GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ARCH/EOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA CENTRAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL LIBRARY < ACCESSION NO. §tiJdkl\^ CALL T&H&Oe/A&f Vty- " " F.G.AT79 " I" : CATALOGUE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM AT MATHURA. BY J. Ph. VOGEL. Ph.D., SUi*fcRl>"fE>'DENT, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY, >'OIlTHEtt>' CIRCLE. ALLAHABAD Printed by F. Luker, Superintendent, Government Press, United Provinces igio. (To the flTcmorp of S. S. (5^H(DXPS(EA (Esq., (Ibis (Catalogue of the HTuseu n foimoeb bp bint at Ulatbura is reocreutlo fccbicatcb bp tt?c author. ^444 7 • 2. ^€ ^ PREFACE. In March 1905 I undertook to catalogue the sculptures in the Municipal Museum at Mathuia, at the request of Mr. H.C. Ferard, C.I.E., I C.S., then Collector of the district. The time available piovcd insufficient to finish the work, main- ly owing to the number of inscriptions, most of which had not yet been properly edited. My departmental duties and a pro- longed illness prevented me from resuming the work until December 1907, when a month's stay at Mathura enabled me to bring the catalogue to completion. In the meanwhile the Museum had been enriched with more than a hundred Mathurfi sculptures, the bulk of which came from the Allahabad Public Library. In the course of the year 1908 the collection was further increased by the addition of a large number of valuable sculptures and inscriptions which were collected in the locality by Pandit Radha Krishna, and pin chas- ed and presented to the Museum by Mr. J. H. Marshall, the Director-General of Archaeology. These also have been includ- ed in the present publication. A few words are required to explain the arrangement of mv catalogue. As in past years no proper record has been kept of the provenance of the sculptures, it was impossible to arrange them according to their find-spots. For the same reason a classification according to creeds Buddhist, Jaina and Brah- manical— could not be adopted, except in the case of images, some illustrative bas-reliefs and a few inscribed pieces. It will be hardly necessary to add that a chronological arrangement was out of the question, as the style of the sculptures enables us only to fix in geneial the period to which they belong. Even those dated in Kanishka's era cannot be referred to a particular year, as the initial date of that epoch is still a matter of dispute. In these circumstances the best couise seemed tome to make ( ii ) three mam divisions consisting' of images, bas-reliefs and avchi* tectural sculptures. It is obvious that such a division is in many cases bound to be arbitrary. In Indian art images of deities are but seldom carved in the louud, and have thereto o in lealitv the character of reliefs. Most of the pieces classed as bas-reliefs, on the other hand, served the purpose of decorating some religious building and might, therefore, be called architectural. Within the three main divisions I have grouped sculptures of the same kind, as much as possible, together. This arrangement, it is hoped, will render this catalogue more convenient to consult. The want of a list or register is to a certain extent supplemented by the papers published by Mr. Growse and by General Cunningham's archaeological reports dealing with Mathuia. A study of these publications has enabled me to ascertain the find-places of a larger number of sculptures than I had anticipated. Unfortunately, their descriptions are often vague or inaccui ate, and the dimensions are but ra T, ely given, so that in some cases it is doubtful which particular sculpture is meant. The present catalogue contains all the information which from published accounts can be gathered regarding the proven- ance of these sculptures. As to their description and interpret- ation, a prolonged study of the Mathura art and of the closely related Grreco- Buddhist school of Gandhara has enabled me to propose a certain number of fresh identifications. In questions touching the relationship between the Mathuia and Gandhara school-, I have invariably endorsed the views put foith with great lucid ty by M. Alm-d t oucher in his vanous publications, and more especially in his standard work on Giseco-Buddhist sculpture. Here I wish to acknowledge mv indebtedness to Dr. Heinrich Liidei's, Professor at the Berlin University, for kindly ie\ising my readings of the inscriptions, a complete list of which will be gi\en in all Appendix. ill I ) Lieutenant-Colonel \V. Vu»t. I. M.S.. has lendmed me ^i-.