ing cares of the world and to give themselves up to contemplation. Here at Ajanta for a thousand years from the 2nd century B. C. to the 8th century A. C., the Buddhist pilgrims devoted themselves to the construction of a monument, unparalleled in the annals of the world. The cave-temples are the embodiment of a steady application of labor, skill, perseverance and endurance. These "painted palaces" represent a unique boldness of conception. "It is needless to dwell upon the high merits of the paintings in the Ajanta caves, which are now freely recognized," says Vincent Smith. The worth of the achievement will be further evident from the fact that "much of the work has been carried on with the help of artificial light and no great stretch of imagination is necessary to picture all that this involves in the Indian climate and in situations where thorough ventilation is impossible." Mr. Griffiths also gives the following glowing testimony: "During my long and careful study of the caves, I have not been able to detect a single instance where a mistake has been made by cutting away too much stone; for if once a slip of this kind occurred, it could only have been repaired by the insertion of a piece which would have been a blemish." Vincent Smith refers to a Danish artist, who has published a valuable professional criticism, and who declares that "they represent the climax to which genuine Indian art has attained;" and that "everything in these pictures from the composition as a whole to the smallest pearl or flower testifies to depth of insight coupled with the greatest technical skill."

The caves constructed between 525 and 650 A. C. illustrate very vividly the vitality and individuality of Indian civilization of the period; they commemorate the maritime supremacy and expansion of India, as also the spread of Indian thought and culture over the greater part of the Asiatic continent. The famous

"The paintings in the Buddhist Cave-Temples of Ajanta.”J. Griffiths.

voyage of Vijaya, the Crown Prince of Gujrat, undertaken with a view to colonizing Ceylon in the 6th century B. C. has been recorded in the national art gallery. Nor was the picturesque scene of the reception of the Persian embassy in the court of Pulakesi II (625 A. C.) omitted from the Ajanta gallery, which represents, among other things, scenes from Buddha's life, storm-tossed ships and other events significant of the times. The construction of the "painted palaces" of Ajanta, the high watermark of Buddhist art, as already observed, lasted up to the 8th century A. C. Meanwhile, Jain and Brahmanical art forms also were perfecting their technic and genius in other parts of India, and it is possible that these three schools of Indian art, Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jain, would have struck out new paths and made a novel contribution to the art of the world, if they had not received a rude shock-almost fatal-from the impact of Islam, in the beginning of the 11th Century. The reason for this abrupt overshadowing of Hindu art and culture by alien forces such as Islam and Christianity is not far to seek; in contrast to Mohammedanism and Christianity which are aggressively proselytizing, the native religions of India are non-proselytizing and tolerant of other faiths. When the aggressive forces have run out their careers-as they are sure to the tolerant, non-aggressive forces of Indian civilization will resume their thread once again and carry forward the work of past generations.

The first shock of the impact over, the aggressive Mohammedan joined hands with the tolerant Hindu and a happy blending of the two forces produced the graceful art-forms embodied in hundreds of mosques and mausoleums, towers and turrets, palaces and parks, created by the Mohammedan and Mogul rulers of India. There is no monument in the world, possessed of the gracefulness of the Taj Mahal. The simplicity of design is peculiar to the Taj, in fact, to all Mohammedan art forms, in contrast to the

exuberant ornamentation which is the peculiar genius of Hindu art.

Everything Indian that is good and beautiful Mr. William Archer sees in a distorted fashion through his English monocle-even so, the dramatic critic has at least good ears to hear. This is what he says of Indian music: "There is an undeniable and penetrating charm about Indian music. The fine artists whom I have been so fortunate as to hear, can produce delightful effects from their very picturesque stringed instruments-sitar, sarangi and vina. I was especially struck with the way in which they could make the strings almost literally speak, coaxing from them plaintive utterances which, with one's eyes shut, one could almost believe to proceed from the human voice. The pieces I heard appeared to me to be composed of fragments of melody akin to the folk-songs of Europe, but developed on wholly different rhythmic principles. I have not the least doubt that Indian music is a most interesting, highly-subtilized and elaborated science. ""* The Indian musi

cians claim that their music has "the power of painting landscapes which can be quite definitely visualized by the initiated."

