index_0100


	==Ptolemy sees India as a mountain-bordered triangle (c.90-168): Living in the sophisticated city of Alexandria, in Egypt, the great geographer Ptolemy (Henry Davis) produces, among numerous other works, the view of Asia depicted in this map, including a very schematic India. (Here's how the Ptolemaic world fits together: Columbia U..) Considering the information available to him, his achievement is impressive, and his influence on later mapmakers lasts for centuries.
	==Nalanda, the famous Buddhist "university" in Bihar (c.100? on till 1100's?). Buddhist tradition says that Nalanda was founded even during the lifetime of the Buddha, and was visited by him. The existing Buddhist structures at the site, however, come from the 500's and later; the site is also full of Hindu and Jain temples. It seems very possible that by the 100's Nalanda may have existed in some form. Images of its later phases: DSAL. [Routes]
	==Nagarjuna (c.100's), in South India, formulates the Buddhist philosophical doctrine of Madhyamika, or the "Middle Way" (kalachakra); he is a uniquely influential South Asian Buddhist thinker, and his doctrines shape an important part of Tibetan Buddhism (wikipedia). He is traditionally associated with Nalanda.
	==Amaravati (c.100's), in Andhra, with its magnificent huge stupa and lavish decoration, becomes one of the wonders of its time. (By now, alas, after centuries of digging by treasure-seekers, only gorgeous fragments remain.) Images: DSAL; IGNCA: 01, 02, 03, 04.
	==Kanheri, near Bombay (c.100's): the earliest stupas and other material from a site that continued to be developed for centuries. Images: DSAL; Berger. [Routes]
	==the Bhagavad Gita becomes part (c.100?) of the steadily developing Mahabharata, and the career is launched that will eventually make it the single most popular text of modern Hinduism (Columbia Univ.). The story of how Krishna persuades Arjuna to fight in a fratricidal war proves to have a lasting hold on people's religious imaginations. [Routes]
	==Kanishka and his inscriptions (c.110?): Kanishka, the greatest Kushan emperor, is also the most Indianized. Like others of the Kushan dynasty (asianart), he is a patron of sculpture. In this image, a Sanskritic inscription on his robe reads: "King of kings (maharajadhiraja), great king (maharaja), son of god (devaputra), Kanishka." His two capital cities are Mathura and Peshawar; this statue is from a temple near Mathura. In one inscription he refers to his language, Bactrian (N. Sims-Williams), as "an Aryan language." [Routes]
	==Kanishka's Buddhist coins: Kanishka becomes a notable patron of Buddhism (nupam), and is the first ruler to use an image of the Buddha on coins (like this one, with its Kharoshthi inscription). The traditional Indian dating system (web exhibits) is named for the Shaka (or Saka) and starts in 78 CE; some consider that Kanishka initiated this system. The dates of Kanishka's own reign, however, have proved particularly hard to determine: dates between 78 and 128 have been proposed (Keele), but no consensus has yet been reached. [Routes]
	=="Gandharan" Kushan art in full flower (c.110-300): After the emperor Kanishka becomes a champion of Buddhism, his patronage and that of later Kushan rulers help create and perpetuate the widespread, long-lived "Gandhara school" (wiki; Univ. of Alabama) of Greek-influenced sculpture (gandhara); one of its later stylistic centers is in Mathura, the Kushans' eastern capital, which develops a style of its own. More examples of Gandharan/Kushan sculpture: IGNCA; ANU. ([Routes*]
	==The earliest Buddhist manuscripts: The earliest known Buddhist manuscripts, written in Kharoshthi script, come from Gandhara, and date from this period. Only a few have yet been translated (Univ. of Washington). By now Buddhism has also begun to spread along the famous "Silk Road" (silk road) caravan route.
	==Trajan weeps as he turns back from the road to India (c.115): The Roman emperor Trajan (roman emperors), like many of his precedessors, has great ambitions as a conqueror in the east. His earlier campaigns against the Dacians are celebrated in a magnificent Forum in Rome, crowned by the famous Trajan's Column (cheiron). His final conquests during the Parthian War extend the Roman Empire as far east as it is ever destined to go. When his armies triumphantly reach the Persian Gulf, Trajan weeps, because he is too old to continue eastward to India as Alexander did. He dies on the way home, in 117, and his successor Hadrian abandons all the new eastern conquests.
