! 1! Art of the Ancient World. CX903-30 ID: 1127318 ! ! The!Origin!of!the!Buddha!Image:! Gandhara!and!Colonialism!vs.!Mathura! and!Anti<colonialism?! A!study!of!the!scholarship!regarding!the!origin!of! the!Buddha!image!from!the!late!19th!century!until! the!21st!century! ! ! 5,484%Words% ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 2! List!of!Figures:! ! Figure!1:!Map!of!ancient!Gandhara,!Bactria!and!Mathura!(Wikimedia!Commons,! Map!of!the!Kushan!empire)! ! Figure!2:!Map!of!Gandhara!and!Mathura!in!the!modern!day!(Asia!Society,!Maps)! ! Figure!3:!Typical!Gandhara!Buddha!from!1stC2nd!century!CE!(Wikimedia! Commons,!Gandhara!Buddha)! ! Figure!4:!Typical!Mathura!Buddha!from!Kushan!period!(Wikimedia!Commons,! Inscribed!seated!Buddha!image)! ! Figure!5:!A!Yaksa!from!Mathura!(Sampradaya!Sun,!Yaksas!and!Water!Cosmology! ! Figure!6:!Kanishka!casket!from!Gandhara,!127!CE!(Wikimedia!Commons,!The! Kanishka!Casket!in!the!British!Museum)! ! Figure!7:!Buddhist!fresco!from!Kakrak,!Afghanistan!showing!a!seated!Buddha,! 5th!century!CE!(Levy!(1932)!37)! ! Figure!8:!Buddhist!fresco!from!Horyuji!monastery,!Japan!showing!a!seated! Buddha,!7th!century!CE!(Reiji!Yamashina,!Horyuji!Fresco:!Wall!Paintings)! ! Figure!9:!Gandharan!sculpture!showing!Buddha!being!worshipped!by!Indra! (Havell!(1908)!42)! ! Figure!10:!Nepalese!sculpture!showing!Maitreya!Buddha!preaching!from!the!5th! century!CE!(Havell!(1908)!46)! ! Figure!11:!Coin!of!King!Maues.!Obverse!with!Elephant,!reverse!with!seated!king! or!Buddha,!1st!century!BCE!(Wikimedia!Commons,!Coin!of!Maues)! ! Figure!12:!Bimaran!Reliquary!showing!Buddha!and!attendant!figures,!from! Gandhara,!1st!century!CE!(British!Museum,!Bimaran!Reliquary! ! Figure!13:!Coin!of!King!Azes!II.!Obverse!with!mounted!king,!reverse!with! Athena,!1st!century!BCE!(British!Museum,!Silver!tetradrachm!of!Azes)! ! Figure!14:!Sculpture!of!standing!Buddha!from!Gandhara,!1st!century!CE!(British! Museum,!Schist!standing!figure!of!Buddha)! ! ! ! ! ! ! 3! In!this!essay!I!shall!be!looking!at!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image!in!human! form,!and!the!history!of!scholarship!that!surrounds!it,!in!order!to!see!how!the! debate!around!the!origin!of!the!image!fed!into!colonial!and!postcolonial! attitudes.!The!Buddha!image,!now!generally!credited!as!originating!in!Mathura! between!the!1st!century!BCE,!and!the!1st!century!CE,!has!had!a!long!history!of! scholarly!dispute;!which!centred!on!the!argued!GraecoCRoman!origin!of!the! Buddha!image!at!Gandhara.!In!this!essay!I!will!not!be!trying!to!prove!where!and! when!the!Buddha!image!originated,!but!instead!I!shall!trace!the!scholarly!dispute! from!the!mid!to!late!19th!until!the!21st!century.!As!well!as!looking!at!the!origin!of! the!Buddha!image,!I!will!also!survey!more!general!attitudes!to!Gandhara!and! Mathura!art,!as!this!is!inextricably!linked!with!the!debate!surrounding!the! Buddha!image.!First,!I!shall!show!how!the!earliest!scholarship!sought!to!argue! for!a!Western!origin,!as!a!means!of!‘westernising’!India.!This!allowed!scholars!to! argue!for!the!civilising!effect!of!classical!Greece!and!Rome,!and!thus!offer!a! parallel!for!the!perceived!civilising!effect!of!19th!and!20th!century!European! colonialism.!I!will!then!analyse!the!way!in!which!some!scholars!began!to!argue! for!the!Indian!origin!of!the!Buddha!image!in!the!early!20th!century,!and!look!at! how!this!was!received!by!Western!scholars!writing!before!Indian!and!Pakistani! independence!in!1947.!Finally,!I!shall!survey!how!the!desire!to!prove!the! Western!origin!of!the!Buddha!image!has!dissipated!in!the!decades!since!the! independence!of!India!and!Pakistan,!but!that!there!is!still!some!nationalistic! tendencies!in!the!debate.!This!study!will!show!how!the!argument!over!where!the! Buddha!originated!in!art!has!been!used!to!justify!colonial!agendas,!either! consciously!or!subconsciously.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 4! Figure!1:!Map!of!ancient!Kushan!Empire!(1st! century!CE<!4th!century!CE)!showing!locations!of! ancient!Bactria,!Gandhara!and!Mathura Figure!2:!Map!highlighting!the!Gandhara!region,!and!the!location!of!Gandhara! and!Mathura!on!a!map!of!modern!India!and!Pakistan As!this!field!of!study!may!be!unfamiliar!to!many!classicists,!I!will!first! offer!an!overview!of!Gandhara!and!Mathura,!and!the!Buddhist!art!found!in!each.! Ancient!Gandhara!centred!upon!the!Peshawar!valley!in!modern!day!Pakistan,! ! 5! and!included!the!ancient!city!of!Taxila,!and! the!Swat!valley.!Alexander!briefly!invaded! Gandhara!on!his!Eastern!expansion,!as!he! garrisoned!and!received!tribute!from!Taxila.1! A!coin!from!Taxila!showed!that!GraecoC Bactrian!king!Demetrius!I!was!present!in!2nd! century!BCE!Gandhara.2!The!final!Greek!king! present!in!coinage!is!Menander!I,3!famous!for! seeming!to!follow!the!Buddhist!faith!in!the! Buddhist!text!Questions)of)King)Milinda,!from! around!100!BCE.4!This!text,!translated!in! Figure!3:!A!typical!standing!Gandhara! Buddha!displaying!Graeco<Roman!posture,! drapery,!wavy!hair!and!youthful!face! 1890,!and!allowed!scholars!to!assume!the! existence!of!Greek!Buddhists!in!the!Gandhara! region.!At!Gandhara!a!wealth!of!art!with!GraecoCRoman!imagery!has!been! found,5!as!have!IndoCCorinthian!capitals,6!and!many!anthropomorphic! representations!of!Buddha!in!sculpture!or!relief.!These!Buddhas!seem!to!contain! GraecoCRoman!influence!in!their!stance,!drapery,!proportion,!hair!etc.!! Mathura!was!a!much!smaller!region,!mostly!centred!on!the!city.7!It!lay! around!one!thousand!kilometres!east!of!Gandhara,!and!had!less!of!a!history!of! interaction!with!the!West.!Megasthenes,!the!Greek!ethnographer,!mentions! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1!Arrian,!Anabasis,!5.8! 2!Sagar!(1992)!102.! 3!Pritchett,!Menander/Milinda.! 4!Anonymous,!The)Questions)of)King)Milinda,!1.9.! 5!British!Museum,!Stone)palette.! 6!British!Museum,!Capital.! 7!Sharma!(2004)!66.! ! 6! Mathura,8!and!Menander!I!attacked!Mathura.9!Mathura!Buddhas!are!more! generally!seated,!have!a!shaven!head,!the!robe!leaves!the!right!shoulder!bare!and! the!drapery!closely!moulds!the!flesh.10!They!do!not!have!the!same!youthful!grace! as!the!Gandhara!Buddhas;!and!instead!should!be!seen!as!developing!from!earlier! Mathuran!yaksa!(male!nature!spirits)!imagery.11!Both!of!these!schools!of!art!are! now!viewed!as!having!a!roughly!similar!chronology:!they!begin!in!the!mid!1st! century!BCE,!the!first!Buddhas!are!probably!introduced!in!the!1st!century!CE,! both!flourish!between!the!1st!and!3rd!centuries!CE,!and!both!end!between!the!5th! and!7th!century!CE.12!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Figure!4:!A!typical!seated!Mathura!Buddha! ! ! showing!a!bared!right!shoulder,!lack!of! drapery!on!the!body,!large!ears,!urna,! !symbols!on!feet!and!hands,!and!surrounded! by!lions!and!Indian!figures. ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8!Pruthi!(2004)!219.!! 9!Mitchiner!(1986)!91.! 10!Coomaraswamy!(1927)!57.!! 11!Nadiem!(2003)!46.!! 12!Sharma!(2004)!66.! Figure!5:!A!yaksa!from!Mathura!in!a!similar! pose!to!Fig.!4. ! 7! Due!to!India’s!historic!literary!and!artistic!culture,!it!offered!rivalry!to! classical!Greek!and!Roman!culture.!Colonial!British!rule!in!India!required! Europeans!to!work!out!India’s!relationship!with!the!GraecoCRoman!font!of! Western!civilisation,!and!to!secure!the!primacy!of!the!West.13!In!this!section!I!will! observe!how!scholars!of!the!19th!and!early!20th!century!placed!Gandhara,!and!its! art,!within!a!classical!context,!and!thus!secured!artistic!primacy!of!the!West!over! the!East.!! From!the!beginning!of!its!discussion!among!scholars,!Gandhara!and! Gandhara!art!was!not!allowed!to!be!Indian,!but!instead!was!placed!within!a! classical!context.!One!frequent!method!of!doing!this!was!locating!Gandhara! within!classical!history.!Vincent!Smith’s!The)Early)History)of)India!gives!21!pages! of!consideration!to!preCAlexander!India,!and!over!three!times!this!to!the!few! years!of!Alexander’s!Indian!campaign.!Even!in!an!attempt!to!narrate!Indian! history,!its!interaction!with!the!West!is!given!precedence,!and!as!Smith!says,! ‘Europe!was!practically!ignorant!of!India!until!the!veil!was!lifted!by!Alexander’s! operations’.14!Smith,!prizing!the!classical!tradition!as!the!greatest!of!human! achievements,!had!to!connect!India!to!the!classical!West!to!make!India!worthy!of! praise.15!Alfred!Foucher!does!the!same!thing!in!his!introducing!of!Gandhara!to!a! Western!audience.16!This!creates!a!fake!foundation!of!Gandhara,!and!implies!that! civilisation!did!not!exist!prior!to!Alexander’s!arrival:!Alexander’s!arrival!in! Gandhara!led!to!the!space!itself!being!made!classical.!Archaeologist!John! Marshall,!recounting!an!earlier!visit!to!Gandharan!Taxila!said!that,!‘it!seemed!as! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 13!Vasunia!(2013)!9C10.!! 14!Smith!(1914)!12.! 15!Thapar!(2003)!17.! 16!Foucher!(1917)!125C8.!! ! 8! if!I!had!lighted!all!of!a!sudden!on!a!bit!of!Greece!itself’,!and!‘I!felt!then…!that!there! was!something!appealingly!Greek!in!the!countryside!itself’.17!Equally,!Pierre! Dupont!thought!of!his!1954!trip!to!Pakistan!as!‘a!pious!pilgrimage!to!the!GrecoC Buddhist!country’.!We!see!then!that,!Gandhara!had!been!so!strongly!placed! within!the!framework!of!classical!history,!that!archaeologists!visiting!there!felt! they!were!in!Greek!land,!not!Indian.!This!relocating!of!Gandhara!away!from!India! and!towards!Greece,!allowed!the!Gandhara!School!of!art!to!be!seen!not!as!an! Indian!branch!of!art!with!GraecoCRoman!tendencies,!but!rather!an!eastern! branch!of!GraecoCRoman!art.!G.W.!Leitner!coined!the!popular!term!‘GraecoC Buddhist’!for!a!collection!of!Gandharan!sculpture!he!brought!to!Europe!in! 1870;18!and!this!sculpture!was!hailed!as!a!new!page!in!the!history!of!Greek,!not! Indian,!art.19!The!prominence!of!‘Graeco’!in!the!terminology!again!situates! Gandhara!art!within!a!Western!framework.!Thus,!Gandhara!art!was!made!the! easternmost!artistic!legacy!of!Alexander.!There!was!a!further!need!to!invent!a! physical!GraecoCRoman!creation!of!these!objects.!Foucher!could!only!see!a! ‘mixed!GreekCIndian!artist,!or!a!Greek!artist!converted!to!Buddhism’!creating! these!pieces.20!This!echoes!common!Victorian!criticism!of!much!of!Indian!art!as! ‘vulgar’,21!or!‘unclassical’.22!For!example,!Taylor!in!1843!claimed!that!Indian! architectural!argument!held!