-it lielp in reading through the manuscript of mv work ana Mr. J. H. Marshall in revising the proofs. To Babu R. I). Bmierji I owe useful notes on the sculptures and inscriptions in the Lucknow Mus. um which he has Veu oimatred in catalo<>uin"\ In uiy introduction I have supplied such information as will render the sculptures in the Museum moie intelligible and consequently more interesting to the public. It is perhaps dim to personal predilection that Buddhist art takes such a Uvge share in this introductory treatise-. But it will be admitted that not only on account of their number, but also from an artistic and historic p)int of view, the Buddnist sculpture-- form the most important part of our collection as relics of ?t school, which flourished during the most brilliant period of Mathura history. Mathura : ^) [ J. Ph. YOGEL. November 1908. ) Postscript. —The unavoidable delay in printing has enabled me to include in the catalogue the important acquisitions made by Pandit Radha Krishna in the course of the year 1909. These also were due to the generous assistance afforded by Mr. J. H. Marshall, Director-General of Archaeology, who supplied the money from Imperial funds. I may add that the same officer arranged for a grant-in-aid of lis. 2,000 from the Gov- ernment of India for repairs to the Museum building which have lately been completed and will serve the purpose of rend- ering the edifice better suited for its present use. Lahore : 1 > J. Ph. V. March 1910. J CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION, Page I.—The Mathuva Museum ... ... ,,, ,., ,., l II.—Explorations ... ... .., ,,, ,,. 6 I]I.—The monuments of ancieni Mathura ... ... ... 19 IV.—The Mathura school of sculpture ... ... ... ... 27 V.—Iconography ... .,, ... ... ... Si Catalogue. A—G.— Images ... ... ... ... ... 47 A.—Buddha and Bo dhisattva images ... ... ... ... 47 B. ~ Jiua or Tirtharhkara images ... ... ... ... 68 C.—Yaksba and Xaga images ... ... ... ... S3 D.—Images of Brahmanical deities ... ... ... ... 94r IE.—Miscellaneous images ... ,,. ... ,., ... 107 F.—Female images ... ... ... ... ... Ill G.—Miscellaneous fragmentary figures ... ... ... 119 27—I.—Bas-reliefs ... ... ... ... ... 125 JT.— Scenes of Buddha's life ,.. ... ... ... 125 I. —Decorative bas-reliefs ... ... ... ... ... 133 J—P and R—S.— Architectural sculptures ... ... ... Ill J. —Railing pillars .•. ... ... •• ••• 141 K.—Railing coping-stones ... ... ... ... ... 153 L.—Railing cross-bars ... ... ... ... ... 160 M.—Torana architraves and brackets ... ... ... ... 162 JV.—Stiipas ... ... ••• ••• •• l66 0. —Lion figures ... ... ... ... ... 171 i>. Miscellaneous architectural sculptures, Buddhist period ... 173 18-t Q.—Inscribed slabs and tablets ... ... ... ... R.— Brahmanical architectural sculptures ... ... ... 1TO 196 S.—Mughal architectural remains ... .,, ... ... 198 T Terra-cottas and miscellaneous antiquities ... ... ... U.—Sculptures excavated from the Sitoliu, and Ganesra tanks ... 200 201 V.— Ancient brasswork ,., ... ... ... 205 W.—Miscellaneous objects ... ... ... •• 205 X—Coins ... ... ... ... Appendix I. List of inscriptions ... ... ... ... <•• 207 Appendix II. 209 Note by Dr. J. F. Fleet ... ... ••• •• - LIST OF PLATES. I.—The Museum at Mathurti. II.— (a) Door-lintol(Pl). (J) Door-jamb (P 2). (c) Upper half of pilaster (P 35). {d) Lou-er half of pillar (P 34). III.— (a) Fragment of railing-pillar (J 24). (6) Railing pillar (J 18). IV.—Votive stiipa (S 1). V.— Tablet of Homage (Q 2). VI.— (a) Raj Ghat slab (H 1). (b) Buddha visited by Indra(H 11). VII.—Bodhisattvi stituette from Katra ( A 1). VIII.— Buddh* statuette from Anyor (A2). IX.— Buddha statue from Jamalpur (A 5). X.— Bodhisattva statuette (A 45). XI — Tirtharhkara statuette (B 4). XII.—Parkham image (C 1). XIII. — Bacchanalian Group (C 2). XIV. - Yaksha (C 3). XV.— (a) Buddha statuette (A 4). (t) Maitreya statuette (A 43). XVI.— Buddha statuette (A 21). XVII.— (a) Vaishnavi(D 6). (i) Parvati (D7). XVIII.—Vishnu statuette (D 33). XIX.— Queen of the Xagas (F 2). XX.— Stele (.J 11). XXI.—Bas-reliefs (J 18 and 15). XXII.—Railing-pillar (J 7). XXIII.—Railing-pillars (J 10 and 11). XXIV.—Railing-pillar fragments (J 42, 43, 51 and 54). XXV.— (o I) Torana lintel from Katra (M 1). (c) Fragment of Tor-ina lintel (II 2). BIBLIOGRAPHY. L. R. Stacy. Xote oa the disco eery of a relic of Grecian sculpture in Tipper India (with additional note by James Prinsep). Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. V. (1830) pp. 507—370; with plate. (Account of the so-called " Silenus " now in the Calcutta Museum.) A. Cunningham. Archaeilorjical Survey Ilcp'irt, Vol. I, pp. 231—244- (plates XXXIX-XL); Vol, III, pp. 13-46 (plates I -XVI) ; Vol. XVII, pp. 107—112 (plates XXX—XXXI) and Vol, XX, pp. 30—39 (plates II-VI). R. L. Mitra. Xotes oa Sanskrit inscriptions from Mathuri,. Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. XXXIX (1370), pp. 117—130 ; with four plates. (Discussion of twenty Mathura inscriptions discovered about 1S60). J. Dowson. Ancient inscriptions from Mathura (with additional note by A. Cunningham.) Journal Royal Asiatic Society, Xew Series, Vol. V (1871), pp. 1S2—196 ; with three plates. (Discussion o£ twenty-nine Muhuri inscriptions collected by C'uuuingli irn wlio remarks (p. 1!U) that about una-balf hal bocu di-.eov.'rcii by him in 1S02 and 1S05). H. Blochmann. Xotes on Mathura. Proceedings Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1873, pp. 12—17. (Discussion of four Persian and HinJustmi inscriptions on buildings in tie city of llatbura collected by F, S.