Kushan Empire

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Kushan Empire
Κοϸανο (
Gandhari Prakrit[8]
Hybrid Sanskrit[8]
Religion
Hinduism[9]
Buddhism[10]
Zoroastrianism[11]
Demonym(s)Kushanas (Yuezhi)
GovernmentMonarchy
Emperor 
• 30–80
Kujula Kadphises (first)
• 350–375
Kipunada (last)
Historical era
Hepthalites[12]
375
Area
200 (low-end estimate of peak area)
Kushan drachma
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Indo-Greek Kingdom
Indo-Parthian Kingdom
Indo-Scythians
Northern Satraps
Western Satraps
Maha-meghavahanas
Sasanian Empire
Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom
Nagas of Padmavati
Kidarites
Nagas of Vindhyatabi

The Kushan Empire (c. 30–c. 375 AD)

Kanishka the Great.[note 3]

The Kushans were most probably one of five branches of the

Greco-Bactrian tradition and was a follower of the Shaivite sect of Hinduism.[29] Two later Kushan kings, Vima Kadphises and Vasudeva II, were also patrons of Hinduism. The Kushans in general were also great patrons of Buddhism, and, starting with Emperor Kanishka, they employed elements of Zoroastrianism in their pantheon.[30] They played an important role in the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and China, ushering in a period of relative peace for 200 years, sometimes described as "Pax Kushana".[31]

The Kushans possibly used the

Aksumite Empire, and the Han dynasty of China. The Kushan Empire was at the center of trade relations between the Roman Empire and China: according to Alain Daniélou, "for a time, the Kushana Empire was the centerpoint of the major civilizations".[32] While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record of the empire's history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese.[33]

The Kushan Empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell to the Sasanians invading from the west and establishing the

Sogdiana, Bactria, and Gandhara. In the 4th century, the Guptas, another Indian dynasty, also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as the Kidarites, and later the Hephthalites.[12]

Origins

Noin-Ula.[34][35]

Chinese sources describe the Guìshuāng (

Indo-European origin.[24][37] A specifically Tocharian origin of the Yuezhi is often suggested.[24][25][26][27][28][38] An Iranian, specifically Saka origin, has also been suggested by some scholars.[39]

The Yuezhi were described in the

Records of the Great Historian and the Book of Han as living in the grasslands of eastern Xinjiang and northwestern part of Gansu, in the northwest of modern-day China, until their King was beheaded by the Xiongnu (匈奴) who were also at war with China, which eventually forced them to migrate west in 176–160 BC.[40]
The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì (休密), Guìshuāng (貴霜), Shuāngmǐ (雙靡), Xìdùn (肸頓), and Dūmì (都密).

The ethnonym "KOϷϷANO" (Koshshano, "Kushan") in Greek alphabet (with the addition of the letter Ϸ, "Sh") on a coin of the first known Kushan ruler Heraios (1st century AD).

The Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of

Indo-Greek Kingdom
.

In South Asia, Kushan emperors regularly used the dynastic name ΚΟϷΑΝΟ ("Koshano") on their coinage.[15] Several inscriptions in Sanskrit in the Brahmi script, such as the Mathura inscription of the statue of Vima Kadphises, refer to the Kushan Emperor as , Ku-ṣā-ṇa ("Kushana").[15][41] Some later Indian literary sources referred to the Kushans as Turushka, a name which in later Sanskrit sources[note 4] was confused with Turk, "probably due to the fact that Tukharistan passed into the hands of the western Turks in the seventh century".[42][43] According to John M. Rosenfield, Turushka, Tukhāra or Tukhāra are variations of the word Tokhari in Indian writings.[44] Yet, according to Wink, "nowadays no historian considers them to be Turkish-Mongoloid or "Hun", although there is no doubt about their Central-Asian origin."[42]

Early Kushans

Kushan portraits
Head of a Yuezhi prince (Khalchayan palace, Uzbekistan)[45]
The first king to call himself "Kushan" on his coinage: Heraios (AD 1–30)
Kushan devotee (2nd century AD). Metropolitan Museum of Art (detail)
Portrait of Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises, AD 100-127

Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and

Sakas, who moved further south.[46] Archaeological structures are known in Takht-i Sangin, Surkh Kotal (a monumental temple), and in the palace of Khalchayan. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses. Various sculptures and friezes from this period are known, representing horse-riding archers,[47] and, significantly, men such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan with artificially deformed skulls, a practice well attested in nomadic Central Asia.[48][49] Some of the Khalchayan sculptural scenes are also thought to depict the Kushans fighting against the Sakas.[50] In these portrayals, the Yuezhis are shown with a majestic demeanour, whereas the Sakas are typically represented with side-whiskers, and more or less grotesque facial expressions.[50]

The Chinese first referred to these people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire, although the relationship between the Yuezhi and the Kushans is still unclear.

Book of Later Han "relates how the chief of the Kushans, Ch'iu-shiu-ch'ueh (the Kujula Kadphises of coins), founded by means of the submission of the other Yueh-chih clans the Kushan Empire."[46]

The earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was

Greek on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises.[citation needed
]

The Chinese

Book of Later Han chronicles then gives an account of the formation of the Kushan empire based on a report made by the Chinese general Ban Yong
to the Chinese Emperor c. AD 125:

More than a hundred years later [than the conquest of Bactria by the Yuezhi], the prince [xihou] of Guishuang (

Sadaṣkaṇa ], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi.

— Book of Later Han.[51][52]

Diverse cultural influences

In the 1st century BC, the Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜) gained prominence over the other Yuezhi tribes, and welded them into a tight confederation under commander Kujula Kadphises.[53] The name Guishuang was adopted in the West and modified into Kushan to designate the confederation, although the Chinese continued to call them Yuezhi.

Gradually wresting control of the area from the

Begram[54] and Charsadda, then known as Kapisa and Pushklavati respectively.[53]

Greek alphabet (narrow columns) with Kushan script (wide columns)

The Kushans adopted elements of the

Kharoshthi
script), until the first few years of the reign of Kanishka. After the middle of Kanishka's reign, they used Kushan language legends (in an adapted Greek script), combined with legends in Greek (Greek script) and legends in Prakrit (Kharoshthi script).

Early gold coin of Kanishka I with Greek language legend and Hellenistic divinity Helios. (c. AD 120).
Obverse: Kanishka standing, clad in heavy Kushan coat and long boots, flames emanating from shoulders, holding a standard in his left hand, and making a sacrifice over an altar. Greek legend:
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΚΑΝΗϷΚΟΥ
Basileus Basileon Kanishkoy
"[Coin] of Kanishka, king of kings".
Reverse: Standing Helios in Hellenistic style, forming a benediction gesture with the right hand. Legend in Greek script:
ΗΛΙΟΣ Helios
Kanishka monogram (tamgha) to the left.

The Kushans "adopted many local beliefs and customs, including

Hellenised. The great Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises, father of Kanishka, embraced Shaivism, a sect of Hinduism, as surmised by coins minted during the period.[9] The following Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of faiths including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Hindu Shaivism
.

The rule of the Kushans linked the seagoing trade of the

northern India.[53]

The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to Rome, and created strings of flourishing urban centers.[53]

Territorial expansion

Kanishka the Great.[55] The extent of Kushan control is notably documented in the Rabatak inscription.[5][56][note 5][57] The northern expansion into the Tarim Basin is mainly suggested by coin finds and Chinese chronicles.[58][59]

Rosenfield notes that archaeological evidence of a Kushan rule of long duration is present in an area stretching from Surkh Kotal,

Brahmi: , Mahakṣatrapa, "Great Satraps").[61]

Other areas of probable rule include

Allahabad University),[60] Sanchi and Sarnath (inscriptions with names and dates of Kushan kings),[60] Malwa and Maharashtra,[63] and Odisha (imitation of Kushan coins, and large Kushan hoards).[60]

Map showing the four empires of Eurasia in the 2nd century AD. "For a time, the Kushan Empire was the centerpoint of the major civilizations".[32]

Kushan

nationalists. However, there is no evidence to support this hypothesis.[64]

The

Narmada river, suggesting that Kushan control extended this far south, although this could alternatively have been controlled by the Western Satraps.[69]

Kanishka I. The text of the legend is a meaningless imitation. Bengal, circa 2nd-3rd century AD.[70]

