Ancient History of Central Asia - Kushana Empire

AncientHistoryofCentralAsia(ArticleNo02)
*Notacopyrightmaterial,onlyastudymaterialCompiledBy:AdeshKatariya
AncientHistoryof
CentralAsia
(KushanaEmpire)
(Articleno02:NotesonCentralAsianHistoryduringKushanKingdom)
Imp.Note: Till now many researches publoished on the history of Great

Yuezhi/Gurjar tribe but schollers are not in position to clearify all
happinings in a series. In this article, we are trying to compile all
happinings as per their timings. We also would like to clarify that the
material under this article is not a copyright matter and main motive of
this article is, to attract good scholers to discuss and research on the great
Yuezhi/Gurjar Tribe.
CompiledBy:
AdeshKatariya
(ChemicalTechnologistandHistoryResearcher)
Email:[email protected],Contactno:+919540992618
Kushana Empire:
The Yuezhi under the leadership of the Kushanas came down from Central Asia and swept away all
earlier dynasties of the Northwest in a great campaign of conquest. They established an empire
which extended from Central Asia right down to the eastern Gangetic basin. The history of the
further development of this kingdom is recorded in the chronicles of the contemporary Han dynasty
of China which were compiled in the fifth century AD.As Kushan (Kushana) Kingdom was
established by the Da Yuezhi and united all five states under single Kingdom either for surviving
during that time or by ego of Kushan leader. The record of the Weilue would be tantamount to
saying that the Da Yuezhis were both the conqueror and the conquered It may indicate that Kushan
conquered other four States. Also it could be possible that, Kushan (Ch: ) gained prominence
over the other Yuezhi tribes, and welded them into a tight confederation under yabgu (Commander)
Kujula Kadphises. The name Kushan was adopted in the West and modified into Kushana 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 lying primarily in Indias Pothowar, and Northwest
Frontier Provinces region but going in an arc to include 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 adapted the Greek
alphabet, often corrupted, to suit their own language, using 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 first few
years 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 Pali (Kharoshthi script).
Before the arrival of the Tuharans, north Afghanistan kept frequent contacts with West Asia and the
Merranean. Though this region was once under the rule of Achaemenid Persia, when the Yuezhi-
Kushan arrived in the second century BCE, the dominant cultural influence was probably
Hellenistic. Actually, Hellenistic influence stretched to a much larger area than Bactria-- south down
to Gandharan region in modern Pakistan and east to Samarkand in modern Uzbekistan. The beautiful
city goddess excavated from Charsada, the site of ancient Purushapura, one of the Kushan capitals
near modern Peshawa in Pakistan, demonstrates that Hellenistic influence persisted even under the
Kushan rule. Not only the artistic style of the sculpture but also the city-wall crown of the goddess,
the symbol of the patron deity of a city, provide evidences of Hellenistic nature of the city.
Excavations at Ai-Khanoum, the site on the southern side of the Amu Darya or the Oxus River in
Greek, demonstrate a comprehensive picture of Greek life--a theater, a gymnasium, temples, and a
palace. The palace was not only the residence of the ruler, but also the administration center and
treasuries. The very presence of a palace meant the city was the capital of a sovereign state.
According to the Chinese records of the political structure of the region, this should be one of the
many city-states in Daxia.
he rule in Afghanistan and later on in South Asia facilitated further transformation of the Kushans.
After the Kushan army crossed the Hindu Kush and occupied north Indian plain, their territory
included parts of both Central Asia and South Asia, thus controlled the crucial sector of the Silk
Road, and benefited tremendously from the trade traffic. The excavation at Begram, the site of the
ancient city Kapisa, revealed an even more divers variety of wealth. Begram, not far from modern
Kabul city, was probably a summer palace of the Kushan Empire after the court moved into India.
The palace treasury with 150 years occupation from the first century CE held artistic works from the
Merranean, South Asia and East Asia. The trading skill of Yuezhi-Kushan people since the days of
their wandering on the steppe had now been well paid.

In addition to horses, wine was a symbol of high culture under the early Kushan regime. When
selling Chinese silk, Indian precious stones, Himalaya fragrances and other rarities to Roman traders,
Kushans imported wine from the Merranean. Shards of amphora with residue of wine have been
found at sites associated with Roman trade. Supply to the Kushan territory mostly came through Red
Sea trade of the Roman Empire. The manual of navigation on the Red Sea by Periplus recorded
Roman marketing wine to the port of Baryagaza, a port on the mouth of the Indus River, and
Barbaricum, a port in the Gulf of Cambay. Amphora shards have been found at the Saka-Parthian
level of Sirkap, the second site of Taxila, and under the level of the Red Polished Ware, and
Ksatrapa coins at Elephanta, an island of shore of Bambay. The Merranean Grape wine, used to be
the major export of Greek states, now in the hands of Roman traders. But it was the Greeks who
brought viticulture and the taste for grape wine to all their colonies a few centuries ago created the
market in India, at least in the northwest region.

While Tuharans or Yuezhi-Kushans accepted wine drinking as a high culture, the Bactrians and
Indians accepted horse riding as a high culture. There are numerous bacchanalian scenes appearing
on Gandharan Buddhist artworks. It is difficult to understand why that Buddhism as a religion
denouncing desires for material things could tolerate, or admire, the joy of intoxication. Leaving
aside the theological interpretations of the drinking scenes, the background of a prosperous
viticulture and prestige associated with wine drinking may be helpful in understanding this topic of
Buddhist art. That the nomadic Yuezhi who transformed into the Kushans happened to choose the
routes passing Hellenistic countries to enter South Asia did enriched their cultures from that
direction. .

Persian cultural influence also presented in Bactria. Though the Achaemenid rule in Daxia finished
by the invasion of Alexander, Persian religious traditions survived or even flourished under the
Hellenistic period. In the typical Hellenistic site of Ai Khanoum, while the official deities on coins
were Greek, all three temples in the vicinity were not for Greek gods but perhaps altars for fire
worship. Greek religion was not monotheist thus Hellenistic cities might have tolerated other deities
in their pantheon while maintaining Greek art style. Therefore, when the Yuezhi-Kushan or other
nomadic people came in, Zoroastrian cult did not disappear in Hellenistic Bactria. The Kushans were
very willing to embrace cults and religious practices of the conquered peoples. Religious tolerance
and diversity of the region itself also made the Kushans adopt various cults available to them.
The Kushans built one of the most intriguing political power in world history. Contemporary to the
Roman Empire and the Han Empire, across millenniums around the Common Era, this regime lasted
more than three hundred years counting from its dominance at Bactria around the beginning of the
first century BCE to the its submission to the Sassanian Empire in the third century CE. At the apex
of imperial expansion, the Kushan Empire encompassed a large territory from Central Asia to South
Asia. Yet the Kushan regime was probably among the least understood ancient empires in world
history. Scholars who study various aspects of the Kushan culture have encountered many
insurmountable difficulties to set up a historical frame, chronologically and geographically, for the
empire. Either, When arriving at Bactria from the steppe, Yuezhi people had not developed a
written language to record their history yet or they were too busy in various wars . When ruling a
large agricultural empire, the Kushans managed to hold many different peoples with different
languages, religions, and cultures under its power for several centuries, but never established a
unified official language to record its history. Though the multiple cultures under the Kushan
Empire make the study of Kushan history difficult, this very cosmopolitanism of the regime should
invite more discussions and interpretations of the political experiment by a people from the steppe.
Early Kushans:
Heraios / Heraus / Miaos (c.AD 1 30)
(First Kushan clan chief)
The earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios.
It is quit possible that Heraios could be Grand -grandson of Yuezhi King, who killed by Modu. and
Queen, who led the Yuezhi peoples after defeat by Modu. Heraios calls himself a "tyrant" on his
coins, and also exhibits skull deformation. He had continued Greek Coins as well as started his
Coins in the same style of Greeks. Heraios was the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula
Kadphises.
Kujula Kadphises (ca 30 ca 80)
Kujula Kadphises, reigned (3080 CE) was a Kushan prince who united the Yuezhi confederation
during the 1st century CE, and became the first Kushan emperor. he was son of the Kushan ruler
Heraios. He was the first ruler of the Kushan empire in Afghanistan ,Later on he extended his rule to
Gandhara and the Punjab (Pakistan).
Head of a Kushan prince (Khalchayan palace, Uzbekistan)

The rise of Kujula Kadphises is described in the Chinese historical chronicle, the Hou Hanshu:
More than a hundred years later, the prince xihou of Kushan, named Qiujiuque Kujula Kadphises,
attacked and exterminated the four other xihou. He established himself as king, and his dynasty was
called that of the Kushan 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.
The Kushans under the power of Khadphises I, began to expand their empire. Khadphises I began by
attacking the Parthians, a group from what is now northern Iran, and his empire expanded from the
frontiers of Indus to Persia. Khadphises also attacked and suppressed the Indo-Greeks, an expansion
of ancient Greece, and both the Greeks, and Parthians, to the west of Indus, were expelled (Smith:
252).
In the process of their expansion eastward, Kujula Kadphises and his son Vima Takto seem to have
displaced the Indo-Parthian kingdom, established in northwestern India by the Parthian Gondophares
since around 20CE. 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 Kushan Kushan king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi. This
invasion of Kujula Kadphises is thought to have occurred during the reign of Abdagases and Sases,
the successors of Gondophares, after 45 CE.
Genealogy according to the Rabatak inscription
The connection of Kujula with other Kushan rulers is described in the Rabatak inscription,
discovered in Rabatak, Afghanistan some years ago, which was written by Kanishka. Kanishka
makes the list of the kings who ruled up to his time: Kujula Kadphises as his great-grandfather,
Vima Taktu as his grandfather, and Vima Kadphises as his father, and himself Kanishka:
And he Kanishka gave orders to make images of the same, (namely) of these gods who are written
herein, and he gave orders to make (them) for these kings: for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great
grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu (his) grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises (his) father,
and for himself, King Kanishka
Coinage
Most of Kujula's coins were Hellenic or Roman in inspiration. Some coins used the portrait, name
and title of the Indo-Greek king Hermaeus on the obverse, indicating Kujula's wish to relate himself
to the Indo-Greek king. Under Kujula there was no standard pattern of coinage, and his coins usually
borrowed from the various coin types available in the different parts of his conquered territories.
Before Kujula the chiefs of the Yue-zhi who were settled in Bactria usually imitated Greek coins,
and Kujula did the same. The basic pattern of his coinage thus derived from the coins of Hermaeus, a
later Indo-Greek ruler, but also copied coin designs of many rulers and dynasties. In addition his
coins also reflect many regional elements and foreign trade links. Kujulas coinage is an important
source for understanding the early history of the dynasty, for it reflects the gradual expansion of the
Kushans into different regions. Since the Kushans and their predecessors the Yuezhi were
conversant with the Greek language and Greek coinage, the adoption of Hermaeus cannot have been
accidental: it either expressed a filiation of Kujula Kadphises to Hermaeus by alliance (possibly
through Sapadbizes or Heraios), or simply a wish to show himself as heir to the Indo-Greek tradition
and prestige, possibly to accommodate Greek populations. These coins bear the name of Kujula
Kadphises in Kharoh, with representations of the Greek demi-god Heracles on the back, and titles
("Yavugasa") presenting Kujula as a "ruler" (not actual king), and a probable Buddhist
("Dharmathidasa", follower of the Dharma). Later coins, possibly posthumous, did describe Kujula
as "Maharajasa", or "Great King".
Greek script
The Greek script on the coins of Kujula (and all the Kushans with him) is barbarized. For example,
on his Hermaeus coins is thought to be a deformation of (Sotiros), the
traditional title of Hermaeus on his coins. The Greek word for "king" is written , with
both a lunate sigma () and a normal sigma () in the same word.The Kushans also added one
character to the Greek script: it is the letter , corresponding to the sound "Sh", as in "Kushan.

