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Rock Art in the Upper ~Indus Region

Harald Hauptmann Rock Art in the Upper ~Indus Region

The majestic peaks of the Himalayas with their I4 eight-thousanders towering above the scenery, separate the Tibetan Plateau and the South Asian subcontinent on a length of 2,500 km. They do not. though. form an impassable barrier to man, as evident from its western part comprising the Hindu Kush, the Western Himalayas. and the Karakoram in the north of Pakistan. From the Tarim Basin, several paths lead over passes more than 4,000 metres high over the glaciers of the mountain chains of the The Karakoram down to the deeply cut canyons of the Indus river and its tributaries. This network of routes that connects the northern steppe regions with Kashmir and the Indo-Pakistani lowlands has been frequented by hunters and nomads since the end of the Ice Age as well as during historical times by merchants with their caravans, by Buddhist pilgrims, Chinese emissaries. and foreign conquerors. The high mountain range that today encompasses the Northern Areas of Pakistan formed, on the one hand, the shortest connection to the trading posts in the Tarim Basin for Indian caravans, but on the other hand, it was also, in the opposite direction, at least temporarily the gate to India for Sogdian merchants from Samarkand. A southern section of the legendary Silk Route led through the Indus Valley. It consisted of a network of trading routes that started in the ancient Chinese imperial cib of Changan and led to the Mediterranean Sea via the oasis cities in the Tarim Basin, such as Khotan, Yarkand and Kashgar as well as Turfan and Kucha. The first description of the passages leading from the Tarim Basin via the Hindu Kush and Karakoram to the kingdoms ofJibin (Chi-pin) and Nandou - kingdoms that are located in the regions around Kapisa-Peshawar and Gilgit - is provided by the chronicle Han Shu (25-221 B.c.E.) from the time of the Han dynasty. The difficult route continues until it reaches the "Hanging Passages", spanning deep chasms, which are described as life-threatening challenges for man and beast. This toponym might either refer to the paths running in vertiginous heights along the scarps above the Hunza and the Indus rivers or, more probable, to the shaky rope bridges stretching over mountain torrents. The adventurous itineraries of Chinese pilgrims vividly narrate the arduous journeys across the snowcovered peaks of the "Onion Mountains" down to the Indus Valley. The earliest among these pilgrims, according to the tradition, was the monk Faxian (317-~zo), who started his 15-years-long pilgrimage in the imperial city of Changan. After having scaled the Karakoram Faxian reached the kingdom Jiecha (Kie-cha), probably modern Baltistan, and the small kingdom of To-lieh or ~uoliin the year 400. This place was of supraregional religious importance, as its sanctuary was most prominent for a gilded wooden statue of Maitreya, the future Buddha, which was over 20 metres high. Only afterwards, Faxian crossed the "Route of the Hanging Passages", i.e. the Indus river, to arrive at his destination, the kingdom of UddiyHna, in Swat. In the report of the most famous pilgrim, Xuanzang (629-645), a Chinese Marco Polo, who had also chosen the southern route over the "Onion Mountains" to Gandhara. the miraculous Maitreya statue and an adjunct monastery is described again at a place that he calls Ta-li-lo. This location is probably to be identified with a religious centre such as the one in the Chilas Basin. Apart from these reports and some later chronicles, there exist no other historical sources on this region. Yet, there is another group of monuments giving a deeper insight into the history of this high mountain region: A collection of rock art images ~~niiqn ~the~ire diversity and ex Fig. 2 Hodur-West. Stupa-Buddha group traordinary in their quantity. Carved into the rock faces and boulders of the Indus gorge, reaching from Indus-Kohistan to Baltistan, and, even beyond, to Ladakh and Tibet, expands one of the worldwide largest and most impressive rock art provinces. These monuments can also be found on the important pass routes and subsidiary valleys of the Indus river be it along with the Gilgit, at Yasin, in Hunza up to the Kilik pass. along the Shigar or the Shyok in Baltistan. They concentrate along the Fully developed routes to both sides of the Indus river. having their richest clusters