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105-486: The site is usually attributed to the early Kushans , or their ancestors the Yuezhi / Tocharians . It was excavated by Galina Pugachenkova between 1959 and 1963. The interior walls are decorated with clay sculptures and paintings dated to the mid-1st century BCE, but they are thought to represent events as early as the 2nd century BCE. Various panels depict scenes of Kushan life: battles, feasts, portraits of rulers. Some of

210-601: A Greek kingdom far in the east. Following the death of Alexander, control of Bactria passed on to his general Seleucus I Nicator . The fertility of the land and prosperity of Bactria by the early 3rd century BC led to the creation of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom by Diodotus as a breakaway state of the Seleucid empire. The Bactrian Greeks grew increasingly more powerful and started expanding further, invading north-western India between 190 and 180 BC under king Demetrius ,

315-575: A Hellenistic army and composed mostly of native Bactrian, Sogdian and other Indo-Iranian light horsemen. Polybius mentions 10,000 horse at the Battle of the Arius river in 208 BC. Greco-Bactrian armies also included units of heavily armored cataphracts and small elite units of companion cavalry . The third arm of the Greco-Bactrian army was the Indian war elephants , which are depicted in some coins with

420-962: A Kushan rule of long duration is present in an area stretching from Surkh Kotal, Begram , the summer capital of the Kushans, Peshawar , the capital under Kanishka I, Taxila , and Mathura , the winter capital of the Kushans. The Kushans introduced for the first time a form of governance which consisted of Kshatrapas ( Brahmi : [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] , Kṣatrapa , " Satraps ") and Mahakshatrapa ( Brahmi : [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] , Mahakṣatrapa , "Great Satraps "). Other areas of probable rule include Khwarezm and its capital city of Toprak-Kala , Kausambi (excavations of Allahabad University ), Sanchi and Sarnath (inscriptions with names and dates of Kushan kings), Malwa and Maharashtra , and Odisha (imitation of Kushan coins, and large Kushan hoards). Kushan invasions in

525-816: A century, encouraged travel across the Karakoram, and facilitated the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to China. The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire , Sasanian Persia , the Aksumite Empire , and the Han dynasty of China. The Kushan Empire was at the center of trade relations between the Roman Empire and China: according to Alain Daniélou , "for a time, the Kushana Empire

630-640: A force of 70,000 but were defeated by the smaller Chinese force. Chinese chronicles relate battles between the Kushans and the Chinese general Ban Chao . The Yuezhi retreated and paid tribute to the Chinese Empire. The regions of the Tarim Basin were all ultimately conquered by Ban Chao . Later, during the Yuánchū period (AD 114–120), the Kushans sent a military force to install Chenpan, who had been

735-746: A great proximity between the famous head of a Yuezhi prince from Khalchayan, and the head of Gandharan Bodhisattvas , giving the example of the Gandharan head of a Bodhisattva in the Philadelphia Museum of Art . The similarity of the Gandhara Bodhisattva with the portrait of the Kushan ruler Heraios is also striking. According to Rowland the Bactrian art of Khalchayan thus survived for several centuries through its influence in

840-598: A hostage among them, as king of Kashgar . Several Kushan fortresses are known, particularly in Bactria , which were often rebuilt on top of Hellenistic fortifications, as in Kampir Tepe . They are often characterised by arrow-shaped loopholes for archers. Kushan rulers are recorded for a period of about three centuries, from circa 30 CE to circa 375 CE, until the invasions of the Kidarites . They ruled around

945-472: A nomadic steppe nation called Sakastan . Around 140 BC, eastern Scythians (the Saka , or Sacaraucae of Greek sources), apparently being pushed forward by the southward migration of the Yuezhi started to invade various parts of Parthia and Bactria. Their invasion of Parthia is well documented: they attacked in the direction of the cities of Merv , Hecatompolis and Ecbatana . They managed to defeat and kill

1050-583: A period of great cultural syncretism, exemplified by the development of Greco-Buddhism in the region of Gandhara . Back in Bactria, Eucratides I , either a general of Demetrius or an ally of the Seleucids , managed to overthrow the Euthydemid dynasty and establish his own rule, the short-lived Eucratid dynasty, around 170 BC, probably dethroning Antimachus I and Antimachus II . The Indian branch of

1155-519: A policy of exiling rebelling Greek communities to that region long before it fell to Greek conquest. Therefore, it had a considerable Greek community that was expanded upon after Macedonian conquest. The Greco-Bactrians were known for their high level of Hellenistic sophistication, and kept regular contact with both the Mediterranean and neighbouring India. They were on friendly terms with India and exchanged ambassadors. During ancient times, it

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1260-585: A possession of Kanishka or just beyond it). The Buddhist text Śrīdharmapiṭakanidānasūtra —known via a Chinese translation made in AD 472—refers to the conquest of Pataliputra by Kanishka. A 2nd century stone inscription by a Great Satrap named Rupiamma was discovered in Pauni , south of the Narmada river , suggesting that Kushan control extended this far south, although this could alternatively have been controlled by

