81546 - Archaeology of Pre-Islamic Historical South Asia

Learning outcomes

The course aims at providing the student with the critical tools necessary to move in the complex field of the archaeology of pre-Islamic historical India, through the deepening of a monographic theme, different from year to year, faced starting from the direct examination of the historical, literary and archaeological sources, considered in the critical perspective of the scientific research. At the end of the course, the student, in addition to having acquired the specific knowledge of the monographic theme, will be able to deal critically with the vast existing bibliography on the archaeology of pre-Islamic historical India and to organise the sources for an archaeological research with a rigorous methodology.

Course contents

The course concerns a single theme of the archaeology of India, studied in a more detailed monographic approach, with a particular concern towards critics and methodology.

The subject of the 2022-23 course is:"The evolution of Buddhist architecture and iconography in the central-northern area of the Indian subcontinent"

The course intends to present the evolution of Buddhist religious architecture and iconography in the central-northern Indian subcontinent area from the 3rd century BC, through the critical study of the archaeological data provided by the great excavations of the Archaeological Survey of India and of the Italian Archaeological Missions in Pakistan and Afghanistan, whose results allowed to better understand the religious development and the social role of the Buddhist community in the region.

Some introductory lectures on the geography, history, culture and religions of ancient India, necessary to provide the basis for the monographic part of the course, will precede it.

For a better adherence to the methodological perspective of the course, some hours will be dedicated to the history of the studies, in order to introduce the students to the main actors of the archaeological research.

Some hours will also be dedicated to the knowledge of the main institutions in charge of the preservation of cultural heritage in the area and of the main local and international archaeological collections, in order to illustrate strategies and problems of preservation and valorisation of the cultural heritage in the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent.

 

Main Topics of the course:

• Geographical, historical, cultural and religious overview of Pre-Islamic India.
• Fundamentals of history of Indian archaeology: the Archaeological Survey of India and the major archaeological excavations of the twentieth and twenty-first century.
• The archaeological heritage protection institutions in the Indian subcontinent.
• The main archaeological collections in the subcontinent, in Italy and in the world.
• Fundamentals of Buddhist art and architecture.
• The Art of Mathura
• The Buddhist art of Gandhara
• Bharhut and Sanci
  
• The archaeological site of Taxila
• The Buddhist architecture in the Swat valley: Butkara and Saidu Sharif

Readings/Bibliography

For an introduction to the pre-Islamic Indian archeology:

M. Taddei, India Antica (Le Grandi Civiltà), Milano, 1972, pp. 1-174.

C. Lo Muzio & M. Ferrandi (eds), “Buddha”, “Ashoka”, “Menandro”, “Kanishka”, “Gupta”, “Veda”, “Cosmo”, “Buddhismo”, “Jainismo”, “Induismo”, “Brahma”, “Shiva”, “Vishnu”, “Sarasvati”, “Durga”, “Lakshmi”, “Epica”, “Purana”, “Tempio Hindu”, “Stupa”, “Monastero Buddhista”, “Dharma”, “Scritture”, “Lingue”, “Yama”, “Samsara”, “Lomash Rshi”, “Sanchi”, “Taxila”, “Butkara”, “Mathura”. “Ajanta”, “Carta geografica del Subcontinente indiano”, “Cronologia”, “Musei”, “Glossario”, in India. Milano, Electa, 2008, pp. 10-33, 74-80, 86-140, 143-157, 174, 182-184, 212-214, 244-264, 270-280, 374-380.

Monographic section:

P. Callieri & A. Filigenzi (eds), Il Maestro di Saidu Sharif, Roma, MNAO, 2002, pp. 19-27, 35-61, 85-140.

A. Filigenzi, ‘L‘arte del Gandhāra’ e ‘L'area sacra di Butkara I’, in A. Invernizzi (ed.) Sulla via di Alessandro da Seleucia al Gandhāra, Milano, 2007, pp. 229-244.

AA. VV., “Bharhut”, “GANDHĀRA”, “Mathura, arte di”, “Sanchi” “Stupa” “Swat”, “Taxila”, in Enciclopedia dell’Arte antica, classica e orientale, (compresi i supplementi) reperibili sul sito internet della Treccani (www.treccani.it .)

A. Filigenzi. “Ananda and Vajrapani: An Inexplicable Absence and a Mysterious Presence in Gandharan Art.”, in P. Brancaccio & K. Behrendt (eds) Gandhãran Buddhism: Archaeology, Art, Texts. Vancouver, 2006, pp. 270–285.

