Kushans conquer Gandhara and Taxila
Kujula Kadphises, the founder of the Kushan Empire, took the Kabul valley, Gandhara and Taxila from the Indo-Parthian successors of Gondophares, bringing the Kushans into India; under his successors they pushed deeper into the subcontinent.
- Date
- between 50 and 70exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Taxilatoday: Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan · South Asia
- Participants
- Kushan Empire, Kujula Kadphises, Indo-Parthian Kingdom
- Threads
- South Asia (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Kushan conquest of Taxila; Кушанское завоевание Гандхары
According to the Book of Later Han, the Kushan king Qiujiuque — Kujula Kadphises — invaded Anxi (here the Indo-Parthian realm), took the Gaofu (Kabul) region and overcame the kingdoms of Puda (Paktiya) and Jibin (Kapisa and Gandhara). He died at more than eighty, and his son conquered Tianzhu, north-western India, and set generals to rule it. Kujula’s first coins still bear the name and portrait of Hermaeus, an Indo-Greek king who had ruled the Kabul region in the 1st century BC.
The date is uncertain: the invasion is placed some time after 45, and the campaign in Gandhara between about 50 and 70; inscriptions show that Taxila was under Kushan rule by 76. Under Kujula’s successors Purushapura (Peshawar) in Gandhara became the capital of an empire stretching from Central Asia to northern India.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Kujula Kadphises founds the Kushan Empirebetween 20 and 50 · Central and Northern AsiaKushan rule spread from Bactria to the Kabul valley and Gandhara
Related events
- Reign of Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian kingdombetween 19 and 20 – c. 46 · South Asiathe Kushans took the Indian lands of Gondophares’ successors
- Gandharan art: the first images of the Buddhabetween 30 BC and AD 100 · South AsiaGandharan art flourished mainly under the Kushans
- Reign of Kanishka, the height of the Kushan Empirec. 127 – c. 150 · South AsiaKujula Kadphises, Kanishka’s great-grandfather, brought the Kushans into Gandhara
Same participants
- Ban Chao repels a Kushan army90 · Central and Northern Asiavia Kushan Empire
Adjacent events in the thread
- Apostle Thomas in India (tradition)52 (?) · South Asia
- Gautamiputra Satakarni defeats Nahapanabetween 71 and 130 · South Asia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Boudica’s revoltbetween 60 and 61
- Roman conquest of Britain43 – between 83 and 84
- Great Fire of Rome19 July 64 – c. 27 July 64
- Martyrdom of Peter and Paul in Romebetween 64 and 68
- Nero crowns Tiridates I in Rome66
Eastern Europe
- The Alans appear on the Don and in the North Caucasusbetween 50 and 72
- Plautius Silvanus lifts the Scythian siege of Chersonesusbetween 61 and 66
- Roman–Bosporan War45–49
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Balkans and Anatolia
- Dioscorides’ De materia medicabetween 50 and 70
- Missionary journeys of Paulc. 46 – between 57 and 58
Middle East and Egypt
- Roman–Parthian War of 58–6358–63
- Periplus of the Erythraean Sea40s … 70s
- Reign of Vologases I51–78
- First Jewish–Roman War66 – between 73 and 74
- Siege of JerusalemApril 70 – 8 September 70
+ 1 event
Africa
- Adulis and Aksum in the Periplus40s … 70s
- Nero’s expedition to the sources of the Nilebetween 61 and 62
- Temple of Apedemak at Naqabetween 1 BC and AD 70
Central and Northern Asia
- The burials of Tillya Tepe (the Bactrian Gold)between 16 and 100
- The Xiongnu split into Northern and Southern48
- Kujula Kadphises founds the Kushan Empirebetween 20 and 50
East Asia
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- 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 (English): Taxila
- Wikipedia (Russian): Куджула Кадфиз
- Wikipedia (Russian): Кушанское царство
- Wikipedia (Russian): Таксила
- Kulke H., Rothermund D. A History of India. — 4th ed. — London: Routledge, 2004.