Saunkh, often spelled as Sonkh, is a town and a

Nagar Panchayat A nagar panchayat (town panchayat; ) or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,000 ...

in Mathura district of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, India.

Archaeology

The site is well-known for archaeological excavations led by Herbert Härtel in 1969-70. Numerous artefacts recovered from Sonkh are visible in the

Mathura Museum __NOTOC__ Government Museum, Mathura, commonly referred to as Mathura museum, is an archaeological museum in Mathura city of Uttar Pradesh state in India. The museum was founded by then collector of the Mathura district, Sir F. S. Growse in ...

. Stratigraphical analysis at Sonkh and other sites has shown that the area of Mathura was almost undeveloped and Mathura was mostly a hamlet before the Mauyra era. Coins of the Mitra dynasty were found in Sonkh, corresponding to layers dated to about 150-50 BCE, at a time when the

Indo-Greeks The Indo-Greek Kingdom, or Graeco-Indian Kingdom, also known historically as the Yavana Kingdom (Yavanarajya), was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of Afghanistan and the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent (p ...

ruled over the region. The earliest Mitra coins are those of Gomitra (150-50 BCE). File:Sonkh Apsidal Temple.jpg, Sonkh Apsidal Temple, a

Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

shrine. File:Salabhanjika - Circa 100 CE - Sonkh Mound - ACCN SOI-27 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5598.JPG,

Salabhanjika A salabhanjika or shalabhanjika is a term found in Indian art and literature with a variety of meanings. In Buddhist art, it means an image of a woman or yakshi next to, often holding, a tree, or a reference to Maya near the ''sala'' tree giving ...

sculpture Sonkh Matrika.jpg, Sonkh

Matrika Matrikas (Sanskrit: मातृका (singular), IAST: mātṝkās, lit. "divine mothers") also called Matar or Matri, are a group of mother goddesses who are always depicted together in Hinduism. The Matrikas are often depicted in a group ...

statuette Kubera and Hariti - Bronze - Kushan Period - ACCN SOI-173 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6630.JPG, Sonkh bronze image of Kubera and Hariti. Kushan period Naga Noble Man Coming Out of Crocodile Jaws - Circa 100 CE - Sonkh Mound - ACCN SOI-37 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5607.JPG, Naga Noble Man Coming Out of Crocodile Jaws. Circa 100 CE Fragment of Beam Showing Fish-tailed Elephant with Stalked Lotus in His Trunk - Circa 100 CE - Sonkh Mound - ACCN SOI-39 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5591.JPG, Fragment of Beam Showing Fish-tailed Elephant with Stalked Lotus in His Trunk. Circa 100 CE Naga Court, Sonkh, Mathura, 100 CE

References

Cities and towns in Mathura district {{Mathura-geo-stub