Everything about Kushan totally explained
The
Kushan Empire (c.
1st–
3rd centuries) was a state that at its cultural zenith,
circa 105–
250 CE, extended from what is now
Tajikistan to
Afghanistan,
Pakistan and down into the
Ganges river valley in
northern India. The empire was created by the Kushan tribe of the
Yuezhi confederation, believed to be
Indo-European people from the eastern
Tarim Basin,
China, possibly related to the
Tocharians. They had diplomatic contacts with
Rome,
Persia and
China, and for several centuries were at the center of exchange between the East and the West.
Origins
Chinese sources describe the
Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜),
for example the "Kushans", as one of the five aristocratic tribes of the
Yuezhi, also spelled Yueh-chi, (Ch: 月氏), a loose confederation of supposedly Indo-European peoples. The Yuezhi are also generally considered as the easternmost speakers of
Indo-European languages, who had been living in the arid grasslands of eastern
Central Asia, in modern-day
Xinjiang and
Gansu, possibly speaking versions of the
Tocharian language, until they were driven west by the
Xiongnu in
176–
160 BCE. The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì (Ch: 休密), Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜), Shuangmi (Ch: 雙靡), Xidun (Ch: 肸頓), and Dūmì (Ch: 都密).
Historian John Keay contextualizes the movements of the Kushan within a larger setting of mass migrations taking place in the region:
The Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of
Greco-Bactria, in the
Bactrian territory (northernmost Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) around
135 BCE. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the southeast in areas of the
Hindu Kush and the
Indus basin (in present day Pakistan), occupying the western part of the
Indo-Greek Kingdom.
Early Kushans
Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushan in the area of
Bactria and
Sogdiana. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin,
Surkh Kotal (a monumental temple), and in the palace of
Khalchayan. Various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers, and significantly men with
artificially deformed skulls, such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan (a practice well attested in nomadic Central Asia). On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as
Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses. The earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler was
Heraios. He calls himself a "
Tyrant" on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor
Kujula Kadphises.
A multi-cultural Empire
In the
following century, the
Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜) gained prominence over the other Yuezhi tribes, and welded them into a tight confederation under
yabgu (Commander)
Kujula Kadphises. The name
Guishuang was adopted in the West and modified into
Kushan to designate the confederation, although the Chinese continued to call them
Yuezhi.
Gradually wresting control of the area from the
Scythian tribes, the Kushans expanded south into the region traditionally known as
Gandhara (An area lying primarily in Pakistan's 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 (with the additional development of the letter Þ "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).
The Kushans are believed to have been predominantly
Zoroastrian and later
Buddhist as well. However, from the time of Wima Takto, many Kushans started adopting aspects of
Indian culture like the other nomadic groups who had invaded
India, principally the Royal clans of
Gujjars. Like the Egyptians they absorbed the strong remnants of the Greek Culture of the Hellenistic Kingdoms, becoming at least partly Hellenised. The first great Kushan emperor Wima Kadphises may have embraced
Saivism, as surmised by coins minted during the period. The following Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of faiths including
Zoroastrianism,
Buddhism, and possibly
Saivism.
The rule of the Kushans linked the seagoing trade of the Indian Ocean with the commerce of the
Silk Road through the long-civilized
Indus Valley. At the height of the dynasty, the Kushans loosely oversaw a territory that extended to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan into northern India.
The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to
Rome, and created strings of flourishing urban centers.
Territorial expansion
Direct archaeological evidence of a Kushan rule of long duration is basically available 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.
Other areas of probable rule 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).
The recently discovered
Rabatak inscription tends to confirm large Kushan dominions in the heartland of India. The lines 4 to 7 of the inscription describe the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka, among which six names are identifiable:
Ujjain,
Kundina,
Saketa,
Kausambi,
Pataliputra, and
Champa (although the text isn't clear whether Champa was a possession of Kanishka or just beyond it).
Northward, in the 2nd century CE, the Kushans under
Kanishka made various forays into the
Tarim Basin, seemingly the original ground of their ancestors the Yuezhi, where they'd various contacts with the Chinese. Both archaeological findins and literary evidence suggest Kushan rule, in
Kashgar,
Yarkand and
Khotan.
As late as the 3rd century CE, decorated coins of Huvishka were 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.
Main Kushan rulers
Kujula Kadphises (30–80)
According to the
Hou Hanshu: "the prince (xihou) of Guishuang (
Badakhshan and the adjoining territories north of the
Oxus), named
Kujula Kadphises (Ch: 丘就却, "Qiujiuque") attacked and exterminated the four other princes (xihou). He set himself up as king of a kingdom called Guishuang."
He invaded Anxi (Parthia) and took the Gaofu (
Kabul) region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda, and Jibin (Kapisha-Gandhara). Qiujiuque (Kujula Kadphises) was more than eighty years old when he died."
These conquests probably took place sometime between 45 and 60, and laid the basis for the Kushan Empire which was rapidly expanded by his descendants.
