Aims

The aim of the course is to present the student with a general outline of the ancient Indian civilization (pre-Islamic and pre-colonial) through the history of plastic arts.

Main themes

A first part deals with various archaeological problems such as the emergence of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures in the Indian subcontinent, the growth and decline of the Indus civilization, the supposed coming of the Aryans and the so-called Indian 'Middle Ages', the material remains of the Vedic civilization. The main part of the
course is devoted to the history of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain arts (architecture, sculpture, painting) in India, from the Mauryan period till about the 13th century A.D., following a dynastic, geographic or stylistic order and with a special attention drawn to the cultural (religious or political) context of each monument.

Content and teaching methods

The course presents a general outline of the ancient Indian civilization (pre-Islamic and pre-colonial) through the history of plastic arts. A first part deals with various archaeological problems such as the emergence of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures in the Indian subcontinent, the growth and decline of the Indus civilization, the supposed coming of the Aryans and the so-called Indian 'Middle Ages', the material remains of the Vedic civilization. The main part of the course is devoted to the history of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain arts (architecture, sculpture, painting) in India, from the Mauryan period till about the 13th century A.D., following a dynastic, geographic or stylistic order and with a special attention drawn to the cultural (religious or political) context of each monument.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

No preliminary knowledge is required, but the level of the examination will be different according as the student knows or does not know Sanskrit (used for the architectural and iconographic vocabulary as well as for the Indian proper names and specific terms).
Teaching materials : series of lectures with lantern slides. A selection of documents (maps etc.) is furnished to the students.

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