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Vishnu nicolo seal

Coordinates: 34°00′N 71°19′E / 34°N 71.32°E / 34; 71.32
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Vishnu nicolo seal
Cast of the seal in the British Museum.
MaterialAgate (nicolo)
Created4th century CE
DiscoveredKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
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
Vishnu nicolo seal is located in West and Central Asia
Vishnu nicolo seal
Vishnu nicolo seal is located in Pakistan
Vishnu nicolo seal
Vishnu nicolo seal is located in Gandhara
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] Nicolo is an abbreviation of the Italian onicolo, meaning "little onyx", a type of stone, often made of different layers in various shades of blue, used for intagli.[2]

The seal depicts a four-armed deity, probably Vishnu or Vāsudeva,[3] being prayed by a royal devotee. The deity holds Vishnu's classical attributes: the gada club, the chakra discus, the wheel and the lotus.[4][5][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

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The seal was first reported by Alexander Cunningham in The Numismatic Chronicle of 1893.[4][6] Cunningham, saw in the devotee the Kushan emperor Huvishka, who reigned about 140-180 BC, based on the similarity of the headdress.[5]

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.[6][7]

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.[3][8]

This recent research also identified the devotee, not with Huvishka, but with a Huna king.[6][5] 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.[6] However, the British Museum in 2019 gives a different reading of the inscription.[1]

Inscription of the Vishnu Nicolo SealAccording to British Museum
Line Original (Greco-Bactrian script) Transliteration English translation
1 σασο ρηο ιαþτoo saso reo iastoo "Sas-re(w) the leader of worship (?)"
2 αλγo algo

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f British Museum page
  2. ^ King, Charles William (1866). Antique Gems: Their Origin, Uses, and Value as Interpreters of Ancient History; and as Illustrative of Ancient Art: with Hints to Gem Collectors. J. Murray. p. 11.
  3. ^ a b "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}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ a b 1893 Numismatic Chronicle p.126
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Buddhism in Central Asia, by Baij Nath Puri, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1987, p.131-132
  7. ^ Religion and Society in Ancient India, Pranabananda Jash - 1984, p.304
  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

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Further reading

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