Madhyakalin Maru Gurjar Chitrakala Ke Prachin Praman - Book Summary

This document is an excerpt from a book titled "Madhyakalin Maru Gurjar Chitrakala ke Prachin Praman" (Ancient Evidence of Medieval Maru-Gurjar Painting) by Dr. Umakant Premanand Shah. It was published as part of the Z_Nahta_Bandhu_Abhinandan_Granth_012007.pdf, and the catalog link is provided. This excerpt focuses on establishing the origins and early evidence of what the author terms "Maru-Gurjar Chitrakala" (Maru-Gurjar Painting).

Here's a comprehensive summary of the provided pages:

Page 1:

Introduction of "Maru-Gurjar Chitrakala": Dr. Shah proposes the term "Maru-Gurjar Chitrakala" to identify the medieval West Indian miniature paintings, primarily found in Jain manuscripts. He notes that other scholars have used names like West Indian Painting, Apabhramsa style, or Gujarati Painting.
Justification for "Maru-Gurjar": He justifies this term by highlighting the linguistic, artistic, and cultural unity between the regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan during the medieval period. He credits poet Shri Umashankar Joshi for previously using "Maru-Gurjar" for the common linguistic source (Old Western Rajasthari according to Tessitori).
Earliest Datable Evidence (Manuscripts):
- The earliest surviving miniature paintings are found in a palm-leaf manuscript of the Vishithchurni from Bhrgukachha (Bhavnagar), dated V.S. 1157 (1100 CE). These paintings feature decorative elements like lotuses, and between some circular decorations, depictions of animals (elephants) and human figures (men and women) are present.
- More significant for understanding the art form are two paintings from a palm-leaf manuscript of the Jn'atadharmakathang and other Angas (Agamas), dated V.S. 1184 (1127 CE), preserved in the Shantinath Jain Bhandar in Khambhat (Gujarat). These include a painting of a Tirthankara and another of Saraswati or Shrutadevata.
Early Wall Paintings:
- Around the same period, murals were discovered in the mandap of a Vishnu temple in Madanpur, Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh. This temple was built between 1130 and 1165 CE during the reign of Madan Verma. The paintings, likely from a similar period, depict stories from the Panchatantra and exhibit characteristics of the Maru-Gurjar painting style.
Precursors in Ajanta/Ellora: The author points to the murals in the middle level of the Kailasa temple at Ellora, specifically a painting of Vishnu standing on Garuda. Features like a long, pointed nose are clearly developed in these, suggesting the Maru-Gurjar style began to emerge between the 8th and 11th centuries CE. However, more ancient examples of manuscript paintings are not available.

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Shift to Inscriptions for Early Evidence: Dr. Manjulal Majumdar is credited with drawing attention to a new direction in the search for early evidence: seals and emblems on ancient copper-plate land grants and royal edicts. While these lack color and elaborate pictorial diversity, they provide evidence of the line drawing conventions characteristic of the style.
Key Stylistic Features in Seals: The distinctive features of the Maru-Gurjar style, such as the pointed nose, the depiction of the second eye in a three-quarter profile (often called the "far-eye" or "flying eye"), and the angularity of the face and body, can be observed in the line drawings of these copper-plate inscriptions.
Specific Examples of Seals:
- Parmar King Vakpati Raj's Grant (V.S. 1031 = 974 CE) from Ujjain.
- Parmar Bhojraj's Grant (V.S. 1078 = 1021 CE) from Dhara Nagari, granting a village to Nagahrada.
- Both these grants feature the Garuda emblem of the Parmars, with Garuda holding a serpent, depicted as if flying rapidly, in a human-like form with wings. These images (Figures 1 and 2) are presented in the text.
Conclusion from Seals: These seals clearly indicate that this painting style was prevalent in the Malwa region and territories under the Parmars by the latter half of the 10th century CE.
Further Search and Discovery: Following this lead, the author searched for other inscribed grants with such royal emblems.
- A grant found in the possession of a Brahmin in Harsola (North Gujarat), dated 948 CE (mid-10th century), is particularly significant. This grant, known as the Harsola Plates of Siyak, was published by Rai Bahadur K.N. Dixit and D.B. Diskalkar. It was issued by Siyak from his camp on the Mahi river, granting villages near Mohadavasak (present-day Modasa). The Garuda depiction on this grant (Figure 3) is attributed to a craftsman from Malwa or Gujarat, as the Malwa king issued the grant from his camp in Gujarat, suggesting the style was prevalent in both regions.