Kujula issued an extensive series of coins and fathered at least two sons,
Sadaṣkaṇa (who is known from only two inscriptions, especially the
Rabatak inscription, and apparently never have ruled), and seemingly
Vima Taktu.
Kujula Kadphises was the great grandfather of Kanishka.
Vima Taktu (80–105)
Vima Takt[u] (or Tak[to], Ancient Chinese: 阎膏珍
Yangaozhen ) isn't mentioned in the
Rabatak inscription (
Sadashkana is instead. See also the reference to Sims-William’s article below). He was the predecessor of
Vima Kadphises, and
Kanishka I. He expanded the Kushan Empire into the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. The
Hou Hanshu says:
» "His [KujulaKadphises'] son, Yangaozhen (Vima Taktu), became king in his place. He conquered
Tianzhu (Northwestern India) and installed a General to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [theirking] the Guishuang (Kushan) king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi."
Vima Kadphises (105–127)
Vima Kadphises (Kushan language: Οοημο Καδφισης) was a
Kushan emperor from around 90–100 CE, the son of
Sadashkana and the grandson of
Kujula Kadphises, and the father of Kanishka I, as detailed by the
Rabatak inscription.
Vima Kadphises added to the Kushan territory by his conquests in
Afghanistan and north-west
India. 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.
Kanishka I (127–147)
The rule of
Kanishka, fifth Kushan king, who flourished for at least 28 years from c.
127. Upon his accession, Kanishka ruled a huge territory (virtually all of northern India), south to
Ujjain and
Kundina and east beyond
Pataliputra, according to the Rabatak inscription:
» "In the year one, it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the whole realm of the governing class, including Koonadeano (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 (for example as far as) the city of Ziri-tambo (
Sri-Champa)."
Rabatak inscription, Lines 4–6.
His territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now
Peshawar in northern Pakistan) and
Mathura, in northern India. He is also credited (along with
Raja Dab) for building the massive, ancient
Fort at Bathinda (
Qila Mubarak), in the modern city of
Bathinda, Indian
Punjab.
The Kushans also had a summer capital in
Bagram (then known as Kapisa), where the "
Begram Treasure", comprising works of art from Greece to China, has been found. According to the
Rabatak inscription, Kanishka was the son of Vima Kadphises, the grandson of Sadashkana, and the great-grandson of Kujula Kadphises. Kanishka’s era is now generally accepted to have begun in 127 on the basis of Harry Falk’s ground-breaking research. Kanishka’s era was used as a calendar reference by the Kushans for about a century, until the decline of the Kushan realm.
Vāsishka
Vāsishka was a
Kushan emperor, who seems to have a short 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 (140–183)
Huvishka (Kushan: Οοηϸκι, "Ooishki") was a
Kushan emperor from the death of
Kanishka (assumed on the best evidence available to be in 140 CE) until the succession of
Vasudeva I about forty 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 (191–225)
Vasudeva I (
Kushan: Βαζοδηο "Bazodeo",
Chinese: 波調 "Bodiao") was the last of the "Great Kushans." Named inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of
Kanishka’s 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.
Kushan deities
The Kushan religious
pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins and their seals, on which more than 30 different gods appear, belonging to the Hellenistic, the Iranian, and to a lesser extent the Indian world. Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on early coins. During Kanishka's reign, the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian (though it remained in Greek script for all kings). After Huvishka, only two divinities appear on the coins:
Ardoxsho and
Oesho (see details below).
Representation of entities from Greek mythology and Hellenistic syncretism are:
The Indic entities represented on coinage include:
Βοδδο (boddo, Buddha)
Μετραγο Βοδδο (metrago boddo, bodhisattava Maitreya)
Mαασηνo (maaseno, Mahasena)
Σκανδo koμαρo (skando komaro, Skanda Kumara)
Ϸακαμανο Βοδδο (shakamano boddho, Shakyamuni Buddha)
The Iranic entities depicted on coinage include:
Αρδοχϸο (ardoxsho, Ashi Vanghuhi)
A?αειχ?o (ashaeixsho, Asha Vahishta)
Αθϸο (athsho, Atar)
Φαρρο (pharro, Khwarenah)
Λροοασπο (lrooaspa, Drvaspa)
Μαναοβαγο, (manaobago, Vohu Manah)
Μαο (mao, Mah)
Μιθρο, Μιιρο, Μιορο, Μιυρο (mithro and variants, Mithra)
Μοζδοοανο (mozdooano, Mazda *vana "Mazda the victorious?")
Νανα, Ναναια, Ναναϸαο (variations of pan-Asiatic nana, Sogdian nny, in a Zoroastrian context Aredvi Sura Anahita)
Οαδο (oado Vata)
Oαxϸo (oaxsho, "Oxus")
Ooρoμoζδο (ooromozdo, Ahura Mazda)
Οραλαγνο (orlagno, Verethragna)
Τιερο (tiero, Tir)