In the East, as late as the 3rd century AD, decorated coins of Huvishka were dedicated at

Orissa.[74]

In the West, the Kushan state covered the

Balochistan, western Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan was known for the Kushan Buddhist city of Merv.[60]

Northward, in the 1st century AD, the

Da Yuezhi in Chinese sources) requested, but were denied, a Han princess, even though they had sent presents to the Chinese court. In retaliation, they marched on Ban Chao in AD 90 with a force of 70,000 but were defeated by the smaller Chinese force. Chinese chronicles relate battles between the Kushans and the Chinese general Ban Chao.[67] The Yuezhi retreated and paid tribute to the Chinese Empire. The regions of the Tarim Basin were all ultimately conquered by Ban Chao. Later, during the Yuánchū period (AD 114–120), the Kushans sent a military force to install Chenpan, who had been a hostage among them, as king of Kashgar.[76]

Kushan fortresses

Several Kushan fortresses are known, particularly in

Hellenistic fortifications, as in Kampir Tepe.[77][78] They are often characterised by arrow-shaped loopholes for archers.[77]

History

Kushan rulers are recorded for a period of about three centuries, from circa 30 CE to circa 375 CE, until the invasions of the

Satavahanas, and the first Gupta Empire rulers.[citation needed
]

Kujula Kadphises (c. 30 – c. 80)

Main article: Kujula Kadphises
Kushan emperors
30 CE–350 CE
Heraios1–30 CE
Kujula Kadphises50–90 CE
Vima Takto90–113 CE
Vima Kadphises113–127 CE
Kanishka I127–151 CE
Huvishka151–190 CE
Vasudeva I190–230 CE
Kanishka II230–247 CE
Vāsishka247–267 CE
Kanishka III267–270 CE
Vasudeva II270–300 CE
Mahi300–305 CE
Shaka305–335 CE
Kipunada335–350 CE

...the prince [elavoor] of Guishuang, named thilac [Kujula Kadphises], attacked and exterminated the four other xihou. He established himself as king, and his dynasty was called that of the Guishuang [Kushan] King. He invaded Anxi [Indo-Parthia] and took the Gaofu [Kabul] region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda [Paktiya] and Jibin [Kapisha and Gandhara]. Qiujiuque [Kujula Kadphises] was more than eighty years old when he died."

— Hou Hanshu[51]

These conquests by Kujula Kadphises probably took place sometime between AD 45 and 60 and laid the basis for the Kushan Empire which was rapidly expanded by his descendants.[citation needed]

Kujula issued an extensive series of coins and fathered at least two sons, Sadaṣkaṇa (who is known from only two inscriptions, especially the Rabatak inscription, and apparently never ruled), and seemingly Vima Takto.[citation needed]

Kujula Kadphises was the great-grandfather of Kanishka.[citation needed]

Vima Taktu or Sadashkana (c. 80 – c. 95)

Main article: Vima Takto

Vima Takto (Ancient Chinese: 閻膏珍 Yangaozhen) is mentioned in the Rabatak inscription (another son, Sadashkana, is mentioned in an inscription of Senavarman, the King of Odi). He was the predecessor of Vima Kadphises, and Kanishka I. He expanded the Kushan Empire into the northwest of South Asia. The Hou Hanshu says:

"His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahk (tu) or, possibly, his brother Sadaṣkaṇa], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi."

— Hou Hanshu[51]

Vima Kadphises (c. 95 – c. 127)

Main article: Vima Kadphises

Vima Kadphises (Kushan language: Οοημο Καδφισης) was a Kushan emperor from around AD 95–127, the son of Sadashkana and the grandson of Kujula Kadphises, and the father of Kanishka I, as detailed by the Rabatak inscription.[citation needed]

Vima Kadphises added to the Kushan territory by his conquests in Bactria. He issued an extensive series of coins and inscriptions. He issued gold coins in addition to the existing copper and silver coinage.[citation needed]

Kanishka I (c. 127 – c. 150)

Main article: Kanishka
Mathura statue of Kanishka
Mathura Museum

The rule of

Kanishka the Great, fourth Kushan king, lasted for about 23 years from c. AD 127.[81]
Upon his accession, Kanishka ruled a huge territory (virtually all of northern India), south to Ujjain and Kundina and east beyond Pataliputra, according to the Rabatak inscription:

In the year one, it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the whole realm of the governing class, including Koonadeano (Kaundiny,

Sri-Champa
), whatever rulers and other important persons (they might have) he had submitted to (his) will, and he had submitted all India to (his) will.

