Essays on Gupta Art

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The Gupta period was admittedly the Classical or Golden period of Indian history when ancient Indian culture saw efflorescence in almost all aspects of life, including architecture, sculpture and painting. The art of this period has been a subject of study since the beginning of Indological studies in modern times. The present monograph is perhaps the recent-most effort in this direction, but with a difference in approach and treatment. Firstly, it contains the fruits of the latest researches of some of the greatest authorities on the subject, including Professors Frederick M. Asher, Walter M. Spink, B.G. Gokhale, P.K.Agrawala, K.D. Bajpai, S.R. Goyal, M.K. Dhavalikar, S.N. Chaturvedi and Dr. S.P. Gupta, apart from the contribution of the editor. Secondly, despite being the result of the cooperation of numerous sqholars of India and abroad, it has a unity in treatment of the subject, for it seeks to trace the beginning of the Gupta art from its pre-Classical roots and after discussing its ideological background and various aspects, it goes on to delineate its transformation by the impact of the early medieval tendencies. Thus it provides a complete study of the Indian art of the Gupta age.

Shankar Goyal, M.A., Ph.D., D. Litt., is the retired Professor of History, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and one of the well known authorities of ancient Indian history and historiography. Apart from about 150 articles published in reputed journals, he has published 50 voluminous works including Recent Historiography of Ancient India, Marxist Interpretation of Ancient Indian History, Contemporary Interpreters of Ancient India, Ancient India: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 175 Years of Vakataka History and Historiography, Harsha: A Multidisciplinary Political Study, Harsha Revisited: A Re-interpretation of Existing Data, The Significance of Yuan Chwang in the Context of the Seventh Century: A Critical Assessment, State, Society and Culture: Early India: 300 AD to 900 AD and The Classical Age: A Study in Feudalization. His books and many articles brought him encomiums from scholars such as Professors R. N. Dandekar, G.C. Pande, R. S. Sharma, Irfan Habib, Romila Thapar, R. Champakalakshmi, Shireen Moosvi, Kumkum Roy, A. M. Shastri, Bardwell L. Smith (Minnesota, U.S.A.), Walter M. Spink (Michigan, U.S.A.), Maurizio Taddei (Napoli, Italy) and P. K. Mitra (Rajshahi, Bangladesh). In 2009 Professor Goyal presided over the Cultural History Section of the XXIX Annual Session of the South Indian History Congress, in 2012 he was elected General President of the XXXVII Annual Congress of the Epigraphical Society of India, and in 2016 he was invited to preside over the Historiography Section of the XXIII Annual Session of the Tamilnadu History Congress. Recently in December 2017 he presided over Section I (Ancient India) of the 78th Session of the Indian History Congress held at Jadavpur University, Kolkata (Bengal). He was also invited by the Organising Committee of the 16th World Sanskrit Conference, 2015, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, to participate in the deliberations of their Epigraphy Section to promote Indian epigraphical studies on the world forum. He has also travelled extensively in China, Australia, United States, Canada, Europe, Sudan and Egypt.

The age of the imperial Guptas is usually and rightly regarded as the Classical or Golden Age of Indian history. Though in recent years some scholars, especially those who have Marxist persuation, have raised objections against this widely accepted belief, but even now majority of historians by and large subscribe to the view that the Gupta age was the Golden Age of India and Gupta art is a mirror of all that was graceful, elegant, sweet and noble in the culture of that period.

Because of its importance, Gupta art has been studied by numerous scholars and on its various aspects countless papers and a large number of monographs have been written. Indeed it has attracted the attention of scholars since the beginning of Indological studies in modern times. This monograph is different from earlier works in more than one respect. Firstly, it contains the fruits of the latest researches of some of the greatest authorities on the subject, including Professors Frederick M. Asher, Walter M. Spink, M.K. Dhavalikar, B.G. Gokhale, K.D. Bajpai, S.N. Chaturvedi and Dr. S.P. Gupta. Secondly, despite being the result of the cooperation of numerous scholars of India and other countries, it has a unity in the treatment of the subject. Its first three chapters form a sort of background. In the first chapter I have outlined the historical and ideological background of the Gupta art while in the second chapter Dr. S.P. Gupta has discussed the process by which Kushāņa art got transformed into the classical art of the Gupta age. Then follows the chapter of Professor Frederick M. Asher in which he has given an overview of the art of the Gupta period, both of the imperial provinces and other regions.