\n'''Obv:''' Hermaios-style diademed bust. Corrupted Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΤΗΡΟΣΣΥ ΕΡΜΑΙΟΥ (\"Basileos Sterossy Hermaiou\"): \"King Hermaeus, the Saviour\".
\n'''Rev:''' [[Herakles]] standing with club and lion skin.\n[[Kharoṣṭhī]] legend: KUJULA KASASA KUSHANA YAVUGASA DHARMATHIDASA \"Kujula Kadphises ruler of the Kushans, steadfast in the Law (\"[[Dharma]]\"). [[British Museum]]."},"reign":{"wt":"25 CE – 85 CE"},"coronation":{"wt":""},"full name":{"wt":""},"predecessor":{"wt":"[[Heraios]]"},"successor":{"wt":"[[Vima Takto]]"},"spouse":{"wt":""},"issue":{"wt":""},"royal house":{"wt":""},"dynasty":{"wt":"[[Kushan Empire|Kushan]]"},"father":{"wt":""},"mother":{"wt":""},"birth_date":{"wt":""},"birth_place":{"wt":""},"death_date":{"wt":"85 CE"},"death_place":{"wt":""},"date of burial":{"wt":""},"place of burial":{"wt":""},"religion":{"wt":"[[Hinduism]]{{Cite book |title=History of civilizations of Central Asia |author1=Dani, Ahmad Hasan |author2=Masson, V. M. |author3=Harmatta, J. |author4=Puri, Baij Nath |author5=Etemadi, G. F. |author6=Litvinskiĭ, B. A. |date=1992–2005 |publisher=UNESCO |location=Paris |isbn=92-3-102719-0 |pages=[https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000097871 310] |oclc=28186754|quote=\"Contrary to earlier assumptions, which regarded Kujula Kadphises as Buddhist on the basis of this epithet [dharmasthita- \"steadfast in the Law\"], it is now clear from the wording of a Mathura inscription, in which Huvishka bears the same epithet satyadharmasthita that the kingdom was conferred upon him by Sarva and Scamdavira (Candavira), that is, he was a devotee of Siva.\"}}{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28186754|title=History of civilizations of Central Asia.|date=1992–2005|publisher=Unesco|others=Dani, Ahmad Hasan., Masson, V. M. (Vadim Mikhaĭlovich), 1929-, Harmatta, J. (János), 1917-2004., Puri, Baij Nath., Etemadi, G. F., Litvinskiĭ, B. A. (Boris Anatolʹevich)|year=|isbn=92-3-102719-0|location=Paris|pages=318|oclc=28186754}}"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBA">
Kujula Kadphises | |
---|---|
Maharaja Rajarajasa Devaputra | |
Reign | 25 CE – 85 CE |
Predecessor | Heraios |
Successor | Vima Takto |
Died | 85 CE |
Dynasty | Kushan |
Religion | Hinduism [1] [2] |
Kujula Kadphises (Kushan language: Κοζουλου Καδφιζου, also Κοζολα Καδαφες; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨂𐨗𐨂𐨫 𐨐𐨯, IAST: Ku-ju-la Ka-sa, Kujula Kasa; [3] Chinese :丘就卻; pinyin :Qiūjiùquè; r. 30–80 CE, or 40–90 CE according to Bopearachchi. [4] 25–85 CE as per Benjamin. [5] ) was a Kushan prince who united the Yuezhi confederation in Bactria during the 1st century CE, and became the first Kushan emperor. According to the Rabatak inscription, he was the great grandfather of Kanishka I. He is considered the founder of the Kushan Empire. [4]
The origins of Kujula Kadphises are quite obscure, and he is usually believed to be a descendant of the Kushan ruler Heraios, or possibly identical with him. [6] However, Kujula shares his name (Kushan: Κοζουλου on some of his "Hermaeus" coins, or Κοζολα on his "Augustus" coins) with some of the last Indo-Scythian rulers, such as Liaka Kusulaka (Greek: Λιακα Κοζουλο), or his son Patika Kusulaka, which might suggest some family connection. [7] Kujula Kadphises, referred to himself on his coins, inscribed in the Indian Kharosthi script, as Maharaja Rajarajasa Devaputra Kujula Kara Kadphises, which translates to "Great King of Kings, Son of the Divine Being, Kujula Kadphises." [5]
Kujula Kadphises' reign is estimated to have lasted from approximately 25 to 85 CE, though the chronology of the Kushan rulers remains uncertain. During his reign, Kujula was a contemporary of Roman emperors such as Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. Latin sources mention "Indian" ambassadors received by some of these emperors, though it is unclear whether these representatives were independent merchants from the Indian subcontinent or officials of the Kushan Empire. Numismatic evidence points to Roman influence on early Kushan coinage. One notable series of copper tetradrachms issued by Kujula features an obverse bust modeled after Augustus and a curule chair on the reverse. [5]
In the process of their expansion eastward, Kujula Kadphises and his son Vima Takto (or Vema Tahktu) seem to have displaced the Indo-Parthian kingdom, established in northwestern India by the Parthian Gondophares since around 20 CE:
His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahktu 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 [Great Yuezhi]. [8]
The invasion of the Indo-Parthian kingdom led by Kujula Kadphises is thought to have occurred some time after 45 CE, during the reign of Gondophares's successors: Abdagases and Sases.
