Bactria Bactria is the name of a country lying between the Hindu Kush and the Amu Dar’ya River in northern Afghanistan. Strategically placed on the ancient silk ROAD that linked Rome with India and China, the country underwent many changes in political fortunes over the centuries. It was the conduit, for example, for the transmission of Greek art in the formation of the Gand-haran school from the early third century b. c.e. Beginning as a satrap of the Persian empire, it was later conquered by Alexander the great during his eastern campaign in 327 b. c.e. Thereafter it was a component of the Seleucid empire but assumed independence under King Euthydemus in the late third century b. c.e. It was later conquered by the kushans, Guptas, and heph-
THALITE HUNS.
See also gandhara.
Further reading: Rhie, M. M. Later Han, Three Kingdoms and Western Chin in China and Bactria to Shan-shan. Leiden: Brill, 1999; Sarianidi, I. The Golden Hoard of Bactria: From the Tillya-tepe Excavations in Northern Afghanistan. New York: H. N. Abrams; Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers, 1985; Sims-Williams, N., and Cribb, J. “A New Bactrian Inscription of Kanishka the Great,” Silk Road Art and Archaeology 4 (1998): 75-142.
Bactrian Greeks The study of the Bactrian Greeks was initiated in 1738 with the publication of a book in Saint Petersburg by Theophil Bayer (1694-1738). His study was based on the historic accounts of the Greeks in Asia, as well as on a single coin of the Bactrian Greek king Eucratides. Excavations reveal a vigorous episode of Greek colonization, including the minting of Greek coins, staging of Greek plays, carving of statues in
Greek style, and construction of temples for the worship of Zeus and Athena. The power of the Seleucid empire, based in Syria and founded by King seleucus i nicator in about 305 b. c.e., was waning by the mid-third century B. C.E. It was then that Diodotus, the satrap of the Seleucid province of Bactria-Sogdiana, declared independence and had himself crowned king of an independent state. sogdiana soon thereafter seceded from BACTRIA and maintained its deeply imbued Seleucid culture. Bactria, however, which lies to the north of the Hindu Kush and is centered on the upper Amu Dar’ya River, remained strongly Hellenized. Its first three kings after independence were Diodotus I, Diodotus II, and Euthydemus I. The establishment of irrigation works greatly expanded the agricultural wealth of the kingdom, which issued its own coinage and engaged in widespread trading. Euthydemus was sufficiently powerful to withstand an attempt by the Seleucid king Anti-ochus III to retake Bactria. King Demetrius, the son of Euthydemus, expanded the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom south of the Hindu Kush into regions known as Ara-chosia and Drangiana (modern Afghanistan). Eucratides (171-145 B. C.E.) succeeded Demetrius and invaded northern Pakistan. This resulted in the foundation of the city of sirkap at taxila (modern Pakistan), which follows Greek principles of town planning, and the construction of the Greek temple of Jandial just north of the main northern entrance to the city The best-documented city of this period, however, is ay khanum on the upper Amu Dar’ya River in Afghanistan. Excavations there have uncovered the king’s sumptuous palace, as well as a Greek theater, gymnasium, and temples. Other major cities include charsada, begram, and termez.
BACTRIAN GREEK STATES
A series of Greek states was founded by petty kings in the northwest of the subcontinent apart from Taxila. Their coinage in gold and silver has provided the names of at least 30 kings, but little else is known about them. Menander (150-135 b. c.e.) is recorded as having adopted BUDDHISM, and Apollodotus led a military expedition against Gujarat. Some Indian sources claim that the Bac-trian Greeks campaigned deep into the Ganges (Ganga) Valley. The Bactrian Greeks, however, swallowed too much territory over too wide an area for the maintenance of central control. While they lost their grip north of the Hindu Kush during the second century b. c.e., the area south of this mountain range fragmented into many small and competing states and, according to the numismatic evidence, more than 30 named kings, the last of whom, Strato, was ruling in about 10 C. E.
EVIDENCE FROM BACTRIAN COINAGE
In the absence of even the basic historic references to the shadowy history of the Bactrian Greek rulers, the information must be derived from archaeology and the coin issues. A detailed study of the latter has furnished the names of rulers who can be placed into a reasonable sequence, and their distribution provides some evidence for the centers from which successive kings governed. The earliest examples are square coins bearing the name of ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Bactria has furnished most examples of coins minted by Seleucus. The nature of the coins allows the identification of certain historic events, such as the establishment of King Diodotus of Bactria against Antiochus II as the power of the Seleucids waned in the east. His son, Euthydemus, who was born in Ionia and was confirmed in his rule after being defeated in battle by Antiochus II, succeeded Diodotus as ruler of Bactria. His coins are distributed into Pakistan and provide evidence for an expansion of Bactrian Greek rule into this region during his later years and the subsequent rule of his son, Demetrius, who was described by the Greek historian Strabo (about 64 B. C.E.-23 c. e.) as a conqueror of India, and by the Roman author Justin (third century c. e.) as the king of India. From the middle of the second century b. c.e., Bactrian power was on the wane, until it was extinguished as an independent entity by steppe nomad attacks, not the least from the Yuezhi. The year 145 B. C.E. is generally accepted as the terminal date for Greek rule in Bactria.
Badami Badami was the early capital of the chalukya DYNASTY of India. It is located in the upper reaches of the Malprabha River in Karnataka state. cave shrines dedicated to SIVA or Vishnu were richly ornamented with images of the Hindu gods. cave 4 bears an inscription indicating that it was constructed in or about the year 578 C. E. There is also shrine of the Jain religion. The Malegitti-Shivalaya is a freestanding stone temple of early chalukyan date, dedicated, as the name indicates, to the god Siva.
Bagh The site of Bagh is located in the valley of a tributary of the Narmada River in central India. It is notable for a series of caves converted into Buddhist monasteries in the sandstone bluff overlooking the river. The style of wall paintings in the caves relates this site to the same tradition as the AJANTA caves, which date from the second century b. c.e. There are nine caves at Bagh in all; Cave 2 is particularly interesting, with a large occupation hall surrounded by 20 individual cells for the monks. Each cell had a niche in the wall for a lamp. The complex included also a stupa and a shrine for worship. The third cave revealed an impressive number of wall paintings in the monks’ cells, including images of the Buddha and BODHISATTVAS.