With his peculiar philosophical background, the Hindu artist prefers sculpture to painting: this explains the monumental art-works of ancient India. Under the Moguls, both Hindu and Mohammedan artists expressed themselves in painting as well as sculpture. The Mohammedan artists by giving a high place to painting enriched the fine arts of India. And the contact with Europeans gave a further impetus to painting. The interplay of these various forces produced Ravi Varma, the pioneer Indian artist of the last generation. And today the Bengal School of art under the leadership of Abindra Nath Tagore

*"India and the Empire" (p. 254), by William Archer, to whom I am indebted for the vivid description of India in the two opening paragraphs of the book-of course, I took care to rid the passages of their 'squalidity.' -H. T. M.

is attempting to resuscitate the ancient art of India and also to express art emotions in the form of modern painting.

The descendants of those who created the mighty edifices of Ajanta, Borobudur and Taj Mahal are even today capable of rearing lasting, graceful forms of art, but under British rule, the greatest of Indian artists have to content themselves with a miserable pittance of 10 to 20 dollars per month, and have to work under the supervision of third, fourth and tenth rate English artists.. How can the art of India then be rejuvinated? Certainly not by letting things drift haphazard. What is needed is a conscious attempt at throwing off the shackles of alien tutelage. When the belly is starving, when flesh is weak and blood is cold, when aggression and domination conspire to make people helpless and diffident, when the pervasive "air of inferiority" dwarfs the mind and body of the people, no creations of art can be expected. Indeed, to save their soul-their very existence-the Indian people must make an energetic attempt at self-assertion. This new self-assertion is possible to them as to other peoples-only by the consciousness of nationhood. And this leads us to the consideration of the most vital problem of modern India, namely:

VIII. INDIA-A NATION

The rule, or rather the misrule of India for a hundred years by the British trading corporation sowed the seeds of Indian nationality. The lively interest taken by England in the military careers and grasping policies of her representatives in India produced in the minds of the Indian people a sense of uneasiness. People all over the country were confronted by a common danger, namely, tyranny by irresponsible autocracy and absorption by an alien civilization. This common danger welded together the peoples of the far-flung provinces of India. In the second place, British rule brought about poverty and hunger in the land-famines increased and became more severe

-hence people's discontent. No indigenous industry survived the onslaught of Pax Britannica-indeed, India became helpless industrially. And the industries fostered by the British government for financial gains began in one way or another to sap the vital energies of the people. The first Governor-General of India, Warren Hastings, "put the management of the manufacture and sale of both opium and salt on a sound financial basis." This was an exceedingly wise step from the Imperial viewpoint-peoples' thirst for salt in the tropical climate of India is unquenched, but their dish of opium is being sumptuously prepared by the British government ever since the year of grace 1773. In the third place, to quote the late Mr. Gokhale, "A kind of dwarfing or stunting of the Indian race is going on under the present system. We must live all the days of our life in an atmosphere of inferiority, and the tallest of us must bend in order that the exigencies of the system may be satisfied." No Indian, however competent, could be admitted into the inner circle of the Government-nay, not even in the lucrative posts of routine work. Hundreds of

instances can be cited to show that in the work of administration tenth-rate Englishmen have been preferred to first-class Indians. In the fourth place, everything was done to bring home to the people that they were subjects, and that the rule was imposed upon them. In the fifth place, the British well-wishers of India had imagined that the fostering of English education would create a contempt in the Indian's mind for his native manners, and for his Sanskrit and Arabic literature. But the denationalizing education only intensified his reverence for the past and created a deep longing for freedom.

India was in a ferment, but the crisis of 1857 was precipitated by the high-handed policy of Lord Dalhousie (1848-56).* A "Rebellion"-"Sepoy Mutiny"

"Oxford History of India.”—V. A. Smith, p. 516.

*This means that Lord Dalhousie was Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856.-H. T. M.