— Rabatak inscription, Lines 4–8

His territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now

Punjab.[citation needed
]

The Kushans also had a summer capital in Bagram (then known as Kapisa), where the "Begram Treasure", comprising works of art from Greece to China, has been found. According to the Rabatak inscription, Kanishka was the son of Vima Kadphises, the grandson of Sadashkana, and the great-grandson of Kujula Kadphises. Kanishka's era is now generally accepted to have begun in 127 on the basis of Harry Falk's ground-breaking research.[19][20] Kanishka's era was used as a calendar reference by the Kushans for about a century, until the decline of the Kushan realm.[citation needed]

Huvishka (c. 150 – c. 180)

Main article: Huvishka

Huvishka (Kushan: Οοηϸκι, "Ooishki") was a Kushan emperor from the death of Kanishka (assumed on the best evidence available to be in 150) until the succession of Vasudeva I about thirty years later. His rule was a period of retrenchment and consolidation for the Empire. In particular he devoted time and effort early in his reign to the exertion of greater control over the city of Mathura.[citation needed]

Vasudeva I (c. 190 – c. 230)

Main article: Vasudeva I

Indo-Sasanians or Kushanshahs in what is nowadays Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India from around AD 240.[citation needed
]

class=notpageimage|
Location of the Little Kushans in the northwestern part of the subcontinent, and contemporary South Asian polities circa 350 CE.[82]

Vāsishka (c. 247 – c. 267)

Main article: Vāsishka

Vidisa), where several inscriptions in his name have been found, dated to the year 22 (the Sanchi inscription of "Vaksushana" – i.e., Vasishka Kushana) and year 28 (the Sanchi inscription of Vasaska – i.e., Vasishka) of a possible second Kanishka era.[83][84]

Little Kushans (AD 270 – 350)

Following territory losses in the west (

Kushano-Sasanians), and in the east (loss of Mathura to the Gupta Empire), several "Little Kushans" are known, who ruled locally in the area of Punjab with their capital at Taxila: Vasudeva II (270 – 300), Mahi (300 – 305), Shaka (305 – 335) and Kipunada (335 – 350).[83] They probably were vassals of the Gupta Empire, until the invasion of the Kidarites destroyed the last remains of Kushan rule.[83]

Kushan deities

Kumara/Kartikeya with a Kushan devotee, 2nd century AD
Boddhisattva.[85]
Linga
worshipped by Kushan devotees, circa 2nd century AD

The Kushan religious

pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins that were made in gold, silver, and copper. These coins contained more than thirty different gods, belonging mainly to their own Iranian, as well as Greek and Indian worlds as well. Kushan coins had images of Kushan Kings, Buddha, and figures from the Indo-Aryan and Iranian pantheons.[86] Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on early coins. During Kanishka's reign, the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian (though it remained in Greek script for all kings). After Huvishka, only two divinities appear on the coins: Ardoxsho and Oesho (see details below).[87][88]

The Iranian entities depicted on coinage include:

Representation of entities from Greek mythology and Hellenistic syncretism are:

The Indic entities represented on coinage include:[96]

