Bull in Early Indian Art Up to Sixth Century AD

The book under review deals with bull figures as found in early Indian art. The author has rightly pointed out ‘The position of bull cin Indian society, its significance in Indian religion and philosophy and its numerous depiction in Indian art have not been justifiably recorded in any book till date. This study includes the evidence from the pre-historic period onwards upto the A.D. 600, using a variety of material found in the form of painting, sculptures, coins, seals, terracottas, bronzes etc. It contains an exhaustive bibliography. The illustrations, both coloured and black and white are of high quality.

The author has first discussed the position of bull cult in ancient world civilization (Egypt, Crete, Mesopotamia and Persia). In his forward Dr T.K. Biswas has rightly pointed out that ‘ancient men found in the animal something magical and divine and naturally gave it a respective position in the society. ‘He further says "Bull served as an animal for drawing carts, and chariots. Its services were taken also to fertilize cows. Such a useful animal, thus, demanded survival of this species, men associated it with various things including as symbolic of Dharma. Once it was considered as a divine animal, it naturally revived from being slaughtered. The author has studied the Indian evidence about bull cult diving into various categories — prehistoric and protohistoric art, early Indian literature, numismatic and glyptic art, early Indian terracottas and sculptures.

The author has shown that the most common term for bull is rshabha which occurs in the Rigveda (vi, 16, 47) which means the ‘great one’ the term vrshabha is derived from root vrsha which means to shower in general and to ‘procreate’ in particular. Jha has shown that the terms for animals are rshabha (Bison/bull), gavays (Bos gaverous), go (cattle, bullock, cow), gaura (Bos Gauras), Dhenu (Cow) Vrshabha (Bull), Vrsha (castrated as a bullock) in the Vedic literature.

The author has utilized evidence of literary texts also. Bull became popular due to its association with Saiva cult. All the forms of bull — secular as well as religious — have been thoroughly discussed by the author. The book is bound to create interest to know further about the development of bull cult. We hope he would write its second volume dealing with early medieval phase which is so rich in bull cult tradition.

The book is nicely printed with several coloured/black and white photographs of first order.

In the bibliography (P. 187) the spelling of my name is not correct, so also in the heading of my article instead of Kushana the word Kosan has been given. I hope such mistakes will be removed in its revised publication.

Amongst all the animals depicted in Indian art and described in literature, bull occupies a place of pride both as a sacred animal and as a symbol of strength and fertility. Starting from the pre-historic period down to the present times bull has never lost its importance in India. The mount of god Shiva, sometimes considered to be Shiva himself, it finds depiction in both theriomorphic and anthropomorphic forms and is worshipped by the Hindus. It is held sacred by the Buddhists and Jainas also. Probably because of its religious character terracotta, stone and metallic images of the animal started appearing from the pre-historic and proto-historic periods besides its depiction on seals, sealings and coins. The entire material on the depiction of bull in Indian art forms a vast mass and requires to be collected, studied and analyzed at one place. The work under review is a good attempt in the direction though far from complete.

Divided into five chapters of unequal length with a Conclusion, Bibliography and an Index it covers the thronological period from the pre-historic to that of the Guptas. The author tries to convince the reader in the Preface that no worthwhile study has been done on the subject prior to his but it is doubtful if the scholars shall agree to this claim. Besides the works mentioned by the author himself there is considerable other published material on the topic. The Introduction preceding the first chapter gives a good account of the importance of bull in early civilizations of the world — Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, Roma, Persian, etc. but no attempt has been made to connect them with the bull in Indian civilization. It would have made the account more interesting and useful. The following chapters containing description of the bull in pre-historic and proto-historic periods, in early Indian literature, in numismatic and glyptic art, in early Indian terracotta and in stone sculpture form an interesting reading and indicate that the writer has put in a lot of labour in his work. However, it appears that in collection of his data Jha has relied heavily on the secondary works and many a time he has quoted certain authorities without even referring to their work. For example, on page 8 he refers to the view of one Dr Pandey without caring to give either his full name or the name of his work. On the very next page we again find the view of Dr Jagdish Gupta without reference, whose work does not find mention even in the bibliography of the book. Such instances are many throughout the work. However, they do not reduce the basic value of the subject discussed and the manner of presentation. Certain statements made by the author are not attested by the sources. On page 61, the author says that, "For its wide association with cultivation and transport . . . the bull appears to have acquired a meaningful place on coins". Neither we are aware of any ancient coins with the bull motif where the animal is depicted because of its association with cultivation and transport nor the author has enlightened us on this point. It is the sacred character of bull as mount of lord Shiva, that it is depicted on the coins either accompanied by the deity or without him.

Not withstanding these observations, the book is a welcome addition to the works on the subject and shall prove useful for further researches. The printing and the getup is neat and the illustrations are beautiful. The price is a little high for this type of work but in these days of rising costs it may be justified.

The bull is an important symbol in Indian art, best known as the vehicle of Shiva, but also related to Adinatha in the Jain pantheon and with Buddha. Part of the publisher’s Perspectives in Indian Art and Archaeology series, this is perhaps the first comprehensive study of the bull in Indian art up to the 6th century. Beginning with a short account of the cult of the bull in different civilizations including Egypt, Greece and Crete, Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Persia, the author goes on to cover representations of the animal in prehistoric and protohistoric India, Vedic literature, the Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Jatakas and Jain literature, and the Panchatantra. Bull imagery on seals and coins, in terracotta and stone sculptures is described in detail, with illustrations. However, it is very difficult to refer to the plates, as they are not arranged in order, the colour and black and white sections having been printed separately, so one has to search in each section for the relevant number. However this is an interesting subject, and as Dr T.K. Biswas mentions in his Foreword, another book on the later period would be welcome.