within a stretch of more than 100 kilometres between Shatial in Indus-Kohistan and the bridge of Raikot. In these rock art galleries, which are centred around Chilas and Thalpan in the district of Diamer at the foot of the 8,125 meter high Nanga Parbat, over 50,000 rock drawings and more than 5,000 inscriptions represent a period lasting from the late Stone Age to the Islamisation of the mountain region that took place in the l6th century. The remarkable diversity of these engravings, also known as the "guest book of the Silk Route", mirrors the history, the cultural and social traditions and the religious ideas of local as well as immigrated peoples. The existence of this rock art as well as that of the two monumental Buddha reliefs of Kargah near Gilgit (fig. 7) and Manthal near Skardu in Baltistan (fig. 8) has already been known since the 19'~c' century. But only after the completion of the 751 km long Karakorarn Highway - the direct connection between China and Pakistan - Karl Jettmar. Heidelberg, and Ahmad Hasan Dani, Islamabad, could commence systematic research of the rock art province. The work started as a joint German-Pakistani project in 1980 and in 1984 the project was taken over by the Heidelberg Academy of the Sciences and has continued with the approval of the Pakistani Department of Archaeology and Museums in Islamabad to date.* With the onset of the ~olocene(9,500-6,200 B.C.E.),the milder climate in this region went along with heavier precipitation that also favoured a lush vegetation in the valleys and thus permitted the expansion of diverse fauna. Tllese propitious environmental conditions. starting with the melting of the large glacersa, ttracted groups of hunters who created the earliest rock images ofwild animals: depictions of ibex, markhor, and bharal (~imalayanb lue sheep), but also hunting scenes that occasionally even feature depictions of humans (line drawings 1.1-2). The artist's symbolic presence seems to be expressed by representations of hand and foot prints. The pictures of animals. usually engraved in silhouettes and showing a subnaturalistic style, find their counterparts in the rock art provinces of Western Asia and Siberia, ranging from the late Stone Age to Neolithic times. Impressive images of large, naked figures of men can be ascribed to the Bronze Age, the late 3d millennium B.C.E. Depicted in frontal view, with arms outstretched (line drawing 1,3), these "giants", found as single figures or in pairs, are attested in more than 60 examples from prominent places in the lndus Valley to Ladakh and might represent images of ghosts, demons, or local deities. Alternatively they might just depict shamans. In isolated cases the faceless giants are connected with images of masks (line drawing 1,4), that, if compared with the Siberian Okunev culture, could be explained as relating to shamanistic actions. We can only assign some rare rock art examples of wild animals or hunting scenes, and some depictions of chariots, to the 2"hillennium B.C.E. The earliest megalithic round tombs in lshkoman and Yasin can be ascribed to this era as well. With the beginning of the first millennium B.C.E.. a new population appears in the Upper lndus region, which can be traced back to invasions of Scytho-Sakian tribes. These steppe nomads that entered from Central Asia and are known as Saka from the inscriptions of the Persian Great King Darius 1 (522-485 B.c.E.) contr~bute numerous pictures of ibexes. deer, and predators featuring the Eurasian animal style (line drawings 15-7). They correspond to animal bronzes discovered in ~cythimku rgans from Kazakhstan and Siberia. With the eastern expansion of the ~chaernenid-Persian kingdom in the 61h century B.C.E. and the establishL~ neD rawrng 1 1 Dadam Das, 2 Barlo Das, 3 Thor.4 Z~yarat5, Kalat Doduk,Bo 6Turr1l Nala. 7 Dong Nala Llne Drawlng 2 1-3 Thalpan.4-5 Chllas 11.6 Barlo Das, 7Thalpan.B Shat~al ment of the Indian provinces of Gandhara and Hindu5 (Sind), also Iranian influence reaches the Upper lndus Valley. This is reflected in perfectly rendered images of stylized horses, mythical creatures in the characteristic bent-arm, bent-leg posture that indicates flying, and particularly, in warrior figures dressed in Western Iranian costumes (line drawings 2,l-3, fig. 1). Under the reign of the Kushan dynasty (1" century C.E.). Buddhism started to spread as a new belief system in the Upper lndus region. With the beginning of the earlier Buddhist