The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

DYNASTIC CHANGES

113

which

at that time occupied the deltas

of the Godsivart and

Krishnd Rivers, butgradually

extended their sway over

the

wholeof theDekhan

;

until

in

27

B.C. theyoverthrew the

suc-

cessors of

the Sungas, and established themselves as

the

leading

powerinCentral and agreat partofNorthern

India.

The Andhra kings seem to have been

Buddhist; the

gateways of Sinchi (PI. V) and the carved railing

of the

Amarivati sttipa(PI. X) were amongthe

architectural works

dedicated to that cult which were

completed under their

patronagebetween the second centuryB.C. and theendofthe

thirdcenturyA.D.,when

the

dynastywassuperseded byothers.

In the meantime the north-western part of Asoka's

dominions had been occupied by invaders of

Scythian or

Iraniandescent about the second centuryB.C.,and

bya.d.

45

a

chieftain of the Kushans, one of their tribes,

founded a

dynasty underwhich

Buddhism,the religion

adoptedbythese

clansprobablyas the

resultof

Asoka'smissionaryenterprises,

begantoenteruponanew

phase.

The impelling cause was only incidentallydynastic and

racial. The new invaders, by their adoption of Buddhist

culture, merely contributed one more racial subdivision to

the

Indo-Aryan synthesis. The Kushan king, Kanishka,

emulatedAsoka's

zeal for the religion of his Indian

subjects,

and thereis noreason tosuppose

that the

Scythianinvasions

disturbed to anygreat extent the organisation of the Aryan

villagecommunitiesin north-western India.

The philosophy of Yoga, as expounded by Patanjali,

seems tohavebeen the

basis

of the

teachingof the Buddhist

monk, Nigarjuna, who appeared in

Kanishka's reign

as the

leader

of a new schoolwhich eventually led to the secession

of thenorthern Buddhists

fromtheorthodox tradition of the

Sangha. From about the beginning

of the Christian era the

northern

orreformed schoolswereknownasthe Mah^yina,or

8