See also buddhism.
Bairat Bairat is a Buddhist site in India dating to the period of asoka, king of the maurya empire (268-235 b. c.e.), although its origins lie in the preceding Iron Age. It is located north of Jaipur in Rajasthan and is renowned for the presence of two of Asoka’s inscriptions, one of which is directed to the Buddhist communion, or sangha. The inscriptions were discovered in 1837 and 1871. One is in poor condition and cannot be fully translated. The other, located at Bijak Pahar (Inscription Hill), near the town of Bairat, records the devotion of Asoka to buddhism. It also mentions seven specific Buddhist texts and is thought to be the only Asokan inscription that specifically names the Buddha.
The architectural remains include a monastery and a sanctuary, both excavated during the 1930s. A stupa stood in the center of the sanctuary, surrounded by an inner circle of wooden columns and an outer circle of brick, to form an ambulatory. There was almost certainly once an Asokan column at the site, for fragments of polished chunar sandstone have been found. The ruins of the monastery held a hoard of coins, showing that the site was still occupied during the first century c. e.
Bakheng The Phnom Bakheng is a 60-meter (200-ft.)-high hill visible for miles around, located in the center of ANGKOR in cambodia. It was a strategic fortress during the period of the Khmer Rouge (1975-78), as it affords distant views in every direction. King yashovarman i chose it as the location for his state temple, known as the Bakheng. It was consecrated only a year or two before the king died in 910 c. e. The temple was reached after crossing a moat and entrance pavilion, passing two stone lion guards, and ascending a steep stone stairway. The temple rose more than 14 meters (46 ft.) in height, incorporating six levels. The first five each support 12 shrines, and the uppermost platform has a central and four subsidiary shrines. These numbers have cosmological significance, for when the 60 shrines are combined with a further 44 that ring the base of the pyramid and the four subsidiary buildings on the top, the sum is 108, a figure of deep symbolic meaning. Jean Filliozat has pointed out that only 33 of these are visible when viewed from the center of any side of the monument, the number of gods in Indra’s heaven. Dividing the 108 towers by 4 gives 27, the phases of the lunar cycle. The 12 towers on each level may represent the 12-year cycle of Jupiter. Paul Wheatley has explored this symbolism: “The 12 year cycle of Jupiter in multiples of five was used as a dating era from early in the fifth century a. d. Thus, while in elevation, the Bakheng was a plastic representation of mount meru, the axis of the universe, the kingdom, and the capital; in plan it constituted an astronomical calendar in stone, depicting from each of the four cardinal directions the positions and paths of the planets in the great Indian conception of cyclic time.”
Bakong In 881 c. e., King indravarman consecrated his state temple, now known as the Bakong, at harihar-ALAYA, southeast of angkor in Cambodia. As the contemporary INDRATATAKA does, this monument represents a quantum change in monumentality. In the words of a contemporary inscription: “In 881, the king, like a god, dispenser of riches, has erected a lingam named Indres-vara, here.” There are several novel features of this monument apart from its great size. The walls of the uppermost platform retain damaged reliefs, which must once have been of outstanding quality. one shows a battle between gods and demons; another incorporates goddesses. There are numerous subsidiary shrines between the two surrounding moats, which were probably constructed by high court officials. These moats are very large and had a capacity of almost a million cubic meters of water. Steps give access to the water of the innermost one. Four avenues radiate out from the moated area on the cardinal points of the compass, one of which links the temple with the Indratataka reservoir 600 meters (1,980 ft.) to the north.
The name Indresvara combines that of the king with the god Siva, indicating a submergence of the king within the deity into a single object of devotion. The text proceeds: “Here, in the court of Indravarman, causing joy to those who behold it and unreserved wonder of the celestial builder, he erected eight lingams, named by royal practice after the eight elements of Siva: earth, wind, fire, the Moon, Sun, water, ether and the sacrificer.” The central temple pyramid, faced with large sandstone blocks, comprises five platforms, the uppermost rising 14 meters (46 ft.) above ground level. The shrine, which formerly housed the god Indresvara, has not survived, and a later temple has taken its place. Eight small sanctuaries placed uniformly around the base of the pyramid probably acknowledged male and female ancestors of Indravar-man, for the eastern set incorporates male figures on exterior niches, but the western ones have females.
Baksei Chamkrong This temple at angkor in Cambodia was built during the reign of Harshavarman I (c. 910-922 C. E.) and dedicated to his parents. On his return to rule at Angkor, rajendravarman (944-968 c. e.) restored it and dedicated new statues there in 948. It lies on the northern side of the Phnom bakheng and has four tiers of laterite that support a brick temple. The foundation inscription describes a golden image of Siva within. B.-P Groslier excavated an extensive area in front of the temple during the 1960s and reported the presence of prehistoric Iron Age occupation. This was confirmed in 2001, when a further excavation encountered first a brick wall and associated floor thought to antedate the temple foundation and the clay furnaces dating to the Iron Age (c. 500 B. C.E.-400 C. E.).
Balakot Balakot is a small site of the INDUS valley civilization, located on Sonmiani Bay in southern Baluchistan, an area overlapping parts of eastern Iran and southeast Pakistan. The site was a center for the production of ceramic vessels and figurines and the manufacture of shell jewelry. The cultural deposits, which rise to a height of 10 meters (33 ft.), fall into two distinct periods. The basal layers represent a variant of the amri-nal early Harappan cultural phase (c. 3200-2600 B. C.E.). They have yielded lapis lazuli beads, evidence for copper metallurgy, chert harvesting knives, and the bones of cattle, sheep, and goat. Houses were constructed of mud brick.
Radiocarbon dates suggest that the second major phase, which belongs to the mature Indus civilization, commenced about 2500 b. c.e. As in many other Indus settlements, there were two sections. of these, the western is the higher. Excavations in 1973-76 revealed house construction in mud brick, with dwellings equipped with drains of fired brick and, on at least one occasion, a bathroom. Houses were laid out with streets running on a grid pattern oriented to the cardinal points of the compass. While it is likely that both the western and eastern sections of the site were walled separately, the excavations did not produce any evidence.
Typical Indus artifacts are spear - and arrowheads, gaming pieces, and steatite seals bearing the impression of a unicorn. The locally manufactured shell jewelry made use of the local bivalve Meretrix. Balakot’s coastal location might well have given the inhabitants the opportunity to feed their shell ornaments into a wide-ranging trade network.
