Kushans

Kushans:

-Kushans originally belong to the Yuehi-Chi tribe.

-Their leader was Kujula Kadphises

-They defeated the Sakas and overthrew them.

-Kadphises attacked the regions south of Hindu Kush, conquered Kabul and annexed Gandhara including the kingdom of Taxila.

-The successor of Kadphises was Vima Kadphsis.

-He conquered large parts of North India.

-His coins show that his authority extended as far as Benaras and as well as Indus basin.

-Vima Kadphises started the practise of issuing coins & his coins contained Siva with his long trident & the monarch himself on the other side.

-After Vima Kadphises, Kanishka(78 A.D-144 A.D) succeeded him , from where the Saka era begins (AD 78).

-Peshawar was his first Capital & Mathura, the second.

-Kanishka patronised:-

--Nagarjuna, who was the exponent of Mahayana doctrine.
--Asvaghosha, who was the poet, musician, scholars and a Buddhist monk.
--Charaka, who had the authority on Medical Sciences esp. Ayurveda.
--Mathara, who was a meritorious politician.

-Kanishka was great patron of Buddhism & the Fourth Buddhist Council was held under his patronage at Kashmir under the Presidentship of Vasumitra .