Mauryan Antiquities from Pāṭaliputra

This lecture by Archaeologist Daniela De Simone will present a new review of the Mauryan antiquities recovered during excavations at Pāṭaliputra based on her ongoing research on the Mauryan capital. Pāṭaliputra was the seat of the Mauryan dynasty (322–185 BCE) and capital of the first Indian empire and has been dentified with modern Patna, Bihar.

Pāṭaliputra, seat of the Mauryan dynasty and capital of the first Indian empire, was identified with modern Patna, Bihar in the second half of the 19th century. Excavations started in the 1892 and went on, discontinuously, until the end of the 1950s. Remains of wooden structures (a defensive wall and what appear to be water pipelines) were unearthed at different sites around Patna, along with a stone pillared hall that was discovered at Kumrahar, a residential area of the modern city. Several antiquities were recovered during excavations, including early punch-marked coins, inscribed glass seals, and elaborated terracotta figurines, such as the famous so-called ‘dancers’ of Bulandibagh.

Dating Mauryan antiquities is problematic, as it is a process exclusively based on stylistic and typological grounds that are not always consistent with a Mauryan origin. The number of unambiguously Mauryan objects is indeed very limited: the archaeological evidence of the “Mauryaness” of many artefacts is lacking or, at best, very weak. Excavations at Mauryan sites were mostly carried out between the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century without the support of the stratigraphic method, and for many significant finds even the exact findspot is unknown.

The case, for example, of the famous stone image of the yakṣī of Didarganj is emblematic. The lack of stratigraphic evidence and of other contemporary and comparable specimens has led to speculations on its date spanning over 500 years. The sandstone sculpture was finally dated to the Mauryan period simply on the basis of the mirror-like polish of its surface, similar to that of the Aśokan pillars, but it is, in fact, a Kuṣāṇa work of art.

The lecture will present a new review of the Mauryan antiquities recovered during excavations at Pāṭaliputra based on the author’s ongoing research on the Mauryan capital.

Daniela De Simone is an archaeologist, and an affiliated fellow at IIAS. She excavated at the Aśokan site of Gotihawa as a member of the Italian Archaeological Mission to Nepal, was a consultant for UNESCO New Delhi and worked as Project Manager for Restoration Works International.

She obtained her PhD in South Asian Studies from the University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’ in 2012. Her research interests focus on late Prehistoric and early Historic archaeology of the Middle Ganga Plain, particularly that of early cities and Buddhism.

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About IIAS Lunch Lectures

Every month, an IIAS researcher or visiting scholar will present his or her work-in-progress in an informal setting to colleagues and other interested attendees. IIAS organises these lunch lectures to give the research community the opportunity to freely discuss ongoing research and exchange thoughts and ideas.