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 of the 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 theme of the 2020-21 course is: "The Gandharan Art: archaeological data and iconographic elements".

The course intends to briefly present the problems of study related to the Buddhist artistic production known as "Art of Gandhara"; in particular, the available archaeological data and some iconographic elements that characterize this artistic production will be taken into consideration.

The monographic part of the course will be preceded by an introduction to the geography, history and religions of ancient India, necessary, due to the absence of courses dedicated to these topics in the Bachelor's Degree, 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 dedicated to the state of the art, in order to present the main actors of archaeological research, while others will be dedicated to the knowledge of the main institutions responsible for the preservation of the cultural heritage in the area and the main local and international archaeological collections, in order to illustrate emblematic examples concerning the problems of protection and enhancement of the cultural heritage of the 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.
• Protection of the archaeological heritage in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent.
• The main archaeological collections in the subcontinent, in Italy and in the world.
• Introduction to Buddhist art and architecture and the study of some emblematic sites.
• The aniconic representation of the Buddha.
• The art of Gandhara and the school of Mathura.
• The archaeological site of Butkara I and the stylistic groups identified by D. Faccenna.
• The archaeological site of Saidu Sharif and the narrative frieze.

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:

D. Faccenna, "Il fregio dello Stupa Principale di Saidu Sharif I: il Maestro di Saidu", in Il maestro di Saidu Sharif, Roma, 2002, pp. 127-136.

D. Faccenna & P. Callieri, "L'area sacra buddhista di Saidu Sharif I", in Il maestro di Saidu Sharif, Roma, 2002, pp. 121-126.

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..

A. Filigenzi "L‘arte del Gandhāra" e "L'arte sacra di Butkara I", in Sulla via di Alessandro da Seleucia al Gandhāra, Cinisello Balsamo, 2007, pp. 229-244.

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, reperibili anche sul sito internet della Treccani (www.treccani.it.)

 

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.

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

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

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 pdf learning materials distribution.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Colliva