doi: 10.2143/AWE.7.0.2033263 AWE 7 (2008) 265-285 A KUSHAN KING IN PARTHIAN DRESS? 265 A KUSHAN KING IN PARTHIAN DRESS? A NOTE ON A STATUE IN THE MATHURA MUSEUM* Elfriede R. (Kezia) KNAUER Abstract The statue of a seated Kushan king in the museum in Mathura has never been described in detail. An important feature of the king’s outfit has therefore escaped notice. The analysis of the garment permits a comparison between it and the costume of images of western Asian gods and royalty which can be dated between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. One of the most impressive pieces of statuary in the Government Museum at Mathura (Uttar Pradesh, India) is the enthroned effigy of a Kushan king. In the Brahmi inscription between his feet most of his name is preserved: Vima Ta… It now seems fairly certain that a Kushan ruler, Vima Taktu, is represented (Figs. 1- 2).1 Until recently he was unknown. A grandfather of the better known Kanishka, Vima Taktu was the son of Kujula Kadphises, the unifier of the rival tribes of the the Yüeh-chih (who from early in the 1st century AD called themselves Kushan).2 Coming from the north-east, several nomadic groups – first the Saka, slightly later the Yüeh-chih – had wiped out the Greek kingdom of Bactria in present-day * I am much obliged to Joan Mertens and Paul Bernard for their critical reading of this study. 1 Government Museum, Mathura, no. 215. The height of the statue is 2.35 m. See von Mitterwallner 1986, 53-64, esp. 60-62, pls. 1-4, with references. The author calls the king Vima Kadphises – at the time of the publication the only known Kushan king of a name that begins with Vima. She does not recognise or interpret the features that are the subject of this study. Through palaeographical comparisons, she dates the statute to about AD 142. The best photographs are in Bachhofer 1929 II, pls. 77-78; his text (1929 I, 52) does not go into details of dress. In 1974, I noted its inv. no. as 12.215. For the new identification, see below n. 2. 2 It is not known whether the name Kushan is a personal, family, clan or tribal name, but all Kushan rulers we know by name add this epithet to it (Fussman 2003). For evidence of the presence of Yüeh-chih/Kushans in Bactria (the Oxus valley) from the later 2nd century BC onwards, see Abdoullaev 2001. It is only through the inscription found at Rabatak (Baghlan province) in Afghani- stan in 1993 that the genealogy of the first Kusham kings could be finally established, since it men- tions Vima Taktu as father of Vima Kadphises and grandfather of Kanishka. For the inscription, see Sims-Williams and Cribb 1995-96; Fussman 1998; Cribb 1999, also available with slight adjust- ments as http://www.grifterrec.com/y/cribb/ekk_cribb_01.html. (consulted 15 January 2008); Bopearachchi 1998, 390-91; 2007; also Bopearachchi and Flandin 2005, 244-45. Clearly enlighten- ing for the genealogy, the inscription has not contributed to the establishment of the absolute chro- nology of the Kushan reigns (for a brief summary of the problem, see Alram 2004, 57). For the most recent interpretation of the coin evidence, see Bopearachchi 2008. 1197-08_Anc.West&East_14 265 12-18-2008, 11:37 266 E.R. KNAUER Fig. 1: Statue of the enthroned Kushan king Vima Taktu: frontal view. Government Museum Mathura, no. 215 (after Bachhofer 1929 II, pl. 77). 1197-08_Anc.West&East_14 266 12-18-2008, 11:37 A KUSHAN KING IN PARTHIAN DRESS? 267 Fig. 2: Statue of the enthroned Kushan king Vima Taktu: side view. Government Museum Mathura, no. 215 (after Bachhofer 1929 II, pl. 78). 1197-08_Anc.West&East_14 267 12-18-2008, 11:37 268 E.R. KNAUER northern Afghanistan about 145 BC. By ca. 70 BC the Kushan had crossed the great natural barrier of the Hindu Kush. It was not before the second quarter of the 1st century AD, however, that they conquered the kingdoms of the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Scythians and Indo-Parthians who – receding from the mounting pressure of the Kushan – had established themselves in north-western India (Paropamisades/ Hindu Kush, Gandhara, Punjab). Vima Kadphises, son of Vima Taktu and father of Kanishka, stabilised the young Kushan empire founded by Vima Taktu who had already assumed the Iranian title ‘King of Kings’. Documented by abundant coin finds, Vima Kadphises added the immense and varied pantheon encountered in the new territories – Greek and Hindu deities – to the Iranian divinities of his own cultural heritage. Political stability, peace and a wise monetary policy were the basis of a flourishing trade with the Roman world, India and the Far