Silver denarius of Tiberius (14-37 CE) found in India. Indian copy of the same, 1st century CE. Coin
of Kushan king Kujula Kadphises copying a coin of Augustus.
Roman-style coins
Some fewer coins of Kujula Kadphises also adopted a Roman style, with effigies closely resembling
Caesar Augustus, although all the legends were then associated with Kujula himself. Such influences
are linked to exchanges with the Roman Empire around that date

Kujula seated cross legged facing, Kharoshti legend: Kuyula Kadaphasa Kushanasa. Zeus on the
reverse, Greek legend: KOZOA XOPANOY ZAOOY.

Coin of Kujula Kadphises, in the style of the Roman emperor Augustus. Legend in Kushan language,
corrupted Greek script: ("Kozola Kadaphes Koshanou
Zaoou"): "Kudjula Kadphises, ruler of the Kushans". British Museum.
Kadphises I seems to have been close to Buddhismhe calls himself on his coins firm in right
conduct (dharma thita).

Vima Taktu or Sadashkana (ca 80 ca 95)
Vima Takto (Ancient Chinese: Yangaozhen) is not mentioned in the Rabatak inscription
(Sadashkana is instead. See also the reference to Sims-Williams article below). He was the
predecessor of Vima Kadphises, and Kanishka I. He expanded the Kushan Empire into the northwest
of the South Asia. The Hou Hanshu says:
"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 Kushan Kushan king,
but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi."
Hou Hanshu
17

Vima Takto seems to have been a devotee of the Hindu god Shiva, because some of his coins clearly
show an image of Shiva.

Vima Kadphises, Wema Kadphises/ Kadphises II (ca 95 ca 127)
Kadphises II is a great conqueror and a great Buddhist. Khadphises II began his reign by continuing
to do his fathers work, expanding the Empire. He first conquered northern India (Christian: 213).
Which was extremely important for the Kushan dynasty, as it gave the Kushans control of an
important branch of the Silk roads that led along the Indus valley and gave the Kushans the port of
Barygaza, where ships could sail to Egypt, bypassing Parthia (Christian: 213).

The Kushan began trading with the Romans using this route around 100 CE (Christian: 213). The
Kushans traded precious items such silks, spices, gems and dyestuffs in return for Roman gold coins.
Roman coins were used along this route and Khadphises imitated Roman coinage by making his
own coins with his own depiction on them (Christian: 213).
He expands the borders of his kingdom to the bordering provinces of China and Persia, and later
ventures into India, where he establishes his borders as far as Punjab and parts of modern Uttar
Pradesh, and is the first to introduce gold coinage there. However, he apparently dies without an
heir, and the kingdom is thrown into confusion as his kshatrapas (governors) fight amongst
themselves. Kanishka, the kshatrapa of the kingdom's eastern province, wins the struggle and
declares himself the successor.

Vima Kadphises added to the Kushan territory by his conquests in Afghanistan and north-west
Pakistan. He changed the standard of the coins which had so far been of the same weight as the Indo-
Greek ones by following Roman precedent. The gold of these coins seems to have been procured by
melting down Roman coins (aurei) which flooded into the Kushana empire after the discovery of the
monsoon passage across the Arabian sea in the first century AD. He issued an extensive series of
coins and inscriptions. He was the first to introduce gold coinage in India, in addition to the existing
copper and silver coinage. His coins are of such high quality that some historians believe that they
must have been made by Roman mint masters in the service of the Kushana kings.
Kanishka I (ca 127 ca 140)
The rule of Kanishka, fifth Kushan king, who flourished for about 13 years from c. 127.
The Kushan dynasty was at the peak of its power during the ruling of Kaniska (Christian:213).
Kaniska, like his predecessors, continued to expand the empire. His expansion continued into of
regions that include modern Tajikistan, parts of Turkmenistan, Kyrgystan, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
and north and east parts of India. Kaniska also moved the capital of the empire from Bactra to
Purushapura (Christian: 213). The new capital was a guarded city, situated along the main road from
the Afghan to the Indian plains (Smith: 261). Later on Kaniska moved the capital city again, to
Mathura on the river Yamuna. 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

The Qila Mubarak fort at Bathinda, India was built by Kanishka.
As we know that his territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar in
northern Pakistan) and Mathura, in northern India. in Purushapura he built an enormous stupa,
nearly 700 feet high and 300 feet in diameter, for Buddhist pilgrims and travelers crossing the
empire He is also cred (along with Raja Dab) for building the massive, ancient Fort at Bathinda (Qila
Mubarak), in the modern city of Bathinda, Indian Punjab. The Kanishka 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.

The first references to Kanishka are found in the eastern parts of the Kushana empire in the Ganga-
Yamuna Doab, which was probably under the control of rather autonomous viceroys. In two
inscriptions of the second and third year of his reign which have been found at Kausambi and
Sarnath in the east, he merely calls himself Maharaja Kanishka. Yet in an inscription of the seventh
year of his reign at Mathura he gives his title as Maharaja Rajatiraja Devaputra Shahi, a designation
which is repeated in an inscription of the eleventh year of his reign in the central Indus valley. All
this would indicate that Kanishka first came to power in the east and, after he had seized the centre
of the empire which was probably at Mathura, he adopted the full titles of his predecessors.
The vast extension of Kanishkas empire cannot be adequately outlined. It probably reached from
the Oxus in the west to Varanasi in the east and from Kashmir in the north via Malwa right down to
the coast of Gujarat in the south. Not much is known about his hold on Central Asia, but there is a
reference to the defeat of a Kushana army by the Chinese general, Pan- Chao, at Khotan in the year
AD 90. A special aim of both Kadphises II and Kanishka seems to have been to control the trade
routes connecting India with Rome, i.e. those land and sea routes which would enable this trade to
bypass the Parthians routes. This trade must have been very profitable to the Kushanas. Pliny (VI,
10) laments in those days: There is no year in which India does not attract at least 50 million
sesterces Roman coins.
Yet though fifty-seven out of the sixty-eight finds of Roman coins in the whole of Southern Asia
were found in south India, none at all were found in the area of the Kushana empire. This must be
due to the fact that the Kushanas as a matter of policy melted down and reissued them. After the
debasement of Roman silver coins in AD 63 in the reign of Nero, gold became the most important
medium of exchange for the Roman trade with India, and this must have greatly contributed to the
rise of the Kushanas to prosperity and power.
Kanishkas fame is not only based on his military and political success but also on his spiritual merit.
The Buddhists rank him together with Ashoka, Menander and Harsha as one of the great Buddhist
rulers of India. The great stupa at Peshawar is rated as his greatest contribution to Buddhist
monumental architecture. Several Chinese pilgrims have left us descriptions of this stupa and have
stated that it was about 600 to 700 feet high. When archaeologists excavated the foundations of this
stupa at the beginning of the twentieth century they found that it was 286 feet in diameter. Therefore
it must have been one of the great miracles of the ancient world.
For the development of Indian art it was of great importance that Kanishka not only favoured the
Gandhara school of Buddhist art which had grown out of Greek influences but also provided his
patronage to the Mathura school of art which set the style of Indian art. This school produced the
famous statue of Kanishka of which, unfortunately, only the headless trunk has survived. His dress
here shows the typical Central Asian style.
He was a great conqueror and an even greater administrator, a man who ruled over a vast region of
North India as well as parts of Central Asia. His generosity of spirit, and the graceful personality of
one of his opponents, can best be illustrated in the following account of his battle for the kingdom of
Pataliputra. He rode out of the northwest across central India, conquering everything in his path, in
the pursuit of a new Indian unity. When he came to the gates of the beautiful capital city, the king
resisted furiously, but the citadel fell. Kanishka demanded nine hundred million gold pieces as
indemnity for the war. The king did not possess even a small fraction of the sum, but he appeared
before the emperor like a defeated monarch, much in the manner that King Porus confronted
Alexander in Eastern Punjab, preparing to come to dignified terms. He offered Kanishka three
symbolic treasures, each one worth a third of the sum demanded. The first was a fowl which
symbolized compassion, and the second was a begging bowl which had belonged to the Buddha. The
third offering was Ashvaghosha, the great playwright, poet and master of Buddhist philosophy.
Kanishka magnanimously accepted the three offerings as full payment, and took the sage back with
him to Purushapura/Peshawar, where he was appointed the court's spiritual counsellor. Kanishka
then became a devout student of Ashvaghosha's teachings.
Kanishka's era
Kanishka'serawasusedasacalendarreferencebytheKushansandlaterbytheGuptasin
Mathuraforaboutthreecenturies.Kanishka'seraisnowbymanybelievedtohavebegunin78AD
,startedontheoccasionofRajyarohanofKaniskha.. two possible scenarios are proposed for the
Kanskhas era Scenario A, with Year 1 of the era of Kanishka the Great beginning in 78 CE
(Fussmann 1974, Senior 2001, Senior 2005/2006), and Scenario B, with Year 1 of the Kanishka
era beginning in 127/8 CE (Falk 2001). There is a high likelihood that the Kanishka era is the same
as the Shaka era, which began April 1, 78 CE (Falk 2012), also an era still used in present-day India
as National Era.

