81546 - Archaeology of Pre-Islamic Historical South Asia

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide students with the critical tools necessary to move in the complex field of archaeology pre-Islamic historical India, through detailed study of a monographic theme, different from year to year, faced by direct examination of historical, literary and archaeological sources, considered the critical perspective of scientific research. After completing the course, the student, in addition to the specialist knowledge of the monographic theme treated, is able to deal with critical sense the vast bibliography on pre-Islamic Indian archaeology and organize with rigorous methodology the sources for a archaeological research.

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 2018-19 course is: "Royal Ideology and dynastic complexes of the Kushan period"

The course intends to present synthetically the problems connected to the main dynastic centers of the Kushan period and to the royal ideology they represented .

The course also includes fundamentals of Indian culture, geography and history, necessary to provide the basis for the monographic study.

For a better adherence to the methodological perspective of the course of study, some hours will be also devoted to the knowledge of the main institutions responsible for the preservation of cultural heritage in the area and the main local and international archaeological collections, thus illustrating problems of protection and enhancement of the Indian cultural heritage.

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.
• Protection of the archaeological heritage in the Indian subcontinent. The main archaeological collections in the subcontinent, in Italy and in the world.
• The Kushan empire
• Khalchayan
• Surkh Kotal
• Mat
• The apsidal temple of Taxila and other possible comparisons
• The numismatics of the Kushan period
• The Kushan's royal ideology in the Indo-Iranian context

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:

C. Lo Muzio, Archeologia dell'Asia centrale preislamica. Dall'età del Bronzo al IX secolo d.C., Firenze, 2017, pp. 117-149.

G. Verardi, ‘The Kusāna Emperors as Cakravartins, Dynastic Art and Cults in India and Central Asia: History of a Theory, Clarifications and Refutations’, East and West, 1983, 33, 1-4, pp. 228-230, 232-237.

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:

G. Verardi, ‘The Kusāna Emperors as Cakravartins, Dynastic Art and Cults in India and Central Asia: History of a Theory, Clarifications and Refutations’, East and West, 1983, 33, 1-4, pp. 225-282.

Teaching methods

Lessons with direct and critical examination of the iconographical documents through projections of images, plans and maps.

Aim of the course is introducing the student to the main problems of the research subject proposed. A special stress is put on the methodological approach to research, with the aim of stimulating the critical reflection of the student.

Assessment methods

Oral examination to assess the basic knowledge acquired in the field of the Indian archaeology, regarding both the architectural and artistic evidences and their geographic and historic context.

The evaluation of the test 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 evaluated on the ability to synthesize and analyze archaeological themes and the ability to express themselves adequately and with appropriate language.

Full acquisition of these skills and an exhaustive knwledge 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

Slides projection and plan, maps and graphs distribution.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Colliva