Kujula Kadphises founds the Kushan Empire
Kujula Kadphises, chief of the Kushans (one of the five Yuezhi tribes settled in Bactria), subdued the other four and made himself king, then took the Kabul valley and Gandhara, founding an empire that linked Central Asia with India for three centuries.
- Date
- between 20 and 50exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Bactriaapproximate locationtoday: Northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan · Central and Northern Asia
- Participants
- Kushan Empire, Kujula Kadphises, Yuezhi
- Threads
- The Steppe and Central Asia (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Qiujiuque; Guishuang; Great Yuezhi; Цюцзюцюэ; Гуйшуан; Большие юэчжи
The Book of the Later Han, drawing on a report of about 125 by the general Ban Yong, tells that more than a hundred years after the Yuezhi conquered Bactria, Qiujiuque (Kujula Kadphises), the xihou (prince) of the Guishuang, destroyed the other four xihou, made himself king, invaded Anxi (Parthian lands, here probably the Indo-Parthian kingdom), seized Gaofu (the Kabul region) and conquered Puda and Jibin; he died at over eighty. Other peoples called his realm the Kushan kingdom, while the Han kept the old name, the Great Yuezhi. Kujula’s coins first copied those of the Greek king Hermaeus and later carried a bust modelled on that of Augustus; in the Rabatak inscription Kanishka names him as his great-grandfather.
The chronology is uncertain. Kujula’s reign is most often dated to about 30–80, but also to 40–90 or 25–85, and some Russian works place the unification of the Yuezhi around 20 — hence the interval. Whether he was the same person as Heraios, who had earlier struck coins as a Kushan ruler, is also debated.
Connections
Consequences
- Kushans conquer Gandhara and Taxilabetween 50 and 70 · South AsiaKushan rule spread from Bactria to the Kabul valley and Gandhara
Related events
- The burials of Tillya Tepe (the Bactrian Gold)between 16 and 100 · Central and Northern Asiathe graves are usually attributed to the Yuezhi or early Kushan elite
- Ban Yong restores Han authority in the Western Regions123–127 · Central and Northern Asiathe Book of the Later Han’s account of Kujula Kadphises comes from Ban Yong’s report
- The Rabatak inscription of Kanishkabetween 132 and 150 · Central and Northern Asiathe inscription names Kujula Kadphises, founder of the empire, as Kanishka’s great-grandfather
Same participants
- Gandharan art: the first images of the Buddhabetween 30 BC and AD 100 · South Asiavia Kushan Empire
Adjacent events in the thread
- The Xiongnu split into Northern and Southern48 · Central and Northern Asia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Roman conquest of Britain43 – between 83 and 84
Eastern Europe
- Roman–Bosporan War45–49
- The Alans appear on the Don and in the North Caucasusbetween 50 and 72
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Balkans and Anatolia
- Thrace becomes a Roman province46
- Missionary journeys of Paulc. 46 – between 57 and 58
- Dioscorides’ De materia medicabetween 50 and 70
Middle East and Egypt
- Crucifixion of Jesusbetween 30 and 33
- Aretas IV and the height of Petra9 BC – AD 40
- Periplus of the Erythraean Sea40s … 70s
- Reign of Vologases I51–78
- Hero of Alexandria’s aeolipilebetween 50 and 100
Africa
- Temple of Apedemak at Naqabetween 1 BC and AD 70
- Roman annexation of Mauretania40 – between 42 and 44
- Revolt of Tacfarinas17–24
- Adulis and Aksum in the Periplus40s … 70s
- Reign of Juba II in Mauretania25 BC – between 23 and 24
South Asia
- Gandharan art: the first images of the Buddhabetween 30 BC and AD 100
- Reign of Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian kingdombetween 19 and 20 – c. 46
- Apostle Thomas in India (tradition)52 (?)
- Kushans conquer Gandhara and Taxilabetween 50 and 70
- Heyday of Indo-Roman trade: Muziris and Arikameduc. 30 BC – c. 250
East Asia
- Liu Xiu restores the Han: the Eastern Han25
- Battle of Kunyangbetween June and July 23
- Red Eyebrows rebellion17–27
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Trưng sisters’ rebellionMarch 40 – 43
- Founding of Funan: Kaundinya and Queen Liuyebetween 1 and 100
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Sa Huỳnh culturec. 1000 BC – c. 200
North America
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
Latin America
- Monte Albán II: the Zapotec state expandsc. 100 BC – c. 200
- Rise of Teotihuacanc. 1 – c. 250
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Kujula Kadphises
- Wikipedia (English): Kushan Empire
- Wikipedia (Russian): Куджула Кадфиз
- Wikipedia (Russian): Кушанское царство
- Zürcher E. The Yüeh-chih and Kaniṣka in the Chinese Sources // Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka / Ed. A. L. Basham. — Leiden: Brill, 1968. — P. 346–390.
- Hill J. E. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, First to Second Centuries CE. — Charleston: BookSurge, 2009.
- Ставиский Б. Я. Кушанская Бактрия: проблемы истории и культуры. — М.: Наука, 1977.