Images of Kushan worshippers
  • Kushan worshipper with Zeus/Serapis/Ohrmazd, Bactria, 3rd century AD.[102]
    Kushan worshipper with Zeus/Serapis/Ohrmazd, Bactria, 3rd century AD.[102]
  • Kushan worshipper with Pharro, Bactria, 3rd century AD.[102]
    Kushan worshipper with
    Pharro, Bactria, 3rd century AD.[102]
  • Kushan worshipper with Shiva/Oesho, Bactria, 3rd century AD.[102]
    Kushan worshipper with Shiva/Oesho, Bactria, 3rd century AD.[102]
  • Shiva-Oesho wall painting with fragment of a worshipper, Bactria, 3rd century AD.[103]
    Shiva-Oesho wall painting with fragment of a worshipper, Bactria, 3rd century AD.[103]
  • Deities on Kushan coinage and seals
  • Mahasena on a coin of Huvishka
    Mahasena on a coin of Huvishka
  • Four-faced Oesho
    Four-faced Oesho
  • Rishti or Riom[104][105]
    Rishti or Riom[104][105]
  • Manaobago
    Manaobago
  • Pharro
    Pharro
  • Ardochsho
    Ardochsho
  • Oesho or Shiva
    Oesho or Shiva
  • Oesho or Shiva with bull
    Oesho or Shiva with bull
  • Skanda and Visakha
    Skanda and Visakha
  • Kushan Carnelian seal representing the "ΑΔϷΟ" (adsho Atar), with triratana symbol left, and Kanishka the Great's dynastic mark right
    Kushan
    triratana
    symbol left, and Kanishka the Great's dynastic mark right
  • Coin of Kanishka I, with a depiction of the Buddha and legend "Boddo" in Greek script
    Coin of
    Buddha
    and legend "Boddo" in Greek script
  • Herakles.
    Herakles.
  • Buddha
    Buddha
  • Coin of Vima Kadphises. Deity Oesho on the reverse, thought to be Shiva,[98][99][106] or the Zoroastrian Vayu.[107]
    Coin of Vima Kadphises. Deity Oesho on the reverse, thought to be Shiva,[98][99][106] or the Zoroastrian Vayu.[107]

Kushans and Buddhism

The Ahin Posh stupa was dedicated in the 2nd century AD under the Kushans, and contained coins of Kushan and Roman Emperors.
Avalokitesvara, and a Buddhist monk. 2nd–3rd century, Shotorak.[108]

The Kushans inherited the

Greco-Buddhist traditions of the Indo-Greek Kingdom they replaced, and their patronage of Buddhist institutions allowed them to grow as a commercial power.[109] Between the mid-1st century and the mid-3rd century, Buddhism, patronised by the Kushans, extended to China and other Asian countries through the Silk Road.[citation needed
]

Kanishka is renowned in Buddhist tradition for having convened a

great Buddhist council in Kashmir. Along with his predecessors in the region, the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Milinda) and the Indian emperors Ashoka and Harsha Vardhana, Kanishka is considered by Buddhism as one of its greatest benefactors.[citation needed
]

During the 1st century AD, Buddhist books were being produced and carried by monks, and their trader patrons. Also, monasteries were being established along these land routes that went from China and other parts of Asia. With the development of Buddhist books, it caused a new written language called Gandhara. Gandhara consists of eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. Scholars are said to have found many Buddhist scrolls that contained the Gandhari language.[110]

The reign of Huvishka corresponds to the first known epigraphic evidence of the Buddha

Schøyen Collection describes Huvishka as one who has "set forth in the Mahāyāna."[111]

The 12th century historical chronicle Rajatarangini mentions in detail the rule of the Kushan kings and their benevolence towards Buddhism:[112][113]

Then there ruled in this very land the founders of cities called after their own appellations the three kings named

Sakya Simha in this terrestrial world one hundred fifty years, it is said, had elapsed. And a Bodhisattva was in this country the sole supreme ruler of the land; he was the illustrious Nagarjuna who dwelt in Sadarhadvana.

— Rajatarangini (I168-I173)[113][114]

Kushan art

Main articles: Kushan art, Greco-Buddhist art, and Art of Mathura
Bodhisattava (right), said to have similar characteristics (Philadelphia Museum of Art).[115]

The art and culture of Gandhara, at the crossroads of the Kushan hegemony, developed the traditions of Greco-Buddhist art and are the best known expressions of Kushan influences to Westerners. Several direct depictions of Kushans are known from Gandhara, where they are represented with a tunic, belt and trousers and play the role of devotees to the Buddha, as well as the Bodhisattva and future Buddha Maitreya.[115]

According to Benjamin Rowland, the first expression of Kushan art appears at

Kushans.[115]

During the Kushan Empire, many images of Gandhara share a strong resemblance to the features of Greek, Syrian, Persian and Indian figures. These Western-looking stylistic signatures often include heavy drapery and curly hair,[116] representing a composite (the Greeks, for example, often possessed curly hair).[citation needed]

