India
A hallmark the museum's Indian collection is sculpture from the Kushana period (1st century AD- 320), representing the artistic traditions from Mathura and Gandhara.
The collection is seminal to the understanding of the formative years of Buddhism and it's spread throughout Asia. This collection embraces impressive fragments from early stupas no longer extent -
Section of a Coping Rail from Bharhut, Shunga Period, 185-72 BCE and
Adoration of the Bodhi Tree from Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, 2nd century AD.
In addition it includes one of the earliest representations of Buddha in anthropomorphic form
Seated Shakyamuni, Mathura, 1st-2nd century AD; As well as the
Standing Shakyamuni, Kushana Period, Gandharan style, Pakistan (probably Peshawar Area).
A rare ivory fragment from a portable altar,
Fasting Buddha, 8th century, illustrates the power of Kushana imagery and the spread of Buddhism into the area of present-day Kashmir. After the famous Begram ivories (the CMA also holds one of the fragments), this piece represents the section largest group of ancient ivories from the Indian world that survives from Kashmir.
Pala Dynasty's late form of Buddhism is richly illustrated in the collection with such works as the 9th century bronze sculpture:
Akshobhya: The Buddha of the East from the 9th century.
India's long-lived Hindu tradition is also demonstrated with exceptional works such as the
Nataraja, Shiva as the King of Dance from southern India's Chola period, 11th century and the
Vaishnava Trinity (Shri Devi, Vishnu, Bhumi Devi) also from the Chola period, 10th century. Jain religious artistic achievements are further illustrated by the recent acquisition of
Jina Tirthankara, Rajasthan, 10-11th centuries. The museum's Indian collection houses miniatures from the Mughal courts of Akbar through Shah Jahan and beyond Mughal painting 1550-1800) as well as fine examples of the 17th and 18th century works from Indian courts in northern and central India . Notable is the rare, early manuscript,
Tuti-nama, representing the composite works of Persian and Indian painters in Arbar's 15th century painting atelier. The 2001 purchases of (Stan--please provide correct description: bronze and ceramic) deepen the understanding of India's contributions in the ceramic and bronze technologies.