Rabatak inscription
The Rabatak inscription is an inscription written on a rock in the Bactrian language and the Greek
script, which was found in 1993 at the site of Rabatak, near Surkh Kotal in Afghanistan. The
inscription relates to the rule of the Kushan emperor Kanishka, and gives remarkable clues on the
genealogy of the Kushan dynasty.

Discovery of Rabatak inscription
The Rabatak inscription was found near the top of an artificial hill (actually a Kushan site) along the
main Kabul-Mazar highway, to the southeast of the Rabatak pass which is currently the border
between Baghlan and Samangan provinces. It was found by Afghan mujahideen digging a trench at
the top of the site, along with several other stone sculptural elements such as the paws of a giant
stone lion, which have disappeared since. An English relief worker of the Halo Trust demining
organization working in this province reported the discovery and photographed the inscription. This
photograph was sent to the British Museum, where its significance as an official document of the
Kushan kings, naming four of these kings, was recognised by Joe Cribb. He determined it was a
probably an inscription similar to the famous one found at Surkh Kotal by the Delegation
Archeologique Francaise en Afghanistan in the 1950s. He shared the photograph with one of the few
people able to read the Bactrian language, Professor Nicholas Sims-Williams from the School of
Oriental and African Studies. More photographs arrived from the charity workers of the Halo Trust
and a first translation was made and published by Cribb and Sims-Williams in 1996.
(Translation by Nicholas Sims-Williams) 1 . . . of the great salvation, Kanishka the Kushan, the
righteous, the just, the autocrat, the god 2
worthy of worship, who has obtained the kingship from Nana and from all the gods, who has
inaugurated the year one 3 as the gods pleased. And he *issued a Greek *edict (and) then he put it
into Aryan.
4 In the year one it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the *whole of the realm of the *kshatriyas,
that (as for) 5 them - both the (city of) . . . and the (city of) Saketa, and the (city of) Kausambi, and
the (city of) Pataliputra, as far as the (city of) Sri-Campa 6 - whatever rulers and other *important
persons (they might have) he had submitted to (his) will, and he had submitted all 7 India to (his)
will. Then King Kanishka gave orders to Shafar the karalrang 8 *at this . . . to make the sanctuary
which is called B . . . ab, in the *plain of Ka . . ., for these 9 gods, (of) whom the . . . *glorious
Umma leads the *service here, (namely:) the *lady Nana and the 10 lady Umma, Aurmuzd, the
gracious one, Sroshard, Narasa, (and) Mihr. interlinear text: . . . and he is called Maaseno, and he is
called Bizago And he likewise 11 gave orders to make images of these gods who are written above,
and 12 he gave orders to make (them) for these kings: for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great 13
grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu, (his) grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises 14 (his)
father, and *also for himself, King Kanishka. Then, as the king of kings, the devaputra 15 . . . had
given orders to do, Shafar the karalrang made this sanctuary. 16 Then . . . the karalrang, and Shafar
the karalrang, and Nukunzuk led the worship 17 according to the (king's) command. (As for) *these
gods who are written here - may they keep the 18 king of kings, Kanishka the Kushan, for ever
healthy, *secure, (and) victorious. 19 And when the devaputra, the *ruler of all India from the year
one to the year *one *thousand, 20 had *founded the sanctuary in the year one, then *also to the . . .
year. . . 21 according to the king's command . . . (and) it was given also to the . . ., (and) it was given
also to the . . ., (and) also to 22 . . . the king gave an *endowment to the gods, and . . . (1996)
Because of the civil war in Afghanistan years passed before further examination could be
accomplished. In April 2000 the English historian Dr. Jonathan Lee, a specialist on Afghan history,
travelled with Robert Kluijver, the director of the Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan's
Cultural Heritage, from Mazar-i Sharif to Pul-i Khumri, the provincial capital of Baghlan, to locate
the stone. It was eventually found in a store at the Department of Mines and Industry. Dr. Lee took
photographs which allowed Prof. Sims-Williams to publish a more accurate translation, which was
followed by another translation once Professor Sims-Williams had examined the stone in person
(2008).
In July 2000 Robert Kluijver travelled with a delegation of the Kabul Museum to Pul-i Khumri to
retrieve the stone inscription (weighing between 500 and 600 kilograms). It was brought by car to
Mazar-i Sharif and flown from there to Kabul. At the time the Taliban had a favorable policy toward
the preservation of Afghan cultural heritage, including pre-Islamic heritage. The inscription, whose
historical value had meanwhile been determined by Prof. Sims-Williams, became the centrepiece of
the exhibition of the (few) remaining artifacts in the Kabul Museum, leading to a short-lived
inauguration of the museum on 17 August 2000. Senior Taliban objected to the display of pre-
Islamic heritage, which led to the closing of the museum (and the transfer of the Rabatak inscription
to safety), a reversal of the cultural heritage policy and eventually the destruction of the Buddhas of
Bamyan and other pre-Islamic statuary (from February 2001 onwards).
Today the Rabatak inscription is again on display in the reopened Afghan National Museum or
Kabul Museum.
The Rabatak site, again visited by Robert Kluijver in March 2002, has been looted and destroyed
(the looting was performed with bulldozers), reportedly by the local commander at Rabatak.
Main findings of Rabatak inscription

Territories of the Kushans under Kaniska according to the Rabatak inscription.
Religion:
The first lines of the inscription describe Kanishka as:
"the great salvation, the righteous, just autocrat, worthy of divine worship, who has obtained the
kingship from Nana and from all the gods, who has inaugurated the year one as the gods pleased"
(Trans. Professor Sims-Williams)
The "Arya language"
Follows a statement regarding the writing of the inscription itself, indicating that the language used
by Kanishka in his inscription was self-described as the "Aryan language".
"It was he who laid out (i.e. discontinued the use of) the Ionian ("", Yona, Greek) speech and
then placed the Arya ("", Aryan) speech."
Regnal eras
Also, Kanishka announces the beginning of a new era starting with the year 1 of his reign,
abandoning the therefore "Great Arya Era" which had been in use, possibly meaning the Azes era of
58 BCE.
Territorial extent
Lines 4 to 7 describe the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka, among which four names are
identifiable: Saketa, Kausambi, Pataliputra, and Champa (although the text is not clear whether
Champa was a possession of Kanishka or just beyond it). The Rabatak inscription is significant in
suggesting the actual extent of Kushan rule under Kanishka, which would go significantly beyond
traditionally held boundaries:
1

Succession
Finally, Kanishka makes the list of the kings who ruled up to his time: Kujula Kadphises as his
great-grandfather, Vima Taktu as his grandfather, Vima Kadphises as his father, and himself
Kanishka:
"for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu (his) grandfather, and
for King Vima Kadphises (his) father, and *also for himself, King Kanishka" (Cribb and Sims-
Williams 1995/6: 80)
Another translation by Prof. B.N. Mukherjee has been given much currency, but it lacks the
accuracy and authority of Sims-Williams' translation.
Kanishka, however, was more than a soldier and conventional emperor. Although personally cruel
and temperamental, he provided the framework of a firm and fair rule of law based on Buddhist
precepts. He was also a great compromiser and synthesiser of different ideas.

Full text of Rabatak inscription
Translation by Mukherjee, B.N., "The Great Kushana Testament", Indian Museum Bulletin,
Calcutta, 1995:
23

1-3
"The year one of Kanishka, the great deliverer, the righteous, the just, the autocrat, the god, worthy of
worship, who has obtained the kingship from Nana and from all the gods, who has laid down (i.e.
established) the year one as the gods pleased."
3-4
"And it was he who laid out (i.e. discontinued the use of) the Ionian speech and then placed the Arya
(or Aryan) speech (i.e. replaced the use of Greek by the Aryan or Bactrian language)."
4-6
"In the year one, it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the whole realm of the governing class
including Koonadeano (Kaundinya< 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)."
6-7
"Whichever rulers and the great householders there might have been, they submitted to the will of the
king and all India submitted to the will of the king."
7-9
"The king Kanishka commanded Shapara (Shaphar), the master of the city, to make the Nana
Sanctuary, which is called (i.e. known for having the availability of) external water (or water on the
exterior or surface of the ground), in the plain of Kaeypa, for these deities - of whom are Ziri (Sri)
Pharo (Farrah) and Omma."
9-9A
"To lead are the Lady Nana and the Lady Omma, Ahura Mazda, Mazdooana, Srosharda, who is called
... and Komaro (Kumara)and called Maaseno (Mahasena) and called Bizago (Visakha), Narasao and
Miro (Mihara)."
10-11
"And he gave same (or likewise) order to make images of these deities who have been written above."
11-14
"And he ordered to make images and likenesses of these kings: for king Kujula Kadphises, for the
great grandfather, and for this grandfather Saddashkana (Sadashkana), the Soma sacrificer, and for
king V'ima Kadphises, for the father, and for himself (?), king Kanishka."
14-15
"Then, as the king of kings, the son of god, had commanded to do, Shaphara, the master of the city,
made this sanctuary."
16-17
"Then, the master of the city, Shapara, and Nokonzoka led worship according to the royal command."
17-20
"These gods who are written here, then may ensure for the king of kings, Kanishka, the Kushana, for
remaining for eternal time healthy., secure and victorious... and further ensure for the son of god also
having authority over the whole of India from the year one to the year thousand and thousand."
20
"Until the sanctuary was founded in the year one, to (i.e. till) then the Great Arya year had been the
fashion."
21
"...According to the royal command, Abimo, who is dear to the emperor, gave capital to Pophisho."
22
"...The great king gave (i.e. offered worship) to the deities."
23
"..."
Note: Nicholas Sims-Williams gives "Vima Taktu" as the grandfather of Kanishka in lines 11-14.
Further, he never sees "Saddashkana" or anything about "Soma" anywhere in this inscription.
As Kaniska aged he became a devote Buddhist and during his reign, Kaniska erected an enormous
relic (Smith: 261). The relic was believe to be carved out of wood and reached approximately 400ft
high and was surrounded by an iron pinnacle (Smith: 261). This relic was burned down three times
and was repaired after each time and stood until about the 8 century (Smith: 262). Kaniska also built
a great monastery next to this relic. The monastery served as a flourishing place for Buddhist
education (Smith: 262).

Death of Kanishka

Towards the end of his reign,Kanishkas authority over the central asia was challenged by the
sweeping victory of Pan-Chao,the general of chinese emperor,Ho-Ti. kanishka sent a massive army
of 70,000 cavalry against Pan-Chao,which suffered terrible loss while passing through the hostile
mountains.So kanishka lost his central asia kingdom as tribute to emperor. Romila Thapar, one of
the famous interpreters of ancient history,opined that chinese army was so formidable and mighty,
that kaishka perished while fighting with such powerful opposition. However this is a subject of
great debate whether kanishka died while fighting.

