Category Career Queries

The Inklings were an informal literary group in Oxford that started in the early 1930s. They continued meeting till the 1950s.

Most of the Inklings were academics at the University of Oxford and many of them were creative writers. The Inklings valued creative imagination and encouraged one another to write fantasy literature.

The most important members of the group were C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield and Charles Williams. Three were writers of fantasy fiction. C.S. Lewis authored the much loved classic children’s book series The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-56). Tolkien is the author of The Hobbit (1938) and the famous trilogy The Lord of the Rings (1955-56). Charles Williams was an editor at Oxford University Press while Barfield was a poet.

The main activity of the Inklings at their meetings was the reading and discussion of their unfinished writings. Tolkien first read The Lord of the Rings to the Inklings. He described the spirit of the meetings as ‘a feast of reason and flow of soul’

Christian values are reflected in the fantasy works of many of the Inklings authors. Both The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings have Christian themes. However, the Inklings included some non-Christians too.

The term ‘Inklings’ was a pun on these who dabble in ink i.e. writers. It also refers to those who may be having only an inkling of what they are going to write about when they start a story.

Picture Credit : Google

Gandhara art, style of Buddhist visual art that developed in what is now northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan between the 1st century BCE and the 7th century CE. The style, of Greco-Roman origin, seems to have flourished largely during the Kushan dynasty and was contemporaneous with an important but dissimilar school of Kushan art at Mathura (Uttar Pradesh, India).

The materials used for Gandhara sculpture were green phyllite and gray-blue mica schist which in general, belong to an earlier phase, and stucco, which was used increasingly after the 3rd century CE. The sculptures were originally painted and gilded.

Gandhara’s role in the evolution of the Buddha image has been a point of considerable disagreement among scholars. It now seems clear that the schools of Gandhara and Mathura each independently evolved its own characteristic depiction of the Buddha about the 1st century CE. The Gandhara School drew upon the anthropomorphic traditions of Roman religion and represented the Buddha with a youthful Apollo-like face, dressed in garments resembling those seen on Roman imperial statues. 

Picture Credit : Google

The Kharosthi script (also known as ‘Indo-Bactrian’ script) was a writing system originally developed in present-day northern Pakistan, sometime between the 4th and 3rd century BCE. Kharosthi was employed to represent a form of Prakrit (Middle Indic), an Indo-Aryan language. It had a wide but irregular distribution along northern Pakistan, eastern Afghanistan, northwest India, and Central Asia. 

As the Brahmi script dominated most of India outside the northwest, Kharosthi remained dominant in this region: most inscriptions between c. 200 BCE and CE 200 in this area were written in Kharosthi.

Kharosthi arrived into several areas in central Asia, aided by the flourishing commerce of the Silk Road. It was Employed in the kingdom of Shanshan (founded in the 1st century BCE) located in the southern and eastern area of the Tarim basin. Most texts found in Shanshan are written in the Chinese script, but some Kharosthi examples were retrieved from the ancient cities of Niya and Endere, in the western section of Shanshan.

Picture Credit : Google

The Shunga art style differed somewhat from imperial Mauryan art, which was influenced by Persian art. In both, continuing elements of folk art and cults of the Mother goddess appear in popular art, but are now produced with more skill in more monumental forms. The Shunga style was thus seen as ‘more Indian’ and is often described as the more indigenous.

Art, education, philosophy, and other learning flowered during this period. Most notably, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and Mahabhashya were composed in this period. It is also noted for its subsequent mention in the Malavikaagnimitra. This work was composed by Kalidasa in the later Gupta period, and romanticised the love of Malavika and King Agnimitra, with a background of court intrigue.

Picture Credit : Google

The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra Shunga, after the fall of the Maurya Empire. Its capital was Pataliputra, but later emperors such as Bhagabhadra also held court at Besnagar (modern Vidisha) in eastern Malwa. Pushyamitra Shunga ruled for 36 years and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra.

Buddhist records such as the Ashokavadana write that the assassination of Brihadratha and the rise of the Shunga empire led to a wave of religious persecution for Buddhists, and a resurgence of Hinduism. According to Sir John Marshall, Pushyamitra may have been the main author of the persecutions, although later Shunga kings seem to have been more supportive of Buddhism. Other historians, such as Etienne Lamotte and Romila Thapar, among others, have argued that archaeological evidence in favour of the allegations of persecution of Buddhists are lacking, and that the extent and magnitude of the atrocities have been exaggerated.

Picture Credit : Google