Kushan Empire
empire in Central and South Asia (30–375 AD)
AI overview
The Kushan Empire was a powerful empire that ruled over Central and South Asia from around 30 to 375 AD, spanning a vast territory that connected major trade routes between East and West. It matters because it played a crucial role in facilitating cultural, religious, and commercial exchanges across Asia during this period, particularly in spreading Buddhism and connecting different civilizations through trade.
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Article
The Kushan Empire (c. 30–c. 375 CE) was a syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Kushan territory in India went at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath, now near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan emperor Kanishka the Great.
The Kushans were most probably one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, an Indo-European nomadic people of possible Tocharian origin, who migrated from northwestern China (Xinjiang and Gansu) and settled in ancient Bactria. The founder of the dynasty, Kujula Kadphises, was a follower of the Shaivite sect of Hinduism, but also incorporated Iranian and Greek cultural ideas and iconography after the Greco-Bactrian tradition. Many of the later Kushan kings after Kujula, were also patrons of Hinduism, including (but not limited to) Vima Kadphises and Vasudeva II. The Kushans in general were also great patrons of Buddhism, and, starting with Emperor Kanishka, they employed elements of Zoroastrianism in their pantheon. They played an important role in the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and China, ushering in a period of relative peace for 200 years, sometimes described as "Pax Kushana".
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1st-century establishments in India375 disestablishments4th-century disestablishments in IndiaAncient history of AfghanistanAncient history of PakistanAncient Indian monarchiesBuddhism in AfghanistanDynasties of IndiaFormer monarchies of Central AsiaFormer monarchies of IndiaHistorical Iranian peoplesHistory of Buddhism in India