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Mauryan art is art produced during the period of the Mauryan Empire, the first empire to rule over most of the Indian subcontinent, between 322 and 185 BCE. It represented an important transition in Indian art from the use of wood to stone. It was a royal art patronized by Mauryan kings, most notably Ashoka. Pillars, stupas and caves are its most prominent surviving examples.
The most significant remains of monumental Mauryan art include those of the royal palace and the city of Pataliputra, a monolithic rail at Sarnath, the Bodhimandala or the altar resting on four pillars at Bodhgaya, the rock-cut chaitya-halls in the Barabar Caves near Gaya (including the Sudama cave bearing the inscription dated the 12th regnal year of Ashoka), the non-edict-bearing and edict-bearing pillars, the animal sculptures crowning the pillars with animal and vegetal reliefs decorating the abaci of the capitals, and the front half of the representation of an elephant carved in the round from a live rock at Dhauli.Mahajan V.D. (1960, reprint 2007). Ancient India, New Delhi: S.Chand, New Delhi, , p.348
Ananda Coomaraswamy, writing in 1923, argued that the Mauryan art had three main phases. The first phase is found in some instances of the representation of the Vedic deities (the most significant examples are the reliefs of Surya and Indra at the Bhaja Caves). However the art of the Bhaja Caves is now generally dated later than the Mauryan period, to the 2nd-1st centuries BCE. The second phase was the court art of Ashoka, typically found in the monolithic columns on which his edicts are inscribed and the third phase was the beginning of brick and stone architecture, as in the case of the original stupa at Sanchi, the small monolithic rail at Sanchi, and the Lomas Rishi Cave in the Barabar Caves, with its ornamented facade, echoing the forms of wooden art.
Most scholars agree that Mauryan art was influenced by Greek and Persian art, especially in imperial sculpture and architecture. Political and cultural contacts between the Greek and Persian cultures and India were intensive and ran for a long period of time, encouraging the propagation of their advances in the area of sculpture.
The highly polished surface of court sculpture is often called Mauryan polish. However this seems not to be entirely reliable as a diagnostic tool for a Mauryan date, as some works from considerably later periods also have it. The Didarganj Yakshi, now most often thought to be from the 2nd century CE, is an example.
These pillars were mainly erected in the Gangetic plains. They were inscribed with edicts of Ashoka on Dhamma or righteousness. The animal capital as a finely carved lifelike representation, noteworthy are the lion capital of Sarnath, the bull capital of Rampurva and the lion capital of Lauria Nandangarh. Much speculation has been made about the similarity between these capitals and Achaemenid works.
The stone elephant at Dhauli was also probably carved by local craftsmen and not by the court-based artists who were responsible for the animal capitals. The image of the elephant emerging from the rock is a most impressive one, and its purpose was probably to draw attention to the inscription nearby.
They are found more commonly from Pataliputra to Taxila. Many have stylized forms and technically they are more accomplished, in that they have a well-defined shape and clear ornamentation. Some appear to have been made from moulds, yet there is little duplication. Terracotas from Taxila consists of deity figures, votive reliefs with deities, toys, dice, ornaments and beads. Among the ornaments were round medallions, similar to the bullae worn by Roman boys. Terracotta images of folk gods and goddesses often have an earthy charm (some of them are perhaps dolls). Many animal figures are probably toys for children.
The designs vary, but all examples are finely carved, despite their small size. A number of components appear in a variety of variations. Typically the innermost zone, which runs down the sloping sides of the hole, has standing female figures, often nude or nearly so, but with jewellery and elaborate hairstyles, with trees in between them.Lerner and Kossak, 48 These may be called "goddesses", or "mother goddesses", and the trees, apparently of various species, as the tree of life, but these interpretations are not universally accepted.Lerner and Kossak, 48; V&A; Bennett (2017)
Their purpose, and any practical function, remains unclear and "enigmatic". They may have a specific religious purpose, or a more general one promoting fertility, or been used to make jewellery by hammering metal foil over the designs.Lerner and Kossak, 48 (quoted); Bennett (2019), 99; V&A About 70 have been found, many only as fragments, with a 2014 find in Thailand the first from outside the Indian subcontinent; it is assumed this was imported from India.Bennett (2019), 95
The Greek ambassador Megasthenes mentions that the capital city of Pataliputra was encircled by a massive timber-palisade, perforated by holes or slits through which archers could shoot. It had sixty-four gates and 570 towers.Mahajan V.D. (1960, reprint 2007). Ancient India, New Delhi: S.Chand, New Delhi, , p.281 According to Strabo, the gilded pillars of the palace were adorned with golden vines and silver birds. The palace stood in an extensive park studded with fish ponds. It was furnished with a great variety of ornamental trees and shrubs. Excavations carried out by Spooner and Waddell have brought to light remains of huge wooden palisades at Bulandi Bagh in Pataliputra. The remains of one of the buildings, an 80 pillared hall at Kumrahar are of particular significance. Out of 80 stone columns, that once stood on a wooden platform and supported a wooden roof, Spooner was able to discover the entire lower part of at least one in almost perfect conditions. It is more or less similar to an Ashokan pillar, smooth, polished and made of grey Chunar stone.Mahajan V.D. (1960, reprint 2007). Ancient India, New Delhi: S.Chand, New Delhi, , p.349
Many stupas like those at Sanchi, Sarnath and possibly Amaravati Stupa were originally built as brick and masonry mounds during the reign of Ashoka. Most were renovated many times, which leaves us with hardly a clue of the original structures.
This ware was used largely for dishes and small bowls. It is found in abundance in the Ganges valley. Although NBP was not very rare, it was obviously a more expensive ware than the other varieties, since potsherds of NBP were occasionally found riveted with copper pins indicating that even a cracked vessel in NBP ware had its value.Thapar, Romila (2001). and the Decline of the Mauryas, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, , pp.239-49
The alloy content closely resembles that specified in the Arthashastra. Based on his identification of the symbols on the punch-marked coins with certain Mauryan rulers, Kosambi argued that the Mauryan punch-marked Karshapana after Chandragupta has the same weight as its predecessor, but much more copper, cruder fabric, and such a large variation in weight that the manufacture must have been hasty. This evidence of stress and unsatisfied currency demand is accompanied by debasement (inflation) plus vanishing of the reverse marks which denoted the ancient trade guilds.Kosambi, D.D. (1988). The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, , p.164 This in his opinion indicated that there was a fiscal crisis in the later Mauryan period. However his method of analysis and the chronological identification has been questioned.Thapar, Romila (2001). and the Decline of the Mauryas, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, , p.289
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