The Art Chronicler in Ananda Coomaraswamy

K. C. KAMALIAH

Literature can be taken as a handmaid for the study of history. Ananda Coomaraswamy has utilised a mass of material from the Sanskrit works and when compared with the same, he drew scantily from Tamil. It goes without saying that his writings bristle with quotations from many languages, religions and ethical works. Though the world knows him more as an art critic than a historian or a philosopher, he legitimately belongs to both the latter fields. A major work of his is the “History Indian and Indonesian Art.” In one of his essays, he makes an oblique reference to history, primarily offering his remarks to those who are either teachers or learners in what is called either “the appreciation of art” or “the history of art.” Inci­dentally, these expressions are misnomers; what we mean is “the appreciation of works of art” and “the history of things made by art.” Of art itself, there can no more be a history than there can be of metaphysics; histories are of persons, and not of principles. The current view of art is historically and geographically a most exceptional one or in other words an abnormal and provincial view”.¹ Another notable work of Ananda Coomaraswamy is his “Mediaeval Sinhalese Art.”

In the true sense of the word, Ananda Coomaraswamy is a chronicler. Anything he says is supported by evidence, literary or otherwise.

“Throughout this essay (The Philosophy of Mediaeval and Oriental Art) I shall be using the very words of the Middle Ages. I have nothing new to propound; for such as I am, the truth about art, as well as about many other things, is not a truth that remains to be discovered, but a truth that it remains for every man to understand. I shall not have a word to say for which I could not quote chapter and verse. These pages are littered with quotation marks”.² These words of Coomaraswamy hold good for almost all his writings. His interpretation apart, a historian has to lean very heavily on the material left over. Ananda Coomaraswamy’s monumental erudition and discerning sense of analysing the material before him would project him as a historian of high calibre.

Part I of the “History of Indian and Indonesian Art” relating to the Pre-Mauryan Period contains portions relating to Indo-Sumerian and Dravidians, and Aryans.

“Certainly before the second millennium B. C. the Dravidians, whether of western origin, or as seems quite probable, of direct neo-lithic descent on Indian soil, had come to form the bulk of a population thinly scattered throughout India....In particular, the popular Dravidian element, must have played the major part in all that concerns the development and office of image worship, that is, of Puja as distinct from Yajna...The stone slab construction of many early temples is likewise of Dravidian (dolmen) origin. The chank or conch industry is a case in point; the use of chank bangles, and of the conch as a trumpet in ritual and war must have been borrowed from Dravidian sources before the epic period...The Aryans whose origin is uncertain, appear in India and Western Asia about the same time...The Aryans appear to have entered India between 2000 and 1500 B. C. through Afghanistan and Hindukush. The Vedic Aryans were proficient in carpentry, building houses and racing chariots of wood; and in metal work, making vessels of ayas, presumably of copper, for domestic and ritual use, and using gold jewellery. They wove, knew sewing and tanning and made pottery. The early books afford no certain evidence for the making of images of any kind...Indian art and culture in any case, are a joint creation of the Dravidian and Aryan genius, a welding together of symbolic and representative, abstract and explicit language and thought”.³ The predominant element of Dravidian in Indian culture fails to attract scholars and everything Indian is taken as a gift by the Aryans. A well developed pure language like Tamil with a rich literature and anything superfine and superb is always traced to Aryan influence. “In the far south a powerful and prosperous Pandyan kingdom flourished before the beginning of the Christian era, with a capital at Korkai. The first three centuries of the Christian era represent an Augustan period in the history of Tamil culture and there is sufficient literary evidence for a high state of development of poetry, music, drama, sculpture and painting. At the same time, there had grown up a flourishing trade with Rome on the one hand and with Farther India and Indonesia on the other, the principal exports being pepper, cinnamon, pearls and beryl”.⁴

Ananda Coomaraswamy’s works serve both the scholar and the layman. One, who is new to the philosophy and culture and history of the piece of art relating to, is greatly benefited. So also is the predicament of scholars of proven merit to heed to his pertinent, cogent and authoritative views. The catalogue of the Indian collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, carries a General Introduction of 39 pages, a very valuable treatise. The whole of the portion relating to Vedic period, though brief, is reproduced:

