Art of India and Beyond

As the book’s title implies, it ventures beyond the bounds of the Indian subcontinent to include works from Afghanistan and Central Asian Silk Road sites, as well as numerous works from Nepal, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. From the early centuries AD onward, Indian trading links with these diverse regions of Asia facilitated widespread cultural diffusion and the regional adoption of Buddhism and Hinduism, together with their associated arts. Local reinterpretations of Indic subjects, themes, and styles subsequently developed into flourishing and enduring artistic traditions, which also form part of this book’s story. The selection of works concludes around 1900. From the sixteenth century onward, during India’s early modern period, increasing European intervention and Western artistic influences—particularly under Mughal rule—brought about a significant shift in artistic sensibility and encouraged more secular, naturalistic forms of court art, such as portraiture. By the late nineteenth century, profound cultural changes under British rule and the advent of new technologies had contributed to the gradual decline of many traditional Indian arts.