Before Krsna- Religious Diversity in Ancient Mathura

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Mathura is most famous for its association with Vasudeva- Krsna, an important deity of the Hindu pantheon. In ancient times, however, this site contributed towards the production of exquisite pieces of sculpture, inscriptions, and terracottas associated with Buddhism, Jainism, and the Näga and Yakşa traditions as well. The literature and art inspired by these traditions make the religious landscape of Mathura a fascinating subject of study.

Before Krsna is one such work that entails an epigraphic analysis of Mathura from the early historical till the early medieval period. It examines the content of inscriptions from Mathura, correlates it with other archaeological and literary sources, and assesses the available data in the context of the social, political, and economic processes underway in the Indian subcontinent at that time. This monograph not only provides the reader a taste of Mathura's religious diversity and plurality over time, but is also relevant for understanding the history of specific religious traditions and the threads of interaction between them.

Kanika Kishore Saxena is assistant professor of history at Shivaji College, University of Delhi. She has previously taught at Miranda House and Lady Shri Ram College in the same capacity.

The desire to work on the corpus of Mathura inscriptions had its genesis in my postgraduation days. Even before the declaration of my results, the divine bell to research on this subject was ringing in my heart. I owe every little step of my life to the Almighty and I need to acknowledge that this book was made possible due to the grace of God. This strong belief in the powers of God blessed me with my mentor and supervisor, Upinder Singh, an academic par excellence. I wish I had the liberty to write an exhaustive chapter about her as this space is insufficient to narrate her intellectual and humane persona. As this book is based on my doctoral thesis, she guided me from the very beginning of my research on Mathura and the careful reading of primary and secondary sources. During these years, I had the opportunity to watch closely how much time and hard work she invested to enrich my research. I even learnt the very basic styles of writing from her and never hesitated to ask her even about the most trivial doubts. She has guided me through each and every step. I owe this book to her. Working under her is truly an experience of a lifetime, which I will cherish forever.

I also thank Nayanjot Lahiri for her constant encouragement during my research. It was because of her that I got the chance to access the exquisite reserve collection of the State Museum, Lucknow, India. I also owe my gratitude to B. P. Sahu for his constant words of encouragement and also for motivating me to write a paper on ayagapatas. My thanks are due also to K. M. Shrimali who allowed me to attend his lectures on religion and gave me many references related to Mathura, and to Parul Pandya Dhar for helping me and guiding me in interpreting the sculptures better. I also thank Sunil Kumar, Amar Farooqi, and Shonaleeka Kaul for their words of encouragement. I thank Vinay Kumar Gupta for helping me cover all the sites in Mathura, as without him my field trip would have been impossible.

I am thankful for the funding provided by the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) through their Junior Research Fellowship. Here, Dr Jyotsna Arora needs to be especially thanked for always helping and encouraging me. I also thank the libraries of the National Museum, ICHR, University of Delhi, and its Department of History. Finally, the Mathura Museum; State Museum, Lucknow; and National Museum, Delhi, need to be thanked for most of the images in this book.

Kanika Kishore Saxena's book offers the first comprehensive and detailed analysis of the religious landscape of ancient and early medieval Mathura. It meticulously reconstructs this landscape across 15 centuries, between the third century BCE and the twelfth century CE, and reveals the long, complex, and multi-layered religious history of Mathura before it developed strong associations with the worship of Krsna. The ambitiously long time frame is subdivided into smaller chronological segments; this provides for a diachronic view that enables the reader to visualize the religious landscape as dynamic, evolving, and changing. The fact that this is the first such comprehensive study may seem surprising. There is abundant textual, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence testifying to the political, religious, and commercial importance of Mathura. However, leaving aside the problematic early excavations at Kankali Tila in the late nineteenth century and the more systematic excavations at Sonkh during 1966-74, the archaeological evidence from the many ancient mounds in Mathura is tantalizing but patchy. Furthermore, there are no prospects of large-scale archaeological excavations in this bustling, built-over, and heavily populated site. Mathura has yielded a large number of inscriptions and images, but very few remains of ancient religious structures. It is precisely because the evidence is so fragmentary, scattered, and complex that putting it together is a challenge. This book takes on that challenge.