Kushan Empire

Not to be confused with Kingdom of Kush.

scriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly
Kushan redirects here. For the village in Iran, see Chinese.[15] The Kushan control fragmented into semiKushan, Iran.
independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell
Kasana redirects here. For the village in Iran, see to the Sassanians who targeted from the west. In the
fourth century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed
Kasana, Iran.
from the east. The last of the Kushan and Sassanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by the Hepthalites,
The Kushan Empire (Bactrian: ; Sanskrit: another Indo-European people from the north.[4]
Ku Rjavaa; BHS: Gua-vaa;
Parthian:
Kuan-xar[5] ) was an empire
originally formed in the early 1st century CE under
Kujula Kadphises in the territories of the former Greco- 1 Origins
Bactrian Kingdom around the Oxus River (Amu Darya),
and later based near Kabul, Afghanistan.[6] The Kushans
spread from the Kabul River Valley to also encompass
much of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, from which they took
their rst ocial language (Greek),[2] Bactrian alphabet,
Greco-Buddhist religion, coinage system, and art. They
absorbed the Central Asian tribes that had previously
conquered parts of the northern central Iranian Plateau
once ruled by the Parthians, and reached their peak under
the Buddhist emperor Kanishka (127151), whose realm
stretched from Turfan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra
on the Gangetic Plain.[4]
The Kushans were one of ve branches of the Yuezhi
confederation,[7][8] a possibly Iranian[9] or Tocharian,[10]
Indo-European[11] nomadic people who had migrated
from the Tarim Basin and settled in ancient Bactria.[8]
Their ocial language, the Indo-European Bactrian language, is closely related to the modern Afghan languages.
Listing of Kushan royal tamgas

During the 1st and early 2nd centuries CE, the Kushans
expanded across the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi
(Benares), where inscriptions have been found dating to
the era of the Kushan emperor Kanishka, which began
about 127 CE [12][13][14] Around 152 AD, Kanishka sent
his armies north of the Karakoram mountains. They captured territories as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant,
in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A
direct road from Gandhara to China was opened which
remained under Kushan control for more than 100 years.
The security oered by the Kushans encouraged travel
across the Khunjerab Pass and facilitated the spread of
Mahayana Buddhism to China.

Chinese sources describe the Guishuang ( ), i.e. the

Kushans, as one of the ve aristocratic tribes of the
Yuezhi ( ), with some people claiming they were a
loose confederation of Indo-European peoples,[16] though
many scholars are still unconvinced that they originally
spoke an Indo-European language.
For well over a century, however, there
have been many arguments about the ethnic
and linguistic origins of the Da Yuezhi (
),
Kushans ( ), and the Tochari, and still there
is little consensus.[17]

The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the

Roman Empire, Sassanid Persia, Aksumite Empire and
Han China. While much philosophy, art, and science
was created within its borders, the only textual record
we have of the empires history today comes from in-

The Yuezhi had been living in the arid grasslands of eastern Central Asias Tarim Basin, in modern-day Xinjiang,
China, possibly speaking varieties of the Tocharian languages, until they were driven west by the Xiongnu in
176160 BCE. The ve tribes constituting the Yuezhi
1

DIVERSE CULTURAL INFLUENCES

are known in Chinese history as Xim ( ), Gushung was Heraios. He calls himself a "tyrant" on his coins, and
( ), Shungm ( ), Xdn ( ), and Dm ( ).
also exhibits skull deformation. He may have been an ally
The Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of Greco- of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage.
Bactria (in northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) around Heraios may have been the father of the rst Kushan em135 BC. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the peror Kujula Kadphises.
southeast in areas of the Hindu Kush and the Indus basin The Chinese Hou Hanshu chronicles gives an account of
(in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan), occupying the the formation of the Kushan empire based on a report
western part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom.
made by the Chinese general Ban Yong to the Chinese
General Cunningham identied the Kushans as Gurjars or Emperor c. 125 AD:
Gujjar.[18] The word Gusur is referenced in the Rabatak
inscription of Kushan king Kanishka. According to some
scholars, in this inscription the word Gusur, which means
Kulputra or a man or woman born in high family, stands
for Gurjara.[19][20][21]

Early Kushans

More than a hundred years later [than the

conquest of Bactria by the Da Yuezhi], the
prince [xihou] of Guishuang (Badakhshan) 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. His son, Yangaozhen
[probably Vema Tahk(tu) or, possibly, his
brother Sadakaa], 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[24][25]

3 Diverse cultural inuences

Head of a Kushan prince (Khalchayan palace, Uzbekistan).

Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans

in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana. Archaeological
structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin, Surkh Kotal (a
monumental temple), and in the palace of Khalchayan.
Various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers,[22] and signicantly men with
articially deformed skulls, such as the Kushan prince of
Khalchayan[23] (a practice well attested in nomadic Central Asia). The Chinese rst 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. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known
to have built fortresses. The earliest documented ruler,
and the rst one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler,

In the 1st century BCE, the Guishuang (Ch:

) gained
prominence over the other Yuezhi tribes, and welded
them into a tight confederation under yabgu (Commander) Kujula Kadphises. The name Guishuang was
adopted in the West and modied into Kushan to designate the confederation, although the Chinese continued
to call them Yuezhi.
Gradually wresting control of the area from the Scythian
tribes, the Kushans expanded south into the region traditionally known as Gandhara (an area primarily in
Pakistan's Pothowar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region but
going in an arc to include the Kabul valley and part
of Qandahar in Afghanistan) and established twin capitals near present-day Kabul and Peshawar then known as
Kapisa and Pushklavati respectively.
The Kushans adopted elements of the Hellenistic culture of Bactria. They adopted the Greek alphabet to suit
their own language (with the additional development of
the letter sh, as in Kushan) and soon began minting coinage on the Greek model. On their coins they
used Greek language legends combined with Pali legends (in the Kharoshthi script), until the rst few years

The Kushan writing system used the Greek alphabet, with the
addition of the letter Sho.

Saivism (a sect of Hinduism).

The rule of the Kushans linked the seagoing trade of
the Indian Ocean with the commerce of the Silk Road
through the long-civilized Indus Valley. At the height of
the dynasty, the Kushans loosely ruled a territory that extended to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan into northern India.
The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese
silks to Rome, and created strings of ourishing urban
centers.

4 Territorial expansion

A Buddhist devotee in Kushan dress, Mathura, 2nd century. The

Kushan dress is generally depicted as quite sti, and it is thought
it was often made of leather (Francine Tissot, Gandhara).

of the reign of Kanishka. After that date, they used

Kushan language legends (in an adapted Greek script),
combined with legends in Greek (Greek script) and legends in Prakrit (Kharoshthi script).
The Kushans are believed to have been predominantly
Zoroastrian. However, from the time of Vima Takto,
many Kushans started adopting aspects of Buddhist culture. Like the Egyptians, they absorbed the strong remnants of the Greek Culture of the Hellenistic Kingdoms,
becoming at least partly Hellenised. The great Kushan
emperor Vima Kadphises may have embraced Saivism,
as surmised by coins minted during the period. The following Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of
faiths including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and possibly

Sculpture of a spear-throwing foreign soldier, Later Han, Three

Kingdoms, 3rd century CE, China.

Roseneld notes that archaeological evidence of a

Kushan rule of long duration is present in an area stretching from Surkh Kotal, Begram, the summer capital of the
Kushans, Peshawar, the capital under Kanishka I, Taxila,
and Mathura, the winter capital of the Kushans.[26]
Other areas of probable rule include Khwarezm[26]
Kausambi (excavations of Allahabad University),[26]

MAIN KUSHAN RULERS

Sanchi and Sarnath (inscriptions with names and dates

of Kushan kings),[26] Malwa and Maharashtra,[27] Odisha
(imitation of Kushan coins, and large Kushan hoards).[26]
Kushan invasions in the rst century had been given as an
explanation for the migration of Indians from the Indian
Subcontinent toward Southeast Asia according to proponents of a Greater India theory by 20th-century Indian
nationalists. However, there is no evidence to support this
hypothesis.[28]
The recently discovered Rabatak inscription conrms the
account of the Hou Hanshu, Weile, and inscriptions
dated early in the Kanishka era (incept probably 127 CE),
that large Kushan dominions expanded into the heartland of northern India in the early 2nd century AD. The
lines 4 to 7 of the inscription[29] describe the cities which
were under the rule of Kanishka, among which six names
are identiable: Ujjain, Kundina, Saketa, Kausambi,
Pataliputra, and Champa (although the text is not clear
whether Champa was a possession of Kanishka or just
beyond it).[30][31][32] Northward, in the 2nd century AD,
the Kushans under Kanishka made various forays into the
Tarim Basin, seemingly the original ground of their ancestors the Yuezhi, where they had various contacts with
the Chinese. Both archaeological ndings and literary
evidence suggest Kushan rule, in Kashgar, Yarkand and
Khotan. The Kushan state was bounded to the south by
the Prata state of Balochistan, western Pakistan.[26]

Oerings found in Bodh Gaya under the Enlightenment Throne

of the Buddha, with an impression of an imitation of a coin of
the Kushan emperor Huvishka, 2nd century CE. British Museum.

at least two sons, Sadakaa (who is known from only

two inscriptions, especially the Rabatak inscription, and
apparently never ruled), and seemingly Vima Takto.

