Kushans

Who were the Kushans?

The Kushans, also known as the Kuei-Shang, were a great Yueh-chi (tribes) principality. Kadphises I unified these five regions into the Kushan Empire during the first century CE. The Kushan movement in India dates all the way back to Kadphises I’s rule in the first century after Christ.

Kushan Empire

The Yuezhi built a syncretic empire in the Bactrian provinces in the early first century, the Kushan State. Inscriptions from the Kushan Emperor Kanishka the Great have been found at Saketa and Sarnath in Varanasi (Benares), where the empire spanned much of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India.

Origin of the Kushan Empire 

• The Kushanas are one of the five branches of the Yuezhi tribe that lived along the Chinese border or in Central Asia
• In Chinese sources, they are referred to as Guishuang
• They finally surpassed the other Yuezhi tribes in power
• In the first century AD, they advanced eastward towards India, conquering the Parthians and Sakas

Kushan Empire – Ruler Kujula Kadphises or Kadphises I [AD 30 – AD 80]

• The Kushan Empire in India was founded by Kujula Kadphises, the first Yuezhi chief
• He established his supremacy over Kabul, Kandahar and Afghanistan
• His son Vima Taktu or Sadashkana (AD 80-AD 95), who expanded the kingdom into northwest India, succeeded him

Kushan Empire – Ruler Vima Kadphises [AD 95 – AD 127]

• He was the son of Vima Taktu and the father of Kanishka, according to an inscription discovered at Rabatak, Afghanistan
• He had a significant amount of gold coins on his hands
• As evidenced by the coins he issued, he was a Shiva devotee
• Huge quantities of Roman gold coins discovered during this time period demonstrate India’s affluence at the time, as well as the rising trade with the Romans

Kanishka of Kushan Dynasty [127 AD – 150 AD]

• He is often regarded as the greatest Kushan ruler and a renowned king of ancient India
• Son of Vima Kadphises
• Afghanistan, parts of Sindhu, Parthia, Punjab, Kashmir, parts of Magadha (including Pataliputra), Malwa, Benaras, maybe parts of Bengal, Khotan, Kashgar, and Yarkhand were all part of his realm (last three in modern China). Gandhara, Peshawar, Oudh, Pataliputra, Kashmir, and Mathura were all part of his kingdom. Parts of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were included in his empire
• Peshawar, then known as Purushpura, was his primary capital
• He is reported to have brought the Buddhist monk Ashvaghosha with him to Peshawar after capturing Pataliputra
• Parsva, Ashvaghosha, Vasumitra, Nagarjuna, Charaka, and Mathara were among the scholars in his court. He also favoured Agesilaus, a Greek engineer
• At Kundalvana in Kashmir, Kanishka assembled the fourth Buddhist Council
• Although he was religiously tolerant, he was a Buddhist supporter. His coins feature deities from India, Greece, and Zoroastrianism
• He was also an art and architecture patron. Under his leadership, the Gandhara School of art flourished
• He was also a major proponent of the Mahayana school of Buddhism, which he was greatly responsible for spreading throughout China
• He died in an unknown manner

Significance of the Kushan Empire’s achievements

• During this time, Sanskrit literature began to emerge. Sanskrit was used to conduct the fourth Buddhist council
• The first Sanskrit dramatist is thought to be Ashvoghosha
• Three separate art schools developed during this time: the Gandhara School in northwest India, the Amaravati School in Andhra Pradesh, and the Mathura School in the Ganges valley
• India and China, as well as India and the Roman Empire, flourished in trade
• The Kushanas ruled over significant swaths of the Silk Road, allowing Buddhism to spread throughout China. Buddhism began to expand to Korea and Japan about this time as well
• Under the sponsorship of the Kushana rulers, many towers, Chaityas, towns, and exquisite sculptures were created
• To begin with, the Kushanas were foreign invaders, yet their methods and culture were totally Indianized
• The Kushana period in Indian history is regarded to have been a perfect predecessor to the Guptas’ golden age

Culture and Religion

We have no records of the Kushan Empire’s history in its own language, despite the fact that philosophy, art, and science flourished inside its confines. Zoroastrians, one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions, founded by the Prophet Zoroaster about 3,500 years ago in ancient Iran, are said to have been the majority religion of the Kushans. Kushan culture combined elements of Buddhism and the Greek civilisation of the Hellenistic kingdoms. Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and perhaps Saivism, a Hindu offshoot, were among the several religions practised by Kushan rulers.

Kushan Decline 

After Emperor Vasudeva I’s death in 225, the Kushan Empire was split in two. Afghanistan’s western Kushans were rapidly overrun by the Persian Sassanid Empire. As a result of their defeat by the Persians in 248 CE, they were replaced by Persian vassals known as the Indo-Sassanids, who gave up their foreign policy independence in exchange for full autonomy and in some cases, formal tribute.

The eastern Kushan kingdom was based in the Punjab. The Yaudheyas and other local dynasties ruled over their kingdoms on the Gangetic Plain around 270 CE. The Gupta Empire, commanded by Samudragupta, conquered them in the mid-fourth century. The Kushan and Sassanian kingdoms were subsequently overthrown by the Hepthalites, an Indo-European population from the north.

Conclusion

The empire of the Kushanas played a crucial role in civilising the world. Indian civilisation spread across Central and Eastern Asia as a result. China, India, Persia and Mesopotamia all had thriving commercial relations with the Roman Empire. As a result of the Kushans’ influence, Buddhism spread throughout central and eastern Asia and China as well as the development of Gandhara and Mathura schools of painting.

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