seals and sealings from kashmir smast and its surroundings areas

8/10/2019 Seals and sealings from Kashmir Smast and its surroundings areas

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Gandhran Studies 4 193

Seals and sealings from Kashmir Smast and its surroundings areas

M. Nasim Khan

The archaeological heritage of Gandhara isas rich as its scenic beauty. But, besidescientific archaeological investigations in thearea, illegal diggings have also been acommon phenomenon since from the lastmany decades. They remain difficult tocontrol despite the strong national andinternational convention and legalframework. In addition to that, chance

discoveries have also been the main sourceof providing antiquities to the black markets.Unfortunately, there is no properarrangement for the concerned institutions toacquire such cultural materials and avoid itstrade to the international antique marketswhere they are generally lost anddisassociated from their find spots. Due tothese illegal diggings and chancediscoveries, many cultural materials are

being detached from their archaeological

context and we cannot know their provenance. These illegally excavatedantiquities normally include sculptures,inscriptions, coins, seals and sealings andother materials having a great market valuefor the dealers.

The search for antiquities at Kashmir Smaststill continues and has become even moreintense due to the recent political unrest inthe area. Taking advantages of the currentsituation the site of Kashmir Smast is beingruthlessly excavated and has so far suffereda great loss to the archaeology of the site.

Recently, a group of antiquities was broughtto light and which is the theme of the present

paper. It includes seals in bronze, steatiteand clay. Some of these objects have comefrom Kashmir Smast while the rest weresupposedly found in the area of Pirsai, asmall village close to Kashmir Smast.

No.1

Material : BronzeSize: 2.9x2.5cmProvenance: Kashmir Smast

Fig.1. Seal No.1

Fig. 2. Transposal image of No.1

This seal was found at Kashmir Smast andmay be placed in the same group of sealsand sealings already recovered from the site(Nasim Khan 2003; 2006a-b). The flatsurface of the seal is divided into two parts

by a horizontal line. In the upper field andon the left side of the positive, Lajj Gaur isshown seated squatted with legs wide apart.The torso is marked with three bold and

round depressions forming a triangle. Theupper dot represents her head while the other


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two, arranged in horizontal manner, mayrepresent her breasts or shoulders. Anotherdot, smaller in size, is marked below thethree other dots and above her organ,

prominently shown, may represent her navel.

She is seated with outstretched legs. It seemsthat she has solidly placed her heels on theground while the tips of the feet are liftedand pointed in opposite directions. To herleft is engraved a tri la which is markedwith grooved lines. The three prongs departfrom the same point of the central bar andshow a round base. At the lower end of theshaft of the tri la, similarly three prongs areshown with round base but smaller in size.More to the right and on the left side of the

tri la, a pragha a in a melon shapeddesign with a round base, is shown with along narrow neck having a large opening. Inthe right upper end is the usual dancingfigure representing most probably

Narasi ha; he is moving towards the right but facing front. His right leg is stretched back while the other one is shown bent and brought to a fore. Four ribbons are attachedto his waist. Two of them are floating to theright and two to the left; each of them shows

a fish tail design.

Below and in the lower field there is aBr hm inscription which reads rBhimy which means to r Bhim .Similar seals from the same site werealready discovered (see below).

The margin shows an incised line. The sealis shown with a loop handle on its back forholding.

Date: The form o f the letter bha, the tailedtype of ma and the tripartite ya suggest4th/5 th century AD date for the seal. This canalso be confirmed by the way the diacriticalmarks are represented and the head marksthat are attached to the letters.

No. 2

Material: BronzeSize: ?Reference: Nasim Khan et al. 2008: 86Provenance: Kashmir Smast

On the flat surface of this square bronze sealis the nude figure of Lajj Gaur . She isseated in the usual posture with legs wideapart. Her sex is prominently marked with

protruded borders. The navel is equally

shown in prominence. The droopy stomachor folds of the belly are also clearly depictedand are formed in shape of two nostrils. Thelegs are wide apart and each one is addedwith round and a heavy anklet. Each of her

bulky breasts is marked with a prominentnipple. The shoulders and her head are not

portrayed.

This seal has a face made out of the bodywhere the breasts represent the eyes, the

belly her nose with prominent nostrils andthe mouth is marked with the virgin.