Kujula Kadphises was the great grandfather of Kanishka.

As late as the 3rd century AD, decorated coins of Huvishka were dedicated at Bodh Gaya together with other
gold oerings under the Enlightenment Throne of the 5.2 Vima Taktu or Sadashkana (ca. 80
Buddha, suggesting direct Kushan inuence in the area
ca. 95)
during that period.[33]
Vima Takto (Ancient Chinese:
Yangaozhen) is
mentioned in the Rabatak inscription (another son,
Sadashkana, is mentioned in an inscription of Senavar5 Main Kushan rulers
man, the King of Odi). He was the predecessor of Vima
Kadphises, and Kanishka I. He expanded the Kushan Em5.1 Kujula Kadphises (ca. 30 ca. 80)
pire into the northwest of the South Asia. The Hou Hanshu says:
"...the prince [elavoor] of Guishuang,
named thilac [Kujula Kadphises], attacked
His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema
and exterminated the four other xihou. He
Tahk(tu)
or, possibly, his brother Sadakaa],
established himself as king, and his dynasty
became
king
in his place. He defeated Tianzhu
was called that of the Guishuang [Kushan]
[North-western
India] and installed Generals
King. He invaded Anxi [Indo-Parthia], and
to
supervise
and
lead it. The Yuezhi then
took the Gaofu [Kabul] region. He also
became
extremely
rich. All the kingdoms call
defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda
[their
king]
the
Guishuang
[Kushan] king, but
[Paktiya] and Jibin [Kapisha and Gandhara].
the
Han
call
them
by
their
original name, Da
Qiujiuque [Kujula Kadphises] was more than
Yuezhi.
eighty years old when he died.
Hou Hanshu[24]
Hou Hanshu[24]

These conquests probably took place sometime between 5.3 Vima Kadphises (ca. 95 ca. 127)
45 and 60, and laid the basis for the Kushan Empire which
was rapidly expanded by his descendants.
Vima Kadphises (Kushan language: )
Kujula issued an extensive series of coins and fathered was a Kushan emperor from around 90100 CE, the son

5.5

Vsishka (ca. 140 ca. 160)

of Sadashkana and the grandson of Kujula Kadphises,

and the father of Kanishka I, as detailed by the Rabatak
inscription.
Vima Kadphises added to the Kushan territory by his conquests in Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan. He issued
an extensive series of coins and inscriptions. He was the
rst to introduce gold coinage in India, in addition to the
existing copper and silver coinage.

5.4

Kanishka I (ca. 127 ca. 140)

The Qila Mubarak fort at Bathinda, India was built by Kanishka.

His territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan) and
Mathura, in northern India. He is also credited (along
with Raja Dab) for building the massive, ancient Fort at
Bathinda (Qila Mubarak), in the modern city of Bathinda,
Indian Punjab.
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. Kanishkas era is now generally accepted to
have begun in 127 on the basis of Harry Falks groundbreaking research.[12][34] Kanishkas era was used as a calendar reference by the Kushans for about a century, until
the decline of the Kushan realm.

5.5 Vsishka (ca. 140 ca. 160)

Kanishka, Mathura Museum.

The rule of Kanishka, fth Kushan king, who ourished

for about 13 years from c. 127. 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, Kundina) and the city of Ozeno (Ozene,
Ujjain) and the city of Zageda (Saketa) and
the city of Kozambo (Kausambi) and the
city of Palabotro (Pataliputra) and so long
unto (i.e. as far as) the city of Ziri-tambo
(Sri-Champa).
Rabatak inscription, Lines 46

Vsishka was a Kushan emperor who seems to have a 20

year reign following Kanishka. His rule is recorded as
far south as Sanchi (near 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 the Kanishka era.

5.6 Huvishka (ca. 160 ca. 190)

Huvishka (Kushan: , Ooishki) was a Kushan
emperor from about 20 years after the death of Kanishka
(assumed on the best evidence available to be in 140 AD)
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 eort
early in his reign to the exertion of greater control over
the city of Mathura.