“The racial elements of the people of India are Dravidian mainly in the South, Mongolian mainly in the East, and Aryan mainly in the North. If we now consider the period 1500-800 B. C. we shall find the Aryans settled in the Punjab and in the Central Ganges Valley, and beyond these areas gradually dominating and subsequently mixing with the other, for the most part darker, races of less warlike character. The culture of the early Aryans is pastoral and warlike; they lived in villages very much like those of modern India. To the priests of these communities are due the early Vedic hymns and ritual. The Vedic hymns are designed to persuade the gods to deal generously with men. They are addressed to the powers of nature; Agni, the spirit of the sacrificial fire; Soma, the spirit of an intoxicating plant used in ritual; Indra whose activity is manifested in the rain cloud and lightning; Ushas, the Dawn; Father Heaven; Mother Earth; Rudra, a fierce divinity of storms and wastes; Surya, the Sun; Vishnu, also a solar deity; and some others. From Brihaspati, spirit of prayer, sacrifice and hymn, is developed the masculine personal deity Brahma, who is regarded as the creator and as the great sage who reveals to men the scriptures called the Four Vedas. As Swayambhu, the self-existent, he forms the prototype of the later Vishnu or Narayana, as Rudra, he is the prototype of Shiva. By the eighth century B. C. the Vedic cult had become a well-established orthodoxy with a privileged priesthood”. ⁵

The portion relating to the Upanishads is equally informative. “The eight centuries following are of far greater importance for the student of Indian philosophy, sociology and art...The crisis of Indian thought is to be recognised in the Upanishads and Buddhism. The cardinal doctrine of the Upanishads is theunity of all life, the view that the many are, after all, one; and as when the sea is known, the waves of the sea are so known, so that when that one is known, its manifold manifestations are known. The name of this Absolute in the Upanishads is Brahman, a neuter word to be carefully distinguished from the name of the masculine deity Brahma ; another designation of the Absolute is Atman, or Self”...⁶

The answer of the Upanishads is based on mystic experience rather than in ratiocination: “That art thou.”

In this Catalogue, Ananda Coomaraswamy gives one a bird’s eye-view of the religion and philosophy of the various sects of India. Under the heading “Saiva Cults,” he deals with Agamic Saivism, quotes Tiruvacagam. A lot of historical material is interspersed in the “History of Indian and Indonesian Art.” To read his books is not only to acquaint oneself with arts of the countries concerned but also helps one to get to know a gist of their histories. A brief summary is given:

Kashmir: Kashmir formed a part of the dominions of Asoka and Kanishka and Huvishka, was for a time tributary to the Guptas, but by the time of Harsha was an independent power controlling Taxila, much of the Sind Valley and the Punjab Himalayas. The eighth and ninth centuries are the classic period of Kashmir culture....A local Muhammadan dynasty came to the throne in 1339 and during the 14th century Islam spread throughout the valley, though never to the exclusion of Hinduism. In 1587, Akbar included Kashmir in the Mughal Empire.

Nepal: The isolated and rather inaccessible Himalayan valley was occupied in pre-historic times by a people of Tibetan origin relatives of the Sino-Tibetan races who were at the same time finding their way into Indo-China. In the second century A.D. the Indian Licchavis founded a dynasty in Nepal, taking with them from Vaisali all the elements of Indian civilization.

Tibet: A type of religion Bon-po by name was prevailing in Tibet originally which has left its traces on the later Buddhist developments. About the year 630, the first king of Tibet married a Nepalese Princess who brought with her, her Gods and priests. She converted her husband. After her death she was given a place in the Tibetan Pantheon and considered as an incarnation of Goddess Tara. The same king married a Chinese Princess and she was also deified. As Tibet was on the highway to China from India, it was influenced by both the countries. In the 16th century the Dalai took up residence in the palace of the Tibetan kings on the Mar-po-ri (Lhasa).

Chinese Turkestan: Khotau was partially occupied by Indian immigrants from the region of ancient Taxila confirmed by Hsuan Tsang. A Prakrit language was spoken; Kharsthi and Brahui scripts were in use. Vaisravana (Kubera) cult was widespread. Coins of Kadphises and Kanishka are met with in some quantity. The ruling class was of Indian origin in Khotan. During the first seven centuries of Christian era, the name “Turkestan” is an anachronism.