1365-624: A river bearing the same name and emptying into the Oxus ), and Darapsa, and several others. Among these was Eucratidia , which was named after its ruler. In 247 BC, the Ptolemaic empire (the Greek rulers of Egypt following the death of Alexander the Great ) captured the Seleucid capital, Antioch . In the resulting power vacuum, Andragoras , the Seleucid satrap of Parthia, proclaimed independence from

1470-527: A sepulcher: As Eucratides returned from India, he was killed on the way back by his son, whom he had associated to his rule, and who, without hiding his parricide, as if he didn't kill a father but an enemy, ran with his chariot over the blood of his father, and ordered the corpse to be left without a sepulture. During or after his Indian campaigns, Eucratides was attacked and defeated by the Parthian king Mithridates I , possibly in alliance with partisans of

1575-512: A tower ( thorakion ) or howdah housing men armed with bows and javelins. This force grew as the Greco-Bactrian kingdom expanded into India and was widely depicted in Greco-Bactrian coinage. Other units in the Bactrian military included mercenaries or levies from various surrounding peoples such as the Scythians , Dahae , Indians, and Parthians . Greeks first began settling the region long before Alexander conquered it. The Persian Empire had

1680-790: A vast territory, as indicated by his minting of coins in many Indian mints, possibly as far as the Jhelum River in Punjab . In the end, however, he was repulsed by the Indo-Greek king Menander I , who managed to create a huge unified territory. In a rather confused account, Justin explains that Eucratides was killed on the field by "his son and joint king", who would be his own son, either Eucratides II or Heliocles I (although there are speculations that it could have been his enemy's son Demetrius II ). The son drove over Eucratides' bloodied body with his chariot and left him dismembered without

1785-515: Is also credited (along with Raja Dab ) for building the massive, ancient Fort at Bathinda ( Qila Mubarak ), in the modern city of Bathinda , Indian Punjab . The Kushans also had a summer capital in Bagram (then known as Kapisa), where the "Begram Treasure", comprising works of art from Greece to China, has been found. According to the Rabatak inscription, Kanishka was the son of Vima Kadphises,

1890-769: Is also described in western Classical sources from the 1st century BC: The best known tribes are those who deprived the Greeks of Bactriana, the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari , and Sacarauli, who came from the country on the other side of the Jaxartes , opposite the Sacae and Sogdiani . Around that time the king Heliocles abandoned Bactria and moved his capital to the Kabul valley, from where he ruled his Indian holdings. Apparently there were two other Greco-Bactrian kings preceding Heliocles in

1995-403: Is evidence for the collaboration between Greek populations and the Kushans in the 2nd century AD. Apparently the main architect of the Kushan temple at Surkh Kotal was a Greek named Palamedes. A Greek inscription has been found which could be read as: ΔΙΑ ΠΑΛΑΜΕΔΟΥΣ, i.e. dia Palamedous , meaning "through or by Palamedes". This proves that Hellenistic populations still remained in Bactria up into

2100-489: Is known from only two inscriptions, especially the Rabatak inscription, and apparently never ruled), and seemingly Vima Takto. Kujula Kadphises was the great-grandfather of Kanishka. Vima Takto (Ancient Chinese: 閻膏珍 Yangaozhen ) is mentioned in the Rabatak inscription (another son, Sadashkana, is mentioned in an inscription of Senavarman, the King of Odi). He was the predecessor of Vima Kadphises, and Kanishka I. He expanded

2205-760: The Achaemenid cavalry contingents. 2,000 Bactrian horsemen fought at the Granicus against Alexander and 9,000 at the Battle of Gaugamela on the left flank of Darius' army. Herodotus also mentions the widespread use of chariots among the Bactrians. After Alexander's conquest of Bactria, Bactrian cavalry units served in his army during the invasion of India and after the Indian campaign, Alexander enlarged his elite companion cavalry by adding Bactrians, Sogdians and other east Iranian cavalrymen. Both Aeschylus (The Persians, v. 318) and Curtius mention that Bactria

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2310-578: The Brahmi script , such as the Mathura inscription of the statue of Vima Kadphises , refer to the Kushan Emperor as [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] , Ku-ṣā-ṇa ("Kushana"). Some later Indian literary sources referred to the Kushans as Turushka , a name which in later Sanskrit sources was confused with Turk , "probably due to the fact that Tukharistan passed into the hands of

2415-491: The Gupta Empire , until the invasion of the Kidarites destroyed the last remains of Kushan rule. The Kushan religious pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins that were made in gold, silver, and copper. These coins contained more than thirty different gods, belonging mainly to their own Iranian, as well as Greek and Indian worlds as well. Kushan coins had images of Kushan Kings, Buddha, and figures from

2520-815: The Hellenistic culture of Bactria. They adopted the Greek alphabet to suit their own language (with the additional development of the letter Þ "sh", as in "Kushan") and soon began minting coinage on the Greek model. On their coins they used Greek language legends combined with Pali legends (in the Kharoshthi script), until the first few years of the reign of Kanishka. After the middle of Kanishka's reign, they used Kushan language legends (in an adapted Greek script), combined with legends in Greek (Greek script) and legends in Prakrit (Kharoshthi script). Interestingly there