5.7

Vasudeva I (ca. 190 ca. 230)

KUSHANS AND BUDDHISM

Representation of entities from Greek mythology and

Hellenistic syncretism are:

Vasudeva I (Kushan: Bazodeo, Chinese:

Bodiao) was the last of the Great Kushans. Named
(Helios), (Hephaistos),
inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of Kanishkas era
(Selene), (Anemos). Further, the coins
suggest his reign extended from at least 191 to 225 AD.
of Huvishka also portray the demi-god erakilo
He was the last great Kushan emperor, and the end of his
Heracles, and the Egyptian god sarapo Sarapis
rule coincides with the invasion of the Sassanids as far
as northwestern India, and the establishment of the Indo- The Indic entities represented on coinage include:
Sassanids or Kushanshahs from around 240 AD.
(boddo, Buddha)

Kushan deities

(metrago boddo, bodhisattava

Maitreya)

Mo (maaseno, Mahasena)
The Kushan religious pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins that were made in gold, silver, and
o koo (skando komaro, Skanda Kumara)
copper. These coins contained more than thirty dier

(shakamano
boddho,
ent gods, belonging mainly to their own Iranian, Greek,
Shakyamuni Buddha)
and Indian worlds as well. Kushan coins had images of
Kushan Kings, Buddha, and gures from the Indian and
Iranian pantheons.[35] Greek deities, with Greek names Additionally,
are represented on early coins. During Kanishkas reign,
the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian (though it
(oesho), long considered to represent Indic
remained in Greek script for all kings). After Huvishka,
Shiva,[36][37][38] but also identied as Avestan Vayu
only two divinities appear on the coins: Ardoxsho and
conated with Shiva.[39][40]
Oesho (see details below).
Two copper coins of Huvishka bear a 'Ganesa'
The Iranian entities depicted on coinage include:
legend, but instead of depicting the typical
theriomorphic gure of Ganesha, have a gure
(ardoxsho, Ashi Vanghuhi)
of an archer holding a full-length bow with string
inwards and an arrow. This is typically a depiction
Ao (ashaeixsho, Asha Vahishta)
of Rudra, but in the case of these two coins is
generally assumed to represent Shiva.
(athsho, Atar)
(pharro, Khwarenah)
(lrooaspa, Drvaspa)
, (manaobago, Vohu Manah)
(mao, Mah)
, , , (mithro and variants,
Mithra)
(mozdooano, Mazda *vana Mazda the Kushan coins showing half-length bust of Vima Kadphises in various poses, holding mace-scepter or laurel branch in right hand;
victorious?")

ames at shoulder, tamgha to right or left. On the other side of

, , (variations of pan- coin is a deity with a bull. Some consider the deity as Shiva beAsiatic nana, Sogdian nny, in a Zoroastrian context cause he is in ithyphallic state, holds a trident, and the Nandi bull
[37][38][42]
Others suggest him
Aredvi Sura Anahita, in the Indian context Durga) is his mount, as in Hindu mythology.
as Oesho, Zoroastrian Vayu.

(oado Vata)
Oxo (oaxsho, Oxus)
Oooo (ooromozdo, Ahura Mazda)
(orlagno, Verethragna)
(tiero, Tir)

7 Kushans and Buddhism

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

7.1

Kushan art

7
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.[44]
The reign of Huvishka corresponds to the rst known epigraphic evidence of the Buddha Amitabha, on the bottom part of a 2nd-century statue which has been found in
Govindo-Nagar, and now at the Mathura Museum. The
statue is dated to the 28th year of the reign of Huvishka,
and dedicated to Amitabha Buddha by a family of merchants. There is also some evidence that Huvishka himself was a follower of Mahyna Buddhism. A Sanskrit
manuscript fragment in the Schyen Collection describes
Huvishka as one who has set forth in the Mahyna.[45]

7.1 Kushan art

Kanishka inaugurates Mahayana Buddhism. Illustration from

1910

Early Mahayana Buddhist triad. From left to right, a Kushan

devotee, Maitreya, the Buddha, Avalokitesvara, and a Buddhist
monk. 2nd3rd century, Gandhara

a commercial power.[43] Between the mid-rst century

and the mid-third century, Buddhism, patronized by the
Kushans, extended to China and other Asian countries
through the Silk Road.
Kanishka is renowned in Buddhist tradition for having
convened a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. Along
with his predecessor 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.
During the rst 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

Standing Female, 1st century CE Terracotta. This lively female

gure comes from an area of Pakistan where merchants from
around the Mediterranean had long maintained trading posts.
The area, known in antiquity as Gandhara, developed an unusual hybrid style of art and culture that was at once Hellenic
and Indic. Brooklyn Museum

The art and culture of Gandhara, at the crossroads of

the Kushan hegemony, continued the traditions of GrecoBuddhist art and are the best known expressions of
Kushan inuences 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.

9 CONTACTS WITH CHINA

During the Kushan Empire, many images of Gandhara

share a strong resemblance to the features of Greek, Syrian, Persian and Indian gures. These Western-looking
stylistic signatures often include heavy drapery and curly
hair,[46] representing a composite (the Greeks, for example, often possessed curly hair).
In the iconography, they are never associated however
with the very Hellenistic Standing Buddha statues,
which might therefore correspond to an earlier historical
period.

