Editing Mathura (section)

====Kushan Empire====
The [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] emperors took control of Mathura some time after the ''[[Mahakshatrapa]]'' ("Great Satrap") [[Sodasa]] (reigned circa 15 CE), although several of his successors ruled as Kushan vassals, such as the Indo-Scythian ''Mahakshatrapa'' [[Kharapallana]] and the Satrap [[Vanaspara]], both of whom paid allegiance to the Kushans, in an inscription at [[Sarnath]], dating to the third year of the reign of the Kushan emperor [[Kanishka|Kanishka the Great]] {{Circa|130}} CE.<ref>''A Catalogue of the Indian Coins in the British Museum. Andhras etc...''. Rapson, p. ciii.</ref> 

The Kushans made Mathura one of their capitals. (Preceding and/or concurrent capitals of the Kushans included [[Kapisa (city)|Kapisa]] [modern Bagram, Afghanistan], [[Purushapura]] [modern Peshawar, Pakistan] and [[Sirsukh|Takshasila]] [adjoining modern Taxila, Pakistan].)

Mathuran art and culture reached its zenith during the Kushan era.<ref name="singh">{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Upinder|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|date=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131716779|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ&q=purushapura&pg=PA377|access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref> Perhaps the most famous example was the artistic style known as the [[Art of Mathura|Mathura school]]. Mathura [[atelier]]s were most active during the epoch of the great Kushan emperors Kanishka, [[Huvishka]], [[Vasudeva I|Vasudeva]] whose reign represents the Golden Age of Mathura [[sculpture]].<ref name="auto1">{{cite book |author= Vasudeva S. Agrawala |date=1965 |title=Masterpieces of Mathura Sculpture |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.42876/page/n5/mode/2up |publisher=Prithivi Prakashan, Varanasi |page=2}}</ref> 

During the 3rd century CE, following the decline of the Kushan Empire, the [[Nagas of Padmavati|Naga dynasty of Padmavati]] took control of Mathura.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=54}}