Indian art
The little dancing gem
Juliet Reynolds
he discovery of the Indus civilisation in the 1920s, under the leadership of Sir John Marshall, was one of the most important moments in the history of Indology and of world archaeology. Scholars had earlier held the view that the first Indian cities grew under the impetus of the superior Aryans. But the excavation of immense urban ruins at Mohenjodaro in Sind and at Harappa in western Punjab (both in mod- ern Pakistan) was to demolish such Euro- centric thinking. It was also to reveal that this civilisation, which reached its peak in the 3rd millennium BC, was, as Marshall said, 'closely akin but in some respects even superior to that of contemporary Mesopot- amia and Egypt'.
The Indus culture developed over a vast Bronze statuette of a dancing girl, from Mohenjodaro, 3rd millennium BC
area that extended from the north-west frontier to the Simla foothills, continued southwards through Rajasthan and termi- nated along the coast not far north of Bombay. Its main affinity with the cultures of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates was its growth along rivers that deposited a highly fertile alluvial soil across thinly forested territory, permitting the production of agri- cultural surplus without the use of iron. Like them it belonged to the Chalcolithic Age, when tools of stone were used togeth- er with those of copper or bronze, and its staples were also wheat, barley and the date. Both maritime and overland trade between the Indus region and western Asia were vigorous. Exports to the latter includ- ed cotton textiles, ivory, pearls, peacocks and apes, against imports of silver, lapis lazuli and turquoise.
The Indus people were far more conser- vative, far less aggressive and ambitious than their neighbours to the west. Their modes of production, city planning, tools, pottery and script all remained static, while their weapons were few and weak, evidence that they achieved their civilisation in the absence of coercive slavery and wars. But their superiority to the Mesopotamians and Egyptians is proved, above all, by the democratic layout of their superbly planned cities, where ordinary citizens inhabited spacious homes, complete with wells, bathrooms and sophisticated drainage systems. Apart from a long meet- ing hall and the Great Bath at Mohenjo- daro, they built no monuments, palaces or temples, nor created grandiose art works for the glory of powerful kings and dynas- ties.
Characteristically, the art works left to us by this unique civilisation are all hand-held objects. These mainly consist of delicately engraved seals depicting animals or scenes of mythological significance, inscribed with the characters of the still undeciphered script. There is also a large number of ter- racotta figurines and toys, generally zoomorphic and, like the images on the seals, often delightfully realistic. Finally, there is a small group of exquisite stat- uettes, among them a lithe little dancing girl who was unearthed from the ruins of Mohenjodaro.
The original purpose of this figure can- not he stated with certainty. Its size. tells us that it was created for intimate, individual viewing and probably, therefore, belonged to a home, perhaps that of a rich merchant. Evidence suggests that Indus society was organised under mercantile rule and that its priests descended from the shamanistic tradition of popular culture in which vener- ation of the female principle was firmly entrenched. So it is possible for us to infer that this nubile nude was once not only admired for her beauty but was also enshrined for ritual purposes to ensure the prosperity and protection of her venerator.
Though the technique employed in the execution of the figure is also uncertain, its treatment suggests that it was first mod- elled in wax and then cast according to the lost-wax method that is still practised by folk artists in parts of India. With the lustre of a healthy, dark-complexioned Indian girl, the bronze dancer swings her left leg forward as she strikes her slim thigh with a cupped hand. At the rear, her right wrist rests upon a boyish hip, while her thickly plaited hair sweeps across the nape of the neck, falling stylishly on to the shoulder. From every angle, her posture is so expres- sive of rhythmic movement that one can almost imagine the jingle-jangle of her abundant chunky jewellery.
Her head pertly tilted, the girl's features communicate a feeling of deep absorption and pleasure in her dance. Here, for the first time in Indian art, we may observe the serene eroticism that, three millennia later, would come to characterise the female fig- ure in the monumental art of the classical period. The elongated style in which the figure is modelled is greatly suggestive of the style of certain Stone Age rock paint- ings belonging to an area on the borders of the Indus region. This little gem thus pro- vides us with a vital link between the tribal art of pre-history and the sophisticated urban art that developed at the highest stage of ancient Indian civilisation.
This article is one of an occasional series by Juliet Reynolds on masterpieces of Indian art.
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