East. Mathura became part of the Kushan realm. Important sculpture workshops had existed there since the turn of the 3rd to the 2nd century BC. Favoured by the availability of the typical mottled pink sandstone, Mathura’s artists catered to the very diverse demands of their Hindu, Buddhist and Jain patrons. The image of Vima is fashioned of stone from the Sikri quarries and clearly created by an indig- enous sculptor. However, Vima’s costume sets him completely apart from the rich collection of statuary assembled in the museum of this ancient city on the Yamuna/ Jumna. The statue was found broken into two pieces together with other damaged royal images. The find-spot was in and near the devakula (sacred precinct) of a hill called Tokri Tila3 in the vicinity of the village of Mat in 1911/12. The sculpture stands out by its enormous size, its iconography – the ruler is enthroned in Western fash- ion – and its strange garb.4 It is to this aspect of the image that we shall direct our attention. Though discussed frequently, certain features of the king’s costume seem to have been overlooked consistently. If analysed afresh, they may perhaps throw further light on Kushan iconography. Vima’s massive physique preserves faint traits of earlier Mathura sculptures, for example of the huge yaksha (nature spirit) from Parkham in the same museum. Vima’s statue clearly stands at the beginning of Kushan sculpture. Large scale images were not part of the cultural baggage of the 3 For a discussion of the place name which has been explained as ‘mound of the Tokri’ (=Toxároi, Tocari), see von Mitterwallner 1986, 55, with references. It is important to note that in the shrine of the sacred precinct, fragmentary images of Brahminic deities were found, most likely Shiva and Parvati. The sanctuary was built under Vima Taktu and repaired under king Huvishka, son of Kanishka, when the inscribed statue of his father, which is also in the Mathura museum, was added (see von Mitterwallner 1986, pl. 6; Verardi 1983, figs. 7-8). For the Shaivaite images, see Fussman 1989; Verardi 1983, figs. 11-13. For the importance of the place in attempting to clarify the Kushan chronology, see Falk 2002, 88-91, 95-97. 4 See von Mitterwallner 1986, 60-62. 1197-08_Anc.West&East_14 268 12-18-2008, 11:37 A KUSHAN KING IN PARTHIAN DRESS? 269 nomadic Yüeh-chih. The newly acquired regal status of the Kushan rulers called out for appropriate icons. They were found in the statuary of the Mathura school. Vima’s portrait reflects some of the archaic vitality of the older images; it is clearly a tentative piece. Interestingly, the inscribed statue of his grandson Kanishka, also in the Mathura museum, and other of Kanishka’s likenesses from Surkh Kotal are much more stylised, as if a final formula had been found for the representation of divine royalty. This holds true likewise for Kanishka’s coin portraits, as well as those of his successors.5 The sculpture of Vima, King of Kings, has lost its head, its lower left arm, its knees together with parts of the upper legs and thighs and an object in its right hand.6 The throne has a massive high back and front legs shaped like lions’ fore- parts with paws placed on turned supports. The seat is covered by a cloth that hangs down at either side – an attempt was made to depict folds where it touches the ground. It is embellished at the edges with a wave pattern and in the centre with superimposed hearts. Both patterns are of Western origin7 while the motif on the sides of the footstool has parallels in the decorative repertoire of northern In- 5 For the yaksha statue, see Härtel et al. 1971, 16, fig. 17; for Kanishka’s image, see Härtel et al. 1971, fig. 39; von Mitterwallner 1986, pl. 6. 6 Von Mitterwallner (1986, 60) assumes that Vima held a ‘scepter-like mace or more likely an ankusa’. Both objects are attested on Kushan coins: for a mace, see the gold dinar of Vima Kadphises, St Petersburg (Alram 2004, 57, fig. 27), for example; and for an elephant goad, the gold coin of Vima Kadphises seated on a cushioned stool, ankusa in right hand, mace next to stool, British Museum (von Mitterwallner 1986, book cover). Göbl (1984), referring to the coins nos. 8 and 11 of his cen- sus, calls the object a Zweig (twig). For the mace as a sign of the Universal Monarch (cakravartin), see below n. 15. Since an elephant, the supreme royal mount, was one of the symbols of the cakravartin, among them in particular the lion throne (see below), the goad would be an appropriate attribute. Both creeds, Brahminical and Buddhist, used the concept of the Universal Monarch.