Vsishka (ca. 140 ca. 160)
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.
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 effort early in his reign to the exertion of greater control
over the city of Mathura.
Vasudeva I (ca. 190 ca. 230)
Vasudeva I (Kushan: "Bazodeo", Chinese: "Bodiao") was the last of the "Great
Kushans." Named inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of Kanishkas era suggest his reign
extended from at least 191 to 225 CE. He was the last great Kushan emperor, and the end of his rule
coincides with the invasion of the Sassanids as far as northwestern India, and the establishment of
the Indo-Sassanids or Kushanshahs from around 240 CE.
Kanishka II (c. 230 240)
Vashishka (c. 240 250)
Kanishka III (c. 250 275) : Kanishka III was a Kushan emperor who reigned for a short period ..
He is believed to have succeeded Vasishka and was succeeded by Vasudeva II.Kanishka III is
known from only one inscription, known as the Ara inscription for the place where it was found,
near the town of Attock in what is now Pakistani Punjab. The inscription is on a piece of stone and
records, in Kharoshthi script, the digging of a well in the year 41, during the reign of Maharaja
Rajatiraja Devaputra Kaisara Kanishka, son of Vajheshka. he qualifies himself as a Kaisara
("Caesar"), suggesting some awareness of the Roman Empire, and names himself as the son of
Vashishka. This Vajheshka is taken to be the same as Vasishka, who we know was ruling just prior
to this time.
No coins have as yet been definitively attributed to Kanishka III.
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) : There is a group of Kushan gold coins that all carry the Brahmi legend
Shaka in the right field, in the same place where Vasudeva II's coins read Vasu, so it is natural to
suppose that perhaps Shaka was the name of the king who issued these coins. A further support for
this idea is that there is a mention of one "Devaputra Shahi Shahanshahi Shaka Murunda" in
Samudragupta's famous Allahabad inscription, as one of the rulers who paid him homage. In this
context, Shaka could be a title, it could refer to a tribe, or it could be a personal name. In any case, it
seems to be related to the Shaka coins. Unfortunately, we don't know the date of the Allahabad
inscription, so the best guess on dating Shaka is c. mid-4th century.
Robert Gbl did not think Shaka was the name of a ruler; rather, he thought the coins were tribal
issues, but Michael Mitchiner and many other authors do think Shaka was a personal name.
Kipunada (c. 345 375)

Territorial expansion
Archaeological evidence of a Kushan rule of long duration 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 has been discovered. Other areas of rule may include
Khwarezm (Russian archaeological findings) Kausambi (excavations of the Allahabad University),
Sanchi and Sarnath (inscriptions with names and dates of Kushan kings), Malwa and Maharashtra,
Orissa (imitation of Kushan coins, and large Kushan hoards).
7

The recently discovered Rabatak inscription tends to confirm large Kushan dominions in the
heartland of India. The lines 4 to 7 of the inscription
8
describe six identifiable cities under the rule of
Kanishka: Ujjain, Kundina, Saketa, Kausambi, Pataliputra, and Champa (although the obscure text
leaves in doubt whether Champa had been a possession of Kanishka or just beyond it).
9
Northward,
in the second century C.E., the Kushans under Kanishka made various forays into the Tarim Basin,
seemingly the original ground of their ancestors the Yuezhi, where they had contacts with the
Chinese. Both archaeological findings and literary evidence suggest Kushan rule, in Kashgar,
Yarkand and Khotan.
10
As late as the third century C.E., decorated coins of Huvishka had been
dedicated at Bodh Gaya together with other gold offerings under the "Enlightenment Throne" of the
Buddha, suggesting direct Kushan influence in the area during that period.
Contacts with Rome
Roman trade with India started around 1 CE, during the reign of Augustus and following his
conquest of Egypt, which had been India's biggest trade partner in the West.
The trade started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE kept increasing, and according to Strabo , by
the time of Augustus, up to 120 ships set sail every year from Myos Hormos on the Red Sea to India.
So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the Kushans for their own coinage,
that Pliny the Elder (NH VI.101) complained about the drain of specie to India:
"India, China and the Arabian peninsula take one hundred million sesterces from our empire per
annum at a conservative estimate: that is what our luxuries and women cost us. For what percentage
of these imports is intended for sacrifices to the gods or the spirits of the dead?"
Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84


A Greco-Roman gladiator on a glass vessel, Begram, 2nd century.
Several Roman sources describe the visit of ambassadors from the Kings of Bactria and India during
the second century, probably referring to the Kushans. Historia Augusta, speaking of Emperor
Hadrian (117138) 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."

A coin of the Roman Emperor Trajan, found together with coins of Kanishka, at the Ahin Posh
Buddhist Monastery, Afghanistan.
Also in 138, according to Aurelius Victor (Epitome XV, 4), and Appian (Praef., 7), Antoninus Pius,
successor to Hadrian, received some Indian, Bactrian (Kushan) and Hyrcanian ambassadors.
The Chinese Historical Chronicle of the Hou Hanshu also describes the exchange of goods between
northwestern India and the Roman Empire at that time: "To the west (Tiazhu, northwestern India)
communicates with Da Qin (the Roman Empire). Precious things from Da Qin can be found there, as
well as fine cotton cloths, excellent wool carpets, perfumes of all sorts, sugar loaves, pepper, ginger,
and black salt." 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.
Contacts with China

The Kushan Buddhist monk Lokaksema, first known translator of Buddhist Mahayana scriptures
into Chinese, ca. 170.
During the first and second 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 profitable
Central Asian commerce with the Roman Empire. They collaborated militarily with the Chinese
against nomadic incursion, particularly with the Chinese general Ban Chao against the Sogdians in
84 C.E., who supported a revolt by the king of Kashgar. Around 85 C.E., they also assisted the
Chinese general in an attack on Turfan, east of the Tarim Basin.
In recognition for their support to the Chinese, the Kushans requested, but were denied, a Han
princess, 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, exhausted by the expion, fell in defeat to smaller Chinese
force. The Yuezhi retreated and paid tribute to the Chinese Empire during the reign of the Chinese
emperor Han He (89106).

A bronze coin of Kanishka found in Khotan, Tarim Basin.
Around 116, the Kushans under Kanishka established a kingdom centered on Kashgar, also taking
control of Khotan and Yarkand, Chinese dependencies in the Tarim Basin, modern Xinjiang. They
introduced the Brahmi script, the Indian Prakrit language for administration, and expanded the
influence of Greco-Buddhist art which developed into Serindian art. According to records, the
Kushans again sent presents to the Chinese court in 158159 during the reign of the Chinese
emperor Han Huan.
Following those interactions, cultural exchanges 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 first recorded
promoters of Hinayana and Mahayana scriptures in China, greatly contributing to the Silk Road
transmission of Buddhism.
Social Structure during Kushana:

Kushana kingdom was being acculturated into the caste hierarchy. There is also evidence that the principle of
caste endogamy was not as rigidly applied as in Kushan period. Both anuloma and pratiloma marriage
conventions were approved and socially recognised, despite the various strictures in the Dharmashastras.
There was also a certain weakening of the links between a caste and its vocation, as instances of the brahmans
and the kshatriyas following the occupations of lower classes and of vaishyas and the shudras adopting the
occupations of superior classes have been recorded.
Kushan art
The art and culture of Gandhara constitute the best known expressions of Kushan influences to
Westerners. Several direct depictions of Kushans from Gandhara have been discovered, 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. In the iconography, they have never been associated with the
Hellenistic "Standing Buddha" statues (See image) of an earlier historical period. The style of these
friezes incorporating Kushan devotees, already strongly Indianized, are quite remote from earlier
Hellenistic depictions of the Buddha.Indian art flowered during the Kushana era, with sculpture
leading all other arts. The sculptures of the Buddha were most common (see Figure ).

Buddhas in different art styles (Pat Baker: line drawings from photos in Rawson, op. cit., pp. 100
01).

Two major schools produced works of great excellence and beauty.The Gandhara school of art was
the more cosmopolitan of the two.The sculptures of this school consist principally of the Buddha and
the Boddhisatva figures that show strong Greek and Roman artistic influences on Indian themes.
Some of the finest examples of Gandhara art are to be found in the British Museum, Peshawar
Museum, Berlin Museum and Indian Museum at Calcutta. The second of the two schools was the
Mathura school of art.81 During the first three centuries of the Christian era Mathura, 50 miles
southeast of Delhi on the Yamuna river, was a great hub of cultural activity. In contrast to the
Gandhara school, a more authentically Indian artistic influence is stamped all over the art of
Mathura. A whole variety of Buddha statues, in different poses and postures, all carved in the red
spotted sandstone, are the distinguishing feature of this school. The portrait sculpture of rulers is also
a hallmark of this style, the most famous of which is the statue of Kanishka himself. Power and
authority radiate from this statue, even though its head and arms are missing(see Figure )

Torso of King Kanishka (Pat Baker: line drawing from Rawson, op. cit., p. 143).

At the present day, two propositions command wide acceptance. First that Gandhara art flourished
under the Kushan Empire, a statement which does not immediately define its date. Secondly, that the
presence of the draped Buddha image is characteristic of the developed Gandhara School. This
image is understood to have been absent in ancient Buddhist art, and was still wanting in the city of
Sirkap at Taxila during the first half of the first century A.D. It is assumed that the numerous
Buddhist sculptures of the monasteries around Taxila, and near the Dharmarajika Stupa, are all later
than the Kushan capture of the city about 60 A.D. and represent as later phase.
However, at Taxila soon after 20 A.D. and on at least one closely contemporary site, that of Butkara
in Swat, early Buddhist sculptures are known which foreshadow the Gandhara School, though still
lacking the canonical Buddha figure . The late J.F. van Lohuizen-De Leeuw in an important article
showed that a few sculptures of the ancient aniconic type were actually made in Gandhara (389).
She provide evidence too that primitive Buddha images of a heavy appearance were produced in the
Mathura region before the rise of the Gandhara School, and that specimens of this type were even
brought to Gandhara. Priority in these respects must be conceded to Mathura. At the same time,
these early images were not found satisfying as the symbol of an expanding world religion. It is with
the developed Gandhara style incorporating the draped Buddha image that the present paper is
concerned.
First of all something must be said of the link between the art of Gandhara and the domination of the
Kushans. That Central Asian people were by the late first century B.C. in control of the regions
between the Indus and the Syr Darya (Jaxartes) Rivers. After about 60 A.D., the Kushans
additionally occupied Taxila, and penetrated as farbeyond as Bahawalpur (a district of South Punjab,
Pakistan) the Jumna and the Ganges. Two categories of evidence reinforce the link between the
Kushans and what one may call the classic Buddha image. First, the existence of both standing and
seated Buddha figures among the many religious types on coins of the Kushan emperor Kanishka,
which certainly imply that by his day such images of the Buddha were widely known (Gribb: 231-
244). The chronology would be clearer if the precise date of Kanishka could be established, but for
the time being that is debated. I am prepared to accept what is almost the traditional solution: to
place the first year of the Era of Kanishka in or about 128 A.D. Many other theories are however
propounded, and have to be considered.