In the right field there is a trident symbolthat shows a long shaft parallel to the marginwith small prongs. The prongs at both endsare turned to the sides. In the left field anunclear letter or carving which mayrepresent a snake with opened mouth or itmay also be the dancing figure or a letter (?).

A single line Br hm inscription of sevenletters is engraved in the lower field and below the figure of Lajj Gaur ; the readingis difficult. It could be read:na+ra+gaaha or pha/ha orucarar ganaha . If the reading is correct thenthe cursive type a may indicate Kushandate for the seal.


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Seal No. 3

Material: Terracotta.Size: Dia. 2.4 cm; knob 2.1cm perforatedProvenance: Kashmir Smast

A circular seal in clay with a knob or handleon its back. It is inscribed with severaldifferent designs. At the top of the designs, atrident is shown with a straight central prongwhile the other two are curved outwards. Tothe left of the trident there seems to be a

solar symbol composed of small circledecorated with rays in form of small lines.This symbol could also represent a wheel.Below it and close to the margin there is aswastika. Opposite to the trident is a square

shaped design without clear meaning. In theleft field there is a praghaa. The pot andits base are round. The central plantterminates in a semi-circle opening outwardsand could represents a lotus flower. It isdifficult to know what exactly these symbolsrepresent. This seal can be classified underthe Lajj Gaur group of seals because of the

presence of the trident and purnaghatasymbol.

There is, so far, only one other confirmedseal of Lajj Gaur from Kashmir Smastwhich is inscribed with symbols and iswithout the representation of the figure ofthe said goddess. The seal is in gold and isdepicted with three symbols: cakra, tridentand praghaa (fig. 10). But the present sealin clay shows four different symbols and isonce again without the figural representationof Lajj Gaur . The two symbols, the tridentand the praghaa, are very common and

are generally accompanied by the figure ofLajj Gaur . But the wheel marked on boththe seals under discussion and the swastikaappeared on the present seal occurs for thefirst time. What these symbols exactlyrepresent is difficult to know but they maycorrespond to certain Hindu divinities.

No. 4.

Material: Basalt ShankarSize: 4.6x3.2 cm; thick 1.5 cmProvenance: Pirsai

The seal is partially damaged, especially theupper right corner and the lower end. The

back of the seal has a knob/ handle.

This rectangular seal depicts a standingfemale figure, facing to the left on the

positive. The figure is standing frontally butfacing to the left on the positive. Her rightfoot is unclear but the left one shows that the


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feet are arranged in V shaped design withheels together and feet pointing outwards.

She wears a long tunic covering the whole body including both shoulders and arms. Thedrapery hangs below knees level. The hemof the robe is straight. The folds in thedrapery are clearly depicted; those on thechest are marked in a V shaped design. Thefigure appears to be wearing a helmet.

The face is drawn with a sharp pointed noseand elongated eyes. The chin is also sharp

and the mouth marked by a short groove.

The right hand is extended carrying a bunchof grapes hanging down and making aninverted cone shape design. The grapes areshown in the round and are twelve innumber. The bunch hangs from three stalksheld by the figure. Above the right handthere are two more grapes on stalks and aleaf. In left hand she carries a cornucopia.

In the top left corner of the seal there is aninscription written in two lines. It appears to

be Kharo h and reads mitracagava. Thismight be a proper name. The first part is aSanskrit term while etymology of the second

part is unclear.

Date: Because the inscription is written inKushan period Kharo h script, the seal may

belong to the Kushan period.

No. 5

Material: BronzeSize: 3.2x2.8 cm with knobLocation: Pirsai

This is a square bronze seal with a loopedhandle on its back side. The inscribedsurface of the seal is divided into two parts

by a deep incised line. In the upper field 1 which covers two third of the surface there is

a drawing of a scorpion and a squaregeometrical design. The scorpion is neatlydrawn with maximum details. The abdomen,the curved tail with its segments and sting,the pincer, the movable claw and fixed claware all accurately depicted.

1 Unless and until the inscription is deciphered it isdifficult to discuss the direction of the inscription.The drawing of the scorpion also does not help usto know the orientation of the inscription. But, in

another case, the inscription on a seal is inscribedin the lower field or in the margin and a figure/s inthe upper field.


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Below the tail of the scorpion there is asquare design which is divided into foursectors by a vertical and a horizontal line.