2625-457: The Hydaspes towards the end of his reign ( c.  138 BC, before his kingdom was weakened by his death in 136 BC). Heliocles I ended up ruling what territory remained. The defeat, both in the west and the east, may have left Bactria very weakened and open to nomadic invasions. A nomadic steppe people called the Yuezhi inhabited a region thousands of miles to the east of Bactria on

2730-445: The Hydaspes river until he was finally repelled and returned to Bactria. However, soon after this the kingdom started to decline. The Parthians and nomadic tribes such as Sakas and Yuezhi became a major threat. Eucratides was killed by his own son in about 145 BC, which may have further destabilised the kingdom. Heliocles was the last king to rule in Bactria, after his death, Greek political power ceased in Bactria. Even after

2835-1091: The Kuliab area of Tajikistan , in eastern Greco-Bactria, and dated to 200–195 BC, a Greek by the name of Heliodotus, dedicating a fire altar to Hestia , mentions Euthydemus as the greatest of all kings, and his son Demetrius I as "Demetrios Kallinikos", meaning "Demetrius the Glorious Conqueror": τόνδε σοι βωμὸν θυώδη, πρέσβα κυδίστη θεῶν Ἑστία, Διὸς κ(α)τ᾽ ἄλσος καλλίδενδρον ἔκτισεν καὶ κλυταῖς ἤσκησε λοιβαῖς ἐμπύροις Ἡλιόδοτος ὄφρα τὸμ πάντων μέγιστον Εὐθύδημον βασιλέων τοῦ τε παῖδα καλλίνικον ἐκπρεπῆ Δημήτριον πρευμενὴς σώιζηις ἐκηδεῖ(ς) σὺν τύχαι θεόφρον[ι]. tónde soi bōmòn thuṓdē, présba kydístē theôn Hestía, Diòs kat' álsos kallídendron éktisen kaì klytaîs ḗskēse loibaîs empýrois Hēliodótos óphra tòm pántōn mégiston Euthýdēmon basiléōn toû te paîda kallínikon ekprepê Dēmḗtrion preumenḕs sṓizēis ekēdeîs sỳn Týchai theόphroni. "Heliodotus dedicated this fragrant altar for Hestia , venerable goddess, illustrious amongst all, in

2940-732: The Kushan prince of Khalchayan with artificially deformed skulls , a practice well attested in nomadic Central Asia. Some of the Khalchayan sculptural scenes are also thought to depict the Kushans fighting against the Sakas . In these portrayals, the Yuezhis are shown with a majestic demeanour, whereas the Sakas are typically represented with side-whiskers, and more or less grotesque facial expressions. The Chinese first referred to these people as

3045-661: The Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom in the areas of Sogdiana , Bactria, and Gandhara. In the 4th century, the Guptas , another Indian dynasty, also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as the Kidarites , and later the Hephthalites . Chinese sources describe the Guìshuāng ( 貴霜 , Old Chinese : *kuj-s [s]raŋ ), i.e.

3150-579: The Western Satraps . In the East, as late as the 3rd century AD, decorated coins of Huvishka were dedicated at Bodh Gaya together with other gold offerings under the "Enlightenment Throne" of the Buddha, suggesting direct Kushan influence in the area during that period. Coins of the Kushans are found in abundance as far as Bengal , and the ancient Bengali state of Samatata issued coins copied from

3255-796: 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 , followed Iranian and Greek cultural ideas and iconography after the Greco-Bactrian tradition and was a follower of the Shaivite sect of Hinduism . Two later Kushan kings, Vima Kadphises and Vasudeva II , were also patrons of Hinduism. 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

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3360-426: The western Turks in the seventh century". According to John M. Rosenfield , Turushka , Tukhāra or Tukhāra are variations of the word Tokhari in Indian writings. Yet, according to Wink, "nowadays no historian considers them to be Turkish-Mongoloid or "Hun", although there is no doubt about their Central-Asian origin." Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana in

3465-550: The 1st century AD had been given as an explanation for the migration of Indians from the Indian Subcontinent toward Southeast Asia according to proponents of a Greater India theory by 20th-century Indian nationalists . However, there is no evidence to support this hypothesis. The Rabatak inscription , discovered in 1993, confirms the account of the Hou Hanshu, Weilüe , and inscriptions dated early in

3570-557: The 1st century AD, the Kujula Kadphises sent an army to the Tarim Basin to support the city-state of Kucha , which had been resisting the Chinese invasion of the region, but they retreated after minor encounters. In the 2nd century AD, the Kushans under Kanishka made various forays into the Tarim Basin , where they had various contacts with the Chinese. Kanishka held areas of the Tarim Basin apparently corresponding to

3675-455: The 2nd century BCE is ultimately derived from Hellenistic art , and possibly from the art of the cities of Ai-Khanoum and Nysa , but it also has similarities with the later Art of Gandhara and may even have been at the origin of its development. Rowland particularly draws attention to the similarity of the ethnic types represented at Khalchayan and in the art of Gandhara, and also in the style of portraiture itself. For example, Rowland find

3780-519: The 2nd-1st century BC, where they had displaced the Sakas , who moved further south. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-i Sangin , Surkh Kotal (a monumental temple), and in the palace of Khalchayan . On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum , the Kushans are known to have built fortresses. Various sculptures and friezes from this period are known, representing horse-riding archers, and, significantly, men such as

