Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 01

SR No.: 022812
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan
Publication Year: 2011
Total Pages: 272
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 11 MB

Page 164

126 / Jijñāsā
history and culture of the Vākāṭakas in their geographical environment, a map has also been produced which shows, as he states, "the natural theatre of their achievements'.58
XIV
The twenty-first century has so far seen some praiseworthy works on the Vākāṭakas. In 2004 Hans T. Bakker produced yet another noticeable treatise, this time an edited one, entitled The Vākāṭaka Heritage: Indian Culture at the Crossroads. 59 The articles included in this volume were presented in a colloquium held at Groningen from 6 to 8 June, 2002. In it Hermann Kulke (pp. 1-9) discusses the historical background from which the Vākāṭakas emerged and establishes two different, largely autonomous kingdoms: the Eastern and the Western. He suggests that the Eastern Vākāṭaka state can be seen as a transitional phase to the early medieval kingdoms. Derek Kennet (pp. 11-17) gives a critical assessment of the archaeological material regarding the Vākāṭakas and argues that ‘urban decay in the period may be due to a methodological misconception. Ellen M. Raven (pp. 19-31) addresses the question of the absence of Vākāṇaka gold coinage and calls attention to the relationship of the copper coins ascribed to the Eastern Vākāṭakas with coins found in Eastern Malwā. The Malwā tie up is further amplified in the contribution of Michael Willis (pp. 33-58), who concentrates on Udayagiri and shows how under Chandragupta II, father of the Väkäṭaka queen Prabhavatigupta. this hill was reshaped into a holy place. Robert L. Brown (pp. 59-69) reexamines the iconography of several images found in the Eastern Vākāṭaka kingdom and indicates Andhra as a possible source of inspiration. Hans T. Bakker (pp. 71-85) gives an assessment of the excavations in Mansar and ponders on a funerary monument of Prabhāvatīgupta. The Western Vākāṭakas and their main monuments in Ajanta are the subject of three contributions. Walter M. Spink (pp. 87-105) focuses on the doorways of the Ajanta caves and reasons how their development can present us with pointers for a relative chronology. The absolute (short) chronology underlying Spink's work is here questioned in an open letter by Heinrich von Stietencron (pp. 107-08). Leela Aditi Wood (pp. 109-31) furnishes an interpretation of Ajanta Cave 17 and shows how the prasasti and the art of the Vihara reflect one another and form an integral whole. The last four contributions address the issue of how the Vākāṭaka heritage continued to live in the sixth century. Johanna Gottfried Williams (pp. 133-41) looks at Mandasor in western Malwa, L.S. Nigam (pp. 143-56) appraises Vākāṭaka influences in the art of Chhattisgarh (Dakshina Kośala), whereas Donald M. Stadtner (pp. 157-65) examines how this process of cultural diffusion may actually have taken place. Finally, Yuko Yokochi (pp. 167-78), exhibits on the Mahiṣāsuramardini icon, how a model developed in the Vākāṭaka realm mixed up with a similar model of the Gupta north.
XV
Here, a couple of articles, one, by Hermann Kulke,60 briefly discussed above, and two, by Nandini Sinha Kapur." published in 2004 and 2005 respectively, deserve consideration. They, probably for the first time, have worked on the subject of state formation under the Vākāṭakas which has not been touched by other scholars before them. Both Kulke and Kapur use the term 'Eastern Vākāṭakas' to denote the main branch of the Vākāṭakas (i.e., the Nandivardhana branch). According to Kulke, the matrimonial alliance with the Guptas raised the status of the Eastern Vākāṭakas and the latter also initiated three important innovations: land donations to the Brahmanas, foundation of a 'state sanctuary' (Ramgiri), and copper-plate inscriptions to legitimatise and strengthen their 'newly acquired status as allies of the dominant power of northern India'. However, Kapur agrees with Kulke only with the