Dharmarajika Stupa.

The second type of evidence linking the developed art of Gandhara with the Kushans comes from
the sculptures themselves. The Characteristic appearance of the Kushan chiefs and notables is well
known, both from coin-types and from the royal statues of Khalchayan, Mathura,and Surkh Kotal.
The main items of costume were the long tunic or shirt, worn over baggy trousers, and soft leather
boots. In cold weather a substantial cloak, secured by a massive clasp, was worn over all. A broad
leather belt encircled the waist, secured by a metal clasp of ornate barbaric style. This belt was
necessary to carry the heavy, cross-hilted sword worn on the left side. Typical also of the Kushan
fashion was the long, drooping moustache, and in many cases the high cheekbones which give a hint
of the East Asiatic type. Recognizably similar figures are seen among the votaries represented on
Gandhara sculptures.
The geographical limits of the artistic province of Gandhara, to east and west respectively, are
conveniently fixed by the sites of Taxila and Nagarahara, the last great city represented
archaeologically by the site of Hadda. At Taxila the principal site, that of sirkap, lacks the Gandhara
Buddha. At such well-preserved monasteries as Mohra Moradu and Jaulian (Fig. 3), religious
retreats, we may suppose, occupied after the fall of the city, Buddhist sculpture survives in
profusion, though the preferred material is stucco. These sculptures are most probable later than the
fall of Sirkap 60 A.D. (Fig. 4) and their excavator, Sir John Marshall, placed them considerable later.
In fact he contended, for reasons never very systematically argued, that they were as late as the fifth
century A.D., representing a completely distinct revival of artistic output which he termed the Indo-
Afghan School.1 The reason for this designation was a very material one. For just as Taxila was
characterized by the output of sculpture in stucco, so was the site of Hadda in Afghanistan. If
Taxilan work belonged, as Marshall maintained, to the fifth century A.D., then so must some or all
of that at Hadda. Then arose the need to assume a distinctive Indo-Afghan school linking the two.

Site of Mohra Moradu.

Site of Jaulian.

Site of Sirkap.

The stupa of Kanishka the Great

Stone relief from Butkara III, Swat valley, Gandhra (second century CE), possibly showing the Kanishka stupa with
four towers and lion capitals (Source: GandharaDas buddhistische Erbe Pakistans, Philips von Zabern, Mainz,
Germany, 2008, Kat.Nr. 144, p. 200. Reproduction with permission of Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland GmbH, Bonn, Germany; photo: Peter Oszvald).

Chinese pilgrims traveled to India in the fifth to eighth centuries CE to visit holy Buddhist sites
and to search for original manuscripts. While on their way, near present-day Peshawar, they saw
a huge stupa1 (height more than 200 meters), which was said to have been erected by the Kushan
emperor Kanishka the Great. From the travel narrative of Faxian/Fa-Hsien (337422 CE), who
visited the site c. 400 CE, we have the following narration concerning the origin of this stupa:

When the Buddha was travelling in the country in the past, he told nanda, After
my nirvna, there will be a king, named Kanika, who will intend to raise a stupa
at this spot. Afterwards King Kanika was in the world; and when the king was
going on a tour of inspection, akra [Indra], who intended that the kings mind be
open to Buddhism, was raising a stupa on the road, disguising himself as a little
cowherd. What are you making? the king asked. He answered the king, I am
making a Buddhist stupa. The king, saying that was marvellous, immediately
built another one right over the boys stupa. The stupa is more than forty zhang
(400 chi3) in height and decorated with various precious substances. Of all the
stupas and the vihras that Faxian had seen throughout his travels, nothing was
comparable with this as to its solemn beauty and majestic grandeur. It had long
been said that among the stpas in the Jambudvpa this stpa stood out as by far
the best.

In the Da Tang Xiju ji (Great Tang Account of the Western Region), there is the following
narration:4
About eight or nine li to the southeast of the capital is a pippala tree more than
one hundred chi high. Seated under this tree and facing south, the Tathgata
said to nanda, Exactly four hundred years after my departure from the world a
king will reign by the name of Kanika, who to the south of and not far from this
place will raise a stpa where the relics of the flesh and bone belonging to my
body will be much collected. To the south of the pippala tree is the stpa that
was raised by Kanika. In the four hundredth year after the Tathgatas nirvna,
Kanika ascended the throne and governed the whole of Jambudvpa. He had no
faith either in crime or religious merit, and he made light of the law of Buddha.
When he was out hunting in the wild country, a white hare appeared. The king
went after it and came to a place where it suddenly disappeared. Among the trees
the king saw a little cowherd making a small stpa that was three chi high, and
asked what he was doing. The boy replied, Formerly, akya Buddha, by his
divine wisdom, delivered the prophecy that in this superior land a king would
build a stpa that would contain a great portion of my bodily relics. You exhibited
the sacred merits in former births, and your name is a proper one for the
fulfilment of the old prophecy. Your Majesty, with your divine merit rooted much
earlier, you have encountered this good opportunity. Therefore now I am calling
your attention to this matter. As soon as he had spoken, he disappeared. Hearing
these words, the kings heart became full of joy, and he flattered himself that he
was the one referred to in the prophecy of the great saint. Therefore, developing
the right belief and paying reverence to the law of Buddha, he further built a stone
stpa encasing the little stpa, wishing to cover it with his meritorious deed the
stpa measured more than four hundred chi high, the circumference at the great
foundation being one and a half li and the height of the five tiers being one
hundred fifty chi. The king, full of joy, further raised on the top twenty-five rings
(parasols) of gilt bronze, through the centers of which a post was standing
supporting them, and also placed the arras of Tathgata, one hu in quantity, in
the stpa, and performed the religious ceremony after the Buddhist custom.

From the biography of the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang / Hsan-Tsang (596664 CE) we
are informed about the size and exact height of the Kaniskha Stupa:

To the east of the city is a large stupa of King Kani (Kanika). The foundation
measures one li in circuit. In the stpa are the bone arras of Buddha, one hu in
quantity. The total height is more than five hundred chi. The rings (parasols) of
the finial are twenty-five. The stpa has three times caught fire, and now repair
work is going on. This is what has been called the Qiaoli Stpa. Empress-
Dowager Hu of Northern Wei, with her heart of deep devotion, had the ramana
Daosheng and others sent there carrying with them a big banner more than seven
hundred chi long, and they hung it on the stpa; the banner could just reach the
ground.

Stimulated by nineteenth-century translations of these Chinese sources, Sir Alexander Cunningham6
in 1871 identified mounds called Shh-j-k Dher lying outside the Lahore Gate of
Peshawar as the possible site of the Kanishka stpa.7 The first excavations in 1875 by C. A.
Crompton led to the conclusion that no remains of this great stpa existed and that it certainly is
not worthwhile continuing the explorations here. However, after A. Foucher reconfirmed the site in
1901, fresh excavations were performed from 1908 to 1911 by David Brainerd Spooner and H.
Hargreaves.The excavations revealed a 54 m square main stpa with a semi-circular extension at
each angle and a 15 m projection on each side making a cross-form, surrounded by other smaller
stpas, fully confirming the descriptions of the Chinese pilgrims. Spooner (1912, pp. 4849)
described the discovery of the famous Kanishka Casket in a relic chamber in March 1909 as
follows;

A large pit, 24 feet square, was outlined covering the exact centre of the
monument, and then taken downwards. A few feet below the present surface of
the mound, traces were found of the very massive radiating walls in the heart of
the stpa, and these greatly delayed the progress of the work, for we were anxious
not to remove any portion of these walls unnecessarily. Avoiding these, therefore,
as much as possible, the pit was taken down by slow degrees to a very low level
without result. Indeed, after several days digging we had got down to what
seemed to be free earth, and had almost lost hope of finding any relics at all, when
suddenly, and without warning, the remains of the relic chamber were reached at
a point which proved to be two feet below the level of the brick pavement
surrounding the stpa as a whole. [T]he definite floor of the chamber was not
decorated or dressed anywhere except in the very corner where the relic casket
stood. Here a little daub of chuna had been laid on, on which the casket had rested
and wherein its outline was found clearly impressed when the casket itself was
removed, but the rest of the floor was the plain unadorned slab.

The huge stpa contributed immensely to the glory of Kanishka the Great as is obvious
from the Sogdian text:
namu arm awn butnak arr farn
namu arm awn akanik astpa arxar farn

namu arm awn jtaand arxr awn nau arxr farn.

We bring homage to the farn (majesty) of Buddha relics;
We bring homage to the farn of Kanishkas stpa and vihra;
We bring homage to the vihra of Jetavana,18 to the farn of Nava-vihra.

The Kanishka Casket

The Kanishka Casket. (Sources: a. Wikipedia; b. Hargreaven 1930, Plate 10)

On the gilded bronze casket Spooner (1912, pp. 55 ff) found the name of Kanishka in dotted
Kharoshthi script, but after many attempts it took nearly a century until Harry Falk in 2002 could
provide a sound translation of the inscription, confirming that this huge stpa indeed was established
by this great Kushan emperor:

In the town Kanishkapura this perfume box is the pious donation of the
architects of the fire-hall, viz. of Mahsena (and) Samgharakshita, in the
monastery (founded by) the (Mahr)ja Kanishka. / May it be for the welfare and
happiness of all beings. / In the acceptance of the teachers of the Sarvstivda
school.

Before this clear identification doubts that the depicted king was Kanishka the Great were raised, as
there is a non-bearded emperor with the sun god Miiro and the moon god Mao athis sides, crowning
him with wreaths of investiture, Miiro having placed a second wreath (the first implicitly having
been placed by the investiture goddess Nana) and Mao still holding a third.

Detail of the Kanishka Casket (replica created 1964 in the British Museum)

On the other hand, all coins of Kanishka show a fully bearded emperor; in particular, his first
emissions, still using Greek language, show an old-looking, fully bearded emperor make an offering
at an altar with Nana, the Kushan goddess of divine investiture16 on the coin reverse. Later issues of
Kanishka use Greek letters for inscriptions in the Bactrian language.