3885-577: The Chinese continued to call them Yuezhi . Gradually wresting control of the area from the Scythian tribes, the Kushans expanded south into the region traditionally known as Gandhara (an area primarily in Pakistan 's Pothowar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region) and established twin capitals in Begram and Charsadda , then known as Kapisa and Pushklavati respectively. The Kushans adopted elements of

3990-709: The Euthydemids tried to strike back. An Indian king called Demetrius (very likely Demetrius II ) is said to have returned to Bactria with 60,000 men to oust the usurper, but he apparently was defeated and killed in the encounter: Eucratides led many wars with great courage, and, while weakened by them, was put under siege by Demetrius, king of the Indians. He made numerous sorties, and managed to vanquish 60,000 enemies with 300 soldiers, and thus liberated after four months, he put India under his rule. Eucratides campaigned extensively in present-day northwestern India, and ruled

4095-814: The Euthydemids: The Bactrians, involved in various wars, lost not only their rule but also their freedom, as, exhausted by their wars against the Sogdians, the Arachotes, the Dranges, the Arians and the Indians, they were finally crushed, as if drawn of all their blood, by an enemy weaker than them, the Parthians. Following his victory, Mithridates I gained Bactria's territory west of the Arius ,

4200-504: The Gaofu ( Kabul ) region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda ( Paktiya ) and Jibin ( Kapisha and Gandhara ). Qiujiuque (Kujula Kadphises) was more than eighty years old when he died. His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahk (tu) or, possibly, his brother Sadaṣkaṇa ], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All

4305-402: The Great , fourth Kushan king, lasted for about 23 years from c. AD 127. Upon his accession, Kanishka ruled a huge territory (virtually all of northern India), south to Ujjain and Kundina and east beyond Pataliputra, according to the Rabatak inscription: In the year one, it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the whole realm of the governing class, including Koonadeano (Kaundiny, Kundina ) and

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4410-516: The Great . These territories possibly are identical with the Bactrian satrapies of Tapuria and Traxiane . Demetrius , the son of Euthydemus, started an invasion of the subcontinent before 180 BC, and a few years after the Mauryan empire had been overthrown by the Shunga dynasty . Historians differ on the motivations behind the invasion. Some historians suggest that the invasion of the subcontinent

4515-569: The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BC and became Basileus , or king Diodotus I of Bactria. The preserved ancient sources (see below) are somewhat contradictory, and the exact date of Bactrian independence has not been settled. Somewhat simplified, there is a high chronology ( c.  255 BC) and a low chronology (c. 246 BC) for Diodotus' secession. The high chronology has

4620-431: The Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus I confronted the invasion of the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great , he commanded 10,000 horsemen). Zhang Qian actually visited Bactria (named Daxia in Chinese ) in 126 BC, and portrays a country which was totally demoralized and whose political system had vanished, although its urban infrastructure remained: Daxia (Bactria) is located over 2,000 li southwest of Dayuan, south of

4725-400: The Greek culture of the Hellenistic Kingdoms, becoming at least partly Hellenised . The great Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises , father of Kanishka , embraced Shaivism , a sect of Hinduism , as surmised by coins minted during the period. The following Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of faiths including Buddhism , Zoroastrianism and Hindu Shaivism . The rule of the Kushans linked

4830-410: The Gui (Oxus) river. Its people cultivate the land and have cities and houses. Their customs are like those of Dayuan. It has no great ruler but only a number of petty chiefs ruling the various cities. The people are poor in the use of arms and afraid of battle, but they are clever at commerce. After the Great Yuezhi moved west and attacked Daxia, the entire country came under their sway. The population of

4935-489: The Hellenic kingdom of Greco-Bactria (in northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) around 135 BC. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the southeast in areas of the Hindu Kush (in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) and the Indus basin (in present-day Pakistan and India), occupying the western part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom . In South Asia , Kushan emperors regularly used the dynastic name ΚΟϷΑΝΟ ("Koshano") on their coinage. Several inscriptions in Sanskrit in

5040-631: The Iaxartes forms also the boundary between the Sogdians and the nomads. Euthydemus was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. He then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra , before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler, and to offer one of his daughters to Euthydemus's son Demetrius around 206 BC. Classical accounts also relate that Euthydemus negotiated peace with Antiochus III by suggesting that he deserved credit for overthrowing

5145-713: The Indo-Aryan and Iranian pantheons. Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on early coins. During Kanishka's reign, the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian (though it remained in Greek script for all kings). After Huvishka, only two divinities appear on the coins: Ardoxsho and Oesho (see details below). The Iranian entities depicted on coinage include: Representation of entities from Greek mythology and Hellenistic syncretism are: The Indic entities represented on coinage include: Greco-Bactrian The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom ( Greek : Βασιλεία τῆς Βακτριανῆς , romanized :  Basileía tês Baktrianês , lit.   'Kingdom of Bactria')

