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Kushan Empire

South AsiaHeartland today: Pakistan and Afghanistan

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Descended from Yuezhi nomads who settled in Bactria, the Kushans ruled from Peshawar over Gandhara, the upper Indus and the upper Ganges. Their coins carried Greek, Iranian and Indian gods, and their workshops made early Buddha images.

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Key events

  1. Kujula Kadphises defeats the other four Yuezhi chiefs and founds the kingdom of GuishuangDisputed

    The Hou Hanshu gives no year, only "more than a hundred years" after the Yuezhi split into five. Modern dates for Kujula's reign vary; EBSCO gives about 30 to 80 CE.

  2. The Kushans take Gandhara and defeat Tianzhu in northwest IndiaDisputed

    The Hou Hanshu is undated and does not name Gandhara; it says Tianzhu was defeated. The year 80 CE and the taking of Gandhara come from World History Encyclopedia, and 80 matches the usual start of Vima Takto's reign.

  3. – Kanishka rules the empire at its height from Purushapura, modern PeshawarDisputed

    Two scholarly conferences, in 1913 and 1960, were held in London to settle the date. The 127 to 151 CE reckoning is used here. EBSCO calls the link between Kanishka and the Saka era, which began in 78 CE, probably mistaken. The Gandhara article places him in the 1st century CE.

  4. – Workshops in Gandhara and Mathura make Buddha images in two styles, in schist and in sandstoneDisputed

    Dates follow Kanishka's reign, which is itself disputed. World History Encyclopedia says thousands of Buddha images were made across the Kushan era, so the span is a convenience, not a date for the first image.

  5. Shapur I of Persia defeats the rulers of Gandhara, and Sasanian power spreads into Kushan landsDisputed

    The year is World History Encyclopedia's. The British Museum dates the Kushano-Sasanian period from about 233 CE, a few years earlier, and Wikipedia gives Shapur I's reign as 240 to 270 and has him take Chorasmia in 242. Shapur's own inscription claims land as far as Peshawar, which shows his claim, not how long Kushan rule there ended.