‘a!profusion!of!barbaric!ornament!and!gaudy! colouring…!expensive!but!not!refined’.23!And!so,!Indian!artists,!ancient!or! modern,!were!not!able!to!create!something!that!reached!the!heights!of!classical! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 17!Marshall!(1951)!xv.!! 18!Abe!(1995)!72.! 19!Abe!(1995)!72.! 20!Foucher!(1917)!128.!! 21!Kriegel!(2007)!144.!! 22!Codell!(2009)!225.!! 23!Taylor!(1843)!25.! ! 9! art.!Thus,!in!the!early!scholarship!Gandhara!was!reimagined!as!a!Greek!land,! with!a!Greek!school!of!art!created!by!Greek!artists.!Smith!hailed!Gandharan!art!as! the!‘best!specimens!of!the!plastic!art!ever!known!to!exist!in!India’.24!He!could!do! nought!else.!Gandharan!art,!because!of!its!unique!classical!heritage!was!the! nearest!thing!to!perfection!Indian!art!could!attain.25!However,!Smith!also! deemed!Gandharan!art!to!be!‘echoes!of!the!second!rate!Roman!art!of!the!third! and!fourth!centuries’.26!To!scholars!such!as!Vincent!Smith,!Gandharan!art!might! be!the!height!of!Indian!art,!but!an!imitation!of!classical!style,!can!never!match!the! perfection!of!the!original.!Thus!Indian!art!is!necessarily!inferior!to!classical!art,! and!the!West!has!won!this!battle!of!cultural!interaction.!! ! ! Having!observed!how!Gandhara!and!its!art!were!classicised,!I!shall!now! focus!my!study!on!the!debate!surrounding!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image.!I!will! observe!how!various!scholars!argued!for!the!classical!origin!of!the!Buddha,!and! then!how!various!museum!exhibits!in!the!Western!world!picked!this!up.!Through! this,!I!hope!to!show!how!the!scholars!of!the!19th!and!early!20th!century!used!the! origin!of!the!Buddha!image!as!a!subconscious!justification!for!European! colonialism.!! I!will!start!with!Foucher!as!his!thesis!is!perhaps!the!most!influential! exponent!of!the!Greek!origin!of!the!Buddha.!Foucher!argues!for!the!Greek!origin! of!the!Buddha!more!through!history!and!dating!of!pieces,!than!through!a!critical! analysis!of!the!artworks.!For!Foucher,!our!‘European!eyes!do!not!need!the!help!of! an!Indianist’!in!order!to!appreciate!the!Gandharan!Buddha’s!classical!style,!which! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 24!Smith!(1889)!173.! 25!Mitter!(1992)!258.!! 26!Smith!(1889)!173.! ! 10! !for!him!was!clearly!‘made!in!the!hand!of! an!artist!from!some!Greek!studio’.27!This! ‘Hellenised!Buddha’!was!modelled!on!the! Apollo!Belvedere,!as!the!‘Greek!artists! surely!would!have!represented!the!Indian! Saviour!in!the!most!intellectual!type’,28!an! opinion!that!was!shared!by!Grünwedel.29! Foucher!argued!that!the!‘plastic!type’!of! the!Buddha!must!have!existed!in!the!1st! century!BCE!at!the!latest,!due!to!the! Figure!6:!The!Kanishka!Casket!with!Buddha! seated!in!the!middle!and!in!front!of!a!sunray! nimbus.!He!wears!Graeco<Roman!clothing! and!has!wavy!hair.!Brahma!and!Indra!stand! either!side.!A!king!in!central!Asian!dress!is! found!on!the!lower!decoration Kanishka!casket!(now!dated!127!CE),! which!depicts!the!Buddha!in!the!centre,! betraying!an!‘artistic!decadence’!which! would!locate!it!at!the!end!of!a!tradition!(Fig.!6).30!Foucher!arbitrarily!dates!the! first!Buddha!image!to!at!least!one!hundred!years!prior!to!this!casket!(which!he! dates!to!the!1st!century!CE),!and!offers!no!evidence!for!this!dating.!Foucher!also! briefly!makes!mention!of!Mathura!Buddhas.!He!sees!the!Mathura!and!Amaravati! Buddhas!(the!third!major!Buddhist!school!of!art!in!ancient!India)!as!being!‘as!like! as!brother’,!coming!‘from!the!2nd!century!of!our!era’!and!that!their!similarity! requires!they!have!a!‘common!ancestor’C!the!Gandhara!Buddha.31!The!lack!of! inscriptional!evidence!to!date!Gandhara!art!meant!Foucher!could!posit!his! hypothesis!of!Gandhara!influence!on!Mathura!without!hard!evidence!to!disprove! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 27!Foucher!(1917)!120.!! 28!Foucher!(1917)!128.! 29!Grünwedel!(1901)!165.! 30!Foucher!(1917)!129C30.!! 31!Foucher!(1917)!116C7. !! ! 11! him.!Foucher,!however,!positions!himself!as!a!mild!voice!regarding!the!merit!of! India.!Rather!than!‘triumph[ing]!noisily!over!the!artistic!inferiority!of!the! Indians’,!Foucher!saw!Gandharan!art!as!the!product!of!the!‘father!and!the! mother’:!the!‘Indian!mind’!and!the!‘Greek!genius’.32!India!held!the!religious!zeal,! but!not!the!intellectual!capability!of!creating!a!human!Buddha!image.!Greek!rule! in!India!was!not!intrusive,!rather!it!was!altruistic:!it!did!not!destroy,!it!created.! So,!although!Foucher!criticises!those!hostile!to!India,!his!outlook!feeds!into!an! important!colonial!premise,!that!colonial!rule!had!a!stimulating!affect!on!nonC Western!societies,!due!to!the!introduction!of!Western!invention.33! ! Foucher!had!attempted!to!prove!the!inevitable!Greek!origin!of!the!Buddha! without!attacking!Indian!culture.!However,!some!scholars!of!the!same!era!did!not! avoid!the!‘nationalist!rancour’,!which!Foucher!was!trying!to!move!away!from.34! James!Fergusson!in!his!Archaeology)in)India!of!1884,!was!implicitly!judgemental! of!Indian!religion.!In!discussing!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image,!he!argues!that! ‘the!disease’!of!idolatry!in!ancient!Indian!religion!only!