	==Nahapana (c.105-25): Around this time, the Western Kshatrapas, who have been acting as Pahlava satraps, drive the Satavahana dynasty from the northwest part of the Deccan. Their most famous early king is called Nahapana, and his coins continue the hybrid tradition: Greek on one side, Brahmi (ancient scripts) or Kharoshthi (ancient scripts) on the other. Study materials: Ancient Coins Canada (search for "Nahapana")
	==Huvishka, another Kushan king (c.126-64), is a successor of Kanishka's during the heyday of the Kushan dynasty; he builds monuments in Mathura, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. He circulates some of the most beautiful and varied coins of any of the early kings; they feature images of Greek, Zoroastrian, and Hindu deities: nupam. [Routes]
	==Rudradaman's Sanskrit (c.130-55?): The emperor Rudradaman, one of Nahapana's successors among the Western Kshatrapas, governs much of Rajasthan and Sind. An inscription at Junagarh dated to the year 150 describes his martial glories and his reconstruction of a great artificial lake in Girnar that had been excavated under Chandragupta and improved by Ashoka. This inscription is the earliest significant inscription in full-fledged Sanskrit that has yet been found (MSSU; Imperial Gazetteer). Study materials: Ancient Coins Canada (search for "Rudradamana")
	==Arrian's Anabasis describes Alexander's Indian experiences (c.150): Lucius Flavius Arrianus, known as Arrian, composes the best history of Alexander that we have. It is called "Anabasis" ("the March Up-country"), and its Book VIII, "Indica" (Internet Sourcebook), is a thoughtful, sophisticated account of India itself and Alexander's experiences there. This bas-relief of Alexander (in battle, as usual) is taken from the marble sarcophagus in which his body lay.
	==Pausanias (fl.c.150-80), a prolific chronicler (perseus), mostly writes about Greece, but makes occasional remarks on India: how the Greeks import ivory from India, and find the elephant fascinating; and how the Indians (and the Chaldeans) were the first to say that the soul was immortal; and other such things: perseus.
	==the Laws of Manu ("Manu-smriti," or "Manava dharma shastra") appears (c.100's-200's): This most famous of the "dharma shastra" (religious law) works has been vastly influential in defining later Hinduism, including the caste system (Internet Sourcebook; sacred texts). When the Dalits (the "untouchables" confined to the ritually polluted sub-basement of the system) began to organize against caste abuses, one of their first symbolic acts (1927) was to burn the "Laws of Manu."


	==Ptolemy sees India as a mountain-bordered triangle (c.90-168): Living in the sophisticated city of Alexandria, in Egypt, the great geographer Ptolemy (Henry Davis) produces, among numerous other works, the view of Asia depicted in this map, including a very schematic India. (Here's how the Ptolemaic world fits together: Columbia U..) Considering the information available to him, his achievement is impressive, and his influence on later mapmakers lasts for centuries.
	==Nalanda, the famous Buddhist "university" in Bihar (c.100? on till 1100's?). Buddhist tradition says that Nalanda was founded even during the lifetime of the Buddha, and was visited by him. The existing Buddhist structures at the site, however, come from the 500's and later; the site is also full of Hindu and Jain temples. It seems very possible that by the 100's Nalanda may have existed in some form. Images of its later phases: DSAL. [Routes]
	==Nagarjuna (c.100's), in South India, formulates the Buddhist philosophical doctrine of Madhyamika, or the "Middle Way" (kalachakra); he is a uniquely influential South Asian Buddhist thinker, and his doctrines shape an important part of Tibetan Buddhism (wikipedia). He is traditionally associated with Nalanda.
	==Amaravati (c.100's), in Andhra, with its magnificent huge stupa and lavish decoration, becomes one of the wonders of its time. (By now, alas, after centuries of digging by treasure-seekers, only gorgeous fragments remain.) Images: DSAL; IGNCA: 01, 02, 03, 04.
