Indo-Corinthian capitals are

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

s crowning

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s or

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s, which can be found in the northwestern

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, and usually combine

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

elements. These capitals are typically dated to the first centuries of the

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

, and constitute an important aspect of

Greco-Buddhist art The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art of the north Indian subcontinent is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara. The s ...

Corinthian design

Indo-Corinthian capitals display a design and foliage structure which is derived from the academic

Corinthian capital The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

developed in Greece. Its importation to India followed the road of Hellenistic expansion in the East in the centuries after the conquests of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

. In particular the

Greco-Bactrian kingdom The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Hellenistic Greece, Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Helleni ...

, centered on

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

(today's northern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

), upheld the type at the doorstep of India, in such places as

Ai-Khanoum Ai-Khanoum (, meaning ''Lady Moon''; uz, Oyxonim) is the archaeological site of a Hellenistic city in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. The city, whose original name is unknown, was probably founded by an early ruler of the Seleucid Empire and se ...

until the end of the 2nd century BCE. In India, the design was often adapted, usually taking a more elongated form and sometimes being combined with scrolls, generally within the context of Buddhist

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

s and temples.

Figurines

Corinthian capital with the Buddha in the center

Indo-Corinthian capitals also incorporated figures of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

s, usually as central figures surrounded by, and often under the shade of, the luxurious foliage of Corinthian designs. This practice was not limited to India, and also found favor in various areas of

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. The depiction of figurines within the foliage of Corinthian capitals is not in itself an eastern development. In the ancient Greek world in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, figurines were often represented this way:

Combinations with Buddhist architecture

Indo-Corinthian capital were also used in combination with architectural elements, such as Buddhist stupas. One of the best example was excavated and reconstituted at

Sirkap Sirkap (Urdu and pnb, ) is the name of an archaeological site on the bank opposite to the city of Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan. The city of Sirkap was built by the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius after he invaded modern-day Pakistan around 180 BC. ...

Perhaps the most notable divergence from the western concept of function occurs at Kalawan,
Taxila Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and ...
, where a large acanthus capital set on a lotus base was inserted between the conventional square basement and cylindrical dome of a votive stupa.

Further, in the art of

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

, Indo-Corinthian capitals on top of separating pilasters are used extensively in narrative

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

s of the life of the Buddha. This usage continued as late as the 5th century.

Gallery

File:Base of pillar, Indo-Corinthian capitals and elephants from base of stupa, Jarwal-Garhi.jpg, Base of pillar, Indo-Corinthian capitals and elephants from base of stupa,

Jamal Garhi Jamal Garhi is a small town located 13 kilometers from Mardan at Katlang-Mardan road in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northern Pakistan. Jamal Garhi was a Buddhist monastery from the first until the fifth century AD at a time when Buddhism f ...

Image:PilarImage4.jpg, An Indo-Corinthian capital from the

Butkara Stupa The Butkara Stupa (Pashto: بت کړه سټوپا) is an important Buddhist stupa near Mingora, in the area of Swat, Pakistan. It may have been built by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, but it is generally dated slightly later to the 2nd century BCE ...

under which a coin of

Azes II Azes II (Greek: , epigraphically ; Kharosthi: , ), may have been the last Indo-Scythian king, speculated to have reigned circa 35–12 BCE, in the northern Indian subcontinent (modern day Pakistan). His existence has been questioned; if he did ...

was found. Dated to 20 BCE or earlier (

Turin City Museum of Ancient Art The Museo Civico d'Arte Antica is an art museum located in the Palazzo Madama in Turin, Italy. It has a renowned collection of paintings from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. It reopened in 2006 after several years of restorations. ...

). File:Capitello corinzio con busti di devoti clarified - Butkara I (Swat).jpg, Indo-Corinthian capital representing a Buddhist devotee wearing a Graeco-Roman coat with

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

National Museum of Oriental Art Rome's National Museum of Oriental Art "Giuseppe Tucci" (Italian: Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale 'Giuseppe Tucci' ) is a museum (now closed) in Rome, Italy, that was dedicated to the arts of the Orient, from the Middle East to Japan. The museum ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Image:ColumnWithFigurine.jpg, A pilaster decorated by a Corinthian capital and a female figurine, Athens, 2nd-1st century BCE. Image:BuddhaCapitol2.JPG, The Buddha, within the foliage of a Corinthian capital. File:Series of Indo-Corinthian capitals from Jamal-Garhi.jpg, Series of Indo-Corinthian capitals from Jamal-Garhi. Image:BuddhistTriad.JPG, A Buddhist triad flanked by two pilasters with Indo-Corinthian capitals, Gandhara, 3rd century CE. Image:StupaCanopy.jpg, Indo-Corinthian canopy at the

Chakhil-i-Ghoundi stupa The Chakhil-i-Ghoundi Stupa, also code-named "Stupa C1", is a small limestone stupa from the Chakhil-i-Ghoundi monastery, at the archeological site of Hadda, Afghanistan, Hadda in eastern Afghanistan. Most of the remains of the stupa were gathered ...

, Hadda. File:Small Gandhara architectural pillar by Serrot M 1883.jpg, Small Gandhara architectural pillar File:ButkaraIKapitell.jpg, Capital with central

quadriga A () is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in Classical Antiquity and the Roman Empire until the Late Middle Ages. The word derives from the Latin contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. The four- ...

. File:Corinthian Capital with Sun God Surya Riding a Chariot (Quadriga) Gandhara 100-200 CE.jpg, Indo-Corinthian capital featuring the charriot-driving sun god

Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...

. Gandhara, 2nd century CE.

References

{{reflist Buddhist architecture Hellenistic architecture Orders of columns

Corinthian design

Figurines

Combinations with Buddhist architecture

Gallery

See also

References