As the Kushans took control of the area of

Buddha came to be mass-produced around this time, possibly encouraged by doctrinal changes in Buddhism allowing to depart from the aniconism that had prevailed in the Buddhist sculptures at Mathura, Bharhut or Sanchi from the end of the 2nd century BC.[117] The artistic cultural influence of kushans declined slowly due to Hellenistic Greek and Indian influences.[118]

Kushan monetary system

Main article: Kushan coinage
Kushan gold ingots, from the Dalverzin Tepe treasure, 1st century CE

The Kushans used gold ingots as part of their monetary system, as shown by the gold treasure discovered in 1972 in

Kharoshthi mentioning their weight and the god Mitra (protector of contractual relations)[125] These ingots are all attributed to the monetary system of the Kushan Empire.[125]

The coinage of the Kushans was abundant and an important tool of propaganda in promoting each Kushan ruler.

Kushano-Sasanians in the west, and the kingdom of Samatata in Bengal to the east. The coinage of the Gupta Empire was also initially derived from the coinage of the Kushan Empire, adopting its weight standard, techniques and designs, following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest.[129][130][131] The imagery on Gupta coins then became more Indian in both style and subject matter compared to earlier dynasties, where Greco-Roman and Persian styles were mostly followed.[130][132]

It has long been suggested that the gold contained in Kushan coins was ultimately of Roman origin, and that Roman coins were imported as a consequence of trade and melted in India to mint Kushan coins. However, a recent archaeometallurgical study of trace elements through proton activation analysis has shown that Kushan gold contains high concentrations of platinum and palladium, which rules out the hypothesis of a Roman provenance. To this day, the origin of Kushan gold remains unknown.[133]

Contacts with Rome

Main article: Indo-Roman trade relations
Roman coinage among the Kushans
Septimus Severus and Julia Domna
Indian imitation of a coin of Septimius Severus. AD 193-211

Several Roman sources describe the visit of ambassadors from the Kings of Bactria and India during the 2nd century, probably referring to the Kushans.[134]

Historia Augusta, speaking of Emperor Hadrian (117–138) tells:[134]

Greco-Roman gladiator on a glass vessel, Begram, 2nd century

Reges Bactrianorum legatos ad eum, amicitiae petendae causa, supplices miserunt "The kings of the Bactrians sent supplicant ambassadors to him, to seek his friendship."[134]

Also in 138, according to

Hyrcanian ambassadors.[134]

Some Kushan coins have an effigy of "Roma", suggesting a strong level of awareness and some level of diplomatic relations.[134]

The summer capital of the Kushan Empire in Begram has yielded a considerable amount of goods imported from the Roman Empire—in particular, various types of glassware. The Chinese described the presence of Roman goods in the Kushan realm:

"Precious things from Da Qin [the Roman Empire] can be found there [in Tianzhu or Northwestern India], as well as fine cotton cloths, fine wool carpets, perfumes of all sorts, sugar candy, pepper, ginger, and black salt."

— Hou Hanshu[135]

Parthamaspates of Parthia, a client of Rome and ruler of the kingdom of Osroene, is known to have traded with the Kushan Empire, goods being sent by sea and through the Indus River.[136]

Contacts with China

class=notpageimage|
The Kushan Empire and contemporary polities in continental Asia circa 100 AD.

During the 1st and 2nd century AD, the Kushan Empire expanded militarily to the north, putting them at the center of the profitable Central Asian commerce. They are related to have collaborated militarily with the Chinese against nomadic incursion, particularly when they allied with the Han dynasty general Ban Chao against the Sogdians in 84, when the latter were trying to support a revolt by the king of Kashgar.[137] Around 85, they also assisted the Chinese general in an attack on Turpan, east of the Tarim Basin.

Kushan coinage in China
Kushans, excavated in Shaanxi, 1st–2nd century AD. Gansu Provincial Museum.[138][139]

In recognition for their support to the Chinese, the Kushans requested a Han princess, but were denied,

He of Han
(89–106).

The Kushans are again recorded to have sent presents to the Chinese court in 158–159 during the reign of Emperor Huan of Han.