Balitung (r. c. 901-910 c. e.) Balitung was king of central Java, in Indonesia, where most of his 31 inscriptions have been found, but he also exercised authority over the eastern part of the island.
He was entitled Sri Maharaja on his inscriptions. These were largely concerned with taxation and the dedication of surpluses to the maintenance of a temple foundation, the provision of tax exemptions for villages or individuals, and the settlement of ownership disputes. In that they mention the names of officials charged with carrying out the king’s wishes and the ceremonies or payments that accompanied land settlements, they provide much incidental information on social issues. Large stone inscriptions of the reign of Balitung were set up as a permanent statement, but portable copper inscriptions also recorded his enactments. Since archaeology is virtually silent on this period of Javanese history, these texts are an unparalleled source of information on the reign of this king.
Balkh Balkh is a settlement strategically placed north of the Hindu Kush range and south of the Amu Dar’ya River and was an important staging post on the ancient SILK ROAD that linked Rome with India and China. It was occupied by or under the control of most of the major powers that successively controlled this region, including the Sasanid dynasty, whose coinage was minted there under the title Bahlo, their name for the city There were also periods of bactrian greek, Mauryan, saka, and KUSHAN occupation. When xuanzang, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, visited bactria in the seventh century C. E., he found that Balkh, the capital, was occupied by a sizable population of Buddhist monks. There are many early Buddhist foundations in the vicinity of the city, making Balkh one of the most westerly points of Buddhist expansion. One of these, the stupa known as Tope y-Rustam, is probably the same monument described by xuanzang as Navasangharama.
See also BUDDHISM.
Balu Balu is a small site of the INDUS valley civilization, located west of the upper reaches of the Jamuna River in India. It is thus one of the most easterly Harappan sites. It covers an area of 200 by 80 meters (660 by 264 ft.), and excavations have revealed three phases of occupation that cover the sequence of the Early, Mature, and Late Indus periods. The site was surrounded by a wall of mud brick, within which the houses were laid along streets conforming to a grid pattern. The material culture recovered includes typical artifacts of this civilization, including steatite beads, ceramics, and copper implements.
Bamboo Annals The Zhushu Jinian (Bamboo Annals), are a set of strips of bamboo recovered from the tomb of King Xiang of Wei at Shanbiaozhen in China in 279 C. E. Long segments cut from a straight stem of bamboo were tied together with silk cords. Each strip contains 40 graphs of Chinese script, documents placed in the royal tomb in 296 b. c.e. Such documents on bamboo slips are a rich source of historic information, but given the fact that it is 1,700 years since this set was exhumed, and the originals are long since lost, questions have been raised as to its authenticity. One method of testing this issue is to seek incidents or events found in other sources. In the case of the Bamboo Annals, this test has been passed with the discovery of the inscribed text on the Xi Jia pan, a bronze vessel cast in the middle of the western zhou dynasty (late ninth century b. c.e.). Both it and the annals describe in some detail the same military campaign waged by Jifu against the Xianyun people in the fifth year of the reign of King Xuan. The Ban gui, another bronze vessel, was inscribed with a text describing an attack on the eastern countries by the duke of Mao, who commanded by the zhou king, included infantry, chariots, and halberd men in his army. This campaign is also mentioned in the Bamboo Annals.
The annals may thus be added to the corpus of vital historic documents describing the Shang and zhou dynasties. They include descriptions of court activities, royal progresses, wars, obituaries of leading figures, and records of harvests and of portents. One section in particular describes the fall of the Shang dynasty at the hands of KING WU of Zhou and recounts how the king survived this major event in early Chinese history by only two years.
See also shang state.
Bamboo slips Before the invention of paper in about 105 C. E. during the HAN dynasty, Chinese books were written on long strips of bamboo, cut lengthwise from the stem, polished, and then inscribed on the interior surface. The slips were then strung together with silk cords and could be rolled up for storage. A graph used to designate such books is found on the Shang oracle bones. The texts often contain information about important events and everyday life. Those scribes in charge of the bamboo archives were described as zuo ce; ce is the word for the slips themselves. The word for ce is depicted as a set of vertical strokes linked by two horizontal lines, the former representing the bamboo and the latter the silk cords. Most of the bamboo-slip archives were found in southern China, where bamboo flourishes. Wood was also used as a medium for record keeping.
EARLIEST EVIDENCE FOR BAMBOO SLIPS
Although no bamboo slips have been found that belong to the WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, it is known that they existed. A bronze jia, or vessel, from a hoard found at zhuangbai, dating to about 975 b. c.e., mentions a person named Zhe and his title, zuoce, “maker of strips.” He was a court scribe. In 825 b. c.e., the Song gui, an inscribed bronze vessel, was cast to commemorate a court appointment under King Xuan (r. 827-782 b. c.e.). The text describes in detail the ceremonial investiture of Song to supervise warehouses, for which he was awarded a black embroidered jacket and other choice gifts from the sovereign. It then describes how he “suspended the strips from his jacket in order to withdraw.” It seems that a copy of the document appointing him, written with a brush on the bamboo slips, was presented to him during the audience.
The earliest known bamboo slips are from a tomb at Leigudun in the state of Zeng and date to 433 b. c.e. This tomb was that of the marquis of Zeng, and it was richly furnished with grave goods. The coffin was made of black lacquered wood, colored with designs in gold and red. Golden vessels were also found, together with a fine golden ladle with holes to permit its use as a strainer. The bamboo-slip inventory of the contents for this tomb runs to 6,600 entries and includes a list of 43 chariots.
DISCOVERIES OF LATER SLIPS
Tombs of the chu state are particularly abundant and date to the warring states period (475-221 b. c.e.). The Slips fall into three categories: historic texts, inventories of tomb offerings, and ritual documents. A set of slips from a tomb at wanshan sets out prayers offered during the occupant’s illness and shows Dao Gu offering prayers to the ancestors and sacrificing cattle and sheep. The tomb of Fan Chi at Tianxingguan likewise contained a record of the prayers offered and divinations made. where such records name ancestors or kings of an ill man, they become important historic documents. The tomb inventories are also fascinating documents, particularly when a rich burial like Tomb 1 at mawangdui, a suburb of changsha, is found to contain such records. The records from Tomb 25 at the site of Yangtianhu near changsha is particularly detailed. It includes the names of those who gave items to be buried with the deceased.