era, lasting from the 1'' to the 3rd century, the region enters the stage of history, as engravings of stupas worshipped by pilgrims (line drawings 2,4-5), scenes abundant with figures and enthroned rulers (line drawing 2.6), and in particular, the first inscriptions in Kharosthi show. In the area concerned, the Buddhism reached its peak between the 51h and 8'l' centuries. Small principalities were founded in the high mountain areas, such as the powerful Great Palur of the Palola %hi dynasty in the east (called Bolor in Tibetan sources), with its centre in Baltistan as well as Little Palur (Tibetan Bruia) on the high plateau ofGilgit with Yasin that borders in the west. Starting from the 7'l' century, those principalities fell under the alternating rule of twogreat powers: the Chinese rang dynasty and the Tibetan kingdom. The third political power were the Daradas or Dards living in the southern part of the Upper lndus Valley. The kingdomfs centre was located in the Nilum-Kishaganga area and from its outpost chilas, situated at one of the main crossings of the lndus (possibly the seat of a regional ruler), it controlled the route across the Babusar pass leading to Kashmir and Taxila, an old centre of the Gandharan kingdom, The imagery is dominated by numerous remarkable depictions of ,t,pas and images of the Buddha (fig. 4) that were engraved on both sides of the lndus river along the developed traffic routes secured by sentry posts and fortresses, at places of smaller sanctuaries, at river crossings. and at central locations such as Shatial. Thor, Hodur and Chilas-~hal~an, and Shing Nala. From the numerous religious buildings, particularly the ~tupaso, nly one monument has been preserved in an aln~ostc omplete state, the "Minar of the Taj Moghal" ofJutial above Gilgit. Very sporadi-, rui ns of these monuments can be observed in the Gilgit valley, in Baltistan in the Buddhist hill settlement of Shigar, or at Surmo in the shyok valley. Due to their high artistic quality and vibrancy, several scenic depictions, showing Jritaka scenes, that is episodes narrating previous existences of the Buddha, are outstanding among the rock art. Three of them. the Vyiighri or Tiger Jdtaka (line drawing 3.1), the &ipaticaka litaka or Jitaka of the Greatest Evils (line drawing 3. 2), and the Sibi jdtoko (line drawing 3,3), which adorn rocks at Chilas and Thalpan, were apparently created by one and the same artist and can be dated to the 6Ih century. An older depiction of the SibiJdtaka in Shatial is comparatively crude and compared to theJdtakos of Chilas-Thalpan, shows more Gandharan influence. (fig. 3). The magnificent composition consisting of two pagoda-like stupas hints at the close connections between the Upper lndus region and the Buddhist world laying beyond the "snowy mountains", namely Kashmir and Gandhara. The temptation of the Buddha by the beautihl daughters of the demon king MHra, a popular motif in Gandharan art, is depicted on a rock in Thalpan (line drawing 3.4). With the gesture of touching the earth with his right hand (bhirnispariarnudri). the earth opens, the earth goddess testi- Fig 3 Shatlal $~bJi atako,Stupas and lnscrlprtons in Kharosthi,Brahm~.andS ogd~an Fig. 4 Thalpan. Sitting Bllddha Fig. 5 Chilas III.Late Buddhist stupa worshipping scene and warriors with battleaxes F1g.6 Chilar X.Post-Buddhist battle are symbols 356 Fig 7 Standlng Buddha In the Kargah Valley near Gllg~t Fig.8 Buddha rock of Manthal near Skardu In Balt~stan fies to the ~uddha'sv ictory over MLra (rndravgaya), and the temptresses away quickly. He overcame this obstacle, and was subsequently enlighted under the Bodhi tree near Urubilva, where Gautama became the Buddha in a night of the full moon of the year 528 B.C.E. The first sermon he gave as the Buddha in the Deer Park of Sarnath near varanasi (Benares) is one of the most important events of the Buddha legend. ~t is at Thalpan in an impressive engraving (line drawing 3,5). This scene, very popular in Buddhist art, shows the Buddha in the company of his first five disciples, who were companions of SiddhHrtha during his phase of asceticism. The deer park is represented by two gazelles at the bottom, and the wheel symbolizes the act of teaching. Among the most beautiful images at Thalpan is the enthroned Buddha with his companion ~odhisattvaV ajrapPni portrayed in the background (line drawing 3.6). Due to its highly artistic execution and its distinctive importance for Buddhist