5250-491: The Indo-Greeks and influenced Indian art, religion and culture, leading to new syncretic art called Greco-Buddhist art . Due to the influence of the Greeks, both Buddhist and Hindu deities were represented in human form for the first time. Bactria was inhabited by Greek settlers since the time of Darius I , when the entire population of Barca , in Cyrenaica , was deported to the region for refusing to surrender assassins. Greek influence increased under Xerxes I , after

5355-401: The Kanishka era (incept probably AD 127), that large Kushan dominions expanded into the heartland of northern India in the early 2nd century AD. Lines 4 to 7 of the inscription describe the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka, among which six names are identifiable: Ujjain , Kundina , Saketa , Kausambi , Pataliputra , and Champa (although the text is not clear whether Champa was

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5460-489: The Khalchayan sculptural scenes are thought to depict the Kushans fighting against a Saka tribe. The Yuezhis are shown with a majestic demeanour, whereas the Sakas are typically represented with side-wiskers in more or less grotesque attitudes. The bust of a Parthian king was discovered among the sculptures at Khalchayan, and the time period and resemblance from numismatics suggest that this may represent Vardanes I as he sought refuge, and possibly an alliance, in Bactria at

5565-488: The Kushan Empire into the northwest of South Asia. The Hou Hanshu says: "His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahk (tu) or, possibly, his brother Sadaṣkaṇa], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi." Vima Kadphises (Kushan language: Οοημο Καδφισης)

5670-450: The Kushan Empire." The earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios . He calls himself a " tyrant " in Greek on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises. The Chinese Book of Later Han chronicles then gives an account of

5775-420: The Kushan era, and also explains how the Greek alphabet could have been applied to the Bactrian language. The Kushans "adopted many local beliefs and customs, including Zoroastrianism and the two rising religions in the region, the Greek cults and Buddhism ". From the time of Vima Takto , many Kushans started adopting aspects of Buddhist culture, and like the Egyptians, they absorbed the strong remnants of

5880-416: The Kushans, as one of the five aristocratic tribes of the Yuezhi . Many scholars believe that the Yuezhi were a people of Indo-European origin. A specifically Tocharian origin of the Yuezhi is often suggested. An Iranian , specifically Saka origin, has also been suggested by some scholars. The Yuezhi were described in the Records of the Great Historian and the Book of Han as living in

5985-418: The Parthian king Phraates II , son of Mithridates I, routing the Greek mercenary troops under his command (troops he had acquired during his victory over Antiochus VII ). Again in 123 BC, Phraates's successor, his uncle Artabanus I , was killed by the Scythians. When the Han Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian visited the Yuezhi in 126 BC, trying to obtain their alliance to fight the Xiongnu , he explained that

6090-409: The Parthians, partly because, used to the rule of the Macedonians, they disliked the arrogance of this new people. Thus, Demetrius, supported by the Persians, Elymes and Bactrians, routed the Parthians in numerous battles. At the end, deceived by a false peace treaty, he was taken prisoner. The 5th century historian Orosius reports that Mithridates I managed to occupy territory between the Indus and

6195-474: The Seleucids, declaring himself king. A decade later, he was defeated and killed by Arsaces of Parthia, leading to the rise of a Parthian Empire . This cut Bactria off from contact with the Greek world. Overland trade continued at a reduced rate, while sea trade between Greek Egypt and Bactria developed. Diodotus was succeeded by his son Diodotus II , who allied himself with the Parthian Arsaces in his fight against Seleucus II : Soon after, relieved by

6300-429: The Yuezhi again invaded his territory in the Paropamisadae (while the "eastern" Indo-Greek kings would continue to rule until around AD 10 in the area of the Punjab region ). Overall, the Yuezhi remained in Bactria for more than a century. They became Hellenized to some degree, as suggested by their adoption of the Greek alphabet to write their later Iranian court language, and by numerous remaining coins, minted in

6405-418: The Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire, although the relationship between the Yuezhi and the Kushans is still unclear. Ban Gu 's Book of Han tells us the Kushans (Kuei-shuang) divided up Bactria in 128 BC. Fan Ye 's Book of Later Han "relates how the chief of the Kushans, Ch'iu-shiu-ch'ueh (the Kujula Kadphises of coins), founded by means of the submission of the other Yueh-chih clans

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6510-406: The Yuezhi court. Tacitus related that Vardanes "took refuge among the Bactrians", after his failure at the siege of Seleucia circa 35 CE. These events might give a terminus post quem of around 45-47 CE for the Khalchayan portrait of the Parthian king, a period when the contemporary Kushan ruler may have been Kujula Kadphises . According to Benjamin Rowland, the art of Kalchayan of the end of

6615-400: The Yuezhi were settled north of the Oxus but also held under their sway the territory south of Oxus, which makes up the remainder of Bactria. According to Zhang Qian, the Yuezhi represented a considerable force of between 100,000 and 200,000 mounted archer warriors, with customs identical to those of the Xiongnu, which would probably have easily defeated Greco-Bactrian forces (in 208 BC when

6720-403: The advantage of explaining why the Seleucid king Antiochus II issued very few coins in Bactria, as Diodotus would have become independent there early in Antiochus' reign. On the other hand, the low chronology, from the mid-240s BC, has the advantage of connecting the secession of Diodotus I with the Third Syrian War , a catastrophic conflict for the Seleucid Empire. Diodotus, the governor of

