Expansion and decline of the kushan empire directions. Analytical study of the manufacturing techniques of kushan gold. The kushan empire was a syncretic empire, formed by yuezhi, in the bactrian territories in the early 1st century. The writer is establishing a rather simple tripartite division of the. Like asoka, he regretted his misdeed and took refuge in the triple gems buddha, dharma, and sangha. Developments were made in irrigation, cropraising and breeding, building and handicrafts. The first mention of the yuchi the tribal confederacy the kushans came to dominate is in the second century bc, under pressure from the nomadic hsiungnu they are pushed westwards into the greek kingdom of bactria, which they conquer before 129 bc. Economy and social systems in central asia in the kushan age the kushan age the first to the fourth century ad was a time of great innovation for the economy of central asia. Isbn 9789231028465 the epoch of the kushan yabghus of divine beings such as daivas, yazatas and bagas. Little silver coinage was issued, but in later periods the gold used was debased with silver. In early may 1992 workers digging a trench for the foundation of a house in maligaon stumbled across the most important art historical discovery in the kathmandu valley for many years. The kushan empire chapter 7 empires of ancient eurasia. They are collectively known as kushanosasanians, or indosasanians. Exotic, obscure, beautiful, and underappreciated, kushan coins are gaining increasing visibility in the ancients market.
The collections or image gallery of the the virtual museum of images. The kushan empire was, however, highly decentralized and by ad 200 its power was already. Kushana empire and the silk route their capital was purushpura currently peswar in pakistan 3. Kushan empire chakravarti major reference works wiley. Notes on the yuezhi kushan relationship and kushan. Kushan art, the art of the kushan empire in northern india, flourished between the 1st and the 4th century ce.
Gk gupta period questions with answers objective mcq. Chapterii the making of the kushana empire the mighty kushanas achieved the herculean task of uniting a large mass of land and people by carving out an extensive empire, including southern parts of the erstwhile soviet central asia, afghanistan, pakistan and north india under their imperial hegemony. Kushan dynasty, ruling line descended from the yuezhi, a people that ruled over most of the northern indian subcontinent, afghanistan, and parts of central asia during the first three centuries of the common era. Sea as the creator of the kushan empire, having eliminated other rulers in bactria and fought the successors of gondophares in gandhara and panjab. The history of the kushan empire demonstrates the global trend of era 3 of growing interconnectedness between human societies.
Prajapati the creator created the king by rajarajyamiti prakritisamkshepa. These notes will also be useful for other competitive exams like banking po, ssc, state civil services exams and so on. The kushanas defeated the shakas and the pahlavasparthinians and went on to create a big empire in. The apparent importance of the kushan empire in the indian history is now well recognized the diacritical marks on kushan have been given in the text only. Kushan empire definition nomadic conquerors from central asia. During the kushan period in the first to third centuries ce, political, economic, religious, and cultural contact between south asia and central asia greatly accelerated. This certainly accords well with the known stringent economic policy of vespasian. The kushan empire and buddhism a kanishka and the fourth council in kashmir according to buddhist wisdom, kanishka was a cruel and impious person, who later turns to buddhism through the marvelous teachings of the buddha. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. The eastwest trade routes between greece and china began to open during the first and second centuries b.
View kushan art and architecture research papers on academia. The kushans fostered a mixed culture that is best illustrated by the variety of deitiesgrecoroman. Religions in the kushan empire zoroastrianism was a widespread religious cult in bactria in the second century bc, in addition to continued adherence to ancient greek religions and culture. Gupta period 320 ce750 bc 52 the gupta empire was founded in northern india at the beginning of the fourth century ad after a long period of chaos which ensued when the kushan empire ended in the middle of the third century. Introduction of kushan history including its prelude shodhganga. Kwsan mlk kushan malik was the title of the rulers of the kushanosasanian kingdom, the parts of the former kushan empire in the areas of sogdiana, bactria and gandhara, named kushanshahr and held by the sasanian empire, during the 3rd and 4th centuries ce. The epoch of the kushan yabghus when the sakas and kushans conquered the graecobactrian territories north of the oxus.
This empire was notable for its cosmopolitan culture, blending indian, persian, nomad and graecoroman influences, a reflection of its role as a key middleman in eastwest trade routes. Gandhara art, style of buddhist visual art that developed in what is now northwestern pakistan and eastern afghanistan between the 1st century bce and the 7th century ce. Languages and literature of the kushan empire unesco. It spread to encompass much of afghanistan, and then the northern parts of the. Kushan empire bactrian greek 30375 a map of india in the 2nd century ce showing the extent of the kushan empire during the reign of kanishka. Archeological excavations, art historical evidence, coins, and inscriptions directly reflect connections between the establishment of the kushan empire. It blended the traditions of the grecobuddhist art of gandhara, influenced by hellenistic artistic canons, and the more indian art of mathura. The kushan empire began in the early 1st century as a branch of the yuezhi, a confederation of ethnically indoeuropeans nomads who lived in eastern central asia. In his time the kushan empire covered a vast amount of territory from bactria to benares and from kashmir to sind, and kushan coins have also been found in recent excavations in chorasmia, khotan and eastern iran. His regnal era beginning probably in ad 127 was used for around three hundred years. The establishment of ancient nakhshab oasis and its centre, the town of erkurgan, was completed. There is now substantial agreement on most points concerning the relative. Answer the following questions based on the reading and on your prior knowledge. Important general knowledge multiple choice question with answer.