The Lajj Gaur seals, so far recovered fromKashmir Smast, are very rare and areextremely significant for studying Hinducult, particularly that of Lajj Gaur , inancient Gandh ra. She is known withvarious names (Nasim Khan 2003) and isalways shown as the main figure in thegroup of divinities that appear on the seals.Despite her importance in the KashmirSmast context, Lajj Gaur s exact place andiconography on the seals is hardly fixed anduniform. It is even difficult to know whether

she first appeared on seals as an individualdeity, at the most with the trident symbol, oraccompanied by other sorts of gods andsymbols since the beginning. We also do notknow whether she appeared initially in asymbolic or human form. The following is akind of an attempt to understand her positionin the Hindu pantheon as far as KashmirSmast is concerned.

Starting with the arrangement of the figures

on the seal, it is not always the same andshows no standard formula. In fig. 1 and onthe positive, Lajj Gaur is depicted in theleft corner of the seal followed by a tridentsymbol. The dancing figure is inscribed inthe right corner preceded by a praghaa. Inthe second example (fig. 2) Lajj Gaur occupies the same position including the restof the figures, while in the third example(fig. 3), it is the dancing figure which isshown in the left corner instead of LajjGaur who occupies the position of thetrident while trident replaces the praghaa which itself is pushed into the right corneron the positive. In our next case (fig. 4) Lajj Gaur is moved once again to the rightcorner and the dancing figure to the left endwhile the trident occupies the centre of theseal; praghaa in this example is missing.The number and arrangement of the figuresin the next two examples (figs. 5, 6) are thesame as shown in our fig. 4. But in case offig. 6, Lajj Gaur is presented in morehuman form and probably carrying acornucopia in her left hand. The dancing

figure on the positive is shown in the rightcorner and the tri la occupies the central

position.

In the following seal (fig. 7) Lajj Gaur occupies the central field and covers most ofthe surface. The dancing figure and the praghaa are not represented; the size ofthe trident is reduced and is pushed to theleft corner on the positive. Similar is the casefor our next seal (fig. 8) except that thetrident is in large size and a strange symbolis also added to the right upper corner; itmay represent the dancing figure.

The next seal (fig. 9) once again depicts

Lajj Gaur as the central figure with probably a trident which is shown in the leftcorner on the positive. It does not carry anyinscription.

In the last group, all figures are representedin symbolic form. In one of the seals (fig.10), the cakra represents probably LajjGaur occupying the left corner while thetrident stays in the centre and the praghaa is depicted in the right corner on the

positive. The other seal (fig. 11), where allthe figures are represented in symbolicforms, is circular in shape and made of clay.The symbols are cakra, trident, praghaa and the swastika. The last seal of the seriesis made of bronze (fig. 12) and representsLajj Gaur in a human form depictedagainst a li ga on a pedestal replacing tridentsymbol commonly depicted on the Lajj Gaur seals.

Two clay objects, one seal and the other onesealing, bearing similar symbols were foundin the area of Charsadda, Peshawar valley.The seal (fig. 13) is depicted with a

purnaghatta, a swastika symbol and a starshaped design. The sealing in backed claywas bears a trident in the centre and aswastika and a crescent in the left field whilein the right field there is pot and a solarsymbol. Although, it is difficult to be sureabout the exact significance of all thesedifferent symbols depicted on these twoobjects, still an suggest that there might becertain relation between the Kashmir Smast


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seals with the those found in the area ofCharsadda. If it is a fact, then the symbols onthese objects may have the samesignificance as those on Kashmir Smast.spot on both objects; the only new symbol is

the crescent on the sealing from Charsadda.Moreover, the cult of Lajj Gaur may notonly be associated with Kashmir Smast butthere is a possibility that she was a populargoddess in the whole of ancient Gandhara

To conclude, although the arrangement ofthe figures or symbols on the seals do notshow uniformity, still the figure of Lajj Gaur whether shown in human form ordepicted with a symbol, is always presented

on the seal. The dancing figure and the praghaa are sometime absent from theseal and may have been considered asfigures of less importance. But on the otherhand, like the figure of Lajj Gaur , Shiva isalways presented on the seal in a symbolicform together with the figure of Lajj Gaur .Both these drawing go side by side and arethe basic elements among the drawings ofthe seal. What exact relation both thesefigures might be having is difficult to know,

but one thing is sure that their associationgoes far beyond the simple depiction of twodivinities on the seal but may have beencarrying a certain intimate relation as well.