Contacts with Rome

Main article: Roman trade with India

Several Roman sources describe the visit of ambassadors

Coin of the Roman Emperor Trajan, found together with coins

of Kanishka at the Ahin Posh Monastery

Precious things from Da Qin [the Roman

Empire] can be found there [in Tianzhu or
Northwestern India], as well as ne cotton
cloths, ne wool carpets, perfumes of all sorts,
sugar candy, pepper, ginger, and black salt.
Hou Hanshu[47]

The summer capital of the Kushan in Begram has yielded

a considerable amount of goods imported from the Roman Empire, in particular, various types of glassware.

9 Contacts with China

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

from the Kings of Bactria and India during the 2nd century, probably referring to the Kushans.
Historia Augusta, speaking of Emperor Hadrian (117
138) tells:
Reges Bactrianorum legatos ad eum, amicitiae petendae causa, supplices miserunt
The kings of the Bactrians sent supplicant
ambassadors to him, to seek his friendship.
Also in 138, according to Aurelius Victor (Epitome XV,
4), and Appian (Praef., 7), Antoninus Pius, successor to
Hadrian, received some Indian, Bactrian Hyrcanian ambassadors.

A bronze coin of Kanishka found in Khotan, Tarim Basin

9
During the 1st and 2nd century, the Kushan Empire expanded militarily to the north and occupied parts of the
Tarim Basin, their original grounds, putting them at the
center of the protable Central Asian commerce with
the Roman Empire. They are related to have collaborated militarily with the Chinese against nomadic incursion, particularly when they collaborated 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.[48] Around 85, they also assisted the Chinese
general in an attack on Turpan, east of the Tarim Basin.

troduced the Brahmi script, the Indian Prakrit language

for administration, and expanded the inuence of GrecoBuddhist art which developed into Serindian art.
The Kushans are again recorded to have sent presents to
the Chinese court in 158159 during the reign of the Chinese emperor Han Huan.
Following these interactions, cultural exchanges further
increased, and Kushan Buddhist missionaries, such as
Lokaksema, became active in the Chinese capital cities
of Loyang and sometimes Nanjing, where they particularly distinguished themselves by their translation work.
They were the rst recorded promoters of Hinayana and
Mahayana scriptures in China, greatly contributing to the
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism.

10 Decline
After the death of Vasudeva I in 225, the Kushan empire split into western and eastern halves. The Western
Kushans (in Afghanistan) were soon subjugated by the
Persian Sassanid Empire and lost Bactria and other territories. In 248 they were defeated again by the Persians, who deposed the Western dynasty and replaced
them with Persian vassals known as the Kushanshas (or
Indo-Sassanids).
The Eastern Kushan kingdom was based in the Punjab.
Around 270 their territories on the Gangetic plain became
independent under local dynasties such as the Yaudheyas.
Then in the mid-4th century they were subjugated by the
Gupta Empire under Samudragupta.
In 360 a Kushan vassal named Kidara overthrew the old
Kushan dynasty and established the Kidarite Kingdom.
The Kushan style of Kidarite coins indicates they considered themselves Kushans. The Kidarite seem to have
been rather prosperous, although on a smaller scale than
their Kushan predecessors.
These remnants of the Kushan empire were ultimately
wiped out in the 5th century by the invasions of the
Hephthalites, and the rise of the Gupta empire.
The Kushan Buddhist monk Lokaksema, rst known translator
of Buddhist Mahayana scriptures into Chinese, c. 170.

11 Main Kushan rulers

In recognition for their support to the Chinese,
the Kushans requested a Han princess, but were
denied,[48][49] even after they had sent presents to the
Chinese court. In retaliation, they marched on Ban Chao
in 86 with a force of 70,000, but were defeated by a
smaller Chinese force.[48][49] The Yuezhi retreated and
paid tribute to the Chinese Empire during the reign of
the Chinese emperor Han He (89106).
Later, around 116, the Kushans under Kanishka established a kingdom centered on Kashgar, also taking control of Khotan and Yarkand, which were Chinese dependencies in the Tarim Basin, modern Xinjiang. They in-

Heraios (c. 1 30), rst Kushan ruler, generally

Kushan ruling period is disputed
Kujula Kadphises (c. 30 c. 80)
Vima Takto, (c. 80 c. 95) alias Soter Megas or
Great Saviour.
Vima Kadphises (c. 95 c. 127) the rst great
Kushan emperor
Kanishka I (127 c. 140)

10

13 NOTES

Vsishka (c. 140 c. 160)