One of the most important discoveries of actual early texts is from the tomb of Xi, an archivist who lived during the reign of the first emperor of qin, qin shihuangdi (221-210 b. c.e.). He was buried in Tomb 11 at Shuihudi and was accompanied by about 1,200 slips bearing historic texts that Xi might well have written himself. one document records, similarly to a diary, the events that took place, including references to the life of Xi between 306 and 217 b. c.e. It is fascinating to compare this history with the well known Shijing, written by sima qian a century after the event. sometimes sima Qian’s dates for events were in error, while the shuihudi text, known as the Biannianji, describes events that pass without mention in the Shijing. A second text found in the stomach area of the deceased, known as the Yushu, sets out the edicts issued by Teng. Teng was in charge of the Nanjun commandery in what had been part of the southern state of chu. The text illuminates how the local people continued in their traditional ways despite the fact that they had been defeated by the Qin 50 years previously. Another set of slips from the tomb of Xi sets out the elements of the Qin legal system, including the rules governing the harmonization of the system of weights and measures across the new empire.
A text known as the Fengzhenshi contains an extraordinarily detailed account of the investigation of a robbery. It details the size of the hole made in a wall to gain access to someone’s property, the type of tools used to make the access hole, the shape of the footprints of the alleged robber, and the sort of shoes he must have been wearing. These legal documents recall the earlier chu texts from Tomb 2 at baoshan, dated to 316 b. c.e. The Baoshan slips include reports on individual cases before the courts and were sealed in the tomb of a prominent legal officer of the Chu state. A second set from the same grave lists the burial offerings. one chamber contained the food for the deceased, another the objects used when traveling. A third set of offerings was used in the actual mortuary rituals, and the fourth lists the vehicles, including chariots, that took part in the burial procession.
Tomb 4 at shuihudi in Hubei province dates to the late third century b. c.e. and yielded letters written home from two soldiers, Heifu and Jing in 223 b. c.e. They described a battle in which the Qin forces defeated rebels. A huge find of more than 5,000 slips was recovered from Tomb 1 at Yinqueshan, Shandong, in 1972. Dating to the second century b. c.e., they contain the text of the Art of War in 13 chapters, together with many other supplementary documents on war and politics.
Further reading: Shaughnessy, E. L. “On the authenticity of the Bamboo Annals,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 46 (1986): 149-180.
Bamiyan Bamiyan, located northwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, is best known for the two colossal statues of the Buddha carved into the mountainside. one of these, standing 53 meters in height, was, until its destruction with dynamite by the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan in 2001, the tallest stone statue in the world. The site occupied a strategic position on the trade routes that were part of the ancient silk road. To the east were begram, hadda, and TAXILA. A route over the Hindu Kush mountains to the north linked Bamiyan with balkh and termez. xuan-ZANG, the Chinese scholar and pilgrim, described it in the seventh century as the seat of 10 monasteries and several thousand monks. In 727 the Korean Buddhist monk Hei-cho traveled to Bamiyan and, while not mentioning the giant Buddhas, noted the presence of temples and monks and the royal patronage of his faith. The presence of a powerful army produced peaceful conditions, and agriculture, particularly viticulture, flourished. The main products were sheep, horses, cotton, and wool.
THE STATUES
The complex dates between the third and seventh centuries C. E. Xuanzang said of one of the massive statues; “At the northeast of the royal city, there is at the corner of the mountains a rock statue of Buddha standing, 50 meters (165 ft.) high, a dazzling gold color and adorned with brilliant gems.” The second colossus stood 38 meters (125 ft.) high. Both massive statues probably date to the end of the third century c. e.
Benjamin Rowland has described the methods whereby these statues were created. The body and the head were carved roughly from the living rock. The details were then formed with a mixture of mud and finely cut straw, before being covered in a lime plaster and gilded or painted. The larger of the two had finely detailed folds in the Buddha’s robe, created by attaching ropes to wooden dowels cut into the rock before being covered in the manner described. Xuanzang also described a copper statue of the Buddha more than 30 meters (99 ft.) high, made of separate pieces welded together, as well as another stone image of the Buddha, more than 330 meters (1,089 ft.) long, lying down in the pose of attaining nirvana.
THE CAVES
Although Bamiyan is best known for these two statues, the sheer face of the cliffs into which these statues were cut also bears many cave chambers. Monks would have occupied some of these, but the walls of some are covered in paintings depicting events in the life of the Buddha. There are three groups of caves that extend over a distance of 1,300 meters (4,290 ft.). In the eastern group, 294 caves are known, as well as the lesser of the two giant Buddha statues. Fifty caves occupy the central group, and there are a further 323 caverns in the western series.
The caves have suffered severely over the years through neglect or wilful destruction, no more so than under the Taliban regime. One chamber only 35 meters (116 ft.) from the giant Buddha statue contained written records on birch bark scrolls, and the study of some others has allowed an assessment of the interior plans and nature of the wall paintings. Cave 24, for example, in the eastern group and probably of relatively early date, was embellished with outstanding paintings of the Buddha and BODHISATTVAS. The ceiling was painted with a bod-hisattva associated with 14 images of the Buddha in a variety of seated positions. Stylistically, these paintings belong to the third or fourth century c. E.
In 1930 a French team found a cave that had been concealed by sand. Protected from the elements, the paintings and architecture within survived and were recorded at the time, although little now remains. It is not a large chamber, measuring only about four by four meters, and is unusual in having in the center the foundations of a stupa. Excavations uncovered the remains of stucco statues, including a male head. The holes in the cave walls for attaching such images revealed that there had formerly been as many as 12 statues. The painted decoration on part of the ceiling as found in 1930 depicted the seated Buddha with a halo. Four further
Buddhas flank him, while a woman offers him the gift of a string of pearls. Rows of small Buddha images, representing the thousand Buddhas, were painted below the main images, while rows of lotus petals were placed above. Similar multiple images of the Buddha remained in another cave that overlooked the giant eastern Buddha statue.
This treasury of Buddhist art and sculpture, described as the most magnificent in the world, has been devastated. Yet, in 1959, Arnold Toynbee wrote that, if “you look out across the valley in the moonlight, there is peace in the shadowy shapes of the Buddhas and caves.”