Following these interactions, cultural exchanges further increased, and Kushan Buddhist missionaries, such as Lokaksema, became active in the Chinese capital cities of Luoyang and sometimes Nanjing, where they particularly distinguished themselves by their translation work. They were the first recorded promoters of Hinayana and Mahayana scriptures in China, greatly contributing to the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism.

Decline

Kushano-Sassanians

Main article:
Kushano-Sasanians
Sasanian control of the Western Kushans
Bactrian
legend around "Peroz the Great Kushan King"

After the death of

Hindu-Kush or even south of it:[141]

I, the Mazda-worshipping lord, Shapur, king of kings of Iran and An-Iran... (I) am the Master of the Domain of Iran (Ērānšahr) and possess the territory of Persis, Parthian... Hindestan, the Domain of the Kushan up to the limits of Paškabur and up to Kash, Sughd, and Chachestan.

— Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, Naqsh-e Rostam[141]

This is also confirmed by the Rag-i-Bibi inscription in modern Afghanistan.[141]

The Sasanians deposed the Western dynasty and replaced them with Persian vassals known as the

Kushano-Sasanians. The Kushano-Sasanians ultimately became very powerful under Hormizd I Kushanshah (277–286) and rebelled against the Sasanian Empire, while continuing many aspects of the Kushan culture, visible in particular in their titulature and their coinage.[143]

"Little Kushans" and Gupta suzerainty

Gupta control over the Eastern Kushans
Allahabad pillar (Line 23), claimed by Samudragupta to be under his dominion.[144]
Coin minted in the Punjab area with the name "Samudra" ( Sa-mu-dra), thought to be the Gupta ruler Samudragupta. These coins imitate those of the last Kushan ruler Kipunada, and precede the coinage of the first Kidarite Huns in northwestern India. Circa 350-375.[145][146]

The Eastern Kushan kingdom, also known as the "Little Kushans", was based in the Punjab. Around 270 their territories on the Gangetic plain became independent under local dynasties such as the

Allahabad pillar Samudragupta proclaims that the Dēvaputra-Shāhi-Shāhānushāhi (referring to the last Kushan rulers, being a deformation of the Kushan regnal titles Devaputra, Shao and Shaonanoshao: "Son of God, King, King of Kings") are now under his dominion, and that they were forced to "self-surrender, offering (their own) daughters in marriage and a request for the administration of their own districts and provinces".[148][147][149] This suggests that by the time of the Allahabad inscription the Kushans still ruled in Punjab, but under the suzerainty of the Gupta Emperor.[147]

Numimastics indicate that the coinage of the Eastern Kushans was much weakened: silver coinage was abandoned altogether, and gold coinage was debased. This suggests that the Eastern Kushans had lost their central trading role on the trade routes that supplied luxury goods and gold.[147] Still, the Buddhist art of Gandhara continued to flourish, and cities such as Sirsukh near Taxila were established.[147]

Sasanian, Kidarite and Alchon invasions

Main articles: Sasanian Empire, Kidarites, and Alchon Huns

In the east around 350, Shapur II regained the upper hand against the

Kidara.[151]

In 360 a

Kidarite Kingdom. The Kushan style of Kidarite coins indicates they claimed Kushan heritage. The Kidarite seem to have been rather prosperous, although on a smaller scale than their Kushan predecessors. East of the Punjab, the former eastern territories of the Kushans were controlled by the mighty Gupta Empire.[citation needed
]

The remnants of Kushan culture under the Kidarites in the northwest were ultimately wiped out in the end of the 5th century by the invasions of the Alchon Huns (sometimes considered as a branch of the Hephthalites), and later the Nezak Huns.[citation needed]

Rulers

One of the most recent list of rulers with dates is as follows:[152]

  • Heraios (c. 1 – 30), first king to call himself "Kushan" on his coinage
"Great Kushans";
  • Kujula Kadphises (c. 50 – c. 90)
  • Vima Takto (c. 90 – c. 113), alias Soter Megas or "Great Saviour."
  • Vima Kadphises (c. 113 – c. 127) First great Kushan Emperor
  • Kanishka the Great (127 – c. 151)
  • Huvishka (c. 151 – c. 190)
  • Vasudeva I (c. 190 – c. 230) Last great Kushan Emperor
  • Kanishka II (c. 230 – 247)
  • Vashishka (c. 247 – 267)
"Little Kushans";