The so far recorded seals from KashmirSmast show that Lajj Gaur is alwaysdepicted on the seals and is regarded as oneof the principle figures. It is difficult toknow what all these other symbols or figureson the seals represent and what associationthey have with Lajj Gaur but in the light ofother antiquities from the site, particularlyinscriptions and stone or metal icons mostlyShivaite or Vishnuite in nature, it may beassumed that these symbols may have adirect affiliation with the above faith. Thethree symbols or figures that accompany

Lajj Gaur are a trident, a pot and a dancingfigure. The trident is identified assymbolising Siva as known from othersources, the pot or the purnaghata withBrahma or may be used as symbolic

representation of Shiva as Kamandalu or avase of plenty symbolising Lajj Gaur . Thedancing figure is either the dancing Shiva ormost probably Visnu avatara Narasimha orVaraha. The cakra appears on two of theexamples most probably replaces LajjGaur or Visnu or may be one of his avatara

Narasimha or Varaha. But in this case purnaghata must represents Lajj Gaur otherwise she has to be considered absent onthese two seals (figs. 10, 11) which seems to

me abnormal for the seals.

It is, therefore, suggested that the wheel onthe clay seal may represent Lajj Gaur andthe swastika is probably used for the dancingfigure which may represent either Narasiha or Varaha or even Shiva.

As far as the five symbols on the clay sealsare concerned, the figure of Lajj Gaur ismarked with a wheel, Shiva with the trident,

purnaghata represents Brahma and the Solarsymbol may indicate the dancing figure.Meaning of the square symbol is not clear.

The association of Lajj Gaur with Shivamay not simply be explained as the two godsof the same sects but she may be one of thefemale counterparts of Shiva. As far as the

presentation of Brahma and the Vishnuiteelements depicted on the seals side by sidewith the Shivaite are concerned, it shows aclear amalgamation of different Hindu sectsat Kashmir Smast on one hand and KashmirSmast being an international pilgrimagecentre on the other.


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Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Fig. 8 Fig. 9

Fig. 10

Fig. 11 Fig. 12


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Fig. 13: Clay seal from Charsadda(Muhammadzai 2008, no.18)

Fig. 14. Clay sealing from Charsadda(Muhammadzia 2008, no. 19)


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References

Nasim Khan, M. 2002a. Re-interpretation ofthe Copper Plate Inscription fromKashmir Smast and the Discovery ofSome Epigraphical Specimens fromthe Site. Ancient Pakistan XIV 2001:1-8.

Nasim Khan, M. 2002b. Exploration andExcavation of the Earliest ivaiteMonastic Establishment at KashmirSmast (A Preliminary Report).Ancient Pakistan XIV 2001: 27-308.

Nasim Khan, M. 2003. Lajj Gaur Seals andRelated Antiquities from KashmirSmast. South Asian Studies. Vol. 18:83-90.

Nasim Khan, M. 2003. Kashmir Smast:Discovery of the Earliest ivaiteMonastic Establishment in Pakistan.Circle of Inner Asian Art (CIAA) .

News Letter. Issue 8 December2003: 19-26. London.

Nasim Khan, M. 2005. Kashmir Smast(Gandhara) and its ReligiousSignificance. Study Based onEpigraphic and other Antiquities fromthe Site. South Asian Archaeology2003 . Proceeding of the SeventeenthInternational Conference of theEuropean Association of South AsianArchaeologists (7-12 July 2003,Bonn), (edited by Ute Franke-Vogt

and Hans-Joachim Weisshaar): 247-252.

Nasim Khan, M. 2006a. Treasures from Kashmir Smast. The Earliest aiva Monastic Establishment . Peshawar.

Nasim Khan, M. 2006b. Some MoreLajj Gaur Seals and RelatedAntiquities from Kashmir Smast.

Journal of Humanities and SocialSciences . Vol. XI, Nos. 1 & 2(2003): 7-12. Peshawar.

Nasim Khan, M, Errington, E and Cribb, J.2008. Coins from Kashmir Smast

New Numismatic Evidence. Peshawar.

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