سیر تحول فرهنگی در زیورآلات هندوستان از عهد باستان تا دوران استعمار

زیورآلات؛ رسانه‌ای که نه ‌تنها، بازتابی از توانگری، بلکه به عنوان یکی از کهن‌ترین عناصر فرهنگی-تمدنی هر اجتماعی به شمار آمده است. در این راستا، زیورآلات هندوستان، صرف‌نظر از جنبه‌ی زیبایی، دارای ارزش نمادینی بوده و با نقش‌مایه‌ها و مولفه‌هایی که، ریشه در باورها و مناسبات فرهنگی جامعه‌ی متکثر آن داشته، بیانگر سنت، هویت تاریخی و فرهنگ غنی شبه قاره می‌باشند. بنابراین، در این پژوهش برآنیم تا با مطالعه‌ی تاریخی آنها، به مولفه‌های شکل‌دهنده‌ی آن بپردازیم که، روابط ‌فرهنگی چگونه در تولید زیورآلات هندوستان بروز پیدا کرده است؟ هدف، شناخت و تبیین جریان‌های فرهنگی در شکل‌گیری زیورآلات هندوستان و نیز دستیابی به اصلی‌ترین و مهم‌ترین عناصر و بن‌مایه‌های آن، بوده است. یافته‌ها، به روش توصیفی-تحلیل محتوا انجام گرفته‌اند که بیان می‌کنند، مولفه‌هایی برگرفته از فرهنگ‌ها، یعنی، حضور عناصر فرهنگِ «مغولی (هندو-اسلامی)»، «بریتانیا»، «ایرانی» و «یونانی» عهد باستان در قالب بن‌مایه‌هایی سازنده در شکل‌گیری صورتِ زیورآلات هندوستان اثرگذار بوده‌اند. این مولفه‌ها به عنوان جنبه‌ی ذاتی فرهنگ شبه قاره، سبب شده تا محتوای زیورآلات علاوه بر فرهنگ بومی، مدیون حضور فرهنگ دیگری نیز باشند. در واقع، زیورسازان هندی، همواره زیورآلات را به یاری مولفه‌هایی شکل داده‌اند که عناصر و مفاهیم خود را از بافتارهای فرهنگی جامعه به عاریت گرفته است. جامعه‌ای با حضور هم‌زمان فرهنگ‌های مختلف که، اصولاً این فرهنگ‌های پیشین در هندوستان حذف نشده، بلکه نوعی امتداد در بطن تحولات تاریخی-فرهنگی‌ آن وجود داشته است.

