The Mathura lion capital on display in the Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery for China and South Asia, at the British Museum.
Material
Red Sandstone
Size
Height 34cm Width 52.5cm
Writing
Prakrit inscription written in Kharoshthi script
Created
1–10 CE
Discovered
Mathura in Central India
Present location
British Museum, London
Mathura (Discovery)
The Mathura lion capital is an Indo-Scythian sandstone capital (a part of a pillar) from Mathura in Northern India, dated to the first decade of the 1st century CE (1–10 CE).[1] It was consecrated under the rule of Rajuvula, one of the Northern Satraps of the region of Mathura.
The capital was unearthed at the Saptarishi mound of Mathura by Bhagwan Lal Indraji in 1869.[2] It is covered with Prakrit inscriptions in the kharoshthi script of northwestern India.[3] The capital was made on the occasion of the funeral of "the illustrious king Muki and his horse" (Muki has been conjectured to be Maues).
The capital describes, among other donations, the gift of a stupa with a relic of the Buddha, by Queen Ayasia, the "chief queen of the Indo-Scythian ruler of Mathura, satrap Rajuvula". The Mathura lion capital, an Indo-Scythian sandstone capital from Mathura in Central India, and dated to the 1st century CE, describes in kharoshthi the gift of a stupa with a relic of the Buddha, by queen Nadasi Kasa, "the wife of Rajuvula" and "daughter of Aiyasi Kamuia", who is mentioned as the "daughter of Kharahostes". The lion capital also mentions the genealogy of several Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura. It mentions Sodasa, son of Rajuvula, who succeeded him and also made Mathura his capital.
The capital also displays at its center a Buddhist triratana symbol, further confirming the involvement of Indo-Scythian rulers with Buddhism.
The inscription indicates support of the Sarvastivadin, against the Mahasamghikas.[4]
It is on display in the South Asia section of the Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery for China and South Asia at the British Museum.
^Salomon, Richard (July 1996). "An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 116 (3): 442. doi:10.2307/605147. JSTOR 605147.
^Jason Neelis (19 November 2010). Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia. BRILL. p. 122. ISBN 978-90-04-18159-5.
^"Red Sandstone Pillar Capital". British Museum. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
^Rosenfield, John M. (1967). The dynastic art of the Kushans. University of California Press. p. 134.
and 23 Related for: Mathura lion capital information
The Mathuralioncapital is an Indo-Scythian sandstone capital (a part of a pillar) from Mathura in Northern India, dated to the first decade of the 1st...
LionCapital may refer to: The LionCapital of Ashoka, a sculpture used as the national emblem of India Mathuralioncapital, an Indo-Scythian sandstone...
The LionCapital of Ashoka is the capital, or head, of a column erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Sarnath, India, c. 250 BCE. Its crowning features...
Satraps" who ruled in the area of Mathura in the northern Indian Subcontinent in the years around 10 CE. The Mathuralioncapital was consecrated under the reign...
Art of Mathura The Art of Mathura refers to a particular school of Indian art, almost entirely surviving in the form of sculpture, starting in the 2nd...
Rajuvula, the Great Satrap of the region from Taxila to Mathura. He is mentioned in the Mathuralioncapital. Sodasa's name is recorded in Kharosthi as Śuḍasa...
archaeological relics, including the Mathuralioncapital, the Bairat and Sopara Ashokan inscription, the Nanaghat reliefs, the Mathura Vishnu image, drum miniature...
centuries later in examples such as the Mathuralioncapital (1st century CE). A later capital found in Mathura dating to the 2nd or 3rd century (Kushan...
buildings in the architecture of the Maurya Empire. The much smaller Mathuralioncapital of the 1st century CE shows clear influence. They can be seen in...
of Aiyasi Kamuia. She finds mention in inscription no A-5 of the MathuraLionCapital. F. W. Thomas has read this name as Nadadi (Nadasi)- Akasa, Dr Bühler...
Indraji, at the same time and place as another important artifact, the Mathuralioncapital, dated to the beginning of the 1st century CE. The statue wears a...
possibly from an inscription on the Mathuralioncapital, although another satrap Kharaostes has been discovered in Mathura. He was probably a successor of...
Kharahostes or Kharaosta who had been known from numismatics and MathuraLionCapital inscriptions. The Inscription no. II also establishes that king Kharaosta...
is attested in a contemporary Kharosthi inscription found on the Mathuralioncapital belonging to the Saka kingdom of the Indo-Scythians (200 BC – 400...
Pakistan), (1st century BC – 1st century AD) Indo-Scythian sandstone MathuraLionCapital and Bracket figure from one of the gateways to the Great Stupa at...
later. The Indo-Scythians are otherwise connected with Buddhism (see Mathuralioncapital and the multiple Buddhist dedications of the Apracas), and it is...
mentioning Patika Kusulaka, who also appears as a "Great Satrap" in the Mathuralioncapital inscription. 1 [samva]tsaraye athasatatimae 20 20 20 10 4 4 maharayasa...
ruled circa 10 CE- 30 CE. According to Sten Konow's study of the Mathuralioncapital, this person may have been Hayuara, who was the brother-in-law of...
inscription is likely the Northern Satraps Great Satrap Rajuvula, found in Mathuralioncapital. The Mountain Temple inscription lacks a date. The similar Mora Well...
Global Information