Coin of the fourth Kushan emperor Kanishka I, the Great, issued in the first year of his reign; AE didrachm, 22 mm
diameter, 12h, 8.4 g (Gbl #767);
obverse: king standing frontally, head with diadem and pointed helmet to left clad in coat and trousers and cloak,
sacrificing at altar to left, holding spear in left hand, Greek legend: CVC C V ( is a special
letter for sh); reverse: Nana right with nimbate and diadem, clad in chiton and himation, radiate disc behind head,
right hand advanced holding ankus (?), tamgha in right field, Greek legend in left field: .
Religions under the Kushans: .

The Kushan Empire is famous for the abundant religious art works, especially sculptures. Even
sculptures of kings and princes were found in religious settings. Thus one may say that the dynastic
art was a part of religious art. Meanwhile, religious cults appeared on the coinsthe dynastic
symbolto indicate religious devotion of a particular king. A variety of gods and cults were
documented on Kushan coins - the Sumerian goddess Nana on her lion, Persian gods Oado and
Atash, Indian cults of Buddha and Shiva. Zoroastrian fire worship left many remains. When the
Kushans entered South Asia, they encountered both Brahmanism and Buddhism, and cults of both
religions appeared on Kushan coins.
It seems the rulers from the steppe did not hold any particular religion as their state religion. Various
rulers favored different cults as shown on the coins of the patron rulers. Yet religious institutions
performed a crucial function under the Kushan rule. The Kushan rulers patronized religious cults to
claim their legitimacy of ruling the conquered sedentary societies - the Central Asian territory
influenced by Persian religions, the Hellenistic Bactria, and Brahmanical and Buddhist South Asia.
The foremost source of their legitimacy was no doubt the claim of divinity of their kingship. Rulers
of Kushans called themselves the Son of the God or the Son the Heaven. Its translation in
Chinese was the same as the appellation of a Chinese emperor, which caused speculations about
Yuezhi-Kushans relationship with Chinese. However, worship of the heaven has prevailed in many
tribes on the steppe. Kushans probably, just like other tribes, claim the legitimacy of the chief from
the divinity of the heaven. While the faith of the divine origin of their kingship was never shaking,
the Kushan rulers might have changed the name of their divine father. The family temple ( devakula
in Sanskrit) of the Kushan royal family was where patron deity or deities of the Kushans should be
worshipped.
Two devakulas so far discovered, one at Surkh Kotal in South Bactria (Afghanistan) and another one
at Mat near Mathura in north India. The devakulas contained sculptures of Kushan rulers Kanishka
and others. The statues of Kanishka from Mat and Surkh Kotal are very similar. The temple at Surkh
Kotal was built by Kanishka, as testified by an inscription (sk 4). Two other statues have not been
identified, but one inscription (sk2) refers to an earlier king Vima Kadphises. Among the statues
from Mat, there were probably a statue of Vima Kadphises and one of Huvishka, a king later than
Kanishka, so that the two devakulas might have existed in the same time frame. No detail of
architecture is available from the excavations of Mat. The temple at Surkh Kotal is Bactrian
Hellenistic in style. Six of the seven inscriptions are written with Greek letters but a local Prakrit
dialogue. The inscriptions from Mat were in Karoshthi script and Prakrit language of Mathura
region. With the statues of Kushan rulers in the temples, the question is whether they were objects of
worship or rather represented the patrons of the temple, which was a common religious practice in
Central Asia and South Asia. Based on the excavations, Fussman argued that the deities were
worshiped in the Surkh Kotal temple were not the Kushan rulers themselves. The temples were
called devakula because they serve the Kushan royal family. A more recently discovered inscription
of the Kushan ruler Kanishka may shed lights on the function of devakula. The inscription was
found at Rabatak, not far from Surkh Kotal. It was about building a temple, housing both deities and
kings. The deities in this case were two Zoroastrian gods, Sroshard and Narasa, and the kings were
the three ancestors and Kanishka himself. The presence of statues of Kushan rulers in the temple
stresses the close relationship between the deities, whoever they were, and the ruling clan.
Wima Kadphises and Huvishka were closer to Shiva as shown by the images on their coins.
Huvishkas coins provide a regular almanac of the iconography of the early Shiva cult. The
deification of the ruler which was so prevalent in the Roman and Hellenistic world as well as among
the Iranians was thus introduced into India and left a mark on the future development of Hindu
kingship.

Buddhism during Kushana Period:
.

An early Mahayana Buddhist triad. From left to right, a Kushan devotee, the Bodhisattva Maitreya, the Buddha, the
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, and a Buddhist monk. 2nd-3rd century, Gandhara.
There is no doubt that the Kushan era was the Golden Age of Buddhist art, and under Kanishka,
Gandhara became a holy land, a jewel of Buddhist civilization. Its art included the earliest known oil
paintings, and the first sculptural depictions of Bodhisatwas and the Buddha himself. Gandhara
artists sculpted and painted the Buddha in realistic detail, with a serene face, hands posed in
symbolic gestures. His hair was short, curled and knotted at the top, and his robes were gracefully
draped and folded. His smile is unforgettable in its hypnotic beauty. Another aspect of his
personality can be observed in the unique statue of the Fasting Buddha which is a part of the Lahore
Museum's collection of Gandharan art. This school of Kushan art is superior in every way to the
Mathura school, although this contains the only sculpted depiction of Kanishka, giant-size, sword in
hand, with its head missing.To describe the beautiful coinage of Kanishka is a story unto itself, and
many of these coins carry images of the ruler. The jewellery and other artifacts of his time were
fabulous in their exquisite variety. I am fortunate to possess a black stone carved ring of Kanishka's
era which my husband was able to purchase from an antique dealer in Europe. In every possible way
this mesmerizing ruler was a man who brought mystic beauty and a generous humanity to Northern
India, but he left no viable successor, and after his death the empire broke up and became
fragmented. That syncretic world vanished with his departure.
Though there was not an official state religion, Buddhism was no doubt the dominant one and
received greatest patronage from the Kushan rulers. Several Buddhist monasteries were named after
Kushan rulers, such as Kanishkas monastery, Huvishkas Monastery etc. Kushan rulers were
famous for their patronage of Buddhism not only India. Buddhist literature eulogized Kanishka as a
royal patron second to the Mauryan king Ashoka. Though the legend of Kanishka sponsored the
fourth conference of the Buddhist sangha could not be verified by royal inscriptions, Buddhism and
Buddhist art flourished under the Kushan regime demonstrates the popularity of the religion. Under
the Kushan rule the center of Buddhist activities moved from the mid and lower Ganges plain to the
northwest region of South Asian subcontinent. The legend of the begging bowl of the Buddha and
numerous other objects attracting pilgrims appeared in the northwest during the Kushan period. The
Kushans brought fortune to northwest region of South Asia, not only through trade, but also by
promoting religious activities.
The Kushan Empire was also responsible for the spread of Buddhism to China. It was also under the
Kushan period Buddhist preachers with the surname Zhi appeared in Luoyang and other major
cities of China. The images of the Buddha and Buddhist patrons, with strong Bactrian-nomadic
Kushan flavor, were executed on boulders at Kongwangshan on the east coast of China around the
end of the second century CE. The connections to the steppe people, and the tolerance and patronage
of multiple religions made the Kushan Empire the most efficient agent of propagating Buddhism.
Fourth Buddhist Council
During his reign, the famous Fourth Buddhist Council was convened at Kundalavana Vihara in
Kashmir. A select body of five hundred scholars participated in this council, including Ashvaghosha,
as well as Vasumitra of the Sarvastivadin sect. This Buddhist Council comprising of over 500 monks
and scholars. At this meeting the previously uncodified portions of Buddhas discourses and the
theoretical portions of the canon were codified. The entire canon (the Tripitaka) was inscribed on
copper plates and deposited in a stupa. The Buddhist schools of Sarvastivada, Mahayana,
Madhyamika, and Yogachara were all well developed in Kashmir. It also produced famous Buddhist
logicians such as Dinnaga, Dharmakirti, Vinitadeva, and Dharmottara. The main fruit of this Council
was the vast commentary, the Mahavibhasha, which was an extensive compendium and reference
work on a portion of the above-mentioned sect. The language used for these texts was mainly
Sanskrit.
Lokakema:
Lokakema (Ch: Zh Lujichn, sometimes abbreviated Zh Chn), born around
147 CE, was the earliest known Buddhistmonk to have translated Mahayanasutras into the Chinese
language and as such was an important figure in BuddhisminChina. The name Lokakema means
'welfare of the world' in Sanskrit. .

Lokakema was the first Indian Monk who went to China to propagate Mahyna teachings. Among
the texts he translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, the Sutra of the Practice of Prajpramit
(T08n0224) was the first in a series of prajpramit sutras that laid the foundation of the
Mahyna in China; the Sutra of Infinite Pure Equal Enlightenment (T12n0361) was the first of the
five versions of the Amityus Sutra that arrived in China; both versions of the Sutra of Pratyutpanna
Buddha Sammukhvasthita Samdhi (T13n041718) prescribe an intense three-month Mation
Retreat. .

Lokaksema was a Kushan of Yuezhi ethnicity from Gandhara. His ethnicity is described in his
adopted Chinese name by the prefix Zhi (Chinese: ), abbreviation of Yuezhi (Chinese: ). As a
Yuezhi, his native tongue was one of the Tocharian languages, an IndoEuropean language group.
He was born in Gandhara (presently known as a center of GrecoBuddhist art) at a time when
Buddhism was actively sponsored by the Kushan Emperor Kanishka, who convened the Fourth
Buddhist Council. The proceedings of this Council actually oversaw the formal split of Nikaya
Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. It would seem that Kanishka was not ill-disposed towards
Mahayana Buddhism, opening the way for missionary activities in China by monks such as
Lokaksema.Lokaksema came from Gandhara to the court of the Handynasty at the capital Loyang as
early as 150 and worked there between 178 and 189. A prolific scholar-monk, many early
translations of important Mahyna texts in China are attributed to him, including the very early
Prajpramit Sutra known as the "Practice of the Path" (Do Xng Bnru Jng ),
Pratyutpanna Sutra (Bn Zhu Snmi Jng ), dush Wng Jng , Za biyu
jing , Shou lengyan jing , Wuliang qingjing pingdeng jue jing
, and the Baoji jing .The Sanskrit names of the sutras he translated are as
follows: Astasahasrika, Aksobhyatathagatasyavyuha, Surangamasamadhisutra, an early version of a
sutra connected to the Avatamsakasutra, Drumakinnararajapariprccha, Bhadrapalasutra,
Ajatasatrukaukrtyavinodana, and the Kasyapaparivarta, which were probably composed in the north
of India in the first century CE. Activity in China.Lokaksema's work includes the translation of the
Pratyutpanna Sutra, containing the first known mentions of the BuddhaAmitabha and his PureLand,
said to be at the origin of Pure Land practice in China, and the first known translations of the
PrajpramitSutra (The "Astasahasrika-prajnaparamita Sutras", or "PerfectionofWisdom Sutras
of the practice of the Way", which later became known as the "Perfection of Wisdom in 8000
lines"), a founding text of Mahayana Buddhism.
Lokaksema's translation activities, as well as those of the Parthians An Shih Kao and An Hsuan
slightly earlier, or the Yuezhi Dharmaraksa (around 286 CE) illustrate the key role
Wikipedia:CentralAsian|CentralAsians had in propagating the Buddhist faith to the countries of East
Asia.Another Yuezhi monk and one of Lokaksema's students named Zhi Yao (Chinese: ),
translated Mahayana Buddhist texts from Central Asia around 185 CE, such as the "Sutra on the
Completion of Brightness" (Chinese: Chengiu guangming jing).