imagery, an image found in Hodur-West has to be put in line with the most impressive examples of this art genre represented along the Upper lndus (fig. 2). It shows two Buddhas both seated on a single pedestal with a stupa between them. Apparently, this depiction hints at chapter 11 of the famous Lotos Sitra; one figure represents Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha, the other Prabhijtaratna, a Buddha of the past. The motif of the two sitting Buddhas with Prabhijtaratna's "Stupaof the seven precious materials" is very popular in the Buddhist art of Central Asia and China, as its numerous examples in paintings in the cave temples of Dunhuang, Lung Men, and Yungang as well as on relief steles show. The historical background of the Buddhist era in this region is particularly apparent in inscriptions. In the earlier phase, they are written in Kharosthi, whereas in the later phase of the 3rd to ath century, they use, in large numbers, the BrPhmTscript (cf. Falk, p. 14). The inscriptions are often added to images and render personal names and consecration formulas. Over 700 Sogdian, but also Bactrian, Parthian, and Middle Persian inscriptions that predominantly concentrate at Shatial, which is now interpreted as a former market place, attest the presence of Parthian and particularly Sogdian merchants from Samarkand. We can trace drawings of Iranian fire altars (line drawing 2.8), tamgas interpreted as heraldic family signs or emblems of cities such as Samarkand, and even Nestorian crosses. These images not only mirror the special importance of the Sogdians as merchants on the Silk Route, but also as mediators between the great religions such as Buddhism. Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism. Among the most beautiful creations are the saddled but riderless horses, that are, in Central Asian fashion, depicted in the pace gait (line drawing 2.7). Hephthalithic, i.e. Hunnic, as well as Turkish names appear in the inscriptions, too. Thirteen Chinese inscriptions, probably applied by merchants or pilgrims, and even one composed in Hebrew testify to the ethnic diversity of the region. A Chinese graffito on the rock formation of Haldeikish in the Hunza valley, through which the path up to the important pass leading to Kashgar in Xinjiang runs, mentions even an envoy of the dynasty of the "Great Wei". This site represents the most important epigraphic monument so far discovered in the The Karakorum, with 131 inscriptions in Kharosthi, Brahmi. Sogdian. Chinese, and Tibetan. From the 4th century onwards. anti-Buddhist influences appear on the scene, which indicates the arrival of foreign horse-riding peoples from the surrounding high mountain ranges of the Indus Valley. This new ethnic element is represented by crude depictions of battle axes, round disks which could be understood as reminiscent of sun symbols, and pictures of riders and warriors (figs. 5 and 6). Images of attacking war axe people evidently besieging Buddhists practically seem to defend stupas inform about the political and religious changes taking place in the area. In the northern regions, for instance, Gilgit and Baltistan. Buddhist traditions seem to have kept flourishing. though. The approximately three-metre high relief of a standing Buddha at Naupur in the Kargah Valley near Gilgit depicts him with the right arm held aloft in the gesture of fearlessness and indicates growing influence of Tibetan style in the century as does the relief on a six-metre-high rock in Manthal near Skardu in Baltistan (fig. 8). b here, together with 20 smaller Buddhas the meditating Buddha is seated in a Mandala-shaped assembly. This exceptional composition is flanked by two standing ~odhisattvasP; a dmapani with the lotus to the left, Maitreya to the right. Below, a ptimaghaka, the Vase of Plenty. is depicted (fig. 8). The only large-sized rock painting of ~haghdon ear Skardu. showing a magnificent stupa worshipping scene with the Raja of Shigar, attests to the final significant period of prosperity of Buddhism during the 12th century. Islamisation started from Kashmir in the 16th century and has its most impressive monuments in the first characteristic mosques with rich wood carving decoration in Khaplu. Shigar, and Skardu in Baltistan.

#gandahar #silkroad #silk route #gilgitbaltistan #gilgitbaltistan❤️#river_indus #rockart #mighty karakoram #himalayas #hindu kush #history

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