6825-410: The ancient regions held by the Yüeh-zhi , the possible ancestors of the Kushan. There was Kushan influence on coinage in Kashgar , Yarkand , and Khotan . According to Chinese chronicles, the Kushans (referred to as Da Yuezhi in Chinese sources) requested, but were denied, a Han princess, even though they had sent presents to the Chinese court. In retaliation, they marched on Ban Chao in AD 90 with

6930-478: The art of Gandhara, thanks to the patronage of the Kushans . According to Chinese researcher Duan Qingbo, the style and construction techniques of the Khalchayan statues closely resembles those of the earlier Terracotta Army, which may suggest some form of artistic influence. 38°17′37″N 67°58′44″E  /  38.29361°N 67.97889°E  / 38.29361; 67.97889 Kushans The Kushan Empire ( c.  30 – c.  375 AD)

7035-522: The best evidence available to be in 150) until the succession of Vasudeva I about thirty years later. His rule was a period of retrenchment and consolidation for the Empire. In particular he devoted time and effort early in his reign to the exertion of greater control over the city of Mathura. Vasudeva I (Kushan: Βαζοδηο "Bazodeo", Chinese: 波調 "Bodiao") was the last of the "Great Kushans". Named inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of Kanishka's era suggest his reign extended from at least AD 191 to 225. He

7140-401: The borders of the Qin State in China by about 230 BC. Although a Greek population was present in Bactria by the 5th century BC, Alexander the Great conquered the land by 327 BC and founded many cities, most of them named Alexandria , and settled with Macedonians and other Greeks . These colonists further strengthened the Greek population in the region, thereby laying the foundation of

7245-485: The city of Ozeno (Ozene, Ujjain ) and the city of Zageda ( Saketa ) and the city of Kozambo ( Kausambi ) and the city of Palabotro ( Pataliputra ) and as far as the city of Ziri-tambo ( Sri-Champa ), whatever rulers and other important persons (they might have) he had submitted to (his) will, and he had submitted all India to (his) will. His territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan ) and Mathura , in northern India. He

7350-449: The coinage of Kanishka I, although probably only as a result of commercial influence. Coins in imitation of Kushan coinage have also been found abundantly in the eastern state of Orissa . In the West, the Kushan state covered the Pārata state of Balochistan , western Pakistan , Afghanistan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Uzbekistan , and Turkmenistan . Turkmenistan was known for the Kushan Buddhist city of Merv . Northward, in

7455-571: The country is large, numbering some 1,000,000 or more persons. The capital is called the city of Lanshi ( Bactra ) and has a market where all sorts of goods are bought and sold. ( Records of the Great Historian by Sima Qian , quoting Zhang Qian, trans. Burton Watson) The Yuezhi further expanded southward into Bactria around 120 BC, apparently further pushed out by invasions from the northern Wusun . It seems they also pushed Scythian tribes before them, which continued to India, where they came to be identified as Indo-Scythians . This invasion of Bactria

7560-412: The death of Diodotus, Arsaces made peace and concluded an alliance with his son, also by the name of Diodotus; some time later he fought against Seleucos who came to punish the rebels, and he prevailed: the Parthians celebrated this day as the one that marked the beginning of their freedom. Euthydemus , an Ionian Greek from Magnesia according to Polybius , and possibly satrap of Sogdiana , overthrew

7665-412: The descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma (western Asia Minor ) were forcibly relocated in Bactria, and later on with other exiled Greeks, most of them prisoners of war. Greek communities and language were already common in the area by the time that Alexander the Great conquered Bactria in 328 BC. Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria (and probably the surrounding provinces) founded

7770-578: The dynasty of Diodotus II around 230–220 BC and started his own dynasty. Euthydemus's control extended to Sogdiana, going beyond the city of Alexandria Eschate founded by Alexander the Great in Ferghana : And they also held Sogdiana, situated above Bactriana towards the east between the Oxus River, which forms the boundary between the Bactrians and the Sogdians, and the Iaxartes River. And

7875-934: The edges of the Han Empire called the Hexi Corridor . Shortly before 176 BC, the Xiongnu invaded the Hexi Corridor, forcing the Yuezhi to flee the region. In 162 BC the Yuezhi were driven west to the Ili River valley by the Xiongnu. In 132 they were driven out of the Ili valley by the Wusun . The surviving Yuezhi migrated again south towards the territory just north of the Oxus River where they encountered and expelled

7980-517: The end of the 1st century BC. Antigonus might have briefly won a battle against the Yuezhi or the Saka before he was overrun himself. Around 12 BC the Yuezhi then moved further to northern India where they established the Kushan Empire . Before the Greek conquest, the armies of Bactria were overwhelmingly composed of cavalry and were well known as effective soldiers, making up large portions of

8085-504: The fall of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, their rich Hellenistic influence remained strong for many more centuries. The Yuezhi invaders settled in Bactria and became Hellenized . They subsequently founded the Kushan empire around 30 AD, and adopted the Greek alphabet to write their language and added Greek deities to their pantheon . The Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum was at the doorstep of India and known for its high level of Hellenistic sophistication. Greek art travelled from Bactria with