Further reading: Klimburg, D. E. The Kingdom of Bamiyan. Naples/Rome: Buddhist Art and Culture of the Hindukush, 1987; Klimburg-Salter, D. E. The Silk Route and the Diamond Path. Los Angeles: UCLA Art Council, 1982; Ogura, R. Bamiyan Art and Archaeological Researches on the Buddhist Cave Temples in Afghanistan: 1970—1978. Chicago: Art Media Resources, 2001.
Banavasi Banavasi is a substantial urban complex located in Karnataka province, southern India. The massive walls were built of brick and were associated with a moat. There are many mounds containing the brick foundations of Buddhist structures of the SATAVAHANA period within the walled area, but clearly the site was already prominent during the maurya empire, because it was mentioned in an Asokan edict. The Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG visited the site in the seventh century and noted the presence of a Buddhist community there.
See also asoka; buddhism.
Banawali Banawali is a site of the Indus valley civilization, located only 200 meters (660 ft.) from the course of the now dried out sarasvati river in the Punjab. Excavations were undertaken during 1974-77, and three phases of occupation have been identified. The first dates between about 2500 and 2300 b. c.e. and includes the remains of the pre-Indus culture also found at KALIBANGAN in Rajastan and rakhigarhi, northwest of Delhi, and ascribed to the sothi-siswal phase of the Early Harappan culture. Excavations have revealed important aspects of this phase. A shard, for example, was decorated with the image of a canopied cart on spoked wheels, and the remains of a house of mud brick containing a series of hearths was uncovered. Ornaments were made of gold and faience, and several terra-cotta animal figurines have been found. Houses, complete with ovens, were made of mud brick and fired brick.
During the second phase, that of the classic Indus civilization (c. 2300-1700 b. c.e.), the site had two walled enclosures with a linking gateway. The layout is most unusual. While the outer walls and the moat form a roughly square enclosure covering an area of about 16 hectares (40 acres), the inner citadel is ellipsoid in plan, jutting out into the town from the southern wall. It is possible that this citadel housed the elite, while artisans, merchants, and other members of the community at large occupied the lower town. Excavations in the citadel have uncovered the foundations of mud-brick houses and a grid street system.
The lower town was divided into city blocks by roads and lanes. Their layout approximately followed a grid plan, although some crossroads, such as the one in front of the main northern entrance to the citadel, had roads entering it from the southeast and southwest. Intimate details of life in this area are afforded by the excavation of the mud-brick houses, which include living and storage rooms, kitchens with the remains of scorched barley, and latrines. Floors were of beaten earth, and ceramic containers were found on them, while the roofs were made of wooden beams and reeds. Rooms were grouped around courtyards and were clearly occupied by people of substance. One house complex might have belonged to a wealthy merchant, for it yielded many SEALS and weights. Another belonged to a jeweler; the excavated material included beads of lapis lazuli, gold, and etched car-nelian; tiny weights; and a stone that had been used for testing the purity of gold, streaked with the samples taken. Some weights were minute; the lightest was only 0.072 gram (0.0025 oz.). One structure might well have been a temple, for it had an unusual apsidal shape not found in dwellings.
The subsistence base of the inhabitants included intensive agriculture, seen in the recovery of a terra-cotta model of a plowshare. The elements of a typical Indus material culture—including weights, seals, and sealings; a wide range of beads in agate, lapiz lazuli, carnelian, FAIENCE, and ivory; and bronze razors, chisels, fishhooks, bangles, and rings—all point to occupation during the heyday of this civilization.
Phase III represents the final occupation of Banawali and dates from about 1700-1500 b. c.e. Town planning was no longer in evidence. Houses were now made of clay. There was a different ceramic tradition, but the local manufacture of jewelry continued.
Ban Biao (Pan Piao) (3-54 c. e.) Ban Biao was a historian who began the compilation of the Hanshu (History of the Former Han).
In this endeavor, he followed in the footsteps of sima QIAN, author of the SHIJI (Records of the Grand Historian), which covered Chinese history from the earliest beginnings to 100 b. c.e. Ban Biao continued the history of China to cover the second century of the HAN dynasty (see hanshu). His work was continued by his son, ban GU, and ultimately by Ban Gu’s daughters.
Ban Don Ta Phet This Iron Age cemetery is located in Kanchanaburi province of Central Thailand and has been excavated by Ian Glover. The burials are Hanshu, particularly notable for the evidence they provide for early contact between India and the people of southeast Asia. The inhabitants of the region had easy access to the Three Pagodas Pass, which links the Chao Phraya Valley with the Bay of Bengal and India. The radiocarbon dates were determined on the basis of rice temper recovered from pottery vessels. The calibrated age ranges of four samples dated at Oxford, England, are 640-160 b. c.e., 670-190 B. C.E., 470-80 B. C.E., and 500-100 b. c.e. Taken in conjunction, these provide a mean range of 390-360 b. c.e., although the material culture of the site would be better placed two centuries later. Exotic imports were employed in mortuary rituals. The dead were interred in a cemetery bounded by a ditch, in association with carnelian, agate, glass, and bronze artifacts, all of which could have originated in India. The etched carnelian and agate beads, for example, fall within the Indian repertoire, while the origin of the glass may also be traced to south Asia. The bronze bowls have a very high tin content and were turned to an exceeding thinness on a lathe. They were decorated with scenes of women and animals. some of the latter are exotic to southeast Asia, but there was already a tradition of casting such high-tin bronzes in India. About 30 of the bronze bowls were finished on the inside base with a knob or boss in the center of a series of concentric circles. This feature of Indian stone and ceramic vessels provides supporting evidence for their Indian origin. The recovery of a carnelian lion with one of the burials not only points without doubt to an Indian origin, but it also provides evidence for the spread of BUDDHISM, for the Buddha was often depicted during that period in the form of a lion.
There is also much evidence for the advancement of local technological skills, particularly in the area of iron forging, for many billhooks and spears, bent or destroyed as part of the mortuary ritual, were incorporated with the dead. The recovery of a double-headed animal ornament in jade also points to exchange with the Iron Age communities of coastal Vietnam, the center for the production of these unusual ornaments. Local bronze casting also reached specialist levels, with, for example, the production of a bronze birdcage under a fighting cockerel.
