1889.] 



on the nirih'za/iou of Ancient Tntlia. 



J 21 



very prolific sculptors belonging to the Gandhara school. The chrono- 

 logy and artistic relations of the school will be separately discussed in a 

 subsequent section ; at present I sball refer only very briefly to these 

 topics. 



The oldest known example of Indo-Hellenic sculpture in the Panjab 

 probably is the statuette in purely Greek style of Pallas Athene, the 

 original of which is in the Lahore Museum. Dr. Leitner has a good 

 cast of this work in his museum at "Woking, and Sir A. Cunningham 

 possesses a photograph of it. It is shown in Plate VII. 



The attitude of the goddess is that represented on certain coins of 

 Azes, which show her helmeted, standing, facing front, crowning herself 

 with her right hand, and holding in her left hand a spear obliquely 

 across her body. The goddess of the coins carries a shield also on her 

 left arm, but the statuette is imperfect, and the shield has been lost.* 



The close relation of this sculpture to the coins of Azes proves that 

 it must be approximately contemporary with that prince, that is to say, 

 that it dates from the beginning of the Christian era, or possibly a few 

 years earlier. It therefore belongs to the same period as do the Ionic 

 pillars of the Tasilan temples. The statuette is said to have been found 

 somewhere in the Tusufzai country, but the exact locality where it was 

 discovered does not seem to be known. 



I shall explain subsequently my reasons for thinking that this 

 statuette of Pallas is a relic of Indo-Hellenic sculpture properly so called, 

 as distinguished from the Indo-Romau school to which all, or almost all, 

 the other examples of Gandhara art belong. 



The effigy of the virgin goddess of Athens cannot be certainly 

 connected with any Indian religious system, and we cannot say whether 

 the statuette above described formed part of the decoration of a Bud- 

 dhist temple or not. But in all probability it did, for every specimen 

 of Indo-Hellenic sculpture from Gandhara, the find-spot of which is 

 known, belonged to a Buddhist building of one sort or another. 



Most of the sculptures are evidently Buddhist in subject, but some 

 of them, notably the figures supposed to represent kings, deal with 

 secular subjects, though used to decorate edifices consecrated to the 

 service of religion. 



* Gardner, Catalogue of Coins of Greek Kings of Bactria and India, T>l„t<? 

 XVIII, 4. Cunningham, in his Descriplife. List (No. 21), observes, " The lower right 

 arm, which probably bore the regis with the head of Medusa, has been lost." This 

 remark is evidently erroneous. The goddoss on the coins carries, as might be 

 expected, the shield on her loft arm, and grasps the spear with her left hand. Her 

 right arm is raised, with the hand to her head, as for the purpose of crowning 

 herself. 