8190-469: The fashion of the Macedonian army . A Greek army in Bactria during the anti-Macedonian revolt of 323 BC numbered 23,000. The army of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom was then a multi-ethnic force with Greek colonists making up large portions of the infantry as pike phalanxes, supported by light infantry units of local Bactrians and mercenary javelin-wielding Thureophoroi . The cavalry arm was very large for

8295-575: The formation of the Kushan empire based on a report made by the Chinese general Ban Yong to the Chinese Emperor c.  AD 125 : More than a hundred years later [than the conquest of Bactria by the Yuezhi], the prince [ xihou ] of Guishuang ( Badakhshan ) established himself as king, and his dynasty was called that of the Guishuang (Kushan) King. He invaded Anxi (Indo-Parthia), and took

8400-415: The grandson of Sadashkana, and the great-grandson of Kujula Kadphises. Kanishka's era is now generally accepted to have begun in 127 on the basis of Harry Falk's ground-breaking research. Kanishka's era was used as a calendar reference by the Kushans for about a century, until the decline of the Kushan realm. Huvishka (Kushan: Οοηϸκι, "Ooishki") was a Kushan emperor from the death of Kanishka (assumed on

8505-430: The grasslands of eastern Xinjiang and northwestern part of Gansu , in the northwest of modern-day China, until their King was beheaded by the Xiongnu (匈奴) who were also at war with China, which eventually forced them to migrate west in 176–160 BC. The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì (休密), Guìshuāng (貴霜), Shuāngmǐ (雙靡), Xìdùn (肸頓), and Dūmì (都密). The Yuezhi reached

8610-512: The grove of Zeus , with beautiful trees; he made libations and sacrifices so that the greatest of all kings Euthydemus , as well as his son, the glorious, victorious and remarkable Demetrius , be preserved of all pains, with the help of Tyche with divine thoughts." Following the departure of the Seleucid army, the Bactrian kingdom seems to have expanded. In the west, areas in north-eastern Iran may have been absorbed, possibly as far as into Parthia , whose ruler had been defeated by Antiochus

8715-447: The hallmarks of a true Hellenistic city with a Greek theater , gymnasium and some houses with colonnaded courtyards. The kingdom reached the height of its power under king Eucratides the Great , who seems to have seized power through a coup around 171 BC and created his own dynasty. Eucratides also invaded India and successfully fought against the Indo-Greek kings, minting many Indian coins and temporarily holding territory as far as

8820-469: The historian Strabo, as having "subdued more tribes than Alexander." The invasion was completed by 175 BC. This established in the northwestern Indian Subcontinent what is called the Indo-Greek Kingdom , which lasted for almost two centuries until around 10 AD. The Buddhist faith flourished under the Indo-Greek kings, especially Menander who was arguably the most powerful of them all. It was also

8925-560: The kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi. In the 1st century BC, the Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜) gained prominence over the other Yuezhi tribes, and welded them into a tight confederation under commander Kujula Kadphises. The name Guishuang was adopted in the West and modified into Kushan to designate the confederation, although

9030-474: The kingdoms of Puda [Paktiya] and Jibin [Kapisha and Gandhara]. Qiujiuque [Kujula Kadphises] was more than eighty years old when he died." These conquests by Kujula Kadphises probably took place sometime between AD 45 and 60 and laid the basis for the Kushan Empire which was rapidly expanded by his descendants. Kujula issued an extensive series of coins and fathered at least two sons, Sadaṣkaṇa (who

9135-403: The original rebel Diodotus and that he was protecting Central Asia from nomadic invasions thanks to his defensive efforts: ... for if he did not yield to this demand, neither of them would be safe: Seeing that great hordes of Nomads were close at hand, who were a danger to both; and that if they admitted them into the country, it would certainly be utterly barbarised. In an inscription found in

9240-433: The region have also attested to a major Macedonian presence, as evidenced by the presence of symbols, style of coinage, and epigraphic names. Greek garrisons in the satrapy of Bactria were housed in fortresses called phrouria and at major cities. Military colonists were settled in the countryside and were each given an allotment of land called a kleros . These colonists numbered in the tens of thousands, and were trained in

9345-573: The regions of Tapuria and Traxiane : "The satrapy Turiva and that of Aspionus were taken away from Eucratides by the Parthians." In the year 141 BC, the Greco-Bactrians seem to have entered in an alliance with the Seleucid king Demetrius II to fight again against Parthia: The people of the Orient welcomed his (Demetrius II's) arrival, partly because of the cruelty of the Arsacid king of

9450-566: The same region and from the same dynasty, named Eucratides II and Plato Epiphanes , the latter probably being a brother of Eucratides I. Since Heliocles left the Bactrian territory, he is technically the last Greco-Bactrian king, although several of his descendants, moving beyond the Hindu Kush, would form the western part of the Indo-Greek kingdom . The last of these "western" Indo-Greek kings, Hermaeus , would rule until around 70 BC, when

9555-468: The same time as the Western Satraps , the Satavahanas , and the first Gupta Empire rulers. ...the prince [elavoor] of Guishuang, named thilac [Kujula Kadphises], attacked and exterminated the four other xihou. He established himself as king, and his dynasty was called that of the Guishuang [Kushan] King. He invaded Anxi [Indo-Parthia] and took the Gaofu [Kabul] region. He also defeated the whole of