The connection of Kujula with other Kushan rulers is described in the Rabatak inscription, discovered in Rabatak in what was once Bactria in 1993, which was inscribed by Kanishka. Kanishka states Kujula Kadphises to be his great-grandfather, Vima Taktu to be his grandfather, Vima Kadphises to be his father, and himself Kanishka:
And he [Kanishka] gave orders to make images of the same, (namely) of these gods who are written herein, and he gave orders to make (them) for these kings: for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu (his) grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises (his) father, and for himself, King Kanishka. [9]
Some of the statues of the Khalchayan palatial site in Bactria, dated circa 50 CE, probably corresponded to the rule of Kujula Kadphises. [10]
The coinage of the Kushan ruler, Kujula Kadphises, shows us the enlargement of the religious horizon of the Kushans. His first issue, which has the debased portrait and name of Hermaeus on the obverse, shows Heracles on the reverse, still following the Greek tradition, even though Heracles may be the interpretatio Graeca of the Iranian god Verethragna. Contrary to earlier assumptions, which regarded Kujula Kadphises as Buddhist on the basis of the epithet of the 'satyadharmasthita' epithet, it is now clear from the wording of a Mathura inscription, in which Huvishka bears the same epithet satyadharmasthita , that the kingdom was conferred upon him by Sarva (Shiva) and Scamdavira (Candavlra), that is, he was a devotee of the Hindu God, Shiva, and hence a firm Shaivite. It is striking to see that Kujula Kadphises has already adopted the worship of Siva and the use of Kharosthï script at such an early date. [11]
Kanishka I, also known as Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadphises, founder of the Kushan empire, Kanishka came to rule an empire extending from Central Asia and Gandhara to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain. The main capital of his empire was located at Puruṣapura (Peshawar) in Gandhara, with another major capital at Mathura. Coins of Kanishka were found in Tripuri.
The Kushan Empire 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.
Hermaeus Soter was a Western Indo-Greek king of the Eucratid dynasty, who ruled the territory of Paropamisadae in the Hindu-Kush region, with his capital in Alexandria of the Caucasus. Bopearachchi dates Hermaeus to c. 90–70 BCE and R. C. Senior to c. 95–80 BCE.
Heraios was apparently a king or clan chief of the Kushans, one of the five constituent tribes of the Yuezhi, in Bactria, in the early 1st century CE.
Vima Kadphises was a Kushan emperor from approximately 113 to 127 CE. According to the Rabatak inscription, he was the son of Vima Takto and the father of Kanishka.
Vima Takto or Vima Taktu was a Kushan emperor who reigned c. 80–90 CE.
Vāsudeva I was a Kushan emperor, last of the "Great Kushans." Named inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of Kanishka's era suggest his reign extended from at least 191 to 232 CE. He ruled in Northern India and Central Asia, where he minted coins in the city of Balkh (Bactria). He probably had to deal with the rise of the Sasanians and the first incursions of the Kushano-Sasanians in the northwest of his territory.
Azes II, may have been the last Indo-Scythian king, speculated to have reigned circa 35–12 BCE, in what is Pakistan today. His existence has been questioned; if he did not exist, artefacts attributed to his reign, such as coins, are likely to be those of Azes I.
Azes I was an Indo-Scythian ruler who ruled around c. 48/47 BCE – 25 BCE with a dynastic empire based in the Punjab and Indus Valley, completed the domination of the Scythians in the northwestern Indian subcontinent.
Zeionises was an Indo-Scythian satrap.
Azilises was an Indo-Scythian king who ruled in the area of Gandhara circa 57-35 BCE.
Kharahostes or Kharaosta was an Indo-Scythian ruler in the northern Indian subcontinent around 10 BCE – 10 CE. He is known from his coins, often in the name of Azes II, and possibly from an inscription on the Mathura lion capital, although another satrap Kharaostes has been discovered in Mathura.
Sodasa was an Indo-Scythian Northern Satrap and ruler of Mathura during the later part of the 1st century BCE or the early part of 1st century CE. He was the son of Rajuvula, the Great Satrap of the region from Taxila to Mathura. He is mentioned in the Mathura lion capital.
Within the Indo-Greek Kingdom there were over 30 kings, often in competition on different territories. Many of them are only known through their coins.
Mujatria, previously read Hajatria, is the name of an Indo-Scythian ruler, the son of Kharahostes as mentioned on his coins.
Chashtana was a ruler of the Saka Western Satraps in northwestern India during 78-130 CE, when he was the satrap of Ujjain.
Within Buddhist mythology, Sadashkana according to the gold plate inscription of Senavarman, mentions Sadashkana as the Devaputra, son of maharaja rayatiraya Kujula Kataphsa :
Liaka Kusulaka was an Indo-Scythian satrap of the area of Chukhsa in northwestern India during the 1st century BCE.
Gurgamoya was a king of the Kingdom of Khotan in the 1st century CE.
Kushan art, the art of the Kushan Empire in northern India, flourished between the 1st and the 4th century CE. It blended the traditions of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, influenced by Hellenistic artistic canons, and the more Indian art of Mathura. Kushan art follows the Hellenistic art of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom as well as Indo-Greek art which had been flourishing between the 3rd century BCE and 1st century CE in Bactria and northwestern India, and the succeeding Indo-Scythian art. Before invading northern and central India and establishing themselves as a full-fledged empire, the Kushans had migrated from northwestern China and occupied for more than a century these Central Asian lands, where they are thought to have assimilated remnants of Greek populations, Greek culture, and Greek art, as well as the languages and scripts which they used in their coins and inscriptions: Greek and Bactrian, which they used together with the Indian Brahmi script.
Kushan emperors 30 CE–350 CE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Contrary to earlier assumptions, which regarded Kujula Kadphises as Buddhist on the basis of this epithet [dharmasthita- "steadfast in the Law"], it is now clear from the wording of a Mathura inscription, in which Huvishka bears the same epithet satyadharmasthita that the kingdom was conferred upon him by Sarva and Scamdavira (Candavira), that is, he was a devotee of Siva.
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