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The expansion of the Kushans was checked by the
Indo-Parthians, or Pahlavas, who had their origins in Persia.
Gondophares was a vassal of the Parthian Arsacids,
and it was he who declared his independence from them and ventured
eastwards to establish his own kingdom in present day Afghanistan,
Pakistan and northern India.
It is said that St Thomas, the disciple of Christ,
arrived in the court of Gondophares and later found his way to
southern India.
Gondophores’ kingdom lasted for barely a century
and northern India was recaptured by the Kushans in around AD 75.
Afterwards, the Indo-Parthian kingdom was
restricted so that it only stretched as far west as Afghanistan.
While the last king with any real power was Pacores
(AD 100-135), there was one more Parthian king who ruled in
diminished circumstances, until the Indo-Parthians were finally
conquered by the Kushans.
The main Indo-Parthian rulers were as follows:
- Gondophares I (c.AD 20-50)
- Abdagases I (c.50-65)
- Satavastres (c.60)
- Sarpedones (c.70)
- Orthagnes (c.70)
- Ubouzanes (c.77)
- Sases or Gondophares II (c.85)
- Abdagases II (c.90)
- Pacores (c.100)
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