Mathura Historical Information
¤ Mathura A City Whose History
Is Traced To 600 B.C
Ptolemy, the Alexandrian astronomer during the 2nd
century, has referred to this city as
Modoura. Modourain Latin
means the ‘city of gods’. Although this city is associated
mainly with the legend and cult of the blue god/cowherd, Krishna, it
was as sacred to the Jains and Buddhists as it was to the Brahminical
Hindusin the past.
¤ Attacked By Muslim Invaders
Situated between the Muslim capitals of Delhi and Agra, Mathura bore
the brunt of various Muslim attacks. The Afghan invader, Mahmud of
Gazhni sacked the city in 1018-19.
The city was plundered and important temples were destroyed by
Aurangzeb. In 1757, Ahmad Shah Durrani inflicted fresh wounds on
Mathura. Today, not much remains of the ancient Hindu structures.
However, archaeologists have managed to unearth some valuable
sculptures from this site.
¤ Buddhist Influence
When Fa-Hian travelled to India in a.d. 405, there were 20 Buddhist
monasteries with some 3000 monks in the neighbourhood of Mathura. A
couple of centuries later, when Huien Tsang came to India, the number
of monks at the monastries had dropped to 2000, with Buddhism bowing
out to Hinduism. |