‘broke!out’!in!‘the! Buddhist!monasteries’!of!Gandhara!‘where!the!influence!of!GraecoCBactrian!art’! is!so!clear.35!This!disease!then!‘pervade[s]!the!outward!forms…!of!all!the!ancient! religions!throughout!India’.36!Smith!similarly!states!that!these!‘Hellenic! influences!gave!encouragement!to!idolatrous!practices’.37!The!use!of!the!terms! ‘idolatry’!and!the!making!of!‘images’!by!Smith!and!Fergusson!hold!notable! resonances!with!an!antiCidolatry,!and!thus!antiCCatholic,!Protestant!outlook;! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 32!Foucher!(1917)!136. !! 33!Abe!(1995)!79.!! 34!Foucher!(1917)!136. !!! 35!Fergusson!(1884)!36.! 36!Fergusson!(1884)!36.! 37!Smith!(1889)!193.!! ! 12! leading!to!an!equation!between!Indian!religion!and!an!idolatrous!and!decadent! Catholicism.!For!Smith!and!Fergusson!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image,!and!hence! idolatry,!was!inspired!by!the!Greeks!as,!‘it!is!nearly!certain!that!the!Indians!were! not!idolaters!before!they!first!came!in!contact!with!the!Western!nations’.38! Fergusson!and!Smith!esteemed!that!Greek!images,!left!in!the!hands!of!the! Indians,!resulted!in!a!legacy!of!idolatrous!religious!art,!which!persisted!to!their! day.!Whilst!their!Protestant!West,!had!been!refined!enough!to!leave!behind! Greek,!and!Catholic,!idolatry,!the!India!they!had!colonised!still!clung!to!this! legacy!of!Greece.! ! ! Lastly,!I!shall!see!if!the!discussion!of!Gandhara!Buddhas!in!the!context!of! museums!in!the!early!20th!century!concords!with!the!scholarship.!The!most! noticeable!thing!in!looking!at!how!these!pieces!are!discussed!in!the!context!of! display!is!the!prevalence!of!the!term!‘GraecoCBuddhist’.!A!bulletin!by!the! Metropolitan!Museum!of!Art!in!New!York!regarding!an!exhibit!of!Gandhara!art!in! 1913!claims!that!‘GraecoCBuddhist’,!and!‘Gandhara!school’!as!terms!are! interchangeable,!and!that!in!fact!‘GraecoCBuddhist’!is!the!preferred!term!as!the! influence!of!Greek!art!upon!the!sculptures!is!of!more!concern!than!its!territorial! designation.39!This!shows!the!‘Indianness’!of!the!art!is!less!important!than!the! ‘Greekness’.!This!emphasis!on!‘Greekness’!is!further!emphasised!by!The! Metropolitan!Museum!of!Art!in!New!York!saying!that!we!should!see!Gandhara! art!as!‘a!new!page!in!the!history!of!Greek!art’.40!Foucher’s!ideas!are!found!in!The) Bulletin)of)the)Art)Institute)of)Chicago,)which!agrees!with!the!presence!of!Greek! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 38!Fergusson!(1884)!36.! 39!J.B.!(1913)!133.! 40!J.B.!(1913)!133.! ! 13! craftsmen!in!Gandhara,!and!that!these!craftsmen!produced!an!art!in!which! ‘Greek!conventions!were!perfectly!understood!and!used!to!express!Indian! ideas’.41!Parnassus,!a!journal!of!the!College!Art!Association,!in!discussing!the! Guimet!Museum,!similarly!describes!the!statues!as!uniting!the!‘grace!of!Grecian! art!and!the!mysticism…of!the!Hindus’.42 Foucher’s!idea!that!Greek!craftsmen! created!a!Greek!art!which!made!manifest!Indian!spirituality,!has!been!picked!up,! and!reproduced!to!describe!museum!exhibits.!The)Burlington)Magazine)for) Connoisseurs,!says!a!fresco!from!the!vault!of!a!grotto!in!Kakrak!(Fig.!7),!now!on! display!in!the!Guimet!Museum,!shows!the!‘charming!representation!of!a!face!in! the!classical!GraecoCRoman!tradition’,!despite!the!face!seeming!far!more!akin!to! Buddhas!from!frescoes!of!the!Far!East!(Fig.!8).43!The!forced!classical!link!reminds! us!of!Foucher’s!argument!that!the!Gandharan!Buddha!was!modeled!upon!Apollo.! Thus,!reports!and!articles!discussing!museum!exhibits!of!Gandhara!art!reflect!the! scholarship!of!the!time:!they!focus!on!the!Greek!heritage!of!the!pieces,!and!see! this!as!Greek!genius!creating!art!that!encapsulates!Indian!spirituality.!These! reports!and!articles!belay!the!excitement!at!this!new!outpost!of!Greek!art,!and! must!lead!us!to!assume!that!the!exhibits!themselves!would!have!presented!this! view!of!Gandhara!art!to!the!general!public.! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 41!C.F.K.!(1923)!53.!! 42!Reau!(1929)!44.!!! 43!Levy!(1932)!38.!! ! 14! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Figure!7:!A!fresco!from!Kakrak,!Afghanistan!(5th!century!CE),! showing!a!seated!Buddha!with!one!shoulder!bare,!closed! eyes,!elongated!ears!and!the!Darmachakra!Mudra!hand! gesture.! Figure!8:!A!fresco!from!Horyuji!monastery,!Japan!(7th!century! CE),!showing!a!seated!Buddha!with!closed!eyes,!elongated!ears! and!Darmachakra!Mudra!hand!gesture.!Displays!a!similar!pose! and!face!to!Fig.!7! ! ! In!this!next!section!I!shall!discuss!how,!around!the!time!of!Foucher,!there! was!a!small!but!significant!opposition!voice!in!E.B.!Havell,!arguing!against!the! Greek!origin!of!the!Buddha!image.!Then!I!shall!look!at!the!arguments!of!Ananda! Coomaraswamy!in!the!1920s,!who!argued!for!an!Indian!origin!of!the!Buddha! image!at!Mathura.!Following!this!I!will!then!survey!the!scholarship!coming!after! ! 15! the!1920s,!but!before!the!independence!of!India!and!Pakistan!in!1947,!to!see!if! this!new!Indian!origin!of!the!Buddha!took!root,!or!not.!! ! Havell!challenged!the!concept!of!judging!Indian!art!by!classical! standards,44!as!