Kushan Empire

]] The Kushan Empire (c. 1st – 3rd Centuries ) was a state that at its height, about 105 – 250 , stretched from 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, a people from the eastern Tarim Basin and Gansu , 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), ''i.e.'' the "Kushans", as one of the five tribes of the , 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). The Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of Greco-Bactria , in the Bactrian territory (northernmost Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) around 135 BCE , and displaced the Greek dynasties there, who resettled in Indus basin (in present day Pakistan) in the western part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom . A MULTI-CULTURAL EMPIRE In the . 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 NWFP 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 many 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 adpated 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 some aspects of Indian culture like the other nomadic groups who had invaded India. 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. MAIN KUSHAN RULERS ( Heraios, Sanav, the Kushan" (the meaning of "Sanav" is unknown).]] Heraios (1-30) Heraios was probably the first of the Kushan kings. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios was probably the father of Kujula Kadphises. Kujula Kadphises (30-80) According to the '') 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 one inscription, and may never have ruled), and Vima Taktu . Vima Taktu (80-105) . Corrupted Greek legend ΒΑ&ΣΙΛЄΥ ΒΑΣΙΛЄΥΩΝ ΣΩΤΗΡ ΜΕΓΑΣ "Basileu Basileon Sotēr Megas": "The King of Kings, Great Saviour". ] Vima Takt (or Tak[to]) is mentioned in the Rabatak Inscription (see the reference to Sims-william's article below), which states that he was the father of Vima Kadphises , and the grandfather of Kanishka I. He expanded the Kushan Empire into the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. The '' Hou Hanshu '' says: :"His Kadphises' 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 king the Guishuang (Kushan) king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi." Vima Kadphises (105-127) Vima Kadphises was the son of Vima Taktu and the father of Kanishka I. He issued an extensive series of coins and inscriptions. Kanishka I (127-147) The rule of in northern 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, has been found. According to the Rabatak Inscription , Kanishka was the son of Vima Kadphises, the grandson of Vima Taktu, 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 (see Reference section below). THE KUSHANS AND BUDDHISM , Gandhara .]] Cultural exchanges also flourished, encouraging the development of Greco-Buddhism , a fusion of Hellenistic and Buddhist cultural elements, that was to expand into central and northern Asia as Mahayana Buddhism. Kanishka is renowned in Buddhist tradition for having convened a Great Buddhist Council in Kashmir . This council is attributed with having marked the official beginning of the pantheistic Mahayana Buddhism and its schism with Nikaya Buddhism . Kanishka also had the original Gandhari vernacular, or Prakrit , Mahayana Buddhist texts translated into the language of Sanskrit . Along with the Indian king Ashoka , the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Milinda), and Harsha Vardhana , Kanishka is considered by Buddhism as one of its greatest benefactors. Depiction of Kushan devotees in the art of Gandhara devotee, the Bodhisattva Maitreya , the Buddha, the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara , and a Buddhist monk. 2nd-3rd century, Gandhara .]] The art and culture of Gandhara , at the crossroads of the Kushan hegemony, are the best known expressions of Kushan influences to Westerners. Several direct depictions of Kushans are known from Gandhara, where they are represented with a tunic, belt and trousers and play the role of devotees to the Buddha, as well as the Bodhisattva and future Buddha Maitreya . In the iconography, they are never associated however with the very Hellenistic "Standing Buddha" statues ( See Image ), which might therefore correspond to an earlier historical period. The style of these friezes incorporating Kushan devotees is already strongly Indianized, quite remote from earlier Hellenistic depictions of the Buddha:
	Image:Kushan, Brahma, Indra, IndianJPGKushan Devotee Couple, Around The Buddha,	"http://wwwseattleluxurycom/encyclopedia/entry/Brahma" class="copylinks">Brahma and Indra
	Image:KanishkaCasketJPGThe "	"http://wwwseattleluxurycom/encyclopedia/entry/Kanishka_casket" class="copylinks">Kanishka Casket ", with the Buddha surrounded by Brahma and Indra , and Kanishka on the lower part, 127

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Kushan Empire

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