian sites of Ur and Susa
o The figure of a male dancer belonging to the same period and discovered at Harappa almost 5000 years ago
 The bronze dancing girl of the same period discovered at Mohenjodaro is perhaps the greatest surviving achievement of the metal work of the Harappan age
 The art is  of bronze casting in the cire perdue or lost-wax process
o The terracotta figure representing a bull is a forceful representation, eloquently proclaiming the special study of the anatomy of the animal by the modeller who fashioned the figure
 The animal is shown standing with his head turned to the right and there is a cord around the neck
o Large number of seals made of steatite, terracotta and copper are found in excavations
 Seal of Pashupati - a seated figure of a Yogi, probably Shiva Pashupati, surrounded by four animals - a rhino, a buffalo, an elephant and a tiger
 Buddhist Sculpture –
o Ashoka’s work – Lion-capital at Sarnath –
 It represents four roaring lions back to back facing the four cardinal directions
 The round abacus is decorated with four dharmachakras or wheels of law, alternating with an elephant, a bull, a horse and a lion, all carved with masterly skill
 The abacus is supported by a bell-shaped base consisting of a lotus with dharmachakra
o Buddha is never represented in human form in Buddhist art before the Christian era, as his spirituality was considered too abstract for the purpose
 The adherents of the Buddhist faith followed the Hinayana path as a means of attaining salvation
 Buddha's presence in early Indian art is, therefore, suggested by symbols like the Bodhi tree under which he attained enlightenment, the wheel of law, his foot prints, the royal umbrella, the stupa and an empty throne, etc
o Sanchi stupa - It is a solid structural dome raised on a terrace and surmounted by a railed pavilion from which rises the shaft of the crowning umbrella
 The stupa was originally a mud funerary mound enshrining in its core the sacred relics of the Buddha or his disciples, such as hair, bits of bones, etc
 The present stupa at Sanchi was originally constructed during Ashoka's reign but was considerably enlarged and the circum- ambulatory enclosure as well as the outer enclosures was added in the 1st century B.C
o relief medallion from Amravati belonging to the second century A.D. is a masterly representation of a scene showing the subjugation or taming of Nalagiri, a mad elephant let loose on the Buddha in the streets of Rajagriha by his wicked cousin, Devadatta
o After alexander invasion (326BC), a distinct style of sculpture Greco-Roman, Buddhist or Gandhara art emerged
 It was a product of the combination of Hellenistic, West Asiatic and native elements
 Buddha who was hitherto designated only by a symbol, was conceived in human form
 The Gandhara image might seem to resemble Apollo in some extraneous forms and does look characteristically Greco-Roman in drapery
o Buddha is one who has attained the enlightenment of supreme knowledge, while the Bodhisattava is still a candidate for it
 Gupta Sculpture –
o Red sandstone image of the Buddha from Mathura
 remarkable example of Gupta workmanship datable to the 5th century A.D
 Right hand in Abhayamudra(assuring protection) & left holding the hem of garment
o The image of the standing Buddha is an excellent example of Gupta art in its maturity from Sarnath
o Dharmachakrapravartana Mudra – The gesture of preaching
o A magnificient repr. Of Vishnu belongs by Guptas  like –
 The typical gown – vanamala
 the charming string of pearls twirled round the neck, the long and elegant – yagnopavita
 Medieval Sculpture –
o The Pallava style concerns itself with a tall and slender physiognomical form. The thin and elongated limbs emphasise the tallness of the figure
 The female figures are much lighter in appearance, with their slender waists, narrow chests and shoulders, smaller breasts, sparse ornaments and garments and generally submissive attitude
 The figure sculpture of the Pallavas is natural in pose and modeling
 The front of the torso is almost flat, and the ornamentations simple in high relief
o Later Pallava sculpture shows greater details of workmanship, lighter anatomy and more developed artistic finishing
o Pala Style is marked by slim and graceful figures, elaborate jewellery and conventional decoration
 Their sculptures from Bihar are somewhat thick set and heavier in their general proportions of limbs than those from Bengal
 The Pala rulers had intimate relations with Java which are evident in Hindu-Javanese sculpture, and painting of Nepal, Kashmir, Burma and Thailand
o Traditions of the marble sculpture of Gujarat in Western India are seen in the profusion of intricately carved sculptures which decorate the Jain temples at Mount Abu, Girnar and Palitana
o Hoysala art –
 The temples they built at Halebid and Belur look like lace work in stone
 The decoration is elaborate, the emphasis being more on ornamentation than movement or the grace of the human body
 Hoysala sculptures are somewhat squat and short, highly embellished, or almost over-loaded with ornamentation, but yet are pleasing to behold
 Modern Indian Sculpture –
o the story of contemporary Indian sculpture is the story of a transition from academism to well-defined non-objectivism
o Contemporary Indian sculpture has not shown either the speed or variety of painting
o Nandalal Bose, Kshitindranath Majumdar are renowned pupils of Abanindranath Tagore
 Nandalal - n the painting of a woman in the act of doing 'Pranam' one sees both simplicity and directness of his pictorialism as also the significant impact on his work of the vitality of folk art
 Kshitindranath - known for his soft palette and the grace and lyrical quality of his drawing. He is almost unique in this respect
o Jamini Roy – His images and ideas as in this painting of 'Pujarinis' are direct, singularly stylised, and conceived in emphatic flat spaces and strong lines
o K Sreenivasulu - greatly moved by folk art and rural life like Jamini Roy
 He drew much inspiration from the art heritage of South India, particularly from the mural tradition of Tanjavur and Lepakshi
o DP Roy Chowdhury – renowned sculptor – work ‘Triumph of Labour’