Bangarh Bangarh is a walled city site located north of the lower Ganges (Ganga) River in India, occupied from prehistoric times to the medieval period. Formerly known as Banapura, it was dominated by a large citadel covering an area of about 25 hectares (63 acres). Excavations in 1938-41 showed that the site was founded during the period of northern black polished ware, dated by the presence of this style of pottery and both cast and punch-marked coins. The second occupation phase is dated to the later first millennium b. c.e. on the basis of sealings inscribed with early brahmi characters. The third phase includes house remains belonging to the gupta EMPIRE period, but the site continued in occupation until the medieval period.
Ban Gu (Pan Ku) (32-92 c. e.) Ban Gu was a prominent member of a distinguished family of historians in China.
His father, ban biao, commenced compiling the HANSHU (History of the Former Han), a work Ban Gu continued. This text was the model for all future dynastic histories of china. The History of the Later Han Dynasty recorded the details of his life and work, which was devoted exclusively to historic scholarship. Resolved to continue his father’s ambitious project, he worked on it privately However, an informant sent a letter to the emperor Mingdi describing Ban Gu’s activities, and he was arrested and incarcerated for possible sedition, while his library was impounded. His brother probably saved his life by explaining to the emperor Ban Gu’s intention of writing a history of the dynasty and showing Mingdi his writings. The emperor was pleased with this information and appointed Ban Gu an official historian. Twenty years of research, in which he called on oral traditions and available documents, resulted in a history that spanned the reigns of Gaozu to the wang mang interregnum that ended in 23 c. E.
Ban Gu was also the author of the BOHU TONG (Discourses in the White Tiger Hall). In this text, he recorded the conversations between the emperor Zhang (r. 75-88 c. e.) and his advisers on the Confucian issue of the relationship between the ruler and his subjects. After the preference for legalism under the qin dynasty and for TAOISM among the earlier Han rulers, Confucianism had a renaissance during and after the reign of Han WUDI. In this work, Ban Gu described the vital Confucian ethic of complementarity, whereby the ruler heeds the advice of his ministers for the good of the people.
Ban Khu Muang This dvaravati civilization city is located in central Thailand, less than two kilometers from the Chao Phraya River. It covers an area of 650 by 750 meters (2,145 by 2,475 ft.) and incorporates many brick temple foundations. There are four phases of occupation contained within a cultural accumulation four meters (13 ft.) deep. The earliest, dated between 300 and 550 C. E., includes ceramics similar to those of the funan state of the Mekong Delta. The second and third phases belong to the Dvaravati civilization and include iron spears and knives. Clay anvils indicate a local ceramic industry, for they are used to shape pottery vessels. The final phase includes late Angkorian ceramics.
Ban Non Wat Ban Non Wat is a large, moated archaeological site in the upper Mun valley of northeast Thailand. Excavations in 2002 revealed a rare sequence of prehistoric occupation that began in the Neolithic period, approximately 2100 B. C.E., continued into the Bronze Age (1500-500 b. c.e.), and ended with Iron Age (500 B. C.E.-200 c. e.) and Historic period (200-800 c. e.) occupation. The Neolithic and Bronze Age burials revealed an unexpected level of wealth and sophistication, adding much to the understanding of the developing complexity of prehistoric societies in the region that ultimately saw the genesis of the states of chenla and angkor.
Banteay Chmar Banteay Chmar is a huge temple mausoleum in a remote corner of northwestern Cambodia, constructed during the reign of jayavarman vii (1181-1219) to honor his son, Srindrakumaraputra, who had led a military expedition against the Chams. Four of his generals are also commemorated. The sanctuary to Arjunadeva lies to the southeast, that for Dha-radevapuradeva to the northeast, Devadeva to the southwest, and varddhanadeva to the northwest. Arjuna and Dharadevapura had died defending King Yashovar-man II (1160-66) and were given high posthumous titles. The other two warriors died defending the king during a battle against the Chams and were likewise awarded a hero’s funeral and high posthumous titles. The site includes first a moat and an outer walled enclosure 2.2 by 2.4 kilometers (about 1 sq. mi.) in extent, which is punctured on the eastern side by a reservoir 1.7 kilometers long and one kilometer wide. A stream fed this BARAY at its northeast corner, and water flowed into the moat at the southwest corner. The overflow then filled the moat, which runs around the outer walls. The island temple in the middle of the reservoir incorporates an oval bank in which lie four basins, two of which are curved and the other two circular. The reservoir extends by about 200 meters (660 ft.) into the eastern sector of the complex, in the center of which lies the actual temple. This extensive area between the outer wall and the moat and walls of the inner temple, which covers 448 hectares (1,120 acres), now includes only eight single-chambered shrines but presumably would have housed a considerable population.
The walls of the inner sanctum are covered in reliefs revealing scenes of battles between the Khmer and Chams. There is a naval battle and the army on the march, with leaders riding on their elephants. on one occasion, the troops stop in front of a large forest filled with monkeys. The baggage train with elephants and military supplies is depicted, and the reliefs also include APSARAS (celestial water nymphs) and an extraordinary range of gods with multiple heads and arms. A maze of shrines and passageways clusters around the central temple. An inscription states that it held an image of Srindrakumara-putra, represented as Lokesvara with the name Srindradeva. It is entirely possible that this was his funerary mausoleum.
Banteay Chmar was a temple mausoleum constructed in northwest Cambodia byJayavarman VII of Angkor for his crown prince and for military heroes. As with other monuments of this king, who ruled from 1181 until 1219, it was embellished with huge heads carved in sandstone. (Charles Higham)
The site has been severely damaged by looting: In 1998 a section of wall bearing reliefs was removed by the Cambodian army for sale on the Bangkok antiquities market.
See also cham civilization.
