History of Mathura : c200 BC - AD 300

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction and sources. 2. The land, people and early settlements. 3. Coins of Mathura : Survey of early writings. 4. Mathura : known through coins. 5. Conclusion. Appendices. Bibliography. Index.

"History of Mathura (c200 B.C. - A.D. 300) : Primarily a numismatic study aimed to project the history of Mathura, it nevertheless integrates the resource bank provided by literary, archaeological and epigraphic pursuits of the period. The book fills up the gap in the existing knowledge of ancient India with authentic evidence. An effort is made throughout to keep the reader abreast of recent discoveries and to share with him/her the reasons for all conclusions and inferences.

The book also contains a detailed analysis of metrology, palaeography and typology of more than one thousand coins from Mathura ascribable to the centuries under discussion without overlooking their stratigraphic location. These enquiries have enabled us to suggest chronologies of different series as well as sequence of individual kings/chiefs; elements of change and continuity in weight pattern. It has been suggested that the centuries under discussion are far from being "dark" as has juxtaposed by some historians. Instead these should be seen as quite formation and penetrative. The study of the coins of Mathura certainly fortify such as understanding of an important phase of early history of Northern India." (jacket)