Paintings of India:
 Wall Paintings –
o Primitive records of painting in India was dated to Neolithic man where records of wild animals, war processions and hunting scenes were picturesque
o Early mural paintings may be assumed to be the prototypes of the carved and painted picture galleries of the subsequent periods of the Buddhist art, such as in the painted cave temples of Ajanta situated in Maharashtra State near Aurangabad
o paintings of Ajanta, Bagh and Badami represent the classical tradition of the North and the Deccan at its best
o Paintings of Sittannavasal – connected with Jain themes and symbology
o Ellora –
 composition of the paintings at Ellora is measured out in rectangular panels with thick borders
 The classical tradition of modelling of the mass and rounded soft outline as well as the illusion of the coming forward from the depth is not altogether ignored
 Sharp twist of the head, painted angular bents of the arms, the concave curve of the close limbs, the sharp projected nose and the long drawn open eyes – characteristic feature
o Paintings at Lepakshi, Hindupur - paintings are pressed within broad friezes and illustrate Saivaite and secular themes
o Technique –
 In Rajarajeshwara temple at Tanjore painting is done in a true fresco method over the surface of the rock
 Most of the colours were locally available
 Brushes were made up from the hair of animals, such as goat, camel, mongoose, etc
 The ground was coated with an exceedingly thin layer of lime plaster over which paintings were drawn in water colours
 In true fresco method the paintings are done when the surface wall is still wet so that the pigments go deep inside the wall surface
 Tempora or Fresco-secco method –
• It is a method of painting on the lime plastered surface which has been allowed to dry first and then drenched with fresh lime water
• On surface thus obtained artist proceeds to sketch out his composition

 Miniature Paintings –
o It has the flavor of Persian but has the inborn charm of Indian tradition
o The practice of signing pictures was started in miniature paintings from this period
o Pala Paintings –
 Pala painting is characterised by sinuous line and subdued tones of colour
 Naturalistic style – resembles contemporary bronze and stone sculpture – reflects the feeling of classical art of Ajanta
o Western Indian Schools (15th century) –
 motivating force for the artistic activity in Western India was Jainism
 The illustrations on these manuscripts are in a style of vigorous distortion
 This is an art of primitive vitality vigorous line and forceful colours
o Kulhadar Group –
 This group includes illustrations of the 'Chaurapanchasika’, Gita Govinda, the Bhagavata Purana and Ragamala
 style of these miniatures is marked by the use of brilliant contrasting colours, vigorous and angular drawing, transparent drapery
 conical caps 'Kulha' on which turbans are worn by the male figures
o Mughal paintings –
 Babur-Nama, Akbar-Nama, Hamza-Nama, Razm-Nama are beautifully illustrated manuscripts of this period
 Mughal paintings are aristocratic, individualistic, strong in their character of portraiture, being forstered by and for nobility
 Mughal art peeped into the inner revelry of harem, court, wild bouts, depiction of elephant and camel fights appealed to emperor, scenes of hunting etc

 Modern Indian Paintings –
o There was only some minor artistic expression in the intervening period by way of the 'Bazar' and 'Company' styles of painting
 apart from the more substantial folk forms which were alive in many parts of the country
o Raja Ravi Varma –
 most remembered for his paintings of sari-clad women portrayed as shapely and graceful
o Renaissance or Revivalist school – Bengal school by Abanindranath tagore

