Edited Books by Rajat Sanyal
Book Reviews by Rajat Sanyal
Journal of the Asiatic Society, 51/ 4, 2019
Talks by Rajat Sanyal
Papers by Rajat Sanyal
Pratna Samiksha New Series 2023, 2023
Continuous discoveries of primary sources have been characterising epigraphic researches in Benga... more Continuous discoveries of primary sources have been characterising epigraphic researches in Bengal for nearly last five decades. The present work is based on yet another notice of a broken but mostly unspoilt copperplate preserved in a private collection in Kolkata dated in the reign of the tenth-century Pala king Rajyapāla, son and successor of Nārāyaṇapāla. The only published copperplate of this king, preserved in the Bharat Kala Bhavan of the Benaras Hindu University, records grant of land in southern Bihar. All the image inscriptions dated in the reign of this king come from south Bihar; only one stone inscription of his reign hails from Bhaturia in northwestern Bangladesh. The present inscription is thus the first land transfer record dated in the reign of Rājyapāla from Bengal, carrying interesting details of land-based transactions under two viṣayas of the Puṇḍravardhana bhukti. This note is not aimed at presenting a critical edition of this copperplate. It briefly underscores the importance of this hitherto unpublished document in understanding vicissitudes of Pala history in Bengal in the tenth century.
Arts Asiatiques, 2021
This article examines rare epigraphical evidence engraved on three inscribed Bodhisattva sculptur... more This article examines rare epigraphical evidence engraved on three inscribed Bodhisattva sculptures dated to the second half of the first millennium from Sarnath, in Uttar Pradesh, Telhara, and Bargaon, in Bihar. The inscriptions contain the heart-mantra ārolik, i.e., the three and a half syllables” connected to Avalokiteśvara and the “Lotus Family.” The fragments from Bihar probably depict a six-armed Amoghapāśa, a specific iconographic form of Avalokiteśvara, while the Bargaon inscription is the only identified occurrence in Sanskrit epigraphy of the Amoghapāśahr̥dayadhāraṇī, composed in South Asia and transmitted to East Asia in the mid-to-late first millennium. The heart-mantra ārolik is also known in esoteric and tantric Buddhist sources still preserved in Sanskrit originals or Chinese and Tibetan translations. Our study concludes on the broader implications for
the identification of Avalokiteśvara in early Indian Buddhist art.
Journal of Bengal Art, 2021
This essay, offered in honour of Prof. Claudine Bautze-Picron, discusses three inscribed early me... more This essay, offered in honour of Prof. Claudine Bautze-Picron, discusses three inscribed early medieval sculptures coming from Bihar in India. Two of these sculptures depict the Buddha seated in bhadrāsana, one of which is a rare bejewelled example, both seemingly performing the Great Miracle at Śrāvastī and the teaching of the First Sermon at Sārnāth. The third image represents an elusive (Buddhist?) deity named Puṇḍeśvarī. On the basis of their donative inscriptions mentioning the name Tentadīgrāma, we can now conclusively attribute this ancient locality as the modern village of Tetrawan in the Nalanda district of Bihar.
Seminar, No. 745 (September), 2021
Journal of the Asiatic Society, vol. 60, No.3, 2021
Pratna Samiksha, New Series, vol.11, 2020
A hitherto unnoticed inscribed image of a standing male figure in the Indian Museum, Kolkata, was... more A hitherto unnoticed inscribed image of a standing male figure in the Indian Museum, Kolkata, was recently published by Shyamalkanti Chakravarti. I subsequently had occasion to examine the piece. It is a seventh century image of a standing male figure holding a sturdy staff (daṇḍa) horizontally at the level of the groin. The accompanying inscription designates it as a donation of a nobleman (bhaṭṭāraka) hailing from Telyāḍhaka (modern Telhara in Bihar) and further records that the installation of the image was performed by the son of an oil merchant (tailika). Both the iconography and the inscription of this sculpture throw challenges of art historical and epigraphic analyses. The note suggests that the identity of the sculpture remains a riddle, in spite of the possibility of the imagery of this class being associated with multifarious ritual and
cultic traditions in different parts of the country. Further, the inscription provides a rather rare instance of a donation being installed/executed by a person other than the donor.
Pratna Samiksha, New Series, vol. 10, Nov 2019
The site of Moghalmari in the district of Paschim [ West] Medinipur, West Bengal, has been a subj... more The site of Moghalmari in the district of Paschim [ West] Medinipur, West Bengal, has been a subject of potential interest in academic and public spheres ever since its first exposure in 2003–4 under the direction of Asok Datta of the University of Calcutta. Several seasons of excavation at the site resulted in the discovery of a brick-built complex architectural composition, exuberantly decorated with stucco sculptures,
decorative motifs, and designed bricks. The reconstructed plan of the structure hinted at the existence of a set of two monasteries at the site. Renewed excavation by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums,
Government of West Bengal, under the direction of Amal Roy further resulted in the discovery of, inter alia, a set of fragmented inscribed clay tablets the writings on which remained a challenge, though their physical
constitution fairly suggested them to be monastic sealings. This essay attempts at a reading of the inscriptions on these clay tablets and concludes by introducing the reader to the names of the only so far known twin monastic site in south-western Bengal, flourishing as early as the sixth century CE and further argues that this discovery raises new questions on the organizational hierarchy of Mahayana monastic establishments in early medieval South Asia.
