Search e-Library

Cushan Cushanian : Kushān or Yueh-chih, one of the three foreign tribes that invaded Indian & supplanted the Greeks – the other two were Śaka or Scythian, Pahlava or Pārthian. In early 2nd century BC, the Central Asian nomadic tribe known as Yueh-chih, driven out from their lands c.165 BC & between 145 & 125 BC, burst into Bactria & Parthia in the Oxus valley taking advantage of the Pārthian decline. A generation later, they were pressing into Kandahar valley & onto the Punjab plain. By the next century one of the five Yueh-chih chiefs attacked & defeated the others, leaving his clan the Kuei-shang (Kushāns) in control. Kujula Kadphises established the Kushān dynasty in 78 AD by overcoming the existing dynasty of Pahlava & Scytho-Parthians, & gaining control of the prosperous region of NW India, known as Gāndhāra under the Hindus & Kandahar under the Mohammedans & the British. His grandson Vima Kadphises’ reign saw emergence of the Kushān Empire which covered all of NW India & built trade with China, Central Asia, Egypt, & Rome, making it wealthy & prosperous. Soon Vima embraced Hinduism & proclaimed himself an incarnation of Maheshwara (Mahā-Ishwara, Lord Shiva). He also introduced the first gold coins of India; a large number of Kushānian gold & copper coins have survived. Vima’s son Kanishka (100-126 AD) was the greatest ruler of the Kushān Dynasty. He & his descendants called themselves devaputras. He established the Shaka era which starts from 78 AD & is still in popular use in India. His empire consisted Bactria (modern Afghanistan), part of Central Asia (Tajikistan), Northern India up to Pātaliputra. Kanishka I was succeeded by Huvishka who founded the city called Hushka in Kashmir. The Kushān Empire was at its zenith during Kanishka’s & Huvishka’s reign. The Kushāns were totally assimilated into the Indian culture. Vāsudeva I was the last great king of the dynasty when the Kushān Empire was at its height of splendour & prosperity. Around c.230 AD, the Nāgas seem to have supplanted the Kushān rule in part of the Jumna valley. By the 4th century both dynasties were supplanted the Gupta Empire which is believed to have begun c.320 & went into decline in the 6th century. [S. Bhattacharya; Majumdar et al, Advanced History of India]