‘Indian!artistic!expression!begins!from!a!startingCpoint!far! removed!from!that!of!the!European’.45!Thus,!critics!should!judge!Indian!art!on! Indian!standards!within!the!Indian!tradition,!rather!than!trying!to!impose! European,!and!classical,!standards!upon!it.46!Havell!claims!that!those!arguing!for! Gandharan!superiority!have!‘immensely!exaggerated’!the!‘importance!of!the! Gandharan!school’!due!to!their!‘obsession!with!the!idea!that!everything!Greek! must!be!superior!to!everything!Indian’.47!Havell!thought!that!the!Greek!artists!of! Gandhara!were!‘very!inferior!craftsmen’!who!created!works!symptomatic!of!‘the! dying!art!of!Greece!degraded!into!an!inferior!handicraft’.48!Not!only!are!they!a! poor!imitation!of!classical!art,!they!also!do!not!accomplish!the!union!of!Greek! genius!and!Indian!spirituality!that!other!scholars!argued!for:!‘not!even!in!the!best! type!of!Gandhara!do!we!find!the!spirituality,!the!worshipfulness!of!the!true! Indian!ideal’!(Figs.!9&10).49!Their!failure!to!capture!Indian!spirituality!means! that!the!Gandhara!Buddhas!cannot!be!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image.50!Havell! does!not!argue!for!a!Greek!primacy,!or!the!altruistic!presence!of!the!West!in!the! East,!but!instead!he!is!a!defender!of!India!rallying!against!the!West.!We!can!get!a! sense!of!his!antiCWestern!viewpoint!in!his!discussion!of!Gandhara,!as!he!says!that!! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 44!Mitter!(1992)!270.! 45!Havell!(1908)!8.! 46!Mitter!(1992)!270.! 47!Havell!(1912)!20C1.!! 48!Havell!(1908)!42.! 49!Havell!(1908)!42.! 50!Abe!(1995)!80.! ! PLATE XI 16! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Figure!9:!A!Buddha!worshipped!by! Indra!from!Loriyan!Tangai,!Gandhara.! ! A!plate!from!Havell's!Indian%Sculpture% and%Painting,!crticised!by!Havell!for! ! having!an!expressionless!pose!and! mechanical!execution,!which!belay! the!insincerity!of!Gandhara!art.! ! Figure!10:!Nepalese!Maitreya! MAITREYA I'REACHING From Ceylon) Buddha!preaching.!A!plate!from! Havell's!Indian%Sculpture%and% Painting,!which!Havell!praises!for! its!beauty.!It!has!an!expressiveness! and!truthfulness!in!its!movements! which!is!not!surpassed!by!any! Gandhara!Buddhas! ! BUDDHA WORSHIPPED BY INDRA the!failure!of!Greek!craftsmen!to!capture!Indian!spirituality!in!Gandhara!art!is! (Gandharan Sculpture from Loriydn Tangai) ‘analogous!to!the!hybrid!Anglicised!sculpture!of!modern!India’.51!For!Havell!then,! the!introduction!of!Western!artistic!motifs!into!India,!either!by!Grecians!or!by! Britons,!results!in!a!lesser!form!of!art.!Havell!himself!was!an!educational! reformer!in!India,!and!superintendent!of!the!Government!School!of!Art!in! Calcutta,!he!abolished!a!British!system!of!teaching!and!introduced!an!Indian! one.52!He!worked!alongside!his!friend!Abanindranath!Tagore,!to!support!an! Indian!nationalist!cause!in!moving!away!from!Western!academic!methods.53!It!is! interesting!to!note!that!in!2011!Havell!was!praised!as!an!‘Advocate!of!Indian!art’! in!an!article!by!Indian!newspaper!The)Hindu!upon!the!150th!anniversary!of! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 51!Havell!(1908)!45.! 52!Chitrabhanu!(2011)!Advocate)of)Indian)Art! 53!Majumdar,!Abanindranath)Tagore:)a)reappraisal! ! 17! Havell’s!birth.54!Havell!worked!for!the!furthering!of!Indian!culture!and!art,!and! against!British!influence!over!the!arts!of!India.!Havell’s!life!matches!the! scholarship!then,!he!defended!India!in!both!his!view!on!the!origin!of!the!Buddha! image,!and!in!his!professional!and!personal!life.! ! ! Ananda!Coomaraswamy!was!the!first!major!proponent!of!the!Mathura! school!of!art!being!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image.!Coomaraswamy,!in!his!History) of)Indian)and)Indonesian)Art,!seeks!to!show!how!Mathura!Buddhas!are!of!a!purely! Indian!style.!He!offers!a!comprehensive!list!of!their!characteristics,!and!elements! such!as!the!shaven!head,!the!right!shoulder!being!left!bare,!and!there!being!no! suggestion!of!intended!grace;!all!these!show!how!Mathura!Buddhas!ought!to!be! seen!as!not!corresponding!with!a!GraecoCRoman!style.55!Dating!the!Mathura! Buddhas!from!the!reign!of!Kanishka!(which!he!believes!is!in!the!1st!century!CE),! he!argues!that!if!the!Gandhara!type!preceded!the!Mathura!ones,!we!would!expect! to!be!able!to!identify!influence!in!the!Mathura!Buddhas.!There!is!no!trace!of!this,! and!so!the!only!possible!conclusion!is!that!the!Mathura!and!Gandhara!Buddhas! both!emerged!simultaneously!in!the!mid!1st!century!CE.56!Despite!this! Coomaraswamy!still!is!‘inclined!to!presume…!a!priority!for!Mathura’,!but!admits! he!does!not!have!the!evidence!to!prove!it.57!He!criticises!Eurocentric!scholars,! such!as!Foucher!for!presenting!his!Greek!origin!of!the!Buddha!image!in!a!way! ‘best!calculated!to!flatter!the!prejudices!of!European!students’;58!and!further! claims!that!Foucher!dismissed!that!any!‘Indian!students’!who!doubted!the! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 54!Chitrabhanu!(2011)!Advocate)of)Indian)Art! 55!Coomaraswamy!(1927)!57.! 56!Coomaraswamy!(1927)!60.! 57!Coomaraswamy!(1927!no.2)!323.! 58!Coomaraswamy!