The Far East: Indian influence extended to China, Korea, Japan, with Indian ideas generally and Buddhist forms of art especially.

Sumatra: Appears to have received Indian colonists at a very early date, probably well before the Christian era. The Land of Gold (and this name applicable to Sumatra and not to Java) is referred to in the Jatakas and Ramayana as Suvarnadvipa and Swarnabhumi. Sumatra is the Zabadion of Ptolemy, the Zabag and Zabej of Arabic writers. Gunavarman of the royal house of Kashmir landed in Yavadvipa and converted the queen to Mahayana Buddhism which became an official cult. The Tanjore Chola inscriptions of Rajendra Chola and Rajaraja Rajakesari Varma, 1030 and 1044-46 refer to a king of Kataha and Sri Vaishaya. In 1084, Kulottunga Chola dedicated a village to a Buddhist temple spoken of in the inscription of Sailendra-Cudamani-varman-vihara. Islam was introduced into Sumatra by Indian missionaries and traders. By the end of the 15th century, Islam had spread all over Java, and the Hindus and Buddhists were forced to retire to Bali. Of the ancient civilization of Sumatra hardly any trace remains.

Java: Early Indian settlements in Western Java probably date to the beginning of the Christian era. Of the old kingdom of Taruma and a king named Purnavarman, it is learnt from a Sanskrit inscription in Pallava script.⁷

Jainism: Jainism is a very important religious sect in India, though at the present time, the Jains are considered as part of the Hindu fold. Unlike Buddhism, Jainism still survives in India and there are people professing the same. Jains’ contribution to art and literature is marked. There are Jains living in the Tamil land of today and in Karnataka too, small numbers in the former and somewhat more in the latter. They are widespread in the North. While discussing about the Jaina paintings, Ananda Coomaraswamy equips his readers with a catechism on jainism. A small extract is given:

“The cardinal doctrines of jainism may be enunciated as follows: Human personality is dual, spiritual and physical; man has free will, and is himself alone responsible for all thatis good or bad in his life; the human soul may control and be freed from its physical entanglement, becoming an Arhat in the world, and a Siddha in Nirvana, enjoying them its true form of being and possessed of the four infinite powers; and those of Siddhas” who have revealed the broad fording-place of virtue are called Tirthakaras (Finders of the Ford). But just as in Buddhism, the Jaina who is at first a mere man, is subsequently deified and becomes the object of a devotional cult.

“It will be seen that this system differs from that of Upanishads in its dualism, and from in its acceptance of the idea of the soul. It resembles the Samkhya in its dualism, and in Buddhism, both in its establishment of a monastic order, and in its attitude towards the lesser gods, with the rejection of the idea of a Supreme Creator. Like all other Indian religions, it has for its end the spiritual freedom and perfection of every individual”. ⁸

Buddhism: In the age of keen speculation, i.e., just after the period of Upanishadic teaching, in extra-Brahmanical circles, numerous other movements originated, the chief among them being Buddhism. The most important of the individual teachers with a following of monks and supported by believers, under the patronage of local princes was the Buddha, the Enlightened. It may be said with approximate certainty that he was born in 563 and died in 438 B. C. Buddha’s final words to his favourite disciple Ananda were as follows:

“Therefore, O Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp.”

According to Coomaraswamy, the psychology of early Buddhism provides no place for worship of any personal god. A later development of Buddhism is known as the “Mahayana” or “greater vehicle,” which development is no longer purely psychological, but theistic, devotional and mystical. ⁹

Conclusion

Ananda Coomaraswamy is a chronicler for all times. He initiates one into the study of history and takes one into the corridors of chronicle, forgetting not to narrate, interpret and spotlight the many facets of Indian culture and civilization and its influence in the Near East and Far East countries without in any way minimising the great contribution of the indigenous cultures of the different countries in his “History of Indian and Indonesian Art.” It is a book for all the times which anybody interested in the history, culture and civilization of Asia can least afford to ignore.

References

¹ Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: The Philosophy of Mediaeval and Oriental Art. Zalmoxis-Revue desetudes religieuses.
² Ibid.
³ Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: History of Indian and Indonesian Art.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Parts I and II.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: “History of Indian and Indonesian Art.”
⁸ Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Parts I and II.
⁹ Ibid.