This document provides an overview of the history and major artistic developments in India and Southeast Asia after 1200 CE. It outlines the major political periods and dynasties, including the rise of Mughal rule in northern India from the 16th-18th centuries. The document also summarizes the key religious traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism and how they were depicted artistically. Examples of major architectural sites are given, such as temples in Madurai and the Taj Mahal, as well as artistic styles that blended Islamic influence with local forms under the Mughals.

1. Art History Survey II: India After
1200
T,R, 12-1:20PM
Professor Paige Prater

2. Map it!

3. Times
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•
•
•
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•
1199 CE – fall of Pala dynasty (northeastern India)
1206 – Turkish dynasties rule parts of India
13th-14th century – Sukhothai Kingdom, Thailand
1336-1565 – Vijayanagar Dynasties
1526- First Mughal Emperor (Babur)
1600 – British East India Company
1658-1858 – unified Mughal Empire (northern
India)
• 1858-1947 – British imperial power in India
• 1947 CE – India is independent

4. Big Ideas for Art in Ch. 23
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•
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Exogenous influence
Nationalism
Imperialism
Global style vs. indigenous themes
One nation: many religions represented
– Buddhism
– Jainism
– Hinduism

5. Religious Traditions in India
• Buddhism
– Buddha’s teaching (563-483 BCE) – life’s
difficulties>enlightenment>nirvana
• Hinduism – karma, reincarnation, polytheistic;
liberation from samsara (cycle of life and death)
–
–
–
–
Vishnu
Shiva
Devi
Brahma

6. Jainism
• Kill no living creature; strict vegetarianism
• ‘Three Jewels’: right belief, right knowledge, right
conduct
• Monks/laypersons seek purification to become
worthy of rebirth in pathfinder’s heaven
• Mahavira (599-527 BCE)
– Final of 24 pathfinders
• Kalpa Sutra (1375-1400 CE)– illuminated
manuscript of lives of pathfinders

7. Places
• Monastic universities
– Tantric (Vajrayana) Mahayana Buddhism (Tibet)

8. Tantric Mahayana
Buddhism
• Bodhisattva
• Avalokiteshvara:
greatest
compassion
– Most popular
• Symbols: lotus,
eye, crown
The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
Kurkihar, Bihar. Pala dynasty, 12th
century. Gilt-bronze, height 10”.
Patna Museum, Patna.

9. Kalpa Sutra
• Gouache on paper
Detail of a Leaf with
the Birth of
Mahavira. Western
Indian school
(probably Gujarat),
c. 1375-1400.
8.5x7.6 cm

10. Temple at Madurai, 13th century
• gopura=gateway
entrance (11 of
them)
• Dedicated to
goddess
Minakshi (Parvati,
Shiva’s consort)
• Additions over the
centuries
• http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Ohl3_NQiRjY

11. Southeast Asia: Buddhist & Hindu
• Now Burma
(Myanmar),
Thailand,
Cambodia,
Vietnam and
Indonesia
• Shwe-Dagon
Stupa (Pagoda)

13. Southeast Asian Art after 1200
• Buddha Calling the
Earth to Witness,
Sukhothai style.
Bronze

14. Ceramics from the Hoi An Hoard,
Vietnamese, late 15th-early16th
century

15. Mughal Period, reign of Akbar, c. 1567-1582
• Islamic influence
• Hamza’s Spies Scale
the Fortress from
the Hamzanama,
North India. Gouache on
cotton, 30x24.” Museum of
Applied Arts, Vienna

16. Taj Mahal, 1631-1648, Agra, India
•
•
•
White marble inscribed; reflects the sun
Dome: 58’ diameter, 213’ tall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPiuXIelwXA

17. India and the West
• 17th-18th
centuries:
British East
India Co.
• 19th century:
British control:
New Delhi
(1911)
• Classical+Indian
styles
Sir Edward Lutyens, India Gate, 20th century.