(1927!no.2)!287.! ! 18! Gandhara!origin!were!doing!so!from!a!‘nationalist!rancour’.59!Coomaraswamy!is! clearly!framing!the!debate!around!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image!within!the! context!of!colonial!attitudes.!Doubts!over!Foucher’s!scholarship!are!not! expressed!due!to!his!failings!of!research,!but!rather!due!to!his!forcing!Eastern!art! to!fit!within!a!Western!framework!in!a!calculated!and!cynical!way.! Coomaraswamy!himself!was!born!in!Sri!Lanka!to!a!Tamil!father!and!a!British! mother.!Despite!moving!to!England!at!the!age!of!two,!his!Asian!heritage!seems!to! have!played!an!important!part!in!his!defending!of!the!East!from!the!West;60!and! his!antiCcolonial!and!South!Asian!nationalistic!sentiments!have!been!widely! discussed.!Coomaraswamy!is!trying!to!reclaim!Buddha!from!the!West!by!proving! an!Indian,!not!Greek,!origin!for!the!Buddha!image.!Havell!and!Coomaraswamy!do! not!offer!a!value!free!art!criticism,!they!are!making!politicised!points,!but!from! the!opposite!side.!The!argument!around!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image!is!still! entrenched!in!colonial!debate,!but!has!now!been!taken!back!by!the!oppressed,! rather!than!just!being!another!tool!of!oppression.!! ! ! I!shall!now!look!at!if!the!scholarship!of!the!following!decades!indicates! that!Havell!and!Coomaraswamy’s!ideas!created!a!new!way!of!thinking!about!the! origin!of!the!Buddha!image.!In!1936!Rowland,!despite!being!friends!with! Coomaraswamy,61!does!not!seem!to!have!seriously!considered!the!Mathura! origin.!Rowland!argues!that!due!to!recent!dating!of!‘Hellenistic’!Gandhara! Buddhas!as!fifty!to!a!hundred!years!after!the!Kanishka!casket,!we!should!see!the! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 59!Coomaraswamy!(1927!no.2)!288.! 60!Abe!(1995)!82.! 61!Sorensen!(2000)!Rowland,)Benjamin,)Jr.! ! 19! casket!as!archaic!rather!than!decadent.62!This!argument!seeks!to!disprove! Foucher,!who!had!argued!for!a!1st!century!BCE!origin,!as!the!Kanishka!casket!was! of!a!later!and!‘decadent’!style,!and!does!not!engage!with!Coomaraswamy’s!newer! hypothesis.!Rowland’s!central!focus!was!to!prove!a!mostly!Roman!influence!on! Gandharan!Buddhas,!rather!than!Greek.63!Mathura!Buddhas!are!only!discussed! as!an!ancillary!concern,!in!order!to!‘furnish!us!with!a!dating!for!the!late!GraecoC Buddhist!sculpture!of!this!Indianized!type’.64!In!a!1956!publication!Rowland! dismisses!interest!in!whether!Mathura!Buddhas!were!earlier,!later!or! contemporary!as!only!pertinent!to!those!determined!to!establish!a!‘chauvinistic! priority’!of!Mathura,!and!hence!India.65!He!damns!those!who!argue!for!Mathura! as!engaging!in!petty!nationalistic!argument;!but!by!being!undoubting!of!the! Western!origin!of!the!Buddha,!is!himself!feeding!into!the!colonial!attitudes!of!the! Buddha’s!origin.!Similarly,!Tarn!continues!to!argue!for!the!GraecoCRoman!origin! of!the!Buddha!image,!but!clearly!follows!Foucher’s!line!of!argumentation.!He! argues!that!Gandharan!art!was!Greek!technique!and!Buddhist!piety!combined,66! and!that!Buddha!was!modelled!on!Apollo.67!Regarding!the!Mathura!origin,!Tarn! says!that,!for!this!to!be!true,!Gandhara!Buddhas!must!be!dated!after!Mathura! ones.!Tarn!argues!that!a!Gandharan!coin!of!Maues!(Fig.!11),!which!he!dates!to! 80C58!BCE,!depicts!a!seated!Buddha!(now!generally!believed!to!be!a!king),68!and! hence!shows!that!the!Gandhara!Buddha!is!earlier!than!at!Mathura.69!Tarn!clearly! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 62!Rowland!(1936)!391.!! 63!Rowland!(1936)!395C6.! 64!Rowland!(1936)!399.! 65!Rowland!(1956)!73.! 66!Tarn!(1938)!393.! 67!Tarn!(1938)!405! 68!Krishan!(1996)!34!n.!15.! 69!Tarn!(1938)!400.! ! 20! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Figure!11:!A!coin!of!King!Maues.!Obverse!has!elephant!and!Greek! ! legend!'Great!King!of!Kings!Maues'!and!reverse!has!a!seated!king!or! ! Buddha!with!Kharosthi!legend!'Great!King!of!Kings!Maues'. ! ! !positions!himself!in!line!with!Foucher,!but,!unlike!Rowland,!we!see!clear! colonialist!argumentation!in!his!text.!He!claims!that!in!the!modern!day,!‘British! children!are!not!brought!up!in!India![because]!some!of!their!native! characteristics!may!weaken,!and!they!may!acquire!the!mentality!somewhat! nearer!akin!to!that!of!the!Indian’,!and!perhaps!the!Greeks!did!the!same.70!Thus! Tarn!sees!Greek!power!and!influence!in!Gandhara!as!a!forebear!of!British!power! in!India.!He!projects!his!own!racial!politics!onto!the!Greeks,!in!order!to!imagine!a! society!of!a!‘pure’!class!overseeing!a!weaker!Indian!population.!With!this!in! mind,!Tarn!could!not!accept!Coomaraswamy’s!hypothesis!that!Indians!could! have!invented!the!Buddha!image,!as!whether!in!the!1st!century!BCE,!or!in!the!20th! century!CE,!Indians!were!clearly!an!inferior!race.!In!contrast!to!Rowland!and! Tarn,!Van!der!Heyt!in!1946!seems!to!have!moved!away!from!a!Eurocentric! viewpoint.!He!argues!that!an!‘exaggerated!valuation!of!the!Greek!classics’!has!led! to!a!lack!of!understanding!of!Indian!art,!and!that!Indian!art!was!‘only!considered! worthy!of!contemplation!if!it!could!be!compared!with!Grecian!conception!of! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 70!Tarn!