Huvishka (c. 160 c. 190)
Vasudeva I (c. 190 to at least 230), the last of the
great Kushan emperors
Kanishka II (c. 230 240)
Vashishka (c. 240 250)
Kanishka III (c. 250 275)
Vasudeva II (c. 275 310)
Vasudeva III reported son of Vasudeva III,a
King, uncertain.
Vasudeva IV reported possible child of Vasudeva III,ruling in Kandahar, uncertain.
Vasudeva of Kabul reported possible child of
Vasudeva IV,ruling in Kabul, uncertain.
Chhu (c. 310? 325?)
Shaka I (c. 325 345)
Kipunada (c. 345 375)

12

See also

Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan

Indo-Parthian Kingdom

language), from Falk (2001): The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja and the era of the Kuas. Harry Falk. Silk Road
Art and Archaeology VII, p. 133.
[3] Andr Wink, Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic
World: The Slavic Kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th13th centuries, (Oxford University Press, 1997), 57.
[4] Afghanistan: Central Asian and Sassanian Rule, ca. 150
B.C.700 A.D.. United States: Library of Congress
Country Studies. 1997. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
[5] The Dynasty Arts of the Kushans, University of California
Press, 1967, p. 5
[6] Hill (2009), pp. 29, 318350
[7] Runion, Meredith L. (2007). The history of Afghanistan.
Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-31333798-7. The Yuezhi people conquered Bactria in the
second century BCE. and divided the country into ve
chiefdoms, one of which would become the Kushan Empire. Recognizing the importance of unication, these ve
tribes combined under the one dominate Kushan tribe,
and the primary rulers descended from the Yuezhi.
[8] Liu, Xinrui (2001). Adas, Michael, ed. Agricultural and
pastoral societies in ancient and classical history. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-156639-832-9.
[9] http://books.google.dk/books?id=DMSuoVGV988C&
printsec=frontcover&dq=Sassanid+and+huns&hl=
da&sa=X&ei=cXfRUcPOMMjvOcfLgYgO&ved=
0CE0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Sassanid%20and%
20huns&f=false

Kucha, another Tocharian-speaking kingdom (with [10] Mallory & Mair (2000), pp. 270297.
a related etymology)

13

Notes

[1] The Rabatak inscription claims that in the year 1 Kanishka Is authority was proclaimed in India, in all the
satrapies and in dierent cities like Koonadeano (Kundina), Ozeno (Ujjain), Kozambo (Kausambi), Zagedo
(Saketa), Palabotro (Pataliputra) and Ziri-Tambo (JanjgirChampa). 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. Ancient Indian
Inscriptions, S. R. Goyal, p. 93. See also the analysis of
Sims-Williams and J.Cribb, who had a central role in the
decipherment: A new Bactrian inscription of Kanishka
the Great, in Silk Road Art and Archaeology No4,
19951996. Also Mukherjee B.N. The Great Kushanan
Testament, Indian Museum Bulletin.
[2] The Kushans at rst retained the Greek language for administrative purposes, but soon began to use Bactrian.
The Bactrian Rabatak inscription (discovered in 1993
and deciphered in 2000) records that the Kushan king
Kanishka (c. 127 AD), discarded Greek (Ionian) as the
language of administration and adopted Bactrian (Arya

[11] They are, by almost unanimous opinion, IndoEuropeans, probably the most oriental of those who
occupied the steppes. Roux, p.90
[12] Falk (2001), pp. 121136.
[13] Falk, Harry (2004), pp. 167176.
[14] Hill (2009), pp. 29, 33, 368371.
[15] Hill (2009), p. 36 and notes.
[16] Kushan Empire (ca. 2nd century BCE3rd century CE) |
Thematic Essay | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
[17] Hill (2009), p. 311.
[18] University of Calcutta (1885). Calcutta review, Volumes
8081. University of Calcutta. p. 202. Southern Panjab,
and as three Gujar princes were reigning somewhere
possibly in the same country more than a hundred years
later, General Cunningham thinks that the Kushan and the
Gujar may be identical
[19] Dineschandra Sircar (1971). Studies in the religious life
of ancient and medieval India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
pp. 108109. ISBN 978-81-208-2790-5. ISBN 81-2082790-2.

11

[20] The history of the Gurjara-Pratihras, Edition 2. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. 1986. p. 20.

[39] Sims-Williams, Nicolas. Bactrian Language. Encyclopaedia Iranica 3. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

[21] University of Kerala. Dept. of History; University of Allahabad. Dept. of Modern Indian History, University of
Travancore, University of Kerala (1963). Journal of Indian history, Volume 41. Dept. of Modern Indian History.
p. 284.

[40] H. Humbach, 1975, p.402-408. K.Tanabe, 1997, p.277,

M.Carter, 1995, p.152. J.Cribb, 1997, p.40. References
cited in De l'Indus l'Oxus.