Kushan art, art produced during the kushan dynasty from about the late 1st to the 3rd century ce in an area that now includes parts of central asia, northern india, pakistan, and afghanistan. Mazdooano, the gracious one, kushan god on a gold dinara. Kushan period were constructed in the vicinity of these canals, especially in the third and fourth centuries a. This lecture will begin with an overview of the kushan empire and its. Supply to the kushan territory mostly came through red sea trade of the roman empire. The yuezhi people, who early resided near the border of the agricultural part of china and later migrated on the eurasian steppe all the way to north india, eventually becoming the rulers of the vast agriculturaltrading kushan empire, comprised one of the nomadic groups better known by the sedentary societies of that time. At its greatest expanse the kushan empire included large parts of the modern states of. Notes on the yuezhi kushan relationship and kushan chronology by hans loeschner professor michael fedorov provided a rejoinder1 with respect to several statements in the article2 a new oeshoshiva image of sasanian peroz taking power in the northern part of the kushan empire. Gupta period is one of the most important period in indian history.
Little is known about goldsmithing during the period of the great kushans. Koves, margit 2001, stein the hungarian scholar pdf, himalayan and central asian studies. The manual of navigation on the red sea by periplus. In indian historical and archaeological studies the kushana phase has been. Mazdooano, the gracious one, kushan god on a gold dinara of kanishka i coin. The near contemporary third ruler of the kushana dynasty was viima greek text, the. The style, of grecoroman origin, seems to have flourished largely during the kushan dynasty and was contemporaneous with an.
The yuezhi conquered bactria in the 2nd century bce and divided the country into five. Kujula kadphises is said to have lived for more than eighty years. Role of kushana empire in buddhism and hinduism by adesh katariya plast. In the coinage of the north indian and central asian kushan empire approximately 30375 ce the main coins issued were gold, weighing 7. The construction of the salarkarasudzhun irrigation system in the second and. Yu taishan, the origin of the kushans, sinoplatonic papers, 212 july 2011 3 distant by 5,962 li. At its height, the kingdom of parthia controlled territory from the caspian sea and southern caucasus in the north, bactria in the east, the persian gulf in the south and mesopotamia in the west. Under kanishka the great, in the first part of the second century ad, the kushan empire was at its height, reaching from central asia north of the oxusamudarya through into central india.
During the early centuries of the common era, the kushans dominated the politics, culture, and economy of a vast region of inner eurasia. It gives a number of examples of attribution, including a lengthy and previously unpublished account of the organization of the control marks. The roman empire and the kushans by john thorley it may seem strange to link the roman empire with a himalayan kingdom which hardly gets a mention in most standard works on roman history, but in fact during the second and early third centuries a. It was the kushan emperor, vima kadaphises who introduced the first gold coins of india. Kushan art and architecture research papers academia. For centuries, international trade in silk and spices sent a stream of gold flowing through this kingdom, and much of that. The yuezhi kushan career, however, from a friendly trading relationship with one agricultural society, to a military humil iation and migration on the steppe, followed then by an invasion and occupation of another agricultural society, and finally to the rise as. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. Abstract the kushans, originating out of the central asian nomadic yuezhi group, established a mighty empire during the early centuries ce. In fact, in spite of the similarity of several letters. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. The kushanas had originally belonged to the regions of western china. Most historians consider the empire to have variously extended as far east as the middle ganges plain, to varanasi on the confluence of the ganges and the jumna, or probably even pataliputra.
Kushana origin kushana was a gotra subtribe of yuezhi guzar, also called tushar. Economy and social systems in central asia in the kushan. Some scholars connect the kushans with the tocharians of the tarim basin in china, caucasian people whose blonde or redhaired mummies have long puzzled observers. The objective or multiple questions of the gupta empire, discussed here are very important for the various types of competitive examinations like railway, government jobs interview, banking exam, staff selection commission or ssc, cgl, etc. This is an analysis of how coins are attributed to mints and how those mints are located in kushan studies. The most obvious interpretation of the coin finds is that there was a drastic reduction in coinage exports from the roman empire after neros reign. Kushan kings introduced gold and copper coins, a large number of them have survived till today. He played the key role in establishing the kushan empire and his coins are very numerous in the. The contribution of the kushan empire to buddhism essay cram. The kushan empire was located at a key crossroads for the afroeurasian empires and became an important player in regional trade in this world zone. Lying facedown at a level of about three feet they found a life size 171 x 49 cm standing male figure carved in pale sandstone. Pdf zoroastrianism among the kushans frantz grenet.
Pdf policy, patronage, and the shrinking pantheon of the kushans. A brief overview the kushan or kushano of the epigraphical and numismatic sources of india and central asia, and kueishauang of the chinese sources1 2 was the name of a tribe which together with other tribes formed a tribal. Kushan empire covered north west of india includes pakistan and modern afganistan and northern india. Pdf published some years after the paper was actually prepared.