(1938)!390C1.! ! 21! artistic!form’.71!In!this!Van!der!Heydt!very!closely!follow!the!arguments!of!Havell! and!Coomaraswamy.!Vogel!claimed!that!earlier!scholars!‘ovverate[d]’!Gandhara! art!due!to!its!‘pseudoCclassical!character’,72!but!Vogel!still!argued!for!a!pseudoC classical!origin!for!the!Buddha!image.73!The!reception!of!Havell!and! Coomaraswamy!was!mixed,!some,!such!as!Tarn,!rallied!against!it!and!maintained! a!traditional!colonial!viewpoint!on!the!need!for!Western!inspiration!of!the! Buddha!image;!while!others,!such!as!Van!Der!Heydt!and!Vogel!appeared!more! aware!of!Western!scholarships’!disproportionately!high!regard!for!Gandhara!art! being!due!to!a!European!need!to!find!the!West’s!role!in!Indian!art.!! ! In!this!final!part!of!the!essay,!I!will!analyse!how!the!origin!of!the!Buddha! image,!and!its!classical!heritage,!has!been!discussed!in!scholarship!since!1947.!I! will!observe!both!Western!and!Eastern!scholarship!on!the!Mathura!vs.!Gandhara! origin!of!the!Buddha!image,!in!order!to!investigate!how!the!two!are!similar,!or! different,!in!their!approach!to!the!subject.!! Modern!Western!scholarship!seems!to!have!moved!away!from!the!need!to! create!a!Western!origin!of!the!Buddha.!Zwalf!in!1985!puts!both!sides!forward,!in! discussing!the!argued!GraecoCRoman!origin,!and!an!argued!Indian!one,!and!that! the!compromised!view!is!that!the!Buddha!image!developed!in!both!centres!at! once,!in!line!with!Coomaraswamy.74!Zwalf!does!not!argue!vehemently!for!either! side,!but!instead!provides!a!synthesis!of!previous!scholarly!debate.!Fischer!in! 1993!does!not!even!mention!Western!influence!in!introducing!the!issue!of!the! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 71!Van!Der!Heydt!(1946)!94.! 72!Vogel!(1936)!19.! 73!Vogel!(1936)!22.! 74!Zwalf!(1985)!91.!! ! 22! origin!of!the!Buddha!image,!a!subject!on!which!there!are!‘few!issues!resolved’.75! He!claims!the!best!we!can!conclude!is!that!the!first!Buddha!images!come!from! the!1st!century!BCE!and!that!they!had!a!!‘primarily!Indian’!figural!style,!being!a! combination!of!the!yogic!ideal!and!the!yaksa!figures.76!For!Fischer!the!Kushan! kingdom,!rather!than!any!particular!location,!was!the!instigator!of!the!origin!of! the!Buddha!image.77!Leidy!in!2008!extends!this!by!placing!very!little!emphasis! on!Mathura!or!Gandhara!as!the!origin.!Instead!she!argued!that!the!origin!of!the! Buddha!image!was!part!of!a!change!in!larger!religious!thought!at!the!time,!as! Hindu!and!Jain!divinities!begin!to!be!depicted!at!the!same!moment.78!The! creation!of!the!Buddha!image!is!due!to!Kushan!patronage,!which!explains!why!it! emerged!in!Mathura!and!Gandhara!simultaneously.79!The!modern!trend!is!to! present!a!balanced!view!by!demonstrating!the!alternatives!without!vehemently! agreeing!with!one!of!them.!These!scholars!do!not!try!to!prove!a!Western!origin!of! the!Buddha,!but!nor!do!they!try!to!defend!an!Indian!one;!the!debate!has!been! consciously!depoliticised!in!the!West.!! ! ! Eastern!scholarship!on!the!topic!of!the!Buddha!image!has!flourished!since! the!independence!of!India!and!Pakistan!in!1947;!and!can!be!studied!fairly!and! with!less!emotive!need,!as!Buddhism!does!not!have!a!strong!presence!in!modern! India!or!Pakistan.!What!we!do!find!is!a!general!split!between!Indian!scholars! arguing!for!the!Mathuran!origin,!and!Pakistani!scholars!arguing!for!the! Gandharan!origin.!In!1984!R.C.!Sharma,!argued!that!due!to!the!evidence!of! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 75!Fischer!(1993)!42.! 76!Fischer!(1993)!42.!! 77!Fischer!(1993)!43C4.! 78!Leidy!(2008)!31.! 79!Leidy!(2008)!32C3.!! ! 23! evolution!in!the!Mathura!Buddha!image,!that!Mathura!is!a!more!likely!place!of! origin.80!Ali!and!Qazi!argue,!in!agreement!with!Rowland,!that!the!Buddha!on!the! Bimaran!reliquary!(Fig.!12)!matches!the!style!of!figures!on!a!coin!of!Azes!II,!a! Scythian!king!of!Gandhara!in!35C12!BCE!(Fig.!13),!which!means!we!can!date!the! Bimaran!reliquary!to!the!last!quarter!of!the!1st!century!BCE.81!Hence!the! Gandhara!Buddha!must!predate!the!Mathura!one.!This!seems!a!tenuous! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Figure!12:!Bimaran!reliquary!(1st!century! CE)!showing!arches!around!the!side!which! contain!different!human!figures.!Central! figure!is!a!standing!Buddha!in!Graeco< Roman!robe,!with!two!Indian!deities!facing! him!on!either!side.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Figure!13:!A!standard!coin!of!Azes!II.!Obverse!has!a!mounted!king! with!a!standard!and!a!spear,!and!Greek!legend!'Great!King!of! Kings!Azes'!and!reverse!has!Pallas!Athena!holding!a!thunderbolt! and!shield.! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 80!Sharma!(1984)!154C5.! 81!Ali!(2008)!13.!! ! 24! argument,!as!these!two!images!hold!only!passing!similarity.!These!two!scholarly! approaches!feel!somewhat!reminiscent!of!early!20th!century!scholarship.!Both! sides!use!speculative!arguments!which!forces!evidence!to!fit!a!preCexisting! viewpoint.!While!this!does!not!smack!of!‘nationalist!rancour’,!it!indicates!a! culture!of!scholarship!in!which!scholars!are!influenced!by!their!role!as! researchers!of!national!culture!for!a!national!institution.!As!Dr!Ali’s!page!on! Abdul!Wali!Khan!University!Mardan!states,!he!is!dedicated!to!