For those not attending lessons, the following bibliography is added:

For an introduction to the pre-Islamic Indian archeology:

AA. VV., “La regione dell'Indo”, “Swat”, “Gandhara”, “Panjab”, “Sind” “Bir-kot-ghwandai”, “Butkara”, “Charsada”, “Taxila”, “La pianura gangetica”, “Mathura”, “Sonkh”, “Bengala”, “Orissa”, “La regione dei Vindhya e il Rajasthan”, “Maharashtra e Gujarat”, “La frontiera Indo-Iranica”, “Bamiyan”, “Fondukistan”, “Hadda”, “Tapa Sardar” in Enciclopedia Archeologica, III. Asia, Roma, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, 2005. pp. 505-510, 511, 512-514, 516-520, 527-528, 534, 535-536, 539-542, 545-547, 556-557, 580-582, (can be found also at site www.treccani.it .)

A. Filigenzi L‘arte del Gandhāra, in Sulla via di Alessandro da Seleucia al Gandhāra, Cinisello Balsamo, 2007, pp. 229-238.

Monographic section:

C. Pieruccini, "IV. La raffigurazione del Buddha e degli dèi", in L’arte dell’India. Vol.I , Torino, 2020.

M. Taddei, Arte narrativa tra India e mondo ellenistico, Roma, IsMEO, Conferenze 5, 1993.

However, it is strongly recommended that non-attending students contact the teacher to arrange a specific programme and bibliography.

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Among the texts used by the teacher for the preparation of the frontal lessons, BUT NOT REQUIRED FOR THE ORAL EXAM, it is worth mentioning:

Aśvaghoṣa, Le Gesta del Buddha, a cura di A. Passi, Milano, 2000 (1a edizione 1979).

M. Bussagli, L’arte del Gandhāra. Torino, 1984.

L. Colliva, ‘The Apsidal temple of Taxila. Traditional hypotheses and new possible interpretations’, in A. Hardy (ed.) The Temple in South Asia, London, 2007, pp. 21-27.

L. Colliva, ‘The Excavation of the Archaeological Site of Barikot (Bīr-kot-ghwandai) and its Chronological Sequence’, in Journal of Asian Civilizations, 2011, 34/1, pp. 157-91.

Erdosy, G. ‘Taxila: Political History and Urban Structure’, in M. Taddei & P. Callieri (eds) South Asian Archaeology 1987, Roma, IsIAO, 1990, pp. 657-674.

J.M. Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, Oxford, 2004 (1a edizione 1998).

L.M. Olivieri, ‘Outline History of the IsIAO Italian Archaeology Mission in Pakistan (1956-2006)’, East and West, 2006, 56, 1-3, pp. 23-41.

C. Pieruccini, L’arte dell’India. Vol.I , Torino, 2020.

M. Taddei, India (Archaeologia Mundi, Enciclopedia Archeologica), Ginevra, 1976.

M. Taddei, Arte narrativa tra India e mondo ellenistico, Roma, IsMEO, Conferenze 5, 1993.

The list will be updated during the course.

 

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons with direct and critical examination of the archaeological and iconographic documentation through projection of images and distribution of didactic material (when possible also uploaded on the "Virtuale" site).

The aim of the course is to introduce the student to the main problems of the proposed research theme. Emphasis is placed on the methodological approach to research, in order to stimulate the student's critical reflection.

Assessment methods

The examination consists of an oral interview to assess the critical and methodological skills matured by the student and the acquisition of basic knowledge in the field of Indian archaeology.

The evaluation will take into account the student's ability to orientate within the sources and the bibliographic material in order to obtain useful information that will enable him to explain themes and problems and to know how to connect them.

In addition to the contents, students will be evaluated on the ability to synthesize and analyse archaeological themes and the ability to express themselves adequately and with appropriate language.

Full acquisition of these skills and an exhaustive knowledge of the matter will be assessed with excellence marks (27-30).

A predominantly mnemonic acquisition of course's contents and discontinuous language and logical skills will be assessed with discrete marks (24-26).

A minimum level of knowledge of the course contents combined with training gaps or inadequate language and logical skills will be evaluated with marks slightly above the sufficiency (18-24).

The absence of a minimal acquisition of the course contents combined with inadequate verbal expression and logical skills will be considered insufficient.

Teaching tools

Projection of images and distribution of didactic material in pdf, when possible also via the "Virtuale" site.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Colliva