the cultural evolution of indian jewelry from ancient times to the colonial era

from the past until now, jewelry as a tool to express beauty indicates the desire of early humans to adorn themselves, to be more beautiful, and to show surrounding objects much prettier in their life that gave much importance to it. jewelry has been considered a cultural- civilization or class symbol of any society, which not only reflects adornment and wealth, but also indicates cultural changes throughout the history. in general, since the formation of civilized human communities, the art of jewelry making has been a crucial component of the cultures of societies to the extent that the desire to decorate has been observed in every civilization. in this regard, the indian subcontinent, as a country full of precious stones and jewel, has always been the center of commercial communications of ornaments, especially gold and precious stones. indeed, indian jewelry that its use dates back to more than 5000 years ago as a part of an ancient civilization, regardless of the ornamental element that has enhanced the beauty and wealth of the dwellers of the subcontinent, it expresses the concept of sanctity and their beliefs, as well as strength and health for its owners. in other words, &alamkara& is a term in the sanskrit language and it is also dating back to vedic period, which has a meaning beyond the concept of beauty. thus, this shows the point that indian jewelry has a symbolic value beyond the concept of beauty, which is rooted in the beliefs and cultural relations of the pluralistic society of india. it can be said that one of the distinguishing features of indian jewelry is its form and themes. indeed, many aspects of the culture of the people of that country have been transferred to the audience via the themes, and as a sacred symbol, it indicates individual identity and the social status of those using it. therefore, it can be stated that the important and distinctive forms and elements of these jewelries are an intrinsic component of indian culture, which have an importance beyond apparent adornment and decoration. for indians, in fact, jewelry is considered as a complement to their traditional clothes, which has magical power in order to obtain a good destiny and future, it and eliminate evil and cure diseases. in general, the most important reasons for the attention of indian residents to jewelry from ancient times is as follows: the desire for beauty, communication, protection of the individual and his family, religious and ethnic beliefs, the tendency to achieve a high social status, showing power and self-sufficiency, cure illness, symbol of happiness and marital status, etc. hence, suggesting these issues in jewelry is possible using metals, especially gold, all kinds of special designs, roles and patterns, which express the tradition and culture of the people of the subcontinent.therefore, the present study attempts to take into account the constituent components in the jewelry of the subcontinent with their historical study, and to know how the cultural relations have emerged in the production of indian jewelry. so, the goal is to recognize and explain these cultural trends and also to find the main and most important elements and basics that have played a crucial role in the formation of indian jewelry. the findings of the present study are collected based on the descriptive-content analysis method using cultural relations in india and the library method is also used and the cultural processes in the formation of ornaments from ancient times to colonial times has been considered. in this research, it is attempted to examine the role of culture in the existence of indian jewelries in three parts: ancient, medieval and colonial, by considering the historical order of the formation of governments. it is worth to mention that the dating of ancient indian ornaments is very difficult because, on the one hand, the styles and designs continued to exist in each period with little changes. on the other hand, considering that in historical periods, they were often melted for reuse or looted and destroyed after invading tribes. thus, due to the lack of documentary evidence in this field, it can be stated that the most reliable documents and evidence to recognize the ornaments of the early periods of ancient india can be found in statues, wall paintings and ancient texts of the subcontinent. so, the studied works and samples in this research are selected on the basis of purposeful sampling strategies, works from various states of india only from gold metal. finally, 9 examples of the important ones have been selected and analyzed. from the past, indians have believed that most of the ornaments used should be made of metals, especially gold, because otherwise, it has no importance in terms of treatment and increasing awareness. generally, in indian culture, gold is considered sacred and auspicious as jewelry, especially religious and ritual types, and has the ability to refine and is considered a symbol of health, wealth and lakshmi (hindu goddess).the findings of the present study examined the ornaments of india from ancient times to the colonial era as a part of an ancient civilization, and it was found that the jewelry of the subcontinent has been regarded more than ornamenting the body throughout the history. in the traditional culture of india, jewelry has had a special position among its people due to its relationship with wealth, health, being immune from disasters, the medium of prayers worshipping gods and goddesses, and as considering it as offering of vows to the gods, it has always transferred many aspects of the culture of the people of india to its audience. the historical trends, the culture spread and the change in the thought, lifestyle and taste of the society in the continent has affected the formation of new jewelry styles. artists have always attempted to create a work that is in accordance with the indian society culture, because, ornaments with their theme in any society can reflect the cultural identity of the society. hence, there have been major developments in making indian jewelry, and the effects of the hindu-islamic culture, british rule, and the industrial revolution can be highly visible in the works of indian artisans. as a result of the british colonization of india and the weakening position of the hindu cultural identity, and the integrated culture of the mughal era, we have encountered some changes in the design style. however, after the independence movement of india, with the revival of national traditions, artists have once again applied traditional and historical elements affected by the past culture, as well as the combined mongolian style along with the western culture. indian artists have formed the world of jewelry using components that have borrowed their components, elements and concepts from the cultural contexts of the plural indian society. a community with the simultaneous presence of different cultures as the previous cultures in india has not been removed, but they have been formed along with its historical and cultural developments. india as a country with different cultures and people, there has always been a mixture of different cultures, thoughts and interpretations of beauty in the role, the method of making and the style of its jewelry. as a result, elements and components taken from cultures, namely the presence of elements of &mughal (hindu-islamic)&, &british&, &iranian& and &greek& cultures of ancient times, in the form of constructive themes in the formation of sub continental ornaments has shown that the content of ornaments, besides the indigenous culture of india, has also been affected by the presence of other cultures as well. therefore, they can be considered as cultural media reminding the rich culture of the subcontinent and the changes that have been made in different periods of civilization in this country.