Sculpture of Mathura During the Reign of •Oîàsa (Ca

CHAPTER SIX

SCULPTURE OF MATHURA DURING THE REIGN OF •OÎÀSA (CA. 15 CE)

Introduction: The Time of •o∂àsa

The works of art discussed in this chapter were produced when Mathura was governed by a ruler whose name is actually known—a rare circumstance for the early periods cov- ered in this book. The ruler’s name is •o∂àsa, and he stands out as exceptional in the list of names of post-Mauryan, pre-Kußà»a potentates of Mathura, most of whom are known exclusively from local, faceless coinage. Unlike rulers such as Bràhmamitra, Ràmadatta, Hagàna, and Hagàmaßa who populate the murky political history of early Mathura, the name of •o∂àsa is found in several epigraphs, some of which accompany sculpture, as well as in coin legends. In one instance his name is even carved in stone with a date, the Year Seventy-Two, on the Amohini àyavati (Fig. 148), and in the Mathura lion capital inscription (Figs. 213–215) his name appears along with the names of other individ- uals whose dates are known from other sources. This is far more information than we have about any of the other political leaders of Mathura before the Kußà»a emperor Kanißka. All of the evidence combines to uphold ca. 15 CE for the date of •o∂àsa, as most scholars have agreed over the years, in which case we have what is coveted by most historians of early Indian art: a benchmark date. Although the duration of •o∂àsa’s reign is not known for certain, we can be confident that he was in full power over Mathura in 15 CE and that his reign began sometime between 6 CE and 15 CE. Moreover, the reign of •o∂àsa, falling as it does at the beginning of the first century CE, is just over one hundred years prior to our next benchmark date in the history of early Mathura sculpture: the date of Kanißka, whose reign apparently began in 127 CE. This difference of about one hundred years is long enough to produce significant and identifiable changes in sculptural style. In this chapter I present the sculptures dated to the time of •o∂àsa, define their stylistic features, and apply this definition to other sculptures that display these features, most of which were formerly dated to the Kußà»à period or vaguely to some first century CE date. As we saw in Chapter Four when discussing àyàgapa†as made during the reign of •o∂àsa, there was a distinctive and consistent style of art produced at Mathura during the time of •o∂àsa, and it is readily distinguishable from that of any phase of the Kußà»a period. Eight surviving inscriptions mention •o∂àsa. The earliest is the Mathura lion capital inscription (Figs. 213–215), which was carved when his father, Rajùvula, was still in power. In the Mathura lion capital inscription, Rajùvula is given the title mahàkßatrapa, or ‘great satrap,’ whereas •o∂àsa is given the lesser title of simply kßatrapa, or ‘satrap.’1 The other

1 Sten Konow, Kharosh†hì Inscriptions with the Exception of those of A≤oka, pp. 48–49; and D. C. Sircar, Select Inscriptions, pp. 114–119. sculpture of mathura during the reign of ≤o∂àsa 169 stone inscriptions appear to be later, for they all refer to •o∂àsa as mahàkßatrapa or svàmi mahàkßatrapa, with the additional Indic honorific svàmi, meaning ‘lord’ (Appendix I.10–I.15 and Appendix II.15). This advancement from kßatrapa in the Mathura lion captital inscription indicates that by the time the seven inscriptions were recorded, •o∂àsa had succeeded his father as ‘great satrap’ (mahàkßatrapa) at Mathura. •o∂àsa appears to have assimilated into the local Indic culture of Mathurà, unlike his father, who retained more links to the Indo-Scythian regions of greater Gandhàra, with its Hellenistic heritage. Unlike his father, who struck both bilingual coins of debased Hellenistic types with legends in Greek and Kharoß†hì (the script used primarily in Gandhàra and Bactria) and coins with more indigenous types and Bràhmì legends (the script used in the remainder of the Indian subcontinent), •o∂àsa seems to have exclusively struck coins with legends written in Bràhmì. Moreover, •o∂àsa’s coins have been discovered only in the Mathura region, whereas those of Rajùvula also were found farther north, particularly in areas east of the Indus River, such as Jammu. This distribution of coinage and scripts thereon suggests that •o∂àsa held political sway only over the Mathura region, whereas his father had also controlled other areas. •o∂àsa’s coin issues consistently display the indigenous Indian goddess of fortune and prosperity, •rì Lakßmì, on both the obverse and reverse, but on the reverses she is lustrated by a pair of elephants. These coins are a lead and copper alloy, and they were struck in both half karshapanas (4.16–4.68 grams) and quarter karshapanas (2.08–2.34 grams). •o∂àsa issued coinage with three different legends: ‘kßatrapa •o∂àsa, son of the mahàkßatrapa’ (‘mahakhatapasa putasa khatapasa ≤odasasa’ followed by a svastika); ‘kßatrapa •o∂àsa, son of Rajùvula’ (svastika followed by ‘rajuvula putasa khatapasa ≤odasasa’), and ‘mahàkßatrapa •o∂àsa’ (svastika followed by ‘mahakhatapasa ≤odasasa’).2 Coins and inscriptions mentioning rulers with the title ‘mahàkßatrapa’ have been discovered at Mathura from archaeological strata dating to around the end of the first century BCE to the mid-first century CE.3 These rulers who adopted the Persian system of sub- sidiary governance by satrapies were ultimately of foreign extraction, apparently being either Scythian (•aka) or Iranian (Pahlava) or a mixture of both. The dedication of gifts to a Buddhist site by kßatrapas “for the sake of honoring all of Sakastan” in the Mathura lion capital inscription suggests that the homeland of these people was Sakastan, a region also known as Seistan in southeastern Iran.4 The kings or overlords to whom the kßatra- pas of Mathura were to some extent allied, if at all, may have been the Indo-Parthian kings based in the northwestern regions of present-day Pakistan, such as Azes II or Azilises, who were called mahàràja, or ‘great king.’ The first kßatrapa at Mathura seems to have been Rajùvula, for among all of the coins of kßatrapas found at Mathura, only his have also been found in the northern regions of Chach (near Taxila) and Jammu with bilingual Greek and Kharoß†hì legends and imagery common on coins of the Indo-Parthian and Indo-Greek rulers. Major coin types of Rajùvula, with legends that refer to him as a kßatrapa or mahàkßatrapa in Kharoß†hì, and as basileos (‘king’) or soteros (‘savior’) in Greek have been found from the region of Jammu in the

2 Michael Mitchiner, Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian Coinage, vol. VII, pp. 608–609. 3 H. Härtel, Excavations at Sonkh, p. 86. 4 Mathura lion capital inscripton, line P.1–2 sarvasa sak(r)astanasa puyae. (Sten Konow, Kharoshthì Inscriptions with the Exception of those of A≤oka, pp. 48–49.)