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    Kanishka the Great (c. 127 AD), discarded Greek (Ionian) as the language of administration and adopted Bactrian ("Arya language").[6]
  2. ^ The Pali word vaṃśa (dynasty) affixed to Gushana (Kushana), i.e. Gushana-vaṃśa (Kushan dynasty) appears on a dedicatory inscription at Manikiala stupa.[7]
  3. ^ It began about 127 CE.[19][20][21]
  4. ^ For example, the 12th century historical chronicle from Kashmir, the Rajatarangini, describes the Central Asia Kushans as Turushka (तुरुष्क).
  5. ^ a b See also the analysis of Sims-Williams & Cribb (1995–1996), specialists of the field, who had a central role in the decipherment.
  6. ^ For a translation of the full text of the Rabatak inscription see: Mukherjee (1995). This translation is quoted in: Goyal (2005), p. 88.
  7. ^ Seated Buddha with inscription starting with 𑁕 Maharajasya Kanishkasya Sam 4 "Year 4 of the Great King Kanishka".
  1. Ancient Greek
    : Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν  • Bactrian: Κοϸανο, Košano  •
    Brahmi: , Ku-ṣā-ṇa; BHS
    : Guṣāṇa-vaṃśa  • Parthian: 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, Kušan-xšaθr  • Chinese: 貴霜; pinyin: Guìshuāng[15]

References

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  22. ISBN 978-0-313-33798-7
    . The Yuezhi people conquered Bactria in the second century BCE. and divided the country into five chiefdoms, one of which would become the Kushan Empire. Recognizing the importance of unification, these five tribes combined under the one dominate Kushan tribe, and the primary rulers descended from the Yuezhi.
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  29. OCLC 28186754. Contrary to earlier assumptions, which regarded Kujula Kadphises as Buddhist on the basis of this epithet [dharmasthita- "steadfast in the Law"], it is now clear from the wording of a Mathura inscription, in which Huvishka bears the same epithet satyadharmasthita that the kingdom was conferred upon him by Sarva and Scamdavira (Candavira), that is, he was a devotee of Siva.
    The Mathura inscription in question is documented in Lüders 1961, p.138ff
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  39. ^ Enoki, Koshelenko & Haidary 1994, pp. 171–183
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  42. ^ a b Wink 2002, p. 57.
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  44. ^ Rosenfield 1967, p. 8
  45. ^ KHALCHAYAN – Encyclopaedia Iranica. Figure 1.
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  52. ^ Chavannes 1907, pp. 190–192.
  53. ^
    ISBN 978-1-316-29830-5
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  55. ISBN 978-0-19-521921-0
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    ), and Ziri-Tambo (Janjgir-Champa). These cities lay to the east and south of Mathura, up to which locality Wima had already carried his victorious arm. Therefore they must have been captured or subdued by Kanishka I himself."
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  131. ISBN 9781438109961
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  145. ISBN 9780714111650
    . In the Punjab the stylistic progression of the gold series from Kushan to Kidarite is clear: imitation staters were issued first in the name of Samudragupta, then by Kirada, "Peroz" and finally Kidara
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  148. Allahabad pillar
    inscription of Samudragupta: "Self-surrender, offering (their own) daughters in marriage and a request for the administration of their own districts and provinces through the Garuḍa badge, by the Dēvaputra-Shāhi-Shāhānushāhi and the Śaka lords and by (rulers) occupying all Island countries, such as Siṁhala and others."
  149. ^ Cribb, Joe; Singh, Karan (Winter 2017). "Two Curious Kidarite Coin Types From 3rd Century Kashmir". JONS. 230: 3.
  150. ^ Rezakhani 2017a, p. 85.
  151. ^ a b Ghosh, Amalananda (1965). Taxila. CUP Archive. pp. 790–791.
  152. ^ Jongeward, David; Cribb, Joe (2014). Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, and Kidarite Coins A Catalogue of Coins From the American Numismatic Society by David Jongeward and Joe Cribb with Peter Donovan. p. 4.
  153. ^ a b c The Glorious History of Kushana Empire, Adesh Katariya, 2012, p.69

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