Kushan Empire (60�240 CE)

I know I haven't posted for a long time in the board, and for that I'm sorry. Alas, I've decided to write a new article on the Kushan Empire. Cheers, guys.

Descendents of the Y�eh-Chih who had destroyed the Bactrian Greek kingdom centuries earlier, the Kushans had developped a vibrant, wealthy, and diverse civilization. Control of important trade routes lead to the influences of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and other religious strains.

Under recent pressure from the Steppe, the ruling dynasty passed to the "Chionite" Kidarites, while maintaining their culture. New arrivals, the Hephthalites, are a more serious threat to their way of life, and migration into South Asia looks promising.

Edited by rider - 18-Oct-2006 at 10:32

Sounds good Jay, but you know my opinion on this  

There is an interesting article on the relations between Rome and the Kushans: John Thorley, �The Roman Empire and the Kushans,� Greece & Rome, 2nd Ser., Vol. 26, No. 2. (Oct., 1979), pp. 181-190

That's a pretty good article about economic history of that period, along with some general information about the Kushans. Sadly, that seems the only article about the Kushans published in a popular western Journal in the past several decades. Have you seen any other publications on the Kushans recnetly?

What I'm particularly interested in is how they justified the map boundaries of the Kushan empire. What is the evidence to draw the boundaries?


Edited by Imperator Invictus - 17-Oct-2006 at 23:37

Originally posted by lara again even this empire was mostly based in pakistan, with some extention in northern india.

Height of dreaming !!!!!

What was language (lingua franca)in the period of Kanshka

Vedic Sanskrit is the Sanskrit of the Vedas, it's much older than Panini.  Panini defined 'classical' Sanskrit, the language that has more or less survived to the present day. 

The Kushans are thought to have spoken Tocharian (as that's where they came from) and most of the people living in the regions which would later become part of the Kushan empire spoke Bactrian (which is Iranic), written in aramaic during Achaemenid times.  After Alexander's conquest, Greek was introduced.  During the Kushans' reign, the official language was apparently first Greek written in Greek script, then Bactrian was given equal status but also written in Greek script and then a new script using both Greek and Aramaic elements was devised.  Sanskrit was used liturgically once the empire embraced Buddhism.  I'd guess that that Bactrian would have still been the most common language during Kanishka's time. 

Nope.  Vedic  Sanskrit is from at least the 2nd millenium BC.  It's very close to Avestan and has many distinctions from classical Sanskrit.  Panini's grammar came around the same time as the emergence of Buddhism (middle  of 1st millenium BC).  Prakrit just means 'vernacular' like 'vulgar Latin' it's not an actual language but a term to describe any dialect spoken by commonfolk.  'Prakriti' means nature and 'Prakrit' that which comes from nature where as 'Sanskrit' means that which is refined.   Even during Mauryan times, Iranic languages and Greek were common west of the Indus.  I'm sure some Indic and Dravidian languages were spoken as well but I think their speakers would have been in the minority in most Kushan areas (the empire was west of Indus for all intents and purposes for most of its existence)

Edited by jayeshks - 09-Nov-2006 at 10:39

Language and script are two different entities.

Originally posted by M. Nachiappan   That is why I mentioned about the "appearance" of "Tamil God Karttikeya" on the Kushana coins.   Can anyone say how Kushanas depicted Murugan exactly fitting the description of Sangam literature dated from c.500-300 BCE in his coins, when they were separated from thousands of kilometres?

You don't have to be a Tamil to know about Hindu deities.  The Kushans patronized Greek gods at first and then Hindu gods later on.  Kartikeya is mentioned even in the Vedas and Brahmanas.  I don' t see the problem here. 


Maqsad, I didn't understand your point.  North Indians don't speak the same languages as Afghans or Iranians.  How can you compare accents?

1. Considering the distance, you have not answered.