Middle Kingdoms India

The Kushans (sometimes referred to as Kushanas in Indian texts) are thought to have been an offshoot of a branch of the Greater Yuezhi which undertook a mass exodus from the northern plains near ancient China, around 165 BC.

There were five branches of the Yuezhi. One of their leaders was Kujula Kadphises (later Kadphises I, who live approximately from AD 30-80). He united the five tribes and led a campaign into south at a point in the first century AD.

There he encountered Indo-Scythians (Sakas) who had already put down roots in India. Sakas were Central Asian Indo-Iranian tribes which, along with the Indo-Parthians (Pahlavas), had dominated India for a century or so between what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan right over to parts of Maharashtra and Kathiawar (modern Gujrat).

Kadphises subdued the Sakas and established his kingdom in Bactria and the valley of the River Oxus. He later captured Gandhara and areas of southern Afghanistan.

He lived to the ripe old age of eighty, to be succeeded by Vima Takto. Kushan conquests were further extended, into north-western India, where Vima Takto appointed a general to supervise this territory (an event which is mentioned in the Chinese chronicle, Hou Hanshu, which provides much of the detail on the Kushan empire).

Vima Takto was succeeded by Wema Kadphises, otherwise known as Kadphises II (circa AD 90-112 or 105-127 - dating for the Kushans is very difficult to pinpoint and few scholars seem to be able to agree on a single timeline).

Wema was the grandson of Kadphises I, and either the son of Sadakshana, probably another son of Kujula Kadphises, or the son of Vima Takto himself. Either way, he was a great conqueror who expanded the borders of his kingdom to the edges of China and Persia. He ventured into India and established his kingdom as far as Punjab and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Kujula Kadphises had embraced Buddhism while his son, Wema, embraced Shaivism (Hinduism). He also struck a good many coins which have imprints of various 'shaivaite' deities such as Lord Shiva and Nandi (Shiva's carrier or bull).

Civil war and further expansion

After Wema Kadphises died his kshatrapas (governors) fought amongst themselves. Kanishka, the kshatrapa of Wema's eastern province, won the struggle and declared himself to be the successor of Wema Kadphises.

Kanishka has dates which variously are attributed to around AD 78-98, circa 112-132, or 127-147). He proved himself to be a great ruler. Firstly he annexed to his kingdom various regions of India such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kashmir, Malwa, Rajputana, and Saurashtra, and extended his rule as far as Khotan (southern India). He set his capital at Purushpura (today's Peshawar in Pakistan) and appointed kshatrapas to rule his vast territories.

Obverse (front) of a Kushan gold stater with Indo-Greek inscriptions which was issued under Kanishka I

Kanishka was a Buddhist. It was during his rule that Buddhism split into two sects, the Hinayana and the Mahayana (during the fourth and apparently last great council of the Buddhists). Kanishka embraced Mahayana Buddhism. The Peshawar monastery and the Stupa, built by Kanishka, was a source of admiration for many travellers, and it was during Kanishka's time that the Kashyapa Matanga introduced Buddhism to China (AD 61-67).

Kanishka was a patron of the arts. Architecture and painting progressed during his reign, with the mural paintings of the Ajanta caves beginning to take shape. The Gandhara school of sculpture also gained prominence.

Images of Buddha and many other exquisite sculptures, rock pillars, and rock edicts were built all over India. The headless statue of Kanishka wearing a long overcoat and quilted boots was later discovered near Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh, one of his works.

The great scholars of the time - Ashwaghosha, Parshwa, Vasumitra, Sangharaksha, and Nagarjuna - were regulars at his court. So was the great physician philosopher, Charaka. The Greek engineer, Agesilaus, built monuments and other structures for the royals. Mathara, a shrewd politician of his age, was Kanishka's minister. Coins minted during Kanishka's rule have been found with images of Indian, Greek, Persian, and Sumerian gods and goddesses on them.

End of the golden era

Kanishka facilitated trade routes between India and the rest of the world, and commerce prospered during his time. There were political and trade ties between the Kushans and the Roman empire (with Emperor Hadrian), and also with the Chinese emperors. Thanks to all of this, it is easy to conclude that Kanishka's era was a golden age in the true sense.

By the period between 100-50 BC the Greek kingdom of Bactria had fallen and the remaining Indo-Greek territories (shown in white) had been squeezed towards eastern Punjab, while India was partially fragmented (click or tap on map to view full sized)

Kanishka was apparently killed by his own rebellious soldiers during one of his military expeditions to China. He was succeeded by his son, Vashishka (who ruled variously between AD 102-106, 132-136, or 151-155, with a reign which lasted just four years). Several inscriptions have been found near Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh in central India) which bear Vashishka's name.

Subsequently Vashishka was succeeded by Huvishka (AD 106-138, 136-168, or 155-187). While his parentage is not known, Huvishka consolidated the empire, and his reign marked a greater level of control over the city of Mathura (in modern Uttar Pradesh). He practiced Hinduism and Buddhism.

He was succeeded by Vasudeva I (AD 168-207 or 191-230), the of the great Kushan kings to be known to history. A Chinese chronicle known as Sanguozhi records that Vasudeva sent tribute to the Chinese emperor, Cao Rui of Wei.

The vacuum which was created by the Chinese retreat from Central Asia was apparently filled by Vasudeva. The king also accepted Hinduism as his religion, and he may have been the Indian king who transferred the relics of the apostle St Thomas from India to Mesopotamia.

This photo illustrates a Kadphises I coin which was discovered in the Bactria-Tokharistan region and which has on it a corrupt Greek legend

After Vasudeva's death the Kushan empire apparently split into two halves: eastern and western.

The western kushans were overpowered by the Persian Sassanids and were replaced by vassals called the kushanshahs, although the 'split' may instead have been a result of this overpowering, with the kingship moving eastwards while some of the nobility remained in the west as vassals. The eastern Kushans ruled over Punjab until they were subjugated by Samudragupta, the Gupta emperor, in the mid-fourth century AD.

A Kushan vassal by the name of Kidara overthrew what remained of the old Kushan dynasty in AD 360 and established the Kidarite kingdom (the Hephthalites, in parts of today's Afghanistan and Pakistan), while the last Kushans in India were also overthrown.

The late Kushan rulers accepted Sassanid (Persian) suzerainty and Kushan power gradually waned in India.

Main Sources

Majumdar, R C - Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Ltd, 1987

Prasad, L - Studies in Indian History, Cosmos Bookhive, Gurgaon, 2000

Thapar, Romila - Penguin History of India, Volume 1, Penguin Books, London, 1990

Text copyright © Abhijit Rajadhyaksha. An original feature for the History Files.