‘preserving!the! cultural!and!historical!relics!of!this!great!nation’.82!The!subtle!nationalistic!tone! here!can!be!seen!at!play!under!the!surface!of!his!scholarship,!and!that!of!his! contemporaries.!Ghosal!and!Sharma’s!2004!Buddhism)and)Gandhara)Art,! stemming!from!an!international!conference!in!reaction!to!the!demolition!of! Gandhara!art!in!Afghanistan,!was!perhaps!the!first!time!Indian!and!Pakistani! scholars!joined!together!to!discuss!Gandhara!art.83!This!publication!has!no! conclusive!outcome.!Sharma!argues!for!a!Mathuran!origin!due!to!a!Mathuran! pedestal!inscription,!which!states!that!‘an!image!of!the!Blessed!One,!the! Buddha…was!set!up’.84!However!Schopen!dates!this!to!104!CE,85!later!than!some! Mathura!Buddhas!are!dated.!Indian!scholar!Tiwari!presents!both!Gandhara!and! Mathura!as!potential!origins,86!as!does!the!Pakistani!exCdirector!of!the!Lahore! museum!Saifur!Rahman!Dar.87!What!this!collaborative!piece!managed!to! effectively!argue!was!that!the!locals!played!more!of!a!role!than!the!Greeks!or! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 82!AWKUM,!Prof)Dr)Ihsan)Ali.! 83!Nigam,!Melting)pot)of)cultures.)! 84!Schopen!(1987) 111.! 99.! 86!Tiwari!(2004)!103C7.! 87!Dar!(2004)!16C9.!! 85!Schopen!(1987) ! 25! Romans,88!with!the!origin!of!the!idea!purely!Indian,89!because!the!essential! requirements!of!the!Buddha!figure,!whether!it!originated!in!Gandhara!or! Mathura,!had!no!significance!in!the!Greek!or!Roman!artistic!tradition.90!Modern! scholars!are!unified!in!moving!away!from!the!need!to!discuss!the!classical! world’s!role!in!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image.91!The!West!has!made!a!conscious! effort!to!depoliticise!the!debate,!perhaps!due!to!its!previous!overCpoliticisation,! while!the!East!has!mostly!shrugged!off!the!need!to!fight!against!Western!claims! of!inspiration,!but!there!is!still!an!undertone!of!nationalism!in!the!debate.!This! collaborative!study,!however,!shows!us!that!the!debate!in!the!East!is!a!‘polite!and! accommodative’!one.92!The!relative!unanimity!in!moving!away!from!the!idea!of! Western!inspiration!of!the!Buddha!image!itself!is!a!political!act,!and!reflects!the! discrediting!of!colonial!ideas!in!postcolonial!society.!! ! ! ! In!this!essay!I!have!surveyed!the!history!of!scholarly!reactions!to!Mathura! and!Gandhara!art,!and!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image.!I!began!by!looking!at!how! early!scholars!such!as!Foucher!and!Fergusson,!as!well!as!museums,!favoured!the! GraecoCRoman!origin!of!the!Buddha!image,!due!to!a!colonial!need!to!show!a! legacy!of!classical!heritage!in!subjugated!India.!I!then!showed!how!Havell! criticised!Western!methods!of!placing!Indian!art!within!a!European!framework,! and!how!Coomaraswamy!argued!for!the!Mathuran!origin!of!the!Buddha!image.!! The!reactions!to!this!in!preCindependence!Western!scholarship!were!traced,! showing!how!some!scholars!engaged!with!Coomaraswamy,!and!some!did!not.! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 88!Dar!(2004)!21.!! 89!Tiwari!(2004)!106.! 90!Sharma!(2004)!67.! 91!Dar!(2004)!20C2.! 92!Dar!(2004)!17.! ! 26! Finally!I!gave!an!overview!modern!Western!and!Eastern!scholarship!on!the!topic,! to!see!how!in!the!West!the!debate!has!been!consciously!depoliticised,!and!in!the! East!the!GraecoCRoman!influence!has!been!negated,!but!there!is!a!slight! underlying!nationalistic!tendency.!Through!this! study!I!have!shown!how!colonial!needs!to!make! India!fit!into!a!Western!framework!clouded!the! debate!around!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image,!and! only!in!recent!years!has!the!topic!been!studied! more!objectively.!However,!the!West’s!need!to! accommodate!the!Buddha!into!a!Western!system! has!not!been!lost.!At!the!British!Museum’s!current! (as!of!April!2015)!Defining)Beauty:)the)Body)in) Ancient)Greek)Art!exhibit,!there!is!a!Gandhara! Buddha!placed!in!the!‘Greek!body!goes!east’!section! (Fig.!14).!The!label!attached!to!this!Buddha!tells!us! that!‘the!Greek!legacy…!contributed!to!the! emergence!in!the!1st!to!2nd!century!AD!of!a!figural! representation!of!the!Buddha’.!Even!in!2015,!a! Figure!14:!Early!standing!Buddha! figure!from!Gandhara!(1st!century! CE).!Buddha!in!Graeco<Roman! robe!with!wavy!hair,!moustache! and!ear!rings.! museum!exhibit!displaying!‘remarkable!works!of! art’!from!Greece93!strives!to!place!this!Gandharan! Buddha!within!a!Western!context,!and!implies!the! Greek!inspiration!for!creating!a!Buddha!image;!this!does!not!seem!far!removed! from!what!Foucher!was!doing!a!century!ago.!Perhaps!something!as!culturally! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 93!British!Museum,!Defining)Beauty.! ! 27! significant!as!the!origin!of!the!Buddha!image!may!never!be!depoliticised,!and!will! always!be!used!to!further!the!cultural!significance!of!one!society!or!another.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 28! Bibliography:! ! Primary!Sources:! !! Anonymous,!The)Questions)of)King)Milinda,!trans.!T.W.!Rhys!Davids!(Oxford:!The! ! ! Clarendon!Press!1890)! ! 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