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Mathura () is a city in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. It is the administrative centre of Mathura District of Uttar Pradesh. During the ancient period, Mathura was an economic hub, located at the junction of important caravan routes. The 2011 census of India estimated the population of Mathura to be 441,894. Mathura is the birthplace of Krishna at the centre of Braj or Brij-bhoomi, called Shri Krishna Janma-Bhoomi, literally: 'Lord Krishna's birthplace'. It is one of the seven cities (Sapta Puri) considered holy by Hindus. The Keshav Dev Temple was built in ancient times on the site of Krishna's birthplace (an underground prison). Mathura was the capital of the Surasena Kingdom, ruled by Kansa the maternal uncle of Krishna. Mathura has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India. ==History== Mathura has an ancient history and also homeland and birth place of Krishna who was born in ahir/yadav family. According to the Archaeological Survey of India plaque at the Mathura Museum, the city is mentioned in the oldest Indian epic, the ''Ramayana''. In the epic, the Ikshwaku prince Shatrughna slays a demon called Lavanasura and claims the land. Afterwards, the place came to be known as Madhuvan as it was thickly wooded, then Madhupura and later Mathura. In the 6th century BCE Mathura became the capital of the Surasena mahajanapada.〔 The city was later ruled by the Maurya empire (4th to 2nd centuries BCE) and the Shunga dynasty (2nd century BCE). It may have come under the control of Indo-Greeks some time between 180 BCE and 100 BCE. It then reverted to local rule before being conquered by the Indo-Scythians during the 1st century BCE. Mathuran art and culture reached its zenith under the Kushan dynasty which had Mathura as one of their capitals, the other being Purushapura (Peshawar). The dynasty had kings with the names of Kujula Kadphises, Kanishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva I. Megasthenes, writing in the early 3rd century BCE, mentions Mathura as a great city under the name Μέθορα (''Méthora'').〔Megasthenes, fragment 23 "The Surasenians, an Indian tribe, with two great cities, Methora and Clisobora; the navigable river Iomanes flows through their territory" quoted in Arrian Indica 8.5. Also "The river Jomanes (Yamuna) flows through the Palibothri into the Ganges between the towns Methora and Carisobora." in (FRAGM. LVI. Plin. Hist. Nat. VI. 21. 8-23. 11. )〕 The Indo-Scythians (aka Sakas or Shakas) conquered the area of Mathura over Indian kings around 60 BCE. The findings of ancient stone inscriptions in Maghera, a town from Mathura, provide historical artifacts giving more details on this era of Mathura.〔 The opening of the 3 line text of these inscriptions are in Brahmi script and were translated as: "In the 116th year of the Greek kings..." The Mathura Lion Capital inscriptions attest that Mathura fell under the control of the Sakas. The inscriptions contain references to Kharaosta Kamuio and Aiyasi Kamuia. Yuvaraja Kharostes (''Kshatrapa'') was the son of ''Arta'', as is attested by his own coins.〔''Kshatrapasa pra Kharaostasa Artasa putrasa''. See: ''Political History of Ancient India'', 1996, p 398, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukherjee; ''Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country'', 1981, p 307, Dr J. L. Kamboj; ''Ancient India'', 1956, pp 220–221, Dr R. K. Mukerjee; ''Kambojas Through the Ages'', 2005, p 168, S Kirpal Singh.〕 Arta is stated to be brother of King Moga or Maues.〔''Ancient India'', pp 220–221, Dr R. k. Mukerjee; ''Kambojas Through the Ages'', 2005, pp 168–169, S Kirpal Singh; ''Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country'', 1981, pp 306–09, Dr J. L. Kamboj; ''Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum'', Vol II, Part 1, p 36, D S Konow〕 Princess Aiyasi Kambojaka, also called Kambojika, was the chief queen of Shaka Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula. Kamboja presence in Mathura is also verified from some verses of the epic, the Mahabharata, which are believed to have been composed around this period.〔Dr Jayaswal writes:"Mathura was under outlandish people like the Yavanas and Kambojas... who had a special mode of fighting" (Manu and Yajnavalkya, Dr K. P. Jayswal); See also: ''Indian Historical Quarterly'', XXVI-2, p 124. Prof Shashi Asthana comments: ''"Epic Mahabharata refers to the siege of Mathura by the Yavanas and Kambojas'' (see:'' History and Archaeology of India's Contacts with Other Countries, from Earliest Times to 300 B.C.'', 1976, p. 153, Shashi Asthana). Dr Buddha Prakash observes:'' "Along with the Sakas, the Kambojas had also entered Indian mainland and spread into whole of North India, especially in Panjab and Uttar Pradesh. The Mahabharata contains references to Yavanas and Kambojas having conquered Mathura (12/105/5)....There is also a reference to the Kambojas in the Mathura Lion Capital inscriptions of Saka Satrap (Kshatrapa) Rajuvula found in Mathura "'' (''India and the World'', p. 154, Dr Buddha Parkash); cf: ''Ancient India'', 1956, p 220, Dr R. K. Mukerjee〕 The Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura are sometimes called the "Northern Satraps", as opposed to the "Western Satraps" ruling in Gujarat and Malwa. After Rajuvula, several successors are known to have ruled as vassals to the Kushans, such as the "Great Satrap" Kharapallana and the "Satrap" Vanaspara, who are known from an inscription discovered in Sarnath, and dated to the 3rd year of Kanishka (c 130 CE), in which they were paying allegiance to the Kushans.〔''A Catalogue of the Indian Coins in the British Museum. Andhras etc...''. Rapson, p. ciii.〕 Mathura served as one of the Kushan Empire's two capitals from the first to the third centuries. Faxian mentions the city as a centre of Buddhism about 400 while his successor Xuanzang, who visited the city in 634 CE, mentions it as Mot'ulo, recording that it contained twenty Buddhist monasteries and five Brahmanical temples.〔(Mathura ) .〕 Later, he went east to Thanesar, Jalandhar in the eastern Punjab, before climbing up to visit predominantly Theravada monasteries in the Kulu valley and turning southward again to Bairat and then Mathura, on the Yamuna river.〔(Hsuan Tsang ) .〕 The city was sacked and many of its temples destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1018 and again by Sikandar Lodhi, who ruled the Sultanate of Delhi from 1489 to 1517.〔(Sultan Sikandar Lodi ) ''The Muntakhabu-'rūkh'' by Al-Badāoni (16th century historian), Packard Humanities Institute.〕〔(Lodi Kings: Chart ) The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 2, ''p. 369.''.〕 Sikander Lodhi earned the epithet of 'Butt Shikan', the 'Destroyer of Hindu deities'. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, built the city's ''Jami Masjid'' (Friday mosque) . The noteworthy fact is that the exact place of birth of Krishna, according to historians, is in the place of worship of the Hindus, though the mosque was built near the birthplace of Krishna. The bigger Krishna shrine, better known as Dwarkadeesh Temple is a few metres away from what is believed to be the actual birthplace of Krishna. It was built in 1815 by Seth Gokuldas Parikh, Treasurer of Gwalior. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mathura」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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