Cosmopolitanism of the Kushan Regime

While the modern world of sedentary societies often look down upon nomads as inferior, a nomadic
people some two thousand years ago not only indulged themselves in the high cultures of silk, wine,
fragrances and other exotics from the Chinese, Greeks, Romans, Persians and Indians, but also
imposed the equestrian culture, the high culture from the steppe, to the sedentary societies under
their rule. It is worthwhile to ponder how the Kushans could reach the political cohesion that made
the cultural achievements under their regime possible. The Kushan period left little records of the
administration of the empire but numerous religious inscriptions. Those inscriptions recorded
donations and patronage of religious institutions -Buddhism, Brahmanism, Jainism etc. - by the
Kushan rulers and nobles, and more often, by their subjects. Whether voluntarily or obligatory, the
donors and patrons of the ruled society referred the dates of the reigns and offered to share the
religious merits gained from the donations with the rulers. As little as we know, there is no evidence
of religious conflicts or rebellions against the rulers. In stead, there are abundant evidences of
religious prosperity and expansion, of flourishing commerce and urban life. One may speculate that
Kushan subjects did attribute some of their fortune to the rulers who ruled with a cosmopolitan
vision.
MilitaryCampaigns
Quite different from the failed Bactrian and Saka attempts at empire-building in northwest India
was the Kushan Empireit actually covered a part of northern India for almost a hundred
years. The Kushan Empire's relative success was due, in part, to the absence of any empire or
strong kingdom in North India at that time. But, as described elsewhere, the Satvahan Empire
in the Deccan delivered at least one major defeat to the Kushans at the height of their power in
India.

After consolidating his hold on the core Kushan lands in northwestern Punjab, Afghanistan, and
Bactria, Kanishka also received the submission of Kushan governors in eastern Iran (Khorasan)
and Central Asia (Khotan). The Chinese author Fu fa-tsang yin yuan chuan (470 CE), writing on
Kanishka's wars in Iran states, "The two armies joined battle, and the daggers and swords were
raised incessantly. Thereupon king Kanishka gained the victory, and he killed altogethor
900,000 parthians."

The Saka Kshatraps in Baluchistan and Sindh, who had probably regained independence due to
the Kushan infighting, were tackled next. Their submission brought in additional armed strength
to the empire, which was used against the Indian warrior clans and kingdoms in that region.

Kanishka was probably present at the conquest of Ujjain from the Malavs, on which occasion a
new era called Varsha (78 CE) was established by these foreigners. It was done to erase all
memories of the Samvat era (57 BCE) of the Malavs.a memory of an Indian victory over the
foreigners.

But as described here this region was left semi-independent under the Kshaharat Sakas.
Kanishka rturned to his capital and, sometime later, began a campaign against the eastern
Indian lands. Before becoming the emperor, Kanishka had been the Kushan governor of
western UP, from where he led raids into the east to acquire the wealth that financed his fight
for the throne. He certainly had a good knowledge of the conditions in eastern India, the
heartland of the ancient Maurya, Shunga, and Kanva Empires, but now in a state of political
confusion.

Kanishka's military campaign in this region is mentioned by Chinese and Tibetan texts
although some of his coins have been found here, the quantity is too minute to suggest
conquest. What is more likely is that these were temporary raids since no governor was
appointed and no epigraphs inscribed by any vassal king..Indian texts mention that the
Buddhist philosopher Asvaghosa was carried off by Kanishka from Pataliputra, which would not
be necessary if that important city was included in his empire.

While Kanishka was consolidating the Kushan Empire, the Chinese general Pan Chao was
leading a campaign west (73-94 CE) against the tribes far away from the Chinese frontier.
Skirting the Tibetan Plateau and crossing the Pamirs, Pan Chao claimed to have subdued the
rulers of Khotan and Kashghar in Central Asia. This challenged Kushan rule in the region and
Kanishka sent an army against the Chinese..suffering greatly in crossing the mountain ranges
the Kushan army was badly defeated.

But some years later another campaign against China brought better results and a Chinese
prince was taken hostage and kept in the Kushan dominions1.

No major campaigns are known for the successors of Kanishkait seems that the empire's
hold on northern India was effective only in his reign. This will become clear in the history of
the contemporary Indian warrior clans to be described later.

As shown earlier the Kushan Empire suffered its biggest defeat at the hands of the Satvahan
Empire, in the loss of lands and the killing of its Saka viceroy in Gujarat-Malwa. But the
Emperor Kanishka II recovered the territory within a few years. The long reign of the next ruler
Vasudeva (145-176 CE) saw the unmistakable decline of the empire..new states grew in the
Ganga-Yamuna plains, the traditional opponents of the foreigners in Punjab, Haryana and
Rajasthan gained territory and power.

It is quite striking that of all the Kushan and Saka governors in the former empire, only one,
the Mahakshatraps of Gujarat emerged as an independent power. This suggests that the other
foreign governors were overthrown by the Indian warrior clans in different parts of the empire.

The power of the Kushan kings was maintained in the core of their kingdom in eastern Iran
(Khorasan), Kabul, Bactria, and Gandhar (northwest Punjab). But new threats emerged to
trouble the Kushansfrom the north the Juan-Juan tribe and from the east the Sassanians
pressed into their dominions. The Kushans were obliged to pay tribute to the Sassanians but
later won their independence and formed an equal alliance with them. In 360 CE the Sassanian
king Shapur II won a victory over the Roman Empire with the aid of an aged king named
"Grumbates"..believed to be the Kushan ruler Kidara.

Samudra Gupta of the Gupta Empire defeated the Kushans and received homage2 from
them.his son Chandra Gupta II led a campaign across Punjab and Afghanistan into Bactria
(412 CE). This was in the nature of a successful military raid that did not lead to any permanent
conquest. The Kushans, now reduced to being a minor power, had to face yet another power in
their later history..the Huns.
Evidence of Kushana Kingdom:
In the Kushan period the majority of evidence comes from Mathura, both from the Jain site of
Kankali Tila, and from Buddhist sites in the city. There are also images from Ahichhhatra to the
north-east and the northern-most example of the Indian style Sanghol. All of these sites shared a
common set of proportions. The face was round (rather than oval) in shape. Not as round as the faces
at Nagurjunikonda, but noticeably more so than in contemporary Gandharan images. The eyes were
placed two-thirds of the way up the face (an interesting position, because it is unnatural and shows
that the artists were not working from life models, but from an ideal). Using the head as a measure,
the bottom of the breasts were placed one heads height below the chin. The top of the girdle was
placed one heads length beneath that, and the whole figure stood seven heads high. The crotch was
placed midway between the top and bottom of the figure. These basic proportions are obeyed
throughout the formal sculptures of Mathure, regardless of whether they are Jain or Buddhist. In
addition the female figures assume a particular posture called the tribangha or 'pose of the three
bends', bent at the hips, waist, and breasts (sometimes with the head cocked), to provide an S like
shape. .

John F Mosteller (1987) has gone further than this and shown that for male figures at least these
proportions can be explained in the terms used by later sources implying that those sources contain a
genuine record of an older artistic practice. It is worth noting that this is not the case for terracotta
figures, even a small sample of which is enough to show that they did not obey any rules regarding
proportions (see for examples Srinivasan, 1996). If this is because proportions were not considered
important or because production was less controlled and centralised is unclear.

Of course proportions are not sufficient to describe Kushan images of women. There are many other
aspects, such as the ornaments they wear (necklaces, earings, bangles about the legs and wrists), the
tied back hair, the girdles and the nudity, which combine to give these figures their sensual quality.
We shall now turn to one of those qualities, the one which is most striking to a modern audience.

