Gandharan Art in Context : East West Exchanges at the Crossroads of Asia

Contents: Preface. 1. Classical figures in an Indian landscape/John Boardman. 2. The impact of hellenised bactria on Gandharan art/Chaibai Mustamandy. 3. Bactria and Gandhara: the old problem reconsidered in the light of archaeological data from old Termez/B. Stavisky. 4. Symbolic systems in collision: rock art in the upper Indus Valley/Karl Jettmar. 5. A reappraisal of the Bimaran reliquary/Martha L. Carter. 6. Gandharan textiles: a local craft with a western connection/Doris Meth Srinivasan. 7. A hidden import from imperial Rome manifest in stupas/Shoshin Kuwayama. 8. The impact of Gandhara on the art of ancient Vanga: a case of an eastern response/B.N. Mukherjee. 9. The posthumous coinage of Hermaios and the conquest of Gandhara by the Kushans/Osmund Bopearachchi. 10. Numismatic perspectives on chronology in the crossroads of Asia/Joe Cribb. 11. Western impact on the coinage of the Great Kushans/David W. Mac Dowall. 12. Visha-Shiva in the Kushan pantheon/E.V. Zeymal. 13. Technical studies of Gandharan art/Chandra L. Reedy. 14. Technical analysis of Gandharan glass medallions/Mark T. Wypyski. Index.

"The papers in this volume are all related to the theme of the exhibition 'The Crossroads of Asia: transformation in image and symbol', which took place at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, from 6 October to 13 December 1992. The exhibition focussed on the meeting of various cultural crosscurrents which flowed along the ancient trade routes linking India, the Mediterranean world and China. This gave rise in Central Asia, Afghanistan and the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan to a unique interaction of diverse art traditions, best exemplified by the highly eclectic Buddhist art of Gandhara and by Kushan art and culture generally.

Each of those invited to take part in the associated conference was expert in one or more facets of the broad theme. The participants included art historians, numismatists, archaeologists, scientists and scholars who spanned more than one discipline. A dialogue ensued that proved to be both stimulating and highly constructive. It is hoped that the papers in this volume, in addition to being interesting in themselves, may help to carry forward research and collectively convey a broader understanding of Gandhara and its cultural and artistic traditions and influences." (jacket)