Indo-Greek art

[8][9][10] While Demetrius, the first Indo-Greek king, was extending his territory into India, still held Ai-Khanoum as one of his strongholds and continued to mint some of his coinage in the city.

[12] Because of their dual territorial possessions in Bactria and India, these kings, starting with Demetrius I, are variously described as Indo-Greek,[13] Indo-Bactrian,[14] or Greco-Bactrian.

[9][17] Numerous artefacts and structures were found, particularly in Ai-Khanoum, pointing to a high Hellenistic culture, combined with Eastern influences, starting from the 280-250 BCE period.

Various sculptural fragments were also found at Ai-Khanoum, in a rather conventional, classical style, rather impervious to the Hellenizing innovations occurring at the same time in the Mediterranean world.

Of special notice, a huge foot fragment in excellent Hellenistic style was recovered, which is estimated to have belonged to a 5-6 meter tall statue (which had to be seated to fit within the height of the columns supporting the Temple).

[2][21] Due to the lack of proper stones for sculptural work in the area of Ai-Khanoum, unbaked clay and stucco modeled on a wooden frame were often used, a technique which would become widespread in Central Asia and the East, especially in Buddhist art.

A variety of artefacts of Hellenistic style, often with Persian influence, were also excavated at Ai-Khanoum, such as a round medallion plate describing the goddess Cybele on a chariot, in front of a fire altar, and under a depiction of Helios, a fully preserved bronze statue of Herakles, various golden serpentine arm jewellery and earrings, a toilet tray representing a seated Aphrodite, a mold representing a bearded and diademed middle-aged man.

An almost life-sized dark green glass phallus with a small owl on the back side and other treasures are said to have been discovered at Ai-Khanoum, possibly along with a stone with an inscription, which was not recovered.

[28] These first attempts at incorporating Indian culture were only partly preserved by later kings: they all continued to struck bilingual coins, sometimes in addition to Attic coinage, but Greek deities remained prevalent.

These are the first known representations of Vedic deities on coins, and they display early Avatars of Vishnu: Balarama-Samkarshana and Vasudeva-Krishna, and are thought to correspond to the first attempts at creating an Indian-standard coinage as they invaded northern India.

A narrative plate made of shell inlaid with various materials and colors, thought to represent the Indian myth of Shakuntala was recovered.

[35] The remains of the Greeks in South Asia essentially revolve around city ruins, stone palettes, a few Buddhist artefacts, and their abundant coinage.

[29][30] Besides the amin city of Sirkap, founded by Demetrius I, an expeditions in the 1980s and 90s discovered an Indo-Greek town in Barikot from around the time of King Menander I in the 2nd century BCE.

It was surrounded by a defensive wall about 2.7 meters thick with massive rectangular bastions and a moat, and was structurally similar to other Hellenistic fortified cities such as Ai-Khanoum or Sirkap.

[50] Some authors consider that Indo-Greek cultural elements are not particularly visible in the art of Mathura, and Hellenistic influence is not more important than in other parts of India.

[54] The female figurines are fully dressed, with the left leg slightly bent, and wear the Greek chiton and himation, and the Hellenistic styles of Bactria are probably the ultimate source of these designs.

[64] Following the demise of the Mauryan Empire and its replacement by the Sunga Empire in eastern India, numismatic, literary and epigraphic evidence suggest that the Indo-Greeks, when they invaded India, occupied the area of Mathura for close to a century from circa 180 BCE and the time of Menander I until approximately 70 BCE, with the Sungas remaining eastward of Mathura.

[51] Others consider that Hellenistic influence appears in the liveliness and the realistic details of the figures (an evolution compared to the stiffness of Mauryan art), the use of perspective from 150 BCE, iconographical details such as the knot and the club of Heracles, the wavy folds of the dresses, or the depiction of bacchanalian scenes:[50][52] "Mathura sculpture is distinguished by several qualitative features of art, culture and religious history.

The Persepolitan capitals with human-headed animal figures and volutes as well as the presence of the battlement motif as a decorative element point to Iranian affinities.