[22] Lebedynsky, p. 62.

[42] Perkins, J. (2007). Three-headed iva on the Reverse of

Vima Kadphisess Copper Coinage. South Asian Studies,
23(1), 31-37

[23] Lebedynsky, p. 15.

[24] Hill (2009), p. 29.

[41] Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition

[43] Xinru Liu, The Silk Road in World History (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2010), 42.

[25] Chavannes (1907), pp. 190192.

[26] Roseneld, p. 41.
[27] For Malwa and Maharashtra, for which it is speculated
that the Kushans had an alliance with the Western Kshatrapas", see: Roseneld, p. 41.
[28] Hall, D.G.E. (1981). A History of South-East Asia, Fourth
Edition. Hong Kong: Macmillan Education Ltd. p. 17.
ISBN 0-333-24163-0.
[29] For a translation of the full text of the Rabatak inscription
see: Mukherjee, B.N., The Great Kushana Testament,
Indian Museum Bulletin, Calcutta, 1995. This translation
is quoted in: Goyal (2005), p.88.
[30] For quotation: The Rabatak inscription claims that
in the year 1 Kanishka Is authority was proclaimed
in India, in all the satrapies and in dierent cities
like Koonadeano (Kundina), Ozeno (Ujjain), Kozambo
(Kausambi), Zagedo (Saketa), Palabotro (Pataliputra) 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."see: Goyal, p. 93.
[31] See also the analysis of Sims-Williams and J. Cribb, specialists of the eld, who had a central role in the decipherment: A new Bactrian inscription of Kanishka the
Great, in Silk Road Art and Archaeology No. 4, 1995
1996. pp.75142.
[32] Sims-Williams, Nicholas. Bactrian Documents from Ancient Afghanistan. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
[33] British Museum display, Asian Art room.
[34] Falk (2004), pp. 167176.
[35] Xinru Liu, The Silk Road in World History (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2010), 47.
[36] Sivaramamurti, p. 56-59.
[37] Loeschner, Hans (2012) The Stpa of the Kushan Emperor Kanishka the Great Sino-Platonic Papers, No. 227
(July 2012); page 11
[38] Bopearachchi, O. (2007). Some observations on the
chronology of the early Kushans. Res Orientales, 17, 4153

[44] Xinru Liu, The Silk Road in World History (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2010), 58.
[45] Neelis, Jason. Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade
Networks. 2010. p. 141
[46] Birmingham Museum of Art (2010). Birmingham Museum of Art : guide to the collection. [Birmingham, Ala]:
Birmingham Museum of Art. p. 51. ISBN 978-1904832-77-5.
[47] Hill (2009), p. 31.
[48] de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of
Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 AD). Leiden:
Koninklijke Brill. page 5-6. ISBN 90-04-15605-4.
[49] Torday, Laszlo. (1997). Mounted Archers: The Beginnings of Central Asian History. Durham: The Durham
Academic Press. page 393. ISBN 1-900838-03-6.

14 References
Avari, Burjor (2007). India: The Ancient Past. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-35616-9.
Bopearachchi, Osmund (2003). De l'Indus l'Oxus,
Archologie de l'Asie Centrale (in French). Lattes: Association imago-muse de Lattes. ISBN 29516679-2-2.
Chavannes, douard (1906). Trois Gnraux Chinois de la dynastie des Han Orientaux. Pan Tchao
(32102 p.C.); son ls Pan Yong; Leang Kin
(112 p.C.). Chapitre LXXVII du Heou Han chou''.
Toung pao 7.
Faccenna, Domenico (1980). Butkara I (Swt, Pakistan) 19561962, Volume III 1 (in English). Rome:
IsMEO (Istituto Italiano Per Il Medio Ed Estremo
Oriente).
Chavannes, douard (1907). Les pay d'occident
d'aprs le Heou Han chou. Toung pao 8. pp. 149
244.
Falk, Harry. 19951996. Silk Road Art and Archaeology IV.

12

16

Falk, Harry. 2001. The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja and

the era of the Kuas. Silk Road Art and Archaeology VII, pp. 121136.
Falk, Harry. 2004. The Kanika era in Gupta
records. Harry Falk. Silk Road Art and Archaeology X, pp. 167176.
Goyal, S. R. Ancient Indian Inscriptions
Kusumanjali Book World, Jodhpur (India), 2005.
Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the
Weile
by Yu Huan : A Third Century Chinese
Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft
annotated English translation.
Hill, John E. (2009). Through the Jade Gate to
Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later
Han Dynasty, First to Second Centuries CE. BookSurge. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
Lebedynsky, Iaroslav (2006). Les Saces. Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-337-2.
Roseneld, John M. (1993). The Dynastic Art of
the Kushans. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.
ISBN 81-215-0579-8.
Sivaramamurti, C. (1976). atarudrya: Vibhti of
ivas Iconography. Delhi: Abhinav Publications.
Mallory, J. P.; Mair, Victor H. (2000). The Tarim
Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the
Earliest Peoples from the West. London: Thames
& Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05101-1..
Roux, Jean-Paul, L'Asie Centrale, Histoire et Civilization (French), Fayard, 1997, ISBN 978-2-21359894-9