	==Kanheri, near Bombay (c.100's): the earliest stupas and other material from a site that continued to be developed for centuries. Images: DSAL; Berger. [Routes]
	==the Bhagavad Gita becomes part (c.100?) of the steadily developing Mahabharata, and the career is launched that will eventually make it the single most popular text of modern Hinduism (Columbia Univ.). The story of how Krishna persuades Arjuna to fight in a fratricidal war proves to have a lasting hold on people's religious imaginations. [Routes]
	==Kanishka and his inscriptions (c.110?): Kanishka, the greatest Kushan emperor, is also the most Indianized. Like others of the Kushan dynasty (asianart), he is a patron of sculpture. In this image, a Sanskritic inscription on his robe reads: "King of kings (maharajadhiraja), great king (maharaja), son of god (devaputra), Kanishka." His two capital cities are Mathura and Peshawar; this statue is from a temple near Mathura. In one inscription he refers to his language, Bactrian (N. Sims-Williams), as "an Aryan language." [Routes]
	==Kanishka's Buddhist coins: Kanishka becomes a notable patron of Buddhism (nupam), and is the first ruler to use an image of the Buddha on coins (like this one, with its Kharoshthi inscription). The traditional Indian dating system (web exhibits) is named for the Shaka (or Saka) and starts in 78 CE; some consider that Kanishka initiated this system. The dates of Kanishka's own reign, however, have proved particularly hard to determine: dates between 78 and 128 have been proposed (Keele), but no consensus has yet been reached. [Routes]
	=="Gandharan" Kushan art in full flower (c.110-300): After the emperor Kanishka becomes a champion of Buddhism, his patronage and that of later Kushan rulers help create and perpetuate the widespread, long-lived "Gandhara school" (wiki; Univ. of Alabama) of Greek-influenced sculpture (gandhara); one of its later stylistic centers is in Mathura, the Kushans' eastern capital, which develops a style of its own. More examples of Gandharan/Kushan sculpture: IGNCA; ANU. ([Routes*]
	==The earliest Buddhist manuscripts: The earliest known Buddhist manuscripts, written in Kharoshthi script, come from Gandhara, and date from this period. Only a few have yet been translated (Univ. of Washington). By now Buddhism has also begun to spread along the famous "Silk Road" (silk road) caravan route.
	==Trajan weeps as he turns back from the road to India (c.115): The Roman emperor Trajan (roman emperors), like many of his precedessors, has great ambitions as a conqueror in the east. His earlier campaigns against the Dacians are celebrated in a magnificent Forum in Rome, crowned by the famous Trajan's Column (cheiron). His final conquests during the Parthian War extend the Roman Empire as far east as it is ever destined to go. When his armies triumphantly reach the Persian Gulf, Trajan weeps, because he is too old to continue eastward to India as Alexander did. He dies on the way home, in 117, and his successor Hadrian abandons all the new eastern conquests.
	==Nahapana (c.105-25): Around this time, the Western Kshatrapas, who have been acting as Pahlava satraps, drive the Satavahana dynasty from the northwest part of the Deccan. Their most famous early king is called Nahapana, and his coins continue the hybrid tradition: Greek on one side, Brahmi (ancient scripts) or Kharoshthi (ancient scripts) on the other. Study materials: Ancient Coins Canada (search for "Nahapana")
	==Huvishka, another Kushan king (c.126-64), is a successor of Kanishka's during the heyday of the Kushan dynasty; he builds monuments in Mathura, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. He circulates some of the most beautiful and varied coins of any of the early kings; they feature images of Greek, Zoroastrian, and Hindu deities: nupam. [Routes]
	==Rudradaman's Sanskrit (c.130-55?): The emperor Rudradaman, one of Nahapana's successors among the Western Kshatrapas, governs much of Rajasthan and Sind. An inscription at Junagarh dated to the year 150 describes his martial glories and his reconstruction of a great artificial lake in Girnar that had been excavated under Chandragupta and improved by Ashoka. This inscription is the earliest significant inscription in full-fledged Sanskrit that has yet been found (MSSU; Imperial Gazetteer). Study materials: Ancient Coins Canada (search for "Rudradamana")
	==Arrian's Anabasis describes Alexander's Indian experiences (c.150): Lucius Flavius Arrianus, known as Arrian, composes the best history of Alexander that we have. It is called "Anabasis" ("the March Up-country"), and its Book VIII, "Indica" (Internet Sourcebook), is a thoughtful, sophisticated account of India itself and Alexander's experiences there. This bas-relief of Alexander (in battle, as usual) is taken from the marble sarcophagus in which his body lay.
	==Pausanias (fl.c.150-80), a prolific chronicler (perseus), mostly writes about Greece, but makes occasional remarks on India: how the Greeks import ivory from India, and find the elephant fascinating; and how the Indians (and the Chaldeans) were the first to say that the soul was immortal; and other such things: perseus.
	==the Laws of Manu ("Manu-smriti," or "Manava dharma shastra") appears (c.100's-200's): This most famous of the "dharma shastra" (religious law) works has been vastly influential in defining later Hinduism, including the caste system (Internet Sourcebook; sacred texts). When the Dalits (the "untouchables" confined to the ritually polluted sub-basement of the system) began to organize against caste abuses, one of their first symbolic acts (1927) was to burn the "Laws of Manu."