These influences came partly as a result of the general saturation of foreign motifs in early Indian sculpture as found in the Stupas of Bharhut and Sanchi also.

[77] The Yakshas are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness,[78][79] and were the object of popular worship.

[77] In the 2nd century BCE, Yakshas became the focus of the creation of colossal cultic images, typically around 2 meters or more in height, which are considered as probably the first Indian anthropomorphic productions in stone.

[52][77] Although few ancient Yaksha statues remains in good condition, the vigor of the style has been applauded, and expresses essentially Indian qualities.

[52] Describing the drapery of one of these statues, John Boardman writes: "It has no local antecedents and looks most like a Greek Late Archaic mannerism", and suggests it is possibly derived from the Hellenistic art of nearby Bactria where this design is known.

[52] In the production of colossal Yaksha statues carved in the round, which can be found in several locations in northern India, the art of Mathura is considered as the most advanced in quality and quantity during this period.

[87] Many of the works of art at Hadda can also be compared to the style of the 2nd century BCE sculptures of the Hellenistic world, such as those of the Temple of Olympia at Bassae in Greece, which could also suggest roughly contemporary dates.

[citation needed] Alternatively, it has been suggested that these works of art may have been executed by itinerant Greek artists during the time of maritime contacts with the West from the 1st to the 3rd century CE.

Numerous donors provided the funds for the building of these caves and left donatory inscriptions, including laity, members of the clergy, government officials.

This victory is known from the fact that Gautamiputra Satakarni restruck many of Nahapana's coins, and that he is claimed to have defeated the Yavanas and their confederates in the inscription of his mother Queen Gotami Balasiri at Cave No.

3 of the Nasik Caves:[113][114] ...Siri-Satakani Gotamiputa (....) who crushed down the pride and conceit of the Kshatriyas; who destroyed the Sakas, Yavanas and Palhavas; who rooted out the Khakharata race; who restored the glory of the Satavahana family...

Corinthian capital, found at Ai-Khanoum in the citadel by the troops of Commander Massoud , 2nd century BC.
Stucco face found in the administrative palace. Ai-Khanoum, 2nd century BC
Plate depicting Cybele pulled by lions, a votive sacrifice and the Sun God . Ai-Khanoum, 2nd century BC.
Silver coin of Demetrius I of Bactria (reigned c. 200–180 BC) in the Greco-Bactrian standard, wearing an elephant scalp, symbol of his conquests of areas in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent . [ 23 ]
The plate found in Ai-Khanoum, thought to represent the myth of Shakuntala (with reconstitution).
The Heliodorus pillar , erected circa 115 BCE by Indo-Greek ambassador Heliodorus , is the first known inscription related to Vaishnavism in India. [ 36 ] Heliodorus was one of the earliest recorded Indo-Greek converts to Hinduism . [ 37 ]
Type of stone palette excavated in the Greek levels at Sirkap. [ 45 ]
Intaglio gems from northwestern India, showing an evolution from Greek workmanship to more degraded forms, ranging from circa 2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE.
Gandharan Athena Lahore Museum
Hellenistic culture in the Indian subcontinent: Greek clothes, amphoras , wine and music (Detail of Chakhil-i-Ghoundi stupa , Hadda , Gandhara , 1st century CE).
Greek Buddhist devotees, holding plantain leaves, in purely Hellenistic style, inside Corinthian columns , Buner relief , Victoria and Albert Museum .
Lay devotee couple in Hellenistic dress (right, man holding a lamp), and Buddhist monks (shaven, left), circumambulating a stupa .
A Hellenistic seated Buddha, which may have been made by Greek artists settled in the Jalalabad region, Tapa Shotor , 2nd century CE. [ 96 ]
Pillar of the Great Chaitya at Karla Caves , mentioning its donation by a Yavana . [ 100 ] Below: detail of the word "Ya-va-na-sa" in old Brahmi script : , circa AD 120.
Buddhist cave built by ""Indragnidatta the son of the Yavana Dharmadeva, a northerner from Dattamittri", in the 2nd century AD", Nashik Caves .