DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0084
62 EASTERN CAVES.
dant, and the testimony is as complete as could well be expected.
We have at least three monuments, whose date we may say is known
with sufficient certainty for our purposes, and which, as we shall pre-
sently see, were almost as certainly contemporary with these caves.
The first of these is the rail which Asoka (b.c. 250) is said to
have erected round the Bodhi tree at Buddha Gaya. Very little of it
remains, and none of it in situ, still there is enough of it existing to
show exactly what the style of sculpture was at that age. Unfortu-
nately, however, it has never been photographed, or at least no photo-
graphs of it, except of one fragment, have reached this country,
and the drawings that have been published are very far from being
satisfactory. The best set of drawings yet made were by Major
Markham Kittoe, more than thirty years ago. They are now in the
library at the India Office, but have never been published. Those
in General Cunningham's " Reports " are far from complete,1 and
by no means satisfactory, and the same may be said of the set
engraved by Babu EAjendralala Mitra, in his work on Buddha
Gaya,2 just published. Fortunately the latter does give one photo-
graph of one gate pillar (Plate L.), but whether taken from a cast
or from the stone itself is not clear. Whichever it is, it is the
only really trustworthy document we have, and is quite sufficient
to show how little dependence can be placed on General Cunning-
ham's representation of the same subject, and by implication on
the drawings made by A. P. Bagchi for the Babu's work, which
are in no respect better than the General's, if so good. It would
of course be a great advantage if a few more of the sculptures
had been photographed like the pillar represented on Plate L.,
but it, though it stands alone, is quite sufficient to show what the
style of sculpture was which prevailed in the third century B.C.,
when it was erected.
The Bharhut Tope, which is the second in our series, has been
much more fortunate in its mode of illustration. All its sculptures
have been photographed by Mr. Beglar and published with careful
descriptions by its discoverer, General Cunningham.3 The date,
too, has been assumed by him to be from 250 to 200 B.C. on data
i Reports, vol. i. Plates VIII. to XI.; vol. iii. Plates XXVI. to XXX.
2 Buddha Gaya, Plates XXXIII. to XXXVIII.
3 The, Stupa of Bharhut, by General A. Cunningham, London, 1879.
dant, and the testimony is as complete as could well be expected.
We have at least three monuments, whose date we may say is known
with sufficient certainty for our purposes, and which, as we shall pre-
sently see, were almost as certainly contemporary with these caves.
The first of these is the rail which Asoka (b.c. 250) is said to
have erected round the Bodhi tree at Buddha Gaya. Very little of it
remains, and none of it in situ, still there is enough of it existing to
show exactly what the style of sculpture was at that age. Unfortu-
nately, however, it has never been photographed, or at least no photo-
graphs of it, except of one fragment, have reached this country,
and the drawings that have been published are very far from being
satisfactory. The best set of drawings yet made were by Major
Markham Kittoe, more than thirty years ago. They are now in the
library at the India Office, but have never been published. Those
in General Cunningham's " Reports " are far from complete,1 and
by no means satisfactory, and the same may be said of the set
engraved by Babu EAjendralala Mitra, in his work on Buddha
Gaya,2 just published. Fortunately the latter does give one photo-
graph of one gate pillar (Plate L.), but whether taken from a cast
or from the stone itself is not clear. Whichever it is, it is the
only really trustworthy document we have, and is quite sufficient
to show how little dependence can be placed on General Cunning-
ham's representation of the same subject, and by implication on
the drawings made by A. P. Bagchi for the Babu's work, which
are in no respect better than the General's, if so good. It would
of course be a great advantage if a few more of the sculptures
had been photographed like the pillar represented on Plate L.,
but it, though it stands alone, is quite sufficient to show what the
style of sculpture was which prevailed in the third century B.C.,
when it was erected.
The Bharhut Tope, which is the second in our series, has been
much more fortunate in its mode of illustration. All its sculptures
have been photographed by Mr. Beglar and published with careful
descriptions by its discoverer, General Cunningham.3 The date,
too, has been assumed by him to be from 250 to 200 B.C. on data
i Reports, vol. i. Plates VIII. to XI.; vol. iii. Plates XXVI. to XXX.
2 Buddha Gaya, Plates XXXIII. to XXXVIII.
3 The, Stupa of Bharhut, by General A. Cunningham, London, 1879.