The Vishnu nicolo seal is a "finely engraved" oval agate seal (1.4 inches by 1.05 inch) from the Gandhara region, dated to the 4th century CE. Since 1892 it has been in the British Museum.[1] Nicolo is an abbreviation of the Italian onicolo, meaning "little onyx", a type of stone, often made of different layers in various shades of blue, used for intagli.[2]
The seal depicts a four-armed deity, probably Vishnu or Vāsudeva,[3] being prayed by a royal devotee. The deity holds Vishnu's classical attributes: the gada club, the chakra discus, the wheel and the lotus.[4][5][1] There is a two-line inscription and a monogram by the worshipper's feet.[1]
The British Museum describes the inscription as "Bactrian", transliterating it: "(1) saso reo iastoo (2) algo", translated as: "Sas-re(w) the leader of worship (?)".[1]
It was found in what was then the North-West Frontier Province of British India, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan.[1]
Interpretations
The seal was first reported by Alexander Cunningham in The Numismatic Chonicle of 1893.[4][6] Cunningham, saw in the devotee the Kushan emperor Huvishka, who reigned about 140-180 BC, based on the similarity of the headdress.[5]
More recently Roman Ghirshman proposed that the text on the seal was in the Kushan script and mentions three major Hindu gods:
A more recent interpretation suggests the divinity is Vāsudeva, an early deity whose attributes were later reused in the iconography of Vishnu with the addition of an aureole.[3][8]
This recent research also identified the devotee, not with Huvishka, but with a Huna king.[6][5] The devotee could also be a Kushano-Sasanian or a Kidarite prince.[9]
The seal also suggest that a composite cult of the three deities Surya (another name for Mihira, meaning "Sun"), Vishnu and Shiva was current in India circa 500 CE.[6] However, the British Museum in 2019 gives a different reading of the inscription.[1]
| Line | Original (Greco-Bactrian script) | Transliteration | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | σασο ρηο ιαþτoo | saso reo iastoo | "Sas-re(w) the leader of worship (?)" |
| 2 | αλγo | algo |
-
Vishnu, with similar attributes, Udayagiri Caves (c. 5th century). -
The devotee in the Vishnu Nicolo Seal (detail). -
Vishnu Nicolo Seal, as first reported by Alexander Cunningham in 1893.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f British Museum page
- ^ King, Charles William (1866). Antique Gems: Their Origin, Uses, and Value as Interpreters of Ancient History; and as Illustrative of Ancient Art: with Hints to Gem Collectors. J. Murray. p. 11.
- ^ a b "A much better known «syncretistic» image is the one depicted on a well-known «nicolo» seal (....) Ghirshman thought of a composite deity (Mihira-Visnu-Siva, Ibidem: 55-58), although an identification with the god Vasudeva is perhaps more likely (Mitterwallner 1986: 10)" "Silk Road Art and Archaeology: Journal of the Institute of Silk Road Studies, Kamakura". The Institute. 1996: 170.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b 1893 Numismatic Chonicle p.126
- ^ a b c Śaivāgamas: A Study in the Socio-economic Ideas and Institutions of Kashmir (200 B.C. to A.D. 700) V. N. Drabu, Indus Publishing, 1990 p.201
- ^ a b c d Buddhism in Central Asia, by Baij Nath Puri, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1987, p.131-132
- ^ Religion and Society in Ancient India, Pranabananda Jash - 1984, p.304
- ^ For English summary, see page 80 Schmid, Charlotte (1997). Les Vaikuṇṭha gupta de Mathura : Viṣṇu ou Kṛṣṇa?. pp. 60–88.
- ^ "South Asia Bulletin: Volume 27, Issue 2". South Asia Bulletin. University of California, Los Angeles. 2007. p. 478:
A seal inscribed in Bactrian, fourth to fifth century AD, shows a Kushano - Sasanian or Kidarite official worshipping Vishnu : Pierfrancesco Callieri, Seals and Sealings from the North - West of the Indian Subcontinent and Afghanistan.
References
- "BM": British Museum page
Further reading
- Callieri, Seals and Sealing, 1997, Naples (p. 190)
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