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Analysis of the Harsola Plate Garuda (Figure 3):
- Figure 3 shows the Garuda emblem from the Harsola plates. The author notes that the Garuda is not fully "one-eyed" (meaning the other eye isn't fully visible within the main eye outline).
- The cheek is not depicted, but the outline of the face suggests the far-eye is not as prominent or extended beyond the facial outline as seen in later Maru-Gurjar paintings.
- This suggests that by around 948 CE, the practice of depicting the far-eye outside the facial outline might have just begun but was not yet widespread or universally accepted.
Comparison between Figures 1 and 3: The author finds little difference between the depiction of the far-eye in the 974 CE Garuda (Figure 1) and the 948 CE Garuda (Figure 3) in terms of extending it beyond the outline. However, significant differences exist in the overall anatomy and facial features. Figure 1's Garuda is described as childlike and lively, with a longer, more sharply pointed nose. Figure 3's Garuda shows increased angularity.
Another Significant Grant (Figure 4):
- Figure 4 presents a copper-plate grant issued by Parmar Siyak dated V.S. 1026 (969 CE).
- The presence of the depicted Garuda emblem clearly indicates that by 969-970 CE, the practice of showing the far-eye outside the eye socket had started, become prevalent, and was accepted in royal emblems.
- This leads the author to conclude that the invention and widespread acceptance of this style likely occurred between 950 and 970 CE.
- This particular grant's plate is currently housed in the Shri Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Bharatiya Sanskriti Vidyalaya in Ahmedabad.
Further Evidence of Spread and Development:
- The spread and development of this style are also seen in another grant: Bhojdev's Banswada Grant, dated V.S. 1076 (1019-20 CE). The Garuda emblem from this grant is shown in Figure 5.
- Another grant, Mahakumar Harishchandra's grant from Bhopal, edited by Dr. N.P. Chakravarti and dated around 1157 CE, also features a Garuda emblem in the Maru-Gurjar style. This date is consistent with the time of the painted Saraswati in the Jn'atadharmakathang palm-leaf manuscript. This figure is presented as Figure 6.

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Rejection of Earlier Paintings' Attribution: The author refers to his earlier presidential address at the Banaras Oriental Conference, where he presented paintings from a palm-leaf manuscript of the Ogha'niyukti from Jaisalmer, dated V.S. 1117 (1060 CE).
Distinct Style: He argues that the style of these Jaisalmer paintings is not the Maru-Gurjar style (also known as Jain, West Indian, Rajasthani, Apabhramsa, Gujarati, etc.).
Maru-Gurjar as the Last Stage: Instead, he posits that the Jaisalmer paintings represent the final stage of the prevailing style across West India during the Gurjar-Pratihara period.
Clear Distinction: He asserts that the style of the Jaisalmer Ogha'niyukti paintings is clearly different from the style seen in Figures 1 to 6 (the seals and their analyzed features).

Pages 5-7 (Image Descriptions):

These pages appear to contain image captions and references to images. While the actual images are not provided in the text summary, the captions suggest the following:

Page 5: References to architectural sculptures (shilpa) at the Brahmanya temple in Pallu, ancient sculptures in Pallu village, and a sculpture on a house wall in Pallu.
Page 6: Mentions sculptures of Durga (?) in various postures, attendants, Lakshmi, dancing figures, and a group engaged in music and dance. Also references a pillar (stambh) and archway (toran).
Page 7: Continues with references to a pratima-khatala-gi mandir in Pallu, sculptures of donors or doorkeepers, Brahmanya Mata temple with white Jain images (one in padmasana, one in khadgasana), and an ancient sculpture with a pillar and toran.

Overall Significance of the Excerpt:

Dr. Umakant Shah's article meticulously traces the historical development of the West Indian painting style, advocating for the term "Maru-Gurjar Chitrakala." He argues that while the style's roots can be seen as early as the 8th century CE in murals, its distinct characteristics as a miniature painting tradition, particularly evident in Jain manuscripts, firmly established by the 10th century CE. He demonstrates this through an examination of early dated manuscripts and, more importantly, through the analysis of stylistic features in royal seals on copper-plate grants, pushing the definitive evidence for the style back to the mid-10th century CE. He also distinguishes this style from earlier artistic traditions of the region.