Copper, Parchment, and Stone Studies in the sources for landholding and lordship in early medieval Bengal and medieval Scotland. ed. J.R. Davies and S. Bhattacharya, 2019
Boundary clauses in the copperplate charters of Bengal dated between the fifth and the thirteenth... more Boundary clauses in the copperplate charters of Bengal dated between the fifth and the thirteenth centuries represent a wide range of settlement data on rural settlements. They provide unimpeachable cues to understanding spatial connections between different tiers of rural space and its natural and built landmarks. This paper examines the spatial patterning of settlements in terms of their natural and artificial boundaries, as reflected in these epigraphic records.
Early Indian History and Beyond: Essays in Honour of B.D. Chattopadhyaya, Eds. Osmund Bopearachchi and Suchandra Ghosh, 2019
The paper examines the spatial ramifications of early medieval settlements in the light of settle... more The paper examines the spatial ramifications of early medieval settlements in the light of settlement data preserved in a sixth century copperplate inscription from Western Bengal
Cross-Cultural Networking in the Eastern Indian Ocean Realm c.100-1800, Eds. Kenneth R. Hall et al., 2019
Indian Journal of History of Science, Vol. 54, No.1, 2019
Journal of the Asiactic Soceity, Vol. 60, No. 4, 2018
Pratna Samiksha New Series Vol. 9, 2018
An otherwise unimpressive but physically well preserved stone sculpture of the Buddhist deity Mar... more An otherwise unimpressive but physically well preserved stone sculpture of the Buddhist deity Marici is housed in the Gurusaday Museum in Kolkata. While the iconography of the image is almost stereotypical to the sculptural corpus of the goddess so far reported from eastern India, a short inscription engraved on its pedestal makes it especially significant. The inscription records the name of the deity as ‘Maricibhattarika’. This image represents the only so far known icon of the goddess from western Bengal and, further, the only so far reported image of Marici where she is so named by the donor of the image.
Journal of Bengal Art, Vol. 23, 2018
Possibly the earliest eastern Indian imagery of the goddess to be identified with Siddhā or Lalit... more Possibly the earliest eastern Indian imagery of the goddess to be identified with Siddhā or Lalitā Devī is represented in a sculpture produced around the Mundeshwari area of southwestern Bihar. Gradually her cult spread throughout southern Bihar between the seventh and the ninth century. Subsequently her much ornamental iconography found prevalence in the alluvial terrains of northern Bengal from the tenth to the twelfth century. In the midway of this long journey, around the mid-ninth century, the goddess enjoyed a flourishing flow of patronage in the heart of southern Bihar, as reflected by the image under discussion. Dated in the ruling period of the most widely discussed Pāla king named Mahendrapāla, this inscribed image bespeaks donation by the wife of a Brāhmaṇa from Mudgagiri. Thus, this essay focuses on one of the most fertile phases of the worship of the goddess in eastern India and argues that the image is a stylistic and iconographic marker of a time at which her cult was being introduced to her worshippers in eastern Bihar and Bengal.
History of Bangladesh: Early Bengal in Regional Perspectives, Vol. 1 ARCHAEOLOGY POLITICAL HISTORY POLITY, Eds. A.M. Chowdhury and R. Chakravarti, 2018
History of Bangladesh: Early Bengal in Regional Perspectives, Vol. 1 ARCHAEOLOGY POLITICAL HISTORY POLITY, Eds. A.M. Chowdhury and R. Chakravarti, 2018
History of Bangladesh: Early Bengal in Regional Perspectives, Vol. 1 ARCHAEOLOGY POLITICAL HISTORY POLITY, Eds. A.M. Chowdhury and R. Chakravarti, 2018
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Edited Books by Rajat Sanyal
Book Reviews by Rajat Sanyal
Talks by Rajat Sanyal
Papers by Rajat Sanyal
the identification of Avalokiteśvara in early Indian Buddhist art.
cultic traditions in different parts of the country. Further, the inscription provides a rather rare instance of a donation being installed/executed by a person other than the donor.
decorative motifs, and designed bricks. The reconstructed plan of the structure hinted at the existence of a set of two monasteries at the site. Renewed excavation by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums,
Government of West Bengal, under the direction of Amal Roy further resulted in the discovery of, inter alia, a set of fragmented inscribed clay tablets the writings on which remained a challenge, though their physical
constitution fairly suggested them to be monastic sealings. This essay attempts at a reading of the inscriptions on these clay tablets and concludes by introducing the reader to the names of the only so far known twin monastic site in south-western Bengal, flourishing as early as the sixth century CE and further argues that this discovery raises new questions on the organizational hierarchy of Mahayana monastic establishments in early medieval South Asia.
the identification of Avalokiteśvara in early Indian Buddhist art.
cultic traditions in different parts of the country. Further, the inscription provides a rather rare instance of a donation being installed/executed by a person other than the donor.
decorative motifs, and designed bricks. The reconstructed plan of the structure hinted at the existence of a set of two monasteries at the site. Renewed excavation by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums,
Government of West Bengal, under the direction of Amal Roy further resulted in the discovery of, inter alia, a set of fragmented inscribed clay tablets the writings on which remained a challenge, though their physical
constitution fairly suggested them to be monastic sealings. This essay attempts at a reading of the inscriptions on these clay tablets and concludes by introducing the reader to the names of the only so far known twin monastic site in south-western Bengal, flourishing as early as the sixth century CE and further argues that this discovery raises new questions on the organizational hierarchy of Mahayana monastic establishments in early medieval South Asia.