principality · South Asia

Northern Satraps

20 BCE – 30 CE (approx.) · capital Mathura

Saka governors who ruled Mathura around the turn of the era and left the famous Mathura Lion Capital.

Origins

The Northern Satraps were Indo-Scythian governors who took control of Mathura on the Yamuna, probably in the 1st century BCE, as Saka power spread from the north-west. Their best-known ruler, Rajuvula, styled himself great satrap and issued coins copying Indo-Greek designs.

Rule and society

The satraps ruled a city that was already a major religious centre. The Mathura Lion Capital, inscribed in Kharoshthi, records gifts to the Buddhist community by Rajuvula's chief queen. His son Sodasa issued inscriptions in Brahmi, including one recording a temple to Vasudeva, which shows the rulers supporting both Buddhism and early Vaishnavism. Jain communities also flourished in the city.

Decline and legacy

Within a few decades the Kushan Empire absorbed Mathura, which became its southern capital and a major centre of sculpture. The satrapal system survived further south among the Western Satraps.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Northern Satraps. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/northern-satraps
MLA
“Northern Satraps.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/northern-satraps. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Northern Satraps.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/northern-satraps.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Northern Satraps’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/northern-satraps (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