India’s Links With Asian Regions Underappreciated, Says Historians

Hyderabad: The present-day Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were together known as Andhra Desha in ancient times, a region that was dotted with early Buddhist sites, which played a major role in the spread of Buddhism across the eastern Indian Ocean into Southeast Asia, said an art historian from Delhi University, Prof. Parul Pandya Dhar.

Prof. Dhar said the Buddhist sites were closely linked through trade routes and cultural exchange. She observed that ancient interconnections within Asia remain under-emphasised, while Europe’s contact with Asia often dominated historical narrative in the country.

She said Asian regions were deeply linked through maritime and land trade routes, religious movements, political embassies and diplomatic relations, leading to centuries of mutual cultural influence between India and Southeast Asia, she said.

Evidence of these early connections, she said, is visible in art and architecture, including depictions of early ships in the Ajanta paintings and shipping vessels carved in the sculptures at Borobudur.

She further pointed to the spread of narratives such as the Ramayana and the Jataka tales, which travelled across regions and found expression in sculpture and visual art, evolving and adapting to local cultures over time.

In historical interpretations, visual arts and imagery add what at times the text does not say. At other times, image and text complement each other. She took the example of ancient travels to Southeast Asia (Suvarnabhoomi) and how epics like Ramayana and deities like Bhagwati Kauthareshwari completely morph into local deities, narratives and styles.

Though modern Telangana doesn’t have a coastline, during the Qutub Shahi and Nizam era ports like Machilipatnam were part of Hyderabad and contributed in large measure to sea-borne trade, she added.

Pushkar Sohoni, an historian, has put architecture at the fore to mention examples of styles passing across borders and leading to a synthesis giving the examples of European influence of Falaknuma palace, Islamic influences in Rambagh (Attapur) and Sitarambagh (Mangalhat) temples. He mentions how Badgirs (Windcathers), native of Persian architecture are found around Hyderabad even to this day.