9660-704: The seagoing trade of the Indian Ocean with the commerce of the Silk Road through the long-civilized Indus Valley . At the height of the dynasty, the Kushans loosely ruled a territory that extended to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan , Afghanistan , Pakistan and northern India . The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to Rome , and created strings of flourishing urban centers. Rosenfield notes that archaeological evidence of

9765-503: The son of Euthydemus . This invasion led to the creation of the Indo-Greek kingdom , as a successor state of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, and was subsequently ruled by kings Apollodotus I and Pantaleon , who were the first to issue coins in the Indian standard. Historical records show that many rich and prosperous cities were present in the kingdom, but only a few such cities have been excavated such as Ai-Khanoum and Bactra . The city of Ai-Khanoum, in north-eastern Afghanistan, had all

9870-571: The spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and China, ushering in a period of relative peace for 200 years, sometimes described as " Pax Kushana ". The Kushans possibly used the Greek language initially for administrative purposes but soon began to use the Eastern Iranian Bactrian language . Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than

9975-422: The style of the Greco-Bactrian kings, with the text in Greek. There is evidence for the persistence of Greek populations in Bactria after the collapse of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. For example, an obol of a previously unknown ruler called Antigonus has been found and it seems he ruled after the kingdom's collapse, as evidenced by the use of a lunate sigma and the lower art quality of the coin, perhaps dating from

10080-468: The thousand cities of Bactria ( Latin : Theodotus, mille urbium Bactrianarum praefectus ), defected and proclaimed himself king; all the other people of the Orient followed his example and seceded from the Macedonians. The new kingdom, highly urbanized and considered one of the richest of the Orient ( opulentissimum illud mille urbium Bactrianum imperium "The extremely prosperous Bactrian empire of

10185-483: The thousand cities", according to the historian Justin ), was to further grow in power and engage in territorial expansion to the east and the west: The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Ariana , but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander… Their cities were Bactra (also called Zariaspa, through which flows

10290-682: The year 22 (the Sanchi inscription of "Vaksushana" – i.e., Vasishka Kushana) and year 28 (the Sanchi inscription of Vasaska – i.e., Vasishka) of a possible second Kanishka era. Following territorial losses in the west ( Bactria lost to the Kushano-Sasanians ), and in the east (loss of Mathura to the Gupta Empire ), several "Little Kushans" are known, who ruled locally in the area of Punjab with their capital at Taxila : Vasudeva II (270 – 300), Mahi (300 – 305), Shaka (305 – 335) and Kipunada (335 – 350). They probably were vassals of

10395-585: Was a Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central Asia . The kingdom was founded c.  256 BC by the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter and lasted until its fall c.  120 BC. At its peak the kingdom consisted of present-day Afghanistan , Tajikistan , Uzbekistan , and Turkmenistan , and small parts of Kazakhstan , Pakistan and Iran . An extension further east, with military campaigns and settlements, may have reached

10500-511: 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 Tajikistan , Uzbekistan , Afghanistan , Pakistan , Eastern Iran and Northern India , at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath , near Varanasi , 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

10605-408: Was a Kushan emperor from around AD 95–127, the son of Sadashkana and the grandson of Kujula Kadphises, and the father of Kanishka I, as detailed by the Rabatak inscription. Vima Kadphises added to the Kushan territory by his conquests in Bactria. He issued an extensive series of coins and inscriptions. He issued gold coins in addition to the existing copper and silver coinage. The rule of Kanishka

10710-636: Was able to field a force of 30,000 horse. Most of these horsemen were lightly armed, using bows and javelins before closing with sword and spear. Herodotus describes the Persian cavalry of Mardonius at the Battle of Plataea (which included Bactrians) as horse archers ( hippotoxotai ). Bactrian infantry is described by Herodotus as wearing caps in the Median style, short spears and reed Scythian style bows. Alexander and Seleucus I both settled Macedonians and other Greeks in Bactria, and archeological finds in

10815-655: Was intended to show their support for the Mauryan empire , and to protect the Buddhist faith from the religious persecutions of the Shungas as alleged by Buddhist scriptures (Tarn). Other historians have argued however that the accounts of these persecutions have been exaggerated ( Thapar , Lamotte ). Demetrius may have been as far as the imperial capital Pataliputra in today's eastern India (today Patna ). However, these campaigns are typically attributed to Menander . His conquests were mentioned along with that of Menander by

10920-465: Was the centerpoint of the major civilizations". While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record of the empire's history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese. The Kushan Empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell to the Sasanians invading from the west and establishing

11025-713: Was the last great Kushan emperor, and the end of his rule coincides with the invasion of the Sasanians as far as northwestern India, and the establishment of the Indo-Sasanians or Kushanshahs in what is nowadays Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India from around AD 240. Vāsishka was a Kushan emperor who seems to have had a 20-year reign following Kanishka II . His rule is recorded at Mathura , in Gandhara and as far south as Sanchi (near Vidisa ), where several inscriptions in his name have been found, dated to

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