15

Further reading

Dorn'eich, Chris M. (2008). Chinese sources on

the History of the Niusi-Wusi-Asi(oi)-Rishi(ka)-ArsiArshi-Ruzhi and their Kueishuang-Kushan Dynasty.
Shiji 110/Hanshu 94A: The Xiongnu: Synopsis of
Chinese original Text and several Western Translations with Extant Annotations. Berlin. To read or
download go to:
Foucher, M. A. 1901. Notes sur la geographie ancienne du Gandhra (commentaire un chaptaire de
Hiuen-Tsang). BEFEO No. 4, Oct. 1901, pp. 322
369.
Hargreaves, H. (191011): Excavations at Shh-jk Dhr"; Archaeological Survey of India, 191011,
pp. 2532.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Harmatta, Jnos, ed., 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development
of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to
A.D. 250. Paris, UNESCO Publishing.
Konow, Sten. Editor. 1929. Kharoshth Inscriptions
with Exception of those of Asoka. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. II, Part I. Reprint: Indological Book House, Varanasi, 1969.
Lerner, Martin (1984). The ame and the lotus: Indian and Southeast Asian art from the Kronos collections. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of
Art. ISBN 0-87099-374-7.
Litvinsky, B. A., ed., 1996. History of civilizations
of Central Asia, Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Paris, UNESCO Publishing.
Liu, Xinru 2001 Migration and Settlement of the
Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence
of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies. Journal of
World History, Volume 12, No. 2, Fall 2001. University of Hawaii Press, pp. 261292. .
Sarianidi, Viktor. 1985. The Golden Hoard of Bactria: From the Tillya-tepe Excavations in Northern
Afghanistan. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York.
Sims-Williams, Nicholas. 1998. Further notes on
the Bactrian inscription of Rabatak, with an Appendix on the names of Kujula Kadphises and Vima
Taktu in Chinese. Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies Part 1: Old and
Middle Iranian Studies. Edited by Nicholas SimsWilliams. Wiesbaden. 1998, pp. 7993.
Spooner, D. B. 19089. Excavations at Shh-jk Dhr."; Archaeological Survey of India, 19089,
pp. 3859.
Watson, Burton. Trans. 1993. Records of the Grand
Historian of China: Han Dynasty II. Translated from
the Shiji of Sima Qian. Chapter 123: The Account of Dayuan, Columbia University Press. Revised Edition. ISBN 0-231-08166-9; ISBN 0-23108167-7 (pbk.)
Zrcher, E. (1968). The Yeh-chih and Kanika in
the Chinese sources. Papers on the Date of Kanika.
Basham, A. L., ed., 1968. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp.
346393.

16 External links
Kushan dynasty in Encyclopdia Britannica
Metropolitan Museum capsule history
New documents help x controversial Kushan dating

13
Coins of the Kushans on wildwinds.com
Antique Indian Coins
Brief Guide to Kushan History
The CoinIndia Online Catalogue of Kushan Coins
Dedicated resource to study of Kushan Empire

14

17

17
17.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Olivier, Llywrch, DopeshJustin, Menchi, KAMiKAZOW, Abou Ben Adhem, Kingturtle, Pratyeka, John K, Tobias Conradi, Mxn,
Viz, Fuzheado, WhisperToMe, Shizhao, HarryHenryGebel, Wetman, Carlossuarez46, PuzzletChung, Tomchiukc, Yosri, Timrollpickering, Mervyn, Tom Radulovich, Wwoods, Everyking, Per Honor et Gloria, Edcolins, Manuel Anastcio, GeneralPatton, Sam Hocevar,
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1, Pinethicket, I dream of horses, Elockid, Rameshngbot, RedBot, MastiBot, Nora lives, Dewan753, Inuit18, TobeBot, Chhora, Vox Libertas, Neutralpointofyou, Jethwarp, Gangulybiswarup, RjwilmsiBot, Generalboss3, Gurjeshwar, EmausBot, John of Reading, Look2See1,
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domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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BY 2.0 Contributors: Flickr: An Excessively Rare, Magnicent, and Important Set of Four Kushan Gold Double Dinars Struck Under
Vima Kadphises, the First Kushan Ruler to Strike Gold Coins Original artist: Ancient Art
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