NDA (I) 2023 General Ability Test · Question 140 of 149

Correct — D, Mathura. Large statues of Kushana rulers — most famously the headless standing portrait statue of Kanishka I — were discovered at Mat near Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), which was a major Kushana political and artistic centre.

• (a)Karnal — A town in Haryana with no association with Kushana royal portrait statuary.
• (b)Ropar — A Harappan/early-historic site in Punjab; not the find-spot of Kushana ruler statues.
• (c)Hisar — A town in Haryana unconnected with the Kushana portrait statues.

Mathura was one of the two capitals of the Kushana empire (with Purushapura/Peshawar) and a great centre of the indigenous 'Mathura school' of art. At Mat, near Mathura, a dynastic shrine yielded life-size portrait statues of Kushana kings including the well-known standing Kanishka.

Anchor 'Kushana ruler statues' to Mathura — the Kushana art capital where the Mat devakula (royal portrait gallery) stood; the other options are unrelated Haryana/Punjab towns.

• Large Kushana royal portrait statues were found at Mat near Mathura.
• The headless standing statue of Kanishka I is the most famous.
• Mathura was a Kushana capital and the seat of the Mathura school of art.
• The Kushanas also patronised the Gandhara school in the north-west.

• Confusing Mathura (Kushana art) with Gandhara (also Kushana-patronised, north-west).
• Assuming any Haryana/Punjab town — the statues are specifically from Mat, Mathura.

Asked as the find-spot of Kushana/Kanishka statues, or Mathura's role in Kushana art.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Mathura school of art flourished mainly under which dynasty?

  • (a)Guptas
  • (b)Kushanas
  • (c)Mauryas
  • (d)Cholas

  Answer(b) Kushanas.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The famous headless standing portrait statue at Mat depicts which king?

  • (a)Ashoka
  • (b)Samudragupta
  • (c)Kanishka I
  • (d)Harsha

  Answer(c) Kanishka I.