Banteay Choeu angkor in Cambodia includes many separate foundations constructed over a period of more than six centuries. Banteay Choeu may well be the oldest. From the air, a faint square enclosure is visible at the western end of the western baray. The water of the baray, or reservoir, has inundated part of the site. To the north, there is a linear dyke, which incorporates a right angle, again partially submerged. The square enclosure incorporates the temple of AK YUM, a very early example of a shrine raised on platforms of descending size. A further temple at Prei Kmeng lies toward the western limits of the enclosure. It is known that jayavarman ii, founder of the kingdom of Angkor, was active in this area in the late eighth century C. E., and Banteay Choeu might have been one of his successive centers. The dykes to the north would then have constitute the baray to retain water flowing from the kulen hills. Excavations are necessary to obtain datable material in testing this possibility, because it has also been suggested that the site represents an unfinished baray rather than an early city
Banteay Prei Nokor Banteay Prei Nokor is a huge pre-Angokorian city located in eastern Cambodia, 40 kilometers (34 mi.) from the Mekong River. It is enclosed by an earthen wall 2.5 kilometers square (1 sq. mi.) and an outer moat. In 1936 Victor Goloubew took a series of aerial photographs of this site, in which the temples, bank, and moat stand out clearly. He also noted five reservoirs on the same axis, all outside the moat, and a road linking the site with the Mekong River to the west. Today the enclosure remains demarcated by its encircling walls and moat, while the brick shrines of Preah Theat Thom and Preah Theat Toch dominate its center. This site is particularly significant because it is thought to have been the capital of jayavarman II (c. 770-834 C. E.) before this king and his followers began their odyssey to the northwest that led to the foundation of angkor. Excavations are required to pursue the possibility that it dates to this period.
Banteay Samre The temple of Banteay Samre is often overlooked because of the attention given to its near contemporary, ANGKOR WAT. It is located just east of the eastern BARAY, at ANGKOR, but the absence of any inscriptions means that little is known of its origin and history. The temple is surrounded by two walled enclosures, each severed by entrance pavilions on the four sides. These gopuras, as well as the central shrine, were richly ornamented with reliefs. As at Angkor Wat, the scenes are largely drawn from Indian epics, including the churning OF THE OCEAN OF MILK and the birth of Brahma.
Banteay Srei Located 25 kilometers (15 mi.) northeast of ANGKOR, Banteay Srei (Citadel of the Women) is one of the most famous of all Angkorian temples because of its completeness and the beauty of its decoration. The temple, formerly known as Ishvarapura, was discovered only in 1914 and is particularly notable for its miniature
The delightful miniature temple of Banteay Srei (Citadel of the Women) lies just northeast of Angkor. It contains some of the most exquisite bas-reliefs to come from that civilization. (Charles Higham)
Dimensions and overall decoration. The latter attracted the French writer Andre Malraux, who set out for Angkor in 1923 and stole some of the carvings. Fortunately, these were later retrieved, and Malraux was briefly imprisoned.
The foundation stela reveals that the temple was consecrated on 22 April 967 by Yajnyavaraha, a grandson of King Harshavarman I. He served as one of Rajendravar-man’s ministers and then became teacher and adviser to JAYAVARMAN V. Yajnyavaraha was a scholar and philanthropist who helped those suffering from illness, injustice, or poverty. He founded many monasteries containing statues of Siva and had reservoirs constructed as acts of merit. The king honored him with parasols of peacock feathers, golden palanquins, and other insignia of high esteem and status. A text from Banteay Srei, dating to early in the reign of JAYAVARMAN V, sets out some of the donations for functionaries of the temple, which include white rice, and established the boundaries of the estates designated to endow it. Only small parts of the original foundation survive; the temple was added to and embellished for at least three centuries after its foundation. The early brick structure can be seen today only in a wall and gopura (entrance pavilion). Vittorio Roveda has provided a detailed analysis of the temple’s history, based largely on the decorative elements of the exterior walls. He has suggested that the eastern gopura was constructed in 1011 C. E. in the reign of SURYAVARMAN I. This ruler also added a pillared causeway and the western gopura later in his reign. Further construction followed in the 12th century, but the temple did not reach its final form, following Roveda’s analysis, until the rule of King Shrindravarman in the 14th century.
Baoshan The Baoshan cemetery, located near the CHU capital of Ying in Hubei province, China, contained five tombs of which Tomb 2 is best known through excavation. It contained the remains of Shao Tuo, a senior legal official of the Chu court, who died in 316 b. c.e. The tomb’s size and contents illustrate clearly the wealth of the Chu kingdom during the period of warring states. It measures approximately 34 by 32 meters (112 by 105 ft.) and was covered by a mound 5.8 meters high and 54 meters in diameter. The central shaft descends through 14 steps of declining size to the wooden mortuary structure at the base. This set of chambers, measuring 6.3 meters square and 3.1 meters in height, was placed over a pit containing the remains of a goat and cloth woven from silk and wool. The entire wooden building was surrounded by a layer of clay to protect it from dampness and the ingress of air. Within lay the tomb chamber itself and four further rooms for placing mortuary offerings. Along with exquisite lacquerwork and bronze vessels, the most important assemblage was a series of texts written on BAMBOO SLIPS, found together with Shao Tuo’s writing brush and knife for erasing errors.
Shao Tuo died at about 35 to 40 years of age and was interred in the innermost of three coffins, together with a wide range of personal goods deemed necessary for the afterlife. These included his vessels for entertaining, chariot equipment, and even a folding bed and bamboo containers that would have accompanied him on his travels around the kingdom. His inner coffin was decorated in lacquer, with images of birds and dragons depicted in vibrant colors embellished with gilt and silver. The quality of the grave offerings was very high: A footed and lidded vessel known as a zun, for example, was inlaid with exquisite gold and silver work. One of a pair, it contained chicken bones. A lacquer box only five centimeters (2 in.) high was decorated with a narrative scene of great detail. It shows a bureaucrat in the course of a tour, traveling by chariot. A second lidded lacquer box contained nested cups, a plate, and condiment jars. It might have been taken by Shao Tuo on his travels. The master was accompanied in his grave by figurines of his retainers more than a meter high; these individuals were fully dressed and wore wigs of real hair.
The texts were largely concerned with legal issues, although there was also an inventory of the tomb contents, as well as divinations. One set even included continuing references to his declining health. The inventory of tomb contents, found in four separate parts of the complex, included one set describing the contents of a chamber as the goods needed when traveling, suggesting that the person depicted on the lacquer box riding in a chariot might be Shao Tuo himself. Other lists described the vessels employed during the funerary rituals and others used to make sacrifices at the ancestral temple.
