Vishnu Nicolo Seal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vishnu Nicolo Seal
VishnuGandhara.JPG
Cast of the seal in the British Museum.
MaterialAgate
Created4th century CE
DiscoveredKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
34°00′N 71°19′E / 34°N 71.32°E / 34; 71.32Coordinates: 34°00′N 71°19′E / 34°N 71.32°E / 34; 71.32
Present locationBritish Museum, London
Registration1892,1103.98
Vishnu Nicolo Seal is located in South Asia
Vishnu Nicolo Seal

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]

The seal depicts a four-armed deity, probably Vishnu or Vāsudeva,[2] being prayed by a royal devotee. The deity holds Vishnu's classical attributes: the gada club, the chakra discus, the wheel and the lotus.[3][4][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.[3][5] Cunningham, saw in the devotee the Kushan emperor Huvishka, who reigned about 140-180 BC, based on the similarity of the headdress.[4]

More recently Roman Ghirshman proposed that the text on the seal was in the Kushan script and mentions three major Hindu gods:

"Miarka Yasna Oezo" meaning:
"Mihira, Vishnu, Shiva"

— Text of the Nicolo seal.[5][6]

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.[7][8]

This recent research also identified the devotee, not with Huvishka, but with a Huna king.[5][4] 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.[5] However, the British Museum in 2019 gives a different reading of the inscription.[1]

  • 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[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f British Museum page
  2. ^ "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 requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ a b 1893 Numismatic Chonicle p.126
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Buddhism in Central Asia, by Baij Nath Puri, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1987, p.131-132
  6. ^ Religion and Society in Ancient India, Pranabananda Jash - 1984, p.304
  7. ^ "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 requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ For English summary, see page 80 Schmid, Charlotte (1997). Les Vaikuṇṭha gupta de Mathura : Viṣṇu ou Kṛṣṇa?. pp. 60–88.
  9. ^ "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[]

Further reading[]

  • Callieri, Seals and Sealing, 1997, Naples (p. 190)
Retrieved from ""