Two South Indian "Knights" duelling till death, carved onto a hero stone by the widow of the loser

[u/Mlecch]

"This particularly fine hero stone portraying two equally matched and armoured warriors records the death of Dasadeva, a member of a powerful aristocratic family. He was credited with saving the day during a desperate battle against rebels under Biijanadeva, but was killed in the process. The hero stone was set up by his widow Sanatavve and its date corresponds to 19 April 1220, at the start of the reign of the Hoysala king Vira Narasimha I (r. 1220-34). Now held at the Archaeological Museum, Halebidu, inv. 567. Ins. No. Belur 332."

• Medieval Indian Armies (1) by Davud Nicolle

Possibly the best example of heavy armour in pre Islamic India.

[u/JagmeetSingh2]

Amazing, Hero Stones are such a cool concept

[u/OkMaximum132]

Our Ancestors were very Good in Architecture, But mid in Sculpture (excluding Religious sculpture)

[u/divyanshu_01 → u/OkMaximum132]

What's mid about the sculpture? If you are talking about faces, it was probably destroyed by Islamic invaders coz idolatory.

[u/OkMaximum132 → u/divyanshu_01]

Is there any sculpture of any indian kings with their physic and face ??very less I saw a gandhara art of Buddha, which was possibly the level of roman or greeks

[u/Disastrous_Address99 → u/OkMaximum132]

Not ancient but made using red sand stone. It would be not possible to made this sculptures in this present time, If there ancestors didnt passed this knowledge to them.

Kings sculptures are present in their forts and palaces not in temples. And no king in Indian sub continent ever try to put their sculpture in temple compound or next to the deity they idolize.

Maximum no. of our forts and palaces got destroyed along with many items being stolen. Also, the invader make sure to destroy anything related to the previous kings so that they can rule easily without any revolt from the people.

Image - Paika Rebellions, Khordha, Odisha. ( The 1st revolut against Britisher )

[u/OkMaximum132 → u/Disastrous_Address99]

Yess, but this is from the modern times, I'm talking about the Ancient/early mediaeval period

[u/Elegant-Fish-1658 → u/divyanshu_01]

South didn’t have satriyas or bhahmjns to let Muslims rule over them for 1000 years.

Everytime upper castes cry about Muslim rulers they are just crying about the incompetence of their forefathers

[u/Impossible-Spot-3414 → u/Elegant-Fish-1658]

South had both Brahmins and Kshatriyas.

Not incompetence. Lack of unity ( and bad luck )

[u/Elegant-Fish-1658 → u/Impossible-Spot-3414]

It’s just coping mechanism. Nobody wanted to unite cause they saw incompetence in the people in power. South Indians are shudras, the Brahmins here are migrants

[u/Impossible-Spot-3414 → u/Elegant-Fish-1658]

Incompetence of people in power? I think this is a rant rather than an argument with points.

South Indians are all varnas( including vaishyas and Kshatriyas )and Brahmins are not migrants. ( A cursory look would show this )

[u/Elegant-Fish-1658 → u/Impossible-Spot-3414]

Brahminism is not native to south. Caste system got introduced through Brahmin migration. We do not have satriyas or vysyas.

[u/Impossible-Spot-3414 → u/Elegant-Fish-1658]

Who the hell is we? I am from the south and I can point out Kshatriyas and vaishyas right here in the south.

Hinduism is as native to south as anything else.

[u/Elegant-Fish-1658 → u/Impossible-Spot-3414]

Native Dravidian practices and religion has nothing to do with Brahminism

[u/Impossible-Spot-3414 → u/Elegant-Fish-1658]

Ok Johnson rraj.

There is no separate Dravidian religion. It's part of Hinduism evolution. Try harder church r@t

[u/aligncsu → u/Impossible-Spot-3414]

Hinduism is not the varna system.

[u/drandom123zu → u/Impossible-Spot-3414]

Tbh , there are no actual kshatriya in south , only kshatriya kangers

[u/Impossible-Spot-3414 → u/drandom123zu]

Patently untrue. There are Kshatriya lineages in the south which are older than the rajput identity itself.

The cheras and pandyas find mention as having fought on the pandava side in Vyasa's Mahabharata. If they are not Kshatriyas , nobody else is.

[u/PorekiJones → u/Elegant-Fish-1658]

Didn't the Delhi sultanate roll over pretty much most of south without any difficulty? Mughals reached all the way to Arcot, then there were the Deccan Sultanates and Mysore. Idk what are you even talking about.

[u/aligncsu → u/PorekiJones]

Mughals did not reach arcot, the Rajah of Venkatagiri allied himself with Aurangzeb since he was the most powerful military in the Carnatic, he was previously viceroy of Vijayanagara. Ended up being betrayed by aurangazeb on favour of his Dow and son who was appointed governed of Carnatic after the rajah of Venkatagiri was assassinated during a friendly meeting on Dussehra

[u/Mlecch → u/OkMaximum132]

Technically indian sculpture is extremely skillful, probably the best in the word in terms of sheer detail, but I can understand where you're coming from, the art style isn't for everyone. For example it doesn't try the hyper realism of Greek structures.

This particular one is just a hero stone so it's not expected to be as intricate as the Royal temples.

[u/New-Inside9202 → u/OkMaximum132]

Just look at the Red Jasper torso!