Architrave of seven kings laying siege to Kushinagara, photograph by Biswarup Ganguly, 2013.
Located in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India, at the Sanchi Stupa Buddhist complex, this architrave depicts seven kings marching towards the city of Kushinagara to lay siege to it. The kings are distinguished by their royal umbrellas and attendants with fly-whisks standing or seated behind them. The city with its high walls is depicted at the extreme left end. Men and women can be seen looking at the advancing army from their balconies and from battlements.
This work, originally commissioned in the 3rd century BCE, provides an insightful example of the nature of besieging armies and royalty leading them in ancient India (pre-Mauryan and Mauryan periods). As compared to the Vedic and Epic periods, the kings are riding elephants or horses instead of chariots. Only one king is seen riding a chariot. This shows the decline of the chariot as the preferred command vehicle and its otherwise general utility on the battlefield.
License & Copyright
Based on Wikipedia content that has been reviewed, edited, and republished.Original image by Biswarup Ganguly. Uploaded by Dr Avantika Lal, published on 01 October 2018. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution. This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
Related Images
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The 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi
The Great Stupa at Sanchi
Chariot Warfare in Ancient India
Sanchi Stupa
Cite This Work
APA Style
Ganguly, B. (2018, October 01). Seven Kings Laying Siege to Kushinagara. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/9287/seven-kings-laying-siege-to-kushinagara/
Chicago Style
Ganguly, Biswarup. "Seven Kings Laying Siege to Kushinagara." World History Encyclopedia, October 01, 2018. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/9287/seven-kings-laying-siege-to-kushinagara/.
MLA Style
Ganguly, Biswarup. "Seven Kings Laying Siege to Kushinagara." World History Encyclopedia, 01 Oct 2018, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/9287/seven-kings-laying-siege-to-kushinagara/.
