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XXI
Kushan Empire, 30 - 375 A.D. See coins of the Kushan Empire in the Forum Ancient Coins shop. The Kushans descended from the Guishuang branch of the nomadic Yueh-Chi tribe. In the West, the name Guishuang was adopted and modified into Kushan, but the Chinese continue to call them Yuezhi. The Yuezhi reached the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (in northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) around 135 B.C. The earliest documented Kushan ruler was Heraios. The Kushans quickly adopted elements of the Hellenistic culture, a modified Greek alphabet, and Greek style coinage. Heraios may have been the father of Kujula Kadphises, who bound the Yuezhi tribes into a tight confederation, becoming the first Kushan emperor. Gradually expanding south into Gandhara (primarily in Pakistan 's Pothowar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but including the Kabul valley and part of Qandahar in Afghanistan), the Kushans wrested control from the Scythian tribes. They established twin capitals in Begram and Peshawar, then known as Kapisa and Pushklavati respectively. At the height of the dynasty, the Kushans loosely ruled a territory that extended north to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, south into northern India, and east as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, bringing prosperity including a Chinese silk trade with Rome. The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, the Aksumite Empire and Han Dynasty of China. In addition to Hellenism and the Greek cults, the Kushans adopted many local beliefs and customs. From the time of Vima Takto, many Kushans adopted aspects of Buddhist culture. Kanishka was a great patron of Buddhism. He played an important role in the establishment of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent and its spread to Central Asia and China. , encouraging travel across the Karakoram and facilitating the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to China. The great Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises may have embraced Shaivism (a sect of Hinduism), as surmised by coins minted during the period. Kushan emperors followed a wide variety of faiths including the Greek cults, Buddhism, Shaivism, Zoroastrianism. While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record of the empire 's history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese. In the 3rd century, the Kushan empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms which fell to the Sasanians invading from the west, establishing the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom in the areas of Sogdiana, Bactria and Gandhara. In the 4th century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as the Kidarites, and then the Hepthalites. Also see: Kushan Coins |
Alram, M. Iranisches Personennamenbuch: Nomina Propria Iranica In Nummis. Österreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften. (Vienna, 1986).
Bracy, R. "The Coinage of Wima Kaphises." (2009).
Bracey, R. "The Mint Cities of the Kushan Empire" in The City and the Coin in the Ancient and Early Medieval Worlds, BAR
International Series 2402, pp. 117 - 129.
Carter, M. "A Consideration of some Iconographic Details of Buddha Images on Kushana Coins" in Essays MacDowall.
Carter, M. "A Numismatic Reconstruction of Kushano-Sasanian History" in ANSMN 30 (1985).
Cunningham, A. "Coins of the Kushâns, or Great Yue-ti" in NC 1892.
Cribb, J. "Kanishka 's Buddha image coins revisited" in Silk Road Art and Archaeology 6 (1999/2000).
Cribb, J. "Numismatic Evidence for Kushano-Sasanian Chronology" in Studia Iranica 19 (1990).
Cribb, J. "The 'Heraus ' coins: their attribution to the Kushan king Kujula Kadphises, c. AD 30-80" in Essays Carson-Jenkins.
Cribb, J. & R. Bracey. Kushan Coins Catalogue. (London, 2011).
Friedberg, A. & U. Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present. (Clifton, NJ, 2009).
Gardner, P. The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum. (London, 1886).
Göbl. R. Donum Burns, Die Küsanmünzen im Münzkabinett Bern und die Chronologie. (Vienna, 1971).
Göbl, R. Münzprägung des Kusanreiches. Österreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften. (Vienna, 1984).
Herzfeld. E. Kushano-Sasanian Coins. Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, No. 38. (Calcutta, 1930).
Jongeward, D. & J. Cribb. Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, and Kidarite Coins: A Catalogue of Coins from the American Numismatic Society. (New York, 2015).
Loeschner, H. "Notes on the Yuezhi - Kushan Relationship and the Kushan Chronology" ONS Occasional Paper, 15 May 2008.
Mitchiner, M. Oriental Coins, Vol. 2: the Ancient and Classical World. (London, 1978).
Mukherjee. B. Kushana Silver Coinage. (Calcutta, 2004).
Rosenfield, J. The Dynastic Art of the Kushans. (Berkeley, 1967).
Senior, R. Indo-Scythian Coins and History. (London, 2001; supplement: London, 2006).
Whitehead, R. Catalog of Coins in the Panjab Museum, Lahore, Vol. I: Indo-Greek Coins. (Oxford, 1914).