Old NCERT:
 Ancient India Literature –
o Vedanga –
 Siksha(phonetics), Kalpa(rituals), Vyakarna(grammar), Nirukta(etymology), Chhanda(metrics), Jyotisha(astronomy)
o Sutra –
 precise and exact form of exp in prose which was dev by ancient Indians
 Ex – Panini’s Ashtadhyayi
o Later vedic literature –
 Brahmanas – elaborate on vedic rituals
 Aranyakas, Upanishads – give discourse on diff spiritual & philo probs
 Sulvasutra – presc measurements for sacrificial altars – geometry, maths
 Srautasutra – account of royal coronation ceremonies
 Grihyasutra – domestic rituals with birth, naming, marriage, funeral etc
 Jain and Buddhist Lit –
o Jain – Prakrit (form of Sanskrit language)
o Buddhism – Pali (Provides det of Contemporary Magadha kings, Ashokan edicts)
 Jataka stories – Buddhist books – 550 stories – throws light on socio-economic conditions b/w 5BC – 2BC
 Limitations of literary sources –
o Printing was not known – everything written on bark, palm leaf, paper etc
o Old manus fragile – new copies manually copied – errors, additions, mistakes
 Sangam Literature –
o Tamil text – kings and chiefs patronized poets
o These poets assemble in collages & compiled poems over 3-4 cent – Sanga lit.
 Describe many kings and dynasties of South India
 Generally describes events upto 4th Century AD
o Poems written in praise of numerous heroes and heroines. They represent a heroic age of warriors and battles
o Songs are not primitive, show high quality of grammar
o It talked about how Yavans came in their own vessels, purchased pepper with gold, supplied wine and women to Indian rulers.
 Greek writers –
o Megasthenese –
 Greek ambassador (in CG Maurya court) – Indika
 Indika provide valuable inf on Maurya Admin, social classes & eco activities
 Limitations of Indika –
• Indika is not free from credulity and exaggerations
• Megasthenese had little understanding of Indian society and social sys
• Discrepancies because he didnt know any Ind lang, not part of society
o Herodotus - in his “Histories” gives us much information about Indo-Persian relations
o Arrian - det acc of inv of Ind by Alexander on basis of inf frm those who accompd camp
o Anonymous – ‘Periplus of Erythrean Sea’ – gave valuable inf about Indian coasts
o Ptolemy – wrote geographical treatise on India in 2nd Cent AD
o Limitations –
 Most of Greek writings based on secondary sources resulted in no of errors
 Except for Megasthe all others touched Ind hist in true sense very marginally
 They were ignorant of lang & customs of country & inf is full of unbelive facts
 Works of Mega & others are lost and available only in fragments
 Chinese travelers –
o Fa-hien – 5th Cent AD – desc soc-religious & eco cond of India in time of Guptas
o Hiuen-Tsang – 7th Cent – Age of Harshavardhana & some other contemp kings of N India
o I-tsing – 7th Cent
o Limitations –
 Hiuen-Tsang depicts Harsha as a follower of Buddhism but in his epigraphic records Harsha mentions himself as a devotee of Siva.
 Counter - Indian rulers always have, like their subjects, been multi-religious people, it is not difficult for a foreigner to be confused
 Arab Historian (Al-Beruni)  –
o Abu-Rihan – Central Asia 973AD – Contemporary of Mohd. Ghazni
o Al-Beruni studied Sanskrit lang & tried to gain a precise knowledge of Indian sources
o His observations range from philo, rel, cult, society to science, lit, art and medicine
o does not give any political information of his times
o comparatively free from religious or racial biases
 Archaeological Sources –
o Mound – elevated portion of land, covering remains of old habitations
 Vertical excavation – helps uncover periodwise uncover of culture
 Horizontal – Digging mound as a whole – getting complete data of a site
• Very expensive, done at only few places
 Impact of climate on Mounds –
• Dry Arid climate(Raj, West UP) – better preserved
• Humid-Moist climate(Gangetic, Deltas) – Iron tools suffer corrosion
o Only burnt brick structures can be detected
o Megaliths – South Ind people buried their dead with tools, weapons, potteries etc. Such  graves were encircled by a big piece of stone, called Megaliths.
o Carbon dating – measure of decaying of C14 to C12 and identify no of years elapsed
 Inscriptions –
o Ashokan inscriptions (in Brahmi script) are considered to be the earliest (3rd AD)
o Four scripts used in edicts – Aramic, Greek (Afghan), Kharosthi(Pak), Brahmi(India)
o James Prinsep – Made a complete chart of Ashokan Alphabets in 1837
o Sanskrit –
 Most of the Gupta epigraphs give genealogy
 They took the opp to give an acc of their conquests and achievements of their predecessor including mythology of their origins
 Sanskrit came to occupy a prune place since the Gupta period
o Imp Inscriptions –
 Junagarh Rock – Rudradaman considered early ex of chaste Sanskrit,  2nd Cen AD
 Allahabad Pillar – enumerates achievements of Samudragupta
 Aihole  inscription – Chalukya king Pulkeshin II gives a dynastic genealogy
 Gwalior inscr (Bhoja) – gives full account of his predecessors & his achievements
• Acc to it Learned Brahmins are granted with land free of tax(Agraharas)
 Numismatics –
o Punch marked –
 Earliest coins, bear only symbols, don’t bear inscription
 Found throughout the country from Taxila to Magadha to Mysore
 Made from silver and copper, some with gold(rare, authenticity doubtful)
o Indo-Greek –
 Silver & copper, show beautiful artistic features, portrait of king appears real
 On the reverse side some deity is depicted
 From these coins we know that 40 Indo-Greek rulers ruled in NW region of India
o Kushanas –
 Mostly gold and numerous copper,
 coins of Vima Kadphises bear the figure of Siva standing beside a bull
 Kanishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva etc. all have this depiction on their coins
o Guptas –
 Gold, indianised their coinage
 Kings depicted activities like hunting a lion or rhinoceros, holding bow or battle-axes, playing musical instr. Or performing ashwamedh yajna

byGali Vinod Simha