The texts are an invaluable source of information on the Chu legal system. The importance of maintaining a register of all adults is stated, and the penalties imposed on the local leaders who omitted young men from the list noted. There is also a poignant reference to a prisoner who escaped from the silk warehouse belonging to the royal consort and attempted to stab himself when apprehended in the street. Another text reported on a dispute over the right to use certain workers that involved Ruo, a legal official, and Jin, an aristocrat. It referred to the king of Chu as “the shining Sun.”
Baphuon The Baphuon is the temple mausoleum of King UDAYADITYAVARMAN II of ANGKOR (1050-66 C. E.) in Cambodia. It lies near the center of the later city of ANGKOR THOM, just to the south of the walls of the royal palace precinct, and was described by zhou daguan in 1297 as the tower of copper. An inscription states that the Baphuon was constructed to represent the mountain home of the gods and that it originally incorporated a golden tower containing a lingam of gold. The principal shrine has not survived, and it is possible that the stones were reemployed at a later date to construct a large image of the Buddha. The Baphuon has suffered severely from deterioration and collapse but is currently under reconstruction. It is a very large and impressive temple mausoleum, measuring 425 by 125 meters (1,402 by 412 ft.) in extent, while the central temple pyramid is 125 by 100 meters at the base. It has three levels and is particularly notable for the number of reliefs adorning some of the walls. These depict scenes from Hindu sagas, goddesses, and various animals set in individual panels.
Bara Bara is a prehistoric mound located near the headwaters of the Jamuna River in northern India, dating to between 2000 and 1600 b. c.e. Its significance lies in the pottery remains, which recall decorative motifs found on the wares from the INDUS valley civilization, such as fish, trees, and nets. The remains of mud-brick structures have also been found here. Slightly later than the Indus civilization, it might represent a rural counterpart to the major cities just after the latter went into decline.
Barabar Barabar, on the Phalgu River in northern India, is the location of Buddhist cave temples cut into the granite rock face. One dates from the reign of ASOKA, the Sudama cave temple, was cut in 252 b. c.e., and the Gopi cave belongs to the reign of Asoka’s grandson, Dasaratha. The decoration on the cave walls and entrances, particularly on the lomas rishi cave, imitated wooden forms.
Baray Baray is a Sanskrit word for “reservoir” or “pond.” Barays are a recurrent feature of the landscape of the kingdom of ANGKOR, in Cambodia, invariably taking a rectangular form. In certain cases their date is provided by foundation inscriptions, but most of the smaller examples are undated. They usually are components of urban and ceremonial centers, and many have an island temple in the middle; they may have symbolized the oceans encircling MOUNT MERU. Water-control measures in a region with a long dry season have prehistoric origins in Southeast Asia. At noen u-loke banks were constructed during Southeast Asia’s Iron Age (200 B. C.E.-300 c. E.) to regulate and restrain the flow of water past the site. The funan maritime state (150-550 C. E.) was responsible for the construction of an extensive canal network, and at its main center of angkor borei the eastern baray covers an area of about 200 by 100 meters (660 by 330 ft.). There is a large baray at ishanapura, a major center of the chenla period (550-802 C. E.), and the pre-Angkorian inscriptions record numerous reservoirs and water-control measures. BANTEAY CHOEU, west of Angkor, is located just south of a linear dyke on an east-west axis, linked with a further dyke at right angles. The rest of this feature is now submerged below the water of the later western baray, but in all likelihood the baray was used in water control.
BARAYS OF THE ANGKOR REGION
The geography of the Angkor region sees three rivers flowing south into the great lake from the kulen hills. The Banteay Choeu baray would have retained the water provided by the Puok River. To the east of Angkor, Indravarman had the indratataka constructed to harness the water of the Roluos River. The foundation stela of the temple of Preah Ko in 879 c. e. records, “Five days hence, I will begin digging.” A second inscription states, “He made the Indratataka, mirror of his glory, like the ocean.” Now dry but clearly visible from the air, this baray was of unprecedented size: 3,800 meters (12,540 ft.) in length and 800 meters (2,640 ft.) wide. The northern dyke and the Lolei temple in the middle of the reservoir were completed by Indravarman’s successor, yashovarman i. It was the latter king who ordered the construction of the YASHODHARATATAKA, or Eastern Baray, at Angkor, the dykes of which are 7.5 by 1.8 meters (25 by 6 ft.) in extent. Inscriptions erected at each corner record this remarkable achievement, which when full would have contained more than 50 million cubic meters (1.75 billion cu. ft.) of water. The baray was fed by a canal linking it with the Siem Reap River, and it emptied into a canal that filled the moats of the city to the west.
The Western Baray is even larger. It was probably commenced by suryavarman i (1002-50) and completed by Udayadityavarman II (1050-66). Recent investigations reveal that it was probably built in stages, each marked by a north-south dyke as work progressed. Unlike the Eastern Baray, it was excavated below the then-ground surface. There is no doubt that the baray was completed at this period, for the western Mebon temple in its center has the architectural style of Udayadityavarman Il’s reign. This artificial island incorporates a square enclosure demarcated by a wall containing niches and decorative reliefs. Within there is a water basin with a causeway giving access to a central structure. Part of a huge bronze statue of Vishnu was found here. The Northern Baray is the last of the major reservoirs at Angkor. It was built by JAYAVARMAN VII (1181-1219). Known as the jayatataka, it is 3.7 by 0.9 kilometer (2 by.5 mi.) in extent. The island in the middle housed Rajasri (neak pean), one of the most exquisite of all Angkorian temples.
BARAYS IN OTHER REGIONS
Beyond Angkor barays are a feature of other major centers in Cambodia. At banteay chmar, the outer wall of the temple complex is punctured by a reservoir 1.7 kilometers long and one kilometer wide. A stream fed this baray at its northeast corner, and water then flowed into the moat at the southwest corner, where etienne AYMONIER noted the paved outlet that controlled the water level. The overflow then filled the moat running around the outer walls. There is an island temple in the center of the baray. The Rahal baray at Lingapura (koh ker) measures 1,200 by 560 meters and was partially hewn from the rock substrate. The gigantic center of Preah Khan of Kompong Svay incorporated a baray 2.8 kilometers long and 750 meters wide. Where a temple complex was located on a hill, there is usually a baray at the base, as at phnom chisor, while barays are also found at regional centers, such as phnom wan, muang tam, and PHIMAI in Thailand.
World History