Wikipedia - Kushan Empire - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire
Wikipedia - Kushan Coins - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_coinage
RULER | DATES OF REIGN |
ANS KUSHAN | ||
Pages | Plates | Coins | ||
Kujula Kadphises | c. 50 – 90 |
pp. 21 - 38 | pls. 1 - 6. | 1 - 146 |
Wima Takto (Vima Taktu or Sadashkana) | c. 90 – 113 | pp. 39 - 52 | pls. 7 - 10 | 147 - 257 |
Wima Kadphises (Vima Kadphises) | c. 113 – 127 | pp. 53 - 64 | pls. 11 - 13 | 258 - 369 |
Kanishka I | c. 127 – 140 | pp. 65 - 88 | pls. 14 - 20 | 370 - 378 |
Huvishka | c. 151 – 190 | pp. 89 - 134 | pls. 21 - 34 | 709 - 1081 |
Vasudeva I | c. 190 – 230 | pp. 135 - 147 | pls. 35 - 38 | 1082 - 1200 |
Late Kushan Kings | c. 230 - 350 | pp. 149 - 180 | pls. 39 - 47 | 1201 - 1688 |
Kanishka II | c. 230 - 247 | pp. 152 - 163 | pls. 39 - 47 | 1201 - 1605 |
Vasishka | c. 247 - 267 | pp. 164 - 168 | pls. 43 - 44 | 1606 - 1642 |
Kanishka III (Ruling only in Taxila) | c. 267 - 270 | pp. 169 - 170 | pl. 43 | 1643 - 1648 |
Vasudeva II | c. 267 - 300 | pp. 171 - 173 | pl. 45 | 1649 - 1665 |
Mahi | c. 300 - 305 | p. 174 | pl. 46 | 1666 |
Shaka | c. 305 - 335 | pp. 175 - 176 | pl. 46 | 1667 - 1681 |
Kipunadha | c. 335 - 350 | pp. 177 - 180 | pl. 47 | 1682 - 1688 |
Kushano-Sasanian | c. 230 - 379 | pp. 197 - 201 | pls. 54 - 63 | 2140 - 2408 |
Unidentified King | c. 230 | p. 202 | pl. 54 | 2140 - 2041 |
Ardashir | c. 230 - 245 | pp. 203 - 204 | pl. 54 | 2042 - 2153 |
Peroz | c. 245 - 270 | pp. 205 - 209 | pls. 55 - 56 | 2154 - 2205 |
Hormizd I | c. 270 - 300 | pp. 210 - 216 | pls. 57 - 60 | 2206 - 2337 |
Hormizd II | c. 300 - 303 | pp. 217 - 218 | pl. 61 | 2338 - 2341 |
Peroz II | c. 303 - 330 | pp. 219 -220 | pl. 61 | 2342 - 2358 |
Varhran | c. 330 - 365 | pp. 221 - 223 | pl. 62 | 2359 - 2370 |
Shapur II | c. 309 - 379 | pp. 224 - 226 | pl. 63 | 2371 - 2408 |
Kinderite Huns | c. 340 - 390 | pp. 227 - 240 | pls. 64 - 68 | 2409 - 2444 |
Time of Yasada and Kirada | c. 340 - 345 | pp. 229 - 231 | pl. 64 | 2409 - 2415 |
Varahran Kushanshah (Time of Peroz) | c. 345 - 350 | pp. 232 - 233 | pl. 65 | 2416 - 2419 |
Peroz | c. 345 - 350 | pp. 234 - 235 | pl. 65 | 2420 - 2421 |
Varahran Kushanshah (Time of Kidara) | c. 350 - 365 | pp. 236 - 237 | pls. 66 - 67 | 2422 - 2432 |
Kidara Kushanshah |
c. 365 - 390 | pp. 238 - 239 | pl. 68 | 2433 - 2444 |
Kujula Kadphises, c. 50 – c. 90
"...the prince of Guishuang, named thilac [Kujula Kadphises], attacked and exterminated the four other xihou. He established himself as king, and his dynasty was called that of the Guishuang [Kushan] King. He invaded Anxi [Indo-Parthia] and took the Gaofu [Kabul] region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda [Paktiya] and Jibin [Kapisha and Gandhara]. Qiujiuque [Kujula Kadphises] was more than eighty years old when he died." — Hou Hanshu
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, Sadaskana (who is known from only two inscriptions, especially the Rabatak inscription, and apparently never ruled), and seemingly Vima Takto.
Kujula Kadphises was the great-grandfather of Kanishka.
Wima Takto (Vima Taktu or Sadashkana), c. 90 – 113
Vima Takto is mentioned in the Rabatak inscription (another son, Sadashkana, is mentioned in an inscription of Senavarman, the King of Odi). He was the predecessor of Vima Kadphises, and Kanishka I. He expanded the Kushan Empire into the northwest of South Asia. The Hou Hanshu says:
"His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahk (tu) or, possibly, his brother Sadaskana], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-Western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi." — Hou Hanshu
Wima Kadphises (Vima Kadphises), c. 95 – 127
Vima Kadphises 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 Pakistan. He issued an extensive series of coins and inscriptions. He issued gold coins in addition to the existing copper and silver coinage.
Kanishka I the Great, c. 127 – 140
According to the Rabatak inscription, Kanishka I the Great was the son of Vima Kadphises, the grandson of Sadashkana, and the great-grandson of Kujula Kadphises. Kanishka ruled a huge territory, nearly all of northern India, south to Ujjain and Kundina and east beyond Pataliputra. His territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan) and Mathura, in northern India. 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, was found. He is also credited (along with Raja Dab) for building the massive fort, Qila Mubarak, in the modern city of Bathinda in Indian Punjab. Kanishka 's conquests and patronage of Buddhism played an important role in the development of the Silk Road, and in the transmission of Mahayana Buddhism from Gandhara across the Karakoram range to China. Kanishka 's reign began a calendar era used by the Kushans for about a century, until the decline of the realm.
"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 4–6
Vāsishka, c. 140 – c. 160
Vāsishka was a Kushan emperor who seems to have had 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,
c. 151 – 190
Huvishka 's 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, c. 190 – c. 230
Vasudeva I was the last of the "Great Kushans." Vasudeva, is the name of the father of Krishna, the popular Hindu God,
and he was the first Kushan king to be named after the Indian God. He
converted to Hinduism during his reign. Named inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of Kanishka 's era indicate his reign extended from at least 191 to 225. He was the last great Kushan emperor, and the end of his rule coincides with the invasion of the Sasanians as far as northwestern India, and the establishment of the Indo-Sasanians or Kushanshahs in what is nowadays Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India.