The Iron Gates and the frontier of the Kushan empire:
The parallel between the ethnonym of the Asioi-Asianoi and the Alans and the cultural connections
between the latter and the aristocratic tomb of Koktepe imply that the territory concerning the 'Ases'
or 'Asians' is the territory of the Kangju confederation (or a subdivison of this) located to the west of
the Iron Gates between south-western Kazakhstan and western Uzbekistan. As 'As', a member of this
Kangju aristocracy west of the Iron Gates and perhaps
the son or grandson of the vanquisher of the Sacaraucae and heir of the treasures of the Sai and
Yuezhi (?), the king of Tillya Tepe can be considered, with the princess of Koktepe, to be among the
earliest 'Scythian' representatives of the Sarmatian and Alan aristocracies later encountered along the
western routes towards Central Europe. After these historical events illustrated by the rich burials on
the western periphery of the former Graeco-Bactrian kingdom, the reconstruction of the Derbent
wall emphasizes the following, post-Sacaraucae, international balance of power. It is evidence of
another stage of the rivalry between the newly sedentarized Kushan empire
and the still 'nomadic' Kangju on the other side of the Hisllar range. The opposition between the
Kangju and the Kushans is best illustrated from a cultural point of view by their respective relations
with the earlier Graeco-Bactrian world.
The Kushans appear to have been more deeply hellenized as a consequence of their location in the
heart of Central Asian hellenism, while the Kangju remained at the northern periphery of a territory
which the Graeco-Bactrian power never controlled for long periods, as shown by the excavations at
Samarkand. It is therefore exaggerated to reduce their difference to a pure nomad-sedentary scheme.
The contrast seems particularly well illustrated by the comparison of some of the art objects
discovered on both sides of the frontier wall of the Iron Gates. The engraved bone plaques found at
Orlat in the region of Koktepe and dated by Jangar Ilyasov (2003) to the first-second centuries AD
present the portraits of Kangju warriors and hunters, who probably belonged to the same social
context as the aristocracy of Koktepe (Rapin et af. 200 I).While the Prologue XLII of Justin
mentioned an early defeat of the Yuezhi, the mural reliefs which decorated the palace of Khalchayan
(Pugachenkova 1971) to the east of the Iron Gates commemorated the triumph of the Kushans led by
Kujula Kadphises. over their western 'Scythian' neighbours (Bernard 1987). This event occurred
probably after the union of the five yabghu by Kujula Kadphises but, according to F. Grenet, should
more precisely be dated just before AD 47 (Grenet 2000). The similarity of the collared armour of
the defeated warriors of Khalchayan with that of the warriors of arlat or the sovereigns' portraits on
coins have been already observed in the studies of recent decades. 54 The engraved bone plaques of
Takht-i Sangin (Litvinsky 2001; I1yasov 2003) and the sculptures of Khalchayan illustrate
respectively
the nomadic and sedentary versions of Kushan art at the beginning of the first century AD.
In the same period, in the south and in the west, the Kushans replaced the IndoParthian sovereigns.
In the north-west, however, the fortification of Derbent becomes not only a political frontier, but also
an economic and cultural border, as it can be observed that the early phases of Buddhism- with its
pilgrims and related merchants-never extended beyond Derbent.
Decline
The Great Kushan Empire started declining after the death of Vasudeva in 226 AD. After his death ,
the Kushan empire split into western and eastern halves. The Persian Sassanid Empire soon
subjugated the Western Kushans (in Afghanistan), losing Bactria and other territories. In 248 the
Persians defeated them again, deposing the Western dynasty and replacing them with Persian vassals
known as the Kushanshas (or Indo-Sassanids).
The Eastern Kushan kingdom based in the Punjab. Around 270, their territories on the Gangetic
plain became independent under local dynasties such as the Yaudheyas. At the beginning of the
fourth century the Guptas powerful empire in India appeared. With the development of their
territory during the periods of Chandragupta and Samudra Gupta, Sakai and Kushana government in
Punjab and Gujarat were abolished Then in the mid fourth century the Gupta Empire under
Samudragupta subjugated them. 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 had been rather prosperous, although on a smaller
scale than their Kushan predecessors. The invasions of the White Huns in the fifth century, and later
the expansion of Islam, ultimately wiped out those remnants of the Kushan empire
Sassaninan king Shapur II fought and made a treaty with the Kushanas in 350 AD, but he was
defeated by them twice in 367-368 AD. Though, the last king , who had his capital in Balkh (350-
375 AD) ruled up to 375 AD. We know the events form these wars from the work History of
Armenia by the Armenian historian Fawstos Buzand (end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th century).
The first war was begun by the king of Kushans. Shapur II personally led the Sasanian army, but it
did not help the Persians: the Kuan army defeated the Persian forces exceedingly. It killed
many of them, took many prisoners, and drove part of them into flight.574 The war of Shapur II in
the east is dated by the last years life of the Armenian king Arsak,captured by the Persian shahinshah
in AD 367. The second war, in which Shapur II intended to take revenge, ended just as sadly for the
Persians, as the first: the Persian army suffered defeat at the hands of the forces of the Kuan
and turned to flight under frightful blows. [The Kuan] caught up with the Persian army and did not
leave a single one from the Persian forces alive; no one survived to bring news. This second war in
the east took place in AD 374/375. In the opinion of Trever, persisting Kushans in the 70s of the 4th
century AD were not capable of inflicting so terrible defeats Shapur II, as the Kushans had
according to Fawstos Buzand. The Kushan kingdom at this time was already divided into two parts,
but power of Sasanians was at its height. In the 70s of the 4th century AD only the Chionites could
withstand Shapur II, since their rise to power occurred exactly during this period. In the view of
Trever this part of Fawstos Buzands work may concern the Chionites, whom he continued to name
as Kushans, because contemporaries of Fawstos Buzand did not much distinguished the Kushans and
the Chionites. Gubaev considers that as a result of the wars of Shapur II with the Chionites, the latter
became masters of Dehistan Shapur II fought war with the Kushans, beginng in the late 60s of the 4
th

century AD according to Lukonin, and destroyed the Kushan kingdom, one of his
allies being the Chionites.578 E. Zeimal, with a certain degree of doubt, accepts this version,
considering that the Arakuni king of the Kuan, who resided in the city of Bal mentioned at
Fawstos Buzand was perhaps one of the last Kushan kings Vasudeva.

In the opinion of some scientists Dyakonov, Mandelshtam and V. Masson Shapur II was at war with
the Kidarites, who as ally helped the Chionites. Although V. Masson notes that since Armenian
historians used the term Kushan in very broad meaning, it is difficult with confidence to confirm
which enemy Shapur II had in the second half of the 4th century. The suggestion that it was Kidara
seems more probable. Ter-Mkrtichyan sees only the Chionites as the enemy of Shapur II, since they
ruled Central Asia in that period.

Later the Kidarites claimed independence and captured Afghanistan and nearby area. Their king
Kidara ignored the ruling power of Persian kings. He coined his total face which was unique to the
Persian kings. Shapur II became extremely angry and attacked Punjab. Kidara was defeated and
confessed to realize the power of Persian kings. He accompanied Shapur in a war with Roman.
However upon his return to India he went under the protection of Samudra Gupta, the powerful
north Indian king.
Consequently, Kushan had a very small land in Kabul valley and Balkh area The Yudheyas, bhattis
and Nagars were also in continuous internal conflicts. Finally, in 375 AD, The Kushans Empire ,
which had been established by the great Kanishka was collapsed and retired. Some princes, who
accepted the superiority of Persia, ruled over in a very small region.

Following factors were responsible for their fall
Most of the feudatories claimed independence
Continuous fights with Xionites or Red Huns.
Rise of Gupta Dynasty in 320 AD
Conflicts with Indo-Sassanians.

TheywereabletoreestablishsomeauthorityaftertheSassanidsdestroyedtheHephthalitesin565CE,but
theirrulecollapsedunderArabattacksinthemid600s.

New settlements of Kushans

Some of them moved to Himalayas: This branch of Kushans kept ruling a large part of Himachala.
They were the forefathers of the forthcoming Naga Dynasty of Kashmir.
A branch of these Kushans went to Afghanistan and Persia: These Kushans were found ruling Persia
in 4th and 5th centuries. They ruled as KushanShahs, The Famous Shahi dynasty which ruled sind
till early 8th century were also one of these Kushan or kushanshah Rulers. They were also knows as
Kidarites or Red Huns (Though they were not pure Huns). Present day Shahs of Gujarat and Sind are
the progeny of those great warriors. According to Frye, the glory of the Kushans was so high, that
their legal successors, the Hephthalites and kings of Kabul from the dynasty of the Shahis, even up
to the Arabic conquest, raised their own family as Kushans.
Some of them went downwards: and finally settled in Gujarat and southern Rajsthan and occupied
the territories of Western Kshatrapas (Sakas). They started ruling Southern Rajasthan and Gujarat
under several branches as petty rulers. These branches were namely Chapotkats, Nagars, Yudheyas,
Awanas etc. Perhaps Gurjars ruled as feudatories to Guptas till 455 AD. The Gupta Empire
collapsed due to the another Yuezhi group named Huna attack under Torman in 467 AD. While, At
the beginning of the fifth century some people of Yuezhi, who left in Oxus river area, united in a
fighting group and invaded the Gupta in India and Shaka in west and gained their kingdom from
Gupta and Shaka . Roman called them Hephtalites and Persian historians called them Hayatelle.
They are called white Hunas too. They were strong people. Their emergence in this side of Oxus
created a lot of panic in the east and west.They divided in two groups eastern groups and western
group. Eastern group stabilized his kingdom in North India while western group established his
kingdom in whole central Asia to west.

TheImpactofKushanExtinction
As it is understood from discovered coins of Kushan, the economic development and countrys
improvement were based on commerce between east and west. This business was performed by the
sea and land. There were two main ways, one from the path near Caspian Sea and the other by Oman
Sea. In this situation the development of Sassanian was a threat to them because they endangered
their commerce, and transformation of goods. They tried not to lose the floor and it was natural to
strive for international business. However what they intended did not meet the reality. The great
evolution by Sassanian changed the history of central Asia. Therefore their rate and proportion in
international commerce was changed. Professor Ahmad Hassan Dany believes that the results of
abolishing Kushan by Sassanian were first of all, destroying commercial benefits and second, the
attacks of northern Hunas. Sassanian had a lot of wars in the west with Romans and in the east with
Kushan and Sakas. The weakness of Kushan in the east paved the way for northern attacks. In this
way the power of Sassanian suffered a lot and the Gupta government vanished completely. As the
result, there were no powerful governments to stop the attacks of northern plunderers.
Professor Ahmad Hasan Dany adds that because of the victory of Sassanian, the commercial affairs
which were under the control of Kushan were destroyed completely. The main roads were ruined.
The attacks of tribes put into danger the transportation of goods in Silk Road. The development of
Sassanian in Indus and Gujarat led to the disappearing of domestic governors. In this way Gupta
penetrated to the area and finally they seized the west part of Indus River.
Sea commerce was severely damaged too. And after nearly two centuries it decreased a lot. However
it was revived by Arabs in the seventh century.
It seems that the above mentioned opinions of Professor Ahmad Hassan Dany are true. However his
ideas regarding commercial navigation and land transportation are not completely true because the
position of Sassanian in Kushan was reinforced. Moreover, Sassanian princes got the title of
Kushanshah and those regions were under the direct control of Sassanian. An English proverb
asserts that trade follows the flag. Therefore when political influence is apparently found in one
region cultural and economic influences follow. According to historians and researches ideas about
Sassanian political and commercial power in east of Persian Gulf, it can be safely claimed that the
abolishing of Kushan did not endanger land or sea commerce rather with omitting Kushan as
intermediator the benefits of Sassanian increased. Sassanian directly controlled the business of that
area and the benefits were divided between Sassanian and Guptas.

Ancient History of Central Asia - Kushana Empire

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AncientHistoryofCentralAsia(ArticleNo02)

Imp.Note: Till now many researches publoished on the history of Great

Head of a Kushan prince (Khalchayan palace, Uzbekistan)

Contacts with China

Social Structure during Kushana:

namu arm awn akanik astpa arxar farn

Religions under the Kushans: .

'welfare of the world' in Sanskrit. .

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